I Scream You Scream...

     Hi folks! I don't have much to say, except I LOVE ice cream! Really, though, who doesn't? Ice cream is one of those treats that seems to be a universal favorite!  Whether it is store bought, or homemade, ice cream is a comfort food people can not get enough of! I know I can't! 

     My love of ice cream started at a very young age! You see my birthday falls in the summer months, the Fourth of July actually! One of the things that I enjoy most about summer has always been the traditional summer cookouts. Cooking out is something my family especially loves! We always cookout in the summer months, and enjoy the company of each other. Having a birthday in the summer is even better! That means lots of burgers/ribs grilling, iced tea sipping, home made ice cream, & presents! 

     It's always been a tradition that when we had my birthday party there would be homemade ice cream! Now I'm not talking about just any kind of ice cream! Being from the state of Georgia, there's one summer fruit that's just as universal as ice cream....peaches. Winter peaches (yuck), but fresh Georgia, summer peaches are the absolute best! 

     

     They are especially yummy in ice cream! So, for my birthday ever since I was a little girl we would have home made peach ice cream! We have had other home made flavors, but peach seems to be the standard. Last year my Mom, Grandmom, brother, and I went to an actual peach farm to get pick our peaches to make the ice cream. That is really fun, picking fresh fruit (it's the simple things in life I enjoy most).

     So, lets talk about two of my favorite loves: ice cream & fashion! Ice cream is not just relegated to an isle in a supermarket, it's also the treat of some of the trends of the day! Take a look at this picture:

 All of these items are trendy in color, and style. Each of these also have an ice cream influence. Personally, my favorite part of this picture is the placement of the color pink! So pretty!

     Take a look at these shoes:

The first one is by Betsey Johnson, and the second one is by Romance. If you look closely, both resemble the look of neapolitan ice cream (chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry). Have a look at these clothes, both sets of these clothing styles have the neapolitan flavor! 

 

As pretty as these are, there is a wrong way to wear ice cream influenced design! Notice both of these:

One is subtly wrong, the other not so much! In the second picture movie star Rachel Weisz is wearing an ice cream inspired dress that doesn't fit well with her skin tone! A word to the wise: too much sugar can you sick!

     Ice cream is not just seen in accessories, and clothing. It also has an influence in beauty products! One beauty item, I think is really cute, are these soaps by Giddy Kipper, called Ice Lolly Soapsicles. www.notonthehighstreet.com/giddykipper/product/ice_lolly_soapsicles 

Another product is by Dylan's Candy Bar. www.dylanscandybar.com

     It looks like you could eat this, but you can't! These are bath and body products. 

So, there you have it! The influence of my favorite sweet treat, ice cream! Until next time I leave you with this thought:

Bringing back the 80's

     Hi folks! So, yesterday I was not feeling well. Amidst coughing, being stuffy, & feeling feverish I did manage to have a pretty decent day. One of the things that made me feel a little better was the music I was listening to. I have a very eclectic musical taste! I listen to all types, but I admit I love my country (especially Kenny Chesney).

     
     OK, back to focusing on what I was saying & not on the Kenny picture. Yesterday I decided to play an old favorite: How Will I Know by Whitney Houston. I have to tell you I love Whitney! Her voice is so pure, & her songs are amazing (especially back in the day). So, one Whitney song led to another, and then another, and then another. Pretty soon I decided lets take Whitney to another level, lets listen to other "old" songs. Before I knew it I was playing "Too Shy" by Kajagoogoo, "Walk Like An Egyptian" by The Bangles, & feeling totally out of "Control" by Janet Jackson! Yes, I was in an 80's frame of mind!

    
     At some point in time, during my 80's music fest, I was even contemplating putting my hair in the "Pebbles" do! I think that was one part nostalgia, and one part meds talking! There is NO way I would ever do that to my hair willingly again. I will tell you that my Mom was a big fan of the Pebbles hair do. No! Not for her hair, but for mine! I have pictures of me with the Pebbles hair, the side ponytail, the bangs, & the dreaded perm! All of this hair was made possible, of course, by:

      Besides loving UGA, & nascar, I also enjoy watching wrestling. Oh yes, I really just said that! One of my favorite wrestlers is Chris Jericho! In his WCW days he used to rock a mean looking Pebbles hair do! You can see that here:

Thankfully, he does not look like that now:

     Just like Jericho: hairdo's change, music changes, & fashion changes! However, the 80's style is coming back! Last year, 2009, saw a lot of the 80's influence in design, & even in the toy market! 
     With fashion week in NYC over, there was still an 80's influence on design. "Some of the major designers debuted their 2010 fall collection looking back to the 80's while others preferred a more futuristic modern look," (Hollywood Today online magazine). Ralph Lauren & Tommy Hilfiger were two of the designers that featured designs in their collections with the 80's influence. Also, the 80's influence can be seen in the upcoming movie Sex & The City 2. Here is one of the released photos from the movie:

    For the remainder of this blog we will take a look at popular fashions of the 80's & their sleeker, more modern counterparts of today. Lets start with the one accessory that keeps our life in order: the watch! There were two major 80's watch companies: Swatch & Timex. I LOVED swatch watches! I remember I had to have one in every color, & design! I would wear them all the way up to my elbow (as every other girl did). Here is a look at Swatch then: 

Here is Swatch now: 

  
Not bad, the only difference in Swatch now is the colors are more vibrant & vivvid! They are also more streamlined, & all similar is size. www.swatch.com
     Sticking with accessories, the bracelet! I loved my bracelets, still do! In the 80's there were the jelly bracelets, the glitter bracelets, & the charm bracelets. While I liked the jellies & the glitter ones, I LOVED the charms! Every time we went shopping I HAD to have a new charm for my bracelet! Now, I am not talking about some glitzy, expensive, gold/silver charm bracelet. I am talking about one that looked like this:

In fact I think I had every one of those charms! Today charm bracelets are very much back in business! And today there is a charm for every occasion! There are also charm bracelets for every price point. This is one from Juicy Couture, www.juicycouture.com,  that I think is pretty & feminine: 

You can certainly see the difference between the two! One is plastic, with cheap charms. The other is sleek, modern, & sets in gold. Still, I would not trade my plastic 80's charm bracelet for anything (though I would never wear it in public).
     Leaving accessories behind, moving to the feet. One thing I love is shoes! When I was a little girl I loved my jelly shoes! I had them in every color! I had to wear them all the time! Another kind of shoes I had to have in every color were my "bubblegum" Reeboks! No girl could be without her Reeboks! 

So how have Reeboks changed? Not too much. Just last Spring Reebok introduced a line of shoes influenced by "Kool-aid". The colors look almost the same as back then. The biggest difference is the colors are less vibrant, the shoes are not as high, & the laces are not as thick. www.reebok.com/US/

     For the finale, I have to talk about the clothes! There were so many different styles that were popular in the 80's. One style that I wore a lot during that time was the dreaded "Hammer" pants. I can't believe I just admitted that! Yes, I was a fashion crime waiting to get locked up!

At least today they don't look quite so bad! Honestly, I still would never wear them! At least through the lens of this picture we can see how fashionable they can look.

One last fashion that I could NOT live without in the 80's was my tee shirts! Tee shirts have been popular in any decade! During the 80's there were many styles of the tee that were loved. One style in particular struck a cord with me. I loved my splatter paint tees! I thought they were the coolest looking things! What was even more fun than buying one, was making one yourself! Making my own splatter tee was something I enjoyed back then. Today the splatter paint is back! Just have a look at these:

Splatter paint designs not just as a tee, but as virtually whatever you want! I would totally wear any of these!

     As you can tell the 80's are back, at least in spurts here & there. So for the 80's girl in all of us I leave you with scratch-n-sniff dreams,

Bonnie bell kisses, and your own 80's love fest!

Introducing...Me

     Hi! Well here we go. This is my first blog ever! What in the world was I thinking when I signed up for this! Allow me to introduce myself! I am a sweet, sassy, southern girl who loves all things fashion and beauty related! I am a frequent  TV viewer, Broadway attendee,and concert goer! I am very girlie, yet through all my girlieness I love football, nascar, and wrestling!

    
Let me narrow this down for you. I love UGA football! Even though I did not attend the University of Georgia, I breathe all things UGA! www.georgiadogs.com/  I was born and raised in the great state of Georgia! I grew up with trapper keepers, jelly shoes, glitter purses, NKOTB (I think we all know what that means), and college football Saturdays.
     There are several things that southerners are passionate about: God, food, family, and football. College football in the South is a very serious deal! Many a friendship (and dare I say family) have come to blows over this! Team logos, and colors are displayed and worn proudly! There is no room for mediocrity in the effort to support your team! I grew up knowing all of this.  In fact I was one of the lucky southerners that came from a house divided: my Mom (classy lady) is a UGA fan, my Dad (poor man) is a Bama fan! As you can tell I followed in the steps of my Mom! Afterall, like mother like daughter!

    I am also a nascar fan! I love racing! I love fast cars, it's true! Case and point, last fall I went to a few dealerships researching different options. My first stop took me to a Dodge dealership. I got to test drive a Dodge Charger. Sitting behind the wheel of that car did nothing but make me want more power! What a smooth ride! I say that to say, I will be watching the Daytona 500 this Sunday and pulling for Dale Jr! www.jrnation.com/

     So, how did I come by titling my blog The Plum Peacock? My favorite color is purple! Purple is such a beautiful, pretty color! Purple is the color of royalty. It can also boost imagination, and creativity. Personally, I think purple makes a bold fashion statement! Like these shoes,

     or this dress (as worn by Isla Fisher in Confessions Of A Shopaholic).

     
     I am also very fond of the peacock! Where I grew up at, in Georgia, down the road from our house a man raised several peacocks. In the late afternoon if you listened for it, you could hear the peacocks squawking. It was loud, but it was always interesting to hear! The thing I like most about them, is probably the thing that everyone else does: their beautiful feathers! I love the colors of the "eyes", and the color of the bird its self. Just gorgeous! 
     Peacocks are also a close companion to my favorite color, purple. "The peacock which is the national bird of India, is known for its beauty and grace. It is a symbol of beauty, prosperity, royalty, love, compassion, soul and peace," (indusguru.com). 

    
  
     And just like purple, the peacock can also make a bold, stunning statement! Wether it is done through decorating like this

  
or through a statement of fashion! Just look at the use of peacock feathers in this dress (by Love Karlak), and this cuff (by Lily Posh).

     So, there you have it. I combined two of my favorite things (purple, and peacocks) to make my blog name. Just like I did in this post I plan to blog about fashion, sports, and whatever else that strikes my fancy! I hope you all enjoy, and have a great day!

The fragrance always remains in the hand that gives the rose - Heda Bajar