Obama, Bieber and the Beach

Last year, my friends and I went to the beach. When we pulled up to the hotel we were shocked because there were an enormous number of tween girls. We booked our girls getaway weekend the same time as Justin Bieber (or one of those tween band things). Lucky us.

Yes...we totally hung a disco ball in our hotel room. It was fabulous!

When whoever the tween heart throb was left the arena, the girls went insane. You could hear them screaming from across the street. I don't know if you can see it from below...but that was the line of girls HOURS after the concert waiting for the tour bus to leave. That was the screaming you could hear from across the street, over the sound of the ocean, from the tenth floor (inside) the hotel. Crazy times.
 

So when I saw the title of this, I assumed it was the same. "Bieber or Obama? Schoolgirls go crazy". OBVIOUSLY it would be Bieber right?

Bieber fever right? 

Goodness. Was I wrong! President Obama. 

President Obama was going on a trip to Vermont and Maine. And visitors to the White House were waving  to him as he boarded Marine One.


Images (other than mine) are from MSNBC PhotoBlog's article entitled "Bieber or Obama? Schoolgirls go Crazy"

White House Easter Egg Roll

The fun thing about the government being on Facebook (there is a fun thing about the government) is that they publish photos.

In time for Easter, the White House's Facebook page has pictures of the White House Easter Egg Roll (Historically). Plus a few facts--- For instance, President Rutherford B. Hayes started the Easter Egg Roll in 1878

Easter Egg Roll of 1898. Check out that hat!

Easter Egg Roll of 1903.

The Easter Egg Roll was canceled from 1917-1920 (another fact on the White House Facebook page) because World War I was going on. It was also canceled during 1943-45 because of World War II (and all the rationing).

Easter Egg Roll in the 1920s

Easter Egg Roll of 1939. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt is on the right

Easter Egg Roll of 1956. 

Easter Egg Roll of 2012. How cute are these kids!

I hope everyone had a Happy Easter, start of Passover, or weekend in general. 

Photos are from the White House (Photo) Page on Facebook. If you do follow the link, try and ignore some of the more ridiculous comments. Apparently anyone can get access to FB now- oh well.

The Amandas do NeNe's Closet Part II

Amandas love!

Ok, it's really just an excuse for me not to finish doing my laundry. Ugh. It's never ending!

How about some more NeNe closet pictures? Or more of some of the same but still pretty?

shoes! 

All images from Rachel Vicknair's fan page on Facebook.

My Amandas crush is EPIC

Oh Amandas...I adore you. I'm a bit behind on my episodes, so I just got to last weeks episode. It was Alicia-centric. This was wonderful because I love Alicia!

Alicia

Alicia was in charge of the garage project. Havilah was off for a family reunion, Amanda was sick, Taylor could only stay for half the time and Dustin's back gave out. Enter Alicia's family! Her sister Ricci came out and helped-how sweet is that?

I can understand Alicia's parents pushing the bar exam, but I think Alicia is smart enough to be fine even if she doesn't take the bar. And after watching one of my friends take the bar I can understand not wanting to go anywhere near it (that's not Alicia's problem though), it is NASTY evil. Besides, she could be The Amandas lawyer! Problem solved.

Poor Taylor...I was "eeking" on the couch watching all the bugs. I haaaaaaate bugs. Who knew Pageant Queen Rachel would turn out being the bug slayer (in heels)?

And wow on Amanda matchmaking. I need some help like that. There are NO guys here (I'm not exaggerating...there aren't any!)

And Savannah was there...but she hardly had any TV time. :(

I didn't get ANY pictures from this episode. It was a garage plus a band station plus a tanning booth station. Whew. But here's a montage from the episode where the Amandas organize the food truck and office of Dreamcakes Bakery. Oh dear...now I'm thinking of cupcakes. Yum!

Pictures:

• Alicia's picture from the Amandas website on the Style Network
• Dreamcakes Bakery pictures from the Amandas Facebook page

Beach Essentials

It's April...which means it's warm enough for the beach! Yay!!!

I love going to the beach--as long as I can sit under an umbrella, slathered in sunscreen with a good book and plenty of water.

My beach bag is packed (with lots of books) and I'm thrilled to have a lax day with one of my girlfriends (who's visiting from up North).

1. Big floppy beach hats are a must! Skin cancer is nothing to be lax about. This is a pretty one from Sears.

2. Cute sunglasses help with the glare from the sun. Plus, they protect your eyes. I love retro ones!

3. Flip flops are made for the beach! P.S. You don't want searing hot shoes after being on the beach all day. Turn them over and put them under your towel. The soles won't burn your feet then.

4. Do you know the best time to buy bathing suits? Winter. Victoria's Secret always has the cutest bikinis.

5. Lacoste Beach Bag (I LOVE this bag. It's so summer-ey!).

6. I've read this book twice. And I still love it. I saw it had won an Edgar Award when I was browsing around Borders during it's closeout days (sadness). I don't even know what an Edgar Award is, but Tana French so deserves it. In the Woods was so titillating! It's a murder mystery in the present with a murder mystery from the past all set in Ireland.

7. Staying hydrated (from non-alcoholic drinks) is important. You would not believe the number of people I've seen drop because of lack of hydration. And if you use eco-friendly water bottles it's better for the environment. Plus these are super cute. I have one in purple that I love!

8. Sophie Littlefield's A Bad Day for Pretty. Which is another crime novel (but it has a romance in it!). AND she has great titles. A Bad Day for Sorry, A Bad Day for Scandal.

9. Chapstick. Or any moisturizing lip balm. But I like Chapstick (with SPF)

10. Picnic baskets! Even if you hit up one of the great seafood places on the beach, having snacks is always  a great idea. Be ready to fight a seagull.

11. Elizabeth George's 17th Lynley novel called Believing the Lie. I love her series. I might not know any British royal things...but I know who Lord Lynley, the eighth earl of Asherton is (don't tell me it doesn't exist). It's a murder mystery too. There's a theme here...

12. Sunscreen. I don't know how to say it without sounding like a crazy person. Wear sunscreen. ESPECIALLY on the beach. Skin cancer is horrible. And yes..I wear SPF 100. I own that bottle.

13. While browsing TJMaxx last week I saw a medium sized bundle of beach mats. I didn't really give it much of a thought until I passed by again and saw that the pile had dwindled down to about five mats. Obviously they were selling fast. I moseyed on by and saw the cutest things ever (they had been rolled up). They were Tommy Hilfiger and the price was really low (reeeeally low). I have the pink flamingo and green mat. I love it already and it's going to the beach with me.

14. Fun leopard beach towel. Ah-mazing

15. Ok. I'll admit this is a bit extreme compared to my TJMaxx deal. But this is a beach mat for more than one person. Plus is has pockets for drinks and your phone. It's brilliant! AND it was designed by a SCAD (great school) graduate named Julie.

How to walk in high heels

Guess what I bought?! The cutest shoes ever! I got them at Target (I know... I have a problem) and they're Mossimo. I'm trying to convince myself that I need a super cute dress to go with them...but since I'm still purging my closet I really shouldn't go shopping. Like, really shouldn't.

Aren't they pretty?! I love them. I just wanted to show them off but what the blog post is about was this girl I saw while I was out and about today. She was wearing heels. And clomping. 

I mean...clomping. Very loudly. I couldn't decide if I was being mean by noticing but it was so distracting. 

Granted, I'm not an expert walker or model or anything coming close to giving professional advice. But I did go to charm school (that's right...charm school). And I know how to walk up and down staircases with a book on my head. Without clomping. You aren't allowed to clomp in charm school...you're only allowed to glide. 

So I found this video while perusing beauty channels on YouTube (because being productive on Sunday night isn't any fun). And it explains how to walk properly in high heels. I needed a refresher course as well. So here it is!

Links: 

• Shoes from Target - Mossimo Peep Toe Heels
• YouTube Video Link - How to Walk in High Heels

Did you ever wonder what the Titanic looks like...now?

The Magazine Cover of April's issue of National Geographic, which  features the Titanic

I'll confess...I saw the James Cameron movie three times while it was in the theaters. I was in middle school and my girlfriends and I loved it. 


This doesn't have anything to do with the movie per se, but the actual shipwreck. Although the movie is being re-released in 3-D to celebrate (? do you celebrate that? Maybe it's more to mark the occasion) of the centenary (like that word? thanks Wikipedia!) of the sinking of the Titanic, which happened in 1912. 


National Geographic (which I'm addicted to btw...) decided to join a scientific group and they went back to the crash site and took pictures of the entire ship. There's been a television special and a really wonderful article on National Geographic's website about the ship, why it went down and the controversy that surrounded RMS Titanic, Inc. which is the legal guardian of the wreck. They're the ones putting on the Titanic artifact exhibit that is touring the country. 


Anyway, I'll keep this short (short for me at least). What's new on this exploration of the Titanic is that the group took numerous sonar images of the three by five mile shipwreck area. The images were pieced together and to create high-def pictures of the ship as a whole. 

Titanic's stern from overhead

James Cameron explains in the article why these pictures are so interesting (because they're so clarifying): 

"For more than two miles, the stern made its tortured descent—rupturing, buckling, warping, compressing, and gradually disintegrating. By the time it hit the ocean floor, it was unrecognizable... “We didn’t want the Titanic to have broken up like this,” he [Cameron] said. “We wanted her to have gone down in some kind of ghostly perfection.” -From the National Geographic Article

Titanic profile

Titanic's bow

All photos are from MSNBC's photoblog. From the article called National Geographic features new images from the unseen Titanic (3/30/2012)

Related articles

• Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Releases Stunning 3D Images of the Titanic [Photos] (bostinno.com)
• The National Geographic Article, called Unseen Titanic is written by Hampton Sides, and it's really good. You should check it out...plus it has tons of pictures!
• MSNBC Photoblog article with large pictures of the Titanic
• If you want more information about how the Titanic sank then MSNBC's Science section sums it up fairly well
• Old Pictures of the Titanic before it sank and the survivors from LiveScience
• The RMS Titanic, Inc. website, which has ridiculous amounts of interesting facts and pictures, as well as the tour dates for the exhibition
• Here's the Wikipedia article on the Titanic (the movie)