TURN IT UP TUESDAYS . . . NYE PARTY SONGS



image source



On this week's Turn it Up Tuesdays I've compiled a list of songs that are sure to be rockin for New Years Eve.


Here's my list of some classic and current songs for New Years Eve (in no particular order).

1.  The Rolling Stones - Start Me Up

2.  Britney Spears - Work B**tch

3.  Justin Timberlake - Take Back the Night

4.  U2 - New Year's Day

5.  Benny Benassi (ft. John Legend) - Dance the Night Away

6.  Calvin Harris - Sweet Nothing

7.  Ella Fitzgerald - What Are You Doing New Years Eve

8.  Don Omar - Danza Kuduro

9.  Lady Gaga - Applause

10.  Glen Miller - Auld Lang Syne


What are some of your favorites?

Wishing you and yours a safe and Happy New Years.  May 2014 bring you lots of joy and happiness and nothing but good things!  Thanks for following along.

xo

NYE's PARTY IDEAS (DRESS AND DECOR)

Hope everyone enjoyed the weekend.  I spent the weekend packing up all of my Christmas stuff and reorganized all of my bins to put away for next year.

I've been feeling a bit run down with all the hustle and bustle of the holidays.  I wasn't able to take any time off of work so it's catching up with me.  One more holiday to go . . .

New Years Eve is tomorrow and I wanted to share some great ideas for NYE dress and décor.  Whether you're staying indoors with love ones or dressing up and going out on the town, the main ticket items are sequins and sparkle.  And the colors are silver, gold and black.

Here are some inspiration photos I've rounded up:



via The Sweetest Occasion
 

image via Southern Fried Paper Blog ('08)

image via Revolve Clothing




Christian Louboutin Black Satin Pumps



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image via Southern Fried Paper Blog ('08)

Sue Wong strapless embroidered dress

 

Jimmy Choo Metallic Sandal with crystals



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Whatever your plans are, be safe and enjoy!
xo



TURN IT UP TUESDAYS . . . CHRISTMAS/HOLIDAY EDITION

image via Flickr

On this week's Turn it Up Tuesdays, it's only fitting that I share some of my favorite Christmas songs.  I remember as a child, my mother played songs when decorating the tree; like The Chipmunks album and Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" album (one of my favorite Christmas albums).

Some of my other favorite songs are:

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year by Andy Williams

O Holy Night by Nat King Cole

Winter Wonderland by Eurythmics

Do They Know It's Christmas by Band Aid

Wishing you and your family all the best this holiday season. 

MY CHRISTMAS TABLESCAPE FOR 2013

  

 

Happy Monday BFs (blogger friends).  What a busy weekend!! 

 

I'm finally able to sit down and share with you my Christmas tablescape.  This year, I created a soft, simple color scheme: rose gold, creams, greens with accent touches of blue/green.  The jumping off for my color scheme was a tablecloth I purchased from Wisteria last year (on sale).  I knew I had to create a look with this beautiful tablecloth.  The second inspiration was a snowflake tie-on I purchased at The Container Store, along with wired ribbon.  And, I found the perfect ornament plates from HomeGoods!  I pulled these looks together, along with some old decorations used in previous table designs.  Adding baby's breath flowers around the garland with white lights, completed this Christmas table setting.

 

 

Ikat napkins from West Elm (sold out); rose gold flatware (West Elm); ribbon, The Container Store; ornament plates from HomeGoods

 

Majestic Reindeer (sitting) in gold (currently sold out in gold) but others on sale at Z Gallerie

Majestic Reindeer in gold from Z Gallerie (currently sold out); snowflake ornament from The Container Store

 

Added gold letter stickers to plain candle holders and added faux snow

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays . . .

xo

 

GIVING AND RECEIVING

image via website here

It's Hump Day!  Today I will be volunteering my lunch hour (once a week) to read to a child at a local school.    I joined the program, Power Lunch (through Everybody Wins!).  The program was offered through my job.

Everybody Wins! New York is a nonprofit literacy and mentoring organization that began in 1991.  Their mission is to encourage young children to believe they can succeed in school and in life.  If I can give a little bit of my time to help a child, then why not.  I think we both will remember this experience and I hope we both learn something from each other.

I'm looking forward to meeting my mentee.  The child I'm paired with is also giving up his recess to be part of this program.  He actually requested to join Power Lunch.  From what I know, he is a fourth grader who loves drawing, crafts, tv, computer games and playing outside.  I'm sure I'll have stories about my new friend and our experience together through reading.  If you would like to more about this organization, you can check out their website here

xo

TURN IT UP TUESDAYS . . .Folk, Rock and Soul

 AMOS LEE

Amos Lee (photo via website here)

On this week's Turn it Up Tuesday is musician, singer-song writer, Amos Lee.

Lee was born Ryan Anthony Massaro in Philadelphia, PA.  He was a second grade school teacher and bartender before pursuing a musical career.  It was during his college yeas that he developed an interest in music and was inspired by John Prine (specifically, the album, Great Days).

Lee is described as a male version of singer, Norah Jones.  He has a folksy, bluesy sound with a country twang.  Lee's voice is soulful!  This is what one New York Times music critic described Lee:

"Amos Lee has a honeyed singing voice — light amber, mildly sweet, a touch of grain — and the tendency to feature it squarely, without much fuss or undue strain." (quote taken from here)

He is very passionate about his music and when he sings, you can tell it comes from a place deep within. 

Lee has recorded five albums.  The popular ones you may have heard are Violin and Arms of a Woman.

His fifth album recently released in October, entitled "Mountains of Sorrow, Rivers of Song").  Songs from the new album are: Johnson Boulevard and Chill in the Air.  You can also watch the album trailer Mountains of Sorrow, Rivers of Song

Here are some of my favorites from his different albums:

Mission Bell album:  Learned A Lot, Behind Me Now and El Camino (featuring Willie Nelson) and Jesus.  I love how they are all sitting around in a circle just singing and playing . . . jamming to the music!

Last Days at the Lodge album:  Street Corner Preacher  (great a sense of the mix of folk, rock and soul) and my other favorite song, Windows are Rolled Down
 
If you haven't heard of Amos Lee, I hope I've inspired you to add him to your playlist.

xo

GIFT GUIDE: For the Hostees

 

Hope everyone had a nice weekend.  We were hit with snow and ice rain, so I spent most of the weekend indoors.  But, I was able to do some online shopping for gifts (since the weather was bad). 

There are still days left to shop for the holidays.  Going to someone's house for dinner?  Not sure what to get someone who has it all?  Here are some great gift finds for the hostess. 

xo

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CHRISTMAS TREE FOR 2013

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our Christmas tree is up . . . check!

 

I have to admit, what a nice feeling it is to come home, plug in the lights and admire the twinkling lights and shimmering ornaments.  Our tree is decorated in silver and gold with creams/white ornaments. I wanted to incorporate a minty color but had such a hard time finding ornaments in the exact color I was looking for.  I was able to incorporate a little bit of that color for my tablescape (which is currently in the works).  Stay tuned . . .

 

What's missing are the presents under the tree.  With my crazy work schedule (twelve hours a day, including commuting), I haven't had a chance to shop.  I need to accomplish that this weekend.  With all the wrapping paper I purchased, you would think I would show something (lol).  I honestly had one gift to wrap and didn't want to take a picture of one little, lonely present under the tree.

 

I might add and/or tweak the tree, but for now our tree is showing off it's look in our home.

 

Here are some close ups of these beauties . . .

 



 

 

 

 

Wishing everyone a nice weekend.

 

xo

GIFT IDEAS FOR THE COFFE LOVER

Okay . . . There are two weeks left till Christmas! Where did the time go? I'm not officially in panic mode but I'm approaching it.

I was searching online for gifts and came across some pretty coffee cups.  I'm a coffee lover and very particular about how I take my coffee.  I have a system. And yes, I'm addicted. 

Here are some great items for you coffee lovers. . . to give to family and friends or yourself.

I have #4 and #5.  I'm loving the coffee cups napkin from West Elm.

xo

1// 2// 3// 4// 5// 6// 7// 8// 9// 10//

DECORATING WITH ORNAMENTS

We purchased our Christmas tree over the weekend. With that came the job of pulling out the Christmas bins we had stored away.

I purchased a few new ornaments to hang on our tree. I don't have any "family" ornaments passed down to me, so my collection increases each year. I also like to use my ornaments in different places each year. For example, depending on my tablescape theme and color, I will use ornaments for the table display. 

There are many ways to decorate with ornaments. Your are not limited to just the tree. You can use ornaments to decorate a bowl for an easy holiday display; use it to decorate a wreath; decorate a lantern, vase or jar; use them as name tag holders; use them as an accessory when wrapping presents and decorate your mantle.  These are just some examples.  The ideas of displaying your ornaments are endless.   

Here are some great inspiration pictures to give you ideas.

Love this display (image via Ten June blog found here)

 



So simple and elegant with the glass domes (image via website here)



Image via BHG here






You can create glass ball topiaries (image via here)




image via website here



image via website here

Have you decorated your tree?  What are some other uses for displaying your ornaments?

I'm still adding the final touches to our tree and hope to share them with you this week.  Here's a sneak peek at what I've added so far.



Ornament (ball on left from Bloomingdales); other ornament I don't recall



Ornament (paper mache ball) from Pottery Barn and frosted glass icicle purchased last year

xo