I hope everyone had a great 4th of July holiday yesterday - I’ve been having a really fun time on my mini vacation. Yesterday we drove up from Reno to Lake Tahoe to see my mom and check out the fireworks show over the lake.

We spent the whole day at Mom’s nail salon, Escape Nail Spa (shameless plug - if you’re ever in the South Lake Tahoe area, come pay her a visit at Suite #9 in the Raley’s plaza right next to Heavenly. They were voted 2007’s Best Nail Spot in Lake Tahoe!). It was a blast and I felt like a princess getting prepped and pampered for the holiday festivities.

Check out my patriotic manicure - it’s a fireworks show right on my fingertips! I can’t remember what color they used but it sure was red with lots of sparkle thanks to silver and gold glitter polish as well as a rhinestone on each nail. It’s definitely a lot crazier than what I normally wear but hey, it’s a blingin’ holiday and I can’t say no to what Mom wants to do, right??

Hope you’re all having an awesome weekend - I’m off to the casinos to try and win back some of the moola I lost in Reno.

Happy Friday guys! I’m heading off to San Diego this weekend for a wedding. It’ll be super fun, doubly so because I’ll get to see my aunt and her family as well. Don’t you just love seeing family and friends anywhere you go? I do!

Since I haven’t packed yet and we’re leaving tomorrow night right after I get off work I figured I’d make this entry short and sweet with five fun facts about the beautiful city of San Diego.

1. The San Diego Zoo is home to four giant pandas - the largest number of giant pandas in the United States! In 1999, Hua Mei was the first giant panda born in North America to survive to adulthood. Tons of people lined up for hours to visit Hua Mei and millions watched her grow up via the zoo’s Panda Cam. Now, affter watching Kung Fu Panda last week, I can’t help but secretly want to visit the zoo on Sunday if we have some time before our flight back to San Francisco. (more…)

Okay Ladies, I’m going to be in my cousin’s wedding next Saturday, Nov. 10th, and my bridesmaid dress is Persimmon AKA orange - LOL. I’m looking for some beauty advice on color palettes that you think would go well with this color of dress. Here’s a picture of the dress and my dyed-to-match shoes! Note that the color of the dress is more orange than red like it looks in this photo.

Look forward to your advice!!

PS - Go Giants!

There’s me on the far right dressed up as a roaring 20s flapper - or Catherine Zeta Jones if you’re referencing Chicago. And the rest of the gang are my co-workers!!

Here’s one of me and a hot stewardess, Susan!

Happy Halloween, everyone! Go Trick or Treating and have a safe day!

If you grew up listening to ABBA with your parents (like I did), you MUST check out Mamma Mia, you’ll love it! I was fortunate to catch them in San Francisco this past weekend on their national tour and it was AMAZING! I loved how they weaved in all my favorite ABBA songs into the story line of a girl getting married, looking for her birth father to give her away on her wedding way. It was a real feel-good show and got everyone on their feet by the end.The San Francisco show runs through Sept. 22nd at the Orpheum Theatre and you can buy tickets here. A friend of mine told me that if you buy it at the theatre directly, you can save $20 but I’m not sure if that’s true. Leave a comment and let me know so that I don’t have to pay full price next time. =) If you’re in another city, find out whether or not the show will be near your hometown here.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!!

Welcome everyone to my new blog, The Daily Cookie! I’ll be sharing anything and everything I love with you on TV, food, celebrity, and everything in between. I’ll also throw in some of my favorite beauty and fashion tidbits from my company, Glam Media - the #1 online destination for women in the U.S.

Hope you enjoy and come again soon!

Love, nilla cookie