Red Carpet Recap

Sunday night, for me, was filled with the anticipation for the Oscars to start, nomination research, and agonizing whom to pick in categories like best supporting actress, best picture, and best director. I am happy to report that I ended with a pretty good score: 18 out of 24. If you followed along with my twitter than you know that the Oscar show itself was a little all over the place. I understand the Academy's attempt to get younger hosts to "relate" to it's younger audience but they need to find more entertaining youth next year to do the job better. Anne had the likability and charm and James sort of had the dry humor thing going for him, but put them together and great hosts it did not make.

But where drama and amazement weren't happening on the Oscar stage, it certainly was happening on the red carpet! These were my favorite looks from the night



Cate Blanchett in Givency



Love the pop of yellow on the shoulder and the detail in the front. So perfect for her



Mandy Moore in Monique Lhuillier. Loved all the sparkles. This was such a different look for her that I didn't recognize her at first!



Natalie Portman in Rodarte. Violet and brunette go beautifully together.



Scarlett Johansson in Dolce & Gabanna. The color and lace details of her dress was stunning and the open back was killer.

 (images: just jared for buzznet.com)

I guess I had a thing for pale pinks, nudes and vibrant purples last night. What about you guys? What did you think about the show; who wins the award for best dressed?

Oscar Night!

Don't forget I'm tweeting the Oscars tonight from right now until they pull the final curtain. I can't wait to see what winners are in store for us tonight. Enjoy! FOLLOW ME!

My Hipstimatic Print

I Buy American

Lens: Bettie XL
Film: Kodot XGrizzled

Flash: off

Friday Flick Picks plus Bonus Oscar Picks

This weekend one of my favorite times of year is upon us, the Oscar Awards! Ever since I was a teenager I can remember staying up late Sunday nights to predict the winners, hear the speeches, and ooh and ahhh over all the beautiful gowns. Many viewings later my tradition is still the same. Print the ballot, make a whole bunch of snacks, and see what surprises the Academy has inside those little envelopes. I plan to tweet the red carpet and periodically throughout the show so follow me if you're interested in reading the silly things I get excited about, namely montages and my favorite category: animated short films.

But let's get to the movies I saw this week first. Another slow movie week in this apple's life but I still have some flicks to report.

February 19th-25th

My bf and I had a redbox marathon with The American and Toy Story 3 earlier this week and Thursday I caught all the Oscar nominated animated shorts at an indie movie theatre here in town. I have to say even though I loved all the shorts (check out my winner below), Toy Story 3 is my favorite from the week. I saw it in the theatres over the summer and after constant persistence I finally got my boyfriend to watch it with me again. And I still cried at the end! In my eyes if a movie I already know the ending to can still bring me to tears then I know it's good. If you haven't seen it yet, definitely check it out. And if you're thinking about seeing The American; skip it! It's totally a snooze fest.

Now onto my Oscar picks. I thought about giving you guys my picks for all 24 categories, but does anyone care whom I pick to win best sound mixing? So we'll just skip ahead to what you really want to know; the top 6 categories, plus a bonus pick of my favorite category:

Best Actor
Winner: Colin Firth
Possible Upset: Jesse Eisenberg

Best Actress
Winner: Natalie Portman
I don't think anyone can upset her and if they do I'll be so mad!

Best Supporting Actor:
Winner: Christian Bale
Someone I'd love to see win though: John Hawkes

Best Supporting Actress:
Winner: Jacki Weaver (I'm picking a long shot here)
Perhaps the smarter pick: Melissa Leo

Best Director
Winner: David Fincher

Best Picture:
Winner: The King's Speech
An upset I'd LOVE to see because this was the best movie I saw all year: Inception

Bonus Pick: Best Animated Short
Winner: Day and Night


So get your movie-themed snacks and ballots ready for the movie geek's most anticipated night of the year!

Ballots are HERE if you need them and remember you can FOLLOW me on Twitter to see how my picks go on Oscar night, February 28th!

Statement Piece

In the few moments of sunshine we had in Indianapolis this week I had to get outside for some more outfitting fun. This look is truly typical Sarah uniform outfit: simple and classic with a touch of something unique. Skinny jeans and flats are in abundance in my closet and there is never a shortage of a solid colored top either. To make the tee and jacket combo a bit more special I added this great eclectic necklace to really make a statment. Consistent warm weather can't come soon enough; I'm ready to get outdoors all the time.



AG Jeans, Express tshirt, Old Navy Jacket, Anthropologie necklace, Predictions flats



Locket Love

I have a special place in my heart for lockets. They are my favorite type of necklace to wear and the more vintage the better. It probably stems from my childhood and my obsession with the musical Annie - I wanted a locket just like hers. I think I still have my first heart shaped locket that was bought for me to quiet my desires. I'll have to remember to find that at my parents' house the next visit home.

I used to think that I shouldn't own 20 lockets, like I want to, but have some variety in my necklace wardrobe.  But seeing this necklace on BHLDN's new website I am thinking my thoughts are all wrong and I need to stock up!

So this photo is the inspiration of my post today! I wanted to share my little collection of lockets and some ones that I'm lusting over on etsy.
 

L to R: locket cameo brooch and gold locket are vintage finds on etsy and the silver locket is from lillyella's etsy shop



The charm is all in the details...

Much like the BHLDN necklace, I am loving a monogram on the lockets right now



I also love the quirky details in the shape of the lockets and the emblems like the anchor and the bee


So what about you guys?  Do you have a special relationship with some pieces of jewelery?


etsy links top row: Dear Golden vintage, Decadence and Decay, cshadwick
etsy links bottom row: all from freshy fig

Style at Home

Thanks to livingsocial's daily deal, I got a great price on a year subscription to Style at Home magazine today! I am so excited to have a monthly resource for inspiration to my growing interest in styling and decorating. Mailbox, you are welcome for the eye candy upgrade!

images: style at home magazine

Weekend Adventures

Just a little glimpse into my Saturday and Sunday...


A little work on Saturday at Anthropologie:  what our windows look like right now.

 

View out my car window on Sunday. I drove from Indy to Lexington to see my parents and friends for a belated birthday celebration

 .


Super cute, and yummy, brunch place in Lexington my friends took me to called Doodles. Love their friendly advice on their community table seating: "get to know your neighbors"

 

Our very yummy menu choices.



Even at 28 my parents still know I love pink icing on my cake.

With warmish weather still in the forecast and left over birthday cake to snack on I know this is going to be good week. How about you guys?  How was your weekend?

Friday Flick Picks

Hello my little movie watchers. I'm back with my Flick Picks for the week. I'm sorry to all those who stopped by last Friday only to see a cute Valentine's Day tutorial, but sadly I hadn't watched any movies last week and I had the itch to do some craftin' so I shared that instead. This week was also a bit slow in the movie watching department but there just aren't any movies coming out that are getting me excited, but none the less, here's what I saw:

February 12th-February 18th

I re-watched Up in the Air on HBO and watched The Town with the commentary on. I'm definitely saying to watch The Town. I've only seen it once and the other night my boyfriend and I watched it with the commentary on and I'm dying to watch it a third time now that I know some interesting behind the scenes info. Ben Affleck did the commentary solo and I don't know what it is but he was so interesting to listen to. He really put some amazing research and love for his hometown, Boston, into his second directed picture. This movie has a fantastic cast and the acting does not disappoint either. If you haven't seen it, check it out on DVD before the Oscars next Sunday and if you own it and are looking for a different point of view, try it with the commentary on.

Have fun at the movies everyone! Next week I plan to give my pick for any movies I've seen during the week PLUS my picks for the Oscars on Sunday!

Pretty Young Thing

Since it was so nice out yesterday, and I was off from work, that I thought I'd have some outfitting fun and share it with you guys. I took my inspiration for this outfit from last weeks Glee Valentine's Day episode, funny enough from one of Brittany's outfits (only funny if you saw this week's Glee episode where Brittany becomes a trend setter at school). This is the outfit I'm talking about:

And here's my interpretation of it:
The main inspiration here was the suspenders in her outfit. I love them! And I love how this simple accessory instantly pulls her outfit together and makes it something unique. As for the rest of the styling, I swapped her striped tee for a silky Anthro blouse, kept the black mini and colored knee socks, and switched her mid calf boots for the more nerdy look of my black Urban Outfitters oxfords.

I think it turned out pretty well. What do you guys think?

Birthday Recap

So Friday I turned the big 2-8 and I have to say it was one of the best days ever. From start to finish my birthday was filled with great surprises, sweet phone calls and messages from loved ones, thoughtful gifts, and really yummy food.  My boyfriend planned our whole day, which included breakfast at one of our favorite restaurants, an impromptu mini shopping spree, a manicure and pedicure, cupcakes and chocolate covered strawberries, and dinner with our friends at Maggiano's.



Yummy waffle at Patachou. If you live in Indianapolis then you need to eat there!




Gigi's cupcakes




Nails decked out in OPI's Y'all Come Back Ya Hear?



Totally fab Seychelle's shoes my honey bought for me



Cutie red shorts and stripe pullover from JCrew

 Being a princess for a day isn't half bad! Thanks again to everyone who sent out birthday wishes; you all are too sweet!

BHLDN: It's Live!

Girls the day has come! Forget waiting around for chocolates or roses on Valentine's Day; we've been waiting for BHLDN to debut and the wait is over! Check out their beyond beautiful website and try to resist buying a dress for yourself even if you're not engaged (advice I'm giving to myself really hehe). Enjoy the wedding eye candy.

www.bhldn.com

images: Glamour Magazine

How To: Valentine's Day Brooch

With the national holiday of love right around the corner I thought I'd come up with a fun and easy craft if you want to get into the spirit but don't want to wear red and pink from head to toe. One of my favorite accessories is a brooch so finding the inspiration for this project was easy and making it is too! Check it out:



Materials: red and white felt, bakers twine, scissors, pen, hot glue, pin back, cross stitch needle (or any needle with a large enough eye to thread your bakers twine), and a circle template (I used a template I use for scrapbooking but anything will do like a glass or soup can)



Determine how big you want your brooch to be. The size of the white circle will be the base. Trace it on the felt and cut it out.



Next is to make the heart. If you have template like mine lay the circle over the red felt to act as a guide so you know how small to draw your heart so it fits inside the white circle. If don't have something like this just cut out another red circle the same size as your white one and cut out a heart smaller than that.



To add the stitching details: thread your needle with the bakers twine and make a knot at the end.



Choose the back side of your white circle and start with the knot there.



Make small stitches along the outer edge of the circle stopping when you are halfway around the circle. Make sure the last stitch is with the thread on the front side and cut the twine. You want to leave a 2 inch tail so you can make a bow at the bottom.



Repeat the above 3 steps for the opposite side. When you cut the tail the second time, tie a bow with the two loose ends.



Finish it up. Warm up your hot glue gun and glue the red heart to the white circle and hot glue your pin back to the back side of the white circle.



Add to your outfit on Monday and voila you have instant Valentine's Day spirit!



Happy Valentine's Day my little yellow apples I heart you!!!