20 Picks for Valentines Day

Are you in LOVE??  I know I am. I'm so grateful to have a wonderful & loving husband.  I'm looking forward to being with him this February 14th sharing a special dinner & exchanging gifts.  I'm very much into romance & all things 'LOVE', in fact it's one of my favorite words, can you tell?? 

By the way, when I was single..... I used to get buy myself a Valentine's Day gift - I know, it may be a little odd, but it was my way of letting myself know, that I loved me! But NOT in a vain way....

With that said, here are 20 cool picks for Valentine's day. Which ones do you like best??

1. diptyque candles
2. coin purse - paper source
3. je t'aime gold lips - MadeByGirl
4. lingerie - anthropologie
5. mast brothers chocolate
6. shakespeare 
7. mini mon amour by Louis Vuitton
8. gold feather pilow- Jayson Home & Garden 
9.  macaron lip gloss - paper source
10. the perfectly imperfect house book
11. valentino
12. sugar free recipies by babycakes
13. your/mine glasses
14. nutella cupcake - billy's bakery nyc 
15. v-day cards paper source  
16. gold heart earrings via cwonder
17. Jcrew Darling cashmere sweater 
18. what i love about - via paper source
19. mast brothers chocolate
20. heart sticky notepads via paper source 

 

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How About We?

A few weeks ago, my guy surprised me with tickets to the Broadway show "Once" which I'd really wanted to see since we both LOVED the film. 

To say the least, the show was fantastic & I can't wait to see it again!

My husband told me he got the tickets through a site he'd found called HowAboutWe (for Couples). This super cute site is basically for dates...NOT to find a date but to go on one. 

I mean, have you ever been clueless about where to go on DATE NIGHT with your husband or wife? Well, this site will guide you with that.

The homepage of the site isn't all that interesting, but once you get inside...WOW, what a difference! The site has a whole bunch of ideas for dates...from samplers at restaurants to pottery classes to wine tours. Talk about cool date ideas!

It is a subscription site - for $22 a month, you get some major discounts on some pretty cool stuff. Those "Once" tickets, normally $125 each - but my husband scored them for $80 for the pair on How About We!

And the site is really well done. You can "wishlist" dates as a reminder, or book them. Once you book a date, they send you an email and you provide the best days for your date...then go!  

We already have our next date set up...

images via how about we

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My Canon EOS T2i For Sale

UPDATE: SOLD

 Hi everyone! I wanted to let you all know that my CANON EOS Rebel T2i SLR is for now for sale.   Reason?

I've purchased another camera & I no longer need this one.  This is a SUPERB camera if you really want to UP the quality of the photos on your BLOG & so on!  It has 18 Megapixels & everything you see on Cocoa & Hearts as well as most of my own pics from my are shot with this camera. I never used the flash, so it's totally new.  

PRICE: $500 + free shipping (so, you save on tax+shipping)

WHAT YOU GET:

CANON EOS REBEL T2i 18 MP DIGITAL SLR CAMERA  EF-S 18-55mm IS LENS.Battery
Charger
8GB + WI-FI CHIP  (normally you'd have to pay extra for this)
EYE-FI Card reader (normally you'd have to pay extra for this)

MORE INFO:

• 18Mp CMOS (APS-C) Sensor
• HD 1080p, 720p, and VGA Video Capture
• 3" Clear View LCD with Live View
• 1.04 Million Dot Clear View LCD
• Up to 3.7 fps RAW, JPEG, or RAW+JPEG
• ISO ISO 100-6400, Expandable to 12,800
• 63-zone metering / 9-point AF system
• Compatible with SD, SDHC, and SDXC
• Eye-Fi Menu Status Indicator Support

BATTERY LIFE: 

Expected battery life is 440 shots at 72F, and 400 shots at 32F


This lightweight camera retails NEW for $539 & higher in some stores like Amazon. You can see here.

It's in great condition & shoots gorgeous pictures as you can see below:

If you have questions or are interested - please email me here. Great way to save a little money & get a few extra items like, card reader & an 8GB wi-fi memory card! Thanks!

-images by jen ramos

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Design: Refresh your home

Hi MadeByGirl readers, Amanda here with a few ideas to refresh your home without jumping too soon to Spring. With all our holiday decorations put away, it's amazing how empty a house can feel! 

So as soon as mid-January hits, I like to freshen things up by adding in just a hint of color usually with a potted plant or a blush colored pillow and switching out the blacks for dark blues but the fur blankets and high pile rugs stay. Since it's still so cold out, I like to hang onto that winter cozy feeling.

Lonny Mag

Unique Fabrics

1. Photograph Print

2. Marble Cylinder 

3. Candle 

4. Delirium Coasters

5. LV:Architecture and Interiors 

6. Snake Tray

7. Les Touches Black Pillow

8. Rose Pillow

9. Green Mixed Succulent

10. Presidio Settee

11. Indigo Zebra Rug

12. Loden Jute Rug

13. Peace Studded Candle

14. White One Drawer Accent Table

______________________

-post by amanda dietz

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Contributors Wanted

This Friday we are .....

I have to say, working with contributors has been a great experience. I've made some great friends in the process & hopefully the ladies got some great traffic out of it as well.  With that said, it's that time again to switch out the current contributors & bring in new FRESH FACES & posts! I'm always super busy managing my MBG Shop, painting for my Cocoa & Hearts gallery, marketing, answering e-mail & maintaining my personal life. It's STILL a lot of work, so I'm back searching for the next contributors!
 

I'd love to recruit 5-6 contributors to blog here on Made By Girl!  It's not going to be an easy task - but I'll choose bloggers for each category below. Categories are:
 

• Decor/Interior Design
• Fashion/Beauty
• DIY
• Food

Below I've outlined more details & what I'm looking for.
 

HOW OFTEN WILL YOU POST:1-2x per month for 6 months. 

EXPERIENCE: 
Yes - Must have an active/updated blog. I'm looking for bloggers who have some knowledge of programs like Photoshop & have a 'similar aesthetic' as Made By Girl. The posts you write for MBG cannot be posted on your own blog, but you can link to it from your blog.

WILL THERE BE COMPENSATION: 
Not at this time. But it's a great chance to gain more exposure and collaborate with MBG blog.

BIO PAGES:We'll be adding a page with photos & short bios of all the current contributors - here's an example. .

 
RESOURCES: 

It's very important to credit 'all' images properly.

PRETTY POST PLS: 
I love pretty & interesting posts. So pls put some LOVE into it! 

HOW DO YOU SUBMIT:

If you you want to give this a try, email me  & let me know 'which category' you're interested in. Write 'Contributors' in the email subject pls. ALSO, pls email me your blog so I can see your style! If you submitted last yr. don't be afraid to submit again!
 

WHEN WILL WE SELECT CONTRIBUTORS:

If you don't hear from someone at Made By Girl in about 2-3 weeks from this post, it means someone else was selected.  Unfortunately, we may not be able to respond to everyone. We will post the selected contributors in an upcoming post!

Thanks & looking forward to hearing from you! 

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Trending: Hunter Boots

In NYC, when it rains, it pours. So rain boots are quite an essential in the city. I've been looking around for a cute pair and came across all the colors that Hunter boots come in! It seems like everyone is wearing them from adults to toddlers! My favorite would have to be the Jimmy Choo X Hunter collaboration, too bad I missed that one! 

Own a pair of these Hunter boots? What color are yours?

 

1. Turquoise
2. Red
3. Black/Neon
4. Metallic Gold
5. Fuchsia
6. Wish I hadn't missed this Jimmy Choo x Hunter collaboration! 
7. Coral


-images from here, here & here.

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Cocoa & Hearts

So cool to see Fashion Blogger - Bradley Agather display four framed Cocoa & Hearts paintings in her stylish bedroom! You can see the rest of her home tour on The Glitter Guide. So gorgeous!!

-Photography: Kelsey Foster 

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