BITS OF THE WEEKEND

I promised I would do a step by step post on how I got this "ombré" look a billion years ago and I was going to film a video this weekend BUT I didn't have time. However, I will I will I will do it next weekend so stick around for that if ya like!

I went to this great store in Dupont Circle called Lou Lou and they have the most to-die-for accessories. I'll post about that too later!

Ate some duh-licioussssss French chocolate.  Nom nom nom. 

Got a package from my sista who's currently in India; she gave us a bunch of Indian goodies including a little Elephant (Ganesh)

and :

- I went shopping on Friday (hollaaa!) because I need new winter clothes, or rather, my brain needs them.

- I designed a total of three blogs and a header (props to mehh)

- bought a fuchsia lip liner (coolest thing)

- didn't get my driver's license

- my Halloween costume consisted of pajamas, warm socks, three day old hair and I went trick or treating in my fridge

-and BEST OF ALL, I went ahead and bought myself the new iPhone. Thank you to all of you that tempted me into buying it. No but seriously, THANK YOU for all your comments and your helpful advice! I should be getting it in the mail in about ten days and you'll probably notice because you'll see a somewhat enormous increase in unecessary tweets and phone pictures. That'll be me playing with my new toy. Or talking to it because um... you can talk to phones nowadays and they'll even answer you back. 

iPhone users: help me decide!

Okay so I've never been much of an Apple girl; I've never said or thought "omgggggg that's a MAC whoa that's like totally coooooool omg omg" and I've always loved PC's and Windows 10 times more. 

I'm traditional like that. 

BUT. With all this graphic design business, I do understand what all the fuss is about and I admit it; I need a Mac, not a PC. But that's a different story. 

Me wanting an iPhone isn't purely because I think it's absolutely gorgeous, WHITE, because you kind of want to pet it a little and maybe even sleep with it next to you. 

It's totally not about aesthetics, what are you talking about. 

On a more serious note though, my Blackberry (which I've loved for a little more than a year) dies on me sometimes and can't handle all my emails and all the crap I put in there. 

Another thing that worried me was HOW was I going to talk to my BBM peeps on an iPhone. But Whatsapp fixed that for me, so we're good on that level. 

Anyway, iPhone users, wontcha help a sista out and let me know why you love your iPhones so much?

I got some advice from very lovely ladies on Twitter yesterday (Cait @prettyandfun, Joon @ordyandjoon, Joanne @joannebee_, and Debbie @mrsandvillage) who all told me to go for it, no questions asked. 

Thank you girls!

Full look inside a graphic design studio

On Tuesday Liz (classmate) and I got to visit a brilliant graphic design company called Fuszion, which I had emailed asking if we could come in, ask some questions and take a tour of their place. (All of this was for a school presentation). They splendidly said yes, as long as I brought my dog, which I obviously didn't. Their company wouldn't exist by now.

You've probably heard of them because um...they're the bomb. And even if you haven't heard of them, I think you know companies like Warner Brothers, National Geographic, the Smithsonian, Pepsi orCoca Cola. YA. They work for them. And for many, many others. Their portfolio completely blew my mind.

Liz and I practically drooled on their stuff and I tried my best not to go too fan-girl on them, which I actually kind of think I did. Especially in emails. But we'll try not to think about that. 

Their studios (located in Alexandria, VA) are the most charming thing! Spacious, airy and just the perfect place to work at. 

Taking a look inside their company, which holds six employees, really confirmed the fact that I want to work in a small firm in the future. Fuszion is the perfect example of "great things come in small packages". 

I got out of there with the biggest adrenaline rush on the planet, which usually only happens with quad bikes, big waves and roller coasters. That's what design does to me! What can ya do?

And I mean great design, not just any type. 

Rick (who we interviewed) gave us SO many pretty things to look at. 

Know what else they gave us? T-SHIRTS.

Can they be any cooler?

I really don't think so. 

accepting November sponsors!

Hoorah I'm accepting sponsors again!

I love meeting new bloggers, photographers, musicians, style & beauty addicts and new businesses; so come along! the more the merrier, am I right?

Current stats

 happy to say LLPZ has a loyal readership with an average of 

// 1100 subscribers through Google Friend Connect & Bloglovin'  

// 1200 subscribers through Feedburner

// 457 followers on Twitter

// 180 followers on Pinterest

// 1000 + visits a day (1500 on a mucho mucho bombastic day)

// 29 000 + hits a month

I provide ad designs for both large and medium options

If you're interested, email me at lula@lulapalooza.com with the word 'sponsor' somewhere in your subject line and I'll get back to you asap!

And if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask!

a little sneak of Fuszion studios

It.was.amazing. That's all I have to say. Or show. 

{FOR NOW.}

Design software giveaway!

You guys. I'm SO excited about this one!

A few weeks ago I got an email from My Memories about their award-winning software which they asked me to test out.

I think you all know by now that I literally live on Photoshop and that I don't really 'do' other programs. 

Well let me just say, this software made me completely change my mind.

Now, I've tried my fair share of design programs and they were almost always pretty limited in terms of... everything. My Memories, on the other hand, is brilliantly built and has so many features it kind of makes your head spin. What blew me away is that I didn't feel the need to use Photoshop while using MMS because it really is super efficient and has a broad range of tools that make designing a breeze! 

The program gives you the liberty of designing basically anything you want; simple, to more elaborate designs to which you can add a billion different elements, whether they are shapes, text, decorative swirls, photos etc etc. 

Everything on the program is customizable and you can change sizes very precisely which prevents you from loosing pixels, resolution and to distort design elements. The Suite comes with a huge number of different goodies like super fun template sets, a billion (literally) patterns and textures. You can even download new ones! 

Two things I was absolutely excited about:

- You can download all the fonts you want and they'll go right into your MMS pack. You know me and my love affair with type. So this is like THE biggest bonus ever.

- The EYEDROPPER tool. Seriously indispensable and again, such a bonus that they have it on this software. 

{designed in MMS, here's a continuation of what I'm most impressed with!}

An overview of other MMS features

Color coordination palette and photos:

It's like whoa. 

You know the drill, here's how to enter the giveaway!

Mandatory entry: 

-This giveaway is open to Lulapalooza readers only! so make sure you're one of em!

Extra entries (//extra chances to win!//separate comments for each//)

-Tweet about this giveaway with: "Do you love designing? Win an award-winning Design software from @MyMemoriesSuite on @lulapaloozablog! http://bit.ly/vr8Pvd   

{--> make sure we can track your tweet}

-Blog about this giveaway (and give us a link!)

-Follow me on Twitter here

-Follow My Memories on Twitter here 
-Like My Memories on Facebook

we made a video!

It's kind of ridiculous. 

day off and a video

We ended up not going to Georgetown today because the weather is not cooperating so I stayed in on my day off. Spot and I made a video also. He's so creative.

More to come!

Happy Friday!

up all night

That's right people, I EVEN make time to blog at three in the morning. 

But really it's mostly because I had twenty minutes of intense procrastination, which included a lot of tweeting with some fun ladies, aka Lindsay and Kinsey. 

I think I definitely deserve ten thumbs up for working so hard. Or maybe eleven, if you have an extra finger somewhere. 

I hope my professor sees this, maybe I'll get extra points for staying up late. Pleaseeee?

Anyway, what got me through the night wasn't coffee (strangely enough) BUT Pellegrino. Those fizzy bubbles just kick your brain a little bit. Amen to that! Oh and that warm blanket. 

Still, I'm back on coffee, 'cause I don't do mornings without it. 

These late night posts are probably  going to start happening every Wednesday because that's always the night I have more homework. Think of if, I should give them a name...like Wednesday Night Fever or something. Or Wednesday Night PRO-Crastination Party. Supporting procrastinators around the world since 1991. 

I'm going to Georgetown tomorrow with la mama (right right?) and I'll go to DC Cupcakes and I'll most likely stay there until I get a bad case of diabetes. 

pops of colour and pumpkin lattes

This has nothing to do with anything but I really wanna try making a pumpkin spice latte (like the one here). We are definitely not in Lisbon anymore! Oyyy I bet my Portuguese peeps are reading this and thinking "um WHAT? a coffee with PUMPKIN?"

"yes....." * hides in a corner feeling guilty * 

I didn't like peanut butter when I got here either. Or Cinnamon buns. And the list could go on.

Two summers ago my sister (she's the baker, I'm the....watcher?) made a red velvet cake for a friend's birthday while we were in Lisbon and I swear you should've seen the disgusted looks on everyone's faces. Or that time she made traditional US&A mac'n'cheese (but they all secretly liked it). 

We like to 'culture-shock' them sometimes. It's pretty funny. We get such a kick out of it.

Yep. I'm rambling.

ps: the navy blue, sailor-ish coat is from H&M!

style post // we're practically matching

Can you spot the wardrobe malfunction here? 

{leggings: Zara // boots: Old Navy // dress: H&M // cardigan: Forever21}

I mentioned these fake Ugg boots a while ago here and I've convinced myself that I bought them only and strictly only to match Spot. Spot's brownish spots. So. Don't judge me. Plus, like I've said, they really are a little treat for your feet. AND they make it easier to walk (and tame) this crazy dog. One day I'll film him so that you can see what I'm talking about. It'll be full of "oh no...oh no... I see children over there" or "oh sh*t, a squirrel". Those are the main things that set him off. Actually, just humans in general.