Dukan Diet Update

So, at the beginning of this past week, I talked to you guys about starting the Dukan Diet.  Well, since then, I've finished the Attack Phase {thank goodness!} and have moved on to the Cruise Phase where you do one Protein Only day followed by a Protien + Veggies Day, and so on and so forth. Not gonna lie to you guys--the Attack Phase was a total pain to get through! A bloggie friend passed on her mantra to me though, which was "You can do anything for 5 days!" And that's seriously what saved me because it was so not fun! BUT, it was seriously effective! I ate pure protein for those 5 days, drank tons of water, walked to work and home everyday, and lost 7lbs! Granted, most of that was water weight {I'm way less bloated now!}, but still 7lbs is 7lbs and it feels pretty darn good!

Adding in veggies these past few days has been a lifesaver, though! Once you get to the veggie phase, there's so much you can do with your food! One of my favorite recipes that I found was the Cauliflower Pizza Crust Pizza.  Obviously, it's not the same as eating Domino's {our house favorite}, but it definitely took away those pizza cravings I was having! And just a note, I substituted fat-free cheese for the mozarella and then used sugar-free tomatao sauce and piled the pizza with all the veggies I could find!!!! 

Let me know how you guys are doing on it or if you have any questions about it! Next Sunday I'll put up a few more places that I'm finding great recipes, but for now you can always follow my Pinterest board, which is where I'm getting most of my Dukan ideas from anyways!

Happy Sunday, Lovelies!:)

Found: A Curated World by Kay McGowan



A Curated World by Kay McGowan

Some of my favorite pieces in our home are trinkets and things that I've picked up while traveling or that friends/family have given me upon a return trip.  There's just something so special about a piece that isn't easy to come by and I always love thinking that there's a secret story behind these unique finds! I think a lot of people would say the same, which is why I'm so excited to introduce you to, A Curated World! 

Last week, Kay McGowan launched her new online shop, A Curated World, and I, for one, cannot get enough! Obviously, all of the pieces are gorgeous {just take a look at the those beautiful pillows!}, but even more than that, the site is so interactive and just plain cool--you really have to see it to know what I'm talking about! Over the next year Kay will be visiting eight different cities around the world, in order to bring a taste of those cities into your life. These four jewels are all part of the Moroccan collection, and even more goodness promises to come from her next travels!

So, what are you waiting for??? Zip on over to A Curated World and let me know your favorite find!:)

xoxo

Jillian Nicole

Pacific Ocean Blue



Ikat Anthropologie Dress

It seems ridiculous to even be talking about wearing this darling dress when it's currently cold, grey, and gross outside, but I wanted to share with you guys which Anthro. piece I {finally!} settled on! Thank you guys for all your votes on the different pieces I was trying to decide between--I seriously went back and forth between this dress and these shoes for ages!!! But, ulitmately, I feel like I'll get more wear out of a dress and I just can't get over the colour--reminds me of the Pacific Ocean, which I miss so much!!!

Hopefully I'll be wearing this dress in the warm, summer heat of South Carolina in a few months!

Hope the sun is shining wherever you are!:)

xoxo

Jillian Nicole

Inspiration Board: Watermelon Crush

Bride with Bouquet // Pin-Wheels // Escort Card // Mojitos // Ceremony Set-up

Nothing screams summer to me more than barbeques, beaching, and, yep, watermelon!  My love affair with this delicious, messy fruit goes way back to my teeny, tiny, little girl years, and if you ask politely, I'm sure my Mimi will dig out the {far too many} nakey pics of me devouring watermelon in our sink!

But just because I grew out of naked, sink eating, that doesn't mean I don't still love me some watermelon! The colors are just pefect for an outdoor, Summer wedding and can you even imagine how adorable those pin-wheels would look, spinning in the breeze, as your guests send you off after the sweetest day ever???

What do you lovelies think: Too cute or sickly sweet??? I want to hear!:) Oh, and please tell me, I'm not the only one with embarrasing, kiddie photos roaming around....anybody???

xoxo

Jillian Nicole

Operation Skinny Jeans



Buy The Dukan Diet Book Here

Okay, ladies, I have a confession to make: My Skinny jeans just don't fit anymore. It's a sad day when you go to pull on your favorite pair and realize, there's no way those babies are zipping up!  So, what's a girl to do? Well, if you're me, the first thing you do is stop eating as much as your husband {who knew what a freakishly, high metabolism men have!} and then you look to the lovely, land of blogging for some much needed inspiration! 

I quickly zipped on over to Beatown Prepster because I had remembered that she had just started on some sort of new diet, which is how I came to read all about Dukan and how all those French women stay so thin!  It's pretty straightforward, really: 2 phases to get you to your goal weight {or goal jeans!} and 2 phases to help you stay there {or in them!}.  So, I'm almost done with the first phase of the diet {ATTACK!} and it's been relatively easy--tons of lean, turkey roll ups and 0% Fage Greek Yogurt {which I LOVE!} And then after that I get to start adding in veggies--hello, cauliflower crust pizza!:)

So, obviously, this is not usual Mimi Nicole chatter, and I certainly don't want the blog to become all about dieting and things, but I thought I'd give you a little peek at my personal life and let you know that I'll be posting about how I'm doing on this diet on Sundays from now on {well, really, I'll be writing about it on Saturdays, but it will post on Sundays}, so for those of you that want to keep up with it you can follow along with it that way! Oh, and if this is something you're interested in doing or are doing, you can follow my Pinterest Board, here, for yummy recipes!

If you have any questions about it feel free to ask and I'll do my best to answer! Hope you all had a wonderful weekend, and I'll see you back here tomorrow with a new, fun inspiration board!



xoxo

Jillian Nicole

Friday Favorites

Our Labor of Love Photography via Reverie Magazine Blog

This stunning, California wedding has it all: A gorgeous, care-free Bride; an adorable, fun-loving Groom {with the best hair EVER!}; vineyards that go on for miles; and the most amazing wedding video, shot by the very cool, Sharkpig! It's a two-parter people, so clear your schedules and head on over to the Reverie Blog to see all the love in Part One and all the fun in Part Two!  

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Lovely Links

The lovely, Styled Magazine came out on Wednesday and it's full of some of the prettiest blooms I've ever seen! And, really, you do not want to miss the DIY Floral Antler piece--it's so cool!

Speaking of pretty blooms, Lovely Little Details launched their new branding and moved into their new site--it's gorgeous and definitley worth a little, snoop around! 

Kathryn of Snippet and Ink rounded up all of her favourite cake recipes from Sweetopolita and they look goooooood!!!!

Looking to try out the floral, hair garland craze for your next event? The Bride's Cafe has a great DIY on how to make two different versions--both beautiful and both totally do-able!

Get a peek at a few of the new 2013 Bridal lines that have launched over on Brooklyn Bride

{Rivini, Vera Wang , Amsale, Reem Acra, Christos, Monique Lhuillier}

Have a lovely, weekend, my dears!:)

xoxo

Jillian Nicole



Liebster Blog Award

So, last week, during my little hiatus from Mimi Nicole, while my relatives were here, I was a super bad blogger and didn't respond to ANY comments! Can you believe it?! Such bad behavoir! Well, this week I'm going to be doing my best to reply to all of them {old and new!}, so please forgive me, if you haven't heard from me in a while--I love you all, really I do!!:) 

Well, while I was gone, the very sweet, Nicole Rene of Nicole Rene Design awarded me the Leibster Award!  Nicole's blog is chock full of gorgeous, inspiration boards, wedding and event decor, and just plain, ol' prettiness, so you can imagine how thrilled I was that she picked me {and 4 other great bloggers--check them out here!} to receive the award! So, now it's my turn to pass the Leibster Award on to five of my favourite blogs that have 200 or less followers! I love, and follow, a ton of blogs, but these five ladies are some of my favourites and if you visit their blogs {which I strongly encourage you to do!}, I think they'll become your favourites as well!:)

Lisa at Lisa Mende Design is so sweet and her blog is always full of so many inspiring homes--I can't wait until I can actually use some of her inspiration to decorate my own home{renting is no fun!}!

Supal blogs over at Chevrons & Eclairs and you will LOVE everything she posts--seriously, EVERYTHING! From recipes to amazing, travel posts, you will see it all over there!



Betsy over at Betsy Transatlantically was one of the first expat bloggers I became friends with when I started blogging!  Her posts are a mix between gorgeous pictures of England, the hilarious stories that come of being an expat in the UK, and Friday Frocks, which is now one of my favourite days--the girl's got style!:)

I love Whitney's blog, The Curtis Casa! If you're a fan of beautiful gardening, super fun, {and totally do-able} DIY's, and real fashion posts then you must pop on over to Whit's blog! Just the other day she made a super cute birdfeeder out of a shallot's bag--who knew?!?!!

Okay, so I know that technically Laura's blog You Stir Me is over the 200 follower limit, but only by 8 and she's seriously one of my favourites, so there was no way I wasn't going to include her fabulous blog!!! Everything she posts is so pretty--interiors, weddings, fashion, and she just announced some pretty exciting news, so make sure to visit You Stir Me--you'll love it!:)

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Those are my five, favourite ladies, so be sure to check them out--they're all AMAZING!

Now, for you lovely ladies that have won the Liebster Award, here are a couple rules for accepting it:

1. Link back to the lovely lady (or gentleman) who gave it to you.
2. Post the darling award to your blog.
3. Give the award to five bloggers with less than 200 followers.
4. Leave a comment on the five blogs to let them know they've been offered the award!

Hope you all liked meeting some of my favourite blogettes and be sure to stop by tomorrow for my favourite wedding of the week--it's a good one!:)

 xoxo

Jillian Nicole

What I {Wish I} Wore Wednesday: Picnic Perfect

Scarf // Dress // Necklace // Picnic Basket // Kiehl's Sunscreen // Espadrilles

Picnics will always hold a special place in my heart because they were some of the best dates I've ever had with my Handsome Husband!  It probably didn't hurt that most of them took place in apple orchards around the English countryside!:) I can't wait until it starts warming up over here in the UK and we can finally start picnicing again! Until then, I'll just keep playing dress up on Polyvore!:)

What have been your favourite dates with your special someone???

xoxo

Jillian Nicole



"Cute as a Button" Baby Shower: Sneak Peek

Claudia Rose Carter Photography

Happy Monday, Lovelies! Hope you all are getting back into the swing of things after a great weekend!

Many of you were following along as I was planning my Sister-in-Law's baby shower {if you missed any of the posts you can catch up here, here, here, here, and here} Well, the other day, I had a gorgeous surprise in my inbox from the super sweet, and crazy talented, Claudia Rose Carter!  And, while, I can't show you all the beautiful pictures she took of the day, I did want to share a little sneak peek! It was such a fun day getting to celebrate my Sister-in-Law and soon-to-be niece {I'm pushing for the name Sophia, but we'll see!:)} and they scored some major cool gifts--baby girls have such cute clothes!

Oh, and if you guys have any great, baby girl names, feel free to pass them along! We were flipping through baby name books while they were visiting us, but we could definitely use some creative help!:)

Have a lovely day, bloggettes, and I'll see you back here tomorrow!:)

xoxo

Jillian Nicole

Friday Favourites???

Adorable Greeting Card by Golden Section

It was so nice to have HH's brother and sister-in-law staying with us this week--we ate out almost every meal {thanks Rob and Eva!:)}, we explored gorgeous Edinburgh, we baked, we watched movies, played Pictionary, shopped, all in all, we had a pretty great week!

Since I was MIA pretty much the whole time our lovely guests were here, I'm spending this weekend catching up on some of my favourite things from around the web! So far, I have the latest, Spring issue of Reverie Magazine bookmarked, all of my favourite blogs {obvs!}, as well as my dear friend, Supal's curry recipe {HH is very excited for me to get reading on that one!:)} But I know there's tons more out there that I've missed this week, so I'm relying on you, my dear readers, to let me know what I need to get caught up on, and, please, be sure to leave links in the comments, so I can get to readin'!:)

xoxo

Jillian Nicole



Irn Bru Cupcakes

If any of you ever visit Scotland, you must do two things: 1} Let me know you're coming so we can meet up and hang out!:) 2} And at least try Irn Bru.  It is one of the most disgusting things you will ever taste {in my opinion}, but as my husband always says, "It just has to be done!"  It's basically Scotland's National Drink, but I think what they've actually done is bottled up icky, Children's medicine and somehow tried to pass it off as soda...but for how much I hate this stuff, my brother-in-law LOVES it, and they don't get it where they live, so I said we'd stock up on it for their trip to see us.  I also decided that I'd try and win a few sister-in-law points by making him Irn Bru cupcakes...Ta Da! I refused to try any, but from what I've been told they were pretty good--I made myself Nutella icing instead and it was yummy!:)

Is there anything that you can't stand, but the rest of your family is just crazy about???

xoxo

Jillian Nicole

Loch Leven and Dundee

Loch Leven

Morning, Lovelies! So, next week I'll be back to my regular posting schedule, but while HH's family's here, I thought I'd keep a little travel journal of where we're going and what we're doing!  So today we're leaving bright and early for Loch Leven, and then heading on to Dundee.  Unfortunately, our view of the Loch won't be nearly as gorgeous as this picture, since some sort of torrential downpour is going on outside right now, but hopefully we'll at least be able to make it out from the comfort of our car!

Hope you all are warm and dry and enjoying your Wednesday!:)

xoxo,

Jillian Nicole  

Back Home!

Arthur's Seat

Good morning, Blogettes! I hope you all had a lovely, Easter weekend!  We were down in London with HH's whole family, but are back now with my brother-in-law and sister-in-law in tow!  We're going to show them this beautiful city we live in and if the rain lets up we'll be hiking that mountain in the distance {here's hoping we have rain all week!!!:)}! 

Our Easter weekend was jam packed with church on Friday and Sunday, a Baby Shower on Friday morning, and a styled shoot in the English countryside on Saturday--can't wait to share more about it all with you guys this week!

What did you lovelies get up to this Easter???

xoxo

Jillian Nicole

BHLDN Bridesmaid Collection

BHLDN Bridesmaids Collection



It seems like wedding season has snuck up on me this year! January and February went by in a flash, and don't even get me started on March--where in the world did it go?! And now, it's April!  The sun is shining, peonies are beginning to bloom, and brides everywhere are getting ready to start walking down those aisles!  So, what's a bridesmaid {or party-goer} to do??? My advice is to hurry yourself on over to BHLDN and snatch up one of these darling frocks!

But don't get the Fire Orange Shift...that's mine!:)

xoxo,

Jillian Nicole

Favourite Beauty Products

Best Blush Ever

Perfect for a Spring/Summer Bride



Magic



Flawless Finish



Oldie but Goodie



I'm linking up with Rachel over at Just Peachy for this week's Top 5, which is all about makeup!  Most days I find that my moisturizer, tinted moisturizer {yes, you read that correctly, I do wear TWO moisturizers--my poor skin just doesn't do well up against the crazy, Scottish winds!}, Maybelline mascara, and a swipe of chapstick {again, that darn wind!} will do the trick, but for special occassions, I pull out the primer, highlighter, blush, and go to town!

What are your favourite beauty products or make-up must haves???

xoxo,

Jillian Nicole



Baby Shower Monday: Cake Inspiration

Miso Bakes

Happy Monday, Lovelies!  Okay, so this is the last Monday before the baby shower and I wanted to share with you guys the inspiration for our "Cute as a Button" cake!  My MIL has already started making buttons out of sugar paste and then on Thursday it's all going down in the kitchen! Wish us luck as we try and create something half this cute!

Oh, and did I mention the lovely, Claudia Rose Carter is going to be photographing the whole thing!? So excited!:)



xoxo,

Jillian Nicole