March Into Spring with Aquamarine ~week 2 ~

For week 2 of "March Into Spring with Aquamarine" you will see some beautiful Aqua earrings, rings and bracelets. Often times when you think of a gemstone like Aquamarine, a faceted stone comes to mind. But ~ Aquamarines, along with many other stones, come in many different cuts: rough, cabochon, raw and faceted to name a few. I love faceted stones of course, but these other types like raw and rough cut add so much character, which I like a lot!

If you want to see last weeks post with more Aquamarine jewels, click here. I thought I had each photo fixed so it would take you to where these pieces can be purchased by clicking on each photo ~ but looks like it didn't work. So bare with me as I fix that!

In the meantime . . . Feast your eyes on these pretties!

Great Find, Good Food, & Goodbye

Last night I popped into Dillard's, I have a Gala to go to Friday night and it is cocktail attire. I have one thing in my closet that I feel like I can wear and really feel comfortable in. I have a few other "cocktail" attire dresses, but they don't exactly fit like they used to - SO depressing!! I don't need to spend a lot and buy a dress that I'm just going to wear once or twice, but I thought what the heck and looked around. I found one dress that I just fell in love with. It was much prettier in person!! And it was marked down to $45 from $180 - what a steal!!!

I felt like it was a hair too tight (mainly on my bootay) but nothing that spanks wouldn't fix, ha ha! I contemplated and as much as I hated not to get it, I didn't. I have to admit though, I've still been thinking about it like crazy and though geeze, for that price I should just go get it and work my butt off so I can wear it and feel good in it, So we'll see . . .

As I was just about to leave Dillard's empty handed, I was making my way out and trotted on by the shoe section. I just couldn't help myself. I did a brief skimming of the inventory then saw a huge wrack of shoes that were marked down, so I made my way over for a quick look. And boy am I SO glad I did because I found gold!!!! I found a $100 pair of BCBG sequin, black heels marked down to $26!!! YES, score!! So of course I got them!! I also felt like it was a sign that I need to wear the dress I have, which also has black sequins (sounds like a lot of sequins I know, but I tried it on and it works perfect together!!)

Just look at these beauties!!!

After trying on clothes and feeling depressed I knew I needed to fix something healthy for dinner. On the menu: Salmon, sauteed veggies and then for hubby, mashed potatoes.

I was good and only had TWO bites of mashed potatoes. My plate consisted of only salmon and veggies! It was good!!!

Hate to end this on a sad note, but I just read that 80's movie star Corey Haim has passed away due to a drug overdose.

So sad. It seems that he had been troubled over the years and had taken the wrong path. So sad though!! I just wish Hollywood could get a grip on the drug abuse. I say Hollywood, but it's not just Hollywood, it's the world. But it is such a poor example to see and know that celebs are abusing drugs. As sad as this is, maybe it will wake someone up out there and make them realize they don't want to end up like Corey Haim. I pray for his family and friends, and as I said before - that somehow through this sad outcome, something good can come from it and someone out there will get help before it's too late!

Oh and one last thing - I read today that years ago he date Victoria Beckham and Alyssa Milano - interesting, never knew that.

Show 'n Tell Tuesday: Unique Art, What's it MADE of???

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On our first Anniversary last year, we just got a way for the weekend and went to Nashville. We stayed at a really cool, hip hotel that was full of unique furniture and art. One piece of "art" in particular caught our eye. It was not till we got closer to it, that we realized just what it was made of . . . .Can you see what was used to make this??

CRAYONS!! How clever huh? I loved this and though it was so cool! When I first saw it from a distance, I could tell it was sculpture, but had no clue it was made of crayons! Isn't it fun??

OSCARS Ooh La La or Oh No No

So did any of you watch the Oscars or any of the Red Carpet before the awards? Who was Best Dressed in your opinion??

Here is a little recap of a few of the ladies from the night (along with my opinions which no one has to share of course) :

Sandra looked Exquisite!

Not crazy about Kate's dress - think she could have worn something better. This kind of washes her out in my opinion.

Jenny from the block looked sophisticated and pretty in this gown!

I didn't see a ton of black dresses this year at the Oscars, but this one worn by Kristen Stewart is just gorgeous and classic!!! The style of the dress is very figure flattering!! You can never go wrong with black!!!

Cannot decide if I love or hate this little number worn by Zoe Saldana - it's definitely interesting. I keep thinking the bottom looks like tissue paper . . .

Penelope can never look "bad", but I wasn't that crazy about her dress for some reason . . . I just didn't think it really did anything for her. With her great figure, she could have so pulled off something that was more Va Va Va Voom!

Normally I'm not big on such a neutral color because I think it can blend in with skin too much, but I LOVED this and think Demi looks stunning! It was one of my FAV's of the night!

Not big on this blue number Maggie wore

Thought Cameron looked so elegant and beautiful!!

This was pretty, but again, expected a little more from her. Sorry Sarah Jessica!

Still on the fence about Rachel McAdam's gown, think she could have worn something better . .

I know some people like this, but I'm just not too crazy about it. Guess if anyone sitting near her got hot, she could cool them down and fan them off though! ha

Miley Cyrus gets on my last nerve, but she looked really pretty and I loved her dress!! Sad how someone so young and new to Hollywood can look better then some of those who have been around and in Hollywood since before she was born!

I don't think I have words for how Mariah looks??? Her stylist needs to be slapped! I've come to expect nothing fabulous from her, so why am I surprised??

F.R.I.D.A.Y

Friends are hard to find, difficult to leave, and impossible to forget

Realizing you want to spend the rest of your life with someone

Inspire others while letting yourself be inspired

Dance your way through life

Accept others for who they are while also accepting yourself for who YOU are

You are only young once, and if you work it right, once is enough!

March into Spring with Aquamarine

Aquamarine, usually pale blue in color, is the birthstone for this month, March. It also happens to be my birthstone since my birthday is March 22. I have always LOVED this beautiful stone and have a few pieces that I enjoy myself! Some stones are quite vibrant in color, while others may have more of a greenish color to them. There are also some out there that are so pale in color, they can be mistaken for a diamond or another colorless stone such as a White Topaz. Here in the United States, Aquamarine has been found in Colorado and Wyoming. In other parts of the world, this stone has been found in Brazil, Madagascar and Columbia (to name a few.) However, some of the finest Aquamarines have been found in Brazil.

There are some absolutely exquisite pieces of Aquamarine jewelery out there. I am a jewelry lover and collector. While I do have many pieces of fun costume jewelry, I also have some nice, unique fine jewelry. Before I started my new job in December, I had worked for a German jewelry company and designer, where I was able to learn about gemstones and jewelry making processes. It was a tough job being surround by gorgeous jewelry, let me tell ya! Sometimes we were even "forced" to wear rings, earrings, necklaces and/or bracelets worth thousands and thousands of dollars - SUCH a tough part of the job! LOL

Okay, so enough rambling already . . . take a look at some fabulous pieces of jewelry with . . . what else? AQUAMARINES!

By JBM Designs found on Etsy

Ring with Cluster of Aquamarines by Petra Collection on Etsy

Necklace with nuggets of Aqua's

Tension set Aqua Ring by Renaissance Jewelry on Etsy

By Galit on Etsy

Jamie Joseph Aqua Ring

Doris Panos Aqua and Diamond Bangle

Antique Czechoslovakian Pendant by 1ofmykind on Etsy

Vintage Art Deco Aqua Ring (over 20cts, WOW!)

Every week during March I am going to try to post some information about this beautiful stone, as well as some gorgeous eye candy!! I don't know about you, but I could look at beautiful jewelry all day. So stay tuned and I'll be back next week with more Aquamarines!

Show 'n Tell Tuesday: What I Love About My Job

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One of the many great things about my job with Southern Bride Magazine is that I am lucky enough to get to attend fun events! Last Tuesday I attended an event put on by Mahaffey Tents here in Memphis. It was a great event that allowed many vendors to see their warehouse full of amazing furniture, rental items and much of the inventory they offer. All of the furniture, lighting and much more can be found at Mahaffey.

The ones who brought it all together and made everything look spectacular is a great company called Social Butterflies. They are a wedding and event planning company here in the Mid-South and let me tell you . . they are freaking FABULOUS!! I snapped a few pics with my phone and this is does NOT even come close to showing you just how AMAZING everything was. I didn't get a picture of each vignette, there were a total of five but if you want to see more and a close up of the detail they had on each table and vignette, visit Social Butterflies FB page. I suggest you do this so you can see just how incredible everything was and see the talent of this group of ladies. They also have a blog which can be foundhere.