God Bless America

I previously discussed some of the packing instructions for Italy (Check it out here). I’ve begun thinking about the issue a bit more so I perused the “helpful” hints again. It turns out, I am not only supposed to bring any clothes whatsoever but also I shouldn’t “dress American.” Oh goodness.

At first I didn’t even know what that meant. I had no idea if I in fact “dress American.” I felt like I could fit right in with Londoners, I occasionally rock the white shirt with black bra, I carry a Louis Vuitton handbag… but I’m going to go ahead and say pretty American.

I read on. The instructions continued to explain what this supposed fashion statement was:

-White socks

-Jerseys

-Baseball Hats

-Fraternity/Sorority T-shirts…(which reminds me…How many sorority girls does it take to screw in a light bulb? 2: 1 to do it and a second to make a t-shirt for it. Just doesn't get old for me.)

-Fanny packs

-Tivas

OK so maybe I’m safe…

Nail Bitter

I’ve been thinking a lot about nail trends lately. At fashion week, so many designers played with fun nail polish colors like oranges and yellows, crazy designs and prints. I am not one to stray very far from dark blues and purples, but I am seriously thinking about considering it.

Here are some cool shots from the shows:

I also recent tried "Shellacking" for the first time (a different brand of the same thing is called gel polish) that claims to last for 2 to 3 weeks without chipping or losing its shine. I chose a deep purply blue for my toes; hopefully it’ll remain intact because it’s a bit more expensive.

I never thought about Minx before either. Minx is kind of like a high quality sticker. Some of them look kind of interesting, like the metallics. I’m not looking to plaster a crazy floral print or the face of some celebrity on each of my nails though. Hopefully it’ll come in a lovely dark blue color.

Life Is Like A Box of Chocolates

I was wandering through Macy’s the other day and spotted these gems:

Ah yes, M&M has decided to invade the jewelry world as well as the sweet one. And more crucially, Macy’s endorsed it? I won’t be looking to rock the tacky treats anytime soon...but I did stumble across them after reading terrible, terrible news about chocolate just a few days before.

It turns out the world is consuming way too much chocolate—way more than the farms can produce. According to this article, 20 years down the line chocolate will be like caviar, a pricey treat.

Maybe I should have snagged that necklace after all…

Boots

After what feels like months of shopping; I have finally found some over the knee boots (well actually two pairs, thank you for sale + additional 20% off Macy’s!). One of my favorite looks is a high sock popping just above the boots. And more than anythingelse, these boots keep you extra warm.

Here is one of the pairs I purchased:

These ones are Chinese Landry.

I am pretty thrilled about both pairs. But on my trip home it seems one trend has taken over the city by the bay: the new thing is Orange (for our champion Giants of course). Orange t-shits (Fear the Beard), orange socks, orange headbands, orange everything. It's wonderful, even for us bandwagon jumpers.

On a different note, Boutiques.com finally launched yesterday. I've loved checking it out. After Jane from Sea of Shoes announced her participation with the project I've been waiting anxiously. It looks like it'll be a success.

OCS: Obsessive Compulsive Shopping

I love Alice + Olivia. Love, love, love. I think the brand has a nice variety of styles: some edgy, some girly, some weird, some everything. Sadly, my measly $11 an hour generally doesn’t cover much of the Alice + Olivia gear. So, I aggressively wait for sales. You know the drill, checking back on shopbop obsessively—as if new markdowns might pop up at 1 am.

I have been eyeing this dress all season and the sale FINALLY happened. I snagged the last small.

Breakfast of Champions

I learned that there is such a thing as bacon flavored soda a few days ago. Terrible. As if bacon weren’t bad enough for you, someone deemed it smart to transform it into a sugary can of diabetes!

I don’t really eat bacon, I get that it tastes good but what’s next here people? KFC flavored drinks? While I might not be anxious to guzzle America’s favorite breakfast food anytime soon, I’m certainly amused (and a tad terrified).

I particularly like Stoollala’s idea to transform this into the newest icing phenomena. Brilliant.

The Workout Dilemma

You see a lot of weird things in the gym these days. And some even weirder attire. Of course, I’m all for accepting tons of different types of styles because I don’t think there’s one way “good” way to dress. But sometimes I see some fashion choices in the gym that really just irk me.

I promise, I’m not being judgmental here. I’m a lulu lemon girl, but generally I don’t really care what I work out in and really am never trying to impress people during my morning workouts. But some things just don’t fly.

1.) Working out in jeans. No no no. I have seen this far more frequently than you might think. Why would you hop on the treadmill in jeans? I just don’t understand. They’re restricting, uncomfy and they look silly. Putting on shorts really doesn’t take that long.

2.) The girls that put make up on for the gym. Just no. It’s always super cute when girls sweat and their foundation streaks down their face, right?

3.) Seriously obnoxious outfits. I caught this runner the other day:

I suppose she does stand out amongst the haze of Pittsburgh. But those pants are a bit too intense. I did my best to snap her during sprints, so hopefully the photo does her spandex pants justice.

Check out lululemon for some gym-ready outfits.

Q&A

I’ve always enjoyed conducting interviews, especially when you talk to passionate people. My first official interview for a magazine story was with an amazing woman who founded a non-profit called Project Night Night. She was so enthusiastic about her organization and it was incredibly fun and easy to write the story afterwards.

This past week at Whirl I had the opportunity to interview Martin Yan, of Yan Can Cook! He’s by far the most famous person I’ve even interviewed. Of course, I was given about 15 minutes notice to prep for the interview, leaving me a bit nervous about what I would talk about with the celebrity chef. But it ended up going swimmingly—I’m excited I pulled that one off. I got ten minutes with him, but he didn’t seem to care that our interview went over 20. And to top it off, I got to dial a bay area number, oh how I’ve missed you San Francisco.

A condensed portion of the Q&A will be published in the January issue of Edible Allegheny.

Bags

I've been on the hunt for a new book-bag lately. My Longchamp has somehow aquirred questionable stains, several holes and a general "grubby factor." I've been hoping to mix it up, as everyone seems to have the Longchamps these days.

A few weeks ago I spotted the most fabulous over-sized bag I have ever seen in the NYC subway. I had to actively stop myself from chasing the innocent, yet oh-so-edgy, girl down to ask her about it. I thought I caught a glimpse of a Marc by Marc tag, but extensive internet searches have failed to reproduce that navy patent beauty.

I've slowly been getting more and more sad about this and have started to wonder if perhaps it was a mirage.

In the meantime, I have stumbled across some other "nice" bags from Bloomingdales, although none will ever compare.

Marc Jacobs

Burberry

Marc By Marc Jacobs

Elie Tahari

Ralph Lauren