New Lush, New Shoes, New High Prices!

Hey everyone! I am guilty of being so super busy lately that I have neglected this blog beyond reason. With the holidays and working overtime at work, I pretty much sleep, work, eat and repeat. Hopefully after the holidays things will slow down and I'll go back to my once a day post. I actually have been slightly frustrated with a business I've been recently trying to contact to order my shirts for Embrace Couture. They say that you can request a quote and send them e-mails and they respond within a business day or the for the quote within few business days. I've been trying to get in touch with them for a couple weeks now and no answer. Not the best way to run a successful business in my opinion.  I mean wouldn't you think when someone says they want the services you're making a living off of you would jump at the chance? I would! So I'm held up on that and it is pretty frustrating.
My Mistletoe candle has finally run its course and I'm relatively devastated about it. I now have this sucky candle that isn't burning right next to me and I don't smell anything! Christmas is only 8 days away so I didn't want to spend another $25 on a candle I can only burn for about a week. If I was to burn my Mistletoe candle after Christmas, I'm 100% sure I'd get depressed that the holidays are over so I'm not going to do that.
On a happy note, I'm going to LUSH this weekend! Oh! And big news! LUSH is opening a store in the Cherry Hill Mall! Yay! No more driving over the bridge and paying for parking! I realized with the $4 for the toll and the $2 for parking I could buy one big bath bomb! So I'm extremely happy about that. I have no idea when it is opening but it is coming eventually which is really exciting. I had planned on before I move into my apartment to go on a major LUSH shopping spree because money will get a little tighter and I'd love to start a LUSH collection for there. I'm hoping it will be open in Cherry Hill before then so I can go there and not into Philly. I don't love parking there one bit. I've been lucky enough to drag my mom with me every time so she does the parking but I have a feeling if she has a hard time parking again my LUSH ride is going to expire. Tomorrow when I get home I'll type up a LUSH haul and show you what I got. I'm thinking about sticking to their Christmas exclusives, the ones I haven't tried yet, so I don't have to wait a whole year to try them again but we'll see.
Is it just me or has the price of shoes skyrocketed lately? I am a die hard Steve Madden fan for the record. I will swear by his shoes until the day I die. I have one go to black pair that has taken a turn for the worst and looks pretty shabby right now. So I started to price new black heels for work and my god has Steve Madden gone from really affordable to "might have to wait til next paycheck" pricey. Don't get me wrong his pries aren't Jimmy Choo expensive but I was used to getting heels for under $100 and now it just isn't possible. I love shoes. They used to be my favorite thing to buy. Now my love is evenly distributed for everything, shirts, dresses, pants, jeans you name, it I love buying it. Besides underwear and bras. They are hands down my favorite thing to spend money on. I know it is a bit silly if you ask me too. That is just my addiction, can't explain it though. And that is when I turn to my shopping clubs. Luckily there is a sale today for Jessica Simpson black patent leather heels for $36. I'm just going to have to save Steve Madden until later and get these. Can't pass up gorgeous shoes for $36! Well I'll update again tomorrow! Until next time!

Much Love,
Christine for Embrace Couture

Oh YouTube and Your Favorite Videos...

Second blog post today! I'm on a roll! I was initially going to write this one up first but then as you can see below, I went nuts with a more personal blog. Oh well. If anyone else watches YouTube videos, especially the beauty gurus, you know what a favorites video is. It's when they get together all their favorite products of the month and just pretty much tell you about them. It doesn't sound all that great, but I actually look forward to these from the couple of girls that I follow. I just watched AllThatGlitters21, aka Elle Fowler's, favorite videos and of course it lowered my bank account once again. I am an avid online shopper, and avid shopper all together, but somehow almost every month one of the YouTube girls shows me something I didn't know about that I end up really wanting. This month Elle showed me this gorgeous slippers. Now with it getting so cold out all I can think about it how to keep warm. When she went on to say how they were the warmest slippers ever and how they had memory foam, I was like," Crap, now I have to go buy them." And I did. In the gorgeous color called Chino Frost, which is the color hers were. She had the boots version where I got ones that looked more like regular slippers because the bottom of the boots always seem to slide under my feet and I end up walking on top of the "heel" part of the boot and I just hate that. The slippers are made by DearFoams and I don't think I have ever seen them before. I have never really been a big slipper buyer before but it seems this year my house is a lot colder and I really need them! You can get your own at http://www.dearfoams.com/ and when they come in I'll let you know how great they are! So I am convinced these gurus do these favorite videos to make me spend more money and crave animal crackers. However, I will continue to watch them because I really enjoy them and maybe I'll make one someday soon! Until next time!

Much love,
Christine from Embrace Couture

Busy Life I've Been Leading!

So I haven't written a blog post in about a week and I apologize. Around the holidays things can get a little crazy. I wrapped almost all of my Christmas presents, registered for classes, cooked my first successful meal, and worked on some Embrace Couture designs. So let me start by saying I love wrapping presents. I think I had a giant smile on my face and it just kept getting bigger and bigger with every present I wrapped. I'm still waiting on a couple of things to come in but the majority is in and wrapped. The problem has just been storing it. My kitty Edithanne, the most beautiful cat ever, seen in my profile picture, like to chew on beautifully wrapped gifts and ribbon. I've had a hard time keeping things looking as nicely as they did when I first wrapped them. A small price to pay for not panicking that Christmas is less than 3 weeks away because I am done the crazy part. Now I can just sit back, enjoy my Mistletoe candle, and bask in the holiday season.
I also registered for classes, which to me is a huge downer. I'm not really a big school person. I always had an easy time in high school but I wasn't someone who had ever planned to go to college, I was more told I was going. So I tried out several schools and none of them really seemed to be working for me. I liked to work more than I liked to learn but I have decided to go back. I think I have a lot of things going on in my personal life that is making me grow up a little bit more and making me really start to think about my future and what I would like to accomplish. I'll be going part time since I work a full time job and still want to work on Embrace Couture. It shouldn't be too bad, I'm just a little nervous I'll be the same unfocused student I was in previous colleges. Big procrastinator here!
I also made a very successful meal for my boyfriend, my mom, and my sister last week which took up my whole Thursday night. I had to get the stuff to make it and then cook it. My sister was there to keep me calm because I tend to get overwhelmed in the kitchen because I don't completely know what I am doing in there. She did wash the dishes for me which is extremely helpful. I made a fiery fried chicken recipe, sweet potatoes, buffalo mac and cheese and a Caesar salad with bacon and the most delicious croutons ever. I'm pretty sure JJ can't complain that only he can cook now because I proved that when I put my mind to it I can make a very tasty meal. I also made dessert! Smores brownies! Wasn't too fond of them myself but everyone else seemed to like them.
Embrace Couture is coming along quite nicely and I hope to have my first shirt on sale some time in January! I'm so excited. I picked out the shirt, the design, the tag design, and where I'm getting it done. Be on the look out for my website to be posted here and make sure you check it out when it is!
Wow, all that was pretty random and not what I wanted to do this blog post on! I think I'll just post this one and then I'll write up the other one and post it. Two in one day! That should make up for my absence! Until about 30 minutes from now!

Much love,
Christine for Embrace Couture

Victoria's Secret Fashion Show!

Another year gone by and another Victoria's Secret Fashion Show behind us. I love fashion shows all together but my extreme love for underwear makes the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show have a special place in my heart. As much as I missed Miranda Kerr and Heidi Klum this year the show was still amazing! This year wasn't my favorite but I loved the animal/safari part. Also before this show started I wasn't a big fan of Angel Rosie. Now after her personality showed and she didn't look as miserable as usual I have to say she is a lot better than I thought. She is much prettier when she smiles some too! So of course Adriana Lima looked amazing. You can't even tell she had a baby! Alessandra of course was up there too in the most stunning! However Candice might just be my favorite Angel this year. She seems to be much softer than some of the other girls and she just really stands out to me. Didn't lover her plaid outfit but her rocker black one in the beginning and her one with the wings really impressed me. The moment that stole the show had to be when Chanel was given her first set of wings and she started crying. I love all the backstage stuff they show for this fashion show and I really liked that we got to share that moment with her. I was insanely surprised they didn't spotlight the 3 million dollar bra more than they did. It just kind of fit in with the rest of the Swavorski Crystal ones. Either way Adriana looked good in it again. I know she had the honor of wearing it before too.

As far as performances go, Katy Perry didn't really do anything for me. She seemed to have trouble hitting some of her notes the second time she came out. I also can't stand the "California Gurls" song. I just don't like it. I love "Teenage Dream" and she didn't do very well with the 30 seconds she sang of that song. Akon did really well and the song he sang was perfect. Overall I'd give the show a very good review. It will always be a show that shouldn't be missed. Until next time!

Much love,
Christine for Embrace Couture