Feature Friday Double-Double - My Feature at "Glamour Girl"

Hello from the gorgeous, if rain sodden, hills of North Carolina!

I'm running off to Cocktail Hour - yes, it comes in capital letters in my world - but before I do, please (1) check out my Feature Friday blogger, Glamour Girl, if you haven't already below here; and . . . drumroll . . . (2) see her interview of me over at her fabulous site here!

My martini is calling me (dirty, Grey Goose, 3 olives) - have a Pretty weekend!

Featured Blogger Friday: "Glamour Girl"

Dulcet darlings, I'm thrilled to introduce a shiny new blogger to you today, Glamour Girl! Ms. Glamour and I met in the comments section here, and I quickly began to follow her vivacious blog (Can a blog be vivacious? I waive my magic wand & make it so).

What I like best about Ms. Glamour is that she speaks to an area of blogging and writing I've been searching for - that space many of us occupy between our singleton past and our card-carrying, minivan-driving mom future. She can also pull off retro glamour in one post - just wait until you see her wedding photo below - and proclaim her love of Guns n' Roses in the next one. Given that I respectively qualify for & adore all of the above, I naturally think she's genius, but there is something for all of us in her writing.

Let's get to it . . .

Why She Started Blogging: Well, I’m too pretty to do math, so writing seemed the natural choice. No, for real, I started writing before I could even read. I would ask my mom how to spell words so I could write the stories that were in my head. My early work consists of stories about cats and sheep. Really great stuff!

I had been thinking about writing a blog for a long time, but just wasn’t sure how I wanted to go about it. I got married this past April and as I was planning I kept using “Hollywood Glamour” to describe the look and feel I wanted for the wedding. This gave me the idea for Glamour Girl

Some of the first blogs I read were those of like-minded people who I thought would “get” me and appreciate the place I am in my life now. You were one of my first blogger friends because I enjoyed your sense of style, wit, sarcasm, blondeness and prettiness of course! (Pretty Note: Pinky swear, I don't put the FFBs up to this sort of flattery. Yes, really.)

Her unique voice somewhere in between "20s singleton" and suburban mommy, which is one of my favorite features of her blog: This was one of the reasons for starting my blog in the first place. I kept thinking, “There’s got to be more people out there like me!” I spend one weekend on the soccer field and at kiddy birthday parties and the next out on a boat sipping cocktails with my friends. It’s almost like a dual personality.

Even though I have a step-daughter, you would be amazed at how many “Mommy” types still shun me just because I didn’t pop her out of my own body. And my single friends always assume I’m busy with Mommy duties. There’s a definite stereotype to both of these groups, leaving someone like me floundering somewhere in the middle.

(Pretty Note: I defy one of those Mommy Mafioso types to look at this darling girl and be snooty to anyone.)

Where she finds blog inspiration: I have two things going for me:

a. Crazy stuff happens to me all the time. Or maybe I just put myself in crazy situations, who knows?
b. I have a great imagination. No matter what is going on around me, I always have an alternate dialogue or scenario going on in my head. You’ll often see this reflected in my blog. I’ll go off into a dream sequence quite often. I doubt I would ever get through the work day without my brain working this way!

Where on Earth she finds time between marriage, work, and a kid to blog: I sneak in time between pretending to work during the day at my full time job to hearing Hottie Husband yell, “Are you blogging again?” in the evenings.

Cryst*al Me*th also works wonders. Kidding!!! Really, I just take it one day at a time. I try to write every day, but it doesn’t always happen.

Her non-bloggy hobbies: I go through phases, but I always enjoy shopping, painting, traveling, taking my cat for walks (Pretty Note: I like how she sneaks the cat walking in here as if it's a ho-hum, everyday thing us mere mortals can pull off) and dancing (either out with friends or just in my own kitchen).

Right now HH, the little Chica and I have been playing a lot of Rock Band on Xbox. Our band name is My Midget (so politically incorrect, I know!) HH plays a mean guitar, Chica rocks the mic and I wail on the drums. (Pretty Note: I too rock the Rock Band drums) Great stress release! And, it’s always entertaining to see a 5-year-old rock out to Rage Against the Machine. She loves it!

3 songs she recently downloaded: I love music and I listen to a little bit of everything. I always have music on my blog to reflect the mood I’m in that week.

Right now I’ve been in a big classic rock phase and Chica loves The Rolling Stones, so I recently downloaded one of our favorite Stones songs, Sympathy for the Devil. I’m also always looking for good workout songs so Cobra Starship’s Good Girls Go Bad and Sean Kingston’s Fire Burning have given me my fix recently.

Some personal & professional goals for the next 5 years: I’m one of those annoying people who have a new life goal every week, so who knows? I always have a new “great idea” that I want to pursue. HH and I are both very creative people and we would eventually like to run our own business. We would also like to have more kids, after all, how else will I truly be accepted into the Mommy Club and flaunt my superiority over my single friends once and for all? (Pretty Note: This line thaws my icy, Smug Married heart to the core.)

(Pretty Note: The first dance accessories are perfection here - I'll take the child and the feathery veil, please.)

What a new reader should know before clicking over to her blog: Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful. No, really, just don’t take me seriously. Most of my ideas are whack and I don’t really follow the crowd or agree with popular opinion. I was a drama major in college and that explains a lot. But, the good thing is that you will always get 100% authentic me. I never put on a façade or pretend to be someone I’m not.

Thank you for playing, Miss Glamour! My darlings, please run immediately over to Glamour Girl's blog here or her Twitter feed here, lest I aim my Icy Glare in your direction . . .

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There are the Oscars, there are the Nobel Prizes, and then of course there is Featured Blogger Friday. I'm of no help with the first two or really much of anything, but if it's internet PR you're after & you'd like to be a featured blogger, please leave me a comment here. Thank you for reading!

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Watch this space for the related Featured Blogger Friday twist, to be updated soon . . .

Goin to Carolina . . .

(Credit: Wikipedia Commons)

. . . in my mind and on a jetplane. Back with more travel tales (read: MORE vacation photos from a complete stranger!!!) early next week.

Featured Blogger Friday will continue in my absence, so Pretty please check back in tomorrow. You won't want to miss this one, and as if she weren't exciting enough, there's a twist this time. Stay tuned . . .

Pretty Beauty Products, Summer '09 Ed.

There are days when I endeavor to bring you something intriguing or funny on this fair or fairly awful site. And then there are the days when I dramatically fling my hands in the air and proclaim, "Oh, to Hell with it - let's just get Prettier than everyone else." I think you know in which direction the winds are blowing today, so to speak.

Besides, in the words of Billy Crystal, "It is better to look good than to feel good". And so, before I go quoting myself or archaic SNL sketches again, I'm hereby making an unladylike gesture at reality and just focusing on bringing you the new beauty products I've recently tested out. I hereby give the following my uber-prestigious Pretty Seal of Approval:

(Older house --> limited counter space --> photos atop toilet tanks. It's a glamorous* existence here at the Pretty.)

*As my Twitter friends know, yes, I did have to pause & start singing "G-L-A-M . . ." before typing that. Yes, I am ashamed.

Ahem. Going from left to right:

- Neutrogena "Age Shield Face" SPF 70: I've earned every sun spot & wrinkle, but am now doing my best to keep things from falling further apart. This goes on with a minimum of grease and none of the Casper-the-ghost white filminess that so many sunscreens get. It also blocks UVA & UVB rays, doesn't sting my eyes, costs $10, and does a bunch of other impressive stuff I don't really understand.

- Phytomer "Douceur Marine": Although I look just like Grace Kelly, see above about the sun spots & fair complexion. This does a nice job of moisturizing and evening out my ruddy, combination skin without clogging my pores. This is a pricier buy - around $60 from my aesthetician - but the best I've found after trying many other, including much pricier (rhymes with "La Mer"), options.

- Phytomer "Expertise Age Control": Again, strikes the right moisture balance or will until the Botox fairy eventually comes for a visit. Nearly as good as my absolute finito eye cream, which you can find here, at a fraction of the price.

- Finacea (prescription only): Same idea as Retin-A, but using a different ingredient and less of a scorched Earth approach. I've found this a better fit for my rosacea & combination skin issues.

And since good hair is just as important as good skin in looking Prettier Than Everyone Else:

- Chi Professional Rocket Low EMF: It may sound and like something out of NASA, complete with flashing Lite Brite-style doodads on the side, but let me assure you - this is the best $100 you will spend on your hair. I've known about and used Chis for years, so when mine tragically perished off the coast of Stockholm, I ordered this upgrade the second I returned home.

This model has cut my drying time by 5 minutes, and those 5 minutes in the morning are of course precious moments I could be spending plotting my eventual Junior League / world (whichever happens first) takeover. Buy this.

Any other new, or new to you, products I should know about?

Pretty Travels, St. Petersburg Ed.

Yes, yes - three weeks post vacation, and I'm still babbling on about it. Three cheers for Other People's Vacation Photos (like "OPP", minus the rhythm)! I promise to wrap things up soon, but the remaining destinations are just too interesting not to share with you . . .

Moving along to St. Petersburg, perhaps the most compelling city I visited . . . let's get one thing out of the way first, however:

(Credit: Flickr user FatMandy. I didn't want to set Perestroika back by taking a photo of an actual native offender.)

MULLETS. Mullets here, and mullets there, there were mullets everywhere. The city of St. Petersburg was clearly in the throes of a fashion flashback moment, from the neon heels on the women, to the omnipresent mullets, this 80s fashion revival has gone global (or, I suspect, hasn't ever left certain locales).

Superficial impressions aside assuming I'm capable of anything else, St. Petersburg was the town I most wanted more time in, more than any other. An overcast, rambling city of more than 4.6 million inhabitants, it is a funny jumble of east meets west: here a Baroque masterpiece, there a crumbling Soviet dungheap. This architectural diversity was reflected in the population, to put it mildly. A former capital under the Russian Czars, St. Petersburg remains a cultural and artistic capital of Russia.

Before I ramble any further, let me say this - to say you've visited Russia after seeing this town would be akin to saying you've toured the US after seeing SoHo; you may catch a glimpse of a neighborhood of a big city, but you've only just begun to scratch the surface, and the surface of just one town at that.

And so we set out to cram as much touring as we could into our dizzying three days in St. Petersburg, fully cognizant that we wouldn't see everything or close to it. In an attempt not to bore you even further - and avoid crashing your computer with the over 200 photos we took there - here are a few highlights.

At Peterhof, one of Peter the Great's palatial residences, this one an attempt to recreate Versailles:

I don't know quite how to describe this next one other than an art lover's ultimate naughty fantasy. If you want to literally go nose-to-nose with a Monet or Rembrandt, you must see the Hermitage Museum, one of the largest museum collections in the world, once in your lifetime:

The buildings that comprise the Hermitage are just as much a work of art as the works within; these floors are just one example. There are those rare travel moments where you think to yourself, "I cannot believe I'm actually lucky enough to be here"; this entire museum, obnoxious overcrowding of tourists and all (foreshadowing!), was such a time.

Notice how I didn't take any pictures of the paintings? NOTE TO FELLOW TOURISTS: JUST BECAUSE THE MUSEUM WILL LET YOU TAKE FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY OF PRICELESS WORKS OF ART DOESN'T MEAN THAT YOU SHOULD. NO, SERIOUSLY. Ahem.

Rant aside, should your travels ever take you to this part of the world, please go here - if not for the art, if for that this is the one tourist destination we went to where the surly, elderly docents (read: monitrixes) weren't casting a dour spell on the experience. Ironically, this is the one place that could probably use that sort of supervision - unlike most museums of its stature, this place had hardly any safeguards against the elements or vandalism - but I'm getting seriously off topic here. Get to the Hermitage if you can, pets.

And here is what many of you, or at least I, envision when you think of St. Petersburg:

This is the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, or "That cool church with the dome thingies where the pickpockets hang out", as I've lovingly named it. Ironically, this world-famous church never did function as a church; it once was even used for vegetable storage, and is now a museum to mosaic art.

To conclude - get thee to St. Petersburg. To attempt to define this city in one mere blog post is to cheat it, and you, of the intricate historical, cultural, and artistic legacy it holds. Not to forget the mullets - as if I could.

Next stop, Helsinki & Stockholm . . .

For more in this travel series:

- Q & A Edition (including The One Travel Bag I'll Never Leave Home Without Again)

- Copenhagen & Tallinn

- From Russia with Love

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But enough about other cities, let's get back to me - I'm remiss in not giving big, smoochy thanks to two of my absolutely favorite bloggers - Bon Bon Rose and NYC HIT - for honoring me with blog awards. I'm sure you're all reading them now, but if not, please check them out immediately. Thank you so much!

Featured Blogger Friday: "NYC Housewife-in-Training"

Darlings, I couldn't be happier to bring you today's featured blogger, the ever elegant and witty NYC Housewife-in-Training. She & I first "met" in the comments section here at the Pretty, and quickly became Invisble Internet Friends. I so enjoy her daily musings about her "husby" and admire her La Martha-style examples of housewife-in-training domesticity, all pulled off with the perfect balance of New York style, more than a little sarcasm, and warmth. Reading her blog feels like talking to one of your good friends.

If only the Trophy Wife Wagon were just a smidge speedier, I'd be setting off for Manhattan right now to buy her a champagne drink or ten. But before I start sounding even more like a blog stalker (albeit an exceedingly Pretty one), allow me to distract you with a little more info about NYC HIT:

Why she started blogging: I’m an all or nothing kind of girl as if you didn’t know, so when I was talking to AER at a friend’s wedding and she was telling me all about her blog, and I thought, I could do that. I promise it had nothing to do with my competitive spirit and everything to do with the fact that I just stumbled upon this super cool secret world that I knew nothing about. So the following week, I talked to Husby (who cheered me on) and signed up.

Problem was I had never read a blog before.

I realized all too soon that I would need to do more than just write if I wanted to really be apart of blogland, so I began reading other blogs. I was addicted. A few of my early favs? Mrs. Newlywed, you (naturally) (Pretty Note: Flattery - and good jewelry - will get you everywhere with me), Dollface and Lindsey.

Her Dream of Writing a Children's Book: My ultimate champion, Husby, thought of the idea. We were sitting in bed one day (as most of our conversations begin) when he said that I should write a children’s book. That night, Max and the Misadventures of Cuddlebear was born.

My niece is my inspiration. By the age of 3, she’s traveled more places than I can ever dream of going. And that is the premise behind my storyline.

On a serious note, I’m scared to death of starting my children’s book. I have all these plots and ideas in my head for the books, but sitting down and actually writing them is quite daunting. Writing for kids is so different than writing for adults. Everything is so literal. It makes me feel inadequate. I'm not prepared to write it yet.

So for now, Max remains in my dreams, but maybe one day soon he’ll venture out to meet you all…

Her Daily Blog Inspiration . . .

Husby manages to provide me with more than enough blogging material on a daily basis.

Her day job: Last October, I had to stop working. The stress of work was literally wrecking havoc on my body, and Husby and I decided that it would be best for me to take a break. So, for now my day job is blogging, but we are hoping that soon it will be parenting. But yes, before I worked in the fabulous over-hyped world of PR and Marketing. For spirits, nonetheless. And, no, I did not get free booze. Unless I did things like eat a scorpion or jump a fence with my boss. No wonder I had problems with stress. They should have given me booze to tame my nerves.

Her hobbies outside of blogging: Does Twitter count? I love to cook/bake; photograph everything; reading is my ultimate guilty pleasure; I’m a wino at heart; traveling and weekend adventures rock; and overall I spend as much time as I can with my family and friends. (Pretty Note: Amen!)

Some goals for the next five years: Finally get the nerve to start Max’s Misadventures. He and Cuddlebear are getting pretty anxious up there doing nothing.

Start a family. That pretty much consumes most of our thoughts lately.

About this mysterious, "we're buying a house and possibly moving to the country" stuff: Yes, we are moving. It may or may not be to the country... More details to come this fall. I promise. Stay tuned!

What she would want a new reader to know before clicking over to her blog: Take everything I say with a grain of salt. Sometimes I’m serious, sometimes I’m sarcastic, but mostly I’m just making fun of with Husby.

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Thank you so much, my Invisible Internet Friend! Please run immediately over to NYC HIT's blog here or her equally wonderful Twitter feed here!

***

If any of you would like the wildly prestigious honor of being a Feature Friday Blogger, please read my scintillating guidelines here and leave me a comment, including your email address. Please forgive me if it takes me a while to get back to you; as longtime readers know, I'm terribly lazy and disorganized busy and important. Thanks for your interest!

The Uniform

Once upon a time, we all sought to fit into a category. Be it the cheerleader, the athlete, the goth, or even the geek, as much as we may have aspired / vehemently not aspired to fit in the popular crowd, most of us took comfort in knowing what we were generally expected to act and look like. It is the stuff that John Hughes movies were so indelibly, wonderfully made of.*

*Oh, come on, I'm like 2 weeks overdue for a JH homage. At least it's a break from my "Mad Men" obsessing, no?

As a (credit) card-carrying adult, liberated from the tidily, too easily categorized halls of high school (CAN I GET AN AMEN?), of course these lines now blur, often intentionally so. Other bloggers like LPC describe it here more eloquently than I can, but long story short long at the ripe old age of thirty-one, I'm both comfortable in my skin and usually no longer want to be tidily identified solely by that (yuppie) exterior.

This morning, however, I awoke to the same anxiety about work / sleep / personal-stuff-I-will-get-int0-eventually-here that has been plaguing me for weeks, looked my closet in the . . . um, hanger? . . . , and decided - today is the day that I need a uniform. Not the conservatively fashionable one I usually agonize over, but the one outfit I don't have to think about, that will take me to work today and to play tonight and be appropriate for all of the above.

Much as I try to resist the overly prepster look or even "preppy blogger" label, today I'm embracing my Claire Standish roots, fitted pink cardigan, Lilly dress, pearls and all. I've working the slightly rock star purse too just in case Judd Nelson* makes an appearance, but bad boys aside, I'm confident and ready for the student government meeting or, less thrillingly, that pile of discovery I need to get out. Sometimes the superficial labels & clothes can be a good thing, even (especially) if just for the day.

*Or better yet, Steff from that other Hughes classic - any guesses?

What's your uniform?

Smug Married Trickery

It's such a cliche that I, Smug Married that I am, figured it surely couldn't be true.

You know the idea - that husband types will intentionally mess up domestic chores in order to never be tasked with them again. Don't get me wrong; the Anonymous Husband, bright, shiny sweetheart that he is, is generally wonderful about pitching in around the house. And yet . . . well, let's look at the following two exchanges and see if he might be up to something . . .

AH: (yelling to me from kitchen) "The dog just threw up!"

Me: "Oh, no!" (running back into the kitchen) Does he look ok? What does it look like?"* (*Sorry, not pet owners, but that's how these conversations go. You should hear the poop discussions.)

AH: (blank stare): "Uh, I don't know. I'm busy!" (blindly grabbing for pretextual kitchen implement) "Can you take care of it? I don't know how to . . ." (spatula flourish for emphasis)

***

Me: "Would you take the dog outside, please? I just have to finish this email."*

*(Oh, look, a poop conversation!)

AH: (blank stare) "Uh, sure. Does he need to go outside?"

Me: (incredulous eyebrow raise) "Uh, yes, like he does before bed every night. You did take him out when you beat me home after work, didn't you?"

AH: (blank stare) "Was I supposed to do that? You only mentioned feeding him dinner."

Me: (Head in hands)

***

Is it possible that my own personal, multiple degree wielding, fancy lawyer type husband is pulling the Incompetence Defense on me? If so, I hereby mark these as Exhibits A & B in the case of "Pretty vs. The Things Men Do to Get Out of Doing Household Chores". For any Smug Mommies in the jury box - does this only get worse with actual Anonymous Kids?

Giveaway - Chickdowntown.com Winner!

By the power vested in me via Random Number Generator Thingy, I hereby pronounce Miss E in AZ, one of my favorite bloggers and Invisible Internet Friends, the winner of my admittedly awesome Chickdowntown.com giveaway! Miss E, please shoot me an email with your final clothing selection; everyone else, please go read her blog or follow her Tweets immediately.

Thank you all for playing! I'll be back in a minute or two thousand with my proposal for a new secret society, as well as more hugely exciting travel photos and commentary . . .

Pretty Travels, Travel Q & A Ed.

Important, Special Note to Readers: Featured Blogger Friday will return next week, or as soon as I stop putting the "minus" in "Type A minus personality".

I can't seem to focus lately; in fact, if Focus appeared on my doorstep in the personage of Don Draper, winking at me as he offered to whisk me away for an intimate dinner, I'd likely shut the door on him and think to myself, "Huh, well, at least the Jehova*h's Wi*tnesses are upping their game. What was I doing again?"

***

In any event, I've received a number of questions from you clever readers about the mechanics of my recent trip - namely, cruise vacationing vs. . . . um, vacationing vacationing. I'm going to delve into that today & name The One Travel Item I'll Never Leave Home Without Again ("TOTIINLHWA", anyone?), as well as open up the floor to any travel questions you might have. I'll pick up again with a couple of travel photo / fashion posts next week. Not that I'm an expert on travel, but - as you've surely realized - I so enjoy pretending to know everything.

I've now been on two cruises - one of larger, stuff-yourself-at-the-buffet variety as you've probably seen on commercials, and my recent one on an excellent, smaller, higher-end line - and based on those experiences, I'd particularly recommend this manner of travel in two cases: for those of you just starting out as travelers, and for travel to areas of more geographic interest than cultural.

For new travelers, or travelers new to the destinations cities (as I was on the Baltic cruise), cruises can be a terrific way to sample cities. You can have the security of a tour guide leading you around town, less the logistics of dealing with transportation and accommodations. These are simultaneously the big positives and negatives of cruises, actually; while the structured format of tours can be helpful especially for a new traveler nervous about finding his or her way around, it also means you're more likely to see only the tourist-y parts of a town. While that is part of the point - for example, you wouldn't go to Paris for the first time and not visit the Eiffel Tower - some of my best travel memories are the bits I stumbled upon in wandering around on my own.

On a cruise, you also don't have the opportunity to interact much, if at all, with the locals. Granted, in some places the language barrier might prevent some of that anyways; however, armed with a decent guidebook, a smile, and a working knowledge of "Please", "Thank you", and "Where is the bathroom?" in the native language (yes, even where nearly everyone speaks English; never assume they do) will get you by nearly everywhere. If some of the point of travel is challenging your perspective - and, believe it or not, I'll argue that it is for most vacations - you're more likely to do so if traveling on your own.

A cruise is also a fabulous way to go if you're visiting a spot arguably more compelling for its natural beauty - Alaska or the Caribbean come to mind - than its can't miss museums or history. Since you're there for the scenery, cruising can be a fantastic way to see those areas up close.

Most importantly, any cruise ship worth its anchor has an open bar, which of course makes it ideal for family vacationing. Love you & thanks, Anonymous In-Laws!

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The One Travel Item I'll Never Leave Home Without Again ("TOTIINLHWA") will come as no surprise to the travel veterans amongst you. This served at various times as my handbag and my umbrella, and held damn near everything aside from the boat itself. It is deceptively large, lightweight, easy to clean, and looks appropriate in nearly every situation:

(Credit: Nordstrom)

Go LePliage or go home, darlings.

***

For my next party trick just as soon as I get motivated to edit photos again, I'll bring you St. Petersburg photos, including an in-depth analysis of the mullet epidemic that may or may not be sweeping that fine city.

Also, if you have any other travel questions, this is one of my favorite subjects to natter on about - please ask away in the comments!

Pretty Travels, Baltic Ed., Part I

After much gnashing of teeth and excuse making, I'm finally ready to delve into my recent European adventure travel photos. Yes, yes - please endeavor to contain your excitement at the prospect of looking at a total stranger's vacation pictures.

IMPORTANT, SPECIAL DISCLAIMER OF PC-POLICE SPECIALNESS AND OVER-CAUTION: The travel posts to follow are, unfortunately, limited by their nature to the brief time and especially the manner of travel (cruise) by which I visited these countries. Therefore, I will be forced to make sweeping generalizations as necessary. For example, I'm certain that your Russian museum monitor Aunt Vladimira is actually the loveliest of women, and not the surly, power-crazed robocop she (and her fellow monitrixes) appeared to be. Plus, this is my blog. Thank you for understanding.

IMPORTANT, SPECIAL DISCLAIMER OF THE DISCLAIMER: I loathe disclaimers.

Moving swiftly along . . . we disembarked our flight in Copenhagen, the Danish capital, where I quickly got my first taste of Scandinavia with a capital "S". The minute we landed in the airport, something felt different - the airport workers were actually friendly, the train system immediately outside was tidy and ran on time, and not a scrap of litter or disorder (unless you count the omnipresent leggings, which I'll get to in a future post) was to be seen anywhere.

And, oh yes, the people. As I've mentioned here before, Copenhagen is not the place for you should you be feeling insufficiently blonde, tall, and healthy looking - as in, "My fair locks and I are going to do a wee hike up an enormous mountain this morning just because I SO enjoy the fresh Scandinavian air" healthy looking. This isn't at all to say that everyone should be tall and blonde, but merely that if you personally strive for greater achievement in these areas (ahem), I'd think twice before visiting. In short, I should have touched up my highlights pre-trip.

In any event, once we left the airport and arrived at our downtown hotel, we took to the cobblestone streets (also beautiful, naturally). Some highlights . . .

Outside Amalienborg Palace, the winter residence of the Danish royal family.

Amalienborg Palace. It must be the English delusions of royalty in me, but I have yet to meet a palace or cobblestone street I didn't like.

Remember this? Copenhagen is located on an island, and this is one of the scenic canals running through the downtown area.

(It wasn't). However, note the use of English; for better or worse, nearly everyone we encountered outside of Russia spoke it, and the touristed spots had just as many signs in English as in the native language.

After 1.5 days in Copenhagen, we boarded our ship & sailed away to the fair seaside town of Tallinn, Estonia . . .

The view from the ship. Tallinn has a storied and long history as a trading port, and I quickly saw why - if I saw a port like this, I'd be (and was) inclined to stop.

The Rusalka Memorial, dedicated to a sunken ship just off the coast. The memorial is situated on a stretch of unadulterated, breathtaking coastline, the likes of which in the US would be dotted with McMansions or gilded casinos. Just say no, Estonia.

A view of the striking Old Town area. Unfortunately, it's a gem now overrun by tourists, but it's worth getting off of the main, foreigner-ridden drag to meander the back streets and take in the various fortresses and churches lining the (yay!) cobblestone lanes.

Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, a sign of the pervasive Russian influence and later Soviet occupation in Estonia.

When English translation goes wrong - in case you can't make this out, it reads "Own hearth is worth gold". This was taken in a tourist-trap "Estonian" restaurant, where I'm happy to say the cider and food were considerably better than the wall decor.

Next stop, St. Petersburg, aka "Ground Zero for the 80's fashion revival" . . .

Giveaway - Chickdowntown.com

In order to continue my One Year Blogiversary fun and to distract you from the fact that I haven't written anything substantive or even mildly humorous in, oh, FOREVER , I'm bringing you yet another giveaway! The nice ladies at Chickdowntown.com, an uber-stylish site I've long e-stalked for both fashion forward and vintage finds, contacted me to do an (unpaid) giveaway & brief product review, and I was honored and happy to pass along their chic wares to you.

Here's the nifty giveaway part - Chickdowntown.com is generously offering one lucky winner a choice of any item from one of two gorgeous lines! You know how we at the Pretty like our freedom to do exactly as we please. Plus, these two lines were handpicked by me to suit you fashionable yet classic reader types.

For your option number one, we have the BB Dakota line, which is a perfect mix of on-trend yet timeless basics:

And behind Fashion Door #2, we have the luxe Tolani line, full of gorgeous skinny scarves like this one:

I'm assuredly not one of those "If someone in Paris is wearing it, it must be fashionable" sorts, but I will say this - during my recent European adventure, EVERY woman worth her "Vogue" subscription was wrapped up in a skinny scarf. I'll get more into this when I finally get around to recapping my trip, but suffice it to say, this is a trend with legs (necks?).

To enter the giveaway, please note the following rules:

1)) Please leave me ONE comment, including your BB Dakota or Tolani Scarves selection, no later than this Sunday, August 16th by 9 pm CST;

2) You must have a US mailing address and be 18 years of age to enter.

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While you're doing your giveaway shopping, please also check out the other too chic finds on Chickdowntown.com, including these beauties:

Mystique Sandals - aren't these lovely?!? This new line is full of the perfect flats to spiff up a casual summery outfit.

Yumi Kim - I adore the colors of this boho maxi wonder, which gets the Pretty-to-hippie quotient just right. This line is fully of similarly floaty, ethereal pieces.

Please be sure to check out the Twitter and Facebook feeds of Amy, the founder of Chickdowntown.com; in addition to doling out fashionable advice, she's prone to giving away gift cards and other freebies!

A. Tierney Giveaway - Winner!

Or as the expression goes, "Winner winner, chicken dinner!" - although I'm not quite sure why the expression goes that way, since if I were to win anything, I'd probably prefer a filet mignon dinner. Or a tiara. I'm not particular, really, just saying.

Ahem. Babbling aside, the winner of my supercalifragiawesome A. Tierney giveaway, selected by Random Number Generatory thingy, is one of my favorite bloggers & past Feature Friday star . . . Snowbound of When Pigs Fly! S, please email me by this Friday with your mailing address. Thank you all for entering - and remember, you can leave me a comment even when I'm not offering you free stuff! Hint, hint.

As if this weren't thrilling enough, I'll be back tomorrow with yet another stylish giveaway! The fashion forward amongst you are going to be truly excited about this one. It's a good one, and unlike any giveaway I've done or really even seen before.

'Til then, I will be attempting to kick the arse of the writer's block standing between me, you, and a mere three million travel photos of mine. The suspense of which excuse I'll give you next - work? jetlag? ingrown toenail? - is killing me. Hoping to be back soon, up some actual travel writing and less some sorry justifications, shortly . . .

Featured Blogger Friday: "A Southern Accent"

Lovelies, I'm happy to introduce to you one of my favorite new reads, the adorable Wendy of "A Southern Accent"!

A favorite on my "I'm secretly trying to learn how to be properly Southern, even though I know Texas isn't in the South and I don't drink sweet tea" blogroll, what I enjoy most about "A Southern Accent" is the variety. One day she'll hilariously address Bubbies (my "Real Housewives of NJ" emphasis added) in the office, the next one of her amazing DIY projects that leave me yearning to be crafty (in the non-diabolical sense).

Aside from her trademark humor, a common theme in her posts is the wonderful photography, often featuring her teeth-achingly darling son. It isn't a wonder she has a fab Etsy shop set up featuring custom artwork - this is one creative lady! You design and photography buffs will particularly appreciate her work.

Please welcome Wendy:

Why she started blogging: I started blogging last year because I was dealing with some rough personal things (which I addressed on my blog in the earlier days) and I wanted a place to reach out to others, express my creativity and record my thoughts. I also started it as a sort of tribute to my son, recording things that we do together and funny things that he does, so I'll have them to look back on. I kept a journal through different times in my life and writing has always been a way for me to get my feelings and thoughts in some sort of order.

I think the first blog I started reading was Puttin on the Grits. Her stories made me laugh and she gave me some good tips about how to get started in the blog world. (Pretty Note: You all should be following her Twitter feed too; hi-larious). I also love Nie Nie, Dooce and c Jane. They have this amazing ability to make everyday occurrences seem magical.

Where she finds blogging inspiration: I find blogging inspiration in just about everything. Since my blog is about all kinds of things, including family, work, fashion, shopping, etc., I always have things to write about.

How she manages to have a full-time paid job, and be a mom, AND blog: I can't stand to sit still or be bored. I can't even watch TV without doing something else at the same time - whether it's cleaning, cooking, blogging, freelance design or reading magazines. When my head finally hits the pillow at night, I have a million thoughts running through my mind. Now, I write my blog posts in my head while I'm drifting off to sleep. I plan what I'm going to say, the picture I'm going to use, so when I actually post, it takes very little time to create.

Some of her hobbies outside of blogging: I'm a mom first and foremost, so I love doing anything my little guy likes to do. I also love to paint, read, shop, decorate, cook and love the beach. Fortunately my in-laws live there, so we get to visit quite a bit. I've recently added a consistent exercise routine to my days, along with eating better and taking care of myself. Then there's UNC athletics, which I love as well. I'm pretty much up for anything.

Her goals for the next 5 years, both personally and professionally: My goal is to get in the best shape of my life, to take better care of myself. I want to be one of those women in their late 30s (that I currently hate because they have a six pack and no cellulite) that say "I've never been this fit." (Pretty Note: Ha! Standing & clapping.)

I also want to move up in my current company. I love my job and just want to keep doing and keep growing.

What she wants new readers to know before clicking over to her blog: Hmmm...I guess not to take my blog too seriously. I talk about everything from boobs to beach trips on my site and just want it to be fun. I know there's some negativity in the blog community, and I just want my readers to know my blog is just about enjoying life.

Please sprint immediately over to "A Southern Accent" and say hello here!

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If you are just fiending to be one of my Feature Friday bloggers - and who isn't??? - please review my guidelines here and leave me a comment, including your email address. Please bear with me if it takes me a bit to get in touch with you and/or feature you. Thanks!