Little luxuries

I've been reading a lot lately about how badly the American economy is doing. I hear about foreclosures, unemployment and the credit crisis everywhere it seems. I myself have changed habits to meet these new challenges. This got me thinking, there are many things I can and will live without. However, there are some small luxuries that make life complete. Here are a few things I'll never give up...

- really great French bath soap, I favor Pre de Provence or Roger & Gallet

- Peet's Coffee whole beans, Major Dickason's or Blend 101

- fine chocolates whether it's Godiva, Vosges or just an occasional See's

- L'Occitane verbena hand soap, refills are only $10

What little luxuries in your life are you not willing to give up?

Beachy keen

So I finally woke up to a sunny day here in Northern California and I'm thinking beach day! What do you think? Black sarong and a huge sun hat and I'm good to go people. Now if only this was L.A. it would be 80 degrees out there instead of 60!

Come to me my pretty....

Franki at Life in A Venti Cup put up a post last week of a gorgeous Yves St. Laurent shoe. It wasn't just that she was lusting after it. It was as if the item expressed a part of her. It was kicky and fun, designed to draw the attention of the room, and luxe, just like Franki herself. This got me thinking if I was to express my personality in a shoe, what would it be like. Then I saw this at J. Crew and thought immediately, oh that's me! Loud, colorful, classic design, yet slyly sexy (the peeptoe), and all tied up in a bow. Love it!

Yum!

Here in San Francisco, or as I like to call it the "windswept rock", everyone's first outerwear purchase is a leather jacket. They keep the wind out and still allow us to maintain an effortless urban chic. I saw this Robert Cavalli jacket in this morning's Saks offering and just had to share it. Love the styling, the color, even the belt. At $1,500, I'll have to wait for it to go on sale. But...I'm loving this tough, but tender look.

Money quote of the week

Michael Kors loves Mad Men: "Mad Men" is undeniably stylish—those super graphic titles, the Bernard Herrmann-esque score, the lighting…and then, obviously, I mean, the clothes. The show is like your terribly chic friend who was valedictorian. It gets you on every level."

~ via Jezebel.com

New season starts tonight at 10 p.m. on AMC!

It's like buttah!

This gorgeous ruffled Prada bag appeared in my e-mail in-box yesterday and we're in love. I've never been a big fan of the label. I find it to babuschka-chic for my taste. However, this time Muccia, I'm impressed.

A dress fit for a diva

like me. I saw this Moschino Cheap and Chic tromp l'oeil dress over at Saks.com pre-season sale. Loved the gorgeous, rich plum color and the gold/bronzy accents. Hate the tights, but that could be fixed. Problem is it's not cheap, at $895 it's out of my ball park. However, if anyone has a fix on a similar dress at a reasonable price, I'd love to hear from you!

Mariah Carey - Dolly Parton for the '00s?

I've often thought Mariah Carey dressed like a tranny hooker. Then I saw this photo of her yesterday, and realized that she just may be channeling Dolly Parton. Dolly herself attributes her unique fashion sense to the hillbilly floozies back home in Pigeon Forge. Of course Dolly also has a sense of humor about herself. She once famously said, "It takes a lot of money to look this cheap". Mariah, wake up and hire a stylist, please. To quote the age-old mother's lament, "You could be such a pretty girl if you only tried!"

Just because

Is the very best reason to buy yourself flowers. I love color, and I love fresh flowers, so when I saw these at the local grocery (I know!), I had to have them. Just wanted to share the beauty and wish you a happy hump day. Weekend is coming. Now go get yourself some flowers, you deserve it!

Walk this way

Okay, admittedly these are hideous, but the idea is rock solid. Having been guilty myself of the Melanie Griffith style socks and tennies commuting, I have a deep appreciation for the idea behind Goodie 2 Shoes. The dual purpose heels allow you to go from a 1-1/2 heel (for commuting) to a 3-1/2 heel (for the office). Just snap the magnetic heel in place when you get to the office, and viola your jacked up. I'd sell it as a "day-to-night shoe" myself. The possibilities it brings up are interesting. I only hope we see it happen in a more mainstream looking shoe. Thanks to the Fashion Guy for sending this on to me. You gotta love a man who e-mails you high heels!

Dear Barneys...

In this dismal economy, why are you e-mailing me ads for $700 shoes? Case in point, the new Prada rose peep toe. I found it in my in-box this morning.

Okay, it's $695, but that doesn't make it right.

~ The Fashion Girl

Perfect 10

If you knew me, you'd know that I am a hair color chameleon. I started to go grey in college and on naturally medium brown hair that don't look good. So I did something about it. At the ripe old age of 21 I started to color my hair. I've been red (oh so many, many shades of red), blond (both platinum & dirty), golden brown, and even jet black. I'm currently in another red phase and I've been using the same hair color for a while. I'm a L'Oreal Preference girl from way back. Well, long story short I hate the smell, the mess, and the 30 minutes it takes to change my greys to crimson. I was ready for a change, so I picked up a box of Clairol Perfect 10 at my local Tar-jay Boutique and put it on. 10 minutes and a delicious fruity fragrance later, and I'm washing that grey right out of my hair. The big surprise? I bought a box of medium brown thinking I'd wind up with a lustrous chocolaty color. Instead I'm a deep auburn red. I'm trying to figure out is it me or was the box mis-marked? Seriously, they only make three colors. Has my hair in protest decided to always come out red? The jury is still out people.

Can lightening really strike twice?

Many years ago I was dragged kicking and screaming to a performance of Mamma Mia here in San Francisco. It was one of those onerous "team building events" that you get at work. You know what I'm talking about. I couldn't believe the humiliation. I was, however, very surprised by how much I enjoyed the show. My co-workers were dancing in the aisles before the end of act I, and like some race memory I knew the words to every single song. Since the movie version starring Meryl Streep and an illustrious cast is hitting theaters this weekend I'm tempted to see if history can repeat itself and if I'll like the film version just as much. What are the odds?

Quince

Looking for a fabulous restaurant for your next date night? Well I would highly recommend Quince. I'd been hearing about it for over a year, and finally had the chance to dine there recently. Reservations are very hard to get and require a credit card, so some planning is required. The space in Pacific Heights feels like a large, but cozy living room. The restaurant only has 15 tables, so the feeling is meant to be intimate. Decor is neutral, linen covered tables and few paintings of quince on the wall. It's the food that really hooks you though. I started with a butter lettuce salad with grapefruit. I was actually hoping to try the squash blossoms listed on their website menu, but unfortunately they weren't available that night. My entree was the papardelle with porcini mushrooms and it was such a delight that I ate the entire thing. Dessert was a raspberry souffle with poppyseed sauce drizzled in the center and a coffee so strong it kept me up half the night. Their wine list is superb, but be prepared for some sticker shock. Two things you should know. The food is small (as in French food small), so don't expect to take any leftovers home. Also, ignore anything you've heard about their dress code being upscale. Even thought it's in Pac Heights the room was full of guys in slacks & polo shirts.

Mad about you

I was delighted to wake up this morning to find that my new favorite t.v. show, Mad Men (on AMC), has earned 16 Emmy nominations. 16! Wow for a first season that's got to be some kind of record. I picked up the DVD on Saturday and blew through the 3 episodes it contained. Headed right back up to my local Blockbuster and got me another disk. I'm currently halfway through disk 3, and I'm totally hooked. The show is about New York City ad men in the 1960s. It's moody, perfectly costumed, and contains more smoking, sexual harassment and general misogyny than I've ever seen. It feels completely true to the spirit of the times. Reminds me of James Bond movies from the Sean Connery era. Totally objectionable and still fascinating to watch. The series starts up again on July 27th if you want to check it out. I'd love to hear what you think of it!

Thanks CheapJap!

CheapJAP (one of my favorite sartorial sites) gave out a great piece of advice today. She was answering a request from a fan for a bag that would hold all of her college supplies ~ laptop, books, etc. and still look chic at night. CheapJAP sent her over to Luna Boston which I hadn't heard of before. Turns out it's a treasure chest full of cute purses. I'm not usually a fan of the huge handbag, but there was a lot here to like. There was also a great sale in swing. So thanks CheapJAP! And a note for your collegiate friend, I own the Matt & Nat Jorga Hobo shown here. It's so large you could keep a family of 7 in it, seriously. Perfect for the urban, eco-friendly, hipstress.

Haircuts - shampoo commercial or walk of shame?

I don't know about you, but I've had a few bad haircuts in my time. Whether its mis- communication with the stylist or just my wayward genes (I have wavy hair), I've had my share of bad luck. I've tried to rearrange my 'do in mirror before leaving (why do they always part it on the wrong side?!) and then done the walk of shame out of the salon. Oh how I longed for a hat or a paper bag on a few occasions. So...when I saw this photo today of Eva Longoria sporting a new soccer mom 'do I thought, "Sister, I feel your pain".

Who will be "Auf'd"?

Project Runway finally resumes on Weds. this week. I'm dying for some Summer entertainment. Are you excited to see Heidi & crew return for their very last season on Bravo? Do you Lifetime (and Harvey Weinstein) will change the show? Or do you think they've jumped the shark and should just hang it up? I'm not normally a fan of reality television, but this features clothes and fashion shows, so I'll make an exception. Auf wiedersehn. Mwah, mwah!

Still a tie in the Brangelina household

News came down from People.com this morning that Angelina Jolie has given birth to her twins. The big surprise is that they weren't the twin girls the media had us all expecting, but a boy and a girl. That means there's still a stalemate between the sexes. Let's break it down:

Boys

Maddox
Pax
Knox

Girls

Zahara
Shiloh
Vivienne

I think we're going to need another adoption here before we see any gender superiority here folks.

Nothing to lose...

and everything to gain. I found this adorable Nine West shoe (named Gain) on sale over at Piperlime.com. They remind me of the pilgrim flat by Roger Vivier. I think I'm going to need a pair!

Tim Gunn you are my hero

When asked by the press for a quote on the fashion sense of the two potential first ladies, Tim Gunn gave Michelle Obama props for looking relaxed and confident in her style. Of Cindy McCain he said:

Cindy McCain looks like someone has twisted her pony tail into a knot and tried to give her a face lift.

Thanks to Jossip.com for posting this little gem. Tim, you are truly my hero!

Finally!

I've got the deets on that fab blue ombre sundress that Jenny McCarthy was sporting last week. I laughed when I saw the pictures of her cruising the sand with Jim Carrey (in her swimsuit no less!). But I became obsessed with her smocked strapless maxi dress. I scoured the net, but couldn't find it online. Don't worry though because PopSugar did the research and found it for me. Here's the scoop.

Now if I could only get a body like hers and $365 for the dress, I'd be good to go!

Michael Kors make me your muse!

So I was wandering through Macy's yesterday and I came across this gorgeous bag by Michael Kors. I loved the color, the buttery leather, even the rivets were just perfectly positioned. As I tried it on I found myself musing about how great it would be to be his inspiration. A spokesmodel for his clothes and accessories, all of which I love. Hey, he's the king of American Casual and I am it's diva. MK before you head back to Project Runway let's get together and work something out. I promise I'd work for the clothes alone!

Daily Candy has jumped the shark

Here's proof. A quote from today's post:

The other day your boyfriend flushed a condom, clogging the toilet.

There were just no words.

Um, TMI ladies, TMI!

Swing out Sister

I hate Summer television. All my favorite shows go into reruns (Gossip Girl) or simply off the air (Grey's Anatomy, Ugly Betty). The landscape becomes one big reality show. I'm confronted with the lunacy of Wipe Out and I Survived a Japanese Game Show. I get to follow the weekly adventures of The Bachelorette or worse yet I become addicted to Hopkins. In this vast wasteland I was surprised recently to find a little gem.

You see I read a New Yorker review of a new show on CBS that peaked my interest. It's called Swingtown and it's the story of a bunch of 70's parents doing exactly what the title implies, swinging. It was a recipe made just for me. Prurient content? Check. Ridiculous soundtrack. Check. Freak 70's fashion. You betcha. So I headed over to CBS' website to check out an episode, and I wind up watching four! Turns out this is a really good show. Not as creepily sexual as the title implies. More like a drama than you would think. It has excellent actors doing a remarkable job of playing ridiculous humans (the open marriage couple, the uptight housewife, the husbands who long to cheat...) It's on Thursdays at 10, (prurient content, remember) and is definitely worth a look.

Blue Plate

Blue Plate is a restaurant in the Mission that I first tried years ago. It was at the forefront of the "home cooking" revolution. The place was small, cozy and famed for their comfort food. The Fashion Guy got the hankering to go back recently, so we gave it another go this weekend. Were we surprised! The restaurant is still cozy, but it's no longer a jeans and t-shirts venue. They've gone upscale with a gourmet menu and a new look. We even spotted a back patio for fair weather dining.

Let's get to the good stuff, our meal. It was delicious. I started with the tomato and mozzarella salad. It was a mix of red and yellow tomatoes and small balls of cheese covered in a smooth pesto. The Fashion Guy had the early girl tomato and basque pepper soup. His was so good, after scoring a taste, I almost mugged him to get more. My entree was a ribeye with fries all topped with horseradish sauce. The steak was *huge* (half of it is in my fridge), and perfectly prepared. The fries were crispy outside and soft inside just like I like. A glass of Sutton Cellars 2003 Syrah made a great companion to my meal. The Fashion Guy had the roast chicken with apples, drunken croutons and spices and a nice glass of Chardonnay. Dinner was insanely good. By the time we'd finished with our entrees there was no way we had room for dessert, so we left with our take out boxes in hand and are now looking forward to repeating this great meal at home.

If you have a chance to check this place out your should. It's off the beaten path for sure, but has been a perennial favorite here in San Francisco for 10 years. In a food town like this that alone speaks volumes for the their cuisine!

50 things about me

you might not know...

1. If I could have been anyone in this life I would have been Audrey Hepburn
2. I'm borderline OCD about cleaning house, travel, and making lists
3. I went prematurely grey so no one has seen my real hair color since I was 21
4. I love Dita Von Teese and Debbie Mazar's fashion sense
5. I'm happy married for almost 20 years
6. My voice is lower in my head than in real life
7. My dream job is to be a barista in a small coffee shop
8. I hate singers' clothing lines (Sean Jean, Jessica Simpson, J. Lo, DVB)
9. I won't buy knockoffs ever
10. I own more shoes than anyone I know except my dad
11. I don't like diamonds, I prefer purple stones or pearls
12. I expect people to have good manners, and am pissed when they don't
13. I hate my cell phone and rarely give out my number
14. I am a very loyal friend
15. I love to write letters, especially with a fountain pen and beautiful paper
16. I got married in Las Vegas by an Elvis impersonator
17. I'm allergic to most perfume
18. I adore Manhattan
19. I hate tequila
20. I don't like being called "cute", cute is for duckies & bunnies
21. I watch a lot of science fiction
22. I can repeat lines from most movies I've seen
23. I like opera better than symphony (I'm a visual person)
24. Champagne gives me a headache, but I still love the idea of it
25. My favorite holiday is Christmas
26. I would have liked to meet Socrates, but I bet he was a jerk
27. I read a lot
28. Before I die I want to see Egypt, India and Australia
29. I am a Trivial Pursuit fanatic
30. I'm a sore loser
31. I wish I could draw or paint
32. I speak German, but I'd like to learn another language
33. If I could give myself one upgrade it would be the ability to transport myself through space
34. I'm terrified of flying, but love to travel
35. I have this insane ability to memorize the floor plans of shopping malls
36. I don't drive. I mean I can, but I sold my car years ago
37. I am a terrible writer
38. Most people think I'm too opinionated
39. I love fruity cocktails
40. My favorite color is pink, seriously
41. I'm a fanatic Bond fan. I've seen all of the 007 movies, most 3 - 4 times
42. I eat ice cream year round
43. I can roll my tongue
44. If I came back as an animal I'd like to be a bear ~ they get to sleep half the year!
45. I love words and have a super human ability to spell just about anything
46. I've turned procrastination into an art form
47. I look just like my Mom, but I'm adopted (go figure)
48. The one feature I'd change would be my eyelashes, I wish they were longer
49. I need a 12 step program for compulsive purse buyers
50. I'm really curious what I don't know about you

Money quote of the holiday

None who have always been free can understand the terrible fascinating power of the hope of freedom to those who are not free.

~ Pearl S. Buck (via RealSimple.com)

Anna Wintour recycles outfits?!

New York Magazine sent me an article today on Anna Wintour's new favorite dress. Apparently she's been spotted at the Paris shows 3 times in the same Carolina Herrera sheath dress. I won't argue with the dress' appeal ~ it's lovely, summery and so flattering on her. I'm just shocked that the arbiter extraordinaire of the fashion world packs so light!

American Gladiator

The Summer of 2008 has got to be the season of the gladiator. No, not the Roman fighter, the sandal. That's right, I've seen them everywhere. They even seem to have usurped the ubiquitous flip flop in my fair city.

I've got a great pair of black Tods gladiators that I adore and wear all the time. I'm thinking though if this trend continues, I may have to pick up a pair of these white ones from Gap. Pretty cute huh?

Sliders with raincoats

That's a phrase I haven't used in a while. I had lunch today with a girlfriend at Best-O-Burger in the FiDi. They are located at 89 Belden Place (on Pine Street). It's just a small take away burger joint. The draw? They serve White Castlesque sliders and strings & rings (frings basically) by the bag. You can get 1, 2 or 3 burger bags. They use 100% Angus beef, and the buns are baked fresh all day. Condiments are the freshest around. Even their shakes have a secret ingredient, (they use gelato rather than ice cream). All this keeps the calorie count down, and the small size of their food makes it the perfect lunch boite for chicks. If you're like Jessica Simpson and believe "Real girls eat meat", you've got to try this place!