What's Making Me Laugh: Prada L'Eau Ad by Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola

Saturday, March 30, 2013

I don't know about you, but I love Wes Anderson Films (the Fantastic Mr. Fox and The Royal Tenenbaums are my favorites). So I was delighted when I stumbled across this new ad for Prada Candy L'Eau by Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola. It's cute, quirky and French! Check it out!
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Previously on Project Runway: Season 11, Episode 9

Thursday, March 28, 2013
AKA. Oh my Lord and Taylor!

Previously on Project Runway the designers were split into teams of 2 (and one team of 3) and were asked to design a Spring 2013 look for Lord and Taylor inspired by the rose. The winning look would be sold in Lord and Taylor stores. While I was please to see some interesting pairings like Michelle and Daniel, I was disappointed that the judges (ahem, producers) didn't separate Richard, Layana and Samantha. Let's take a look at the designs.

Safe

There was tension early on between Stanley and Patricia as Stanley kept offering Patricia alternative ways to create her garment rather than her way, and Stanley kept reminding Patricia that he doesn't like to loose. Frankly, I thought Stanley's dress was looking rather boring while he was criticizing Patricia. In the end, Stanley and Patricia ended up making amends and the pair were safe.
Stanley
Patricia
Top

Daniel lost his marbles during this episode after he asked Michelle her opinion on his short suit made of pink fabric suit. When she asked him to consider whether a 21 year old would buy his outfit, Daniel became a dithering idiot and repeatedly muttered that he didn't design for 21 year olds. Luckily he got his head on straight for day 2 and decided to change his suit into a dress- which still wasn't great. But lucky for him, Michelle's outfit was so great that it kept him on top.
Daniel
Michelle was the clear winner of this episode. Originally Michelle had her heart set on creating a rain vest with the complimentary dress underneath as an afterthought. When Tim Gunn came into the workroom, he set Michelle straight and told her to ditch the vest and focus on the dress. The judges loved the dress and awarded her with the win. Her dress sold out online in one day.
Michelle

Bottom

I kind of feel like Richard, Layana, and Samatha were set up to fail since they worked so poorly together in the previous episode and they weren't separated for this challenge. Altogether their looks weren't bad, but they could have been better. Richard created another one of his easy to wear color-block dresses like we've seen below. In my opinion, he should have been out for his lack of creativity and inability to take constructive criticism and stop making dagger eyes at Layana, but the judges kept him safe.
Richard
Layana's dress had a great design but ended up in the bottom due to the lousy print she chose. She was obviously NOT out.
Layana
Samantha knew that Lord and Taylor was trying to attract a younger market and tried to target that market with her dress. While her outfit was creative and had a clear point of view, the judges were unsure if this was the dress that would launch Lord and Taylor into junior wear. In the end, the judges were split between eliminating Richard for lack of creativity or Samantha for missing the mark and in the end they sent Samantha packing.
Samantha
I was really sad to see Samantha leave this week because I thought she had a shot at making the final 3 with her fun point of view. At this point I think the final 3 will probably be Stanley, Daniel and Michelle. What did you think of this week's episode? Did you agree with the judges? Who are your picks for the final 3? Let me know in the comments below.

Note: all images were borrowed from www.mylifetime.com
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Spring 2013 Style Guide

Wednesday, March 27, 2013
spring 2013



White and Black Polka Dot Dress- Wallis / Short Sleeved Tier Top- Target (buy)/ Leopard Cardigan- Modcloth / Prabal Gurung skirt- Target  (buy)/ Red Cropped Pants- JCPenny (buy)/ Prabal Gurung strappy heels- Target  (buy)/ Orange handbag- Kohl's (buy) / Betsey Johnson crossbody handbag- DSW (buy) / Burt's Bee's- Target (buy) / Ombre Crew Neck Sweatshirt- Target (buy)


Even though there's snow still on the ground in many parts of the world (including my hometown and my new town), Spring is here. And what better way to get into the season than to try out some of the new hot styles. I don't know about you, but I am loving the black and white trend this season, but I'd also like to incorporate some more spring-like touches by adding some lavender, orange and yellow into my wardrobe as well as 2013's color of the year, emerald.
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Previously on Project Runway: Season 11, Episodes 7 and 8

Monday, March 25, 2013
Season 11, Episode 7 
AKA. Stuck on You

Previously on Project Runway the designers were paired off into teams of 2 and were asked to design a prom dress out of various colors of Duct Tape. The designs would then be judged by a group of high school students who's votes would account for 20% of their points. Let's take a look at the designs.

Top

Richard was immediately peeved that Stanley chose to work with Layana this week instead of him. Come on, Richard! It's not like you own Stanley! Anyways, Layana and Stanley immediately wanted to work with gold tape, but Daniel and Richard had already monopolized the color. Stanley thought they his team should use zebra print instead, but Layana was hesitant. In the end, they created a "cool girl" look (worthy of a Betsey Johnson collection in my opinion) and the pair were safe.
Layana and Stanley
Surprise! Surprise! Patricia wanted to create a textile effect by overlapping 3 colors of tape in a mesh/ lattice pattern leaving poor Samantha to have to try to construct  a bodice to go with Patricia's kooky design. But, as we've seen in the past, the judges either love or hate Patricia's designs. Their dress looked like it was from a "prom goes to space" theme, but they judges were into it and the designers were safe.
Patricia and Samantha
This week was the first time that roommates Amanda and Michelle could finally work together on the same team. They decided to work with the hounds-tooth print tape but also create their own hounds-tooth print and have the design also play off of the print. The judges felt the look was worthy of Gwen Steffani and their outfit was the winning look and Michelle was given the winning title.
Amanda and Michelle

Bottom

I thought that the Daniel and Richard collaboration was going to go off really well because both designers had wins under their belt. And initially it did start off well as the two began creating a nice strapless gold gown. But, it started to go downhill when they started adding the ruffles which gave their dress an 80s vibe that the judge felt was dated. These two designers barely squeaked by.
Daniel and Richard
Kate paired off with Tu again because she can't stand to work with any other designers and decided that they should construct a traditional floor length gown despite Tu's suggestion that they try to make something shorter. They too, became distraught when their top color choice was taken, so they opted for the denim colored tape instead. Although the high school students responded favorable to their gown, the judges found the gown to be boring, ugly and not cool. In the end, the judges decided that they felt Tu had lost his identity and they weren't feeling Kate's designs so both designers were out.
Kate and Tu
Were you as surprised as I was that both Kate and Tu were kicked off? Do you feel that Michelle deserved the win? Let me know in the comments below.
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Season 11 Episode 8
AKA The Most Disappointing Episode Ever

Previously on Project Runway, the designers were treated to a surprise performance by the Thunder from Down Under (a male stripping/dancing group from Australia) which made all of them blush. Then the designers were split into 2 teams selected by the judges. Each team was asked to create 3 tear away looks for the Thunder From Down Under dancers.

The Teams were
Team Fifty Shades of Grey: Michelle, Stanley, Daniel and Patricia.
Team Slick and Hip: Samantha, Richard, Amanda and Layana

Let's take a look at their designs:

Team Fifty Shades of Grey wanted to create sexy office workers from the past with suits and jackets, but Michelle suggested that they create a sexy bike messenger instead. It appeared that the team decided to let Michelle do her own thing while the others stuck to the sexy office plan. Michelle arguably ended up creating the best look because she incorporated a zippered vest (instead of Velcro), but it didn't fit just right.

Michelle
Stanley's look wasn't horrible, but it wasn't exactly sexy or innovated either. It looked as if he needed to choose a different suit fabric, or he should have ironed it
Stanley
Patricia spent entirely too much time on a non-sexy basket weave shirt that was ultimately covered up by Daniel's too-big trench coat.
Daniel and Patricia
Although Team Fifty Shades of Grey was awarded the winning team by default, there were no winners this week.


Team Slick and Hip also came up with a suit theme. The team decided to divide themselves up to play up their strengths which didn't help them at all because none of them had ever designed menswear before. Stanley created all of the shirts but he forgot the collar stands, so the collars were all floppy and the shirts were too long. Amanda made the pants pattern's and created 2 sets of awful pants (one set was too tights, the other set had mismatched hem lengths). Layana made the suit jacket even though she'd only ever designed women's jacket's before. And Samantha created the only wearable garments- a vest and pants.
Samantha and Richard
Amanda and Richard
Amanda, Layana and Richard
Amanda and Stanley ended up in the bottom and I bet the judges wished they hadn't already used their double-elimination. In the end, the judges decided that Amanda's pants were the worst offenders and sent her home.

What did you think of this week's episode. Were you as disappointed with their creativity as I was? Where was the sexy safari guy!? Sexy surfer!? Sexy barista!? Let me know in the comments below.
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This Week on Instagram: March 17-23

Sunday, March 24, 2013
This week my hubby has been subjecting me to torture getting me to run half a mile and walk half a mile through our new town. It's been rather cold most days with temperatures ranging from the low 40s to upper 20s (in Fahrenheit) so we run around the local park and often end our runs by either going immediately home and having a warm cup of hot tea, or ducking into one of the local shops.


Check out this video of some of our local birds out in the snow.


I found this outside of a local grocery store and it had me giggling like a 12 year old. Essentially this is a bin to donate unwanted old bras, but I'm not sure who'd want to re-use dirty old bras?


This was found inside another supermarket behind the deli counter. Billy Bear Sausage is essentially lunch meat targeted towards kids. According to the Tesco website, Billy Bear Sausage consists of "Turkey (31%), Pork (28%), Water, Pea Starch, Pork Fat, Pork Liver, Pea Protein, Sea Salt, Pea Fiber, Stabilizer (Disodium Diphosphate), Spices, (Pepper, Ginger, Nutmeg, Coriander, Chili), Antioxidant (Sodium Ascorbate), Yeast Extract, and Preservative (Sodium Nitrate)." I cannot vouch for how it tastes.

In other news, I got 2 job offers this week- one working at a before and after school program with school aged kids and another working with children aged 6 weeks to 5 years old. You'll have to stay tuned to find out which job I take. 

Finally, I'd like to congratulate my hometown team Wichita State University (WSU) for defeating #1 seated Gonzaga in the NCAA championships. It may have messed up my bracket (and President Obama's and Kid President's), but I'm glad they get to go farther.

How was your week?
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What's Making Me Laugh: Pukka Pie Ads

Saturday, March 23, 2013
This week I've been chuckling over these Pukka Pie ads that I've seen in some of the local Take-Away eateries. For those of you who don't know, a Pukka Pie is a popular brand of pie that comes in flavors such as steak and kidney, chicken and mushroom, and minced beef and onion which can be purchased at a local grocers or found in some of the local take-away fish and chip shops. Now, I have never yet eaten a Pukka Pie, so I can't vouch for how they taste, but their ads are pretty funny.

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This week on Instagram: March 3- 17

Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Hello! I hope you all had a happy St. Patrick's Day! Despite my ever close proximity to Ireland, my St. Patrick's Day wasn't too festive this year, but I did manage to wear my green lanyard bracelet so I wouldn't get pinched. Most of the big Irish celebrations were in the big cities like London and Dublin. And my hubby's job won't let him partake of any alcohol just yet, so we're not able to enjoy any of the local brews together. So instead we just decided to stick close to our new home and explore the countryside.




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What I'm Listening To: Ellie Goulding- Anything Could Happen

Saturday, March 16, 2013

Hello everyone! I've had this song stuck in my head for weeks, ever since I heard Ellie Goulding perform this song live on Jimmy Kimmel. In fact, this song is so catchy that even the band, Fun, did a cover of it. So listen to the original and tell me what you think.
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What do Women Want?

Friday, March 15, 2013
Dear readers,

I just wanted to let you know that eShakti is currently holding a contest where 3 lucky winners can win eShakti gift cards for up to $150. And all you have to do is to write in 45 words or less what women want. You can find for details on eShakti's web site (here). Your responses should be sent to contest@eshakti.com by March 15, 2013. Happy writing and good luck!
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What I'm Listening To: Sam and the Womp- Bom Bom

Saturday, March 9, 2013

I swear, this song is huge in the UK. Think of it as the British version of "Groove is in the Heart." Check it out if you dare!
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Previously on Project Runway: Season 11, Episode 6

Thursday, March 7, 2013
Previously on Project Runway the designers were asked to design outfits for "Mature Women". The designers got to keep their previous challenge teams, but since Michelle lost her partner last week, she was asked to team up with Layana and Patricia. Throughout the show, Michelle has made it clear that she has never wanted to work Patricia, and throughout this episode she ganged up with Layana to reiterate her feelings. I started to feel bad for Patricia in this episode, but when I saw Patricia's final product I came to think that maybe Michelle had a point. This week Michelle and Layana ended up creating potentially top looks, but because Patricia's scores were so low, her teammate's looks were just safe.
Layana
Michelle
Patricia



Top

Daniel redeemed himself from last week's challenge by creating a nicely fitted tailored suit that please the client and stayed true to his point of view with the asymmetrical collar.
Daniel
The judges were split on their opinions on Samantha's outfit. While Joan Rivers and her daughter, Melissa, loved the outfit, Heidi and Nina thought the outfit was age inappropriate, cartoonish and confusing. I happened to like the outfit and the client did too. I am glad Samantha remained safe.
Samantha

Richard created another easy to wear jersey dress. Heidi felt like the dress was hip and could have easily been worn by clients of all ages. While I thought the dress was nice, it wasn't my favorite Richard jersey dress. I want to see Richard show something new and different.

Richard
Stanley's look wowed me on the runway. I think Stanley lucked out by getting a tall, statuesque model, but the outfit was perfect for her and looked amazing (despite the judges feedback that the crotch could have been better). Stanley was deservedly awarded the win this week.
Stanley
Bottom

The judges confessed that they felt Kate didn't deserve to be on the bottom, but she was placed their because of her teammate. I enjoyed the printed skirt that Kate made, but I wasn't so into the top. Kate ended up being safe this week.

Kate
Tu's look was the reason Kate got dragged into the bottom. Tu started off with an ambitiously draped shirt dress idea, but unfortunately he didn't have the sewing skills to pull it off. At the final fitting, Tu's dress was too big and bulky so Kate used the last 10 minutes to help Tu hold his outfit together with a belt in an attempt to make it more flattering. I'm worried that if Tu can't improve his sewing skills fast, that he won't make it very far in this competition.
Tu
Amanda found herself back in the bottom with a poorly selected printed fabric and a poorly designed dress. She found her outfit going from bad to worse when she discovered that she didn't have enough fabric to create sleeves and when she tried to make a last minute decision to alter the shape of the skirt without enough time to execute it. I really thought that Amanda was going to be shown the door this week, and was surprised to see that she was saved.
Amanda
Amanda's teammate, Benjamin, also found himself on the bottom again. Despite having the cutest model and having pleased his client, Benjamin did have some construction issues as his sleeves were too tight and his fabric appeared a bit overworked. I didn't expect Benjamin to be kicked off this week. I think maybe this was a case of Benjamin having spent one too many weeks on the bottom.
Benjamin
What did you think of this week's challenge. Did you agree with the judges decision of who was in/out? Let me know in the comments below.
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eShakti Promo Code Extended

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Hello everyone! Last week I shared with you a special 20% off discount code from eShakti available to my readers. Well, recently I was informed by eShakti that some folks that attempted to used my blogger discount code might not have had their discount honored by the checkout process due to a technical glitch. The good news is that eShakti has corrected this issue and as an apology  eShakti is extending the 20% off discount codes until March 20, 2013. So from now until March 20 you can do your spring shopping at eShakti using my discount code OHSARAHO. Happy shopping!

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This week on Instagram ( February 24- March 2)

Sunday, March 3, 2013
British McFlurry

Thick hot chocolate at Chocolat Chocolat in Cambridge. It was pure pleasure in my mouth

Riding the park & ride double decker bus

photo bombed!
Sarah vs. Pasty Pirate
peek-a-boo
fish and chips anyone?
Meet my new car, Beamer
 

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What's Making Me Laugh: Honest Movie Trailers- Inception

Saturday, March 2, 2013
Warning: If you haven't yet watched Inception, this may spoil the movie.


Recently, I stumbled across Honest Movie Trailer's by screenjunkies on YouTube and now I'm in love with them. Each week, the creator's select the most popular user nominated movie and re-do the trailer by pointing out obvious plot-holes and character flaws. It's hilarious! So check them out and prepare to laugh out loud.
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The Sketchbook Project 2013

Friday, March 1, 2013

Today is the start of the 2013 Art House Co-op Sketchbook Project Tour, so I thought I would show my readers my submission the the 2013 Sketchbook Project. I worked on my book in December for about a week and took inspiration from the book I was reading (IQ84) and recent happenings. If you catch the tour, my sketchbook can be found on the shelves with a call number of 193.114-10 and soon it will be digitized to be viewed online.
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