Happy Black Friday!

I hope you are out enjoying the sales and deals, working off that Thanksgiving feast shopping!  Today's post is a bit random, but wanted to get caught up on a few things. :)

First...

Remember to enter my dress giveaway (free deal - beat that Black Friday!).  Enter HERE!

Click to Vote:

Give this little logo a click to vote for Chasing Davies - (all it takes is a click, no signing up, entering your data, nothing...just click below) - you can do this once a day to count (also find it on the sidebar of my blog):

And finally, sweet Christina Lucas gave me an award!  It's been awhile since I've gotten an award, so I gladly accept and pay it forward.  So first, my acceptance of the Stylish Blogger Award:

Acceptance Rules:


Thank the blogger who awarded you (see above).

Share seven things about yourself :

 1. I did my first triathlon in August, and plan to do my second one once tri-season resumes (for the Midwest) in April!

2. Confession - I'd rather email, than talk on the phone.... and I think that's sad. Technology is causing us to become so distant, but it's also a huge time saver!

3. I'm a little nervous about flying, but love to travel!  My last major trip was to St. Maarten with 3 of my best friends.  It was amazing, and we thankfully avoided all hurricanes. 

4. I have REALLY good and accurate intuition about people. I've only been wrong once, and she's one of my best friends, but besides that slip up, I've been right on about people.

5. My ideal weekend night is spent with close friends and fam, in comfy pants, warm on the couch with wine and good conversation...

6. My 2 least favorite holidays....New Years Eve and Valentine's Day.  Both a giant let downs because they are way over hyped.  The hubs and I do random things for Valentine's Day... like go bowling (where we're usually surrounded by high school kids) or watch concerts on TV, like on Palladia (the last one we watched was Jimmy Buffet and Zac Brown Band, and we made home made margaritas to pretend we were somewhere warm). 

7. I bite my nails. Horrible habit.  I've done it as long as I can remember.  My great-grandmother tried to get my to stop by telling me a scary story involving a big ball of nail slivers in a little girls stomach... My mom tried to get my to stop by painting my nails with the stuff that tastes bad... My husband tries to get my to stop by giving me dirty looks everything he finds my fingers near my mouth... and I just can't stop! Any tips?


Pass the award on to 15 bloggers you have recently discovered and who you think are fantastic:

A Hasty Life 

The Daily Fashionista

Dresses, Denim & Diapers
Saltwater Dreams

My Edit

she hath done what she could

My Life in Style

8 Hour Brunch

Winegirl15

And Everything Nice

Ginger Girl

 Veronika's Blushing
Love, Lipstick and Pearls
Bichonluvr's Closet 
Economy of Style 

And finally, let the selected 15 bloggers know you've chosen them for this award! And continue to pay it forward.  Happy Holidays!

My Own Grammy Awards

Great outfit, one of my favs:


Coolest collaboration among very different performers, a tribute to MJ:


The most powerful, sincere, goose-bump inducing voice/performer:


The most disappointing outfit. I know she's been out of it for awhile now, but she's always done it up for the Grammys. This year, she just rolled out of bed:


Biggest earrings...


Photos from JustJared, People.com & Fab/PopSugar.com

P.S. Remember to enter my giveaway for a fabulous pillow!!

Blog Award - Thank You Coley!

Coley from Coley's Closet Cravings passed on a sweet blog award to me:


To accept, I'm to share 7 random things about me. So here goes nothing...

1. I love sweet white wine. I love any wine, really, but my favorite is the kind you drink as a newbie. I love it. My current favorite even comes in a box.

Target's Wide Cubes

Sauvignon Blanc

And to give myself a little credit - this wine, along with some of the other kinds, are award winning! Learn more here.

2. I swam competitively for 15 years!


I miss it sometimes. It is hard to keep it up. You can't just go outside and swim, like jogging. Not every gym has a pool. In the winter, it takes a lot more will to get into a swim suit and into a cold pool. In the summer I try to get back into it by going to pools for the day that have a lap lane. Swimming before laying out.

3. I've always lived in the mid west (MO and KS) and don't want to change that! I love to travel and it's easy to do so from here and most of my family lives here. I love it!

4. The one beauty product I can't live without: Mascara! I love it. See review here.

5. I love to paint!! But lately, with the new house, it's taken a backseat...


6. I love organizing and for things to be organized. Not that you can tell much in our current house - it's still a bit scattered. We've been here 3 months now, so sadly, "we just moved in" isn't an excuse anymore! I just need to start with one room at a time!

7. My favorite thing to wear is a dress. A good fitting dress is the easiest thing to dress up or down.

Now to nominate 7 Bloggers for this award:

The Fitnessista
Two Hands Full of Daises
The Yellow Front Door
Bon Bon Rose Girls
(clever title goes here)
A Nantucket State of Mind
Erin's Sweets

Thanks again Coley!

Thank you

Thanks to Two Hands Full of Daises and According to Moi... for this Sweet Friends Award:


To accept this award, here are the 10 Things that Make me Happy (in no particular order):

1. Spending time with my family & good friends
2. Game Nights
3. Glass of wine
4. Chocolate
5. Sleeping in/Naps
6. Cuddling
7. Warm weather
8. Vacations
9. Shoes - especially heels that are unique and fun
10. My fur baby

There is tons more that make me happy - including all of you gracious readers! Thank you all.

Over-the-Top Award!

A big THANKS to Kathy and SeaShell at Two Hands Full of Daises, Chasing Davies received the "Over-the-Top" Blog Award!


To accept this award, I must answer many questions...

1. Where is your cell phone:
In my purse or in my hand/up to my ear/under my fingers

2. Your hair:
Kathy and I must have similar hair, as I am copying pretty much her answer! A mix of curly and wavy. Not curly enough for ringlets all over my head and not wavy
enough to look good that way either. I usually shower at night, sleep on it wet so its dry in the morning and then I fix the curls/waves with a curling iron. Or I blowdry straight.

3. Your mother:
One of my best friends. We have a lot in common, see each other often, talk on the phone, go to movies, etc. I turn to her for emotional support and life advice.

4. Your father:
Another best friend! He is funny. We also have a lot in common - I think I'm a good mix of my parents. I constantly turn to him for house, financial, car, work, etc advice!

5. Your favorite food:
Chocolate, Ice Cream, Cheese, Hummus, Wine - oops, this is favorite foods...

6. Your dream from last night:
If I remember a dream (about once or twice a week), its super weird or awful. Last night I didn't' dream - did a lot of tossing and turning and "shhhhhhhh-ing" the dog who was chomping his lips! His chomping is a new things and it's driving me nuts, waking me up, keeping me up.... gonna have to move his bed to the other side of the room!

7. Your favorite drink:
Oh, here is the correct questions for my answer: WINE! And Boulevard Beer. And recently, Sierra Mist Free Cranberry

8. Your dream/goal:
My dreams/goals...To got back to Europe, specifically Italy and Greece next; Have Children and raise them to be amazing people and give them a childhood like I had; Be successful in my job - which I love, Continue to blog and enjoy it while gaining more readers; Decorate my entire house!

9. What room are you in:
The living room

9. What are your hobbies:
Shopping, arts and crafts, working out, home decorating, happy hours with friends, movies with hubs and trying new things!

10. What is your fear:
Like SeaShell, spiders - all kinds, little, big, hairy, skinny - I hate them!

11. Where do you want to be in 6 years:
In my new home, but put-together, decorated and homey

12. Where were you last night:
Watching Modern Family with hubs, working and more unpacking/cleaning/organizing the home

13. Something you are not:
Patient

14. Muffins:
No need

15. Wish list items:
Grey Sectional Couch, Dining Room table, Paint on the walls, J.Crew everything, Christian Louboutins, stock in Philosophy - Grace, a puppy...a little sister for Lip-chomping Chuckie

16. Where did you grow up:
Kansas

17. Last thing you did:
Unpacked a box (boring), before that I ate a cheese stick (boring again)

18. What are you wearing:
My Target Goods I recently got - slipper Moccasins and Sherpa hoodie

20. Your pets:
Chuckie-Bear, a mutt - 1/4 lab, 1/4 terrier, 1/2 unknown (his mom ran away and came back knocked-up, oops.

21. Your friends:
Wonderful. I agree with Kathy, I'm all about quality over quantity. I'm lucky to have some very amazing friends who are just like sisters to me and fun and good co-worker friends and lovely girlfriends who are not just great friends, but fun!

22. Your life:
Blessed.

23. Your mood:
Content

24. Missing someone:
Yes...my sister and best friends that live all over, but here

25. Vehicle:
Toyota Corrolla

26. Something you’re not wearing:
My wedding rings

27. Your favorite store:
J.Crew, Anthropologie, Sephora, Marshalls/TJ Maxx/HomeGoods, The Internet

28. Your favorite color:
Green and blue, but I just love color, so really anything! and it's constantly changing...

29. When’s the last time you laughed:
Everyday - today at work. Really really laughed yesterday with my co-worker when trying to do the video how-to for the Scarf post!

30. When’s the last time you cried:
When I was laughing so hard yesterday

31. Your best friend:
Hubs, my family, Breezy, Abs, Katie, Shannon, and all my other girlfriends!

32. One place you go over and over:
Lately, Denver. Chicago a lot to see Sister. I wish I could say Europe!

33. One person who emails me regularly:
Sondy-poo

34. Favorite place to eat:
Home mostly, but Brio, Cactus Grill, La Bodega for a dinner out. In the summer, anywhere outside!

So now it's time to nominate 6 other bloggers:
Lavender & Lilies
Feasting On Life (maybe this is a push to get back to blogging...missing it)
In Honor of Design
Daily Lily
Blue Hydrangea
From the Right Bank to the Left Coast

Thanks Again, Kathy!

This Blogging thing is pretty great...

This week has been pretty fantastic in the blog-o-sphere world I'm so enjoying. Besides "meeting" great people all over, being inspired and finding amazing resources everyday, I feel connected to many people from this experience, one I'm sure to continue for a long time.

Sweet sweet mum-daughter (who happens to be a rower, which is pretty impressive) bloggers, Kathy and Seashell at Two Hands Full of Daisies, awarded me this lovely and kind award today:



Here's what this award is about:

Blogs that receive the Let’s Be Friends Award are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers.”

So with that, I'd like to pass this on to a few amazing bloggers, which is hard to narrow down from the huge list of greats I follow - but I'll try:

Gigi's Gone Shopping - Add this to her long list of awards, but I can't resist. She's been a great follower on my blog and sharing my posts with her readers. She also has one heck of a blog, thus the many of awards.

Coley's Closet Cravings - one of my first blog "friends" and fabulous deal finder and product reviewer. She also has a funny Friday series that you'll just have to check out!

Head to Toe with Heidi - This little lady shares my love for J.Crew (many of our loves, I should say) and posts inspiring outfits. She's also a loyal follower and commenter, which is always so appreciated.

Plush Palate - More recently found and became a huge fan of this oh-so-lovely blog. As I am in my first home and attempting my first time decorating this new home - Crystal is a constant source of inspiration.

A Nantucket State of Mind - this lovely blogger really connects people and fellow bloggers with wonderful ideas - such as an Autumn Gift Exchange. This is how I connected with Kathy of Two Hands Full of Daises. She is fun to follow!

There are so many that I rely on daily for inspiration and connection. So many more deserve this. Until next time... ;)

Another exciting thing to announce. I was included in the Delightful Blog Directory this week. I join many amazing bloggers from all sorts of categories. "Delightfulblogs.com was launched in June of 2006 to share the wonderful blogs we like to read."

I'm very honored by both of these things. What a very nice reward for doing something I'm enjoying so much.

Just in...


Chasing Davies has been included on Shop it to me's list of Trendsetter's. Check it out, and other great blogs!

And to Chasing Davies readers - anonymous, friends, family, fellow-bloggers, new friends, etc - Thank you! You allow me to share. Look forward to getting to know some of you more.