reviews - Natalie Wise Blog

Craftsy Class Giveaway-CLOSED

I have some exciting news, friends! This week I’m giving away a Craftsy photography class! Have you heard about Craftsy? Some of the top experts at craft, arts, and photography have collaborated to create online classes so you can up your knitting/cake decorating/artisan bread baking/photography skills (and more!).

I’m working through their mini class on family portraiture, and I’m enjoying the format of video lessons presented by true professionals in a welcoming way. The classes are inexpensive ($30-60 roundabout) and manageable to complete in a short amount of time.

Here are just a FEW of the amazing photography classes available on Craftsy. I’m particularly taken with Shoot It! A Product Photography Primer.

Since I’m currently learning how to take my photography to the next level, I thought I’d let you learn with me! My word for the year is BETTER and Craftsy classes are a great place to start.

Photography Class Giveaway

with Craftsy

Ends Friday, March 14, at 12 midnight eastern time. One entry per person, please.

Click here to enter: Enter to win a Craftsy class
Closed! Winner will be chosen the week of 3/17 🙂

Have fun gettin’ crafty and I can’t wait to see who wins!

Natalie

PS.> This post contains affiliate links.

Monogram Necklace Giveaway

Yesterday I shared my lovely Onecklace.com monogram necklace (check it out!), and I have exciting news! Onecklace wants to give one of my (fabulous, beautiful, sophisticated, lovely, brave, talented, and awesome) readers a $50 credit to pick out their own monogram jewelry! Well, isn’t this exciting ya’ll?

You could choose your name in gold or silver:

click on the photo to look at other samples on their website!

Or you could choose just an initial:

click on the photo to look at other samples on their website!

You could do engraved tags (love these!):

click on the photo to look at other samples on their website!

Or you could choose your full monogram like I have, with or without the circle around it:

click on the photo to look at other samples on their website!

ONE reader will win a $50 coupon code to be used at oNecklace.com!

To Enter:

Step 1: “Like” Onecklace.com on Facebook here.

Step 2: Leave me a comment here saying you liked them on Facebook and that’s your entry!

Additional entries for:

1.) Liking Good Girl Style on Facebook (leave me a separate comment that you did and don’t forget to hover over ‘Liked’ on Facebook and click, ‘Get notifications’ so we can stay in touch!)

2.) Following Good Girl Style on Twitter (leave me a separate comment that you did)

So that’s up to 3 entries per person.

One winner.

Giveaway entry closes on Monday, January 27th at midnight eastern time.

Good luck!

Natalie

Cheetah & A Monogram

Today I have a little cream box to share with you.

I think you’re gonna like what’s inside.

A beautiful monogram necklace from ONecklace.com 🙂

When they offered to let me review a custom monogram necklace, I had to try it. I mean, we see them on Pinterest all the time, right?

Now I know why they are so popular. I LOVE this necklace. I’m not generally a gold-jewelry girl, so I took the opportunity to try gold, rather than silver.

I’ve been wearing it every day! I love it with fall and winter colors: brown, wine, navy. And cheetah. Obviously.

(also obviously: these photos are from fall! ha!)

I also wore it with this fancy-fancy dress to a concert:

I really, really love this necklace and wear it almost daily. It isn’t the most high-quality jewelry in the world, but it’s a great gift or gift-to-self (Valentine’s Day?).

Join the fun!

Scarf: Charming Charlies//Sunnies: Local store//Necklace: Onecklace//Turtleneck: Target//Jeans: F21//Jacket: ON//Shoes: Aldo//Black Dress: TJ Maxx

Natalie

PS> Thanks for the necklace, Onecklace! 🙂

New Specs and a GlassesUSA Review

I need new glasses, ya’ll.

So these are my current/old glasses. Horn-rim Chaps, oval, get the job done.

But it is time for an update.

I really wasn’t sure how to go about this process, since it’s always so difficult to choose new glasses. But I decided to try one of these online glasses places, and be brave. When GlassesUSA contacted me to do a review of a pair of glasses, I jumped on board! I’d been eyeing (ha, I crack myself up) their site anyway, so it was a great fit.

I don’t just need glasses, you see (clever me, all the puns). I don’t need just frames, or readers. I need prescription glasses. Like, Coke-bottle glasses. Really-really-really thick glasses. Hazardous-to-my-health-AND-your-health blind without my glasses. Such is life. So I always have to get the primo lenses (read, expensive), so saving on the frames is a MUST for my budget. GlassesUSA eyeglasses are a great buy, and their clearance/sales/coupons section is also worth a look.

Here are my two picks (I purchased one pair with my own money and the other one partially with a GlassesUSA.com credit):

Muller in Brown

Personal Shopper in Blue

I made a video to show you the frames in person and tell you a little more about my experience:

GlassesUSA Review from Natalie of Good Girl Style on Vimeo.

I love the lucite and tortoise sides of the Nicole Miller Personal Shopper.

Muller has metal and crystal detailing.

GlassesUSA is always offering crazy-good discount codes, so check out their Facebook and Twitter pages for exclusive discounts. You can also use the code: Blog10 for a 10% discount. You can also try their new Virtual Try-On feature. This wasn’t available when I chose my frames, but I highly recommend giving it a try.

They have a 110% lowest-price guarantee and 100% money-back guarantee, so you’re safe no matter what you decide. Overall, if you need to buy glasses, I’d say GlassesUSA is a great place to update your look!

Soooooo now the question is, should I keep them? Just one? Which one? Both?
And which frames are YOU eyeing?

xo
Natalie
PS> We’re not talking about the craziness that is my bangs in these photos right now, ok? They’re not chopped weird, I promise, they were just being weird. #whoknows

Tiny Book of Tiny Stories, Volume 3

You all know of my affinity for HitRecord, Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s (JGL) online collaborative recording/creating studio. Oh, you don’t know? Check out Tiny Book of Tiny Stories Reviews Volume 2 and one collaboration I was a part of here.

Tiny Stories Volume 3

I adore the concept of tiny stories. They fascinate me. They’re like little snippets, little poems, even dearer for the fact that they leave so much to your imagination and interpretation.

Love this one!

And this one! I love that the illustrations and stories are all collaborative, so they’ve been mixed and remixed by artists to create the final product. It’s such a fun thing to do, and you can be a part of it, too, at Hit Record. I’ve got an account (goodgirlstyle)! Even better? You get a portion of the proceeds of any products that are created using your artwork or words.

Love these little books.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt has also created the first collaborative variety show, Hit Record on TV, that just debuted. I just watched it…how fun is this, guys? It’s so quirky and has such a cool edgy vibe. Here it is:

JGL is one of the most multi-talented people I’ve ever seen, I’m pretty sure. He plays the piano, sings, acts, writes, produces, and is always doing something new and unique. In a pretty one-dimensional Hollywood, I admire that he steps out from the crowd to do his own thing. And I just LOVE being a part of cool new projects.

“Getting started, it’s always the hardest part, just walking up and saying Hello! Or sitting down in front of that blank page. Once you start writing, there’s plenty to say.”

JGL

Let’s get started. Let’s live and write and share and record our own tiny stories.

Who knows, to someone else, they might be the biggest stories ever told.

Natalie

PS> Thanks to it!Books by Harper Collins for the review copy of Tiny Stories, Volume 3. I loved it.

Inspire Your Week

“We were all made to live, love, and

dream courageously. He has given us

brave spirits and hearts that long to

take part in adventures with Him.”

~Katie, An Inspired Life

One of my dear friends, Katie from Letter Bird Art, is such an encourager. Such a beautiful heart. She has written an ebook titled An Inspired Life, and I want to tell you just how awesome it is!

Katie seeks to “live an inspired life full of possibility” and in the time I’ve gotten to know her, I can say that this truly sums up her life…inside and outside, she is so beautiful! Her blog, A Place to Dwell, never fails to put a smile on my face and a bit of an inspired spring in my step and living.

I was blessed to read Katie’s new e-book, An Inspired Life, a few weeks ago. It has drifted through my mind often since then, particularly the Prayer Prompts. I used my pink Moleskine to take notes on the great questions Katie’s asks to help you see, refine, and dream with God over the current season in your life. There is a call to both embrace it wholeheartedly and yet never let go of patient and hopeful expectation on the Lord.

Just look at these inspiring chapter titles:

~Seeking & Becoming

~Fully & Fearlessly

~Leaning & Dreaming

~Marking & Remembering

~Embracing & Creating

~Celebrating & Sharing

Sounds like a pretty full, wonderfully inspired life to me!

It’s probably a short work-week for you, meaning hopefully you’ll have lots of lounge-around-on-the-couch time. Why not download Katie’s book and use that time to be inspired to dream with God?

Katie is offering, today only, to kick off the holiday week, a 25% discount on the book! You guys, you’ve gotta snag this NOW! For real! You won’t be sorry.

Promise.

Use the code: GETINSPIRED to knock the price down from $9.99 (still a total bargain) to $7.50 (a REAL bargain!) Shop Here!

Thanks so much, Katie, for writing this book, for LIVING this book, for making me smile, and for sharing all of that with us through your words!

Natalie

Warby Does it Again

Warby Parker has this mysterious way of combining a lifestyle I aspire to into an eyeglass frame. Their frames speak of adventures and books and stories. They speak of things that have already happened and things that you hope will happen while you wear the glasses. Their Winter Collection just launched today and I had to show you my favorites, in case you’re looking to wear some adventure on your face. I’m pretty sure they need to pay me for that “Wear adventure on yo’ face, yo!” has cache, don’t you think?

Here are some of my favorites:

Langhorne in Whisky Striped Evergreen: looks great on brunettes.

Seymour in Tennessee Whiskey: classic and sophisticated.

and my very favorite, the Webb in Saddle Russet: the perfect mix of quirky and classic.

In Warby Parker Winter Collection frames, I could make my Christmas list and check it twice. But I probably wouldn’t need to, since I’d see it so clearly the first time.

Natalie

A Walk Through the Dark by Eva Piper with Cecil Murphey

Have you ever read 90 Minutes in Heaven by Don Piper? It’s a touching, incredible story of a Baptist preacher pronounced dead at the scene of a collision with a tractor trailer, while he was returning from a ministry conference. He describes his near-death experience of meeting spiritual influencers in his life in heaven, and coming back to earth to face a terrifying and difficult recovery.

And this is the other side of the story.

A Walk Through the Dark is the fascinating tale of Don Piper’s WIFE, who was by his side from the moment he arrived at the hospital through the darkest stages of recovery. The subtitle is, “How My Husband’s 90 Minutes in Heaven Deepened My Faith for a Lifetime.” Wow.

I am on the fence about this book, to be honest. It was interesting at first, and parts of the tale are dynamic and gripping (such as her difficult choices on her husband’s medical care following the accident) and her story of dealing with a husband who wanted to return to heavenly bliss.

But the actual writing of the book loses me. It reads like a personal outpouring, a tell-all maybe interesting to family members, but that should have been much more tightly edited. And if I’m being perfectly honest, I felt that Eva had not fully healed from all of her sadness, hurt, and despondency since the accident. I got bogged down in the middle and put this book down for a long time before I decided to pick it back up.

It was, however, very interesting to me to hear the often-untold side of the caregiver and how their life is changed just as much as the person injured. I think this book will probably resonate strongly with others who have been in a similar situation.

Happy Reading!
xo
Natalie

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com® book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Natalie and Joseph Gordon Levitt

{my favorite sunglasses. yes this is relevant to the post. read on}

Wait, WHAT? I know, I know, the title is a little shocking. Sorry. Let me explain: Joseph Gordon Levitt made a Hollywood movie ABOUT porn (and it’s negative effects), and he made a fun promo video, and Natalie (that’s me) is in the promo video.

Yeah that’s still confusing.

Let me start over:

Last year I partnered with it! Books by Harper Collins to show you The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories Volumes 1 and 2. The books are produced by Joseph Gordon-Levitt (y’know, from Looper/Inception/500 Days of Summer?) and his cool artist-collaboration organization Hit Record. I checked out Hit Record last year and made a profile, uploaded a story, got terribly nervous and stage-fright-y and immediately deleted it.

But this year on Twitter I saw one of Gordon-Levitt’s (JGL from here on out) cries for video from people to answer the questions: What are your favorite things? Can you love things? Can people be your favorite things?

These are some of the questions JGL’s new movie Don Jon (which he wrote, directed, and starred in) explore, along with the themes of pornography and their effects on real-life relationships.

Nothing like a philosophical pondering to get me on board. So one Sunday afternoon when I was bored and feeling on the edge of brave, I fumbled to remember my password to my HitRecord profile and uploaded a video, not expecting anything other than to delete it the next morning when I came to my senses. But I actually totally forgot about it. My answer was pretty long, but in essence I said, “Yes, people are capable of loving things, and loving people as things, but we shouldn’t.”

But I also told JGL I loved my sunglasses. And apparently he liked them, too.

My video clip made it into one of HitRecord’s new promotional/exploratory videos for the Don Jon movie premiere. Here’s the video (can you see meeeeeeee? I’m even in backwards-motion/black and white all-fancy-like):

I’m really excited for the premiere of this movie. I won’t lie: It’s gritty. It’s graphic, from what I hear. And I have thought long and hard about whether or not that discredits its motive and message. But from where I’m standing, while this is a movie with a message, it isn’t a motive-driven movie. It isn’t a Christian movie (to be honest even Christians don’t like to talk about pornography openly). It’s a vision-driven movie, and that includes the whole artistic vision and the grit that makes it realistic. It showcases JGL’s real creative chops as he steps behind the camera for the first time with a gutsy, bold concept, standing ankle-deep in the dark waters while the sharks of Hollywood criticism wait hungrily.

“Everyone knows it’s fake but they watch it like it’s real life.” ~Don Jon

But a movie in Hollywood written, directed, and starred in by a bona fide star that takes on the porn obsession in American with something other than Photo-shopped, light-drenched, Technicolor Hollywood glory? I’m willing to see where that leads. Here’s the trailer:

I’ll check back in once I get a chance to see the movie. It premiers tomorrow (Friday, September 27th).

Until then, what are your thoughts?

EDIT Sunday 9/29: Just got back from the movie! I’m sad to say I canNOT recommend you go see it…it is *very* graphic and there are far, far too many F-words. Sorry friends 🙁

xo
Natalie

Blowfish Shoes GIVEAWAY!-CLOSED

{how cute is this Blowfish ad?}

As I said yesterday, I am so thrilled to be able to give one reader any pair of Blowfish shoes their heart desires.

Did you hear that?
ANY PAIR YOU WANT!
I suggest a big iced coffee to sip while you peruse their website.

Might I also suggest the Illi in Natural Straw, like moi?

You, too, could rock the straw wedges with the cute little almond toe shape and blush at all the compliments comin’ your way. Though, really, any of their shoes are sure to garner compliments. And they are way comfy, ya’ll.

How to Enter:

Mandatory Entry: Leave a comment here, on this post, telling me your favorite shoe from Blowfish Shoes’ current collection
Giveaway open to US residents only. Ends Monday, May 27th at midnight ET.

Extra Entries:

(leave a separate comment for each one)

2.) Follow @blowfishshoes on Twitter

3.) “Like” Blowfish shoes on Facebook

4.) Follow Blowfish shoes on Pinterest

5.) Follow Blowfish shoes on Tumblr

6.) Follow Blowfish shoes on Instagram

7.) Follow @fashionatalie on Twitter

8.) “Like” Good Girl Style on Facebook

9.) Be a GFC follower of Good Girl Style

10.) Follow Good Girl Style on BlogLovin’

That’s TEN ways to enter to win. Cross your fingers (and toes) for some cute new summer shoes 🙂