Daily Dose of Design: February 2016

Monday, February 29, 2016

The 2016 Oscars: Best Dressed

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If you saw my Grammy's Post a few weeks ago, you know that I'm obsessed with award shows! Weekends that end with an #ERedCarpet and show that goes wayyy over its end time is what I live for - not really but I do love it. I didn't love last nights show, but I sure did love the red carpet looks!

Here are my favorite looks from The 2016 Oscars:

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

The Best of Target Home Decor

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I am SO Target obsessed it isn't even funny! I don't think there's ever been a time that I walked in and walked out without spending at least $100. Seriously, $100 must be their magic number because it happens every. single. time. Whether you're going in for mascara or a pack of water bottles, if you can leave without spending a ton of money then you are truly blessed! ; )

Next to being addicting, they've really become an amazing store all around more lately than I ever would have expected. I've noticed the changes over the past year or two, but the home section in particular has really hit it out of the park! They have a ton of co-brands and amazing decor, furniture, accents, you name it they have it. The best part is everything is really affordable and still looks super classy and as if you spent a lot on it!

Here's some of my favorites:

Monday, February 22, 2016

Beauty in a Bar: Healthy Winter Skin Routine

Thank you Dove for partnering with me on this post. Visit your local retailer to pick up the Dove White Beauty Bar today!

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We are in the middle of winter in New York and the absolute worst thing about the freezing temperatures is the way it makes your skin feel. I can't stand how dry my skin always is and how constantly irritated my hands and arms feel! During these harsh months I always change up my daily skin routine to accommodate the cold - and I've found that adding product that has lots of moisturizer really makes a difference in how my skin feels throughout the day.

As you've probably heard me say before, my dream is to move to SoCal in the (hopefully near...) future which will no doubt help improve my winter skin, but until that happens making my skin feel and look as clear, calm and glowing as it does in the middle of July is so important.

My secret ingredient to healthy and glowing winter skin:

Thursday, February 18, 2016

How to Make Glitter Text in Photoshop

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When I made my holiday gift guides this past holiday, I created a ton of fun glitter texts and I had a ton of people asking where I found the fonts and how I got glitter fonts. I was so excited, because creating glitter text is by far one of my favorite things to do! (you can check out the post I'm talking about here!) For all of my photo editing, I use Photoshop CS5 and CS6 and the same goes for creating my glitter text. It's way easier than you would probably expect too.

Obviously for this tutorial, you need to have Photoshop and you should be somewhat familiar with it. This is a fairly easy process, but knowing the basic tools will be super helpful with this. I love glitter everything and when real glitter just isn't possible, glitter in Photoshop is clearly the next best thing! ; )

The first step in creating glitter text is finding a color and texture that you like and saving it to your computer. To make it easier for you guys, I put together some of the prettiest colored glitter overlays that you can download for FREE at the bottom of this post, so make sure to check that out!

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

The Best of the 2016 Grammy's

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I'm a complete award show JUNKIE and I'm sure I'm not the only one! I get so excited for these award shows and it's so crazy to me when someone else doesn't completely fan girl over them (like my mom who could care less!) but they're just so much fun to watch. From the countdown to the red carpet to the red carpet to the show, I'm obsessed. Side note: did anyone see the AT&T award season commercial last night during the show?! (If not, you can watch it here) That girl is my spirit animal haha!!! I died every time it came on. Anyway, I love to critique the show from the fashion down to the performances as if I'm Giuliana Rancic so here are my top moments of the 2016 Grammy's:

The countdown to the red carpet started at 4PM and you better believe I was watching from the start! So many people looked so beautiful and completely knocked it out of the park but with the beautiful dresses of course come the ugly... Here are my top fashion picks:

Thursday, February 11, 2016

My First Blogiversary + A Giveaway!

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One year of blogging down, a lifetime to go! It has been such an amazing year and I've learned SO much. My blog has become my happy place and where I go to learn new things, have something I truly enjoy and something that is totally and completely my own. I remember literally as if it were yesterday - a Saturday night, watching tv and trying to come up with blog names. I was also in the midst of re-decorating my room (shocker, I know) so I was doing some online shopping at ZGallerie; I think that was what originally made me think of "design". When I began Daily Dose of Design, I thought I could only focus on one thing (as if the blogging police would come get me if I didn't) and I thought it would be all about my love for interior decorating.

Now, I couldn't be happier with my niches and the categories I have for my blog! I could not be happier with the way it has evolved and I have some big plans for this year too. For one, I love my blog design, but I'm either ready for something new or ready for some updates. Getting my blog designed a few months in was one of the best things I did - I am TOO indecisive to code my own theme like I had tried to do! Speaking of best things I've done, starting this blog is definitely one of the top things on that list!

Wednesday, February 10, 2016

What I Learned in My First Year of Blogging

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I cannot believe it but I've officially been blogging for an entire 365 days! It feels way longer and I've accomplished way more than I ever thought possible with this blog, but every day is a new adventure and I love always having things to do to improve and work on. From blog design, to posts that have gone semi viral, to learning to utilize Pinterest and growing my Instagram, it has been an amazing first year of blogging and I am so excited to see what's to come this year and beyond!

Blogging is a never ending learning process and I've said it tons of times and I'll say it again - that is by far my favorite part. Taking as much time as I can each day to work on posts, sharing on social media, updating my theme, etc. is what I look forward to most. It is a never ending process and with that comes learning new things each and every day. Not a day goes by that I don't learn something new either from reading other blog posts or from bloggers who have experienced it before.

Here are the 8 most important things I've learned throughout my first year of blogging:

Tuesday, February 9, 2016

The Best of the Property Brothers Makeovers

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There aren't many times that I don't have HGTV on. (If you saw my 10 Ways to Decorate like Joanna Gaines post, you already know that!) Next to Fixer Upper, Property Brothers is my next favorite show and honestly could anyone blame me?! I've been watching episodes of Property Brother and all of their spin-offs (Buying and Selling, Home on the Ranch and Brother vs. Brother) for years and the episodes only get better and better.

If you've never seen Property Brothers, all you basically need to know is that Jonathan (contractor/designer) and Drew (realtor) are home geniuses and can do anything with a home that's in ANY shape - good, bad ugly - they can make it beautiful! There's been so many amazing transformations over the years that never fail to leave me speechless, but there have been some beyond incredible ones.

Here's the 8 most amazing Property Brothers makeovers ever:

Thursday, February 4, 2016

Valentine's Day Gift Guide

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1. Tory Burch Crossbody// 2. Cable Sweater// 3. Bobbi Brown Lipstick// 4. Diptyque Candle// 5. Bow and Arrow Ring// 6. Kendra Scott Earrings// 7. Heart Socks// 8. Tassel Scarf// 9. Valentino Perfume// 10. Heart Ring// 11. Gold Bar Earrings// 12. Catch-all Tray// 13. Karen Walker Sunglasses// 14. Kate Spade Watch// 15. Kate Spade Water Bottle// 16. Kate Spade Tote//

Happy Thursday! I cannot believe we are already in February. Here's some inspiration for gift buying this Valentines Day! I am loving this new lipstick by Bobbi Brown and this bow and arrow ring is SO cute! All things pink, red and purple are filling the stores and it makes me so happy. The bow on this Kate Spade bag is such a perfect little detail and the red color is so vibrant.

What's on your wishlist this Valentines Day?


XOXO

Monday, February 1, 2016

Game Day Ready: SNICKERS® Dip + Essentials for the Big Game

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #GameDayGlory #CollectiveBias

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Can you believe we're already in February?! February 1st only means one thing - it's game week! Every year at my house, we have a huge get-together and make a ton of amazingly yummy snacks - dips, appetizers, finger foods, desserts, you name it and we have it! Making a ton of food to snack on all day rather than eating meals throughout the day is my favorite thing to do (I snack all day, every day!) so I'm beyond excited to actually have a reason this weekend to do so!

Here are some of my favorite things to have for snacks to watch a great game of football: