HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

Wow! It's been one year since I first started THE BLISS LIST. I can't believe that I made it this far and have this many followers. I'am so excited and so thankful for everyone following and everyone who comments. I promise to do a lot more posts next year and continue to do some more fun videos, which is my favorite part about the blog! To celebrate I've picked my top favorite videos for your to watch again.

Let's start is off right with my first taste of apple cider vinegar shot ....remember this one?

xoxo,

JONESY

Party Dress - New Years Eve Style Guide

Last year I celebrated New Years Eve on a cruise ship with my family. It was a fantastic time. My favorite part about New Years is the pre celebration dinner and my outfit. I always love dressing up, even If I'am just staying in, I still want to make sure that I look good going into the next year (lol). Nothing wrong with that, right? Here are my top picks for New Years. I recently purchased one of these for my New Years celebration. Can you guess which dress I will be wearing ?

1. ASOS Feather Corset Dress (Black) $258

2. Gold Sequin Dress by Rare $78

3. Rachel Roy Lace Chain Belted Shealth Dress $129

4. ASOS Folded Origami One Shoulder Dress $94.82

You'll have to stay tuned for pics to find out what dress I selected!

A walk through mobile lane ....

(Line outside of Eataly in New York, I can't wait to try this place)

(Union Square farmers market)

(Union Square Holiday outdoor shopping store, a lot of great gifts for the Holiday)

(Christmas Tree at 30 Rock - beautiful, freezing cold)

(window starving outside of Magnolia Bakery - yummy Red Velvet Cake)

Cocktails & Conversation - Holiday Version

It's a time to celebrate! My event group finally picked a name (TheTenProject) and also had our last networking event of 2010. It's been a great year and we can't wait to see what happens to us in 2011. Check us out on Facebook and don't forget to "LIKE" us! CLICK HERE

Photo Credit: Karston Tannis

The Hair Update

For the last two years ago I've been having the worst hair day, hair month, hair year! I couldn't get it right. It all happened after I decided to put honey blonde highlights in my hair. At first, I loved my new cute hair do. I never colored my hair before. I never cut it before. I never really did anything to it before. Many people warned me (like my Mother) but I was stubborn and I wanted flowy hair the color of Beyonce's. Here I am below posing for my 25th Birthday with my shiny honey blonde highlights. Little did I know what a nightmare I got myself into.

Flash forward months later and my hair was damaged! The color caused my hair to split and my stylist had no choice but to keep chopping it off until it was repaired. I took very good care of my hair while I had the color in but apparently it wasn't enough to keep the damage away.In the end, I was left with shorter hair and this horrible ashy sandy color, yuck. My hair was no longer shining, it was faded and dry, and just blaa.

So what did I do? .....

It's back. Phew! A complete difference from before right? I learned that after the color grew out, my hair would look a lot better, but how long was that going to take? Well it took almost a year before I saw any major improvements. Thanks to the support and advice from hairlista.com I was able to recover from this nightmare. The process was depressing! Every time my hair grew, I had to continue to cut it in order to get rid of the color on the ends. Luckily, my hair grew fairly quickly otherwise I could still be dealing with this now. It was a long process but it's officially over. I don't see any color left in my hair. I am writing this post for anyone who is going through this right now, because all of the advice I received really helped me to recover quickly. So what did I do?

1. Deep conditioner, Deep conditioner, Deep condition!
2. Moisturize the hair so it doesn't dry out
3. Never use bristle brushes or comb your hair a lot, finger comb
4. Low manipulation - avoid ponytails! wear your hair down at all times or in a bun
5. Avoid a lot of heat - don't curl it, flat iron it, or blow dry it! say no to heat
6. Protect your hair at night - sleep on a satin pillowcase and/or tie your hair at night
7. Last but not least, no more PERMS!

Now I will explain. Deep conditioners are great! I always make sure that I put conditioner in my hair and sit under the dryer for a few minutes with it in. This will make your hair really soft. I always roller set my hair and sit under the dryer, and I never blow dry my hair wet. I don't go to the salon often, and I try to do my hair as often as I can to avoid putting a lot of heat on it. I stopped putting a relaxer in my hair. I was never someone who put a relaxer in my hair often, it was usually every 5-6 months if I did do it. I know people who relax every three months. I guess it depends on your hair type but I've witnessed girls getting a relaxer in the salon when it appeared that they probably really didn't need one, they were being very picky about having super straight hair. I stopped relaxing my hair in late December so i'm approaching my one year hair-anniversary. I honestly haven't had any problems maintaining my hair since I stopped. I like my hair a lot better now that it's not stick straight, it's a lot thicker and fuller. When I do want my hair straight, I go to my Dominican stylist. Dominican salons are known for their amazing blow drying skills. After your hair has finished drying with the rollers in, with a small comb and a blow dryer your stylist can blow your hair super straight. This will last a long while.

My favorite hair product through this journey has to be the Moroccanoil Oil Treatment (click here). It restores over-processed hair that is effected by chemicals. The product is a bit expensive but you only use a very small amount of it so it will last a while. Plus, it's your hair. If you are serious about fixing damaged hair you must be willing to put in the cost and effort to make sure that it's done correctly. Well, that's my hair update! If you have any questions about my journey feel free to comment below or email me at Jonesy.Bliss@gmail.com

Ugly Sweater Holiday Party

I’ve been invited to my very first “Ugly Sweater Holiday Party" and I couldn't be more excited! It’s always great to add a theme to your party and when that theme includes a little humor it’s the perfect opportunity to take lots of photos to capture the event.

So how does one plan an “Ugly Sweater Holiday Party?” Easy!

1. Invite friends, co-workers and family

Online electronic invitation websites like Evite.com, Pingg.com make it an easy way to send out invitations at the last minute. If you haven't already, make sure you send out your invitations soon! It's difficult to plan things around the Holiday's because usually everyone is very busy with other Holiday events and Christmas shopping.

2. Find the perfect ugly sweater:

This can be difficult especially when you live in New York City. We don't exactly have ready made ugly sweaters hanging around at H&M. This may take a little creativity. You could either, find a decent looking sweater and then travel to your local arts store (such as Michaels) and pick up ugly patches, bows, ribbon, even lights to make your own crazy Holiday sweater. Another thing you can do is go to your local thrift store and see if they have any there. Start looking now because it may take you a while.

Bonus suggestion: Offer up a ugliest sweater contest to get your guests really in the mood! That way you can make sure that people will go above and beyond to have the most ugly sweater of all.

3. Food, Snacks, and Drinks

You can either ask your guests to bring a bottle or something or a treat, or provide everything for this event yourself. Appetizers are always the way to go. My top picks are: chicken fingers, stuffed mushrooms, meatballs/small sub rolls, shrimp cocktail, pigs in a blanket, spinach dip and chips, salsa and chips, brownies, cupcakes, cookies, and pie. Keep it simple, keep it easy. No one is expecting to cover over and have a full meal. Just make sure you say on your invitation that appetizers and deserts will be provided. For a drink, try a spiked eggnog with either rum or bourbon or a spiked hot chocolate to make a special warm surprise for your guests. Yum! You can also do holiday cocktails, holiday punch, tons of options! (click here to check them out).

4. Holiday Music

What's a Holiday party without holiday music? Just because it's a holiday party doesn't mean you have to chose boring tunes, find some of your teenage favorites or even some new Holiday Christmas albums, such as Mariah Carey's latest one "Merry Christmas." What's a holiday party without the Nsync "Home For Christmas" album, "Under My Tree" was my favorite (click here) what was yours?

Have a great party!