Say what you will about Valentine's Day; it's commercialized, it's based on a massacre, why can't you show someone you love them everyday, yada, yada, yada. The redeeming qualities: chocolate (oh that's not enough!?), and a perfectly good reason to dress up and go somewhere. If you're anything like me, 2011 is a fresh year to save the most amount of money possible (I started walking to work and school thankyouverymuch!), a get out of jail free pass once in a blue moon is very welcome. Then there's the second dilemma - where do you start and what do you do?!

1. Breathe.
2. Easy peasy lemon squeezy! Check out Nally and Millie!

The brand has a collection perfect for any kind of fun you're up to partake in for Valentine's Day.

Look to the current trends appearing for Spring: ruffles, draping, pastel colors, medium length skirt (or even longer - knee length and a little bit longer is in right now).

Go easy on the colors, but not on your date. A mini dress with sleeves doesn't reveal too much skin, but is just as appealing (if not more from all that intrigue). Look for a light fabric so that it will skim your body just right, and be able to move freely with you when you do.

Often times, the holidays bring out the most boring in our personalities. What should we get our loved ones? I say ones because in my household, everyone is everyone else's Valentine. It's like the second, pink coming of Channuka and Christmas in the household. While you may be wondering if a gift card or a bottle of perfume or cologne will rock your love's socks, I look for an interesting small gift my grandmother could cherish and not bug me about what it might have cost me.

If you have a beau with a traveling bug (or aspirations to), they'll be the first to tell you that travel always rocks when you can find the spots on the less traveled roads, without befriending (or running from) sketchy characters lurking in the dark alleyways of Sherlock Holmes' days. Graphic USA is just that, on paper. Except here, twenty five countries get a makeover as well. You get two for the price of one - one half graphic artist genius, other half town savant with the "connection" to all the right places to visit before you run back to work on Monday.

ISBN 978-0-9562053-2-2
Flexibound, 6.5 x 8.5 inches, 272 pages, 350 color
U.S. $30.00 CDN $33.00
Published by Cicada Books

How do you choose/gift shop for a Valentine?

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Hey there stranger. Oh wait. Me? Oh right! I've been gone from the blogosphere for three days. Please direct all comments and complaints to whoever creates viruses, Verizon and Best Buy. My home PC caught a mega virus that wiped basically the whole computer out. Thankfully I have a laptop though, right? Wrong. My DSL service refuses to connect to my laptop. What about Wifi? Hmm. Well the new laptop came with a new wireless router... so you'd think if the laptop came with Windows 7, the router would be able to work with that system? Nope. Not so. What is it that happens then? I have to travel around the city in between fashion shows to catch a signal and try to blog and tweet in those intervals. (p.s. toting around a laptop when you're already lugging paperwork and cameras and chargers is not. cute. Not at all.) I have been tempted to travel to a 24 hours McDonald's or Starbucks at 3am just to get some work done, but decided to get sleep instead. But enough about me. As you ponder about how you will forgive me, check out my faboo (even if I say so myself) NOTD for Valentine's Day out of two China Glaze colors.

left no flash, right with flash


I tried to do a variety of polka dots. On my thumb is free hand with the brush. On my middle finger, I used a medium-large dotting tool and on my pinky a smaller one. I did some funky design on the index finger and added some silver as a tip on the ring finger (just 'cause I don't have the ring yet, doesn't mean I'm exempt from the bling!), and as an accent on the rest. I got the silver polish amongst the nail art polishes at my local beauty supply store.



What's on your nails today?


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While many may curse a cupcake for going straight to their hips, others may argue otherwise. Personally, once you get a good cupcake and devour it, you can't say a single bad word. Well... a couple in regards to why you ate it so fast and what you would do for just another bite... but nothing bad about the cupcake.

So get yourself a good cupcake (a special Valentine's Day edition of the Benefit Sugarbomb face powder. The Sugarbomb cupcake will be sold exclusively at the CupcakeStop truck in NYC on Friday, February 12, 2010 at 9am. The first 300 lucky ladies to sweeten their Friday and V-Day will get the face powder free with cupcake!

Plan on satisfying your sweet tooth? Tell me (and share a bite)!

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So you decided you wanted to celebrate Valentine’s Day but you want it to be special. Not just pretty flowers and yummy chocolate special (although no one ever got hurt with pretty flowers and yummy chocolate), but "ohmygosh how did you think of that and have time to do that?!” special.

Image Credit: DeviantArt user luscious-cookie

These are some of my ingenious (even if I say so myself) ideas for you to hit the mega brownie point jackpot. Remember to accidentally leave this page on the computer for your significant other to find, and to make sure y’all don’t do the same things, remember to personalize each effort with what is closest to you and yours.

Take a trip
I know money is tight for a lot of people. So don’t take this as my attempt to go extravagant. Yaya thinks we can all just up and travel for Valentine’s Day. Wrong. But sometimes travel is cheaper than going out somewhere. Buckle down and commit to doing research on a bed and breakfast. Know a friend close by? Ask to house swap (you kind of need to live alone for that to work out right lol). Find free areas of interest around like a Botanical Garden, a zoo, museum exhibit, performance, etc. You can ever ask a friend to be a "chauffeur" and promise to clean their house/shovel their yard in return.

Even if money is tight and you have to ruin the surprise by going Dutch with your mate (each person paying for themselves), buy little trinkets and items to make the day memorable. In the past, I have invited my honey to a bed and breakfast and told him that all he needed to bring was himself. That the place was so posh that all amenities and clothing would be provided for. Little did he know, I had already shipped some new tees and jeans to the area and asked them to put the clothing in the closets and drawers so that it’d be ready for him. When we got in he was surprised, but shortly figured out that it was me.

Surprise trip? Tell them you are going for the day (just be sure they don’t have prior engagements for the following day) and pack their stuff/buy new stuff for them to find in the area (similar to the previous suggestion).

I have a gift... and a box
Some of you are ready with a ring, necklace, earrings… what have you. Skip the box presentation and be more original. Hiding it in food and drinks may be cute on tv but is pretty messy, and to be honest, it would be a bit repulsive for me to drag a ring out of my mouth in the midst of chewing on a cake. Worse yet, to swallow it in a gulp and then hope for it to come out safely (not that it ever happened to me before...).

Incorporate your gift into a presentation. Wrap a ring around the base of a flower if you are giving flowers. Pose a ring in a chocolate, or instead of a chocolate inside the box (this way it’s visible and risks less chances of being consumed). Hang it on a string in front of a door with a note (this is great for bedroom and bathroom doors). Have a pet or child/neighbor’s kid deliver it (it’s always cuter when a kid or pet does it).

Welcome to the Valentine's Day Gift Guide (interactive links coming soon) on My Own Judge! In the coming days you will see multiple posts including product reviews, product recommendations, and advice on making your Valentine's Day in 2010 just what cupid ordered.

Feeling a bit like a grinch? Remember that Valentine's Day, similar to every other holiday is what you make of it. Just because flower shops revel in their payday one out of several (Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, etc.) days a year doesn't mean you can't make your day not just memorable, but unforgettable. Feeling really bold? Celebrate Valentine's Day on a day other than February 14! I will be going out on the 13th with my honey.

Don't have a Valentine? You must kid. When I was little, I was the mastermind of Valentines. My mom. My aunt. My grandpa. Shoot even the four legged animals weren't immune from being my Valentine. The best part about it for me? There are amazing sales on candy after the day, and amazing sales on products in the time leading up to the event. So really - don't hate on a holiday that makes people money, if it saves you some!

Speaking of saving money... Have y'all heard of Fragrance.Net? It's a site that gives you the most wanted perfumes and colognes at discount prices. Think of it as the moment you finally get a coupon to a department store that for once doesn't exclude perfumes, but every day, and online.

Just so you guys know what to look for, I have a perfume review for you. Now this is somewhat difficult to convey to you, because well... scent is a bit harder to describe than texture, and even harder to photograph.

Enter into the courtroom: Exceptional perfume. I love flattering titles as much as I love a visually stimulating product. So something that's called Exceptional (because you are)? Better smell good. At first spritz I was a bit put off. I thought the scent was a bit too strong for me and consulted with Mama Yaya. She loved it at first spritz. I looked at her funny and said, "Will retry tomorrow."

By the way, if you are buying a fragrance for the first time, remember the following tips:

• don't try more than three at once. Look for a jar of coffee beans (most locations selling perfumes and colognes will have a nasal neutralizer like coffee beans available... it's not just for decoration!), sniff some and then proceed. Your optimal choice would be to go home after three. 

• if you can, spray one on and see how you like it at the end of the day. The wear test will also let you know how long it lasts and how it mixes with your body oils and skin. I like to do this several times to make sure that I am not wasting my money. But of course I learned this after wasting plenty of money first.

• don't rub the scent into yourself. When you rub your wrists, behind the ears, or wherever else, you break up the molecules, and of course the scent and experience.

• once you spray the perfume, don't trust the immediate scent. The strong spritz at first includes all the alcohol and other chemical mixes that go into creating perfume. Let it settle before you nosedive in for judgment.

• get familiarized with what it says on the bottle. EDT, EDP, Parfum. You think those are all the same? Wrong! Each title describes the concentration. Eau du Toilette is similar to a body spray and generally is light and airy, and dissipates just as quickly. Eau du Parfum is of a heavier concentration, and thus of a higher price range. These are the ones that I tend to be the biggest fan of, as they last nearly all day for me. Parfum? This baby is expensive! 

• have any allergies? Ask the salesperson, or check the net for what notes are contained in the perfume. I am not well versed in the science of this, so I can't tell you if the note of an apple will make an apple allergic person break out in hives, but I sure as heck wouldn't recommend the risk.

Now that we are equipped with information, let's continue with being Exceptional. I sprayed the perfume on the next day. All over myself.