cheap fun on a sunday afternoon

i'm not sure if it's a good thing that i am so easily amused... i'm going to go with "yes".

this past weekend, my love and i decided to take advantage of the end of summer weekend feel that was in the air. took a nice long leisurely walk and browsed. people watched. popped into my favorite little local boutique BOC. (yep i have posted about it...) saw some fun fun fun jewelry there - but that will be another post. THIS is about my fingernails.

crossed the street from BOC and wandered into Ricky's. no real agenda - just felt like maybe picking up a cheap thrill to entertain myself for the afternoon. and oh baby did i ever. quick back story - (j., mel and karen will all testify under oath this is true) i am incapable of keeping on nail polish - only on my fingers. toes, we're good to go for as long as it lasts. finger nails? i give it 24 hours at best. i put it on (see post about Brucci polish - i love it - i do, i love it) and i admire how pretty it looks and how much more "finished" my hands look. then, invariably, a small chink appears. and i begin to pick. next thing i know, there are little peels of polish all around my general area. after i did my nails to look all pretty for the show i went to see on Thurs., i went to the Yankees game Fri. (walk off 3 run HR. AWESOME) and under the bright lights, i observed not only A-Rod's fine physique, but also a chip in my polish. and so i spent most of the game picking it all off. sorry to the guys who clean the stadium. that weird pile of sparkly brownish red stuff? yeah that's me.

my god i digress... SO - inside Ricky's i see a box of 100 fake nails. "that might keep me from picking at myself" i thought. $5.99 DONE. then i see this bottle of Essie mattifying top coat. i have been a bit curious about this whole matte nails trend. and i think "k - Sunday afternoon test drive". DONE. (i did also pick up a cheap-o brand of over-the-knee socks with skulls at the top. cute and silly and fun)

flash forward - 4 or 5 episodes of How I Met Your Mother later - and intensive decision making on the test color - (and because i'm a perfectionist, a rather exhaustive process of filing fake nails to look like my own) BOOM. color on - a nice burgundy. matte stuff? put it on like a top coat... i test one nail - sweep it on... it just looks like top coat, but... wait for it.... MATTE perfection. i fall in love with nail one and keep going... now, i know it's less than 24 hours, so i can't claim glory just yet. but i am LOVING what this looks like. (i still love my super shiny toes. that won't change) so if you're in the market for a cheap entertaining weekend - matte nails baby.

well, i never! (ok, ok i do all the time)

once more, the sales come a-callin! and who are we to say no? the way i look at it, it's always worth looking through a sale, because there very well be something that is on your list, that you had on a back burner. and if it's marked down, then why not front burner that thing, purchase it cheaper, and cross it off the list! that's what i call EFFICIENT.

i have in the past blogged about Chickdowntown - it's a good little boutique site that offers a nice range of designers at an equally nice range of prices. i have e-purchased a number of things from them - and they ship quickly, and they wrap every purchase with a pretty, shiny black ribbon, which just makes you feel nice when you open it. (you can make fun of me. i don't mind.)
this dress is just one of a whole LOAD of lovelies on there... looking at this i just imagine wearing it and feeling like i'm in Palm Springs hosting a party out back by the grotto, feeling summery and lovely and sipping a nice cool beverage...

ahem, anyhoo - they also have this great habit of having sales. which, combined with the whole ribbon thing, is just kind of like a little slice of heaven. right now, there is a site-wide discount - 30% off everything. for those of you who are not math whizzes, that's almost a third off. not too shabby, right? all you have to do is enter the code SEASON30 at checkout. so go on, have a look...

gnarly dude!

too bad you can't see me, i'm doing that surfer wave thing. (only on my first coffee, so it's still amusing to me)

i have a friend who was a long time NYer, who not-so-long ago transplanted himself to LA. he is like a pig in mud there - happy happy happy. before he left, before he even knew he was going, he began transitioning in his clothing... i am probably the only person among the group of people surrounding him that noticed it, but hey, that's just what i do. one of the items he acquired were these really cool surfer loafer type shoes, made by Sanuk. i became slowly obsessed with them.

they're kind of the ultimate cool man shoe, if you're not a loafer guy, if you're a sneaker guy but maybe need a shoe... if style and comfort fell in love and got married, and moved to the beach because it made them happy, they would be this shoe (they do make them for girls as well, and yes i have some- we all know me and beach, right?) i bought a pair for my bf, and he has worn them to within an inch of their lives, and i will be buying him some more. i love them on him. and come to think of it, i might need some more myself, you know for running around town between flip-flop season and boot season... a girl needs to transition...

the final countdown!

cue the music. i wish i had Gob from Arrested Development to jump out and be my mascot here... damn it, why can't things like that happen in the real world? it would be so much funnier.

this serves as the "final countdown" - a week left to go before my website goes live! i will be offering up services as a personal stylist, a personal shopper, an image consultant... and fear not, i will keep on blogging! it will all be interconnected!

so count down my dears - tell yourself, tell your friends, tell your lovers, tell your lover's friends, tell your friends' lovers... etc - just tell everyone! if you or anyone you know needs some styling - visit my site! i will shout it loud and proud on this page the moment we go live! stay tuned!

some do-good spending...

it's back to school time. even if you're not in school, there's still that same feeling. try and tell me you don't feel it when you open the September issue of the mags... right?

'member that time when i posted about do-good charity tote bags? well, i'm gonna step it up a notch this time. Bloomingdale's is doing a charity shopping blitz. they are pledging to donate $75,000 to AMFAR. so what could possibly be bad about shopping the site in order to help them reach the goal???? and they are offering up all sorts of sales and price cuts. that makes it both a cheap thrill AND a do-good shopping spree. someone you know and love must be deserving a present, right? so why not buy it here. hey, maybe the someone is you. no rules against that.

i have lectured you enough. i think you know what to do.

NAILed

haha. cracking myself up.

in the vein of cheap thrills... i was at the drug store the other day and bought my replacement "favorite of all time toenail polish" and as i painted the toes this morning i thought to myself, what a wonderful thing that this little bottle of stuff, that cost $2.99 - yes, that's right TWO NINETY NINE can make me feel so pretty and so happy. then i decided to paint my fingernails, as i am i going to see my friend's play in the Fringe Festival this evening. (i styled the female lead!!!) so i whipped out the box o'polish - and there in the corner was this little dude i had forgotten about - an AWESOME color for pre-fall... and again, the $2.99 thrill brand. so i must share.

Brucci nail polish. they actually call the product"nail hardener". simply amazing. the color range is to die for - and they always get on the trends right away - and have pretty much an exact match to the Chanel color du jour. i don't know if they have them everywhere - but for those of you who are NY'ers - they sell it at every Duane Reade. this product rocks my little world. let it rock yours for 3 bucks. rock it a few times, baby.

(ps - in case you're wondering - Golden Red on toes - CLASSIC. i remember to this day, at the airport about 8 years ago with my gorgeous friend Karen, whom i worked with and traveled the world with at the time - we were in line to check in, and she looked down and said "your toes are much fancier than mine. you have lady toes". and my dears - Golden Red... and the pre-fall, hell i'll wear it all fall and winter, finger color i'm a bit in love with? Ava's Ave. no idea what it means. don't care. it's a brownish tinted burgandy with gold flecks. love love love.)

well lookie here....

ye olde JCrew, purveyor of fine basic goods since ... well since a long time ago, gives good sweater. it's true. they do. they are excellent quality, they have an amazing color range and they are not over priced.

i decided today at some point that i was desperately in need of a LONG cardigan. now, i must say here that i have (and have always had) a lot of cardigans. my friend kim makes fun of me and calls me cardigan lady. i have always worn them regardless of whether they were in or out of "style" at the moment. what i do NOT necessarily have is a nice long cardigan. the craving kicked in today. i guess the ac made me chilly. to add to this - i got the new JCrew catalogue in the mail. and inside.... the perfect perfect perfect long cardigan. i would style it completely differently than in this pic - i'll be puttin this bad boy over tees and leggings and jeans; belting it - wide, skinny, you name it; chunkin on the jewelry. i love it. i might have to get a couple of them...

seek and ye shall find my friends. the force is strong!

ps -also some super cute bags and jewelry going on in the JCrew right now! check it out!!!