Winter blah blah's....

Unfortunately Mama has been suffering from my annual bout with "The Winter Blah Blah's", also know as "I hate you January" and "winter can suck it."  I certainly don't have Seasonal Affective Disorder but the combo of super cold weather, minimal sunny days and months before spring arrives makes me want to act like a grizzly bear and hibernate. No jokes. I'd like to fast forward through this bunk time of the year and jump directly into spring.  I've upped my vitamin D intake, increased my workouts at the gym and tried to stay active. But all I really want to do is not much of anything. I went to the mall for the first time in weeks (which is total craziness) because normally it's my home away from home. 

 I really haven't had much desire to shop lately. Shock and horror.

{Though on Friday I did manage to grab these cute nude Nine West pumps. Someday when I can pry the snow covered UGGS off of my feet I'll be able to wear them. Someday...}

 I go to bed at a decent hour and I'm still tired when I wake up which is super annoying. Where has my energy gone? It's obviously time to start drinking double Red-bulls in the morning because coffee is no longer cutting it.

This time last year we were packing our bags for Hawaii but sadly it's not in the cards this winter. Boo.

 I seriously think that winter vay-cays to sunny destinations should be MANDATORY for people living this far north. Mandatory and Government subsidized.  Sounds like a brilliant idea to me.

January, I'm sooo over you. 

before they were big....

I came across a couple of pics of some well known stars before they were A listers.  (Actually Husband found them on a celebrity style website from Europe but won't admit that he cares or reads about "useless bunk" like Hollywood, stars and everything else related to pop culture.) Obviously he lies since he cared enough to show me these pics. No one can resist the lure of the celebrity!  

I've always thought that Angelina is gorgeous but girlfriend needs to eat a sandwich real bad. (Spoken like someone who has the opposite problem...)

 Obviously she's always been incredibly, naturally thin.  Which again proves that we were not twins separated at birth.

{loafers, black socks and no pants make it super sexy...}

RPatz -he's brooding, shy and pasty white, always a bit Metrosexual and always complete hotness. And I will say he's gotten better with age since he decided to bust out his comb from time to time.

My Visa is smokin'....

Apologies for the delay in posting my Vegas Shopping Review (sounds official doesn't it?)  Unfortunately my computer had decided to act like a pouty little girl and deny me from accessing the inter-webs. Even though Husband is an IT computer geek genius we still went without for a few days. Sad story but true.

However in happier news I can finally share my shopping finds with y'all right now. (See that...3 days in the U.S. and I've picked up an American twang. Give me another week down there and I'll bet you I'd sound like Paula Deen.) 

From CVS and Walgreens I did a bit of a makeup haul on products I can't always (or ever) find here.

1. YSL Rouge Volupte No.2 nude lipstick

2. Rimmel Stay Matte Clarifying Matte Foundation, 200 Soft Beige

3. EOS Lip balm in Fruit salad

4.Victoria Secret Radiant Face Trio in Head Turner, highlighter

5. N.Y.C. Bronzing Face Powder in Sunny

6. Wet N' Wild Color Icon Blush in Pearlescent Pink

7. Covergirl Cheekers Blush in Golden Pink

8.Covergirl Eye Shadow single in Golden Sunrise

9. MAC Mineralize Skin Finish special reserve highlight powder in Chez Chez Lame

10. Monistat Chafing powder gel. (Ok, I didn't invent this idea...chafing gel makes an amazing makeup primer)

11. Illamasqua Powder Blush in Lover

12. Victoria Secret Perfect Lipstick in Scrumptious

13. L'Oreal  Eye shadow in Deep Mocha (brow fill)

14. Revlon Colorstay Mineral Lipsglaze in Lasting Shimmer

15.Wet n' Wild Mega Eyes Defining Marker in blackest black

16.N.Y.C Liquid Lip Shine in Pink Sand

From the "biggest Forever 21 in the world" I picked up these 3 tops. Honestly the store is so huge that I couldn't even handle it (the old Bloomingdales Home location in the Fashion Show Mall). Two massive floors of Forever 21 clothes and accessories. Obviously a Forever XXI lovers dream...it was all a bit too much though.

I picked up these accessories (earrings, and necklace) for super cheap (srsly, practically for free) from Forever XXI and Charlotte Russe (at the Premium Outlets.)

The number one item on my shopping list of must haves was a gorgeous pair of flat leather cognac coloured boots. I got these at Bakers for only $89.00. Can't wait to wear them but since we've got about half a foot of snow outside I'll instead be wearing these Uggs that I got at the Premium Outlets. A winter staple for me and even though I resisted them for a long time (I too thought they were fugly), I finally broke down a few years ago and have a several pairs now.

 Brown classic Uggs, $139.00

 In the airport I snagged the Kardashian sisters new book. Yes it's mindless reading written at a grade 6 level but it's fun and light and entertaining! 

From the Sugar Factory candy store at the Miracle Mile shops in Planet Hollywood I couldn't resist this celebrity line of signature lollipops. I love the sparkly refillable, reusable stick. This one was designed by Kim Kardashian (of course.) Was it over priced? Yes. I guess a "sucker" is born every minute, Mama included! 

 At Macy*s I got this Michael Kors bag. I've been hunting for a great leopard print bag for a while and though this isn't exactly what I wanted, it'll do. Originally $300 on for $130 (including my Canadian discount), apparently you receive another 10% off almost anything in the store if you show your passport at customer service.

 From the Alexander McQueen shop in the Wynn hotel I snagged this super cute signature McQueen Midnight/Sun skull silk scarf. 

Saving the best for last, I finally got my hands on a Yves Saint Laurent "Arty" oval ring from the YSL boutique at the Bellagio. Its a great statement ring and will be gorgeous to wear in the summer when I finally have a tan again. (Ignore winter dry Alligator skin on hand)

As always it was a great shopping trip, Vegas never disappoints. I will say again that the lack of decent sales (especially after Christmas) is surprising?! They just don't offer the deep discounts like they do in Canada. However the awesomesauce variety of brands and stores keeps me coming back for more. Till next time Vegas...

Shiny Disco Balls...

Hello lovelies, Mama's back with Vegas recap 2011. It was a quick and dirty trip but I survived (though my dogs are still barking from all the walking I did.) Note to self, just because the Kardashians can manage to traipse through the airport in high heel boots doesn't mean Mama can or should.  Sore feet is NO way to start a shopping walking tour of Vegas. 

We stayed at Aria Hotel in the new City Centre. Yes its a beautiful hotel, but also extremely modern and we couldn't help but feel that it was missing the charm and kitschy over-the-topness that Vegas is known for. I think that Wynn (where we stayed last January) has the perfect mix of Vegas flair and contemporary sophistication (in my extremely valuable opinion.)  

At the mega huge CES Consumer Electronic Show (the reason we were in Vegas), Husbands company HSTi, with their Wireless Media Stick, was voted the Best Android Accessory of the CES 2011 by Android Central. Yeah, I'm a bit stoked!

I'm not gonna lie, we ate a lot and one of our fave restaurants was Julian Serrano Tapas. We had fabulous Ceviche, Tapas and of course a super delicious Paella. Muy sabroso!

Later we went to Haze, the main club in Aria.

 Feathers, rhinestones and fabulous

 Drugs, Rock and Roll, Bad Ass, Vegas Hoes, Late Nights, booty Calls, Shiny Disco Balls...

Only one pic of Mama. Husband never remembers to take pics...

 The music was pretty amazing and even better when Maroon 5 hit the stage at around 1:30am.  While we were standing in the casino I saw Adam Levine ( pure hotness) and band walk by, I had to seriously do a double take but then there they were later that night playing a few songs in Haze. Prerequisite Vegas celebrity sighting- check! 

I wished I'd taken more pics while I was there but Husband had our camera in his briefcase and my crackberry takes terrible pics.  So this is all I can share for now. The best is yet to come though, next post is dedicated to the shop shop shoppping recap. Stay tuned kids...

Entertain me Vegas...

I'm leaving for Vegas in a couple days and sadly this might likely be my only winter "vacation" this season if you call Friday to Sunday a "vacation", never mind that Vegas is freezing ass currently. (I already live in the North Pole and now I'm traveling 1031 miles/1659 kilometers straight south for more cold weather? Srsly weather gods?)

I'll be fine, I'll just console myself with fabulous retail shopping and massive portions of food while dining out.

Ha! God bless America. 

So as you can tell the 10 lb. rapid weight loss plan didn't really come together since I'm already talking about Vegas food binges, though I have been trying to eat well for the last few days. Honestly!

We're going again because Husband is on business at the huge CES Consumer Electronics show. So basically Vegas will be a techie-geek-mecca while we're there. And since I only pretend to be interested in the tech show (for Husbands benefit) I'll be spending my time in Nordstrom or the outlet malls. 

I've been to Vegas plenty of times but I can't help but feel I might be missing out on something while shopping the whole time. We always try to maximize our time there by getting tickets to a show, dinner in a great restaurant or two and always a night out at a club but what else is there to do? (I realize that sounds like a ridic question...) And we only ever seem to go for around 3 days so I suppose the tour of the Hoover Dam/Grand Canyon is a no go (as much fun as that sounds...)

I'm NOT a gambling woman so the casino is out. Money should only be spent on a sure thing like shoes! I cannot handle losing things. Especially money. 

{boring?}

So tell me lovely readers, what do you recommend doing in Vegas?

 I only have a weekend, and I'll likely be by myself most of the time (sounds like a blast right?)

 Lay your ideas on me, what do you like to do while in Vegas? What's fun, interesting, exciting,,,even if it's all a bit cheesy. It is Vegas after all. 

I'm up for anything (minus male strippers, that's no fun going to alone. So I hear.) 

{not this time thanks}