Motto for 2012

At the end of every year, I like to pick a motto for the upcoming one. It doesn’t always have to be a deep thought, it could be as silly and fun as 2010‘s, as long as it motivates me to ring in a better, brighter year. And the quote above belongs to 2012. When I stumbled upon it while looking through ye olde Pinterest, it really spoke to me. It wasn’t the first time I had come across the quote (or the amazingness that was Eleanor Roosevelt), but it was the first time it resonated.

Here’s to letting my heart take the reigns!

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I hope all of you have an amazing New Years weekend – celebrate with all the bells and whistles, but remember to be safe (please don’t drink and drive)! Let’s welcome 2012 with open arms and lots of hope!

Wishes for 2012

Image via weheartit.com

I hope you all had a great holiday season. Still bummed I haven’t been able to be more present! Pretty nuts to think that a new year is upon us once more – I feel as if 2011 was barely around, and now we are ready to welcome the infamous 2012. As always, I’ll start with my wishes for this year before listing off the new ones for the new year!

1. Learn to sew. – one of my amazing friends actually got me a sewing machine for my 30th birthday and I have yet to sit down with it. I have to admit: it terrifies me. However, once I’m done with my certification exams, I’m going to conquer my fears.
2. Continue attempting to cook at least one original meal a week. – Unfortunately, I haven’t had the time to work on this goal. With my new, odd schedule, I often get home past 9pm, but I hope that will change in the months to come.
3. Take up spinning classes. If you survive, continue. If you don’t, try again. I bit the bullet and jumped on the spinning bandwagon. And who knew? I LOVED IT. Unfortunately, I had to cut it out of my life after several months. I chock this up to my schedule again. Drats.
4. Redesign the blog. Create new & fun features to keep people interested. The blog redesign was a success! & this blog continues to be a big part of my life.
5. Grow out your hair. Or chop it off. Go even blonder. Or maybe darker. It’s fun. I decided to grow out my hair in 2011, go blonder and then darker. It is fun, and who knows what is in store for ’12!
6. Embrace turning 30 with open arms. You are going to rock this decade. - This one is not crossed off because I am still having a hard time coming to terms with the big 3-0. It’s just a number, right? Good because I still consider myself a nice, ripe 21.
7. Take care of yourself. Make doctors’ appointments, eat healthier. 2011 is when I was diagnosed with gluten intolerance after forcing myself to make a doctor’s appointment. Although I am far from being gluten free on a consistent basis, I hope to continue finding the balance with this new lifestyle.
8. Look at your passions & move forward. Life is too short to not do what you love. I finally took a very big step in my life and decided to move on from mental health and pursue my love of behavior analysis and working with autistic children. Although it has not been easy, it has been the best decision I have ever made. I am so happy doing what I do. It gives my life meaning and is so rewarding and amazing.
9. Work on further home improvements: pool, shutters, garage. We completed the pool project over the summer and am just now starting on the garage revamp. We couldn’t squeeze the shutters into our budget this year, but luckily had another storm-free season.
10. Plan the most killer trip to Europe. As you all know, we had the most magnificent trip to Europe a couple of months ago. It met all my expectations and then some – those are memories I will keep with me forever.

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Merry Christmas!

A very happy holiday season from Mr. & Mrs. Melificent!

I hope you get all that you wished for and that you spend this special time with those you love the most, celebrating life, love and health: what really matters in this crazy world.

What I Wore: European Vacation {London Town}

London was just perfect. I know I seemed to have gushed about our first stop, Barcelona, but it was quickly forgotten the minute I walked out of our flat and saw The Houses of Parliament and Big Ben staring back at me. I have a hard time describing it, with the only word coming to mind being magical. For a longer and more detailed gush session, feel free to check out my post on our couples blog, The Bombardment Society. With that said, one of my favorite features London had to offer were their amazingly beautiful parks. There is no shortage, that’s for sure, and coming from Miami…well, I had to take advantage. Our parks do not look like this. I knew at least one outfit post had to be stationed in one of them, and the lucky winner was St. James Park, which was overrun with greenery, beauty and the friendliest squirrels on the planet.

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Magical Moments Monday

Although it’s been a tough week – lots of studying and not a whole lot of fun, it’s always important to remember the happy!

x. the skyview app for the iPhone
x. this amazing video of acoustic Bush
x. starting on the design for our Hunger Game viewing party tees
x. gift exchange with my Dad
x. experiencing a very proud moment as a wife
x. authentic sangria
x. clearing the Karmann Ghia from our garage – hoping it finds a good home!
x. final Christmas crafts
x. officially branding the new Cube as my very own mockingjay

Have a great week everyone! I unfortunately will be blog absent for most of it, but I’ll try to make a couple more posts if possible!

Lovable Friday!

1. Kate Spade Pumps

I’m pretty sure Kate Spade should pay me at this point for the incessant promotion on my blog, or at least offer me some free swag, don’t you think? I can’t help that all her designs are so perfectly feminine with just the right touch of rebellion. Case in point: these gorgeous pumps. Vibrant yellow seems like it is going to be the shade of the spring, and paired with this playfully striped heel, you’ll be the life of the party. Or at least the target for jealous glances.

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CasaIdeas Giveaway Winner!

A big congratulations to New to Miami for winning the CasaIdeas goodie bag!
I will be in contact with you shortly so I can send you your winnings.

Thanks to everyone who participated! If you are local, make sure to check out the store in the Shops at Sunset Place!

Don’t Forget!

Don’t forget to enter the CasaIdeas giveaway!!!! Today is the last day to enter – the winner will be chosen at random at midnight on 12/15. There are only a measly 5 entries! I know more people than that like free and cute stuff – especially around the holidays!!!!

ps; I know, I miss Hump Day too.

Studying & Cubing

Happy Monday, everyone!


Due to my looming certification exam, I won’t be posting on the blog as much as I regularly do. It’s not exactly a hiatus – I’ll still be around, just not as often. I need to focus all I can on studying until I sit for it at the end of January, and am currently accepting all the well wishes and crossed fingers I can get. ;)

With that said, this weekend I became the proud owner of a Nissan Cube! I’ve been eying them since I heard they were making their way to America (remember this post?), so it’s completely surreal to be driving one right now. Three cheers for fuel economy!

Lovable Friday!

1. Sequin Scarf

One thing I absolutely love about the holiday season is the ability to wear sparkles and sequins with reckless abandon. Granted, in my world, it would be year round, but in an attempt not to be greedy, I’ll take what I can get. Although I don’t tend to have events worthy of all those glorious sequined dresses, I can totally justify the purchase of this fabulous sequined scarf. I think it would compliment a casual Christmas lunch or dinner outfit perfectly!

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