Filed under: Girl Crush Wednesday
The Academy Awards Red Carpet inspired me to pick Emma Stone as this week’s girl crush. How far she’s come since Superbad.
Who knew there was a glamazon sexpot under there? I don’t know whether I prefer the red or blonde!
Filed under: Red Carpet
I have to admit, there were only a few ensembles that I really loved last night:
Gwyneth Paltrow – Tom Ford with killer cape (source: MailOnline)
Angelina Jolie – Atelier Versace, also wearing the best accessory, Brad Pitt (source: MailOnline)
Michelle Williams – Louis Vuitton (source Zimbio)
Emma Stone – Giambattista Valli (source: Just Jared)
Viola Davis – Vera Wang and fab natural hair (source: Just Jared)
Christian Bale – not sure of the designer but he was super chic
Sean Combs – Sean John (BTW, did anyone else notice he is dangerously close to EGOT?)
And although I saw good reviews on Sandra Bullock and J. Lo, I was not a fan.
Filed under: Blow Your Paycheck Friday
I am really digging Gucci’s art deco/roaring 20′s look for spring. And I think these shoes have a splash of the look without diving all the way into period fashion (as I honestly think SOME of the pieces force you into.) I can just seem them with ankle length skinny pants and a sequined top:
I mean, even the heel is gorgeous. But alas, the $1195 price tag means I will just stroll past them longingly in the Saks shoe department. Why is this my life? Oh poor me LOL. 
Filed under: Girl Crush Wednesday
It’s taken me a really long time to write this post. I have been feeling torn about what to write about the untimely death of Whitney Houston. First off, it is very sad. Poor Bobbi Kristina is only 18 years old and will have to navigate the rest of her life without her mommy. It brought me back to when my father died unexpectedly last year. These young people who die unexpectedly – well, their deaths are rarely TRULY unexpected. My dad had years of uncontrolled high blood pressure and alcohol abuse before he died last year at the age of 52. Whitney struggled for years with her own demons – alcohol, drugs, who knows what else. And now she is dead.
But boy, didn’t she fill our lives with joy? Her songs are truly the soundtrack of my life – even more than Micheal Jackson. She showed us you can be talented and loving and well, human. None of us is perfect. We all strive to be the best version of ourselves and each day we make some progress. Unfortunately, Whitney did not have enough time to become her best self. Either way, we have gotten to see a wonderful talent for nearly 30 years. And somewhere there is a bright star shining for her light, extinguished too soon.
May her voice, “The Voice,” always inspire us to feel joyous and remember her spirit.
Filed under: My Shopping Finds
I just couldn’t resist a little online browsing. And when I saw ideeli was having a Red Sale, it quickly turned to shopping:
Carmen Marc by Carmen Marc Volvo Embellished Neckline Cocktail Dress – $48.99 (regularly $319)
Nine West Short Double-Breasted Belted Peacoat – $37.99 (regularly $225)
It’s so awesome – the dress is very similar to the one Jo’ie and I still think should have been her Maid of Honor dress for my wedding three and a half years ago. And I have been really wanting a red coat. Score!
Filed under: Blow Your Paycheck Friday
I can SO see these hot ass 6 inch tall ankle boots with an amazing leopard print dress or white jeans or a red trench or hell, anything:
However, at $1195, they are a BIT out of my price range. Get them at Saks.
Jamison and I have been catching up on all of our DVR’ed shows from while I was in Paris. We watched a couple of episodes of “90210″ and we both agreed that the actress that plays Adrianna – Jessica Lowndes – was worthy of a girl crush feature.
I love that she has the look of Megan Fox but also has a sick body. While her character is not very lovable, she is a HOT chick!
Filed under: Travel
I had heard lots of things about Paris before I arrived. I have a few things to share with you upon my return:
- Never take taxis. They are INSANELY expensive and totally not worth it.
- Do take the Metro, the RER, the TGV, etc. The train system is amazing effective and very fairly priced and super convenient and very clean. We took all three train lines and had good experiences on all. The cafe at the Reims train station beats anything in NYC Penn Station in case you are wondering. It was a swanky, contemporarily designed and fairly priced space.
- France IS in Northern Europe. This one has a funny story. Upon taking a taxi for a tasting at Pommery in Reims, we were headed inside. I decided to quickly snap a pic, as I feared it would be dark upon our return. A very tall, very gringo American white man shouted out, “We ARE in Northern Europe.” It provided us chuckles for the rest of the trip. Not so surprisingly, he was the know-it-all on the cave tour too, yelling out the three types of grapes used to make champagne. Duh, we just left the tour at G.H. Mumm too, jack@$$. (Fun fact: Madame Pommery invented the Brut style of champagne – elevating it from dessert wine to all the time wine.)
- It is COLD in Northern Europe in January. REALLY COLD. Bundle up. Wear a full length mink as the Asian women married to white men do.
- Get a pot or pitcher of wine with your meals (or without as we often did to warm up.) As long as you stick to the red or rose (the white – not so much), you can get tasty wine – usually 500 or 750 ML for around 9-10 Euros. We loved the pots so much that Rox made her way to the restaurant supply store to by us each a pot for future drinking pleasure!
- For this same reason, avoid drinking beer. It is more costly, less satisfying, more bloating… not a winner in the Paris cocktail book.
- While the proper French breakfast of toast, croissants, butter, jam, cafe creme and orange juice is tasty, we much preferred the ham, arugula, and cheese ciabatta sandwich (with a tasty pesto I think) at our local Snack Shop. For 4.40 Euros it was big enough to split each morning.
- Onion soup in France in F-ing delicious. For real. You will never eat it at Friday’s again.
- High quality and tasty wines can be found at the grocery store for less than 3 Euros! Enjoy an evening cocktail in your room. (Pre-gaming is how I roll, people.)
- Macarons are overrated. I said it. I know they are pretty and multi-colored, but the delicate flakiness was not really for me. I had this pomme (apple strudel-like pastry) in Reims and spent the rest of the trip looking for another one, which I never found. A good old apple tart will do too!
- Always order the “menu” AKA the price fixe meal. Whether 2 course or 3 course, it is ALWAYS the best deal on the restaurant’s menu and sometimes includes mineral water and wine for around 20-25 Euros. We found a few places with menus as cheap as 12 Euros!
- Parisians are NOT rude and snobby and will speak to you in English mostly. There are the few exceptions…
- Parisians SO love dining al fresco that they will do it when it is literally 29 degrees outside. I’m sorry, the heat lamps don’t do THAT much on the cold @$$ sidewalk.
- The Eiffel Tower is truly magnificent, even if the twinkle lights are a bit TOO MUCH.
- French women don’t get fat. Because they run in the Jardin du Luxembourg and hire trainers and go to gyms. Not because they are naturally thin. What a myth!
- French people MIGHT start getting fat. We saw loads of processed food and fast food advertisements and even fitness product infomercials too. Watch out!
- Hotel Louis II is the best hotel ever. I will ALWAYS stay there when I am in Paris. Clean, friendly, and the best location ever in St. Germaine… even with the fist fights we heard in the streets each night after the nightclubs and bars shut down and the lack of moving about space in the rooms. Proximity to Metro and non-touristy restaurants is critical for traveling to Paris.
- Travel during soldes if you can. Sales rock, but are not common in France. We did choose a good time to travel for this purpose.
- 800 dollars duty free can go very quickly in France. Bring your checkbook so you can just pay your duties and keep it moving. BTW, if you are a baller, you can get 12% of the VAT refunded to your credit card or 10.8% refunded in cash at the airport. Watch out for the long lines and PLEASE get your customs stamp first before getting in refund line!
- While my time in Paris was cool, I’d probably return in spring or fall and do 3 days in paris, 3 days at the beach and 2 days in wine country if I did it all over again. I’m just sharing… I don’t really think you need more than 3 (maybe 4) days in Paris unless you want to see every museum or hit every shop. And France has a lot to offer!!!
Filed under: My Shopping Finds
I was SO excited for the Paris trip that I could hardly contain myself. I was also extremely worried about going over budget while away. I mean, Paris is an expensive city. One of the MOST expensive in the world after all. I not only managed to find some fabulous things but I managed to do so all while NOT going over budget. Here is what I got:
Louis Vuitton
Louis Vuitton Neverfull Monogram – I decided after the “not-so-successful” flea market trip on Saturday to just go ahead and splurge on an LV bag at the St. Germaine location. (While I could not WAIT to explore the four story flagship store on the Champs Elysees, I KNEW I didn’t want to buy there with all the Asian tourists. Sorry, I call it like I see it lol…) It was actually cheaper at 540 Euros or approximately $700. And I promptly got a 12% VAT refund of nearly $80 too!
Vintage Shopping
Vintage Chanel Suit – I went to Catherine B. with hopes of getting some vintage Chanel jewels or sunglasses and MAYBE to ogle the jackets and suits. But since it was “soldes” or SALE time in Paris, I found this amazing Chanel suit for only 350 Euros (around $415). There was a dress suit that I LOVED (hot pink no less) but the dress was WAY too small and the jacket was actually a little big. And it was 450 Euros. I think I wear 38 in French tops and 42 in French bottoms. Oh well… Maybe I AM pear shaped?
Black leather clasp purse – I loved the look and structure of this bag
Black pony hair crossbody bag – I appear to be newly obsessed with cross-bodies
Vintage scarves – I collect these, but I shared ONE with my Ganny & one with Jeanette (pictured below)
Flea Market Shopping
Vintage magazine prints – I got these at St. Ouen Flea Market. There were MANY amazing fur coats, but I essentially left with this art and a few other things (see below.)
Chocolate leather purse – It is super soft leather made in Morocco. And for 40 Euros, it seemed like a good deal, which I needed after a flat day of shopping when I expected to blow my paycheck.
Knit beanie – Love the neutral color and at 7 Euros, it wasn’t horribly expensive. But twice as much as Forever21.
Earrings and Bracelet – Sparkly and affordable. Love it.
Souvenir Shop
Pashminas, Ash Trays, Magnets, Paris Potholder, Eiffel Tower replicas, Eiffel Tower puzzle, Paris Prints, Shotglass, Champagne Bottle Stopper
Champs Elysees
European Man Tees for Jamison at Celio (not pictured)
Bronzer, Kabuki Brush and Mixa Expert Peaux Sensibles Creme Visage at Monoprix.
OK, so I have to share this funny story. On Friday night after returning to our hotel from the trip to Reims around 8 PM, we were supposed to nap before hitting the jazz club. We fell asleep and woke up around 10:45. We decided against hitting the jazz club but somehow stayed up ALL night watching Alice Nevers. During this spree of French television, I saw this very convincing commercial for Mixa Expert Peau Sensibles Creme Visage – sensitive skin moisturizer good for the whole family. I had to have it. I spent the whole trip looking for it and finally found it on my last full day in Monoprix. And when I used it at home, I was SO thrilled that I asked Rox to bring me another one, which she is sending me shortly. 
We spent a lot of time eyeing luxury goods longingly at Gucci while the Asian tourists scooped up EVERYTHING in sight. “Gucci this, Gucci that, Gucci everything… Louis this, Louis that, Louis everything…” (Lyrics courtesy of OMG Girlz song “Gucci This”)
Carrefour Market: (not pictured)
Milady Apricot and Strawberry Confitures (preserves) – this was served at proper French breakfast with butter and croissants & toast
Rose wine - so delicious and only 1.90 Euros
Harissa – makes everything more spicy and delicious
Kinder Bueno Bars – we bought the ten pack for like 5 Euros, but I forgot to bring a few home 
H&M – cuz yeah, I did go to H&M in France. Champagne no less LOL. I couldn’t help myself. And I wanted a LOT of stuff that I need to seek out at my local H&M ASAP (black and white striped pants, green peplum top, green midi pencil skirt, blue midi pencil skirt with red polka dots, etc.)
Hot pink trousers – on sale for 7 Euros and you know it’s my signature color
Leopard Print Gloves – how could I resist for 5 Euros
Filed under: My Shopping Finds
I was not shopping to prepare for the Paris trip. I assume you knew that. So, how did I buy stuff? Traveling! Remember, I can shop for fun when out-of-town. I will admit I picked up a couple of essential things before we headed off to Savannah for a post-Christmas trip (while shopping for wrapping paper, bows and ribbons on clearance.)
London Fog Camel Trench Coat – $49.99 at Ross. My coat/jacket stable was dramatically reduced by the weight loss from last year. (Pictured coat similar)
Silver sequin Tahari cocktail dress – on clearance for $59.00 at Marshall’s. I was looking for Jo’ie but this gorg dress ended up being my size instead. Sorry, Jo!
We didn’t do a TON of shopping in Savannah, but you know I had to hit Marc by Marc Jacobs. Though sadly I didn’t leave with a single item. Joie got an awesome bracelet and super fly ring.
I managed to find a few great items though:
Vintage “yacht” purse from The Clothing Warehouse
Vintage cocktail dress from The Clothing Warehouse – dying for my HUGE gold belt
Two black beanies – not pictured (to replace the one I lost while strolling about town – see What I’m Rocking)
Nourish Fountain of Youth Facial Moisturizer – will be ordering again!
We also had to hit the Tanger Outlet on the way home too. It wasn’t a huge shopping run, but I did pretty darn well for myself (not pictured):
Nine West black motorcycle boots – perfect for my trip to Paris and on sale for $49.99 PLUS a 10% off coupon. (Note: They WERE the MOST comfortable boots I have ever owned. Great for Paris. No foot woes. At all. Ever.)
And I got quite a few items at Banana Republic:
Red and Black v-neck dress - You know I’ll get a great silhouette in multiples.
Orange long-sleeve sweater and Orange silk and cotton sleeveless top – It’s a good color for me.
Leopard print pony hair clutch – I spent so much time selling Jo on this that I ended up talking myself into it too! You’ve seen my leopard print pony hair obsession PLENTY of times.
And when I got home, I purged several tops and dresses to make room. I also gave away several clothing items to Taylor right after Thanksgiving, so I am feeling good about keeping the ratio down in the closet. I’ll bet that more purging is in order though, especially in the jacket arena.
