The Sapphire Bee Giveaway!

Happy Friday, everybody! I hope your week has gone well, and that you have a wonderful weekend ahead of you. The latest contest has been a secret I've been keeping for weeks. Two weeks ago, I showed readers the wonderful wares designed by my friend Brittany, the gal behind The Sapphire Bee. I mentioned that all of the pieces are one of a kind, and that I was made a custom necklace, that no one would have but me.

Welllllll, that wasn't entirely true. But I couldn't spill the beans! Brittany made two of the cameo necklaces - one for me, and one for a lucky reader at short girl, long island. This piece was carved out of grey resin and hand painted by Brittany. It was set on an antiqued silver setting, and adorned with eight red Swarovski crystals. It hangs from a 24" silver link chain, and is perfect for all seasons! 

To enter:
Go over to The Sapphire Bee and check out what the store has to offer. Then, come back here and leave a comment (with your name and email address), telling me what your favorite item is in the store.

Bonus entries (up to 5!):
Follow short girl, long island via Bloglovin' or GFC.

Follow The Sapphire Bee via Bloglovin' or GFC.
Like short girl, long island on Facebook or Twitter.

Like The Sapphire Bee on Facebook or Twitter.
Tweet about the contest, using this tweet: "Check out The Sapphire Bee giveaway @stellarmichele + @thesapphirebee are holding over at short girl, long island.: http://www.shortgirllongisland.com/2012/05/sapphire-bee-giveaway.html"

Now, for any extra entries you complete, you must post each in a separate comment. If you put them all into one comment, they will not count. Be sure to include your name and email address, blog link or twitter name in all of your comments, so I can reach you if you are the winner.

Contest ends May 25, 2012 at 11:59p, EST. Winner will be notified via email and will have forty-eight hours to respond.

Good luck!

Ladies and Gentleman, Tony Lucca Is Back!

When we have our television on, its usually for background noise. The only time I really pay attention is when I want to watch the news or The Big Bang Theory is on. One night, as I was surfing the 'net, I heard the name Tony Lucca mentioned on television. Growing up a fan of the Mickey Mouse Club, I knew that name and immediately looked up. I said to Erich, "Tony Lucca is on TV!" He had no clue who I was talking about, so he didn't really care. As I listened to him briefly speak about his life since MMC, I was very excited to hear him sing. He chose Ray LaMontagne's "Trouble." As soon as he opened his mouth, I had chills, followed by tears in my eyes. Watching the reaction of Lucca's wife and son, as all of the judges "said yes" melted my heart.

Since that evening, I haven't watched The Voice. I started training for the 5K, I had school, and other things going on. I basically forgot about my rediscovery of Tony Lucca. Then, tonight, I saw a video of Adam Levine joining Tony on stage, singing the Beatles' "Yesterday."

Chills, again. Now, I should be writing a research paper that is due tomorrow that is barely started, but I started watching videos on the NBC site, listening to Tony's voice and studying his performance. This, my friends, is a true artist. On the urging of Levine, his Voice coach, Lucca took on former mouseketeer Britney Spears' 1999 hit "Baby One More Time" and made it his own. 

Now, the links I've included are to the iTunes singles of the songs, but in all honestly, the studio does Lucca's voice no justice. He truly shines on stage, during live performances. Need more proof? Check out Tony's performance of Bonnie Raitt's "I Can't Make You Love Me," back in 2009, from the comfort of a friends living room.

When you head over to iTunes, make sure to check out Lucca's music library - the singer/songwriter has released a number of albums with his original work. I played a a couple tracks off each album while doing some academic research, but I will need to give each album a good listen from start to finish over the weekend. I don't want to pass judgement, good or bad, on something that did not have my full attention - it would not be a fair assessment.

Over the last fifteen years, I have seen more musicians perform live than I can count. But musicians that can put on a great live show with vocals on point, plus engage the crowd? Well, I can name a few off the top of my head: Jason Mraz, Lauryn Hill, Blink 182, Dave Matthews Band, John Mayer, Maroon 5 and Phantom Planet, and No Doubt. I'm sure there are more, but as I said, this is off the top of my head at 1:45am, and I still have to write this damned paper. From what I've seen, Lucca would definitely make the cut.

I would love to see Lucca perform live. Not with the touring Voice circus act (no offense to any other artists from the show, but those tours are always the worst), but something along the lines of an intimate gig at a smaller venue. Hell, he would even fare well as an opening act for Mraz, LaMontagne or Maroon 5 (make it happen, Adam!). I would love to say he could do his own major headlining tour, but I think he needs another year or so to put another album out and show the rest of the world what they are missing.

As Lucca said in an interview, this is now the second chapter in his life. I'm happy that he has had the opportunity to show the world what he can do, and I am definitely glad that I was given the opportunity to rediscover him.

image via

Bracelets By Cindi + 20% Coupon Code.

When I was going through jewelry to wear for one of my recent photo shoots, I realized that I had no bracelets. Why? No clue. When I wear jewelry, its always minimal, but I really love when I see gals with an armful of bracelets. One afternoon, while I was on Instagram (what else is new?), I came across these beautiful bracelets, custom made by Cindi Fontanilla. When I had asked Cindi to create a few for my bracelet-less self, she happily obliged. I pretty much told Cindi to make whatever she thought would suit my style, as I didn't want to stifle her creativity.

A few weeks later, I received a package from Hawaii - my bracelets had arrived!

  Cindi sent me four bracelets - two black and chrome bracelets and two from her THINK PINK line. One of the black and chrome bracelets is from her contemporary line, and the other one is a new style she was working on.

The bracelets from the THINK PINK line are my favorite, because breast cancer has taken a loved one from me. When I was eleven, my mom lost one of her best friends to cancer. For years, I watched her fight for her life, stay strong for her children, and hold her head up high throughout it all. I will never forget visiting her in the hospital before she passed away. She was bloated beyond recognition from treatments, but still had a smile on her face. I am usually a very strong individual, but I started crying. She held me as I wept, as tears welled in her eyes. She knew this was the last time she would see me, and being the amazing woman she was, she comforted me, as she had always done. Since then, I make it a point to donate funds or purchase items that donate portions of the proceeds to breast cancer.

Cindi will be donating ALL of the proceeds from her THINK PINK line to the Breast Cancer Awareness Foundation. She will not be releasing this line until September or October, but has said if readers want them sooner rather than later, they can contact her at braceletsbycindi@gmail.com.

All of the bracelets that Cindi sent are awesome. They look great stacked together or on their own. I was pleasantly surprised at the closures on the bracelets. Both black and chrome bracelets have a hex nut closure, where the THINK PINK bracelets sport a button closure.

Now, I briefly mentioned a coupon code. Cindi has graciously gifted readers with a 20% off coupon code. When you go to Cindi's Etsy shop, all items might be sold out - she has a hard time keeping the bracelets in stock. What I've been telling friends to do is look at what Cindi has sold in her shop here. She completes many custom orders, which the coupon code is also valid for. Email her at braceletsbycindi@gmail.com, and tell her what you're interested in. She will set up a custom order for you. When you are ready to purchase use the coupon code MICHELE, and you will receive the 20% off your entire order.

I was just perusing her sales, and I'm in love with her triple wrap bracelet. One of these in a bright color would make a perfect summertime accessory!

To see more of Cindi's work, check out her blog, Instagram, Twitter, and Etsy.

Following in My Father's Footsteps.

The summer after I graduated high school, a former flame told me that I would turn out to be exactly like my mother. I scoffed, telling him he had no clue what he was talking about. Twelve years later, and some self-reflection along the way, he is right - to a degree. I will catch myself saying or doing something, and say, "Ugh, I am turning into my mother." I don't mean that negatively at all, its just that I've always said, "I'll never turn out like my parents," which is a laughable statement now. I've picked up habits from my mother, but the ones that are usually unnoticed or not mentioned are those of my father.

Dad's family, 1986. Check out the parentals + their hair (far left), hah!

My dad and I have a unique relationship. I have so many vivid memories of him from my early childhood. Apple picking, dancing in the kitchen, eating ice cream, and watching The Muppet Show. I don't remember when it was, but I remember him calling the house, when Stevie Wonder's "I Just Called To Say I Love You" was on the radio, so he could sing it to me. Once I was in elementary school, I saw mom more than I saw dad - he was working, and mom volunteered at my school. By middle school, I was locking myself in my room, blasting the local alternative station, and ignoring my parental units as much as humanly possible.

By the time I got to high school, we developed a better relationship. It was never strained, but I wasn't his little girl anymore, and conversations were usually about school, marching band, or about how I needed to stop turning to dryer on to get the wrinkles out of my clothes. My dad would wake me up for school (twice, because I wouldn't get up the first time), iron my clothes if they needed pressing, then drive me to school. En route, he would stop to get me breakfast - bagel and a cappuccino. I was beyond spoiled and didn't even realize it. After football games (I was a marching band geek - I was forced to be at the games, only to watch our miserable football team lose nearly every game), my whole family would often go out to Applebee's, Chili's or Pizza Hut, along with a plethora of other band students and parents. He and my mom chaperoned at most of the time - even for away games, and my poor little brother was dragged along for the ride. If it was a home game and I was too tired/antisocial, my dad would make a food stop for me - nine times out of ten it was for a Nachos Bell Grande, with extra sour cream. 

Yeah, I had it made in the shade, folks. 

As I have gotten older, I have a greater respect for my parents. They are human, flaws and all - just like me. They also have quirks, which takes me to the reason for writing this. I have developed habits that definitely make me my father's daughter.

Whenever I listen to Billy Joel in the car or on my iPod, I almost always put on songs that my dad used to sing in the car. Music was also something we bonded over on those morning car rides. I can vividly remember him singing "She's Always A Woman," staying on pitch the entire song. My grandfather could sing and dance like a champ, so I guess this shouldn't have come as a surprise. When I put on Abbey Road, I go to "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" first, as this is my favorite song on the album. Out of nowhere one day, I asked my brother what Beatles song reminded him of dad, and without hesitation, he said "Maxwell's Silver Hammer." 

Besides music and other little quirks that are my father, this last one would make him smile. Last year, I bought a pair of TOMS, which he would say are overpriced - even if they do give children in foreign countries footwear. Anyway, a few months into wearing them, I noticed that when I would wear them around the house, I was folding them down in the back. My dad did the SAME THING with every single pair of his slippers. He never purchased backless (?) slippers; he always got plaid loafer looking ones, that were supposed to cover his heel. As soon as he would get them, he would fold the heel in, and proceed to wear them until he wore them out. 

When I wear my TOMS with jeans or shorts, I fold them back up to wear in public, but they feel weird. I know it sounds crazy, but they are so much more comfortable with the backs folded down. My dad was onto something with those slippers of his. I'll call my dad tomorrow, while he is driving home from work, and tell him about my shoes. Its funny, I just realized that most of our conversations take place while we are both driving. Guess those years of talking in the car still exist.