Ciao for Now!

I haven't had much time to blog this week or check everyone else's as I've on a bit of a "Roman holiday". Von G has had relatives visiting from Italy this week and seeing as how they don't speak english and Von G's family doesn't speak italian, except his father a little bit, I have been relegated to the role of translator.  Parle italiano?  

It's a long story but to cut to the chase, Von G's family did not know that his Italian cousins existed until a few years ago, when his brother went to Italy for spring break and decided to look up the little town of Allatri where their grandparents came from. Turns out part of the family is still there and after 2 years of emails,  they now came here to visit and everyone's reunited after a generation!  Che bella! 

We've been doing some shopping(exchange rate for the Euro, bene!, and they want to buy iPhones but the damn Apple stores are out of them), sightseeing, and tomorrow the zoo!  See you all after the weekend! Ciao!

Italian flag purse photo: Polyvore

La Bohème

This dress was a bit of crapshoot as I ordered it from Ebay and was a bit nervous of the whole outcome of the transaction since it was from Thailand.  However, I am pleased to say that it arrived timely and in perfect comparison to the photo that was shown in the listing! I had fallen in love with the paisley, bohemian pattern of the fabric and decided it needed to be part of my summer wardrobe.  It arrived this morning and voilà!

P.S. They threw in a free pair of dangly earrings!

Dress, Ebay; Big bangle, F21; Bangles, India; Sunnies, F21; Shoes, Michael Kors; Belt, unknown origins; Red toenails, Keys to My Karma, OPI

She's a Lemon Freak, Lemon Freak, Lemon Freakkkaayy

I love and worship anything remotely lemon. I will eat, slather on, bathe in, smell, roll in, inhale, inject, snort, all things lemon!  After being a devotee of C.O. Bigelow lemon bath products for sometime, my darling Germanic sister-in-law who is the biggest product junkie I know, introduced me to Hello Sugar! body lotion at Bath and Body Works.   Let me just say, Heaven In a Bottle! It smells just like lemon cake. And it shimmers!  My mouth waters so whenever I put it on. I just couldn't take it anymore so I found a recipe for Barefoot Contessa's lemon cake today and went ahead and baked it up even though I hate baking.  My lotion come to life in a cake, delicious!  I could have piggily devoured the whole thing if I didn't keep reminding myself about the upcoming bathing suit season.(I'm in trouble though, the recipe made two.)  Next thing to look forward to, the homemade lemon ice cream Mommy makes for me when she comes to visit during the summer. If you have any lemon things I should try let me know!

Jumper, Urban O; Shirt, Banana; Knee Socks, Chinese Laundry; Shoes, Jessica Simpson; Sunglasses, Oliver Peoples

5/28

I apologize for my lack of posts lately.  It's just been so darn busy!  This is one of the most comfortable dresses that I own, so comfy that it runs the risk of looking like a nightgown.  Sometimes I belt it to combat the nighty-ish and tent like shape.  But not today, today was all about the comfort.

Dress, Joie; Shoes, Michael Kors; Headband, F21; Scarf, Urban O; Sunglasses, Ralph Lauren

Everything Old is New Again

It seemed that on this errand and chore filled day everything I wore was old stuff that I dug out of my closet for a classic white shirt and jeans combo. The watch was a gift from Von Goeller years ago on our first Christmas together. The jeans are still one of my favorites that I got a few years ago when skinny jeans were becoming the rage again. And the shirt is also a pick form a couple years previous. The shoes are a pair I found at Marshall's also a few years ago, a rare find as platforms were not on the shelves yet but I loved 'em.  And late tomorrow night I'll be heading to sunny days, chasing the clouds away, on my way to where the air is clean....yes THE BEACH! Woo-hoo, the opening weekend of the season, Memorial Day! I'll be away and won't get to post until after the holiday so I'll see you then. Hope you all have fun plans too, Happy Memo Day!!!!

Jeans, Diesel; Shirt, Theory; Shoes, Nine West; Watch, Tag Heuer; Bangle, vintage; Sunglasses, I don't know;

Ahoy Matey

I've been a bad, bad girl, I've been careless with a delicate blog.  And it's a sad, sad world when a girl can break a blog just because she can. What I need is a good defense cause I'm feeling like a criminal and I need to be redeemed to the one I've sinned against because it's all I ever knew of blog.

  Sorry, I just haven't had the time to blog lately and still don't. Hopefully in another day or two I will. For now, here is an outfit from last week when the weather was still normal. 

Dress, H&M; Sweater, Trina Turk; Bag, Anthropologie; Shoes, Kenneth Cole; Sunnies, RayBan

Tally Ho

Monday was the coldest its been for like 100 years for this time of year so I had to bundle up.  Before you say anything, they are NOT lame or latex, so I'm not a whiny hypocrite. They're a pair of spandex bike-like leggings that I got at H&M this past fall.  And the bag is a find that almost ranks up there with Rantings of a Fashion Addict's Hermes scarf, but not quite as thrilling.  This bag is a Pierre Balmain that I found last week at a thrift store for $3.00.  It's in perfect condition although it's not the most exciting design but it does have the logo.  A good plain classic go-to.  

And on another note the fabulous Miss Fashion Ivy has tagged me.  I've already done the 5 things except for 5 impressions so I'll do those.

1. She has an incredible sense for what's stylish

2. She's exceptionally talented at assembling photo rich posts

3. She's dedicated to her blog

4. She's a Gossip Girl fan

5. She loves her mama

Blazer, Barney's New York Vintage; Shirt, Men's Arrow; Scarf and leggings, H&M; Boots, Aerosoles; Bangle, India; Bag, Balmain vintage

Under the Grand Chapiteau

(The amazing contortionists from my last post)

Okay, now that I have a little more time I can expound more on my Cirque du Soleil experience and bore you with the details that you truly cannot appreciate until you see the show.   As I said, we went to see Kooza, which is one of the latest of several themes for the Cirque shows.(Now I want to see them all!)  My father saw the LOVE, the Beatles themed show in Vegas a few weeks ago and said it was superb too. ( If my hearing didn't fail me he mentioned something about it reminding him of a particular trippy substance, he was a beatnik after all.)  

Evidently Kooza is about getting back to the roots or origins of Cirque which is just what I was reminded of.  I felt like I was viewing an antiquated version of a European-like circus show harkening back to the earlier part of the century.  Kooza comes from the Sanskrit 'koza' meaning box, translating into 'circus in a box'.   There's a whole story behind it but I won't befuddle you with it. (Cirque, Kooza link) I was transfixed just by the sublimely transitioning music which seemed to me a mix of middle eastern, jazzy, and french. (In fact I am planning on ordering the soundtrack.)

Being somewhat of a costumie´r  myself,(I sew and costumes seem to be my forte much like Chris March from Project Runway, oh god!) I was in awe of the artful ensembles, again hastening images of a vintage detailed whimsical storybook.   The rich colors, details, and cuts were incredible.  The magician/pickpocket's suit reminded me of a cross between a 1970's bell bottom leisure suit and a 1920's bespoke, quite dapper really!(And not him below.  That is the Trickster)

There was of course the usual suspects, a trapeze artist, tightrope walkers, contortionists, clowning, acrobatics, juggling, a unicyclist, and balance extrodinaire, but yet it seemed like anything but a circus.  The finesse and artfulness with which each piece was played made it more of a grandiose performance than a "circus". The wheel of death was a more modern take on the traditional act, but still an intergral part of  the exposition at large and testament to the amazing agility of the performers.

 As you can tell by my gushing blather, I was completely smitten.  It has so many elements that I love.  European flavor(I'm a wanna-be Euro trash, and would happily pack up tomorrow if someone handed me a key to an apartment in Munich or Paris), early century aesthetics(I have always wanted to be born around 1900-1910 time frame if I could pick another time period to live in), and musical whimsy(music is a dear obesession co-existing right next to my shoes and my books). The same elements of "Cabaret", another favorite, but in a completely different context,i.e. you wouldn't see kiddies there.  (I drug Von Goeller to this quite a few years ago and I think he would've crawled up the aisle and left 15 minutes into it if he could've.)  

I think I need to go and join Cirque du Soleil.  What could be my talent since my singing makes people plug their ears and I'm about as flexible as a redwood tree?  Hmmmm, I'll have to get back to you on that.  Bienvenue and bonne nuit!

P.S. One of the employees of Cirque left a comment on my last post.  How cool is that? He said Kutchy and Demi were at the opening of the show.

KooZa!

I spent my Saturday doing something completely unexpected and completely spectacular.  Von Goeller went and surprised me with tickets to Cirque du Soleil since its traveling caravan has landed in our little neck of the woods.  Talk about an unbelievable circus!  Actually it transcends a circus.  It's an environment of ambiance, music, mood, and entertainment.  The theme we saw was called "Kooza".  If you haven't yet been to a Cirque du Soleil show, I highly recommend it.  The contortionists were amazing and when she made her legs dance circles around her head it grossed me out a bit yet I couldn't avert my eyes, reminding me of the early 1900's when people were transfixed by freak show vaudevillians. 

We followed it up with dinner at a quaint little spot, La Viola, and noshed on homemade Italian gnocchis.  What a perfect Saturday! 

My outfit was my own version inspired by a fall pic of Ashley O.  I think my skirt has a bit more pouf and the top a bit more boobage.  Those pesky things always in the way.

Tee, H&M; Skirt, Nordstrom junior; Tights, Vera Wang; Belt, Linea Pelle; Bag, Balenciaga; Shoes, Nine West; Gold and black bracelet, Urban; Bangles, India

Nicole's Favorite Accessory(And It's Not Her Balenciaga Bag!)

Since I'm such an ardent admirer of Nicole Richie's style, I of course take note of every little thing she wears. There is one thing that I've realized has been in most of her pics, a constant presence if you will. Something she doesn't leave home without......

The Starbucks cup!

(She's even got Joel in on the action too!)

In the Clutches of Clutches

Here are a few of my recent thrifty purchases.  Since big clutches seem to be of the moment right now I couldn't pass up these two for a few bucks.  I liked the chevron pattern and color of the blue one.  And the other is red suede that I've already used a few times.    Now I just need a white one and I'll be patriotic.

It Was Cinco De Mayo!

This is what I hastily threw on yesterday morning to set out on  my long day of hunting down pieces for a client.  It wasn't until later on when Von Goeller called me to pick up some Mexican food for dinner that I realized it was Cinco de Mayo and I had on my mexicanish peasant top!  What a coinky-dink.  Thank goodness for Baja Fresh as I usually cook a few mexican specialties for dinner on Cinco de Mayo, but couldn't have yesterday if you paid me a million bucks as I was absolutely spent.  We had some sabroso ensaladas, tacos cammorones, and veggie burritos.  Gracias Baja Fresh, gracias Dos Equis!

Top, Target; Jeans, Levis; Scarf, H&M; Shoes, Michael Kors

More Shiny Legged Ladies

More pics to the add to the growing list of the latex/lame trendonistas. It's everywhere I look.  I can't get away from it. I am comforted however by others comments that they too, are going to miss the jump on this train.  I don't feel so latexly alone anymore!

I Bestow Upon Thee Koenig Von Goeller

Because I am tired of coming up with saccharin sweet aliases for my partner in crime, I am hereby decreeing his new name: Von Goeller, a nickname I dubbed a few years ago in reference to his German heritage, but that which he denies since he is also half Italian, and owns an Italian restaurant. That's all the more I'm going to say since he has respectfully requested that I not make his life public fodder as I have mine. So henceforth whenever HE is mentioned it will be as "Von Goeller"!

And speaking of Von Goeller, what the scheisse?! He has actually beat me to a trend I'm  looking to revive from my grungy days, the eponymous Doc Marten boot.  I can't believe it, this is a first!  The sneaky little bugger went off and ordered a pair and didn't even tell me until I saw them sitting in his office.  I feel like a proud mama, watching her baby bird fly off after days of feeding him worms and coaxing him out of the nest.   Okay, not the best analogy but I don't give a schnit, you know what I mean.

And to while we're on the topic of German royalty, here is King of Prussia.

Here's my King of Prussia.  I am truly tortured as I have to go the largest mall on the East Coast on a weekly basis for my one-on-one tutoring at the Apple Store.

Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Ferragamo, the Nordstrom shoe department, Neiman's, Versace, Bloomy's.  All the temptations and store windows just begging me to drop on in and scoop something up.  It's too much for a girl to contend with week in, week out!  Thanks for nothing Steve Jobs!  The impressive, thoughtful support on your wonderful products, it could cost me a bundle!

Latex-less?

I have seen a trizillion pics of celebrities from the Olsens to Fergie to Rachy B. sporting the latex/lame legging look.  I thought they looked muy caliente and I was looking for a way to inject that dose of style into my wardrobe but sadly it was not to be.  I tried a pair on at AA a week or two ago and all I can say is "blechhh!". I felt the shiny material magnified any fat on my legs times one hundred.  However, after reading a ton of blogs I am even more envious because everyone else was able to pull them off.  I am destined to be alone in my latex-free environment.  So for all you shiny legged lovelies above, I'll just have to live vicariously through you.

Freeze, You're Tagged Quirky Jerky

(Look he's a style icon even today)

Since the lovely Miss Whimsical Nerd tagged me, I've been thinking extra hard about this post.  I mean really, I have no quirks, I'm perfectly normal, sane, and flawless.  Yeah right!  I have more quirks than this list can handle but I'll delineate some of the top ones and let you all into my dark, maze like cranial region. 

Here are the rules:
1. Link the person who tagged you.
2. Mention the rules in your blog.
3. Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours.
4. Tag 6 following bloggers by linking them.
5. Leave a comment on each of the tagged bloggers' blogs letting them know they've been tagged

Quirks:

1. Sticker Phobia - It's more of an intense OCD dislike than phobia.  I've had it my whole life but never copped to it until a few years ago when I decided I was too old too care if people thought it was weird.  I refuse to peel price tags off anything or touch anything sticker like.  I hate it, it skeeves me.  Anything in my house that I've bought sits there with price on until someone else peels it off, namely honey-buns.  Same goes for gifts I'm giving etc...I make him do the dirty deed.  As a child I hated when stickers were given out as prizes.  Don't ask me because I don't know.  Same goes for wet paper.  I use to wretch and even sometimes vomit if I saw kids eating paper or making spit balls.  Forget about it if paper gets in my sink!

2.I like my steak bloody rare but my chicken extremely well done.

3.  I never cook the same thing twice.  I love trying new recipes and seem to forget all about the ones that turned out well.  It's actually become a bone of contention between honey-buns and myself because when he enjoys something he wants to see it again which rarely happens.  He's made a point of telling everyone too!

4. I can still wear my baby ring.  This is because my petite little hands are approximately the size of a nine year old's and so I wear my baby ring on my pinky finger.  Ditto, my blood pressure.  It is that of a three year old's, which for a grown-up is near corpse like.  The nurses always like to check it twice since I seem to be alive before their very eyes.  That's why I get so nappy in the afternoons.  At least that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

5. I used to have a crush on Schneider from "One Day at a Time" when I would watch it with mommy on rerun afternoons.  And I wanted Valerie Bertinelli's hair.  

6.  I could spend my entire day in Barnes and Noble or any other worthy bookstore or library. We have a fantastic independent one here called "Chester County Book Company" and my fantasy is to be able to plant myself there for  a full eight hours  perusing books, magazines, and nothing else.

5 Things

5 Things Found In my Bag: a few magazines, pen and paper for when ideas, inspirations, or "I wants" strike, a custom curtain ring(one of my clients leftovers), a scarf, and a map

5 Things Found In my Purse: five pairs of sunglasses(I swear I'm not lying.  I have a problem with hordeing.)

5 Favorite Things In my Room: my booklight, my Brookstone wobble clock, Grandmama's easy chair that she used to rock me in when I was a wee toddler and I've since had reupholestered because I refuse to part with it, my better than Tempur-pedic mattress, shells from our last vacation in the Keys

5 Things I've Always Wanted to Do:  workout instead of saying I do, go to foreign cooking school, crew on a sailboat in the Caribbean for five months, buy everything in the book "101 Things to Buy Before You Die", stay in every Leading Hotel of the World

5 Things I'm Currently Into:  Trader Joe's trailmix, reading other people's blogs, The Deadliest Catch, Pinot Noir, figuring out if I want to break up with my hairdresser or not  6.One extra for good luck - acquiring that Ossie Clark dress that Wendy B. and Courtney Love have

1. Think of something we have to say for this decade. Weather its photography, runway, style or whatever. Something that is new to say for the world for the past 10 years.
2. Post it on your blog.
3. Tag 6 people and let them know on their blog

My take on this concept:  Everyone is determined to have their 15 minutes of fame.  When you look at all the ludicrous reality shows, the myspace/facebook pages, even our own blogs, we are attempting some form of recognition.  Why girls/guys would submit themselves to duke it out for one guy on "The Bachelor", Rock of Love, Flavor of Love, Tila Tequila what have you boggles my mind.  Would you date a guy knowing that he was dating 20 other girls?  And who could forget those wonderful shows, Temptation Island or Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire?  I think it also says one other thing.  We have become extremely voyeuristic.  For those watching those shows and better quality ones as well, one is looking for a peek into the unseen details of others lives.  I'm not saying this is negative/positive.  Just my observation.

Oooo-weeee, my brain hurts.

And now the taggees:

Dotti's Dots

Fashionable Obsessions

Stroll The Mind

The Vintage Society

Seams of Thought

Pensare Ancora

A few of these blogs I recently stumbled across but thoroughly enjoyed!

What I Heart in Harper's

Since I wasn't feeling so hot yesterday I basically layed around and did nothing but look at blogs and magazines. Firstly, one observation I made is that is every blogger a student but moi ? Gulp ....Anyway, I picked several things out of Harper's that caught my eye.  However, I have to apologize for the random sizes of the scans.  I never mastered the art of scanning and I really didn't feel like a redo, bless my imperfect little heart.  Anyone with suggestions or advice are welcome!  Resolutions, sizing, etc...

- Top we have the quintessential Eres bikini, a French Rivera staple. 

- Second, a Roberto Cavalli 70's reminiscent ensemble worthy of wide legged envy.  

-Thirdly, a Chloe dream dress that I can just picture Kate(Moss that is) waltzing down the street in.  

-Fourth is a tres bohemian, gypsyesque Gucci bag that I would gladly stuff my belongings in.    

 -Fifth we have a poor scan of three items that Jen Meyer would take on vacay and I would too: a Miss Davenporte polka dot tunic, her gold initial necklace(Nicole has an 'H' for baby Harlow), and a Shoshanna floral bikini. 

-Sixth makes me tremble with envy for even if I wanted to afford it I would never look as smokin' as this model does in the classic Hermes print bathing suit and caftan. 

-Seventh, the Chanel shoe minus the house arrest inspired ankle bag.  

-Lastly we have a dress from one of my all time favorite lines, Blumarine.  Ms. Anna Molinari makes bohemian, floral, and romantic look timeless, luxurious, and artful whether it is 'in' or not.  I can easily envision Talitha Getty wearing any one of her designs.   It seems anytime I see a dress that I can't live without, it's either Anna Molinari or Blumarine.

Pathetic scans, my own; Chanel shoe pic, Style.com

Bikin' and Bloggin'

After perusing some of my favorite blogs,  I was struck recently by the plethora of posts on bicycles, myself included.  What is it about the 2 wheeled pieces of steel and chrome that have caught our fancy? Is it the carefree feeling that comes as you pedal down the road, the old fashioned-ness that it connotates, or the images of childhood that bike riding conjures up?  Or maybe it's that we feel a wee bit green being able to touch the cherry trees and blades of grass that we coast by rather than being trapped in  our two ton pollution creating automobiles.  Or possibly we just like to look cool, sporting a flip little skirt or a pair of unpractical shoes  and letting the breezes push our hair back ever so slightly. I have often coveted the brand new beach cruisers out there with cool leopard print, flames, or Hello Kitty motifs. I almost cave in and buy one but then I look at my turquoise 1950's Schwinn and think that I can hold out just a little longer.  I like that my bike has a history and that it has carried someone else somewhere else that I can only imagine.  Plus it looks super stylin' with just a hint of rust. So I'll probably just keep collecting my vintage garage and flea market bikes and wonder when the day will come when they're no longer enough.  Check out some of the other blogs below and their bike-love. 

And just in case you have some extra dough burning a whole in your pocket, you can always splurge on the designer Chanel bicycle. It'll set you back $12G's but who's counting when it's Chanel right?

Painfully Hip

Elle Loves Chic

Aurea

Fashion is Spinach under April 28 "yay Bikes"

Iron Chic(she wrote about riding a bike in a skirt)

Copenhagen Girls on Bikes

Shirt and Skirt, F21; Scarf, H&M; Tights, Ellen Tracy; Boots, Enzo; Trike, Radio Flyer; Bike, old 10 speed; Sunglasses, RayBan; dog chasing me in the background, naughty pug

Last Week Because I Was Late

I'm posting an outfit I wore one day last week because my photos of last night were few and did not come off well.  We went out to dinner with the 'rents and even though I was wearing a $180 BCBG Max Azria sweater dress that I got for $15  and red suede boots, snookums wouldn't cooperate with taking pictures because we were running a few minutes late.  "Hurry up, my parents are waiting!  We don't have time for this!"  So I attempted a few poses as we ran through the parking lot but it didn't really work.  So you can thank him for depriving you of last night's ensemble. No hard feelings sweetie!

Tunic, F21; Leggings, Vera Wang: Shoes, Target; Scarf, Oscar de la Renta; Bangles, vintage

Pop Culture Moron

I have a confession to make: I don't watch much tv.  In fact, up until two years ago I did not have cable for several years.  I figured I had better things to do than sit glued to the tube which I was.  People looked at me like a circus freak when I proclaimed that I was cable free.  Then on a lazy week's visit to my bro out in Seattle I discovered that I enjoyed the Wild Boyz marathons so much that I caved in to my couch potato inclinations and promptly ordered cable upon my return.  I have since returned to tv-less ways more or less, save for the sporadic Project Runway, Top Design etc.. 

Why am I telling you all this?

Well, after reading Wendy B's post on an NYC excursion I commented on it.  I told her to stop in at The Palace Hotel next time she visits St. Pat's Cathedral as it is right across the street.  It's my home away from home when I'm in the Big Apple.  It's a decadent little place.  Imagine my surprise last night when I was laying in bed reading my Us Weekly and came across a spread on "Hot Spots of Gossip Girl" because right before my eyes was The Palace, which evidently Chuck's dad owns and Serena lives in.  I recommended the restaurant within, Gilt, which also has a sandwich named the "The Gossip Grill"(a grilled cheese), a fact I was also ignorant of.  After my comments, I felt like a complete moron since it seems that everyone and their mother tune into G-Girl.  All I know is that I love having breakfast in bed while I overlook the spectacular St. Patrick's and Madison Avenue and that doorman always remembers me from the last visit. And that I can stumble out the door and be at Saks within 45 seconds.  So forgive me my lack of boob tube knowledge.  I guess I'm going to have to tune in now... Oh sigh, another unnecessary commitment....