Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Navy & Pink: The Happy Couple

One of my all time favorite color combinations! Most likely it's because they are my favorite colors individually but when you put them together it makes SUCH a classy ensemble! It makes me sad that I don't see it more often on others.

PSA: Embrace the Navy and the Pink in combination! Live out loud! =)


Navy & Pink: The Happy Couple


H M blouse
£13 - hm.com

Stella McCartney bootcut pants
$427 - matchesfashion.com

Butter flat slip on shoes
$291 - endless.com

Fat Face tote handbag
£28 - fatface.com

Bounkit turquoise post earrings
$210 - charmandchain.com

Oscar de la Renta flower ring
£164 - boutique1.com

Friday, May 11, 2012

Summer Lovin'

TGIF!!! Today was one of those days where all I wanted to do was bust loose and make a mad dash for the nearest body of water.  This "color block" inspired outfit definitely sums it up!  I can't wait for my first opportunity to just kick back, get comfortable, and relax in the sun...in style of course ;)


Summer Lovin'


Beaded dress
$40 - alloy.com

Mystique white kitten heels
€189 - jades24.com

Antik Batik wallet
€207 - antikbatik.fr

Kate spade jewelry
$148 - lordandtaylor.com

Lisa stewart jewelry
$85 - maxandchloe.com

Amrita Singh 18k jewelry
$30 - amritasingh.com

MAC Cosmetics lip makeup
$19 - nordstrom.com

Smashbox mascara
$19 - sephora.com

NARS Cosmetics nail lacquer
£14 - liberty.co.uk

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Coral Queen

HAPPY THURSDAY! Spending the afternoon exploring my new favorite website Polyvore!!! All of you know about my shopping/fashion addiction and this is probably the best thing I've ever experienced.  Let the creations begin!!!! 

Really wishing I wore this to work today...HOWEVER...I work in a hospital and cannot look this cute. So I come home and dream of bright corals mixed with cool mint greens, some sandals from the great MK, and don't forget those pearls!!!!


Coral Queen


Miso striped dress
£25 - republic.co.uk

Michael Kors flat sandals
$98 - piperlime.gap.com

RED Valentino bow handbag
$745 - saksfifthavenue.com

Gold bangle
£15 - awear.com

Chanel earrings
£374 - farfetch.com

Smashbox matte eyeshadow
$44 - nordstrom.com

NARS Cosmetics lip gloss
$26 - nordstrom.com

Opi nail polish
£65 - nelly.com

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Simplicity and Kindness

I know I have been absent from the blog world recently but it is HIGH time for a post. Lately I have found myself surrounded by lots of negativity and just down-right hatefulness. Everytime I feel that wave of hate or negativity I find myself wondering where people lost the lessons we learned as children. So, instead of having a negative post about not being negative, I thought I'd share with you all an excerpt from one of Robert Fulghum's books All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten.

**Side Note: If you've never read anything from Robert Fulghum YOU SHOULD! He's an incredible author that writes about living life and he really does have some of the wisest advice I've ever come across. Check out his website here.**

"All I need to know about how to live and what to do and how to be I learned in Kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain, but there in the sandpile at school.

Share everything.
Play fair.
Don't hit people.
Put things back where you found them.
Clean up your own messes.
Don't take things that aren't yours.
Say your sorry when you hurt someone.
Wash your hands before you eat.
Flush.
Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
Live a balanced life - learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play
and work every day some.
Take a nap every afternoon.
When you go out in the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together.
Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the styrofoam cup: the roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.
Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the styrofoam cup-they all die. So do we.
And then remember the Dick and Jane books and the first word you learned- the biggest word of all- LOOK.

Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation. Ecology and politics and equality and sane living.

Take any of those items and extrapolate it into sophisticated adult terms and apply it to your family life or our work or your government or your world and it holds true and clear and firm. Think what a better world it would be if all-the whole world- had cookies and milk about three o'clock every afternoon and then lay down with our blankets for a nap. Or if all governments had a basic policy to put things back where they found them and to clean up their own mess.

And it is still true, no matter how old you are- when you go out into the world, it is still best to hold hands and stick together."


So maybe we should all take a step back and think about how we treat each other everyday. I'm sure we all could do a little better and the whole world would be a happier place =)

Happy Wednesday!

Monday, February 13, 2012

Indecisiveness

NEW GOAL!
     - Work on my indecisiveness!!!!

It's really getting bad and it's really starting to drive me crazy! I can make big decisions with no problem.  Ask me to make a life altering decision- I've got it! No problem! Done in no time! Ask me where we're going for dinner- I'll hem & haw like you've asked me to do brain surgery. Absolutely ridiculous, I know! I've wanted a new blog design for close to 3 months now and couldn't decide on one! Sooooo...I saw one today I liked and I went with it! Then, it took me close to an hour to pick fonts that I liked (absurd!). I have got to get this under control and just learn to "go with my gut." I realize that on these minor decisions that there isn't really a "wrong" answer and if there is, it's most likely insignificant.  I need to quite worrying about whether which is the cutest, whether I'll want something else once we get to the Olive Garden, or if I'll have anything to wear with those $2 clearance earrings.

You guys are my witnesses.  I pledge that from here on out I am going to make my best effort to just jump in and make decisions without worrying over the small things.

HAPPY MONDAY!

Saturday, February 11, 2012

The Crazy Bag Lady

I know everybody's heard about Thirty-One bags.  Well, like everyone else, I LOVE(d) them!  However, I never bought any because a.) they were overpriced (I thought) and b.) they charged an ARM and a LEG to personalize! Last week I was at McLeod and I noticed a co-worker of mine walking around with this ADORABLE bag and I asked her where she got it.  She started telling me about a company called Initials-Inc. I immediately interested in buying something because it was cute, reasonable, and monogramming was F-R-E-E! Which, to me, is the way it should be if I'm going to spend that much money on a bag!
Allison's adorable bag. 


I've sold Mary Kay before and that was a nightmare and I've heard horror stories from people who sell Thirty-one.  So, at first, I was in no way interested in selling Initials-Inc. However, the more I looked into it the better it seemed.  It's $100 to join, which gives you an 11-piece starter kit of things I already wanted to buy and would've cost over $300 if I had.  When I found that out (and that there weren't any hidden costs to get the kit) I decided it would be worth it to do at least that and have 11 new personalized things =)

11-piece Starter Kit: $100

Now that I've joined, it seems better than I even imagined. There's no pressure to sell a certain amount, it's totally at your leisure.  It's not a huge race to recruit all your friends or blow up people's Facebooks.  It's, very simply, whatever you make it.  There are women that bust it, do a million parties a month, and sell enough to support their families.  There are women who sell enough to supplement there income in order to be stay-at-home mommies.  There are also women who just help provide their friends and families with cute, affordable bags, accessories, and gifts.  That's what I love about it.  I can do whatever I want with this.  

That being said, I think I've finally decided how I want to use this business.  As many of you know, being a newlywed is rough (on the money front).  But being a fresh graduate AND a newlywed is even worse! Paul and I do fine but we can definitely use a little extra income.  So I've decided that I'm in it for more than just the awesome starter kit but I'm also not going to stalk people down and hold them hostage for parties and purchases.  I'm just going to put the information out there and if you're interested, that's amazing.  I'm going to set a very low goal for monthly sales and if I meet it great, if I surpass it FABULOUS! It can't hurt to have some extra spending money.  

So this is my story about joining the Initials-Inc. team.  Many of you won't care or be interested.  Some of you will.  If you're interested in anything (totes, coolers, purses, baby gifts, organizers, etc.) let me know and I'll hook you up!  Also, some of you may be interested in it for yourselves.  I have a very diverse friend base of stay-at-home mommies, new mommies who work but may need a little extra cash, bag-a-holics, expectant mommies, recent grads, current students (who always need money), and people that have, sadly, lost their jobs to the economy.  Whoever you are and whatever your needs, if you're interested, please let me know.  I'd love to help you get started and share this opportunity.

My website is www.myinitials-inc.com/carolineclayton and you can read all about the company and view the catalog here.  
My facebook page is Caroline Clayton: Independent Creative Partner ~ Initials, Inc. .  Check this out for updates =)

Here are a few of my favorite pages from the catalog.  I'm going to try so hard not to buy them and SAVE! 

I want those SHOES!!! Unfortunately, they aren't Initials-Inc. =(


You'll understand this if you know about my office supply obsession

How cool are those magnetic refrigerater folders.  Amazing!

For those precious babies! 

Anyone going to the Carolina Cup? You can get a coordinating sash for your hat too =)


Side note: When I make my first little bit of profit, I'm spending it on this beauty.  I loved it in the magazine when I first saw it but then I saw it in person on Friday and fell even harder for it! 
Shhh....don't tell the hubs ;) 


 ADORABLE faux croc set...can't decide if I want green or red. Hmmm....



As always, thank you so much for following my posts.  It means the world to me.  Love you all! 

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Facebook Yardsales

OH MY GOSH!!!! I don't know about your towns, but Florence has a facebook page called "For sale, wanted, or free in Florence."  HOLY MOLY MACARONI! I found it about a week ago and started browsing and it's like a giant yard sale on facebook! Some really great stuff! So I decided that I would post all the stuff that's crowding our garage on there and see what happened.  NEVER in my life would I have expected the response that we got.  People were literally fighting for our stuff and I could not keep up with who asked for what first.  Because of that, I decided it would be a "first come, first served" kind of thing and I gave anyone interested my address (in a private message of course) and within 20 minutes there were carSS at my house! Crazy!  In less than 24 hours Paul and I have made over $400! AND more people are coming tomorrow!!!! I can't believe it.  We sold a sofa and love seat, coffee and end tables, a dryer, clothes, shoes, old picture frames, and a TON of other stuff.  I'm still in shock.  I thought we might make a hundred dollars and I thought it could take a while but this is FAR beyond anything I expected.  But people literally SCOUR that page because they're looking for good buys.

So go clean out your closets!!!!!!!! And search for a "for sale, wanted, or free" page for your town.  If there's not one....MAKE ONE!!!!! It is wayyyyyyyyy worth it!!!!!