SIMPLY INSPIRED: My Favorite Things

I love Oprah and I love magazines. Mind you Oprah is off the air, and even when she was on the air I only once in a blue moon was able to watch her show. Yet when her annual "Favorite Things" came on I was sure to DVR it. Now many magazines have also come out with their "Favorite Things", along with J. Crew~ Jenna's Favorite things (Jenna and I have a lot of favorite things in common there so I will try not to be repetitive), The Limited (I forgot her name though), and the list goes on and that is what has inspired me to starting writing a post each month on "Nicole Favorite Things". The problem with Jenna's favorite things, and Oprah's favorite things, and the magazines favorite things, is that many of these favorite things are SUPER expensive. Those that know me know that I love to shop, but I hate the process of shopping. I am a woman of convience, and am not one to just mull around shopping for hours because there is always something else I could be doing. What I am is a huge copier of what many people wear, especially my friends. And even my non-friends. For example if I see someone in an airport with a dress I love, I make a beeline to find out where the girl got it. Some may think copying is a bad thing, but I see it as flattery. My girlfriends have especially learned to understand this concept. One of my good friends Naya is extremely stylish and I often times find her being one I copy the most, second would probably be Kelly. The only problem is now that I am in Florida I don't have them around to see what they are wearing everyday, so now I have to fend for myself. It is a tough world out there when you may not be the most stylish person on the planet. The other thing I have learned to do more (since being married) is to be more conscientious of my spending. Trust me this is a good thing and I praise the lord for my husband who has reigned this girl in to be excellent with money (haha, that may be a stretch, but I am working on it and have seen marked progress.) With this change I have a new mindset when it comes to shopping A. I try never to buy anything full priced because it will go on sale B. If I do buy something full price I have to really, really, really, love it. C. If something is absolutely fabulous, on sale, and you are in love buy it in two colors. So in order to achieve Part A of my motto it takes quite a bit of research most of which I do online, while sitting in an airport waiting for a plane. Lucky for you I do this a lot, so everyone is in for some affordable new things. I am limiting my favorite things to 10 Each Month and these can be anything! Feel free to post some of your favorite things because as I said before I am busy and would love to copy you!

January Favorite Things:

1. New Black Heels by Vince Camuto: Being tall the hardest thing to do is find a 2 inch heel, these puppies fit the bill and they are very stylish, and come in two colors. Volleyball girls you will love them!
http://www1.macys.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=510694&CategoryID=26481&LinkType=#fn=COLOR%3DBlack%26TOE_TYPE%3DPointy%26sp%3D1%26spc%3D56

2. Williams Sonoma Graviti Electric Salt & Pepper Mills: I love pepper...on everything! I got this as a Christmas present, and it is officially a new cooking fave. Maybe a little pricey for a pepper mill, but trust me there is a major difference
http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/graviti-electric-salt-and-pepper-mills/?pkey=e%7Celectric%2Bpepper%2Bmill%7C3%7Cbest%7C0%7C1%7C24%7C%7C2&cm_src=PRODUCTSEARCH||NoFacet-_-NoFacet-_-NoMerchRules-_-

3. Jillian Michaels is my girl...and she should be yours as well. I have been a huge proponent of the 30 Day Shred for awhile, and have recently added her new Yoga DVD to the pile. Both are awesome, and you have no excuse to not do 20 minutes a day of working out for your health. The yoga one is my new favorite because I can do it in my hotel room when I am on the road! Plus like many of your former athletes out there I like to sweat when I work out so yoga has always been tough, Jillian brings it to a whole never level. $9 each Target.

4. Headbands Are SO 2011 Ladies, I promise :) I wear them almost everyday in some way shape or form. The more flare the better! My current favorite is this one from Anthropologie which is on sale in stores now for like $12
http://www.anthropologie.com/anthro/catalog/productdetail.jsp?subCategoryId=&id=19718972&catId=ACCESSORIES-HAIR&pushId=ACCESSORIES-HAIR&popId=JEWELRYACCESSORIES&sortProperties=&navCount=25&navAction=top&fromCategoryPage=true&selectedProductSize=&selectedProductSize1=&color=004&isSubcategory=&isProduct=true&isBigImage=&templateType=D

5. Stella & Dot Crystal Necklace: I am all about the accesories and find necklaces, head bands, and duvet covers to be my favorite things to shop for. This necklace is great, I have gotten tons of compliments on it and if you watch the Stella & Dot website sometimes they have 20% off!
http://www.stelladot.com/corporate/productcatalog?page=productdetail&selectedLocale=en_US&sku=N130

6. Duvet Covers: Now this is certainly not an everyday purchase, but a very important one. I have our bedroom neutral specificially for the purpose of changing duvets with the season. Fortunately for John, with us now living in Florida there are two season.... nice and nicer. Duvets are not needed from May-September therefore quilts will be my new item to search for this spring. But for right now I am enjoying the cozy comfort of this duvet cover from West Elm on our new bed.

7. Ann Taylor Cowl Neck Sweater....In Orchid Petal. Color is GORGEOUS and it is a lightweight sweater that does not itch. Best of all it is 50% off right now ladies so get them while they are hot!
http://www.anntaylor.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=29092&N=1200006&pCategoryId=3939&categoryId=181&Ns=CATEGORY_SEQ_181&loc=TN&gridSize=sm&showAll=true&defaultColor=Smudgy Plum&defaultSizeType=Regular

Don't know how to enlarge this so just click the link

8. TJ Maxx Vintage Looking Picture Frame: I am a fairly simple decorator, but love to bring in some really cool frames. These are hard to find again because it seems like Marshalls/TJ's finds one of everything, but you get the gist of the look I am going for. $7.99 each!

And no I do not know those people in that picture! haha

9. Dog Collars & Leashes: Palin is a spoiled dog and that is a fact. You may wonder where she gets all of her designer duds (not) they are all handmade, affordable items usually found on Etsy.com. I have a few I use regularly but I recently ordered from Addison Logan designs, Here is the link to her Etsy shop and Palin's new collar
http://www.etsy.com/shop/AddisonLogan
Unfortunately she is on vacation so you will have to check her website for clear images considering Palin got a bath today and is complete fluff ball from her blow out.

and last but not least on this month's favorite things....

10. Banana Republic Wrap Top, now on sale! This top is lightweight, feminie, and looks great on every figure. You can wear it to work, or wear it to play....I would just to wear on any day. Yes, that rhyme was on purpose.
http://bananarepublic.gap.com/browse/product.do?cid=35356&vid=1&pid=789123&scid=789123012