Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Today is the day!

Remember earlier this month when I mentioned that I was partaking in the little Blogging Party that is circling the blog world?

Well today is the day that we reveal our loot! I have had so much fun getting to know my partner Jessica and I have been very inspired by her. She has not been blogging long but her blog has so much character! I am definitely taking notes!! :)

Well last week she did something that made my day! I received her package!!! I don't think I even took my coat off before I opened that puppy up!




She is so cute! She wrote me a little note explaining her thoughts behind the present!

 Jessica knows me that is for sure! She gave me my favorite things!! I'm obsessed with coffee and I adore Valentine's day so a heart covered mug! Couldn't have been more perfect!!! Really.

And nail polish. Pink and sparkly nail polish. LOVE. I'm a complete nail polish gal. I ALWAYS have it on. It is my special thing. I love having polished nails and I can't stand when one is chipped so I take the time to paint them quite often. I swear in college, especially my senior year I barely slept but darn my nails ALWAYS had nail polish- and not chipped nail polish, on! (ok enough with the CAPS!! bah!)

Now that I have more time and a more relaxing routine I still love the time after I finish painting and all I can do is sit and relax. Sorry can't make dinner. Sorry can't change the laundry. Just need to sit and relax.


I have been rocking this look ever since :)

This blogging party has been so much fun and such a great excuse to spend more time exploring other blogs. There is a special group of women out there who have amazing things to say- I love spending time with them.

Happy Tuesday Sparklers!

XOXO, Elise

Monday, January 30, 2012

I am so proud

I made my very own button!!


I used Photoshop and everything! Boyfriend helped get me started but then I actually made this one all by myself!

Hopefully I will learn how to add it to my side bar soon and you can link up if you want. 
I would love it if you do! 
I would also love any helpful hints to add it to my side bar!!

Thanks Sparklers you are the best!!!

XOXO,
Elise

Friday, January 27, 2012

What I'm Reading...

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The other week when Little and I went to the library I picked up the book Moloka'i by Alan Brennert because it is a One Book, One San Diego novel. There are technically three books for the year but KPBS (our local NPR station) hosts and organizes various events with the authors throughout the year. Do your cities do this type of thing too?

I thought it would be neat for Little and me to read the books then attend the free author presentations.
I know I'm boring but I swear she likes the idea too!

Anyways- I'm kinda obsessed with the book. Here's the basic rundown: "Rachel Kalama, a spirited seven-year-old Hawaiian girl, dreams of visiting far-off lands like her father, a merchant seaman. Then one day a rose-colored mark appears on her skin, and those dreams are stolen from her. Taken from her home and family, Rachel is sent to Kalaupapa, the quarantined leprosy settlement on the island of Moloka'i. Here her life is supposed to end—but instead she discovers it is only just beginning."

Her story is fascinating and heartbreaking. All I can think about is this book and getting back to reading it! I'm basically mentally in Moloka'i- ha! This book is that funny, touching, informative, interesting, etc.

I highly recommend it and if you decide to read it let me know so we can chat about it! I LOVE chatting about good books with friends!

So I know what I'm doing this weekend (plus yoga, a Little outing, and possibly a DIY project) how about you? :)

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Genius

I don't know about you but I don't like looking at certain things. Dirty dishes, an empty gas tank, an empty glass of wine, and tampon boxes.

Until now!!

I just discovered (online of course) an actually attractive box of tampons. Sounds silly writing it- an attractive box of tampons. But come on! If we can have one more pretty thing in our life, something that we have to buy anyways- I'm in!

 In the words of the artist Heda Holschirr- "A necessity should be beautiful. In my rebranding of Always Tampons, I decided to create geometric, less whimsical packaging for a product that women always have at hand. Clean, sharp, strong, and dainty, Always are now what women have been all along. Definitely not something to be hidden under the bathroom sink!


I whole heartedly agree!

What do you think? Now if I could actually find them....

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Delic-erest Pinterest

Happy Wednesday! It's another Oh How Pinterest Wednesday!

Here are some of my favorites lately- they are all a collection of pretty. Pretty in their own way. They all make me happy in their own little way.

I can't help but love an adorable smiling baby!
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I just think the big balloons are so pretty. And the lighting of the picture- whimsy.
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 Nice.
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 I'm really digging midcentury modern right now. And I love this fence and numbers. And the bike. My dream is to be able to walk/bike to work. Someday :)
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 New pony. I'm going to try this sometime soon. Some kind of braid right?
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 Isn't rose gold just pretty.


Monday, January 23, 2012

Little Adventures!

So as I mentioned I am a big sister to a wonderful little eleven year old. Big Brothers Big Sisters did an amazing job matching us. She is so sweet and I am loving getting to know her. I wanted to start sharing our adventures together with you so maybe you will be inspired to reach out and mentor too. I have loved it so far!! :)

Our very first outing was a BBBS ice skating event. Little had never been before but she was so brave and I was so proud of her. It was a really nice first outing for us because we could begin our bond trying something new.

(Sorry no pictures from this event. I don't want to post pictures of her/us together because of her privacy and I didn't take any appropriate ones that night....)

During our first outing we talked about going to Starbucks and then some museums for our next visit. She wanted to take advantage of the holiday flavors and I was definitely interested in that! Something that I was worried about was hyping my 11 year old buddy up on a bunch of caffeine! So when we got there she told me what she wanted and I ordered it without caffeine. I felt a little overbearing but I'm still learning our friendship/mentor balance!

Then we walked to the San Diego Art Museum and she was adorable! She can't decide between being a veterinarian or an artist so she loved the museum. There was a corner of the main exhibit where they encouraged you to sketch and I didn't even have to ask if she was interested she just went right in and started working. It was really neat to see her in her element.

A couple Saturdays ago I picked her up and brought her over to my place to do some arts and crafts! A few weeks earlier in anticipation of my little I picked up some basic super cheap ($1) wood frames from Michaels and some acrylic paint in the primary colors. As we were painting we were just chatting about school, college, books, friends, everything. It was honestly like we were just friends hanging out. Our conversations together are never forced. It's amazing.

Just last Tuesday I picked her up and took her to the library since she likes to read. It was neat browsing the books together and learning that she likes dark stories! Who knew that such a sweet girl, practically always dressed in pink, would like ghost and other dark stories! We also talked about reading the One Book, One San Diego book next month together and then attending one of the special author events. I'm really looking forward to doing that with her.

We then went back to my place to make dinner together. We decided to make spaghetti as she determined that we should add onions, bell pepper, and carrots to our sauce- so we did. She also wanted to do more of the cutting so after I quizzed her on proper knife etiquette I let her do it. But I think I drove her a bit nuts by telling her to be careful about 50 times. I just really wanted her to have all her fingers at the end of our visit!

She kept all her fingers!

Little and her dinner

My dinner

Yummy homemade bread.

Looking at these pictures is making me hungry! It was so fun cooking together and then talking during dinner. Sorry this post was so long. Was it boring? Are you over hearing about my visits with my Little? Should I keep posting about them? Let me know!

XOXO,

Elise

Saturday, January 21, 2012

S**t Yogis Say


I haven't been to yoga all week. I miss it.

And I had to miss my normal beach yoga session this morning because I'm kid-sitting my cousin and his puppy this weekend. So instead of yoga this morning I went to puppy class!  Hopefully I can work in a DVD yoga session soon...

But at least I haven't turned into this girl yet!

Funny though right?

Taking care of this puppy this weekend has given me the dog itch. I don't think I'm ready for a puppy because of my work schedule but a dog- possibly a rescued Labrador.... oh I'm thinking about it. (I've already googled Lab Rescue organizations in San Diego...) Do you all have pets? It's a big grown up step!

I'll post some adorable puppy pictures soon.

Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend!

Friday, January 20, 2012

I would like to introduce you to.....

My Blogging Party Partner in Crime! Well not actually crime I don't intend to do naughty things and she seems super sweet and not likely into that sort of thing either... anyways....

I am so excited to introduce Jessica from Lovely Little Things!


Her blog is adorable and has already inspired me to become more creative! Yay for inspiration! She also was brilliant and sent me an email practically right after we learned we were paired with all sorts of interesting questions. After I answered them for her I asked her to answer them plus one more for me! I thought it would be fun to share her answers with you so that my Sparklers can get to know her too!

1. How long have you been blogging & where did you get the idea for your blog name? 
 I have been blogging since late November 2011 so not very long - I'm a newbie! And I originally wanted to name my blog "All Things Lovely" but it was taken - so since I'm super little compared to all of my friends I settled for Lovely Little Things- and it suits me! 
2. You're stuck on an island - what 5 things are a MUST to have with you? 
iPad (plus charger ;)), boyfriend (yay for Adams!), my kitty, running shoes, and I'll go ahead and steal your idea for the water purification system ;) smart girl lol.
3. What are your 3 favorite things to do...besides blogging of course ;)?  
I love working out/being active/doing anything outside...especially riding bikes with Adam! We just got mountain bikes and I am LOVING IT :) 
I also like to read - like a lot..I'm a huge nerd...and I've come to terms with that lol. And I love going on coffee dates with friends - they're the best!
4. Last one - 3 favorite blogs to read?  
I read about 50 blogs per day so this is hard!
          1. From My Grey Desk was the blog that inspired me to start blogging so that one for sure!
          2. Aunie Sauce 
          3. The Shine Project
          4. Sweetly Complicated
          5. I better stop now before i list every blog on my blog love page ;)

And I wanted to know what she wanted to "be" when she grew up: "I'm a mass comm (public relations) major, but my goal is actually to be an elementary school teacher :)"

I honestly think they have super powers and decided to pair us together because our Boyfriends are both Adam! 

XOXO Sparklers!

Thursday, January 19, 2012

2012 Blogging Party!

One day not too long ago I ventured into an interesting opportunity.
 It's called the 2012 New Year Blogging Party! 





It's being hosted by three amazing ladies who have adorable blogs- 

Here's how the party works- each blogger who wanted to participate will be randomly paired up with another blogger to do a gift exchange with! Fun right?!
So where does the party part come in? Well on January 31, 2012 we will all link up our posts onto all three of the hosts’ blogs, for one giant link up party! So stay tuned to discover new fun blogs!

I can't wait to introduce my partner!! Hopefully soon! I am already being inspired! There are sure to be exciting changes happening around Sparkle at Twenty Something soon!!

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Oh How Pinteresting!

Happy Wednesday!



I'm going to start a new weekly entry on Wednesday about some of my favorite Pinterest discoveries over the week. Have you discovered Pinterest? It is basically a site devoted to pretty things where all you do is browse, admire, and gain inspiration!

Since this is my first week I am going to include some of my favorites that I have discovered over the course of my Pinterest time. I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I do!!

Even if I really don't want a nursery right now I can't help but be attracted to good looking ones. How sweet is this vibrant one? I'm hoping that the walls are chalkboard!

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 Chocolate bacon ice cream. Need I say more?? 
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 This is inspiration to my yoga habits. Last Saturday I did a headstand (slightly assisted) for the first time and it felt so empowering. I love trying something new in my yoga practice. I always try and go for things and see if I can do them. I usually surprise myself.
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 How gorgeous is her hair. Perfect wave and shine. Stunning.
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 Are these not the most adorable stairs you have ever seen? When was the last time you heard the words adorable and stairs in the same sentence? I don't know if I ever had. Someday maybe I'll have adorable stairs too. So special- "Dreams don't work unless you do." Great to always keep in mind.
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So that's all I have time for today folks! 

XOXO Sparklers!!!

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

I say YES to cute boots

So my tall brown boots that I have had since junior year of college have officially died.

They had a great run though. Literally. I wore them all around France, Italy, and England and when S. and I were still at the Eiffel Tower and realized we needed to catch our train to Nice in 20 minutes I ran in them too. (We didn't miss our train- THANK GOODNESS)

But anyways- it was time for a new pair. I have been loving the exposed zipper trend of this season.

And right before Thanksgiving I bought these sexy numbers.





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Unfortunately you can't see the exposed zipper up the back or the exact finishing of the leather but they are beautiful. I'm a little concerned that they are too sexy but hey- I'm 23! If not now then when?!

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When I tell you!?

I feel like I think about this a lot. I'm young but I don't want to seem too sexy. At least not everyday- sexy for the right occasion is important ;)

Do you ever think about this? Issue? Predicament? I don't know what to call it. But I am very aware of it. Am I the only one?

Do you embrace your age and sexiness? How? When?

OK so this post became more than just me gushing about my new boots. It also makes me sound like I think I am the bees knees- and while I think it is important to have positive self esteem- that was not really the point here...... hummmm. I would love to hear your thoughts.