50 Shades of Grey ~ Go Vixen !

       Influenced by the best-selling book Fifty Shades Of Grey, Undressed is the new dressed up. Skin baring is the hottest trend, strong, sexy and even dominating. Fashion's latest fix has the dominatrix takes on the fashionista in a fight to the finish.

     There is a stereotype that grey is a “serious” colour and can’t really be a part of a frisky look. But that’s only a stereotype! Check out to see that this colour helps to create an elegant, yet fascinating appearance. Grey is on a stealth mission to become the go-to choice of the colour phobe - and is anything but boring. Effortlessly chic and always elegant, , grey covers all fashion bases this season, and will literally take you anywhere. But guess what? If you're not averse to a bit of colour in your life, grey just happens to be the perfect fashion foil for this summer's essential pastels and neons too. Talk about using your grey matter !

     So my ensemble in today's post, inspired by the above trends, is a ruched fitted grey high waisted skirt with ruffle details paired with a black bralet for a uber sexy goddess vibe. Channel your fierce alter ego and be a vixen in this ensemble. Play up this sombre hue with a sexy black bralet, revealing just a hint of midriff and you have a mysteriously alluring look.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hook My Look

~  High Waisted Grey Ruched Skirt with ruffle details - H&M

~  Black Bralet - FOREVER NEW

~  Black & Silver Peep Toe Heels - BETSY JOHNSON

~ Black Crystal studded clutch - MANGO

~ Silver multi-coloured crystal collar statement neckpiece - DIVA

~ Metallic Shine Bangles - ALDO

 

 

   Adding some shine and sparkle to this glamorous ensemble, is this black with crystal studded clutch, black with silver piping heels and some metallic shine bangles.

 

   

  Finally rounded off the look with this ultra glam necklace with multi colour crystals. 

  

  

 

 

  

North Stars Home and Away

Last week, I completed a pinup commission of the green version of this iconic North Stars jersey, then, fascinated by all the quirks and incongruities of the set, decided to try my hand at the white version as well!

I Remember The First Time (13)/NBA 1st Rd.

"Vodka mixes well with everything except decisions..." -@Lpbinder- (via twitter)

"This whole, "there is no doing Twitter wrong" is BS.  If you're hurting people and spreading hate, you're doing Twitter wrong..." -@thatUPSdude- (via twitter)

"In math I use this thing called the 'guess and hope method'..." 

-@SoFunnyPosts- (via twitter)

"Twitter is a grown-up version of imaginary friends.  But they talk back, sometimes..."

-@Benjamin4501- (via twitter)

"Spilling olive oil on a linoleum floor is the biggest mistake you'll ever make..."

-@katie_sko- (via twitter)

I remember the first time that I decided to hijack a theme day...  Well my friends, I went back to sleep today (maybe due to the weather here, maybe because I was tired), and you will be getting a lot of NBA today, and not so much funny (unless you think my NBA predictions are funny)...

I remember the first time that I correctly predicted 6 of the 8 playoff teams in each conference...  If you want to verify (or see in its original form) anything that I'm going to be typing soon, go back to my October 31, 2012 post "Really..., Seriously...???"  Below you will see my predictions for the 2012-2013 NBA regular season, side-by-side with the actual outcome...

Eastern Conference Prediction                  Actual Outcome

1)  Miami                                                                1)  Miami

2)  Chicago                                                             2)  New York

3)  Boston                                                               3)  Indiana

4)  Indiana                                                             4)  Brooklyn

5)  Atlanta                                                              5)  Chicago

6)  Brooklyn                                                          6)  Atlanta

7)  Philadelphia                                                   7)  Boston

8)  Orlando                                                            8)  Milwaukee

Western Conference Prediction                 Actual Outcome

1)  Oklahoma City                                             1)  Oklahoma City

2)  San Antonio                                                  2)  San Antonio

3)  L.A. Clippers                                                 3)  Denver

4)  L.A. Lakers                                                    4)  L.A. Clippers

5)  Memphis                                                         5)  Memphis

6)  Dallas                                                               6)  Golden State

7)  Denver                                                             7)  L.A. Lakers

8)  Portland                                                          8)  Houston

  

I remember the first time that I apologized to New York, Milwaukee, Golden State, and Houston.  Well, the Knicks get a HUGE apology.  I didn't have them participating in the festivities at all, and they end up with the second seed in the East.  The Bucks snuck into the eighth spot, so I'm a little less sorry there.  Philadelphia and Orlando let me down, but I picked them seventh and eighth, so not so bad...  In the West, Golden State took the sixth seed (welcome back to the postseason Warriors) and the Rockets grabbed the eighth spot.  Mavericks and Blazers, what happened?  :P  All in all, not horrible predictions...

I remember the first time that a prediction of mine looked really good...  In that Halloween blog entry, I said that the 2nd through 5th seeds in the West would finish within 5 games of each other (it took me some time trying to seed those spots).  Well, I got 3 of the 4 teams right, and they finished within TWO games of each other (throw OKC in there, and the top 5 finished within 4 games of each other)...  :)

I remember the first time that some of my predictions were still up in the air.  Again going back to that Halloween post, I predicted that the Lakers would not even reach the Western Conference Finals (I said that there was NO WAY they'd win the title this year - Vegas had them at 8 to 5 to win it all)...  I also said to expect some deja vous in the finals, with the Heat beating the Thunder once again...

I remember the first time that it wasn't the first time that I made predictions for the first-round of the playoffs...  Here are my long-awaited (AHEM...) predictions for the opening round:

Heat over the Bucks in 5 games

Knicks over the Celtics in 7 games

Pacers over the Hawks in 7 games

Bulls over the Nets in 6 games

Thunder over the Rockets in 5 games

Spurs over the Lakers in 5 games

Nuggets over the Warriors in 7 games

Clippers over the Grizzlies in 5 games

I remember the first time that I found something interesting while doing research...  When looking back at the results for the Nuggets/Warriors games this season, I found that they played each other 3 times in 19 days back in November - very interesting scheduling...  They faced each other only once more during the season...

Have a great weekend and I'll see you again on Monday!

  

Spinning...

"Good friends help you find important things when you've lost them; your Smile, your Hope, and your Courage..." -@GiselieMo- (via twitter)

"Spurs sign Tracy McGrady to add depth to the bench and get the combo senior citizens/group discount at restaurants..." -@TheFakeESPN- (via twitter)

"I've seen enough now to know that beautiful things don't always stay that way..."
-@SaraMarieWeise- (via twitter)

"Finally I know what skinny feels like...  Hungry.  It feels like hungry and I don't like it..."
-@J_Dazzle76- (via twitter)

"Happiness can be found in the strangest of places and in the saddest of eyes..."
-@Paula8020mc- (via twitter)



Good afternoon.  Today I'm just sitting here spinning my wheels, not really sure about what to type.  If you've read my blog before, I'm sure that you would be SHOCKED to know that I usually have some sort of notes or idea of what I'm going to be writing about...  On the t.v. right now is the Kansas City Royals/Atlanta Braves baseball game, and my only chance at scoring any fantasy points would be a late appearance by Braves closer Craig Kimbrel, YET my t.v. is still tuned into the MLB Network...  Yes, it's that kind of day...  Oops, I do have Alcides Escobar of the Royals also (he just made a throwing error, which is the reason I remembered that he's on my team)...  #rightoncue #shocked  Okay, Escobar just started a double-play that will probably be on SportsCenter tonight, so there's that...

Part of tomorrow's blog entry will be my first-round predictions for the upcoming NBA playoffs which begin on Saturday.  I am a Spurs fan if you have forgotten (or if you never knew), but the McGrady quote above was just so funny that I had to include it anyway...  :)  Please keep in mind that I'm one hundred years old, and "so broken and beat up," so I can post tweets that reference senior citizens...  ;)  I have decided that I am going to get back into shape again (and I mean again with the decision, not again like I've ever actually succeeded at getting back into shape)...  ;)  That reminds me, I just bought some ice cream last night (seriously, I'm going to go get a bowl of ice cream right now - Cookies and Cream if you're keeping score at home - I will be right back)...  Okay..., I'm back, and the ice cream has a banana broken up into it because that bunch is about to go bad.  I CHALLENGE YOU to find another blog where someone is writing about breaking up bananas...  #truesuspense  Anyway, I've decided that I'm just going to lose the weight and get into shape, and that at some random point I will tell you what my amazing new weight is.  WOW..., this ice cream is GOOD...  My friend Grrouchie has done a great job losing weight and chronicling his success, but whenever I don't have a good day/week, I just feel like I'm disappointing everyone if I track my diet attempt in that manner.  Don't cry for me Argentina...  BA HA HA HA...  Now a Kansas City Royal is shaken-up - you get ONE GUESS as to who it is...  WOW, I LOVE fantasy baseball...  #escobar

God bless Twitter, huh?  What would we have done if we didn't introduce these hashtags into our everyday life.  I think that twitter must have singlehandedly saved the hashtag.  Wait, I'm going to go tweet that (I seriously am...).  I will bet you everything I own that tweet will be the most retweeted brilliance that I've put on twitter to date...  ;)  I can do this because I don't own much and also because the words 'retweeted' and 'brilliance' have no business being together with regard to anything I've done in Twitterland...  My twitter handle is at the top of this page if you would like to follow me (as people RUSH to their Twitter accounts)...  For those of you who are among my over 2,600 followers, thank you.  To be honest, that is one frustrating thing about writing this blog - I would love to know who is reading it.  I guess that is a commonality throughout the writing universe though - once you've written something, you have no idea (or control over) who is going to see it.  Okay, it's been a couple of minutes and I haven't been retweeted once yet - the bet is off, sorry...  :)

Just so you know, I have been kicking around the idea of making regular blog entries just three times a week, with a fourth entry almost surely coming almost every other week, on some random day.  I still haven't decided if and when I will be moving, and where that move would take me if I do, but I am almost surely (bet you didn't think that you would see "almost surely" twice in the same paragraph) going to need to free up some time.  YES, my brilliance was just retweeted!  The bet of everything that I own against everything that you own is back on!  :)  Anyway, if I do make this change to my posting schedule, I will continue making entries on Tuesdays and Thursdays with my current themes, and the third "concrete" day is the one that I"m trying to nail down.  I'll let you know...

I hope that you have a great day and that you're a little more organized than I am today...  :)  See ya tomorrow!
          

  

Bubblegum Pink and Watercolour Splash ~ Go Artsy !

    Some of us have always thought of fashion as art  and today women have become walking works of museum-worthy proportions, thanks to an emerging trend of -- Watercolour Prints. Watercolour prints are inspired by art and they’re all about soft blurry edges with a deliberate mix of colours interplaying with one another in abstract patterns The fluid change of colour provides a soft and feminine, yet bold impact. Sometimes it looks like paint splatter and others it truly looks like a great marriage of cold and warm tones, making the fabric and the garment really interesting and beautiful.

    Interested in dabbing your fashion-forward foot into the art/fashion relationship?  Let me show a watercolour trend inspired outfit, I wore to an art exhibition in the city. I choose a fabulous Guess, mixed colour ombre dip dyed mini skirt styled with a solid bubble-gum pink colour shirt . I love playing up with colourful individual pieces from my wardrobe, so this summer I tried a different spin with this look.

 

 

 

 

 

Hook My Look

~  Bubble-gum Pink Shirt ~ AMERICAN EAGLE OUTFITTERS

~  Blue, pink and black Watercolour print skirt - GUESS

~  Multi colour matching earrings and neckpiece - FOREVER NEW

~ Mixed colour beads - ALDO

~ Pink, orange and gold sequin clutch - FOREVER NEW

~ Cobalt blue peep toe heels - ZARA

 

 

 

   One of favourite sets of matching accessories this summer is this multi-coloured earrings and statement neckpiece that I paired with this pink shirt, to make the plain toned shirt pop.





 

 

 

  To add a subtle hint of sparkle to my look, I carried this pretty sequin clutch along and wore the mixed colour beads too as my arm candy.

 

   Finishing off the look were these so in trend now, Cobalt Blue peep toe shoes from Zara.

 

  

    

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

Could You? (13)

"No one notices what you do, until you don't do it..." -@isitthattime1- (via twitter)

"This idiot asked me if Texas State was in Killeen..." -@Lwalton_4TD- (via twitter)

"I believe in myself, even if no one else will..." -@_cloudHopnACE- (via twitter)

"A guy just wants to walk through the Quad in peace...  #GoAway"
-@HerreraJonatha1- (via twitter)

"Yes, of course you can fall in love before you actually meet.  I fall in love with pizza before it gets delivered to my house all the time..." -@cupcakelynda- (via twitter)




Could you please stop the senseless violence?  My thoughts and prayers go out to all of the victims in Boston, as well as my undying gratitude and support for those whose job it is to protect and defend us.

Could you be the brightest bartender in San Marcos, America?  I was walking through Slackers (our "shot bar") last weekend when I heard part of a conversation.  Some female customers were guessing the age of one of our bartenders.  After this exercise was finished, one of the girls asked the bartender to guess her age.  He guessed 21 (the minimum age required to be in our establishment).  He then guessed 22, 23, etc...  I think that Adam is GREAT at that game, and that he's gonna do okay in life...  ;)

Could you try to match at least one of the attributes?  A few months back, I read an article in the Austin Chronicle by Kate Thornberry.  Ms. Thornberry listed the three major attributes of a great blog:  first she said that the blog should be posted regularly; second she stated that the blog should have personality;  and finally she believes that the blog should present useful information.  Phew - I'm only three attributes away...  ;)

Could you do more to cause a traffic accident?  I'm wondering if any of these "sign guys" (you've seen them, on the street corners, doing advertising for apartment locators, or tax help services, etc...) have ever caused a car to crash.  I have no problem imagining that this has happened, seeing how easily some drivers are distracted.  I wonder if you can take legal action against the people waving the signs, or against the company that is employing them, if this does occur.  Across the street from the backside of campus here at Texas State, the guy PLAYS A HORN while he's spinning the sign...  No potential danger here...

Could you at least get a button?  So three guys approach my post at work the other night, ready to proceed to the Veranda (our rooftop bar), and one of the young men is wearing a yellow post-it note (you can't make this stuff up) that says, "I'm 21 today..."  I comment on the post-it note (I don't remember what I said), and one of his friends says, "he's official."  I INSTANTLY snap off, "well YEAH..., if he's got a POST-IT NOTE..."  ;)

Could you give me possibly the best line that I've ever heard at work?  This happened on Saturday night, when two women who were close to my age approached me.  My friend Adam would guess that they were both twenty-one...  ;)  Anyway, I was very tired on Saturday, and I had my head leaning up against the wall where I was seated, and I was wearing my knee-sleeves, when one of the ladies says, "you look so broken and beat up..."  BA HA HA HA  You have to LOVE honesty...  :)

Have a great day and I'll see you again tomorrow!
        

Zack Greinke, GRRRRRR...

"Sometimes you just feel like beating a person with a stick..." -@LindseyTovar- (via twitter)

"If you're not gonna follow through with something, just tell me no.  Don't say 'yes' then not do it... #Peeve"-@ash_bueno- (via twitter)

"My favorite part about looking like I just crawled out of a dumpster is that, without fail, I see everyone I know..." -@kenlipeterson- (via twitter)

"Great spirits have always encountered opposition from mediocre minds..." -Albert Einstein- -via @AffirmYourLife- (twitter)

"When something you write puts a smile or a smirk on the face of a total stranger thousands of miles away..."  -@savoirfail- (via twitter)



Good afternoon everyone.  If just one person even THINKS ABOUT smiling..., or smirking..., then my work is done...  I'm sure that after everyone reads about my misfortune with Zack Greinke, the whole bunch of you will just be... rolling in the aisles...  :(

Let's get you caught up on what's been going on this "weekend" for me.  This is my 2nd of 3 days off in a row, but because I work nights, 9:00 p.m. CST tonight will be like 8:00 a.m. Saturday morning for me regarding my weekend (I work again at 9:00 p.m. Wednesday night - you do the math)...  ;)  I had a great day off yesterday, enjoying the final round of the Masters golf tournament with Dad, followed by a Chester's bacon cheeseburger (maybe my goal should be to GAIN weight - I would be good at that)...  :)  My brother took a jab at me on facebook for not giving you a prediction on the Masters, and I just responded by saying that Tiger Woods wouldn't win the tournament.  For those of you who are new to the blog, I made a prediction WAY BEFORE I even started Bikini Hill that Tiger Woods would not break the mark set by Jack Nicklaus for wins in major tournaments (this prediction also came well before Woods' marital problems and subsequent divorce).  Nicklaus currently holds 18 majors titles, with Woods sitting at 14.  Nicklaus has said that he thinks that Woods will break his record, but I don't think that Nicklaus has a blog...  :P  I also think that Nicklaus could care less that he doesn't have a blog (if in fact, he doesn't)...  Well, Woods ended up playing through the weekend, even though the prevailing wisdom in the golf world (from what I've heard) is that he should have been disqualified from the tournament regarding an improper drop and a corresponding disparity with his scorecard, but he still didn't win, so.....  For those of you who mock my prediction, remember that I was the one who said that the Lakers would struggle this season when Las Vegas made them 8 to 5 favorites to win the NBA title...  ;)  (More on the NBA shortly)

So back to this weekend, today I'm watching 'Casino Royale' - well, that is until I watch 'The Italian Job' - well, that is until I watch 'Red Dragon' - and of course, I'll be doing chores and not really watching any of these, until the Phillies and Reds (Lee vs. Arroyo) start on ESPN at 6:00 p.m. CST.  Oh, a little side note - I just saw a commercial, and evidently Bill Cowher has taken a coaching job with Time Warner...  Anyway, I have Lee and Arroyo both throwing for one of my fantasy teams, so that game might peak my interest (the way that my luck is going, expect this game to be 10-9..., in the 4th inning...).  YES, let's talk a little bit about fantasy baseball, and then more specifically, about Zack Greinke...  First, the standings in my three fantasy baseball leagues:


League 1 (25 entry fee - 1st place 125, 2nd place 25)

1)  Neshanic                                           73.00
2)  DraftDodgers                                  68.50
3)  Rocky Roto                                     60.00
4)  The View From Bikini Hill        57.00



League 2 (50 entry fee (40 w/discount) - 1st place 300, 2nd place 50)

1)  Muchos Bravos                              74.00
2)  Breaking Bats                                  68.50
3)  The Bikini Hill Bobcats               66.00



League 3 (50 entry fee (40 w/discount) - 1st place 300, 2nd place 50)

1)  Nappy Heads                                    83.50
2)  Fishing For Trout                           65.00
3)  EL VILLANO 4                               62.50
6)  The Bikini Hill Nine                      51.50



OKAY...  I have whined and cried about my fantasy baseball team last year.  The team was so injured and underperforming that I completely gave up on them when I moved to Las Vegas at the end of July.  Fast forward to this year...  Jered Weaver gets hurt, but he's only playing for 1 of my 3 teams...  And then Zack Greinke comes along...  I drafted Greinke with my sixth-round pick for both The View From Bikini Hill (still a catchy name) and The Bikini Hill Bobcats.  I happen to think highly of the Dodgers this season, given all of the talent that they have acquired.  Imagine my surprise after my shift ended at work on Thursday night (early Friday morning) when I read on the ESPN 'ticker' that Greinke had left that night's game with an injury.  THEN I READ that there was a bench-clearing brawl after Greinke hit Carlos Quentin of the Padres (the third time is his career that he's hit Quentin).  AND THEN I SEE the pitch, and the subsequent brawl...  If ANYBODY'S fantasy pitcher is going to sign a 6-year, $147 million-dollar contract, hit an opposing player, SAY SOMETHING to that player after hitting him, and then just stand there and DUCK HIS SHOULDER into his CHARGING, 6 foot 2, 235-pound opponent and BREAK HIS OWN COLLARBONE... (you guessed it), it's going to be MY GUY...  GRRRRRR...  Eight weeks - thank you Zack Greinke...  #awesome

Moving on (AHEM...), the first round of this season's NBA playoffs will begin on Saturday, so you will be seeing predictions of some sort later on in the week.  Due to the length of the NHL lockout, the hockey playoffs will start on April 30th, so you will be seeing those predictions a little bit later...

In other news, I need to get my brakes fixed, so if you live in the San Marcos area, give me your recommendations (good and bad)...  Have a great day and I will see you tomorrow!