Monday, December 29, 2008

x-mas gifts, part 1

Sorry for the gap in posts. I was totally overwhelmed by the holiday season and was trapped inside for about a week due to 2 feet of snow. So there was not a lot going on worth writing about, other than the 500 movies I watched on instant Netflix.

This was definitely one of those Christmases where I knew going into it that it wasn't going to be outrageously fabulous, like they were when I was growing up. But I did get almost everything I asked for, which meant that I knew about all my presents. No big surprises this years.





The one gift I was not expecting was this scarf my mother knit for me.



Not only is is leopard print. It is knit on the bias. Pretty fab.

Friday, December 19, 2008

ladurée = cookie love

I don't think it is really fair to call Ladurée macarons cookies, but that is probably the closest equivalent. In reality, Ladurée macarons (macaroons to some) are 2 small pieces of tender yet crunchy flavored cakes sandwiched with the creamiest of filling. They come in every flavor imaginable and all taste like little pieces of heaven. When you enter into one of their stores, you get to pick and choose from the hundreds of macarons spread out in front of you, in a rainbow of the prettiest colors, and then they are put in the sweetest of green boxes with gold foil detail. You cannot help but feel like Marie Antoinette when you eat them.








My sister and I were reminiscing about Paris the other day, while I was sitting in bed in Los Angeles and she in hers in Portland. I told her how I had been going through my daily blogs and saw that Alix of The Cherry Blossom Girl had made a trip to Versailles and brought along Ladurée macarons and some other beautiful pastries from their store. And since we are both obsessed with the Sophia Coppola film Marie Antoinette and Ladurée macarons we found it amazing that we hadn't thought of that ourselves! Part of the problem is that both times she came to visit me in Paris, it was the dead of winter, so traipsing through the grass in the gardens of Versailles with macarons and a bottle of champagne was just sort of out of the question. But we did promise each other that the next time we are in Paris, we will make the trip, baby and all!

I've never really had anything other than their macarons, but I found this on the website, and thought wouldn't that be the most amazing wedding cake ever?

all photos: www.laduree.fr

And the name makes it all the more enticing. L'Entremet Marie-Antoinette.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

wine tasting partay at the murphy's

I was lucky enough to be invited to my good friends' Linsday and Kevin's house for a wine tasting of Argentinian Wines from Anuva Vinos, a Buenos Aries based wine distribution club. Due to the stormy/snowy/icy weather, I had left 2 messages for them saying I wasn't coming and then I was. Due to the hilly location of my parent's house, I didn't know if I was going to be able to venture back out till about an hour before the party started. Man, am I glad I made it!

We tasted 6 bottles, 1 white and 5 red, and got the presentation straight from the founder and Portland native, Daniel Karlin.



The wines sampled were limited production, carefully selected Argentinian wines and included Anecon Torrentès 206 (white and delicious), Cavagnara Malbec Reserve 2004, Familia Mayol Bonarda 2005, Zaino Malbec Reserve 2004, Don Juan Reserve Blend 2004 and finally Mudai Pinot Noir 2005. By the 3rd bottle, I wasn't really paying much attention to the presentation and was interested more in socializing. But presentation or not, it was a super fun party.

The food and friends were fab; the Murphy's throw the wildest and most fun parties of anyone I know. In addition to the holidays, we got to celebrate Pat and Kelly's engagement (YAY!!!) and my homecoming (duh).



Mr. Murphy et Moi.


Lindsay, Kelly and Me.


Oh. And I got bangs.


Lindsay wears a J. Crew Sweater, Kelly a Marni Dress and I forget what label fabulous furry jacket and I wear a Gap men's flannel shirt, Petit Bateau t-shirt, Earnest Sewn Jeans, Vialis boots (not shown) and Bucherer watch.

I must repeat that day/nights outfit. As it was super comfortable, I first got dressed that morning at 5 am for my 7 am flight, and cozy for the cold weather. I topped the look of with my J. Crew (Balenciaga) Blazer and my DIY green cowl scarf.



Kevin in his Ugly Christmas Sweater. I think for a minute they thought about giving it that theme.

Thanks Lindsay and Kevin for a super fun time!

Monday, December 15, 2008

alex wang does pre-fall

CFDA winner and industry favorite Alexander Wang presented a Pre-Fall collection December 12 in NYC.

It's more of the same for this kid. Lots of black and white knits with some leather and tailoring thrown in for good measure. He's really found his niche dressing the skinny hipsters who live in vintage t-shirts, leggings or ripped jeans, blazers or leather jackets and sky high heels. I'm not saying he's not good at what he does, all I'm saying is that I'm a bit bored with it.

Ennui aside, here are some of my fave looks. I do like the use of the sheer bike shorts, and the lazy biatch in me really likes the glorified sweatpants, but I feel like I've seen them somewhere before?





photo credit: style.com

Sunday, December 14, 2008

no one said you have to be ugly in that ugly christmas sweater

I went to an Ugly Christmas Sweater Party with Juan and Alexa last night. Instead of doing the Ugly Sweater thing, I went for a more Dr. Seuss approach. I spent a good hour hemming and sewing on the tinsel garland to my dress. I finished it off with my Santa dish scrubber and ombré tights from Target, my vintage shoe clips and patent leather accessories galore! I definitely wasn't the ugliest, but I might have been the silliest and most fabulous.



Alexa went all out with beaded vest, rhinestone t-shirt, leggings and mall bangs! They were crunchy!


Had to do an ugly pic in our ugly outfits!

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

pre-fall collections

Since when are the Pre-Fall presentations full on runway shows???? This is definitely a new thing, because I was not sending out show requests for the Pre-Fall/Resort collections when I was in Paris. It makes sense that the designers are putting more press into these collections, as they are in the stores longer and sell more than the regular collections due to that time in the stores as well as the looks tend to be simpler and easier for the average customer to digest. But it just all seems awfully excessive to me. When is it going to stop? I know this has been said before by more important people, but next thing we all know, there are going to be collections between Pre-Fall and Fall.

Chanel had a fancy set, snazzy hair/headdresses and 66 Russian doll looks! I doubt this was Mr. Lagerfeld's intention, but with the holiday season it made me think of the Nutcracker (mixed with Starwars).



photo credit: style.com

As always, the above the knee, leather boots are flawless and swoon worthy, especially paired with the frilly, ruffled sweater dress. I love that they have become a staple in the Chanel collections. They are going to go down in Chanel history with the tweed suit and the quilted bags. Some of those looks were for men, all of the men's looks failed to impress me. For some reason the men's look for the Lagerfeld collection are great, but the Chanel looks never seem accessible, and the only man I can really see them in are Karl himself. The most amazing thing about the Chanel presentation is that you know Karl Lagerfeld doesn't really have a design team, he does most of everything himself, while the other designers putting out these in between collections have a million minions working with them to put out these extra looks...

Zac Posen sent down 22 femme fatale looks, in what looks to be a speak-easy. The leopard print fur and fringe brought to mind Lauren Becall from the Bogie days.


photo credit: style.com

We all know my obsession with leopard print. But OMG!!!!!!!!!! They are amazing. It's been a really long time since I've been at all into anything that Zac Posen has done, but he has a fan in me again. Note how annoyed the press looks. They are like, GDMF! I HAVE A MAGAZINE TO PUBLISH!

Doo.Ri presented a concise collection of feminine tailoring. My favorite being the first look with the sheer, beaded tank and the ruffle waistband trousers. It's a funny mix of sexy and edgy (top half and shoes) and ladies who lunch (trousers).

photo credit: style.com

Other designers who put on Pre-Fall presentations worth mentioning were Calvin Klein, Burberry Prorsum, and Narciso Rodriguez.

tights, tights, tights

I received an email from my mom yesterday, requesting some suggestions for different tights to wear with her bright pink Marni dress. Since I no longer have immediate access to the best hosiery department ever that takes up a total of 3 rooms, at Le Bon Marché (a.k.a. the Mother Ship) I proceeded to do some online research. Oh, how I LOVE the Internet.

These were the options that I found that I thought we look cute with the bright bright pink dress, and were equally mom appropriate.




photo credit: nordstroms.com

After I researched on my own, I noticed that Susie had written about tights too. She led me to the NYTimes editorial, which featured these glorious Bestey Johnson heart tights. So cute, no?? I have searched far and wide and cannot find them in black, only red and white. The red is fun, but I'm far less likely to wear them than the black, and the white sort of looks like a funny skin disorder from far away. I am torn though, and might just get them anyway.


Also loved these Agent Provocateur tights stay-up thigh highs, though I would never wear them.

photo credit: nytimes.com

I am also looking for the perfect pair of lace stockings. When I was little, my mom bought me some really beautiful lace stockings in black and baby pink. I remember she made a point to tell me they were stockings and not tights, and she taught me how to put them on properly by rolling them up from my feet, one leg at a time rather than stuffing both my legs in as I would have done with my cotton tights. With these pretty lace tights she couldn't lift me by the waist band to make sure they were pulled up high enough and the crotch wouldn't slide down to my knees!!! What I would give to have them now in my size!

Though I didn't find the perfect lace tights, I might have found an adequate alternative at Urban Outfitters.

I also found these puppies, a very clear Chanel knock off, except for the fact that the Chanel stockings have a lace front instead of a sheer one. I can't decide what I think of the two tone on one leg thing, especially because I have a distinct memory of Godfrey and Marcus discussing them after the Chanel show (that I MISSED) how unattractive they were and how they made the model's spindly legs look fat. What would they do to mine then?
photo credit: urbanoutfitters.com


They are cool though. Too bad I live in the land of eternal Summer now, I'll probably just ignore the fact that it is too warm for tights and sport them anyway.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

moving in

So, I've pretty much done nothing for the last 5 days other than move into my apartment. I've been living here, furniture and clothing free for just over 2 weeks, but I couldn't stand it any longer and decided waiting for my giant moving box to arrive just wasn't going to happen. Saturday, I rented a U-haul, bribed some friends with lunch and champagne and the promise to continue being such a fabulous friend, and got my things from the storage facility and MOVED IN!!!!!!!!!! I was so excited to see my stuff that I jumped up and down squealing and clapping. But that really isn't too far off my normal behavior. I was actually more excited to have all my clothes than to sleep in a real bed, I'm so sick of the sight of those jeans, ballet flats and t-shirts that I've worn for the last month, not to mention that ugly suitcase! Although sleeping on the new mattress that was amaaaaaazing, it was the first thing I set up. It is much easier to sleep in when your bed is basically a giant, fluffy pillow. The second thing I set up was the TV, which could have been a major mistake...I forgot what it's like to have access to a TV that isn't in the middle of a crowded house full of people and dogs. And apparently, basic cable includes many more stations than it used to. It might be ruling my life at the moment. Whoops.

I also had my ADORABLE tufted, pink vintage couch and matching chair delivered on Monday, which I promptly cleaned, it was definitely my workout for the day. All I need is a dresser to put all of my clothes in...Pictures will def follow once all the clothes are put away. Because of the unpacking (I am now officially cardboard box free, btw) I have done nothing interesting, productive (beyond unpacking) or fashion-y since Friday. I will be getting back into my daily groove of job hunting and spending all my unemployed time on the Internet today.

My apartment is going to be so f-ing cute, sophisticated and feminine, that boys are going to barf from all the pink and Domino Magazine is going to feature it on their website. BOOYA!