Must Do ::: Goals for 2014, and a Happy New Year!

Photos by {accordingtoame}

It's that time again, the end of one year and the beginning of a fresh new one.  It seems these things, these years, go faster each time. 

Before I go any further--Happy Birthday to my Dad and to my cousin, K.  Love you!

I officially opened my Whitney English Day Designer and really started using it this week, and was glad to use the actual book and not just the printouts I had made to tide me over. I am looking forward to hopefully getting more organized. This time.

Weekend Update ::: And a fine Fa-la-la to you, too

Photo: Allure.com

Wow, I cannot believe Christmas has come and gone already, and we're only a few days from 2014!  I have my Whitney English Day Designer already cracked open and I am starting to really get down to business with that sucker now.

Top 10 ::: Hair Favorites

I get asked frequently by readers, and by friends and family, what my favorite and must-have daily driver products are, things I cannot get by without in my vanity arsenal. I saved those lists for this month, because as you know, I discover and try out new things constantly, and share my reviews with you pretty often, so they kind of evolve over time. "Favorites" can change on a dime, but it's the ones that you go back to that end up being "the ones." 

Top 5 ::: Best Gadgets/Devices of 2013

Photos by {accordingtoame}

I am consistently asked by readers and friends and family for a "top 5" and "top 10" of various things I use everyday. Be it apps, gadgets, skincare, haircare, makeup, whatever.  I decided to work on those lists over the last few months and close out the year with those posts and this week marks the last of the lot.

Must Have ::: Tweezerman Lash Comb

Photos by {accordingtoame}

I mentioned this amazing little gizmo in my Top Secret eyeliner/mascara tutorial, and in my Top 5 Cosmetics list, and felt it deserved a post of its own.

Not a lot of folks know how important a great lash comb can be, and how big of a difference a metal lash comb makes in the overall appearance of your lashes after a mascara application, regardless of which mascara you use. 

Fashion Fix ::: Champagne Watch Taste, Beer Budget

Photos by {accordingtoame}

While in Hawaii, I tried on a couple of Rolex Datejust watches, mid-size 31mm, Rolexes blend of stainless steel. These were obviously fantasy events for me, with items well out of my budget now or anytime in the even distant future. Since those luxurious adventures, I have been on the hunt for a classic (steel bracelet) watch that looks similar these Rolexes above, or two other classic favorites, the Cartier Ballon Bleu and the Cartier Tank.

My Top 5 ::: Skincare Favorites

Photos by {accordingtoame}

I get asked frequently by readers, and by friends and family, what my favorite and must-have daily driver products are, things I cannot get by without in my vanity arsenal. I saved those lists for this month, because as you know, I discover and try out new things constantly, and share my reviews with you pretty often, so they kind of evolve over time. "Favorites" can change on a dime, but it's the ones that you go back to that end up being "the ones." 

Welcome Home ::: Soleil Moon Frye's Worldly Home

All photos: Domaine Home Feature

Actress (you might remember her as Punky Brewster!), entrepreneur, tv host, blogger, author, mother (and at press time, mother to be!) and creative dynamo, Soleil Moon Frye has some pretty incredible ideas going on in her beautiful mind and behind that pretty face. Not to mention some serious energy to make it happen!  

Tech Time ::: My Top (Desktop) Apps/Sites

I am consistently asked for a "top 5" and "top 10" of various things I use everyday. Be it apps, gadgets, skincare, haircare, makeup, whatever. I thought I'd start answering those requests with a tech related post about mobile apps I am a regular user of.

Must DONE ::: Great Closet Cleanout 2013

All photos by and for {accordingtoame}

I finally accomplished a task I managed to avoid most of the year. It took me an entire holiday weekend, too.  That header was supposed to have DO crossed out and say Done, but Blogger didn't play nice so it just says Done and I gave up. 

Weekend Update ::: Foodie Gifts and Stocking Stuffers

Photos: Silpat, Poptions Popcorn, Pearls and Coffee Blog, 

Bed Bath and Beyond, Foodie, Vosges, Product of GIR

We're yet another week closer to Christmas and the New Year, and with that, you're likely looking for your last minute stocking stuffers and little foodie-friendly gifts.  Let's close out this week with the final installment of my top gift picks for one and all! 

Totally Obsessed ::: Travel Friendly and Luxe Finds

Photos: Sonia Kashuk, Tumi, Jonathan Adler, Integral Design, 

Flight001, Tieks, Truffle, Mophie, Lo&Sons, Bobble

What do you get those that seem to have everything and struggle to make a list because they truly don't "need" anything?  Here's a few of the best gift ideas around, all with plenty of time to order and ship. 

Loving Right Now ::: Best Gift Ideas for He and She!

Photos: Tumi, Nordstrom, Michael Kors, Razer, Brookstone, Uggs, Malin+Goetz

It's prime time for gift shopping, with great deals abound. This year introduced some fantastic new gadgets and gizmos to the world, and of course, a few came out just in time for the holiday season.  

Tech Time ::: Best Techie Gifts

Photos: Apple, PLX Devices, Handbag Butler, Olloclip, Nest, Nordstrom, Coin, Samsung, Fitbit, 1Password, Evernote and Dropbox

Must Have::: La Mer Cleansing Gel

Photo: Nordstrom.com

I mentioned in my DHC Cleansing Oil "Must Have" a while back that I am a devoted fan of La Mer's Cleansing Gel, and oh am I ever.  I have been using it regularly for a couple of years, and sporadically prior to that for a couple more years, alternating it with various other cleansers ranging from the good old Dove Sensitive Skin Bar, to the Simple Moisturizing Foaming Face Wash, to the newer Ultra Gentle Foaming wash by Neutrogena.  The price point was painful but when I finally devoted myself to it and worked out the cost-per-use ratio, it really was worth the investment.

Fashion Fix ::: Field Jackets

Photo: Nordstrom

For the last year or two, I have been in lust over the Barbour field-style jackets. Most recently, the "Beadnell" Waxed Cotton Jacket caught my attention on Nordstrom's site, in part because it came in Navy. To quote Ms. Mackenzie Horan, "Navy or Nothing!"

My Top 5 ::: Cosmetic Favorites

All photos by {accordingtoame}

I get asked frequently by readers, and by friends and family, what my favorite and must-have daily driver products are, things I cannot get by without in my vanity arsenal. 

Wednesday Wow ::: Gorgeous San Francisco Wedding

All photos by Jennifer Eileen

So, during a slow day at work, I was cruising around 100 Layer Cake, and came upon this absolutely amazing Black, White and Red wedding that was held in San Francisco. I freakin' love that city, and I also love that color combination. 

Tech Time ::: My Top 10 (Mobile) Apps

I am consistently asked for a "top 5" and "top 10" of various things I use everyday. Be it apps, gadgets, skincare, haircare, makeup, whatever. I thought I'd start answering those requests with a tech related post about mobile apps I am a regular user of.

Must Read ::: Oprah's Favorite Things 2013

All photos: Oprah.com

One of the things I miss about Oprah still being on TV everyday is the "Favorite Things Show". That was the one show every year that I usually would make sure I caught because I freaking loved the reactions of the people in the audience--almost always handpicked by Ms. Winfrey herself and truly deserving of all the booty she bestowed on them--but even more, to see what was on the list each year.

Weekend Update ::: Shop til we drop!

Some life changes happened with our family this week resulting in some last minute Thanksgiving week changes from the norm, in that we usually spend this week with my in-laws and instead, they came home to St. Louis. While we are absolutely glad that we were with them home with us, we are sad about the circumstances that prompted the rearrangement of the holiday plans. The holidays have been sort of somber for this clan in recent years.  I am glad to report that they did arrive safely back down south after their visit home and I am eternally grateful to my parents for hosting a joint family Thanksgiving on Wednesday so they could have a nice meal and togetherness.

Thanksgiving ::: I am Grateful

Source

It's been a fabulous year, and a fabulous life thus far. I am grateful for everything that this life has given me, and that I have earned through tons of hard work and a little good luck.

I am extremely grateful to you, dear reader, for coming and reading my words, and sharing in my work. Many of us, my family included, have lost loved ones young and old this year, and they will be missed tremendously over this holiday weekend. 

Have the happiest of Thanksgivings, and please stay safe!

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Loving Right Now :::

Photos: BrownieBrittle.com, Sweetriot.com, Nordstrom.com, JCrew.com, ItCosmetics.com

Tech Time ::: Turboscan

Every now and then, you're faced with a situation where you need to scan a document and have no scanner. Or you need a clean digital copy of a black and white letter or contract for you records...and you have no scanner.  Or you want to get a letter and a receipt and a mileage or travel log all together and into a PDF to email...and you have no scanner.

Must Try ::: Green Bean Casserole

Recipe and all photos by {accordingtoame}. Please do not reproduce without written approval.

I figured since we're getting close to the holiday season, it's a good time to share a dish that is kind of mandatory at a Midwest gathering.

Ok, I know that many of you out there who are not from the Midwest are looking at the headline and thinking "what in the...," but where I come from, a family gathering without a green bean casserole is sacrilege!

Fashion Fix ::: Denim Trends and Thoughts

Photo

Denim is definitely a staple in my wardrobe, and really just about everyone else's. There are so many cuts and washes, and so many changing trends...it's hard sometimes to know what's best for your style and your body in the change sea of style.  

Test Driven ::: Dior Diorific Vernis in Minuit

Photos by and for {accordingtoame} unless otherwise noted

A few weeks back I mentioned something about a dark oxblood nail that Elin Kling rocks, and how chic that was. I am not a nail person, though I wish I was because I'd look infinitely more together than I do on an average day, but this color, like Chanel Malice of last year's collections, really caught my eye and after seeing Sabrina's swatching on The Beauty Lookbook (if you don't read that blog, seriously, why not?!)

I was in the deepest throes of lust.

Wonderful Workspace ::: Southern Weddings Magazine Office Tour

Photo by {accordingtoame}

One of my absolute favorite wedding magazines and websites (KILLER blog) is Southern Weddings. It's a down-home and totally home-grown publication by a ridiculously ambitious and amazingly brilliant redhead named Lara Casey, and I have been pretty obsessed with it almost since she started it!  

Tech Time ::: Fantastical2

Photo: Flexibits.com

A while back I recall stating that I didn't terribly mind the way Apple changed the Calendar app on iOS7. It did annoy me a little that I had to click the search function to see my list view, however, and I felt that was a strange functionality choice.  Now that a little time has passed, and I am trying to become more organized, those little quirks are really starting to make me look outside of the stock app and into something more, um, fantastic. 

Must Have ::: Beauty Blender

All photos by {accordingtoame}

I cannot even believe I haven't waxed poetic about these things yet. They are a staple I cannot spackle without. These little pink egg-shaped wonders are an absolute necessity for me to apply concealer and foundation, and without them blending is just not the same. 

Weekend Update ::: I Love Makeup!

Video: ILoveMakeup Channel

Surely by now, dear reader, you have picked up that I am a vain woman. I simply love beauty products. And love all the accoutrements. It's kind of a sickness. But it's also damn fun.

Top Secret ::: Under the Arch

cannot find original sources

It amazes me how many gorgeous women I see walking around with full faces of well applied makeup, but almost non-existent brows. Not necessarily always over-tweezed, but just...not finished and therefore "disappearing" from their faces.  Just a little filling in, and bam! they'd be perfection.

Loving Right Now :::

Photos: Nordstrom.com, Linear Calendar Kickstarter, Olloclip.com, Sugarpaper.com, Keysocks.com

Tech Time ::: Gadget Wipes

All photos by {accordingtoame}

A clean phone is a happy phone.  And a while back I wrote about my love for Zagg's wipes, which is what I would regularly use to keep my phone and my husband's iPad clean and disinfected. I still do use them.  However, a newer brand called Well-Kept came to my attention not long ago, and I decided to give them a try, and do a little comparison to see if, besides their super cute packaging, they were a better choice for me and my needs.

Major Hair Moment ::: Jennifer Aniston's New 'Do

Photo:  Chris McMillan's Instagram

Rumblings that Jennifer Aniston cut her hair off started about a week ago...and sure enough...it's actually happened.  Oh my hell!  I mean, it's cute and pretty damn flattering.  And from what she says, pretty easy to handle. How could it not be? 

Fashion Fix ::: Finding the Perfect Pair

Photo: Nordstrom.com

Finding the "perfect pair" of jeans can be an exercise in patience and humility, and even sometimes just exercise.  Sometimes it takes a day, sometimes years.  

I was formerly a "super-cheap jeans" buyer. Back in that era, Target sold some sort of Levi's variant and they were great for my wallet, and I bought a few Old Navy here and there. I just didn't bring myself to spend a ton on them in the past because I didn't "care."  But I had an awakening when I decided one day to actually try some more premium denim on, when I was having a "good butt day."  And that made me "see the light."

Totally Obsessed ::: Whitney English Day Designer

Photos: {accordingtoame} of my Day Designer

I mentioned on Friday's Weekend Update that I received my Whitney English 2014 Day Designer the other day. I have been like...anxiously awaiting this bad boy since I pre-ordered it I think in September.  I learned of it earlier this year, and told myself "yea you suck at using these things...try to stick to the GCal/iCal and your phone, you spendthrift". Well...I did that, and wrote things on my hand like always, and still managed to forget things more often than I wish to admit. 

Wednesday Wow ::: Kim and Kanye's Engagement Ring

Photo: Via NYDailyNews/JASON LAVERIS, FILMMAGIC

Love them or hate them...or the amount publicity they receive, that ring is AH-MAZING.  

Tech Time ::: Apple Keynote, October 22

My my my, did Apple unveil quite a lot on October 22! I am quite a bit behind on my reporting!

Videos via Apple's YouTube Channel

Must Try ::: My Hearty Beef Stew

Recipe and all photos by and for use exclusively by {accordingtoame}

If you wish to reproduce these images or this recipe, please contact me.

Now that Fall has finally arrived in the Midwest, and it's November(!!), my husband has requested that stew be made for dinner again.  I am one of those people who believes that chili and stew and most soups just are not year-round foods, so I reserve them for fall and winter and early spring.  With the temperatures going down, and a few mornings being quite frosty already, it's finally time to break out the crock pot and brew up some stew.  

See what I did there....yea I know, I rolled my eyes too.

Weekend Update ::: What's in a Number?

I hope you are all recovering from the sugar-fueled festivities of last night! I know I am still recovering from my Girls Weekend, and a brewing cold of some kind, so that sugar coma kind of just piled on! 

That video kinda sums me up right now...but it was WORTH IT.

Test Driven ::: Nice & Easy Root Touchup

All photos by {accordingtoame}

I have walked by this box and have seen the pretty convincing commercials for years now, and couldn't convince myself to try it. There wasn't really a red shade that worked for me, and the closest one, Light Auburn, sure looked awfully brown on the box, in a way that made me nervous. But I figured the only way to know if it was going to work was to try it. So I did.

Must Unplug :::

Photo by Thomas J. Story, Sunset.com 

After a ridiculously fabulous "Girls Weekend" in Minneapolis with my ... uh ... girls,  I am taking a day, maybe a couple, off blogging to catch up on work and generally lay around and do nothing.  

I hate that we live so far apart and can't see each other more often than a couple times a year. But at least more pages in the notebook were filled up and I got some Juicy Nookie and sweet potato fries. 

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Fashion Fix ::: Style Star, Carolina Herrera

Photo: Harper's Bazaar

Few women possess the talent and otherworldly elegance of the inimitable Carolina Herrera. She is an icon in fashion, an absolute beauty, and is simply one of the chicest women on earth.  

My Travel Basics ::: Ninja-Packing 102--Toiletries

All Photos: by {accordingtoame}

Previously, on My Travel Basics...Our heroine described at long-length how she plans, lays out, and packs her clothing and odds and ends into her travel bag as she prepares to jet off on a weekend adventure.  This episode joins our heroine as she packs her hair and makeup essentials, of which there are many.  Let's join the show, already in progress.

Wednesday Wow ::: Office Tour of Lucky Editor Eva Chen

All photos: Dominomag.com

So as I have mentioned recently, Domino magazine came back, and it's back in a big way. The new issue with new material is stellar, and despite being deemed "Holiday 2013", it isn't overtly "holiday" in a way that makes me want to barf.  Which is good, since I am more Scrooge McDuck than Fa-la-la-la-la.

Tech Time ::: Intro to Google Voice

Videos: GoogleVoice YouTube

After generally avoiding Google Voice for, oh, several years now, I finally made the switch recently, when one of my two cellular lines was out of contract. I didn't want to lose the number, but I mostly forwarded that line to my other one to avoid carrying two devices around.  I made the choice to port my older number, the out of contract line, to Google Voice, so that I could keep it, while getting that line off of my monthly service plan, and in turn, save some money every month, something I generally suck at doing. 

My Travel Basics ::: Ninja-Packing 101--Clothes

All Photos: by {accordingtoame}

I wouldn't call myself a seasoned traveler.  Most of my travel has been for leisure, with only a small amount related to work.  Despite that, I developed quite a system for when we travel now, involving extensive use of varying sizes of Ziploc bags. But because of my self-taught ninja organization, we can often carry on one duffle bag with everything packed neatly inside, and a smaller duffle for little odds and ends/my purse, and almost never deal with checking bags, even for a week-long trip for two!

Weekend Update:::

Photo: Yahoo TV

::: This evening marks the end of a 10 year run of What Not to Wear and I am, like, already crying. I have all three hours of the festivities set to record, and I already know that I will go through a box of kleenex watching even a minute of it.  While a lot of things have happened in the last decade, these two amazing icons that are Stacy and Clinton have been there preaching FIT and kindly helping women and a few men get it together in the style department all along. I am looking forward to seeing hopefully all of the past contributors and how well they've kept their style up since they've worked with the team.  Looking back at old episodes it's just amazing to see even how much Stacy and Clinton have changed.

Totally Obsessed ::: Restoration Hardware Flat Iron Dining Table

All photos: Restoration Hardware

Since laying eyes on this magnificent table from Restoration Hardware, I have been LUSTING for it for my own dining room slash assembly table.  I have had it bookmarked since it came to my attention, and every once in a while, I'll go visit the link and day dream about the chairs I might put with it, and the meals I might eat sitting at it.

Loving Right Now :::

Photos: Beautycounter.com, SoniaKashuk.com, Nordstrom.com, 

WhitneyEnglish.com, SnackFactory.com, Collage by Me.

Tech Time ::: 1Password4 for Mac

Photos: Me, of my app and my desktop. Yea, sorry about your eyes.

Back in June, I posted about an iOS Password Management app that was pretty pleased with, but wasn't as enamored with the Mac desktop version of.  As a reader of their blog, and several other tech blogs, I knew that AgileBits was hard at work on a new version that included several updates that took care of most, if not all, of my complaints. 

Lo and behold, just a couple weeks ago, Agile Bits released the newest version of 1Password for Mac into the wild. 1Password4 for Mac so far seems to have been everything I was expecting it to be, and more.  

Must Try ::: Five Star Burger in Clayton, MO

Photo: Found on Google Image, unsure of original source since it came up several times.

Last weekend, I convinced my husband to check out a newish burger joint here in St. Louis, called Five Star Burgers, which I had read a lot about, and was dying to try.  It was decidedly not on plan, and definitely not low-carb, and not exactly conveniently located.  We threw caution to the wind, piled ourselves into the car and headed out.

Fashion Fix ::: Girl's Night Out with Clinton Kelly!

Photo from Macy's. Note that I am hiding behind the table/flower arrangement. 

That's because the color of that awesome C. Wonder cardi would sear your eyeballs.

Trust me, you're thankful that you can still see. I love that cardi, but holy damn it's bright.

Last Friday I mentioned that I would be attending an event at Macy's with Clinton Kelly, from What Not to Wear and The Chew.  I have to report that it was AMAZING!  Really, though, what else would you expect, he's freakin' fabulous!