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Spring Wishlist, Part 5-ish: Nude Heels

Wednesday, April 21, 2010



I know a few of you (hi, Lydia!) caught my fashion segment on NBC-4 here in D.C. a few weeks ago when I declared that my number one must-buy for spring was a pair of nude patent pumps. (IMHO, a bright pink dress or breezy printed sheath can look totally different if you pair them with black heels vs. a light, neutral nude.)

I scored a pair of Brian Atwood pumps (similar to the ones above) during a super-sale at Hu's Shoes last year, but finally had to face the reality that 100mm pumps, no matter how pretty, are not viable daily attire. I've supplemented with the not-quite-as-statementy, but infinitely-more-comfortable Cole Haan "Air Lainey" wedges, below (on sale for $130), which are doing the job nicely and are definitely work- and walking-appropriate.


Which, slightly awkwardly, segues into my next announcement (drum roll....), which is that -- if you've missed my various Twitter/Facebook/other announcements so far -- I've resigned from the Post and accepted a new job with Ogilvy working on all things digital/blog-y/social media-related. I'm pretty excited to start next month, and not just because I now have carte blanche to ramp up the work wardrobe a bit. Expect more work-related "Wishlist" posts to come soon...

Gleek Out!

Tuesday, April 20, 2010



The bad news: I'm sick. The good news? I got to catch up on some magazine reading, including the May issue of Glamour, featuring an adorable shoot with the girls of "Glee." Although I think they made a mistake leaving out Brittany and Santana, who are fast becoming the secret stars of the show. (Ex: "There was a mouse in mine...")

A Burst of Inspiration


Because I'm equal parts pack-rat and insanely organized, I have an arsenal of 30+ binders archiving my favorite magazine spreads and articles. But when it comes to saving what I love from the web, things get a little messy. I've never taken to fffound or any of the other cut-and-paste web archives. Essentially, I just right-click and save my favorite pix into my downloads folder, quickly forget about them, and then stumble onto the monstrous accumulation of very cute things months later. (Which, actually, is practically better than Christmas!)

Today I thought I'd stick up a smattering of some of these saved images, with apologies to their original sources, which I don't track. (I know a bunch came from regular web haunts A Cup of Jo and Bleubird Vintage, but since I read 400+ blogs on a regular basis, chances are they've been amassed from little corners all over the Internet.)

Hope you find them as inspiring as I do.







*Note: The shot above left recently helped inspire an entire photo shoot for me on chic sweats.





*Note: And this shot above summarizes my whole philosophy on getting dressed.

Day = Made.

Monday, April 19, 2010



When I was at the Mrs. Obama Smithsonian inauguration dress donation last month, I got the scoop that Mrs. O was wearing Prabal Gurung (aka my favorite!) at the event and tweeted the news during the press conference. And then (small heart attack) Prabal tweeted back within minutes, asking for a Twitpic.



That alone was enough to make my month. But then I see (again via Twitter, because I'd barely cracked open the issue) that the new May Vogue has a little write-up about Prabal being tipped off to the dress-wearing via tweet. Which I'm like 99.9 percent sure was my tweet. Which is kind of insanely awesome.

Twitter! Bringing people together! And getting you (sort of) into Vogue! Whee.

Techy Stuff, Shoes, Shopping...



The fun kids at HP invited me to hang out with them at Shecky's Night Out here in D.C. last week (which you might've seen from my animated tweeting over on my Twitter page.) In anticipation of the SATC 2 movie and the upcoming movie ticket giveaway, they'd created a huge closet stocked with Manolos and sleek stylish laptops. I got to play around with a new Touchsmart tm2 notebook (touchpads! so cool!), which was especially great because I had a fleet of personal tutors to help me figure out all its neat little tricks.

Hanging out with the pretty flowered Touchsmart tm2... It transforms from a standard laptop to a slim touchpad, with an attached pen.


We got a little goofy. This is my "senior portrait" photo with the Touchsmart... BFF.


The Manolos were, sadly, glued down. I hope with nothing permanent.


There was a fun little photo booth where you could get your pic on the SATC poster...







The line for the photo booth was insanity!




Shecky's was incredibly crowded...


People shopped their little hearts out. (Including me!)



Thanks for the fun, HP!

Everything's Coming Up Roses...

Sunday, April 18, 2010



Loving this Vogue Korea spread inspired by flowers and florals. See the whole shoot over here on the always creative B. Jones Style (aka the fabulous blogger formerly of The Vintage Society).

Corrections! Computers! Other Cool Stuff!

Tuesday, April 13, 2010



Because of a teensy misunderstanding, I had yesterday's major giveaway announcement all wrong. (It's since been corrected, but I thought I'd update you again, just so we're all clear and so no one misses out on anything awesome.)

1. This Wed.-Thurs., Shecky's Girls Night Out — a traveling little bazaar of cool fashion, accessories and lifestyle vendors — pops into D.C., and the fun kids behind HP's high-style spring collection of slick little laptops and awesome touchpads (and insanely super-fancy touchpads) come along with it. I'll be at the HP booth on Wednesday night, from about 5-10pm (along with awesome fellow blogger Makeda of the Glamazon Diaries!), tweeting, snapping pix and playing with their new laptop line. (I suspect he HP team might have to pry the pretty Vivienne Tam mini from my hands at the end of the night. Because if there's one thing I love almost as much as shoes, it's fun new techy stuff.)

If you're at the Shecky's party, be sure to come say hi! (Or, if you want to get tix, find details here.)

2. Oh, but that's not all! The HP crew is also inviting me — and four lucky readers — to a special pre-screening of Sex and the City 2 here in D.C. (date and time TBD). I might have to insist that (if the winners are cool with it, of course) we get dressed up Carrie-style (or, if more appropriate to some winners, Stanford-style), drink fancy drinks and make a big ol' fun night of it. To enter to win a SATC 2 advance ticket, be sure to enter your name in the comments over here. Good luck!

Thoughts? Questions? Squeeeee-ing? Leave 'em in the comments below.

We're Having a Giveaway!*

Sunday, April 11, 2010

*said in an Oprah-esque voice, obviously


The fun traveling mini-boutiques that make up Shecky's Girls Night Out land in D.C. this Wed.-Thurs., April 14-15 (5-10 p.m., DAR Constitution Hall). (At my first Shecky's, I found some very cool indie jewelry designers, which you can read about here.)

The friendly folks at HP have joined the style event to show off their spring collection of ultra-fashiony laptops and touchpads, are offering four free Shecky's tickets to this week's party for local D.C. readers. {UPDATE} Whoops, I completely misunderstood. Actually HP -- who will still be at Shecky's, and hosting me at their booth there on Wednesday night -- is offering my readers four free tickets to a special private pre-screening of Sex and the City 2! (Which is, obviously, even better! Because! Have you seen the brand-new trailer yet? Abu Dhabi! And Aiiiiiidan!) Just leave your name in the comments, and we'll pick our winners for the SATC2 screening at random very soon. (And on Wednesday night, I'll definitely be hanging out at the HP booth at the D.C. Shecky's event tweeting, snapping outfit photos and, er, scouting for fashion finds from the various vendors. If you're there, make sure to come by and say hello!)

We've heard through the Interweb grapevine that HP has a role in the upcoming Sex and the City 2 movie. Wonder if Carrie finally replaces her trusty Macbook with a sleek little Vivienne Tam mini-PC (above)?

My mother is a genius, and other stories

Saturday, April 03, 2010



I've been in my new apartment for a couple of months now, and I absolutely love it, except for one thing: the couch. (Note: The photo above has absolutely nothing to do with this post, other than it has an old couch, and also that I liked it. Photo from here.)

Don't get me wrong, the couch itself is great -- it's a midcentury wooden frame, found at an antique store for $100, which we stripped, stained and fixed up to near-perfect condition. But the original cushions had to be tossed, and my attempt to upholster it on the cheap (foam cushions from JoAnn Fabric, with my mom sewing up printed Ikea curtain fabric to cover them) was a bit of a disaster. First, the cushions flattened out and became misshapen in, like, a day. The fabric covering them was awesome, but it ended up not matching my interior at ALL (plus, it was a very loose woven, so cat claws started destroying it in no time).



Eventually, I threw a basic Ikea comforter the whole thing -- which felt super dorm-room-y (see above) -- and vowed to get it redone asap. Except, do you know how much upholstery costs? Like, $1,000 for six cushions. And when faced with deciding between couch cushions or 3.1 Phillip Lim, I will always, always pick the clothing.

And then my mom came for a visit the other week. I lamented my goofy sofa set-up and she suggested I look into replacement patio cushions for an easier way to spiff it up (at least, until my ship comes in and I can splurge on Hable Construction fabrics and a pro upholster). I ordered six cushions in a neutral taupe from Target.com (total cost: $210) and voila! Instant upgrade. See Commander Robot pose on the new set-up, below.




Two things to take from this post. One: If you are in ownership of a nice wood-frame couch without cushions, try the patio department (while the fabrics will be more hardy/less comfy, they're great for those of us with small pesky cats who like to sink their claws into things). And two: Mom is always right. To an unfailing degree. Might be time to just accept it. (Thanks, mom!)