Girls Day Out

The highlight of my weekend was spending Sunday afternoon with my daughter. I took her to a new salon at the Shadow Lake Towne Center , called Sweet and Sassy. The salon is hilarious. It reminds me of Libby Lu, but it is an actual salon so there are stations for hair, make-up and nails. They do birthday parties (on the pricey side) and once a week they do drawings where the winner gets to ride to school in the pink limo. I treated Abby to pedicure, which she loved. Truthfully, she would have been happy at home with mom painting her toe nails, but the expression on her face when she put on her leopard print and pink robe was worth every penny! She sat nicely to have her toes painted and then got sparkles in her hair and a glitter stamp on her cheek. After the pedicure, we ran across the center to our mini-Sephora. I made a few purchases which I will save for another blog, and Abby sampled just about every eye shadow at her eye level. She had a blast. After that she was exhausted and it was time for me to have some mommy time. I took her home to watch some baseball with daddy. Truly, it was one of my favorite mommy-daughter outings! Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me so you just have to use your imagination.

All Hail the New Jeans

Of course, this post is about my favorite subject...JEANS! I ordered a pair of wide-leg dark denim "Ginger" jeans by 7 for All Mankind from Nordstrom and they arrived in my mailbox this afternoon. They fit great, besides needing to be shortened (because not everyone is 6 feet tall!!!), and I can't wait to wear them. Of course, their first stop will be to the tailor. As usual, about 6 inches needs to be shaved from the bottom of each leg, and then the original hem needs to be put back on, but then they will be ready for prime time. The trick is always to make sure that they aren't hemmed too short so I have to try them on with a few pairs of shoes to make sure I know just how much to have trimmed. Aren't these cute? I can't wait to wear them!!

On another note, I recently finished a great book and have just started another one which I am really enjoying. The book I finished is a history of Saturday Night Live - it delves into pre-production and talks about the dynamic between Lorne Michaels, Dick Ebersol and the NBC management team. It's very interesting! My new book, complements of my mother-in-law, is "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan." So far, it's an excellent read. I am about 1/3 of the way through and am enjoying it immensely. I am torn between what to read next. We have a great book by David McCollough laying around about the history of the Brooklyn Bridge that looks good. If you have a recommendation, let me know!

Finally, you might remember my post about Rachel Zoe and how she trash talked Anna Wintour a few weeks ago. Ms. Zoe was recently fired by her publicist. It appears that Anna Wintour has more power and influence in the industry after all!

A Few Good Reads

I am always about a week (or month) behind on my reading. One might ask when it is that I have time to read, with being so busy with my kids, work, and life in general. Have any of you ever looked at my hair and wondered why it always looks a little "off?" Well, here's my secret. I read while I dry and straighten my hair. I think of myself as pretty well read, but not pretty! My hair sacrifices, but I am up on current events. I think I am teaching my children a valuable lesson here - it's more important to know what you're talking about than to look like you know what you're talking about, yes?

Two of my recommendations are magazine articles. First was an interesting profile on Rachel Zoe in the New York Times Magazine. Rachel Zoe is the stylist to celebutauntes and stars like Nicol Richie, Lindsay Lohan, Anne Hathaway and more. This is the article in which she slams on Anna Wintour, editor of Vogue, and says that Vogue has never influenced fashion the way she has when she styled her girls who were then photographed by the tabloids and then created fashion frenzies with whatever it is they were wearing that was so cute. Rachel Zoe might be a little nuts and look like a blonde raisin, but she knows what she is doing. She has turned the role of stylist into an integral part of any star's contract. In fact, the article states that Nicole Kidman declined to attend a movie premier because the studio refused to pay the $6,000 per day (yes, per day!!!) fee of having a stylist on hand. I don't agree with bashing one of the most influential and legendary women in the industry. On the other hand, she has created an empire. The article didn't delve into her background as much as I would have liked, but it was interesting and I learned a thing or two.

The other fascinating article was in the September issue of Vanity Fair -my favorite magazine. The article was about Hermes. It gave a history of the family, talked about the company's core values and business acumen. It was very interesting. I've been obsessed with Hermes since high school when my aunt had a belt with a big gold "H." Right after college graduation, my parents gave me an Hermes scarf as a gift. It's so beautiful I am afraid to wear it. And, a little secret, right before Abby was born I blew an entire paycheck on my very own Hermes handbag which is stowed in my closet awaiting the day when it can be carried without the fear of having to old a sippy cup or fruit snack. Anyway, the article was really interesting. I read it twice!

One for the Girls

In honor of the three adorable baby girls I know who came into the world this past week, I am dedicating this post to cute baby girl items!

One of my favorite little girl items are these cute socks by Trumpette. We received these as a gift when Abby was born and they are so cute!!! They also make some that look like ballet slippers.

For those of you who don't have a girl, Trumpette also makes socks that look like sneakers for little boys and new this season are camouflage socks.


Another fave are the cozy clothes from Tea Collection. Both of my children spent lots of quality time in this outfit in their early months. It's cozy and cute and my kids looked so cute in it! It is one of those outfits that I wish I had an adult version. It looks like the kind of outfit I would put on after a long day at work!






Of course, some of those new parents out there have a wry sense of humor, just like the author. If you have a good sense of humor, the Wry Baby line of t's and accessories is for you! Benjamin wore this little ensemble, given to him by his God-Mother, quite a bit. Now that I have a sense of my son's personality, I have to say this shirt is probably right on the mark!

Everything Makes Sense Again!

You may have noticed that I don't blog about consumer electronics. That's not because I don't love technology. I actually do. What many of my loyal readers (all three of them!) may not realize is that I used to work in the technology industry. After more than four years of 60+ hour work weeks, I was a little burned out and for a long time I just couldn't get jazzed up about technology. Now that I am back in the "game" working for an Internet-based company that actually has a very cool technology product, I am back!

I've been having some phone issues over the last six weeks. First my office graciously offered to pay for my cell phone bill. I had a blackberry that I really liked. My office got me the fancy new Blackberry 8830 Worldphone, which is the bomb. I LOVED it!!! But everyone else was using a Treo so I thought perhaps I should be using the same phone as the rest of my colleagues and the office encouraged it. So, I switched to the Treo. Within about five minutes I was regretting the decision. So, as anyone who loves technology would, I've had the blues ever since. Well, I am pleased to report that all is well in the world again because this weekend I got back my Balckberry. I LOVE my phone! Thank you to RIM, Voice Signal, Sprint and the other OEMs that went into making my phone such a wonderful piece of machinery!

I promise my next post will have something to do with fashion!

Seriously?!

I have never commented on celebrity gossip on my blog, because frankly, that is Perez's job.
But did any watch Britney's performance (or lack thereof) last night at the VMAs? Holy crap! Is that the best she could do? Seriously. Seriously? Seriously! My handsome but rhythm-challenged husband could have performed better.

I was actually hoping for a comeback.

Falling for Fall

Unlike most people, I LOVE fall fashion. Most of my girlfriends get fired up for spring/summer clothes (flouncy skirts, tiny t's and open-toed shoes) but for some odd reason I just love shopping in the fall. Maybe it's because I love back-to-school? I must be the only person who misses purchasing fresh notebooks and binders, pens, etc. Maybe it's because the fall is when lots of new jeans are introduced and everyone knows how I love jeans? Maybe all those years of living in New England rubbed off on me and I feel more comfortable buying coats and sweaters? I don't know why, and I don't really care. As far as I am concerned, fall shopping is the bomb, and this year is know exception!

Since school started, Benjamin and I have taken a few field trips to the mall for some quality mother-son bonding time. In return for chasing him around the play area, he patiently sits in his stroller while I browse the shops and on occasion try on cute finds. My favorite stop thus far has been Banana Republic. I love this little sweater dress! It's super cute with a t-shirt or turtleneck and tights - or jeans. I can't wait to wear this little number!

I also fell in love with a one-button cardigan, but don't have a photo of it.

And, how cute is this little shift dress (here on the left), which may make an appearance and Ken and Karen's nuptials in mid-October.

I just love fall, and I hope you do, too!