Chicago!

Woohoo! I just booked a weekend trip to Chicago with Andy! We are going over my birthday weekend (August 14-16). This will only be my second trip to Chicago, and the first time doesn't really count because I was probably 10 years old. So I need your help! If you have gone there recently, or even better, live there, what places should we visit? Any restaurants we should try? Is it a rip off to go on a boat tour? I want to try and squeeze as much as possible into the weekend, so your advice and tips would really be appreciated! Thanks!

La Belle Vie

Lately, I've been thinking about the title of my blog. La belle vie. The beautiful life...If you know me at all, you know that I am obsessed with all things French. I have been enamored with the french language since I was in eighth grade. I visited France in the summer before eleventh grade and fell in love. I fell in love with the history, architecture, the people and culture, and even a boy. Going to France literally changed my life, and helped me to appreciate life so much more. So when I decided to start a blog I asked myself, what do I love the most? My answer? France and life. I always liked the phrase, la belle vie, and even considered getting it as a tattoo (for a very brief period of time)..I'm glad I just chose the blog name instead). So La Belle Vie was born.

I initially started this blog as a way to organize my thoughts and keep track of things I enjoy. It's evolved a lot since my first post, and I hope it continues to change and grow. Sometimes I think my posts are pointless and mindless. Sometimes I feel pressured to post everyday. Sometimes I don't think I'm creative enough. Sometimes I want to put more of myself into my blog, but then I realize my blog is a version of myself. It combines things I enjoy, things that make me happy, and things that inspire me which really echo into my life. If I post an outfit, I usually try to emulate that. If I post a recipe, I'll remind myself to attempt it. I think that is what's so great about blogs. Yea at times, we might want our blog (and lives) to resemble the cool graphic designers, or the hip fashionista's...But at the end of the day, we're all blogging to have fun, and each of our blogs and lives are beautiful and unique in their own ways.

Wednesday Wonderings

Who is your least favorite designer/collection?

I'm going to have to say Christian Audigier for Ed Hardy..double yuck!

The Kindle

I am intrigued by the Kindle. It is an electronic reading device that can hold up to 1,500 books. Like I said yesterday, I love books and I have a huge collection, but when I travel I am usually lugging around 3 or 4 really heavy books. I think the Kindle would be perfect for traveling, but that might be the only time I would use it.

Do you have one, or know anyone who has one? Thoughts?

Bookshelves

I have a lot of books, and plan on adding much more to my collection. My dream house will have a room covered in bookshelves. Sigh.

Taylor Swift concert

Here's a quick rundown of the Taylor Swift concert:

1. Taylor is adorable, puts on a great show, and is great live! She seems so genuine and is a great role model for young girls.
2. I wish I knew more of the lyrics. I hated that I didn't know every lyric to every song (like I did at The Veronicas...I guess I'm just a tad more obsessed with them). But now I'm motivated to listen to her music more and learn the words.
3. Kellie Pickler was amazing! That girl can belt it out.
4. My favorite song performed was Love Story.
5. I would definitely recommend seeing her in concert
6. Be on the lookout for massive hair flipping and flailing.

mid hair flip

7. We were pretty much in the highest row, so I didn't get the best pics!

Taylor, Kellie, and Gloriana

HP update

I'm heading to Columbus tonight for Taylor Swift! I wanted to let you know that Harry Potter was amazing! Trust me, I'm as die hard as they come and I loved it. There were some minor changes, but what do you expect. You have to somewhat consider the movies and books as different entities to appreciate both. Even if your not a Harry fan, you would probably like it. That's all for now. Enjoy your weekend!

Wednesday Wonderings

Lisa

The Veronicas concert last night was AMAZING (although I still feel like there is cotton stuffed in my ears). I had so much fun. This was the first time I've seen someone in concert that I am actually obsessed with. Literally I've had their CD in my car since May. They are so talented and it was so great to see in person. The venue was tiny too, and we were really close, so it was an awesome experience.

belting out Heavily Broken

So this leads me to wonder, who is your favorite band or singer?

The time has come!

This week is amazing for 3 reasons:

1. The Veronicas concert tonight

2. Harry Potter tomorrow

3. Taylor Swift on Friday

yessssssssssssss!

Header Tutorial

Picnik is a great photo editing website, which I had the stroke of genius to use to create a new header. Lindsay requested a tutorial, so here it is!

1. upload a photo: First you have to decide if you want a solid background, or a picture as your background. If you don't want a picture in your background, it doesn't matter what picture you upload because you are going to change the settings so that the picture disappears. If you do want a picture background, you don't have to follow these steps.

2. edit: Choose the exposure tab, then select contrast and drag it to -100. You should see a gray background. Click ok to save your progress.

3. create: Now comes the easy and fun stuff! In the create tab, scroll through the featured effects on the left hand side. Select tint. This will change the background to the color of your choice. Hit apply to save your progress. Once you do that, you can add text, frames, borders, or whatever you want!

4. save & upload: Select the save and share tab. I changed the file name so it would be easy to find. You might want to play around with the size (edit tab/resize). I wanted a more rectangular header so I did 700 x 300 (make sure you un-check "keep proportions").

See pretty easy right? Now you are ready to upload to blogger! Hope this helps!

New Blogs

I told you guys last week that I've found some great new blogs that I wanted to share so here they are:

Inchmark: the blog of the former art director from Martha Stewart..enough said

I Suwannee: bookcase of the day = heaven

dress design decor: combination of fashion, interior & graphic design

Color me Katie: Katie is an incredible artist and has the best outlook on life.. look through her archives

Then I got to thinking...: Tracy has such a cute, fun blog (and she's getting married!)

foodgawker: I've used this site for awhile, but if you don't you must NOW!!

ps. thanks for all the nice comments about the new header!

New Header!

I've been wanting a new header for awhile but never knew how to create my own. I was even contemplating paying for someone else to design one for me, but I finally found a website to make my own. I've used Picnik to edit pictures before and it was perfect for creating a custom header. I wanted something simple, yet cheery and I'm happy with the results! What do you guys think of the new look?

Love..

I can't believe that instead of being really sick of blazers, I still love them. I am still dying for a pair of nude pumps too. I think when I finally get a real job that may or may not be my first big splurge.

On a side note, here is another reason to love Emma Watson. She gives a great interview, and is so humble and gracious. If I were on Letterman (in my dreams) I'd be the one with awkward and nervous laughter.



Enjoy your weekend!

Battle of the British Beauties

Kate Winslet and Rachel Weisz cover Harper's Bazaar next month (American & UK). They are both stunning women and excellent actresses, but who is the better cover model?

See more of Kate here, and more of Rachel here.
I prefer Rachel's cover, but Kate's photos. What do you think?

images via justjared.com & harpersbazaar.com

Wednesday Wonderings

If you could be a made up character in any fictional book, what book would you pick?

I would pick the Harry Potter series so I could go to Hogwarts!

Perfect Summer Dress

I am officially on the hunt for a look a like dress. This dress is adorable! It is light and airy, and can easily be dressed up or down. Plus it's blue. Always a winner in my book.

A Few Things..

Harry Potter 6 premiered in London, and even though it was raining, the cast Emma looks amazing! Ok, so Rupert looks pretty cute too, but I'm not digging Daniel's look.
I had a nice weekend. Andy turned 23 on Friday so we went downtown to a couple of bars. He got an i-phone for his birthday, and I'm sorta jealous (but I'll just steal it..shhh). I ended up buying him some random gifts (a lobster beach towel, calphalon knife) and made him some chocolate covered pretzels. I also found this poster for him: I chose Boston since he grew up there, but they have a wide range of cities to choose from.We had a low key fourth of July. We grilled some weenies on the fire, made s'mores and watched the fireworks. It actually ended up being pretty perfect. How was your fourth of July weekend?

I'm on a work out kick again (3 weeks til the beach!) but my parents won't pay for my gym pass anymore so I've been doing work out videos. Tony Horton kicks my butt! At least he's nice to look at.
I'm re-reading the Twilight series for the 5th time. I have a serious problem.
Hope you are all doing well. I'll post again soon, I've been slacking lately!

Happy Forth of July!

Wishing all of my American readers a happy Fourth of July! We have great weather in Ohio, so I hope you do too!

Festive Fourth of July Treats

The Fourth of July has always been one of my favorite holidays. Nothing beats a yummy barbecue on a nice summer day. And who can resist sparklers? Here are some festive treats that will liven up your meal!

American Flag Tart

Punch Parasols

Berry Cupcakes

Red, White, and Blue Parfaits

Berry Trifle

images via marthastewart.com