Natural Beauties

I just spent the last hour staring at this monitor and planning to start blogging about jewel tones, cut-outs and full skirts on the Spring 2011 runways, but I'm two glasses of wine deep and was on the verge of throwing in the towel in favor of a 10pm bedtime. Then, it dawned on me- I may not be able to deliver you all the epic fashion week masterpiece that I was hoping to, but the least I can do is give you something cool to look at instead. So anyways, check out these awesome natural stone jewels by Dara Ettinger at Urban Outfitters:

Dara Ettinger Bridget Ring

Dara Ettinger Discoball Alicia Earrings

Earthy, Sparkly Goodness.

SUPER cute.

In an attempt to counteract the effects of Max's repeated exposure and resulting affinity for jewelry, women's shoes and the Tinkerbell movies and further catalyzed by recent reports that he plays kitchen with the girls upon pick-up from preschool every day so far this year, the hubs has launched a campaign to toughen up my adorable little man. Since initiation of this operation I have entered the kitchen after breakfast twice consecutively only to find that our typical morning programming involving Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and other televised vehicles of education and good manners, have been replaced with the likes of Transformers (the Megan Fox version) and Batman (the George Clooney version- I  totally forgot this version existed).

Anyways, Max being the sucker- I mean- innocent little guy that he is, totally took the bait and has made up his mind that he wants to be Batman for Halloween (I guess you win hubs, he's going to wear a leotard with built-in muscles for Halloween- totally hetero). Max still takes after his mom though in many respects, particularly in the sense that he is particularly particular about what he wears. I have a feeling the superstore unitard is going to totally weird him out.

If I were anything like my mom was circa 1984, I would just whip him up something myself, but since I find threading a sewing machine to be slightly akin to neuro-science, I'll probably just buy him something over-priced on Etsy and pass it off as my own creation (though revealing this here may not a wise strategy for accomplishing this).

So, with the ambition of staying ahead of the game this year, I started my Etsy search today. Not a whole lot to choose from in the Batman department, though I did find some cute superhero duds, like these customizable capes by Capes for a Cure (which donates proceeds to the Children's Tumor Foundation):

And these awesome lace-on shoe wings and thunderbolts by Small Fly: 

And these cool little customized superhero masks by BabyPop:  

Of course, after I had exhausted the superhero selection, I did manage to find a few ridonculously cute costumes for imaginary baby daughter, like this genius Nigiri Tuna onesie costume complete with wasabi/ginger/faux grass headband by Not the Kitchen Sink:

I mean, don't you just want to dip her in low-sodium soy sauce and eat her right up?

Today was a good day.

Today was one of those very rare days where I did exactly what I wanted to do, with perhaps even a few welcome surprises along the way. It all started off with a homemade vanilla latte and an unexpected delivery of fresh, multi-colored eggs over the back fence while I was pruning my roses. The boys and I headed into the kitchen immediately for some fried egg sandwiches. The day continued on like this, with the boys seemingly abducted by aliens and replaced with appreciative little angels that share and do not make messes, and full of what might be perceived by the onlooker as slightly mundane, (as I'm guessing this post will be), but to me, it just felt perfect. It just seems, at the end of a day like today, somebody, though I'm not sure who, deserves a thank you.

So, I guess I will thank Bessie and the rest of the ladies in the coop for their efforts. Breakfast is, after all, the most important meal of the day.

Shleeves.

There are various body parts of mine that have absolutely no business being showcased with sheer fabrics, but I think everybody can get in on the sheer trend with the simple addition of some shleeves to their wardrobe (yes, you heard the term here first people). Sheer sleeves are not just for DWTS anymore and I have a couple of examples here to help prove my point- enjoy!

Shleeves for Day

Modcloth Sheer Beauty Polka-dot top, $89.99
Anthropologie After Five trousers, $128
Ralph Lauren Collection Spectator Flat, $350
YSL Leopard Bag, $1245
Pearl Flower Cocktail Ring, $48
Flower Cluster Headwrap, $16

Shleeves for Night

Sheer Sleeve Smock Dress, $100
Badgley Mischka Satin Embellished Heels, $199
Kenneth Jay Lane Drop Earrings, $150
Amrita Singh Bangle Set, $100

Sheer Genius

All this interior design madness has certainly been fun, but it's time to get back to my roots- after all, it's fashion week people. Anyways, I've been trying to bring myself up-to-speed on the Spring 2011 ready-to-wear shows, and feel it is my responsibility to share with you all some of the new, and not-so-new trends we can anticipate wearing, or at least admiring, come springtime. I've spent the last hour and a half watching runway slide shows and pretending that the laundry will wash itself, so I'll have to break this down to you lovely ladies in a couple of installments.

First up: Sheers. This seemed to be one of the most dominant trends across the board. While it may require specific undergarments, or lack thereof, I still love the femininity and softness it can bring to even a more structured look. There were all sorts of variations:

Stunning Metallic Sheers at Elie Tahari

And it came in candy colors at Sophie Theallet

Sheer perfection at Monique Lhuillier

Graphic Sheers were layered at Chris Benz

Vera Wang paired sheers with showcase-worthy bras for her modern geishas

 Sheer shoulders at Lela Rose (this collection is flawless)

 Rebecca Taylor channels a softer 70's and pairs sheer skirts with leotards

 Dennis Basso does 50's redux with a splash of sheer

Preen showed sheer blouses for the very brave and perky-breasted

and Narcisco Rodriguez's lingerie-inspired collection featured plenty of sheers.

Want to see how you might be able to incorporate some sheers into your wardrobe this fall and spring? Well, I guess you better stay tuned ;)
All images courtesy of New York Magazine

The Decor Express

As I mentioned previously, Tia, after landing a sweet sales gig at Martha Stewart in Los Angeles, has officially relocated to Santa Monica, and because I am pretty much the best sister in the world, I woke up at 5AM on Saturday, spent 6 hours in a U-Haul and literally moved, shopped, unpacked and decorated for 48 hours straight. Please keep in mind, the only three pieces of furniture we started with were a bed, a dresser and a large vintage trunk. This just wasn’t going to cut-it. Behold the fruits of our labors:

Tia majorly scored with the couch, which was a freebie loaner. It's the Bantam sofa from DWR, and it's got a great mid-century design, so that was the inspiration, more-or-less, for the rest of the room. The rug, which was our first official purchase, is the Stockholm Rand from Ikea and I'm kind of obsessed. We also swooped up the little sheepskin that we tossed on the couch for good measure and a little bit of fuzzy.

The low coffee table and the aqua chinoiserie side table (to be used as a little bar) were major steals from the Melrose Trading Post, which happens every Sunday on the corner of Melrose and Fairfax. I highly recommend making a stop there if you ever happen to be in Hollywood with a large U-Haul.

The Lucite side table and the cool ceramic lamp, which is still in need of a lamp shade, are from an A-MAH-zing mid-century vintage store on Fairfax called TINI (This Is Not Ikea). My brain was on total sensory overload in this place and we could have done some serious damage here- but somehow managed to restrain ourselves. 

Finally, the chair (which has a very cool orange lattice print) and ikat pillow (not avail online, but similar here),were unexpected finds at Cost Plus, where we were simply hoping to find a door mat and some kitchen wares. 

So, what do you think? Overall, I think it is a great start to what is going to be a chic little pad for a very chic chick. I think I will be doing some continued cyber-decorating and we're working on all the bells and whistles, so stay tuned!

Falling for it.

There was a nip in the air today that felt distinctly autumn and it already has me compiling an extensive Fall wish list ("wish" being the operative word here). If I had to narrow it down, it would most probably consist of jackets, sweater and shoes.

Because I spend 90% of my non-working hours in some sort of lounge-wear- I'm definitely overdue for an upgrade in that department (considering I am wearing flamingo pink sweats with paint stains on the butt at this very minute). I'm thinking some casual sneakers will be in order to wear with aforementioned lounge garb, like the preppy-cool, French Bensimon sneakers that have made their way to the States of late and come in a slew of fun colors.

I am also absolutely obsessed with finding the perfect knit blazer that I plan on wearing with absolutely everything, and I think I may have found one from Madewell that fits the bill. For a musty version, I thought this Spiegel number, despite looking a little Talbots, could be kind of cool if accessorized correctly. I'm diggin' the look from Madewell below paired with shorts and tights and am imagining some over-the knee boots in camel to finish it off (they're not just for hookers anymore).

Finally, taking the cue from my favorite hungry stylist, Miss Zoe, who I watched spend probably enough money to pay off my mortgage on Chanel tweedies, I'm looking to add a more affordable version of the Jackie-O staple which I hope to be pairing with some perfectly embellished leather flats.

Ann Taylor Loft Long Sleeved Cowl-necked tunic, $49.50
Bensimon Sneakers, $55
Madewell Sweater Blazer, $168
Free People Over the Knee Boots, $170
Free People Coco Tweed Jacket, $198
Mango Studded Ballet Flats, $84

Now, time to find a night job :)

Run for My Life.

 I don't know when exactly my diet and exercise regimen took a turn for the worse, but it definitely happened.  After a depressing, but enlightening dressing room experience involving jeggings this afternoon, it has come to my attention that my butt is on the verge of Kardashian proportions. As such, I have vowed to make more time for exercise again and plan to be, quite literally, running my ass off in the next couple of months.

I've decided a new pair of go-fasters are in order, and I know that after trying on fifty pairs I will inevitably end-up with some boring, tried-and-true New Balance sneaks in extra-wide. Were I not cursed with gigantic man-feet, however, I would most certainly be kicking up dust in these bad boys instead:

Stella McCartney for Adidas Marialith Running Shoes, $120

Leopard running shoes? It sounds so wrong, but it looks so right. Nice work, Stella.