I put my kitties on CL and now someone wants them. :((
I hit the hay early on Thanksgiving so I would be all bright eyed and bushy tailed for Black Friday. I woke up even before my alarm went off, is anyone surprised? My first stop was Macy's. I made my way to the shoe department and it was a complete zoo! I wandered the sales racks, dodging overzealous shoppers and found myself at the Coach display. The boots were on sale and 50% off at that. Suh-weet! I managed to grab the Gene booties. After Macy's I found myself at Nordstrom and except for the handbag and shoe departments, the rest of the store was practically deserted. I came away with a black cardi and textured tights, neither on sale, ughs.
I wandered through the rest of the mall hitting my usual haunts. J Crew was A MESS! The place was packed despite their paltry sales racks. I guess that's why they're doing so well, peeps are willing to pay full price for their shiz. I too am guilty of this. Even though I abhor paying retail, I finally broke down and bought the majesty stone necklace after waiting forever, ok, three months, for it to go on sale. BUT, I did make my purchase with a JCrew coupon, I got $25 off, so take that J Crew! I must say, I love love love the necklace! I want to wear it everyday with everything. I'm thinking of getting it in the crystal color too or maybe the duchess stone necklace in pink, but I can wait for those to go on sale. I hope.
Black Friday was a bit of a disappointment as much of the stuff I have my eye on remained at full price. Gah. So, HOPEFULLY, in the next few weeks these bad boys will see a price reduction and make their way into my closet.
Marc by Marc Jacobs Cherry Blossom dress.
OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG. I love this dress the minute I laid eyes on it. Since I'm already prepping for my vacation (despite not booking anything for it yet =P) I thought this dress would be perfect for roaming museums or long drawn out lunches at some cafe. It would work equally well with flats or heels or even boots. I for sure would go for the navy version of the dress, but Bloomies only had the hot pink. Cute, eh? Methinks it's more versatile then the Nanette Lepore I tried on earlier.
White House Black Market Ecru Shawl Collar Jacket. I saw this on Chloe and I had to have it. Once it goes on sale that is. I need something light to break up the oodles and oodles of black that pervades my wardrobe. It would be cute with the cherry blossom dress, no?
J Crew Pippa Metallic Ballet Flats. I'm a sucker for metallic flats and this amethyst color is gorg!
J Crew Nottingham Flat Boots in dark Mushroom.
Yea, I know, I know, these were just on sale. The boot is still
available in all sizes online so I'm guessing it's not selling too
well. I could be totally wrong. However, if I am right, that means
these boots are in for a bigger discount.
While I was in the Bloomies dressing room, I snapped a pic of the outfit I wore to Frenchie's wedding ceremony. It was so comfy!
Mossimo Target Dress, Anthro Snakebite belt, Dior pumps.
Having spent the last 12 hours unpacking boxes, juggling the baby, moving furniture, cleaning, wiping, bleaching, building, and remodeling our new home with my husband, our baby, my brother-in-law, and my in-laws... I can honestly say that this has been the most blessed year of my life.
Fantastic family, awesome friends, steady jobs, food in our pantry, roof over our heads... I have so, so much to be thankful for!
I have much to be thankful for this year, a fabulous family, awesome friends and kick ass shoe collection (just kidding…kinda).
I’m starting to reign in my tendency to live in the future and enjoy the present. I always say I’m going to do that, but recently, I’ve really been focusing in it and it really is awesome!
I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday!
I know, could have have come up with a more boring title? In my quest to revamp my workspace, I figured the first thing I need is a good, comfortable chair. I want something upholstered, no arms and cute. A couple months back, I found the perfect chair at TJ Maxx, but the Hubs nixed it thinking we would be moving soon. Now it's gone and I'm totally bummed. Here's a couple that are more living room chairs, but I'm wondering if they would work at the right desk.
I have been looking for a crossbody bag for almost a year! Geez, who knew I was so picky? Truth be told, my first choice is the Balenciaga Arena City Classic in either Praline or Gray. I didn’t even know you could get an extra long strap to make it a cross body until I saw the fab Tam rock it as a cross body. But let’s face it, a soon to be part timer doesn’t have that kind of cash to throw around, especially when said part timer is planning trips to Vancouver and Europe (maybe I’ll finally buy my beloved Balenciaga in Paris?).
A super generous vendor gifted me with a $200 Nordstrom gift card. AWESOME! The two bags I’m eyeing happen to be available at Nordstrom! Serendipity I tell you.
The first is the Coach Hailey crossbody Cat blogged a couple of months ago. I really like the chocolate brown version, but I’m completely smitten by the plum colored bag! I’ve been looking to add a red handbag for a pop of color to my (mostly) neutral wardrobe, but when I saw this bag, I realized a plum color would complement my wardrobe much better then red. It even perfectly matches my Hi Speed Cardigan!
The second option is the Marc by Marc Jacobs Classic Q Natasha crossbody flap bag. I wish it came in a gray or charcoal, but the black works too. It has a vintage feel to it and looks cute on. It’s a great basic crossbody.
J Crew, you need to stop. Srsly. Yes, I KNOW today is the final day to take advantage the 20% discount + free shipping on all shoes and boots. Yes, I know my beloved Nottingham flat boots in Mushroom are included in the sale. However, I can’t buy you just yet. A) We’ve adopted three families for Christmas and B) I have a handbag to buy.
A couple of weeks ago, you probably heard me kvetching about how pathetic your paltry $50 discount was on the boots. I mean really, 17%? Lame. You called my bluff and upped the ante to 20% AND threw in three shipping. Touché J Crew, touché. However, I’m going to have to hold off.
My epic search for the perfect cross body bag is nearing a close. I cannot justify buying both the boots AND the bag. Although my fiscally responsible ass will probably curse myself in a couple of weeks when the boots are all gone in my size, I’m just going to have to take that chance. I’m going start working part time soon; I can’t go around throwing money at boots and bags. SHEESH!
So please, I do not need FOUR emails reminding me, “HURRY! SALE ENDS SOON!” I KNOW you are on sale, but please respect my attempt at being fiscally responsible. Srsly.
For someone who's digital (previous and present businesses/freelancing with records), I wanted to share with you my review on my server. This is the first server I've ever owned - which I got last May for my birthday. If you have a lot of crap - photos, paperwork, music, etc, etc - then this is the server for you.
I'm doing some major overhaul in my condo.
Did a couple of paintings for Eco Gallery in LA. The owner, Peter Schulberg, makes painting surfaces for artists out of discarded billboard material and exhibits them in his gallery on Pico near La Brea. I'm glad he asked me if I wanted to do some paintings, as it had been a while since my last involvement with the gallery. Here are the paintings that resulted:

Dawn, 24" x 24", acrylic on billboard material

Dusk, 24" x 24", acrylic on billboard material
Peter initially was going to give me just the orange surface, but then I saw the blue one next to it and immediately had this brain storm thinking of a night/day kind of theme. Since he'd already asked if I'd like to paint some birds, I had to do some research on which morning and night bird I wanted to paint. There are a ton of morning birds to choose from, but not so much with the night birds. It's pretty much just the owl. But there are so many different kinds of owls! I definitely wanted to paint one with discernible eyes--the ones with small dark eyes kind of freak me out. But anyway, I was really happy with the way they turned out. It had been a while since I'd painted realistic objects and I wondered if I'd be really out of practice, but it turns out it's just like riding a bike.
The opening reception was last Saturday night, Nov 14th, and quite
a few people I knew showed up, which is always nice. In addition to
finished paintings there were a couple of artists doing live paintings
on enormous panels as well as a sculptor working on his cool
bended-wood sculpture things. He makes lamps and things with these and
they look really cool. There was also a big reveal on a billboard
behind the gallery. At around 8pm we all went outside and did a
countdown, at the end of which they dropped the curtain on the
billboard to reveal three paintings by different artists. That was fun,
like a New Year's Eve party. Here's a link to some pics from the opening.