The O's-Get the Look (Jewelry)

So the Oscars have come and gone

in a puff of fashion, hair and gems.

 I like to say live everyday on your

own red carpet (she says as she types

this post in her pj's and fluffy

slippers ;-)

Here are a few pieces that will

help you "translate" the red carpet,

Oscar jewelry look.

The lovely Jennifer Hudson went for blue all

around, including her earrings

These gorgeous "blues" will make any girl

feel like a princess. They look fab dressed up "a la 

Hudson", or dressed down with jeans

http://bit.ly/YyfLd6

The gorgeous Amy Adams' ruffled gown was the

talk of the night. Her simple Mouawad earrings formed

the perfect companions.

These stunning Swarovski earrings are simple and classy,
with a gun-metal undertone. http://bit.ly/XYNCMg

Jennifer Aniston displayed a pair of Fred Leighton

chandelier earrings, altho' lets face it we

were all clocking that rock on her third finger ;-)

These are over the top glamor; sassy

and sexy need apply only ;-)

I think these chandeliers will turn heads at 

any party

http://bit.ly/WdRqz9

Catherine Zeta Jones flaunted her love of opulence
with intricately carved Lorraine Schwartz earrings.

These are really going to get you noticed! 
Sassy, sexy and as glamorous as you can get.
http://bit.ly/13fYrBn

I think Jane Fonda looked fab; the image of grace
in her structured canary yellow gown and
Chophard chandelier earrings

These are just too stunning to be hidden. 
You need to put your hair up and wear these with pride. 
http://bit.ly/YwFYuH

Nicole Kidman displayed her love of the
ornate as she paired her sequinned gown
with Fred Leighton earring

Chandelier-chic at it's best. Very on-trend . 
C'mon girls channel the Spanish diva in you.
http://bit.ly/13RojPL



Whose jewelry caught your attention at the Oscars? (for
good or bad taste ;-)

So Overwhelmed

Oh my God!!! Where do I begin?

I can't tell you how overwhelmed and

astounded I was at the response I got to my 

previous post.

It was a bit of a gamble deciding to shed

more layers and expose more of who I am.

It was a risk I wanted to take and had been pondering

for a long time, but knew it could also turn some 
followers off.

However, I was not only "floored" by the wonderful comments left 

here (this has been my post popular post to date),

but by all the e.mails that landed in my Inbox from

women I didn't know; women who follow my blog

but never like to publicly comment, women who are 

also estranged from family members  and wanted

advice,

women who just wanted to reach out, women who

just wanted to say how much they loved how honest and

transparent my words felt, women who were in pain, women

who were worried I was hurting (I assured them I wasn't ;-),

women who themselves were currently in pain

and wanted to share their stories..........

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH.
If I had known the response I would have done it
sooner ;-) 

But everything has it's time, and now felt right.

So to all the wonderful women and 

friends I have met through this humble

little collection of ramblings, 

this last image says how I feel

about you ALL:-)

xxxxxx

p.s the subscription winner for Feb will be

announced at the end of next weeks blog

post ;-) There's still time to enter (see the

box in the right hand corner of the screen?

Just pop your details in there)

5 Things I'm Afraid To Tell You

In 2012 a handful of amazing bloggers started what I’d like to 
think of as a mini-movement in the form of a post entitled 
“Things I’m Afraid to Tell You” in an "effort to pull 
back the curtain of our happy, pretty little lives". 

I hadn't thought much about this until I recently  met up with a  blogger, and realized  she was nothing like I expected, (but that could be just down to my poor perception).  Of course having the background I have, I started analysing this and I realized that  maybe it was because we spend a lot of time hiding behind our lovely shiny Pinterest images. I am as guilty as most, but I am concerned that because of this I am not being as authentic as I could be; thankfully those I have met up with have always said I was exactly as they expected;-)

So I thought I would share with you 5 things I am afraid/nervous 
to tell you, in an effort to be more transparent 
and so you can see the vulnerable me behind all the lovely images.

So grab a chair and let me let
you in on a few secrets ;-)

1- I've been estranged from my sister for 16+ years

Yes, you've read that correctly. I'm one of those people

who waits a long time, but when I snap there's no

going back (there are no big

fireworks or anything-just  a quiet and
permanent retreat.  My sister made my life a living hell

when I was younger (even though she is younger than me)

and on my wedding day when she insisted on playing the loving

sister, I decided that would be the last time. I've never gone back

on my word

2- I would never donate an organ..............to my sister

Ok, let me explain. Because of reason no.1, friends are

always testing me and asking questions like,

"but if your sister needed an organ, and you

were the only match, wouldn't you help her?"

The answer is an emphatic no; I would rather

give my organ to a stranger

(I don't believe blood is thicker than water)

3-I am terrified of nuns

This makes all my friends (and Hubs) roll about

laughing, but I honestly break out in cold sweat

when I see a nun. I think it stems from my time in

a Catholic school when the birthday cake my Mum

made for my friends was kept and eaten by the

the nuns (the reason they

later gave my Mum was that I had been
naughty that day).  When you are 7 years old 
you just can't assimilate that that could ever happen.

When I moved to Spain I heard horror 

stories of what the nuns did during 

the Civil War, and it only added to my fear 

and cold sweats ;-)

I once went to a fancy dress party where there was

a nun. I nearly had convulsions when

I turned around and she was standing 

behind me; honestly!

(I can hear you all laughing. I'm laughing
myself just writing this to you all ;-)

4- I always knew I would never have children

I have never been maternal enough to want my own

children. I love children and am godparent to many, but

I never wanted my own. Thankfully Hubs felt the same.

However, in Spain not having children is like

a cardinal sin. I've been told:

"you are not a real woman unless you have children".

"you are not normal"

"you are selfish-who will look after you

when you are old" (can you see the irony

in that one).

"what you are doing is a sin"

"why bother getting married?"

In the end I just gave up defending

our choice.

Friends are convinced it was losing
my Mum at quite a young age that made
this decision for me-maybe?

5-An Irrational Fear

In 2 years time I will be the

age my Mum was when she died (she
was very young at the time and so was I).

This age seems to have been etched in my brain

for the last 20 years. It is totally irrational, but

I just can't seem to overcome this fear.

So there you have it Lovelies-warts and all!

I would love to know what you feel

about the above, about showing our 

vulnerabilities sometimes, or whether

you feel our blogs should be a place 
of escapism where fears etc are not shared.

I'm really not sure; my blog is a miss-mash
of whatever takes my fancy much to the 
disdain of my business coach ;-)

Needs No Words

Happy Valentines Lovelies

I absolutely LOVE this quote; perhaps one

of my favorite

Check out this 30 second video

Needs no words :-)

Thank you to the lovely Dee for
sending me this xx

May you always experience
the love of another

xxxxxxx

"Bling" on the Grammys

OK, we've seen the frocks that graced

the Grammys, now here is some of the

bling ;-)

Kelly Osbourne with a gold H.Stern cuff.

Check out her cute fingernails

Beyonce wearing jewels by Lorraine Schwartz.

Her geometric cuff was created from black

onyx and accented with hundreds of diamonds

Jennifer Lopez wore multiple rings and bracelets to accentuate

her gorgeous black dress. Her fingernails also seem to be 

flecked with gold

Alicia Keys wore my favorite pieces of the night; diamond

serpents which curved around her large drop

earrings and matching ring

Riahanna was wearing 2m worth of Neil Lane

diamonds. Her hands, ears, neck were all adorned.

I really liked these gorgeous earrings worn

by Miranda Lambert; opal surround earrings

encrusted with lots of tiny diamonds

So that's just a glimpse of some of my favorite pieces.

Do you have any favorites?

Less is NOT Best (Jewelry Trend)

OK, I am going to go against the 

"less is more" movement, and tell you of

a jewelry trend where going against this

can actually show your age ;-)

It's of course stacking (as all you 

fashionistas who follow this blog most probably

saw coming years ago ;-)

Stacks of matching, similar or totally mismatched

bracelets add personality and a contemporary and

youthful look to your hands and wrists.

They make trendy polish look cooler than ever and power up t'shirts,  
fitted sweaters and 3/4 sleeve jackets.

Wear stacked bracelets on both wrists for major impact.

Don't hesitate to mix your "good" bangles with rubber "cause" bracelets,

chains with jewel-studded cuffs.

The combo brings out your individuality and charisma even
 if you're wearing a basic black t'shirt and cropped pants.

This gorgeous stacking set is perfect
for summer and comes in a range of color
combos. 
Available here: http://bit.ly/UL5O14

This stunning hammered stacking set comes in both
a 9 piece or 6 piece
Available here: http://bit.ly/XszoVo

I have this set which is fast dwindling as girl-friends
take their fav bangle every time I wear it.
It comes as either the complete 14 bangle set
or you can pick and choose ;-)
Available here: http://bit.ly/VLuPJS




So what do you think Lovelies?
Is this a trend you like?
Is it perhaps too bo-ho chic for you?

Would love to hear your views.
(Part 2 of this series coming up)

p.s Juliana Cocor is the winner of our January
subscribers draw. Please e.mail me with your
postal details.
p.p.s So don't forget to subscribe to our newsletter 

(top right of this page) and be entered into February's draw