CoverGirl: Manteau Rouge

 

via.

This look is just dripping with fashion deliciousness. Creamy satin red coat. Heavenly LBD.  Decadent yellow courtesan-like pumps, courtesy of Mr. Louboutin I believe.  Her fabulousness quite frankly, is obscene! 
Gawd, I miss Paris. 


Celebrate fashion!

Happy Friday Chéres!

The weekend is here! Friday and I have a lifetime love affair, so I'm always excited when he rolls around :) 
Tomorrow I'll be treating my husband to a low-key dinner @ Maggiano's and Sunday I'll be attending my aunt's surprise birthday party in Long Island. Today, I will just vegetate in bed and catch up on shows clogging up my DVR and watch some of my favorite Disney movies like Little Mermaid, Alice in Wonderland and Snow White. No matter my age, I know fairy tales will never get old to me, because I love 'em!!
While we're on the subject of fairy tales, I'll leave you with a modernized favorite of mine. Granny O'Grimm's version of Sleeping Beauty is hilarious and witty and also happens to be an Oscar nominated film. 
Grow up? Me? NEVER!! 
Enjoy chéres! :)

What are your plans for the weekend?

Happy Birthday: Mr. À La Mode

Today is my best friend's day! I want to wish my husband and the love of my life the happiest birthday ever. Here's to another year of good times, sunny days and romance! I love you!

Celebrate your loved ones!

Wednesday Wishes: Trail Blazers

Today I wish for boyfriend inspired blazers that  add chic touches to my looks and keep away the chills: 

1. French Connection Super Sateen Blazer, $165
2. Forever 21 Antique Studded Blazer, $30
3.  Smythe Wool Equestrian Blazer, $630
4. Vanessa Bruno Angular Shoulder Jacket, $660
5. Jeanology Boyfriend Blazer, $49
6. Arden B Linen Roll Sleeve Girlfriend Blazer, $59

Celebrate classic styles!

Mood Music: Blue Magic

While running on the treadmill this afternoon, Blue Magic by Jay-Z came on and it made me run a little faster, lol. There are some songs that literally make me change the way I walk when they come on on my iPod. Am I the only one this happens to? Anyway, I hear this song more often than not --  36 times according to my iPod's play count -- but today it just lit a spark. As I mentioned in past posts, I'm remaining patient for some good things that I know are headed my way. But, my hustle and prayers need to continue so that I can ensure that it does. In the meantime it always helps to have some inspirational tunes to help get me there -- and I'm getting it! :)


"... except I don't write on the wall, I write my name in the history books, hustling in the halls." - Jay-Z, Blue Magic

this goes out to girls all around the world

"Thank God for granting me, this moment of clarity, this moment of honesty. The world will feel my truths". - Jay-Z

Every now and then, I have a moment when I come across something that is so timely. This is one of them. 

Lately, I've been harboring one simple thought: "can it be that it was all so simple then"? Young girls nowadays have it rough. The world feels colder and so much more brutal than it did back when I was growing up.  

Now, don't get me wrong, it was never perfect. It's just that in this day in age where celebrities reign supreme and the tachyon-like speed of technology has everyone in a tizzy, there seems to be more of a focus placed on competing with the next chick or taking for granted true friendships and healthy relationships. 

Being the eldest, my younger sister always had an advantage in that I was always able to pass on to her all the lessons learned from some of the bullshit I would go through. Though there is no greater teacher than experience, it always helps to have a heads up. Even now, at 29 years old (wow, 30 is way too close) I find that I am still in the midst of immature and disingenuous personalities. So it is important to understand and realize that some things will never change. You have to just rock with the ebb and flow. Keep your friends close and your enemies on limited profile. The old adage had to be changed to fit today's times :)

Below, I pasted a genius excerpt from Eve Ensler's book. It's a must read for all women out there. But before I end my post, I want to pass on some of my own advice to young  girls in particular who may reading: 
Love the ones that treat you right and forget about the ones that don't. Surround yourself with HONEST, HONEST (that is not a typo -- I just cannot stress HONEST enough), LOYAL, POSITIVE, ENCOURAGING friends and remember that the greatest relationships are built on the strongest foundations. It may sound cliche, but, the greatest and truest of friends are the ones that will stick by you, no matter what.

Excerpt from I Am an Emotional Creature: The Secret Life of Girls Around the World:

"Dear Emotional Creature:

    I believe in you. I believe in your authenticity, your uniqueness, your intensity, your wildness. I love the way you dye your hair purple, or hike up your short skirt, or blare your music while you lip-synch every single memorized lyric. I love your restlessness and your hunger. You possess the energy that, if unleashed could transform, inspire and heal the world.
    Everyone seems to have a certain way they want you to be -- your mother, father, teachers, religious leaders, politicians, boyfriends, fashion gurus, celebrities, girlfriends. In reporting my new book, I learned a very disturbing statistic: 74 percent of young women say they are under pressure to please everyone.
    I have done a lot of thinking about what it means to please; to be the wish or will of somebody other than yourself. To please fashion setters, we starve ourselves. To please men, we push ourselves when we aren't ready. To please our parents, we become insane over-achievers. If you are trying to please, how do you take responsibility for your own needs? How do you even know what your own needs are? The act of pleasing makes everything murky. We lose track of ourselves. We stop uttering declaratory sentences. We stop directing our lives.  We forget what we know. We make everything OK rather than real.
    I have had the good fortune to travel around the world. Everywhere I meet teenage girls and women giggling, laughing as they walk country roads or hang out on city streets. Electric girls. I see how their lives get hijacked, how their opinions and desires get denied and undone. So many women I have met are still struggling late into their lives to know their desires, to find their way.
    Instead of trying to please, this is a challenge to provoke, to dare, to satisfy your own imagination and appetite. To take responsibility for who you are, to engage. Listen to that voice inside you that might want something different. It's a call to your original self, to move at your own speed, to walk with your own step, to wear your color.
    When I was your age, I didn't know how to live as an emotional creature. I felt like an alien. I still do a lot of the time. I am older now. I finally know the difference between pleasing and loving, obeying and respecting. It has taken me so many years to be OK with being different, with being this alive, this intense. I just don't want you to have to wait that long.
          Love, Eve Ensler"

What would be your advice to young girls out there?

Moxie Monday: Passion

"Passion and purpose go hand in hand. When you discover your purpose, you will normally find it's something you're tremendously passionate about".

- Steve Pavlina

What's your passion?

Happy Friday Chéres!

Ahh, it's Friday again. As I mentioned in previous posts, the weather has been gorgeous, but today not so much. We're back down to 40 degree temps and outside is looking a bit like London with foggy skies and drizzles of rain.


I had planned to head into the city and visit some of my favorite stores like TopShop, Fishs Eddy and Jessie James, but I'm going to keep it local instead. I'll head over to some nearby boutiques and home stores in search of vintage silver frames, curtains for our bedroom and pretty dresses from decades past. Later on tonight, the hubby and I are going to Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola for dinner with friends. The rest of the weekend will be spent with my mom, sister and gal pals.

In the meantime, I'll leave you guys with a fave short film of mine. It's the 2010 campaign for Oliver Peoples Eyewear featuring Elijah Wood as Fred, Shirley Manson as Ginger and music by Zee Avi. It makes me happy and is absolutely brilliant.

Directed/Photography by the amazing Autumn De Wilde

What are your plans for the weekend?

Wednesday Wishes: Just Keep Springing

The past few days in my part of town have been beautiful. Spring is really fighting it's way through, and with Daylight Savings being just around the corner (Sunday) it will officially be here before we know it. 

All that being said, the recent sunny, happy day temperatures have me craving pretty, warm-weather clothes. So, today I wish for darling dresses that allow the sunlight to lick my shoulders and pretty skirts that show off my legs:

1. Rebecca Taylor (one of my favorite designers) Silk Bustier Dress, $365

2. French Connection Candy Stripe Dress, $168

3. Arden B Floral Print One-Shouder Dress, $69

4. TopShop Cutwork Organdy Skirt, $80

5. Marc by Marc Jacobs Blazing Star Bubble Skirt, $370

Celebrate being a girl!

My Top 5 Oscar Fashion Picks

I wasn't really WOW'd by much of the fashions at this years Academy Awards show, but there were some great looks. It wasn't too hard to narrow down my top 5 faves.

①. Rachel McAdams looked like a pretty watercolor portrait in this gorgeous Elie Saab gown. I really love her as an actress and she seems like the sweet girl next door type.

②. The always classy Meryl Streep looked brilliant in this white wrap gown by Chris March -- a Project Runway alum. The dress is simple yet so elegant. She really hit the nail on the head with this pick.  

③. Carey Mulligan sparkled in Prada. Her look was fun and age appropriate, unlike Miley Cyrus', whose dress I liked but personally thought that it seemed to age her a bit. I love that Carey looks funky and sophisticated. 

④. Queen Latifah looked absolutely PERFECT in Badgley Miscka Couture. The color, the detail, everything worked in her favor. She was absolutely glowing last night!

⑤. And last, but not least Demi Moore in Versace. She radiated beauty in this look. Everything fit together nicely -- the color, the hair, the accessories. She had it going on!

I want to also recognize and send out congratulations to all the big winners, especially Geoffrey Fletcher, Roger Ross Williams, Mo'Nique, Sandra Bullock and Kathryn Bigelow!

Rag Time: Sade Covers Ebony

Today was a gorgeous day in NYC. After enjoying brunch with some girlfriends, we stopped at a nearby newsstand for some candy and spotted a copy of Ebony Magazine. Sade looks absolutely STUNNING on the cover, which hits newsstands everywhere on March 9th. 

Here is a snippet of what Ebony reported:

I want to look this good when I'm 50. Young girls, please take notice because this is how it should be done. I'm looking forward to aging gracefully (and naturally). 

Celebrate a good comeback!

Style Stalking: Amerie

I remember first spotting Amerie back in 2002. I was a Junior in college away on campus taking up summer classes. Her video for Why Don't We Fall In Love came on and my friends and I were all enamored. The song was hot, her look was fabulous and the video just gave us that "happy day feeling" -- as my sister and I like to call it. We would drive around with the windows down with that tune on repeat, blasting from the speakers. From that moment on I kept her on my radar. Her first album All I Have stayed in constant rotation and as she developed more as an artist I realized that her style was fierce also!

Her look is classic and funky and I have yet to see her take a fashion misstep. But, what really blew me away and heightened my style stalking were these images of her from Elle and Complex magazines: 

I am SO recreating the red blazer/shorts look when I drop some more pounds!! 

In the meantime, I'll leave you with her first single -- which happens to be my "summer kickoff" song :)

Enjoy!

   

Day Dreamin'

Advertisement is a powerful tool. The new Spring / Summer 2010 campaign for Salvatore Ferragamo has me daydreaming and craving the fabulous life. I want to leave on a jet plane that's headed to some chic far away paradise. I want to be surrounded by delicious shoes and the gorgeous decor of a penthouse apartment that comes with the perfect balcony view. 

What is it going to take to convince my husband that I am a European girl living in an American girl's body?? I need a genie and three wishes. STAT!

*sigh* Excuse me as I sip my imaginary cocktail and continue on with my fantasy. All with a little help from Aretha as she belts out one of my favorite tunes . . .

Photography by the brilliant Mario Testino

Celebrate daydreams!

Mood Music: Hometown Glory

Hometown Glory by Adele. I listen to this song every time I'm feeling down because it simply picks me right back up. Hauntingly beautiful and a little melancholy yet something about it takes me back to my wonderful childhood memories. No matter how bad a day can get, if I escape into the recollections of where I come from, then all is right with the world.


So, here's to my parents and my hometown of New York for playing a huge part in helping me to become the person I am today. I love you.









Celebrate your hometown!

P.S. DO pick up Adele's album 19. It is a CLASSIC.

Patience

Patience is the ability to count down before you blast off. I have to remember to keep telling myself that, because some great things are in store.