An Evening with Royalty

Good morning beautiful people! A few days ago, I received an invitation to the unveiling of the current Ms. Maryland's jewelry collection. Being a love of fashion and unique jewelry, I definitely accepted the invite. I love to support up and coming designers so I know this will be a great event.

If you aren't busy on April 1st, come join me and support Ms. Maryland, Tiffany Parker. To see some her of creations, click HERE to view the Facebook page. Below is the official invitation so be sure to check it out! If you have any questions, contact me via email {whitneynicjames@gmail.com} and I will be sure to put you in contact with the right person. 

Be blessed and talk to you soon!!

~Nic 

1 Year Blogging & An Instagram Weekend

Hey everyone!! Guess what today was????

MY 1 YEAR BLOG ANNIVERSARY!!!

YAY me!!! I have had a blast growing and learning how to become a better blogger and I am so grateful for all of my followers and supporters. I cannot wait to do more, explore more, and meet new bloggers who can continue to inspire me. I love you all and here's to another GREAT year!!!

I hope you had a marvelous weekend. Mine was wonderful!! As usual, I spent it with family and did a bit of shopping at Yankee Candle. They were having a sale and I needed a refill so it was perfect. The sale is still on so go check it out HERE.

My lil sis was in The American Girl Fashion Show and did an EXCELLENT job. Then we went to celebrate my fiances birthday (which is actually tomorrow). Sunday, I spent the morning with the lovely Ashley from, F.A.B. ellis{Fashion & Beauty} . She came in MD for the weekend and we were able to grab breakfast before she hit the road back to NC. She is such a lovely person, inside and out and I feel like I've know her all my life! WE instantly clicked and I cannot wait until she comes back so we can hang out longer! If you love make-up, natural hair, and fashion, be sure to check her blog, HERE.

Enjoy the pics and if you have Instagram, follow me @msnicjames and on Facebook, HERE. XXOO!!

~Nic

@msnicjames - Instagram

Sandals: Bakers (a few years old)

Panera Lunch, Yankee Treats & Me and Mommy :-)

*The fashion show set up was so great, my Mom purchased a centerpiece!*

*Lil Sis & the Fiance' *

Facebook Friday

Hey guys :-) As I've said in my previous posts, I am trying some new things with my blog and I want to introduce my first attempt called, Facebook Friday's. If you follow me on Facebook, you know that I always feature a look of the day from a celeb (or celebrities) whose outfit I like. I was on Polyvore the other day playing around with some outfits and re-created a 2 of my favorite looks of the week; Jill Scott and Jessica Alba. So I thought to myself ,why not make this a weekly thing? I love creating on Polyvore so it just seemed like a prefect idea!

I see a lot of my fellow bloggers doing this as well so hopefully, all goes well and I keep this up. My goal is to inspire my readers to maybe try some of the outfits, or to use them as inspiration while looking for what to wear. Eventually, I would LOVE to recreate the looks myself but one step at a time, lol.

Lastly, I would love to hear your opinions on who YOU would like to see on my blog. Are there any celeb pics you'd love to see recreated via-Polyvore, or are there any outfits that YOU have recreated from celeb inspirations? Let me know and I will feature you here on my blog, as well as on my Facebook page. Again, this is all in the works so be patient with me here ;-)

Let me know if you have any suggestions too! I love to hear them. Take care, have a GREAT weekend, and don't forget my Blog Anniversary Giveaway. Enter HERE.

~Nic

Giveaway & a Feature

Good morning everyone!! I hope you all are well. I am so excited to share some news with you. If you follow me on Twitter & Facebook, you already know but for those of you who do not...I was featured yesterday as the Fashion Bombshell of the Day!

{Click the photo for the link}

I was super excited that they decided to feature me. It's so funny because I was skeptical at first to even submit my photos but, I finally decided to go through with it. I wanted to share my sense of fashion with others, as well as explain my love for thrifting all in one. There were some positive and negative comments but at the end of the day, I am VERY pleased and happy about the outcome. If everyone likes you and if everyone agrees with your ideas then life would be pretty boring. There are always going to be haters and naysayers but hey, if you don't have them you're not doing something right. So my submission was a lesson in itself and it was a part of my growth as a blogger and as a fashion lover. Thanks to all those who showed me love; I REALLY appreciate your kind words :-)

Now onto this 1Year Blog Anniversary Giveaway that I have been talking about. According to Blogger, My first post was March 25, 2011. Therefore, this coming Sunday is the actual day of my blogs anniversary!!! As a HUGE thank you, I am hosting a giveaway that is pretty awesome if I do say so myself  ;-) Below are the rules and the contents of the giveaway.

Giveaway Rules:

1. You must leave a comment below with your name and an email address stating that you did or have done the following...

2. Be a follower of my blog via-email, Bloglovin', etc.

3. Tweet, "...I just entered Nic's Blog Anniversary Giveaway at, www.nics-picks.com..." 

4. For an extra entry, follow my on HERE on Facebook

The Giveaway Contents:

1. A $25 Target Gift Card

2. A $25 Starbucks Gift Card

3. Ask Beauty Mini Handbook

Giveaway ends Saturday March 24 at 12 midnight. Good luck to you all and talk to ya soon!

~Nic

2012 Style Vision Board

Happy New Year to all my readers! I pray you all are well and had a wonderful holiday season.

I am diligently working on my 2012 Vision Boards and I just wanted to share with you one I created with Picasa. Its my screen saver on my computer and its just a collage of a few of my favorite celebrity style inspirations. I will share my tangible vision boards later. For now, enjoy & I will be back to posting regularly soon!

Be blessed and take care!

~Nic

Nic's 2011 Picks

Ok so, THIS is my last 2011 post, LOL. Just wanted to recapture some of my favorite outfits, purchases, music choices and bloggers of the year. (click on the pictures and blog names to see posts & pages)

Enjoy & everyone have a blessed and safe NEW YEAR!!!

~Nic

Fav '11 Outfit Posts

Fav '11 Purchases

1.thrifted black suede jacket
2. leopard blouse
3. fedora
4. Ashleigh clutch
(love, cortnie)

Fav '11 Songs

Cheers - Rihanna

Hello, Good Morning - Diddy, Dirty Money & T.I.

Rolling in the Deep - Adele

Party Rock - LMFAO

*BONUS*

Look at me Now - Chris Brown, Busta & J.D

Fav '11 Bloggers

Asterisque5

Swoon

Major Must Haves

Meek~n~Mild

Chic on the Cheap

"From" the Rez to the "City"

My First Bloggers Night Out

I had the pleasure of attending my first Blogger's Night Out event this Wednesday at Bloomingdales in Chevy Chase, MD. It was such a great event! I met so many good people and ate the BEST cupcakes from, Cupcake Boutique. Check her out--they are delicious!!! The goodie bags had a lot of great stuff inside too (pics below).

While there, I won a Kate Spade iPhone case, courtesy of the Stylebook. It came just in time because I am purchasing an iPhone for myself, from me as a Christmas gift :-)

All in all, the event was well attended and lots of fun! Enjoy the pics and talk to you all soon.

Be Blessed!

~Nic

*don't forget to enter my giveaway HERE---it ends tonight at 6pm*

{My good friend Kamille & her fellow Temple classmate, blogger from ViceAsIf}

{Me & the lovely Vivi from, HeartPrint&Style...we FINALLY met & she's the greatest!}

{Waverly from, Poor & Rich...such a sweetheart!}

{Lauren from, Haute off the Press}

{Lovely sisters & bloggers, Cortnie (StyleLustPages) & Ashleigh (TheDaliegh) }

{Kate Spade iPhone case}

Sisterly Fashion

Hey friends! Hope you all have a a great day :-)

Today, I was inspired to shoot my little sister for this post. She is such a fashionable 9-year-old. Not only does she love fashion, but she's an A+ student, a dancer, plays 3 instruments, and participates in (natural) pageants. I speak about her all the time as if she is my own child, but I cannot help it. I am just so proud of the little lady she is becoming. Her mind is always on the go and she teaches me so much, daily. Although there is an age gap, I feel like she is such a wonderful friend to have as well. Our talks and inside jokes are precious.

As I've said before, I am very much a family person and I am not ashamed of that. While my blog showcases my daily/weekly outfits, and fashion inspirations, I like to throw a curve ball in my posts every now and then. Why? Because it allows you, my readers, to realize that I am not one sided. I have many layers, interests and thoughts and I intend to continue using this blog as a way to express them all.

Enjoy the post and thanks as always for your continued support! XOXOX!!

~Nic

Shirt: Target

Leggings: Target

Boots: Target

Purse: Justice

Necklace: Justice

Nothing But Words

Hello friends! I really hope you all are keeping cool on this very hot day!

I wanted to take a moment and share with you all a few books I have been reading lately. I love to read books on various topics however, I have been gravitating towards "self-help", fashion/style, and spiritual books these days. I have learned that in order to function in the world, you have to be knowledgeable about many topics. It's a good thing to broaden your horizons, as well as seeing how others think. I have a fascination with other people’s stories and how others live. Hence my love for traveling, reality shows (lol), and reading auto/biographies. I also like those type of books because its an easy enough read where you can stop and then pick back up where you left off with no problem, but a deep enough read that when you finish a page, you get something (positive) out of it.

The books I have pictured are great reads and I hope you all get a chance to check them out; you will thank me later ;-)

Take care and talk to you soon! Be good & be blessed.

~Nic

Fashion Flashbacks

Talk about a trip down memory lane?? LOL.

I found a few pictures on my computer and thought it would be fun to share what I call my, "Fashion Flashbacks". Hope you enjoy :-)

Taken in '08

Sweater: Target

Jeans: The Gap

Necklace: Bakers

Taken between '07-'08

Shirt: Old Navy

Jeans: Old Navy (I think)

Boots: Uggs

Scarf: Target

Leather Jacket: Gifted

Purse: Borrowed from my Mom

Taken in NY for my 21st Bday :-)

Dress: Forever 21

Taken in '08

Top: Ross

Denim Pants: The Gap