This time, one of my favorite shoe designers provided some fantastic advice on wallet-conscious shoe shopping tips.
If you’re going to buy just one pair, make it a neutral-color pump with nothing that imprisons the ankle.
- Christian Louboutin, on shoe shopping
Nude pumps are always at the top of my list for two reasons – they match with every outfit and they create the illusion of elongated legs. Really, what women doesn’t want that?!?
So, in the spirit of Christian Louboutin’s fashion rule, I’ve pulled some of my favorite lust-worthy options from the man himself. Happy dreaming, ladies…
Thanks to the fabulous ladies at Shop It To Me, tonight I attended a sneak peek of the film When In Rome, which officially premiers this Friday, January 29. I was familiar with the premise since I’d seen the trailer about eight times – but unfortunately, I think it showed the best parts.
In short, this one’s a rental. I won’t give anything away, but this movie is a quintisentual chick flick. Beautiful, hard-working Beth (Kristin Bell – who I usually love, by the way) has been burned by assholes one too many times and no longer believes in love. Enter handsome playboy (but secretly sweet) played by Josh Duhamel. You see where this is going?
Don’t get me wrong, there were some hilarious parts but the entire cast (except for Josh, that is) seemed to over-act and the audience was left wanting so much more.
Has anyone else seen this movie yet? Are you planning to go see it on Friday? What did you think?
This ugly weather leaves me yearning for warm temperatures and blue skies. While that’s not happening anytime soon (especially here in lovely SF), I’m still drawn to searching for Spring fashion.
JCrew is one of my favorite go-to’s for overall wardrobe finds but this year’s Spring collection already has me reaching for my wallet. I’ve collected a few of my favorites to (hopefully) wear this year, but- in the interim lust over.
LOVE this look. The shirt is both casual and fun and the woven fedora pumps up the look with a little sass.
Fabulous look for work or play. Love the casual indigo skirt mixed with a sequins top to glitz the look up a bit. I wouldn’t wear the booties with the outfit, I’d probably go for a funky nude pump, but overall JCrew killed the look.
Perfect for a weekend shopping trip or casual Friday. Love the tweed jacket, thought I’d lose the grey hoodie if I wore this to work. The necklace adds just the right touch of whimsy to an otherwise conservative jacket, thought the distressed boyfriend jeans dress the look down a bit. I think this would be darling worn with metallic flats.
Luckily, I received a gift certificate for Christmas (and I’ve been holding on to it, are you impressed?) so I know where I’ll be next weekend!
Sick of being cooped up indoors for the last week or so, Will and I decided to take a walk through the city. Though the skies looked a bit foreboding, Will told me to pack an umbrella and get outside, a little rain wouldn’t kill me. Luckily, the sky cleared and the sun peeked through the storm clouds during our walk (you know I wouldn’t have been good company jumping through puddles! )
We are fortunate to live in walking distance to the Legion of Honor, and yet in the two years that Will has lived here we have yet to make a visit. I heard good things about the Cartier exhibit, CARTIER AND AMERICA, so we schlepped up the hill to see some jewels.
Amazing is really the only word that will suffice to describe the jewels on display. I was pleased with the amount of placards and the history they provided (for example, when Cartier opened the NY store, who wore each piece, the different periods in history and what was the trend de jour) – yes, I am one of those people that stops and reads every single placard throughout an exhibit.
Of course, I had to buy a coffee table book so I can ooh and ahh at the jewels and learn a bit more about the history of this iconic jewelery designer.
If you’re planning on going to this exhibit, here are a few highlights you must check out:
Grace Kelly’s engagement ring from Prince Rainier. A 10.47 carat emerald cut diamond ring with two baguettes, mounted in platinum – enough said.
177 carat “Hindu” necklace, made for Hon. Mrs. Reginald Fellowes (daughter of the heiress to the Singer fortune). Rubies, emeralds, diamonds and sapphires – I can’t even image how heavy it must be.
Panther bracelet – I loved this one! The Duchess of Windsor apparently collected panthers and had this made to order. Set with calibr’e cut black onyx and diamonds with emeralds for eyes, it wraps around the entire wrist.
Snake necklace – A special order from Maria F’elix, this necklace has a whopping 2,473 diamonds! This necklace apparently marked the culmination of Cartier’s work in modeling animals for jewelry.
Star of Africa Broach – Discovered in 1869, the 47.69 carat diamond reportedly started ‘diamond fever’ throughout the world.
Yes, I know the Sex and the City: The Movie 2trailer has been out for awhile. And yes, I am very excited to go see it in the theater the day it opens (May 28, 2010 in case anyone’s wondering). But there’s just one thing I forgot to say about the SATC2 trailer – I called the theme song long ago.
As you can see, I tweeted the below on September 15, 2009:
In mid-December, the official trailer was released and – low and behold – Empire State of Mind is blasting throughout the opening. I guess I know my SATC, what can I say?
One of my favorite things about being married to Will is that I now have a live-in IT guy. In fact, most of you don’t know this, but Will’s nick-name was “Bill Nye the Science Guy” in elementary school.
As you can imagine, technology plays a pretty large part of life in the Usher home. My profession depends on me knowing what’s going on in the tech world, and since Will is immersed in the industry – both because of a professional and personal interest – we often compete to “break news” to each other.
Though my claim to fame is that I was on Twitter in ‘07 (before the likes of Ashton, Oprah, or Ellen) and convinced Will to give it a whirl, he is typically the more cutting-edge of the two of us.
So you can imagine my hesitation, then, when he came home one day and announced that we needed to get rid of cable and hook up a Mac Mini to our TV. His argument was reasonable – we were paying close to $200 a month for essentially 6 channels and internet. Even after we bought a new Mac Mini and used it exclusively as a “media center”, we would break even in less than a year. With free cable alternatives, such as Hulu or streaming from the station’s website, and Netflix’s Watch It Now, we could watch our favorite shows, and the others could be purchased on iTunes or Amazon Video on Demand for a reasonable price, he explained. In fact, there has been a lot of discussion about this growing trend.
So, after mourning the loss of our DVR, I consented to his crazy idea. We bought the Mac Mini and life was grand. We excitedly brought it home, plugged it in…and nada. Apparently our old TV didn’t have a PC or HDMI connection. So, determined to follow through with our scheme, the next weekend we visited Costco and picked up a flat screen. A few more (hundred) dollars down than expected, Will was still positive this was going to change TV watching as we knew it.
Thankfully, he was right. Why did I ever think I would miss Comcast? Our new set-up kicks that DVR box’s ass. We can now simultaneously stream Pandora while viewing Flickr images for a screen saver – talk about ambiance. Instead of forwarding through commercials, we sit through the 30 second ones on Hulu. But my absolute favorite is watching shows like Diggnation on Revision3.
Sure, there are some drawbacks – I still haven’t been able to find Keeping Up with the Kardashians on Hulu or iTunes – but it’s a small price to pay for having our custom media center. I’m never going back!
Lady Gaga has quickly become one of my favorite artists – she’s intelligent, can actually sing and her songs have a way of putting me in a fantastic mood, no matter what.
As you can imagine, I went to the Monster Ball Tour in San Francisco in early December. As expected Lady Gaga did not disappoint – she’s got stage presence, that’s for sure!
Before Lady Gaga took the stage, Kid Cudi did a set. Until that night, I had only heard his song Day ‘N’ Nite (which by the way, I have always loved) and I was interested to see if I would like the rest of his songs.
I really enjoyed one song in particular, but after that night I completely forgot about it. Until this evening, that is. I spent some time on iTunes trying to build out a new gym playlist and all of a sudden there it was. In all honestly, it’s a bit different than my usual style, but I think that is a good thing.
I had never tried a fragrance from Dolce & Gabbana before; however, while perusing the perfume counter the sleek look (and, if I’m being honest, the packaging) captured my attention.
Though I’m typically drawn to heavier scents, this one has the perfect mix of sweet and sassy to hold my interest. I’ve never really been drawn to roses in any capacity – they’re my least favorite flower to receive and the aroma usually just doesn’t do it for me – so you can imagine my surprise that I picked a scent named after roses. However, the pink grapefruit, blackcurrant, lily of the valley, sandalwood, litchi, musk, vanilla and mandarin seem to round things out nicely.
Have any of you tried this fragrance yet? Thoughts?
I shared my new lotion obsession with WIT & Whimsy readers today, but I had to share the wealth over here. I have been using Archipelago’s Brown Sugar & Vanilla lotion for about two months and I am in love. My super-dry skin is resistant to most lotions – especially during the colder months – but this one leaves me silky and smelling great.
Every woman should have a classic handbag. I have many handbags, but I’m still in need of the perfect black/dark handbag. I’ve been searching high and low – using Google, that is – and I’ve identified some favorites.
I’ve listed them out from the least to most expensive just in case that helps narrow down the selections. Any favorites in the mix? Did I overlook an obvious choice? Please let me know below.
JCrew, Ryder Satchel (the color looks darker in person)
Brahmin, Victoria Rose (but I would likely take off the rose)
MARC by MARC JACOBS, ‘Classic Q – Hillier’ Hobo
Coach, Brooke (Mahogany)
Images courtesy of JCrew.com, Brahmin.com, Nordstrom.com, and Coach.com
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