At Samantha Rose Designs, we love infographics. Why keep illustrations and data separate? Like peanut butter and jelly, they’re best enjoyed together! The following infographic is informative (like good infographics always are) but also of particular interest because of the subject matter: a way in which we all can improve our health with minimal energy expended.

We’re talking about sleep. 

Sleep doesn’t require you to strap on the running shoes or start bringing your lunch to work; it’s an investment of time rather than effort. However, the research illustrated below shows that it may be one of the most important things you can do to safe-guard your body and mind. Couch potatoes, listen up!

For the complete infographic, visit its source.

Not getting the recommended amount of sleep can slow or completely shut off part of the brain? Another thing to note is that lack of sleep encourages other unhealthy habits such as a heightened hunger for fat, salt and sugar. The infographic details how not enough sleep can activate the body’s fight or flight system, but it also may result in such basic behavioral results as ordering takeout when you’re too exhausted to cook at the end of a long day!

It states above that the average adult gets between five and seven hours of sleep per night.

Do you fall into that category? More or less?

1. Carroll Senior High School Jazz Band I
   Thursday, April 21, 6:00-8:00 p.m.
   Jazz Band I is the top of three audition-only jazz ensembles at Carroll Senior High School (Southlake, Texas). In addition to being named Essentially Ellington finalists in 2007 and 2010, Jazz Band I was the winner of the 2009 UTA Jazz Festival and was invited to be a featured performer at the festival in 2010.

1. Jazz Appreciation Month Tours
   Are You Hep to the Jive?: Design and Art of the Jazz Age
   Thursday, April 21, 8:00 p.m.
   This tour, led by Kevin W. Tucker, The Margot B. Perot Curator of Decorative Arts and Design, DMA, will feature works of art in the Museum’s collections that make connections to and were influenced by jazz.
2. Shelley Carrol featuring Paul Ellington
   Thursday, April 28, 6:00-8:00 p.m.
   Saxophonist and former member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra, Shelley Carrol leads his own quartet in playing the music of Duke Ellington. Carrol will be joined by very special guest Paul Ellington, grandson of Duke Ellington and current musical director for the Duke Ellington Orchestra. Paul will share stories of his grandfather and the music he composed.
   

And remember: it don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing.

Photo of Edward “Duke” Ellington at the Hurricane Club 1943, via Wikimedia Commons

Nothing says “Spring” to me more than butterflies.  These flirty little beauties are so entrancing, I have to stop and marvel each time I see one, whether in my garden, or along the Square where our Samantha Rose Boutique is located.

 A few days ago I found a little yellow and orange one flirting happily amongst the flowered pots arrayed in front of the boutique.  I would have thought this little creature to be lost in urban traffic, but on and on it went, oblivious to onlookers like me.  I had to smile.

I found myself so inspired, I had to outfit the boutique in butterflies.  Little orange and yellow and black silk babies, and larger mirrored pieces decking our walls.  We also have butterfly-inspired jewelry and and accessories.  Butterflies are so universally adored, they have inspired literature, art and fashion in practically every culture.  Call them Papillon in French or Farfalla in Italian, the name has become ubiquitous that a Papillion could now be a breed of small dogs, and Farfalle a butterfly-shaped pasta. 

I so wanted to keep smiling and share the happiness with everyone who stops by.  Come by and see for yourself.

Samantha Rose Designs Boutique @ 1014 S. Broadway St., Suite 104, Carrollton, TX 75006.

Youth and Beauty: Art of the American Twenties

March 4–May 27, 2012
Barrel Vault and Hanley, Lamont, Rachofsky, and Stoffel Galleries

The Dallas Museum of Art has a new exhibition! You may have heard the catchy advertisement for it on KERA. It’s called Youth and Beauty: Art of the American Twenties and is reportedly the first examination of American fine art from the close of the first World War through the beginning of the Great Depression on a large scale. This exhibition is touring across the United States and features more than 130 works of painting, sculpture, and photography by more than sixty-five artists. It demonstrates how American artists of the period embraced a progressive, idealized realism visible in a resurgence of figuration and in highly distilled images of American places and things. Organized by the Brooklyn Museum, Youth and Beauty will include three works from the DMA’s collections, so if you’re in the mood for a double dose of history and culture… check it out!

For more information, visit this.

The picture at left was used to create one of the most iconic fashion images in history: a January 1950 cover of Vogue which communicated elegance, mystery, minimalism and hautiness in a ravishing cocktail of je ne sais quoi that made it indelible. Hungry for more high-fashion glam, nipped waists and 1950′s pearls? Enjoy some community-curated images of the beautiful and talented Ms. Patchett on Pinterest!

Amy Vanderoef from Good Morning Texas, LeeAnne Locken and other notable fashion tastemakers and philanthropists, along with several former clients of Attitudes & Attire will be strutting their stuff down the runway during a European-inspired fashion show by Elements, Dallas’ staple boutique that has been setting the standard for specialty shopping in the metroplex since 1999. Read all details here!

• How many pieces do you already have? The first step to building a solid stable of pieces for an office-appropriate pieces is to shop your current closet. It may seem boring to organize, categorize and rehabilitate your existing wardrobe, but this will keep your budget from being overwhelmed and prevent waste. 

• Invest in the backbone of your wardrobe. Maybe you don’t have a Michael Kors watch or a Marc Jacobs blouse, but spend the bulk of your allotted budget on the classic pumps, pencil skirts, blazers and trousers with which you can mix and match your trendy, colorful, statement pieces. 

• According to this collection, from a general perspective the necessities are (grouped loosely by category):

1. Black blazer, black pencil skirt, black pumps
2. 2 pairs of trousers (1 pair black, 1 pair in another neutral)
3. Commuter flats, classic work tote, versatile watch
4. 2 sweaters (crewneck, cardigan), patterned blouse, white button-down shirt
5. Trench coat
6. Day/wrap dress 

What are your workwear essentials? If you created a workwear capsule collections, what would you include? What are the pieces that you invested in years ago that you still wear today?

In honor of the most romantic day of the year, take a peek at this delightful Valentine’s magazine produced by Delicious Shots. Click through for lots of DIY projects, sweet and sultry recipes and more from three amazing contributors: Sarah, Nicole and Sneh. Happy Valentine’s Day to everyone!