Another One Bites The Dust

Happy Monday!  I spent this past weekend in Richmond, at Sarah's wedding.  Despite the raging heat (95 degrees the last weekend in September), it was a beautiful day, and I'm so excited for Sarah and Travis to officially start their lives together!

I played paparazzi and took around 700 pictures... I'm such a stalker.  It was a bit of a challenge since I was also a bridesmaid, but I had fun.  I need to go through and edit a bunch of these pictures, but here are the raw versions for now.  Enjoy!

Getting pretty :)

It's not a wedding without hairspray and a curling iron!

 

Something old....

Something new...



Something blue :)

Dress time!  This is when I started getting (sympathy) butterflies...

It was a team effort!

It's all in the details.



Bridesmaid's bouquets.

Boutonnieres.

Grandmothers' pins.

Bride's bouquet.  So pretty!

Everyone's bouquets :)

The Flower Girls.  Adorable.

And the Ring Bearer.  Such a flirt!

Getting ready to walk down the aisle...

Since I was actually in the ceremony, I don't have any pictures of it.  The rest are post-nuptials :)

MARRIED!!!!

And very happy about it!!!

Family portrait time.

Sarah, you are beautiful!

Proud mother of the bride!

And proud father of the bride!

First dance!

Candy bar.

Cupcake love.

Cake love.

After the cake cutting.

And everyone danced the night away...

Retail Therapy

Ever have one of those days when retail therapy seems to be just what the doctor ordered?  Saturday was one of those days! 

It started when I headed down to Fredericksburg for a hair appointment.  I met up with Sarah at the salon (we've been to the same stylist since college), and I left with new shampoo and conditioner:

Each bottle was 50% off and they last for months, so it's all good.  Purology products are great -- they use menthol which makes your scalp feel tingly.  And the company doesn't test on animals, hooray.

Afterward leaving the salon, we headed over to the new Village at Spotsylvania Towne Center to look for makeup for Sarah's upcoming nuptials.  We stopped at Sephora which is daaaangerous for me.  I did my best to be a good friend and focus on makeup for Sarah, but I couldn't help finding a few items I liked as well.  Thank goodness Sarah is understanding of my condition :)

I've always liked Stila's line of makeup, but never really tried any of their products because of the price tag.  Man, I've been missing out.  I splurged a bit...

Stila's Starlight Eye Shadow.  So pretty, and it definitely brightens my eyes and is still appropriate for work. 

Stila's Onyx Convertible Eye Color.  I really just bought this do-da for the eye pencil.  It's nice having the built in eye shadow but the pencil goes on really smoothly and is the easiest to use of any I've tried.  It's definitely a good starter eye pencil for newbies :)

Stila's Melon Mint Plumbing Lip Glaze.  Pretty!

And last but not least, Coconut Frosting bubble bath.  I love having a tub again...not sure how I went without one for the last year.  This stuff is great, if you like coconut.

I spent the rest of the day hangin' out with my main squeeze:

Cooper's been spending lots of time in his crate lately, so he was happy to get out and romp around. He is such a goofball.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

xoxo,
Olivia

Hello, August

Hi everyone!  It's been a while, hope you are well :)

So last week was little rough... for multiple reasons.  Needless to say, I was super happy when Friday finally rolled around.  Since my friend Ashley had an equally bad week, I invited her over for dinner on Friday and made The Pioneer Woman's Chicken Parmigiana.  If you've ever tried anything PW, you know it was fabulous comfort food!

I changed the recipe a bit (blasphemous, I know) by using SmartBalance instead of butter, and only using around 20 oz. of crushed tomatoes and 8 oz. of diced tomatoes.  I also cut down to 1 teaspoon of sugar instead 2 tablespoons.  It still turned out great!

 (Source)

On Saturday, one of my besties was in town from Baltimore.  I had tickets for one of the semifinal matches of the Legg Mason Tennis Classic, so after hanging out and catching up for a bit, we headed out.  The match was Marco Baghdatis v. Xavier Malisse.  I've never been to professional tennis match, and it was a blast!

We had great seats -- Baghdatis was right in front of us!

The pros serve at 120+ miles per hour.  Insane.

 And then a courtside switch.  Hello, Malisse.

It was a "cool" low-90s day in DC, but we baaaaked sitting out in the sun.  We whimped out and left after an hour, but it was fun watching while we lasted.  Baghdatis ended up winning the match, but unfortunately lost to David Nalbandian in the finals.

I spent most of Sunday playing catch up on work, and recovering from yesterday's brutal workout.  My usual trainer is on vacation, and the sub-trainer kicked my ass.  And I got my first intro to kettlebells.  I thought they were fun at the time, but man am I feeling it today.  Have you ever tried these? 

Brutal, which means they're doing their job!  I also finally joined a gym in DC, since I'm in the area for a least awhile.  I've taken both spinning and yoga at the gym before, and I'm excited to have regular gym access again. 

I'm off to watch the first NFL preseason game (even if it means watching the Cowboys).  Football season makes me incredibly happy :)  Let's go REDSKINS!!!

xoxo,
Olivia

WIN!

Congrats to Emily from The Culinary Couple for winning the $50 Macy's gift card!  Just shoot me your address via Direct Message on Twitter and I'll mail it out ASAP :-)

Emily (along with Mrs. Foot from The Proudfeet) suggested that I download Katy Perry's "Califonia Gurls" for my new workout playlist.  Well I did, and I love this song!  But it totally gets stuck in my head all day :)

Thanks to everyone that entered!  I really appreciate your input, and I loved all of your suggestions.  In case you're interested, here's my new workout playlist in full:

It's quite a mixed bag -- I have such random taste in music!  Enjoy :)

xoxo,
Olivia

Going Hollywood

There's a new love in my life, and it came to me in the form of tape.  That's right, tape.  I was having a bit of wardrobe malfunction at work last week, wearing this shirt I recently purchased from Banana Republic:

Doesn't it look great on the model?  While I do love the blouse, it's dangerously low cut on me.  For some silly reason, I decided to wear the blouse last Friday when I had a special event for work, but spent most of the day fidgeting with it. 

I was joking around with one of my co-workers to please keep an eye out for any inappropriate flashing on my end, and she suggested I try using fashion tape to keep the neckline from slipping.  I was not enthusiastic about the idea (tape, really?), but since she had some in her purse, I gave it a shot.

The tape is called Hollywood Fashion Tape.  And holy moly, this stuff is amazeballs!  The double-sided strips are really thin (and clear) and stick to skin/clothing without leaving any residue.  Plus, they come in a little tin that doesn't take up much room in a bag.  I just put two small pieces inside the neckline of the shirt where I wanted it to sit, and wa-la, the shirt didn't budge for the rest of the evening.  Love it!  I definitely suggest checking out the product if you have any clothing that tends to slip and you're looking for a quick fix.  They have some other cool stuff on the site too.  Olivia and fashion tape, sitting in a tree... :)

If you haven't already, don't forget to enter the giftcard giveaway!  Only three people have submitted their songs so far, so you're changes are goooood.  Last day to enter is next Monday, July 26th.

xoxo,
Olivia

You + Favorite Song = $50 Macy's Giftcard

Here's the deal.  Now that I'm getting back into a regular workout routine, I need help creating a new playlist... one that will keep me motivated when I just want to keel over and give up.  You know the feeling!

(Source)

I love all the music on my iPod, but it's been awhile since I downloaded new songs.  Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled when "Ice Ice Baby" comes up on the shuffle, but it's time for an upgrade.  Word to your mother.

So, I need your help!  I'm offering a $50 Macy's Giftcard giveaway (I've never done this before, so I'm learning by example from some of my fellow bloggers) if you share your all-time favorite workout song. 

It can be anything you want, as long as it's available for download on iTunes (I miss you, Limewire).  My current favorite is Nelly Furtado's "Say it Right."  Somewhat of an oldie, but a goodie. 

You can enter the giveaway by telling me your favorite song via commenting on this post or send me a Tweet (@ozoellner).  And, a bonus submission will be given if you tweet and/or blog about the giveaway and let me know that you did so!

I'll announce the winner on Monday, July 26th :)

xoxo,
Olivia

Golden Girls

I was browsing my Twitter feed yesterday during lunch, and an update from Self Magazine immediately caught my eye:

At first I just thought "well, duh" but then I got to thinking about how scientific one can be when relating friendship to overall health.  I read the article online, and thought it was really interesting.

Self claims that, among other things:

• Close friendships help women live longer (socializing positively impacts health)
• Our friends are often the best support for helping us get out of health ruts (I can attest to that!)
• Women with close friends are happier
• Women with close friends are more likely to survive breast cancer

That last one really hit me... 

So, I'd like to take a minute to say how appreciative I am of having such a wonderful, supportive, and caring group of golden girls around me.  I don't think I say it enough, but I love you all dearly and thank you for everything!  Whether it's giving me advice with my financial um, bumps... getting up at the crack of dawn for hiking, spinning, a walk, etc. or just being there when the going gets tough, THANK YOU.  I hope that I'm at least half as good a friend in return (because that would still make me super awesome).

xoxo,
Olivia