Louboutin Red

20 Years after Christian Louboutin painted his first stiletto sole with red varnish as a finishing touch, women around the world now recognize the infamous red soles everywhere. Even if you don't know it, you've seen them and they look nice.

To me Louboutins are a symbol of luxury, art, and sex. Each pair is beautifully crafted and every detail is thought of. Wearing a pair of Louboutins makes you sway your hips a little and walk a little sultrier. The best part is how the toe cleavage make foot fetishes go wild.

Going back to almost 2 years ago (wow time flies), I was newly engaged and before I had a location, dress, or even idea of what I wanted my wedding to be like, I knew what I'd be wearing on my feet. A pair of Christian Louboutins.

My wedding shoes

Many girls dream of their dress, first dance, their ring, mine were the shoes I'd be walking down the aisle in.

Flash forward to last week during an impromptu date night, which consisted of my husband being the best and most patient husband in the world by taking me to my favorite Sephora in L.A., there it was. The most beautiful nail polish on display with NO tester.

I had heard that Christian Louboutin was releasing a nail polish and I had decided that I did not need this beautiful nail polish in the most artistically constructed packaging I'd ever seen, but I had to share the visual with my husband. When I walked up to it and showed him, He said "Wow that's nice." I asked "would you totally kill me for spending $50 on nail polish?" Without hesitation he said "no, it's a collection item and you love Louboutin." I know that I have married the right man for me since our first date, but that moment reminded me how wonderful he really is and how much he just gets me.

My very first pair of Louboutins from my mom 

We walked away to have a wonderful dinner so I could think about it. After some advice from my Instagram crew,  I made the decision to go back and spend $50 on this baby.

It took me 2 days to even open the box and expose the beautiful bottle. Then another day to paint my nails with the most beautiful nail polish handle.

peer pressure from the beauty snoop 

I have to say Mr. Louboutin did not disappoint one bit. The formulation is rich, pigmented, beautifully fluid, and so far no chips (we're going on day 31/2 with some major house work). Every time I look down at my toes or my hands, I have a little smile. It reminds me of the shade of the sexy red soles when you walk away wearing a pair of Louboutins.

My 2nd pair. Black suede. 

My Wedding shoes. 

Will you be purchasing your very own polish? Have you ever splurge on a major designer item? I'd love to hear your thoughts and stories.

XOXO
Serein

Another Birthday Come and Gone

So as I reach another birthday I reflect on the last year of my life. It's been a little less than a month since my personal holiday.

Sometimes as excited as I get about celebrating my day, there's a deep rooted sadness that I feel around the 19th of April as well. As I get older each year the sadness becomes more prominent. This could be the fact that as a child you never imagine yourself past 20.

This year was the marking of truly feeling like an adult, yet still not quite. Do we ever feel our age? I seem to have age identity crisis a lot.

This I've done this year:

I planned a wedding and got married!
As much as I love being married and I adore my husband, who makes me the happiest woman on Earth, I never actually imagined being married before meeting him.

So as I look back at 2012, getting married was a huge milestone in my life and it happened last year! Just sitting back and reflecting on the whole process of being engaged. Planning the wedding. Getting married. It's all very overwhelming. No matter how much I knew my husband or how much I loved him before the wedding, something happens when the vows are said, the ceremony is over and that little wedding band is on both of our fingers. I can't explain it, but a shift happens. Expectations change, not bad, not good, things just change. It's you and him forever now. You have a partner for life. You are responsible for another's well being and hapienss. It's a huge adjustment mentally.

Youtube Beauty Guru
I've also become an active youtuber posting multiple videos a week on beauty, product reviews, makeup tutorials, and shopping hauls. I never would have thought of myself as a youtuber. If you asked me a few months ago even, I would laugh and be embarrassed of my endeavor to advise through youtube. Making videos has become an outlet for me. Videos fill my creative needs and also makes me feel productive and helpful to others. It's become my main source of daily expression and creativity. I get complete creative control talking about things I'm passionate about.

Yoga?
I became a Yogi in the last year as well. In college I hated yoga, I didn't see the point, now I need it. The breathing, the stretching, the community, it all calms me and centers my mind. The physical benefits are great too!

Independence
I've learned to be alone. Being alone use to lead to depression and feeling like a looser for me. Now I cherish the moments of solitude. To do my own thing and not be disrupted or worried about someone else. While I love my friends and always need them in my life, I have learned that as we age and grow up and build our own families, the time we do get to spend together is precious and rare. Just because I don't hear from them every day doesn't mean that they would be there for me if I needed them. This goes for them too. I don't feel the need to have to call them everyday, we are all busy and trying to live life. In fact my best friends are the ones I see the least.

Move On
This is something I'll always struggle with, but looking back at the last year, I've really improved this trait. It use to take me years to move on from the smallest slights or fights. Now mostly I figure it's not personal, but something the other person is going through. How often do I start a fight or get upset at someone because of my own insecurities or issues? Almost always. So 90% of the time if someone has beef with you, it's really not personal.

Growing up has made me a better partner and friend to those in my life. Do I still get a little sad around my birthday? Yes. I think it's the panic that I haven't done enough with my life or that I am not where I thought I would be, but honestly? Who is exactly where they thought they would be? Life is unexpected and beautiful. The control freak side of me needs to just shut up and enjoy the ride because looking back at the last year, It's been a pretty great one :-)

Sometimes Your Just Surrounded by Assholes

There’s only 41 days left before I am a Mrs. I am checking things off my list of things to do and trying to stay focused on living a healthy, full, and productive life. Sometimes when I stop and look around I get a little panicky. I try not to have too much free time these days because it can cause anxiety and some depression on my part. Then last night, during my yoga class my teacher said, “Before we self diagnose that we are depressed or insecure, look around, maybe you’re just surrounded by assholes.”

Now I don’t think you should blame your problems on others or not take responsibility for your actions, but there’s truth to her statement. Sometimes no matter how hard I work and what I do, I feel yucky at the end of the day or something just makes me feel bad. I try to stay positive and I try to fix the situation instead of dwelling on it. But today, for example, when I was leaving the bank, I put my car in reverse and started to back up when this woman pulled up behind me. I stopped, but she proceeded to honk at me, not just one honk, multiple honks. I got really angry. I actually almost did an inappropriate hand gesture. I was already backing up and she was the one speeding behind me, wanting the spot next to me.

I started to feel guilty because I really shouldn’t be that upset, but I think this is a case where I was surrounded by an asshole.

What really frustrates me is when people don’t take responsibility for their actions. Now if I had kept backing up and had not made eye contact with the woman or didn’t see her, which I admit has happened in the past, then I take responsibility, please do honk at me to prevent an accident.

It’s the same thing when I’m at a light trying to make a right turn and the car behind me honks. Really?! Usually if I’m not going it’s because there is a pedestrian crossing the street. The car behind me can’t see, but they are so impatient that they have to rudely honk.  Some times, I get spiteful and will wait even longer just to irritate the guy behind me, but then that makes me the asshole.

Be responsible for your actions. Do everything you can to live a good, healthy, and productive life. Everything is going well in my life. I’m happier then I’ve been in years, I feel like I have a purpose, though at times I’m stressed out of my mind. Everything I can control is under control, but I still occasionally get that icky feeling. I’m just now realizing that that icky feeling isn’t always something I did or didn’t do, it’s from the assholes around me.