Happy Halloween!

To all the east coasters / anyone affected by Hurricane Sandy... I hope you're okay! Stay safe, please!

Here on the west coast, we have a much more normal Halloween this year. Got a few trick or treaters so far tonight, which just reminds me that I am one of the most awkward people on the planet. I actually opened the door to the first group of trick or treaters, but I was too nervous to speak... except to mumble "take a few." They were all very polite and thanked me... hah. I'm such a spaz sometimes.

Anyway, I wanted to share some of the beautiful Halloween decorations I've seen businesses put up this month!

I loved the cute pumpkins and lights put up by the little coffee stand near my work!

Remember Impress? They added these cute Halloween cutouts to their window display!

And... my favorite cupcake shop went all out! I'll be doing a more extensive post about it soon.

Happy Halloween, everyone!

Fireworks Galore!

The evening of July 4th, we went to downtown Spokane and watched the fireworks. I found out I had a "fireworks" setting on my camera... very cool!

We heard that at a San Diego firework show, the fireworks somehow misfired and all went off at once instead of being carefully timed to last fifteen minutes. That would be one intense show! And several cities in states with wildfire problems this summer banned fireworks (the kind you use at home).

For anyone in America on the Fourth, did you go out and watch the fireworks?

Red, White, and Blue... and new hair!

Yes, I know July 4th was last week. The weekend was a fun, crazy blur of friends, BBQ, indie, and bug bites. More on that later. Jacob and I visited his family in Spokane last week. We had a great time! When we arrived, the weather was odd for summer in Spokane - some clouds, colder than usual, and rain drops. Luckily, the skies kindly cleared up for everyone's Independence Day celebrations. We had a delicious barbecue feast before meeting up with our friends to watch the fireworks. Of course, I realized on July 2nd that I had failed to bring a festive outfit for the holiday. No worries! We had shopping planned for the 3rd, so I picked up almost my entire outfit then. =)

Oh, and I thought this would be a fun chance to show off my new hair!

It was a little hard to capture in the photos, but I did red, white, and blue eyeshadow. Mostly using Sugarpill makeup. I promise I'm not just squinting.

You may not be able to tell easily, but there are six colors in my hair. Red, orange, pink, blue, green, black. Done by Antonio at Coco & Co Salon in Seattle.

Me: "I want rainbow hair!"

Antonio: "Let's do this!"

At least that's how it went in my head. I was too excited about it to remember exact words.

Festive gold glittered July 4th nails!

Me: "I'm going to swish my head. Try to take a picture REALLY fast so I can show off my rainbow hair!"
Jacob: "Ok. One, two three..." *Whoosh*!

... this is the best we got.

Outfit
Red tank top - Express
Necklace, earrings, blue top, white skirt - Vivo
Red glitter belt - Apricot Lane

Polishes
Fingernails - Essie "Beach Bum Blu" (blue) + Essie "As Gold As It Gets" (gold glitter)
Toenails - OPI "I'm Really Not a Waitress" (red) + Essie "As Gold As It Gets" (gold glitter)

By the way, Vivo is my new favorite store. I bought four tops, one skirt, and an earring/necklace set for under $100, including tax! Everything there is adorable too. Too bad it isn't located near me!

Also, if you're at River Park Square in Spokane, WA, check out Apricot Lane (where I picked out my red glitter belt, which was really purchased by Jacob's mom as part of my birthday gift). Adorable, family-owned boutique full of colorful things!

Happy Independence Day, America!

It's that time of year again, here in the USA... where the red, white and blue starts popping up everywhere. Like so many American families, I used to go down to the waterfront with my parents and two brothers to watch the fireworks. This year, I am in Eastern Washington visiting Jacob's family, so I guess it will be something new (for me). Happy Independence Day, America - and here's a little tribute to you!

Red, white, and blue bundt cake with sprinkles? Yes, please!

Yeah, more cake. You can never have too much, right? This delicious flag cake looks almost too good to eat! Almost. =)

Metallic Independence Day nails. So cool and a little superhero-like.

Fun Independence Day Strawberries!

Trust Katy Perry to take the flag and wear it as a latex dress! Hehe.

Fun craft - starry paper lanterns.

And... a little preview of a jewelry collection I will be launching later this year! Modeled by Bree Vargas. Isn't her Jessica Louise sailor dress so perfect for July 4?

Visit my Pinterest board for more fun Independence Day inspiration! For my U.S. readers... do you have any fun July 4 plans?