So, a few days late, but here you are, my favourite recent links:

I thought maybe Lilo looked a bit better at Coachella. Now I know why. [Cele|bitchy]

New perspective on GOOP's 10-second car ride. [Lainey]

JB's lookin' like a fool with his pants on the ground (I know, I know, the reference is, like, two years old, but I couldn't resist - and in fairness, so is this look). [WWTDD]

Cute friendship bracelet watch DIY. [What I Wore]

Someone buy me jeans like this, please and thanks. [Keiko Lynn]

...And while you're at it, a plane ticket to California so I can see this Twin Peaks exhibit? [io9]

Kate Winslet's titties!!! Oh, and some other facts about Titanic. [OMG Facts]

Great advice (even though no matter how hard I try, I'll never stop wanting to be "the office princess"). [xoJane]

And speaking of xoJane, a fascinating piece on my fave xoJane columnist, Cat Marnell. [NY Mag]

Last but not least, I cannot get enough of this song!

At first, I had good reason to hold off: it was still winter and there weren't many swimsuits to be found. But then we had that nice bout of warm weather and the post seemed more appropriate. Unfortunately, I was deep in procrastination mode, and absolutely had to watch season 5 of Buffy and seasons 2 and 3 of Sex and the City. Sorry Cor!

Better late than never though, right? Here are six of my favourites, at a variety of price points:

Top Row (L to R):
Bandeau Bra patterned, H&M - $17.95
Betsey Johnson Comic Strip Sweetheart, Modcloth - $179.99
Bohemian Sunset Twist Bandeau, Roxy - $44.00

Bottom Row (L to R):
Bandeau Bra in dark grey, H&M - $17.95
Bandeau Bra in mandarin, H&M - $17.95
Boardwalk Romance, Modcloth - $104.99

Now all we need is another heat wave!

Good for your body and the Environment  

Over the past three years I have been trying to “greenify” every aspect of my life. This has included making changes one step at a time from what I eat, what I use to clean, and what I put on my body to make myself look good! I began this process by buying or making my own natural cleaning products and tools, I then started eating significantly less meat, and I have since stopped purchasing “single use” products. It has been crazy learning how many chemicals I have been using in my daily life, that are just as bad for my body as they are for our planet.

The hardest change has definitely been going green with my all of my beauty products. While choosing new products, I used David Suzuki’s Dirty Dozen and the website Skin Deep to help me analyze the ingredients listed on the product packaging. It has been a rather frustrating process of trial and error, but I finally feel like I have found some great products that not only work well, but that I am comfortable putting on my body!

Here are my favourites:

Make-Up: Cargo PlantLove, Green Goddess Collection

This is my favourite environmentally friendly product. This palette comes with four eye shadows and two blushes, and is green from the plant based biodegradable packaging, to the fragrance- free formulas. These are my go-to eye shadows and blush, as they look good and last all day, and the four colours give me lots of options to mix and match.

Moisturizer: Kiss my Face, Fragrance Free Olive & Aloe Ultra Moisturizer

Although everyone loves a lovely scented moisturizer, the truth is the less fragrance a product has, the better it is for your body and the environment. This lotion is non-greasy and extremely effective for dry apartment living!

Shampoo and Conditioner: ShiKai, Colour Reflect

Finding shampoo and conditioner that would protect my colour treated hair, give me volume, and be environmentally friendly was the hardest product to find! I found ShiKai at Whole Foods and have been really happy with the price and quality of this product. For those with less temperamental hair, other good options are the hard shampoos from Lush (but do not use these if you have colour treated hair!) and the many options from Live Clean, which you can find at Shoppers Drug Mart.

Soap: Dove Beauty Bar, Sensitive Skin

I have used Dove soap since I was a little girl, and when I did my research I found that it was a great option. Bar soaps are MUCH better for the environment than body wash as the packaging is minimal and biodegradable. Either the “Sensitive Skin” or “Unscented” are the best options.

Cuticle Cream: Burt’s Bees, Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream

It doesn’t matter how much calcium I get, my nails still tend to get dry and crack. This product is amazing for keeping beautiful nails. In fact, it works on any patch of dry skin almost immediately. Burt’s Bees is a fantastic brand that offers a lot of great products.

Face Wash: Lush, Ocean Salt Cleaner

Although pricy, this product is amazing for both cleaning and exfoliating your face and body. Also, Lush has a great recycling program that has you exchange your old product containers for a Fresh Face Mask. The only thing that I don’t like about Lush is that most of their products are very heavily scented.

Although it takes some dedication, making the change one product at a time will make a huge difference to your health and the environment. Happy shopping!

Corey Everrett is a guest blogger at Deb Said No, with a focus on earth-friendly products. She lives in Whitby with her fiance and her impressive collection of Buffy paraphernalia. Her passions include travel, history, and knitting.

Got a question for Corey? Looking for some advice or a recommendation on green products? Email debsaidno@gmail.com and include "green living" in the subject line.

Well, I found a way to combine my love of glitter, theme holidays, colour blocking, and manicures all into one super awesome evening activity. Sure, it might not be the classiest manicure ever, but I still love it.

Here are my tools: 

I layered the red glitter over top of the red on my thumb (but left the other red nails as they were) and layered the pink glitter over top of the bright pink on my ring finger. As with any manicure, I finished with an anti-chip top coat.

Happy Valentine's Day!

PS: The subject line is a reference to this Teen Girl Squad video (which, in a very roundabout way, also inspired the name of this blog).

BUT I have a few pretty good reasons:

1. Until yesterday, I didn't have a laptop. But now, I have this cute new netbook! Sure, he's tiny, but he still gets it done (yes, I wrote it that way on purpose). And don't believe the reviews; it was actually super easy to connect to Wi-Fi.
2. As I mentioned in my last post, I've started a new job! And guys, it's awesome. My coworkers are really nice and I quite like what I'm doing. Now all that I need is for them to like what I'm doing - keep your fingers crossed!
3. Last, but most definitely not least, I've moved!

Since that last bit has taken up... well, nearly 100% of my time in the past few weeks, it only seems appropriate that I share some of the pictures of the new place...

Here's the view from my living room. I can't recall if it was really that overcast or if I just stink at taking photos, but either way, here you have it:

My amazing mother set up the kitchen for me - which is probably a good thing, considering my complete lack of expertise in that room:

Here's a close-up of the owl in the corner. He was a gift from Karla, and the flowers he's holding (or, rather, that are exploding from his head) were from Barb.

Speaking of gifts, here's the cute AND super-useful set of fabric drawers that Steph gave me for Christmas a couple years ago (but that didn't work in my old closet). The closet itself is a work in progress, so let's just focus on the drawers themselves, shall we?

While we're in the bedroom (tee hee), here's my new bedspread:

Here's the entertainment unit that my parents and I built on Sunday. Despite the horror stories I've heard about putting together Ikea furniture, it was pretty painless, and my Dad only swore once. I'm so happy with how it turned out!

I'll post some more photos as I finish decorating. For now, take a look at the inspiration board I've put together on Pinterest. You'll notice a lot of owls, deer, and other assorted animals. I like to think of the theme as "Modern Hunting Lodge Chic".

(Because I'm the biggest dork ever, I also kind of want to call my apartment The White Lodge... Ten points and my undying admiration for anyone who gets that reference)

Even though this isn't an award speech, I do have a few people I'd like to thank:

• The Duley family, for being such warm, welcoming hosts. You guys are seriously the best. If I can ever return the favour, let me know!
• Swan Moving Company, for getting all my stuff here so quickly. If any of you are planning a move, hire these guys. They are friendly, professional, and worth every single penny.
• Barb and Fiona, for coming by during moving weekend. I'm so excited that we're living so much closer now!
• My friends for their unwavering support and well wishes. You've always got a place to crash in the city (except whichever one of you stuck gum under my couch cushion - yes, I found that during the move!).'
• Last but most certainly not anywhere near least (most of all, in fact), my parents, for all of their help and hard work in packing up my old place and unpacking here. I'll certainly remember this on Mothers/Fathers Day this year!

2012 is going to be a pretty big year for me, I suspect. January 13th is my last day working with the company I've been at for a number of years, and then in February I'll be moving to Toronto after having lived in the KW area for about 20 years. Although I'm going to miss the awesome friends I've made both at work and otherwise, I'm actually really excited about the move and the new job. I just hope that I have lots of visitors at my new place!

I do have to apologize for missing the last four days of the advent calendar. With all of the changes coming up, there was a lot that had to be done, and something had to give. My choices were: the advent calendar, hanging out with my friends, or my sanity. I chose to give up the advent calendar. I think it was the right choice.

As for a new year's resolution, mine is to be a little more relaxed and "go with the flow", as it were. Chances of that happening in the first couple months of 2012 (given all the changes and the fact that I don't particularly enjoy change) are slim to none, but we can hope, right?

What are your resolutions?

Update: Now with this super cute video of Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt (even though I'm sure you've already seen it). LOVE both of them!

Luckily, I started my vacation today. So far, it's been amazing. Catching up with friends, getting Christmassy errands done, and generally enjoying my time off. Perfect!

Another perk of being done work is that I can wear any cheesy, tacky, themed thing I please. Case in point: my nails. Truth be told, I did this Sunday night and wore it to work Monday, but the last day before vacation is pretty much vacation, right?

Even though my manicure is kinda cheesy, I actually got a number of compliments on it today when I was out and about. Have you guys started making festive style choices now that you can count the days til Christmas on one (festively manicured) hand?

Admire my manicure to see today's holiday treat!

For the past few years - since University, I believe? - Mere and Fiona and I have had our own mini Christmas the week before "Christmas proper", and I look forward to our Christmas just as much as my family Christmas. I'm lucky to be friends with such amazing ladies. Love you guys!

Open Fiona's door to see what holiday fun lies inside!

Today she was Christmas tree hunting with her family and friends. This is something that they all do every year - a big group of them get together and then there are holiday festivities afterward. I know she really looks foward to this every year. Fiona, hope you had fun today!

Click Fiona's decorations below to see today's holiday goodies!

Today's Christmas decorations are courtesy of my friend Fiona. While she didn't provide me with a description of the decorations, I believe that this is from her parents' living room. They have this gorgeous fire place with built-in bookshelves on either side. Tres jealous. And it looks particularly lovely at Christmas time!

Check out Fiona's fireplace to see today's Christmas treat!