Hey, remember me? Your 2010 leading candidate for Worst Blogger Ever? Suffice it to say, these last few weeks have been something of a crazy time in Spinachland. (A crazy, mostly good time, but -- I offer as example -- because of some very intense projects I've been working on, the day of my last post, May 23, was my last day off until this weekend. That is 25 days straight of 14-hour days. I'm tired just thinking about it.) Some day, we'll have a beer and I'll tell you all about it.

In the meantime! My goal is to be less of a delinquent blogger, starting now. Truthfully, this is always one of my least favorite times of year to write about fashion -- the stores have pretty much the dregs of spring sale stuff, plus some pre-fall stuff, but who wants to think about sweaters when it's 90 degrees out? But here's a few things of note lately:

-- The adorable Jamie of The Beauty of Life blog did a fun q&a with me in which I had to name my favorite beauty and fash stuff (for example: Benefit Erase Paste = life-changing in the quest to hide undereye circles).

-- It was my birthday yesterday! I thought maybe I'd get some fancy shoes, but -- thanks to the aforementioned June shopping issues, which I face every year -- I opted to get myself an iPad instead. (Happy birthday to meeee.) The gals took me out for ridiculous country line dancing escapades, which was beyond awesomely fun, and not just 'cause I got to wear cute cowboy boots.

-- I have been working a lot in Houston lately, which is not overwhelmingly exciting, except for Neiman Marcus. Going to Neiman Marcus in Texas is like going to Prada in Italy. On the home turf, everything is bigger and fancier and better stocked. (And incidentally, if anyone has any Houston shopping/dining/etc tips, I'd love them. I'm ready to move on from the Galleria -- aka Biggest. Mall. Ever! -- and would love to check out new spots.)

--No, I could not resist a cowboy picture.

--OK, more soon. The iPad beckons, as does the new fall/winter issue of Vogue Collections. Whee.

Beyond Awesome DIY Project

I cannot wait to try out PS I Made This' easy-DIY steps for neutral wrap heels. Made with nude pantyhose! Never did I think I would ever endorse anything that incorporated nude pantyhose, but I stand very corrected.

PS) Just saw the comment about my photos not appearing in Firefox. I suspect it has something to do with my recent Blogger-mandated move to their servers. Grrrrr. I'll get my tech team (aka my younger brother) on it and see what we can do. Thanks!

Predictability.

I've always had a thing for those Scandinavian wire frame lamps* that pop up on the home design blogs from time to time (like the Emperors Lamp, above left). So it's probably no surprise that it was lust at first sight for Alexis Bittar's pink open frame cuff. Via NY Mag's awesome fash blog The Cut.

*Somewhere on the internets, there is a photo of a yellow version of a similar lamp. I've spent four days looking for it, and I give up. But enlighten me if you know where to find it.

D.C. Scene: Oscar de la Renta, Cameron Silver, Harry Connick, Jr., oh my!

Hey kids! Thanks for your patience/style support as I settle in to ze new job. (It's going very well, thank you, but I still have lots to learn!) As part of my transition, I wanted to debut a semi-regular (as in, as often as I can) new section.

Now that I'm not writing professionally about all the things I'm doing (and wearing) around D.C., I thought I'd start sharing it here. It'll mostly be a round-up of news, pix and other D.C.-specific stuff, plus some calendar highlights for the future, in case you like to start planning outfits early. (And for those of you not in D.C., you may feel free to skip these sections. It will not hurt my feelings, though I'm going to try to make them interesting for you as well. Like: Outfit shots!)

Which brings us to: Recent highlights! D.C. has been absolutely crazy lately; I've never been so busy. First of all, Oscar de la Renta came (above) and staged a fashion show of his fall collection at Neiman Marcus Chevy Chase. It. Was. Outstanding. (It was also my *very first* Oscar show, as I've never been able to score a ticket during fashion week.)






Here we have Oscar's limo outside the Mazza Gallerie. Which, I assume, whisked him off to his private plane. Because Oscar only travels private, of course.


The day before, DecadesTwo owner and vintage lover extraordinaire Cameron Silver set up a super-secret one-day-only pop-up shop at Hu's in Georgetown. There was a mix of vintage Chanel, YSL, Judith Leiber and more.


My heart fell in love with this 1980s Mark Beall dress below. But, at $1400, my bank account did not. I left it behind for another vintage lover. Sniffle.


And then! I got to join my friend Daniel at the gala for National Building Museum's Honor Award, which was given to an impressive roster of architecture and building innovators, including (swoon) Harry Connick Jr. (below, left), who helped create a new musicians' community in New Orleans following Katrina.


Let us just say that Harry is aging verrrry nicely. And also that we managed to, rather surreally, corral him into a lengthy chat about raising chickens (thank goodness we could reference Making It Lovely's recent post on cool chicken coops. Which I'm not sure Harry really appreciated, but oh well).

I also hit up the soft opening for the retro-rific Ted's Bulletin resto/bar on Barrack's Row in Capitol Hill, which serves up great comfort food and cocktails. And has amazing decor (mostly salvaged from the old Philadelphia Convention Center), right down to the colorful cake stands in the bakery section.



Obviously, I'm not very good at this recap stuff yet. Because there was so much more that I forgot to photograph! Like my dress from the gala! (Vintage, poufy.) And my fall fash trends talk for Fashion Group International's DC chapter at Tysons Galleria. And the rooftop soiree at the eco-chic WestEnd25. Next time.

So here's where you'll find me next:
+ Bethesda Row's The Front Row all this weekend (in particular, the Friday night fashion show, where we all get to rub elbows with Project Runway alum Laura Bennett and Tinsley Mortimer. Think I can get the full scoop on Devorah Rose?)

+ If I can fit it in, the Rachel Roy meet-n-greet at Tysons Galleria this Saturday, 5/22. She's one of my favorites.

+ On a much-anticipated thrifting spree with Project Beltway and Ms Holly. Value Village, here we come!

Our SATC2 Winners!

With the help of the Random Number Generator, we have our five winners to join us at the SATC2 pre-screening next Tuesday, May 25, at Mazza Gallerie.

And they are...
Allison G.!
Onyx Feather!
Moni!
Andrea! [who may or may not be in Boston...?]
Heather S!

I'm going to contact each of you (although, Allison G., Andrea and Heather S, if you could contact me via e-mail {at left} or by leaving a comment) with the details and to make sure you can make it. Thanks to everyone who entered! I wish I could bring you all and have a big, fun Spinachy party.

Thanks again to HP for the tix. I know we'll all be looking to spot their slick little laptops in the film. Yay!

Yes! Please!: Carey Mulligan's Azzaro dress

I doubt I need to tell you the amount of squee-ing that occurred after spotting Carey Mulligan's custom Azzaro gown at Cannes this week. Big bows! Peter Pan collars! Retro perfection! I die.

FW: At a store (or web browser!) near you

My final issue of FW was released last week; if you'd like to get your hands on it, pick it up on these local stores or see the PDF over here. We shot the cover shoot down at National Harbor, and I love the hip-nautical theme (if I do say so myself)... It's a nice note to leave on.

Last Call for SATC Screening Tix!

Thanks for being patient while I got the final details on the HP-sponsored SATC advance screening, which will officially be happening on (drum rolllllll...):

Tuesday, May 25, 7:30pm
at AMC Mazza Gallerie in Friendship Heights
(with optional pre-screening cocktails with me and the other ticket winners!)

I'll be making the random lucky drawing on Monday night, 5/17, at about 10pm, so if you haven't signed up to be entered yet, do so right now RIGHT HERE. Again, many thanks to the cool kids at HP for providing the advance screening tickets.

All entered? Stay tuned for the winner announcement! And good luck!

Phew. And yay! And brides!

I've spent the last week running around, wrapping things up at Express/FW. My last shoot, my goodbye ice cream cake, my goodbye margarita-fest (because why have one going-away party when you can have two?), lugging home all my various fashion paraphernalia, cleaning out my cluttered desk. It's always a little sad to leave great friends, but I'm so. incredibly. excited! about the next step.

My last photo shoot for Express was on wedding style (above and below). I'm not much of the big-wedding-frothy-gown-type, but I do love the idea of a pop of color playing off a classic white dress (and yes, that's EmersonMade's big coral rose, below right. It's so exquisitely crafted, it justifies the price.) The full story is here.

Plus! The new FW comes out Wednesday! And in the meantime, I'm plotting some posts on ramping up the work wardrobe. And, um, taking some time to actually ramp up the work wardrobe. It's "research!"

Spring Wishlist, Part 5-ish: Nude Heels

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!

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.

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!