What I just finished reading.

I just finished reading Caroline Weber's Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette wore to the revolution, and it was really great. I chose this book cause I didn't want to read a full biography, I was looking for something with a twist. This book definitely had that twist- the author was able to weave this tragically overtold story with new insight regarding Antoinette's fashion choices.

Although I already knew a lot about Marie Antoinette's history, this book really made me think about it in a new way regarding her historic fashion sense. Overall I really recommend this book for people both interested in fashion and French history. It's truly a page-turner.

xoxo,
Amanda

The red coats are coming!

I am on a total winter-wear binge this year. From new coats to berets to scarves, I just want everything. A while ago I bought a new scarf and then a few weeks ago I rhinestoned a beret. After Thanksgiving I wanted a new bright blue coat and a few weeks ago I decided I wanted a red coat as well.

Normally I don't wear red, I never used to like how it looked on me. With my hair always highlighted I always thought it washed me out. Well now that I don't highlight my hair that dramatically, if at all, I'm starting to come around to wearing red. With all the awesome red coats in stores this year I figured a new coat was a good place to start.

Since I wasn't sure how this idea would work out I decided to head to Forever 21 to look for a cute but still budget-friendly coat. Luckily they caught the red coat trend this year so I had plenty to choose from. My choices got narrowed down substantially when I decided I wanted a hip length coat with cute buttons. At first I couldn't really find anything that fit my requirements but then I stumbled upon a rack of really cute, bright red coats. Under the weird spotlights it almost looked orange but once I took the coat to a more normally lit area of the store, I realized it was exactly what I wanted. Luckily I grabbed the last one in my size!

I seriously love this coat. It's a great length, and the details are really fantastic. The gold buttons are a great addition and the pockets are the perfect style at the perfect spot. My only issue is that the jacket is a little bit small. It's definitely more of a medium/large than simply a large. I can still button it, but its way tight. Because I love this jacket so much I've decided to just add an extra set of similar buttons, making it have 3 columns of buttons on the front, just to make the coat more comfortable. Plus if I lose weight I can always remove the buttons and no one will know since they will be attached to the flap that lays under the other.

Another reason I love this coat is for a reason I honestly had no idea of until I got home from buying it. Remember how much I loved the Last Christmas scene from last week's episode of Glee? Well during that scene Rachel wears this exact same coat.

I had seen this coat on her and loved it but I couldn't find it on the Forever 21 site so I just gave up. On top of that trying to find something in that store is a difficult task, so when I gravitated toward the coat I legitimately did not remember it from Glee. When I got home and got on the computer I realized that it was the same coat and just started laughing.  I would subconsciously buy a jacket I saw on Glee.

I seriously can't wait to wear it, so I need to add the new buttons asap. Guess a trip to Jo-ann's is in order now. lol

xoxo,
Amanda






Image Credit-I seriously can't remember where the picture of Lea Michele is from-sorry.

Well hello 23, nice to meet you!

Goodbye 22! I don't think I have ever been more ready for my birthday than I was this year. I was so ready to turn 23. As always I was crazy excited for my birthday and could barely sleep the night before. Well in order to get me to sleep Zach bribed me with a birthday present at midnight. Oh boy was it the best early present ever.

How freaking hilarious is that?!


The actual morning of my birthday Zach created the most perfect day and I couldn't have been happier. I woke up to my birthday cake, breakfast in bed and the most wonderful smelling roses ever. They smell heavenly, I can't stop smelling them. Seriously.

After breakfast I got to open presents!!! yayayayay! I love presents. First came a slew of funny Glee gifts. Zach just got the biggest kick out of me opening them.

Then I opened the most gorgeous heather gray jacket. It's so awesome and plus it's really warm. It kept me warm in the movie theater and the restaurant, two places I'm usually freezing.

My big present was last and oh how perfect it is.

Ok so this gorgeous necklace has a story. I pointed this necklace out to Zach before Thanksgiving, and I couldn't get over how perfect it is. First off the blue stones are blue topaz which just happens to be my birth stone. Second with my birthday, our anniversary and Christmas all within December I think the snowflake is a really good symbol for how important December is to me. I love winter and how beautiful fresh snow is and it all just makes the snowflake perfect for me. I think its this special connection I have with winter, that makes it so special for me.

Aside from that though, the necklace is just plain gorgeous. I'm so lucky, Zach gave it to me.

I'm wearing my new gray jacket in the picture!

The rest of the day was perfect as well. Pittsburgh got a pretty bad snow storm so we decided to stay local and go see Harry Potter again. After that we went to my favorite local Italian restaurant and had a ridiculously delicious dinner. We finished up there, came home, and then I got to dig into my delicious birthday cake. Oh it was fantastic. Both the cake and my entire birthday.

xoxo,
Amanda

Awesome Socks!

I kinda love socks. Knee Highs and themed socks especially. I have tons of holiday socks and also a bunch of just cute ones. This weekend I got a few more to add to my collection.

I went hunting for a red coat at Forever 21 Saturday and was able to find these adorable umbrella socks that I was wanting.

I seriously have an obsession with umbrellas and raindrops lately. Aren't they adorable?!

While doing some more Christmas shopping I was also able to find the Christmas knee highs the Cheerios were wearing in the last episode of Glee. Yay!

Socks really are awesome aren't they?!

xoxo,
Amanda

"O Christmas Tree..."

Our Christmas tree is finally done! I've been waiting to finish a frame ornament and none of the 5 pictures I made for it fit, so it took a little longer than expected. But now it's done, and most of the present are wrapped and under the tree, and it makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.

It's kinda blurry but I wanted to get the tree in its full twinkling splendor.

I think it makes me so happy because this is the first year Zach and I have been able to decorate a full size tree. Our old apartment was way too small for a tree but this year we have the space and a great spot for it. I really like it in front of my antique Paris map. Oh yeah, and those are our Minnie and Mickey stocking I picked up last year. I was able to get them embroidered this year and they look fantastic.

I am so entirely excited for Christmas!

xoxo,
Amanda

Glee-wind "A Very Glee Christmas"

How cute was last week's Glee episode?! I loved that Glee decided to do a Christmas themed episode, it was so fun.

Sue was on a roll the entire episode, I absolutely loved the whole Sue the Grinch idea. It was hilarious. The scene of her ruining the Glee's club's tree was perfection. Beckie too, was hilarious. They are so great together.  Then Brittany and Santa, she was comedic gold. I loved how obsessed she was with Santa.

Finn and Rachel were another story. The whole episode I was just yelling at the tv for them to get back to together. I thought their rendition of Last Christmas was fantastic. At the beginning, Rachel was being adorable. Then the way it was filmed was just great. At the end you could totally tell Finn wanted to give in and kiss her and be with her.

That was only amplified with their glances at each other when they were at Mr. Schue's house. So. Totally. Not. Over.  They just need to be back together already.

Now I have to wait until February for more Glee...ugh. But I'm really intrigued about what the Super Bowl episode is gonna be about. There have been pictures circulating of Lea Michele in a football uniform, and rumors stating its going to be crazy over the top. I can't wait.

xoxo,
Amanda

I finally found it!

I found the adorable spotted elephant from Rudolph! From the first time I ever saw Rudolph I have wanted my own spotted elephant, he's just so cute. I don't even know why he's considered a misfit...who wouldn't want an adorable spotted elephant.

Zach has been looking for one for me every Christmas since we have been together practically. Finally last Saturday while we were shopping we walked past the Build-a-Bear store and I saw the elephant in the window. I couldn't believe it, my eyes lit up and I knew I wasn't leaving the mall without my elephant.

While I was on cloud 9, Zach was praying that I didn't see it so he could give it to me for Christmas. Whoops...lol. Although I may have foiled a Christmas gift, I did get my spotted elephant and I am so giddy it's ridiculous. yay!


xoxo,
Amanda

Glee-wind Special Education

..........well since tomorrow is Tuesday and another episode of Glee I should recap my thoughts from last week. This is extra late because of how upset I was about last week. I was upset over the episdoe but I do think it was a really good episode. Good plot points, good directing, and good song choices.

Oh my poor Finchel. I was so sad about them this week. I can't believe how downhill everything went for them. I love me some Finn but boy did I want to slap him a couple of times. First for the lying and then for the stupid shit that he kept saying while him and Rachel were trying to work things out.

On another note why was everyone so mean to Rachel?! Schue was basically screaming at her the entire episode, which was totally inappropriate. Then Santana and the rest of the club just kept ganging up on her the whole time. I felt so bad for her. She needs a friend. How good was Don't cry for me argentina though?! Fantastic!

Although she did screw up in kissing Puck at least she came clean immediately about it, not like how Finn just kept lying about him and Santana the whole time. That bugs me the most. Yeah she was wrong in kissing Puck but at least she didn't hide it for so long like Finn did. I wish the writers would have realized that point. (I liked seeing nice Puck though, well before he started kissing Finn's girl, he was the only one who seemed to care for Rachel that whole episode)

Hopefully my Finchel work things out soon. Although I do kinda feel like the writers might drag out their reconciliation....hope not though.

How great was the Warbler's Hey Soul Sister? I have such a crush on Darren Criss, he's just fantastic. He has such a charisma, it's really fun to watch him on tv. (Did you know he actually auditioned for the role of Finn?!!!!! It's so weird to me cause I seriously can't imagine anyone but Cory Monteith as Finn)

Oh and Dog Days are Over was epic. I love that song and the Glee version was great. It was great scene. That look from Finn and Rachel made it though. There's still hope there for sure!

We'll see what happens tomorrow, hopefully we get some good Finchel stuff.


xoxo,
Amanda

Glee loves Forever 21

I have a love/hate relationship with Forever 21. I think it's a great place for cute, trendy, budget-friendly clothes. However I hate that they never stock enough larges. Let me correct that. They might stock enough but because their clothes are cut so small, people who normally wear mediums end up needing larges, so there is never enough. Plus the music is always so freaking loud that I can never think and usually end up just wanting to get out of the store.

Well although I might be indifferent to Forever 21, the costumers on Glee love that store. Especially for Rachel, practically every episode she is wearing something from there. As of late every time I go into that store and point something cute out it ends up on an episode of Glee.

This weekend while Christmas shopping I stopped in to do some shopping for myself and found a bunch of things that had recently popped up on Glee. And of course I bought them.

  

They are all really cute, plus they have a cool Glee connection. I'm happy.

xoxo,

Amanda

Image Credit-tvpix.net, rawrcaps.net and Forever 21.

Ornament wreath DIY

It's snowing! As I'm sitting at my desk and looking out the window I can see the tiny flakes and it makes me oh so happy. Usually it never snows this much during the beginning of December so this is very exciting! It very much feels like the Christmas season.

In going with that feeling I have another DIY Christmas decoration idea. I don't have any pictures of the process cause 1-I'm lazy and 2-It really doesn't need any. I do have end result pictures though-yay!

What you'll need-
1 wire hanger
1 medium bow made from Christmas-y ribbon
Different-sized, color-coordinated ornaments. I ended up using 84 ornaments and got a medium sized wreath out of it.

All you have to do is bend the hanger into a circle and then string the ornaments onto the hanger.

Some tips though- make sure and hot glue the tops onto the ornaments or else they will pop off. Second-make sure you alternate ornament sizes to ensure that you don't get any large gaps when the wreath is done.

Once all the ornaments are on, bend the hanger back together and attach the ribbon bow in the center to cover up the bare part of the hanger.

That's it! Your gorgeous wreath is done! Now hang and enjoy it!

xoxo,
Amanda