Fridge decorating and why it matters

I have actually been wanting to blog about this topic for quite some time. I love finding new and unique ways to express myself and fridge decorating is one of the best ways I have found to do so. The benefits of decorating your fridge are two fold:
1. All of your guests can see your creations because at one point or another, most people end up by the fridge
2. Let's face it, you spend a lot of time at the refrigerator too. Whether it is because you enjoying taking things out of it and eating them or whether you stare longingly at it wishing you could eat everything inside, you are there so you might as well enjoy it. Plus, it is a great way to remind yourself of the people and things that you love on a constant basis.
Personally, I look at the outside of my refrigerator as a work of art. Everything is strategically placed and I actually take time to think through what I am going to put and where. I realize most people are not this anal about what goes on their fridge, and it certainly is not mandatory in order to achieve refrigeration decoration greatness but I think it's fun and I enjoy doing it.
So without further ado, I present My Fridge. Please to enjoy and inspire.

1. Picture collage area. Includes photos of Chris and I on the night we met and also some of Chris before I knew him.

2. SPBII  - my best friend under the age of 3 and the son of one of my favorite people in the whole wide world

3. Photo of Chris, his brother and sisters. Fun fact about my husband: He has 5 brothers and 2 sisters. He is two weeks younger than 2 of his brothers and another one of his brothers and one of his sisters were born just days apart. I now leave it to you to figure it all out.

4. The card that came with my "Will you be my matron of honor" cookie from my bestie. I keep it on my fridge as a constant reminder of what an honor it truly is to be part of her special day in this way

5. Two black and white photos. One of my parents and the other one of me when I was a little baby and my grandma.

6. Wallet sized wedding photo to remind Chris and I of our special day

7. SPBII (AGAIN). I really love this kid.

8. Assorted magnets from trips I have taken and things I like. Includes mementos from Abbey Road, Baker Street, St. Paul's Cathedral, Los Angeles, The Trapp Family Lodge, and showcases my love for wine, Batman, and British war time slogans.

9. Card from my bestie and her brood which came with the anniversary gift she sent to Chris and I.

10. The card that came with the flowers that Chris sent me for our one year anniversary. What a stud.

Old song new tricks

Don't you just love hearing a favorite song in a different and interesting way? The song "Only the Good Die Young" by Billy Joel is one of my favorite songs. I actually love most of his music but this one has been a favorite for a long time. I recently discovered an alternate REGGAE version of this song. Yes, a reggae version. Anyways, here it is below. Enjoy! It's great!

My thoughts on The Oscars

I originally planned on writing a long and detailed blog post about everything Oscar but it just hit me that writing a post like that would take away from my true feelings for the ceremony and the award itself. To me, someone who is in no way affiliated with the movie industry (except that I one day hope to attend the show, it is TRULY a dream of mine), this event is absolutely magical. I remember starting to watch this show in the early 1990's with my parents and not being allowed to stay up and watch the whole show and having to watch it after school the next day because my parents taped it for me. I remember being so nervous for all of the acting categories because I was so invested in finding out the outcome...I just loved the suspense.  As I am writing this post, Octavia Spencer won the award for best supporting actress. I can only imagine how hard she worked in her career to get to this point and that is absolutely beautiful to see. A job well done rewarded with the highest honor in her industry. Lots of people say that the Oscars are far too political and so predictable and that they don't mean anything but I just don't care. Where else are you going to see the biggest names in the movie industry together, honoring one other, cracking jokes, and crying? Nowhere, that's where else. This was, is and continues to be a unique and unbelievable experience for me. That is all I will say. I love The Oscars and I always always will.

My Neck Hurts

SO despite the fact that at the time that I purchased my tickets to California I selected ALL of my seats for all of my plane rides, American Airlines still somehow managed to put me in the middle seats for both of my returning flights. Sweet. Thanks so much for the wicked neck ache American Airlines.

Anywho, the fact that my neck hurts reminded me of a great book I have read multiple times called " I Feel Bad About My Neck" by Nora Ephron (who, FYI, I LOVE). You may have heard of her as the gal who wrote "When Harry Met Sally" and also as the director (and sometimes writer) of films such as You've Got Mail and Julie and Julia, just to name a few.  I highly suggest you purchase this book here because it is hilarious and Nora's writing style is so perfect and witty.

Nora Ephron in a turtleneck so you can't see her neck which she feels bad about

"I Feel Bad About My Neck" also reminded me that my friend Earl (the girl) and I watched another fabulous movie written and directed by Ms. Ephron entitled "Mixed Nuts" FOUR TIMES this weekend. Yes - we watched the same movie four times. Why would we do that, do you ask? Well mostly because it's hilarious but also because we have determined that outside of the two of us, very few people have even seen the movie and this is our way of keeping it alive.  Mixed Nuts is actually a Christmas movie that takes place in Venice Beach, California and follows the Christmas Eve goings on of three people that work for a suicide prevention hotline and some of their friends. Ok I understand it probably sounds a bit weird, but it's worth a screening, I promise. Here are some random funny things that happen in Mixed Nuts:

1. Suicide prevention hotline employee Mrs. Munchnick gets stuck in the elevator trying to leave work and starts using the toys that she bought as gifts for her dead husband's family as a means for someone to hear her and rescue her

2. Mrs. Munchnick constantly refers to herself as Mrs. Munchnick even though her name is Blanche. She is so formal that Mrs. Munchnick

3. There is a serial killer on the loose called the Seaside Strangler that people are terrified of and call the hotline to express their concern to the employees

4. Parker Posey and John Stewart play borderline violent rollerbladers that almost pop a cap in the ass of one of the other characters because he ruins their Christmas Tree...twice

Mixed Nuts: Watch if you want to see Steve Martin take a bath with Rita Wilson

Where is this post going, do you ask? Well I guess what I'm trying to say is that I had a blast in California watching Mixed Nuts on repeat and also that I am probably going to read Nora's book again for the 57th time very shortly (after I get done reading the 5 books that I am currently halfway through).

P.S. Full blown California blog post coming soon

Jo Malone

So I was just on Polyvore looking at this, that, and the other and saw a bottle of Jo Malone perfume and realized that I have never blogged about how much I love it. I LOVE Jo Malone perfume. A lot. This is the one that I wear, it is called Blue Agava and Cacao and has a smoky hint to it; so different from what I am used to wearing but I just adore it. 

I would encourage everyone to check out their website and see what they have to offer. Yes I realize you      can't really do that online so I would also encourage everyone to go smell their scents in person. Try Nordstrom or Blooooooooomie's.

California Love

5 days and counting until I  am off to sunny California to see my friend Earl (the girl) and enjoy some (hopefully) 70 degree weather!!

(Photos courtesy of my last trip to California)

Polyvore

So I recently started visiting a website called Polyvore where one can create "sets" consisting of individual fashion pieces. These sets are basically collages that you create and then either publish to the site or share with the masses in any other way you like. I would like to share a few sets that I have created thus far.

I call this one...Kerri

Kate spade dress
¥33,810 - mirabella.jp

Minuet Petite knit sweater
£60 - houseoffraser.co.uk

H&M slim fit jeans
£30 - hm.com

Cole Haan tall leather boots
$220 - nordstrom.com

Kate Spade high heels
$328 - jildorshoes.com

Monsoon hair accessory
£8 - monsoon.co.uk

Love Butterfly Scarf
$25 - oasis-stores.com






This one is called...Black/White/Red

Jigsaw crew neck shirt
£45 - jigsaw-online.com

Rick Owens zipper jacket
$3,200 - kirnazabete.com

Black pants
£14 - johnlewis.com

H&m shoes
£15 - hm.com

Anya Hindmarch genuine leather handbag
£350 - harrods.com

Dorothy Perkins black shawl
$11 - dorothyperkins.com

butter LONDON Nail Lacquer - 3 Free Nail Lacquers - Nail Polish -...
$15 - rickysnyc.com

Amazon.com: Platin Art Wall Decal Deco Sticker, Poppies: Home & Garden
$36 - amazon.com

Packing tips

In the next few months, I will be doing a little bit of traveling. It starts with a trip to California in a few weeks and then two trips to Indianapolis (home of the 2012 Superbowl...GO PATS)  for my bestie's bridal shower and wedding. It is easy to overpack for a 3-4 day trip because you are generally packing in a hurry and probably aren't paying attention to everything you throw in your bag. Similarly, it is easy to overpack for a multi-week trip because you want to be prepared for anything (which leads to bringing EVERYTHING which is bad). To avoid such packing faux pas, I have put together a list of packing tips that you may find useful when preparing for your next trip.

#1 - Don't pack the night before or the morning of your trip. If you follow no other tips, follow this one. When you pack close to the time of your trip, you tend to just want to get it over with and out of the way and may not put as much thought into it as you probably should. This is also how you end up at your destination and only then realize that you brought 6 pair of socks with you on your beach vacation and no bathing suit.

#2 - Make a list.  My suggestion is to do this well in advance of your trip, a week or two. After you make the list, go over it a few times and see what you can take off. Chances are when you re-read the list you will realize that you don't need as much as you thought you did when you made the list and that will make packing a lot easier.

#3 - Plan your outfits. The best thing I did when packing for our two week European honeymoon was to plan my outfits in advance. I laid everything out on my bed and played around with different outfit combinations until I was satisfied. This also gave me an opportunity to see which pieces could be worn repeatedly which is a great segway into the next tip...

#4 - Plan to wear the same clothes more than once. More than twice even. Any experienced traveler will tell you that less is more when it comes to packing clothes for your trip. Instead of bringing 4 pairs of jeans, bring 2. Instead of bringing 10 different tops, plan on wearing the same 4 and bring a cute sweater or scarf to accentuate your look. It will make you feel like you are switching it up without the hassle of lugging around a big heavy suitcase.

#5 - Get rid of your big heavy suitcases. Short of taking a multi-month trip around the world, you don't need it - I promise. The best suitcase is a small to medium sized roller (the ones with four wheels they have now are even better). This will physically prevent you from overpacking and if you are worried about running out of things to wear just remember that it is very easy to do laundry no matter where you are.

#5A - Overpacking horror story. France, 2001. Rita, Vladimir and Karina go to France to celebrate Karina's high school graduation for two weeks. They each bring a large suitcase with them. When they get to the airport in Paris, only one suitcase makes it off the plane, the other two are missing. Karina is temporarily convinced that her suitcase has been stolen (queue anxiety). It turns out that two of the suitcases were placed on a later flight and will delivered to the apartment they are renting. Fine. They arrive that night. All is ok until they get ready to travel down to the South of France by car. All three suitcases will not fit in the trunk so one has to hang out in the backseat with Karina. Annoying. It takes up half the back seat and leaves 50% less room to sprawl. Also, these suitcases are very heavy and because there is so much stuff in there it is very hard to find anything. Moral of this story? One year later, the three go to Greece for 2 weeks and bring one small roller each. Best vacation ever.

#6 - Minis are your friends. I have a little bag under my sink that ONLY has mini versions of the toiletries that I need to travel. I never unpack this bag and when it's time to take a trip, I simply pack it and that is all. I have had to re-stock it before but that is no big deal and I usually do that right after I get home from a trip so I don't have to worry about it when it's time to pack again. It's a great idea and a real time saver. If you can't find the minis you are looking for in a store, check out 3floz.com or minimus.biz.

#7 - Pack your shoes first. 'Cause when you have packed everything else and you go to pack your shoes, you will quickly realize that they don't fit. So pack them first so you know how much space you have left to work with.

I hope these packing tips have been helpful. I am constantly learning new things about packing and organizing in general so I will be sure to pass along what I learn.

Elle Decor Look Book

While perusing some interior design blogs, I stumbled upon a site that I have been visiting religiously for the last several days...Elle Decor's Look Book. For those of you who have seen the Elle Decor Magazine, you know how much  great stuff there is in there. The Look Book gives you all of those images PLUS it lets you search by the room as well as the style so you could look at contemporary kitchens and then switch to traditional foyers with ease. There are so many images to look at that you can sit and gaze at all of the beautiful rooms for hours and hours. Here are some of the rooms that are featured broken out by room and style:

Eclectic Dining Room









Traditional Home Office









Country Kitchen









All photos courtesy of Elle Decor Look Book