Our Relaxing Christmas Day

After all the rain we've had lately, Christmas day was warm and sunny, just like it always is here in LA and we had the family over to our house wherein we surprised both my niece, Delilah and my mom with brand new bicycles ...and while my mom was the most excited, I think Delilah will grow to love hers as well. We had a wonderful Christmas this year, all the way around ...and it's still going. The husband won one of his fantasy football leagues a few days ago and went out and bought a new 3d Sony TV for our game room {as if we don't have enough flat screens in the house, lol}. Hopefully I'll get a chance to photograph all our goodies {with my new camera/lens YAY} and share the fun with you all. And while my brain is thinking about {not posting} on this blog about as much as my husband thinks about sex {ALOT}, I'm quite enjoying my little break. In fact, I spent the entire day at my mom's yesterday doing nothing but sitting around chatting ....all. day. long. It was nice.

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Twas the night before Christmas...

these photos were taken after we returned home ...the sleepies from the food and drink coma in full effect



What I'm Wearing ...it's actually a version of this outfit but with gray accents vs brown

* MYNE Ashly Ann white trapeze tank blouse from GILT with black tank under. And since the entire outfit was loose and un-body-con, I had to pump up the cleavage for the husband ;)
* Vintage Bill Kaiserman blazer/jacket {my absolute favorite - I've had it for at least 8 years}
* Vintage nylon pants ....tag says S.G. Sport Collection. I pegged the bottoms to cinch them in a bit with my Hem Gems
* Rosegold gray boots also from GILT ...which have indeed become my favorites of the moment. I just pull them on with everything it seems. {BlueFly has the brown pair available}
* gray feather earrings ...my mom got these for me last Christmas actually ...I think they're from Forever 21
* OPI nail polishes: One coat of You Don't Know Jacques! with a coat of My Private Jetover it

The husband has banned me from blogging this week ...insisting that I needed a break. And he's right. I do need a break. I need to collect my thoughts, reflect, open my eyes to new inspiration and get back to why I started blogging in the first place. But it's hard to stay away really. {I miss you guys}

So instead of a complete withdrawal from my internet life, I've decided to just remove all my self-imposed "blogging rules" and post whatever and whenever I get around to it ...for this week anyway. Besides, who's gonna want to see Christmas photos next week ...right? ;)

Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and are taking it easy this week like we are. {and if you can't find me here, I'm always on Twitter}






As tradition goes, Christmas Eve is always spent with my dad's side of the family and Christmas day with my mom's. And this year was no exception. Here are some photos of our night ...I only wish I had more. {you may be able to see more holiday photos from my family tagged in Facebook if you're following me, just fyi}

* Merry Christmas *

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holidays, christmas, family, family photos

Christmas at our Place : Tabletop & Decor

Even though we hung our Christmas lights up the week before Thanksgiving AND got our tree the day after, it's taken me quite a while to put the finishing touches on the inside of our house. Call it procrastination or laziness or too busy with everything else BUT I finally finished ...and I just love it.

So here's a little peek inside our home if you're interested ...and for the sake of not overloading one post with a hundred photos, I've created nice little slide shows for you.





And now for my dining room tabletop centerpiece - because I just couldn't stop taking photos, it needed it's very own slide show.

I'm sort of the queen of reusing things from around the house to decorate with. In fact, when I have a color scheme in mind, I literally walk around the house grabbing anything in the hue, including jewelry ;)

the goods

You may notice my centerpiece includes little velvet Tiffany blue boxes with tassels that once hung above our bed in our condo, became storage for my jewelry and now reside in our laundry room, the succulents from the game room, the three cake stands I used for Thanksgiving desserts as well as the vintage silver and crystal candle sticks I used for my haunted Halloween tabletop and Thanksgiving. The purple feather tree with random peacock feathers {I think found at Target years ago but you could easily DIY it!} used to sit in the living room of our condo and the octagonal mirror set below our lamp in our old master bedroom as well. The pearls around the succulents were purchased at holiday time and are supposed to go on the tree ...but I've actually worm them as jewelry. And speaking of jewelry, I grabbed a few of my vintage rhinestone necklaces and wrapped them around the pine cones for some added sparkle! Not to mention saying "Pine cones with rhinestones" is really fun. I actually wanted to paint all my pine cones with with a touch of metallic silver on the ends but there just wasn't enough time. The seafoam crepe/satin runner with fringe is actually a scarf my mom made to match a dress in the late 60's {yes, we still have the dress too!}. I picked up the pretty woodland plate/tray by Rosanna from a GILT home sale a couple months ago and the table cloth from Crate & Barrel last year {mine is silver but there's a gold one here which is just as pretty!}

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Easy Holiday Hairstyles {video}

This was actually part of my How to Hot Roller your Hair tutorial but it was too long to include it ...so it works as a bit of a holiday hair tutorial video instead. Towards the end, I've recreated my "Messy Side Bun" but in the center so it's really just a "Messy Low Bun-Twisty-thing" but it's just as easy. Note: some mumbling and random crazed laughing may commence. Enjoy.

products I used

* Jumbo Bobby Pins (Brown)
* Good Hair Days Magic-Grip Plastic Hairpins
* HOLLYWOOD Small Bobby Pins (Brown)
* scunci MICRO Oval hair clips/Jaw Clip
* scunci 2cm CHUNKY Jaw Clips
* Bed Head TIGI Maxxed Out Hair Spray - 8.0 oz. {my favorite hair spray}

Voila!

  




Also note, this was a couple weeks ago. The striped look has calmed and blends much better now and looks much softer on a whole, though there are a few sections in the back that still bug me a little.

Happy Holiday Hair!

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Take em both & there ya have The Facts of Life

at the gallery

What I'm Wearing ...I'm so into grays and blues lately it's crazy!
* Marc Ecko men's {small} button down shirt purchased in Vegas while the husband was shopping
* Vintage gray sweater vest
* Calvin Klein very old denim pants ...it should be know that these lovely pants have been in my closet since I was about 19 - maybe 20. And while they are so very high waisted that they can only be worn with shirts over them, I still find that I wear them quite often. It should also be know that the zipper refuses to stay up ...another reason a longer shirt is a necessity. Yes, clothing malfunctions happen to the best of us.
* Burberry short trench coat ...definitely save up for a Burberry trench, or ask everyone to pitch in for one for Christmas because it's a fabulous wardrobe booster that will never go out of style ...but even if it does, it will come back. It's timeless and if you take care of it, you'll have it forever.
* Rosegold gray ankle boots quickly becoming a fave ...though I almost wore my Hunter rain boots but it just wasn't raining hard enough to justify them ...I got these boots on GILT and can't find them anywhere else, however, they have gone back on sale on gilt since I purchased them ...these little Joe's Jeans lace up gray boots are adorable!
* Vintage Gucci bag ...though my LV speedy probably would have looked better, I couldn't be bothered to change them out. My new DVF blue suede number may have been my favorite option, but it hasn't arrived yet.
* Vintage rhinestone necklace, not so vintage rhinestone earrings, my wedding band and engagement rings and a few stacking rings

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About three of my shots came out clear today {this was Friday actually} and only one in the rain. But the rain drops looked so cool in the photos {like snow} I had to use them. A day will come very soon I hope, that I will finally have a glorious camera that will take glorious photos. I thought I wouldn't need one but I am absolutely convinced now that I needed one about 2 years ago.

You see, the very impatient side of me loves being able to pull my car over on the side of the road, set my camera on various flat parts of my car, set the timer on my canon powershot and be done photographing my outfit in 5 minutes. This is the exact side of me that has been hesitant about getting a pro camera. But the perfectionist in me wishes every one of those quick outdoor shots were crisp, clear and usably perfect without having to photoshop them {especially when sometimes impatience takes over again & I do a poor job because I just need it DONE}. So Impatience will have to duel it out with Perfectionist once a tripod and a lens and setting up the perfect shot become part of the process. I'll letcha know how that goes in a few weeks ;). Hopefully swimmingly.

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A Chance to win a $250 Gift Card on Each Blog

  


If you didn't see my review about the new laptop BlogHer sent me OR take notice of my BlogHer sidebar, let me make it a little more clear:

BLOGHER IS GIVING AWAY LAPTOPS AND BEST BUY GIFT CARDS!

Leave a comment on each one of these blogs for a chance to win $250 to spend at Best Buy AND leave a comment on the main page explaining which feature of the Intel® Core™ i5 processor would help you do more faster and be entered to WIN A NEW LAPTOP! You have nothing to lose!

This is a compensated review by BlogHer and Intel.

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Hostess with the Mostest Gift Guide

* Return to Tiffany heart key ring $100 {for her house keys of course!} though I use my for car key
* Rainbow Chopsticks ~ Takashi Kamijo, 1994 $30
* Williams Sonoma scalloped cake stands $42 - $52



* Williams Sonoma Monogrammed Apothecary Jars $39.99 - %59.99
* Williams Sonoma Monogrammed footed candy dish $24.99 - $34.99
* Alessi Il Caffe Alessi Set of 4 Heart-Shaped Spoons $36 {I have one heart spoon & LOVE IT}
* not shown: HUGE SELECTION of Apothecary Jars & drink dispensers at Save-On Crafts



* Jonathan Adler coasters $68 {more colors available}
* Alessi coffee spoons $78 {each spoon is different!}
* West Elm Porcelain Petit Four Tray on sale for $36
* Le Creuset cookware Sale prices starting at $189, sets for $275



* Silver Votive holders at ZGallerie $7.39 {sale}
* Trio Beverage Dispenser at Z Gallerie $69.95 {I LOVE my drink dispenser!}

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Shimmy till my garters break & all that Jazz

What I'm Wearing
* Vintage sequined lapel black suit by Liz Elana ...seen here with stripes & cuffed pants and here with leopard & gold studs! NOTE: the husband HATES this suit. And the more he hates my outfits, the more I laugh and laugh.
* Vintage blouse was my grandma's {and one of my faves - I wore it to her funeral actually} ...seen here with gray jeans
* Boutique 9 Women's Twyla Pump
* Vintage Gucci handbag
* Hair curled instead of waved with the iron today. May just have to do a video for it actually.
* Title : lyrics from Liza Minnelli's "All That Jazz"

I obviously stole this vintage sequin lapelled suit from Liza Minnelli's closet this morning, and oddly enough had "jazz hands" all day.

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outfit, fashion, what to wear, what I wore, fashion blogger, liza minnelli, 80's, vintage suit, suit dressing, 80's suit, suit with sequins, shoes, hair, hair styling, beauty, women

My Boutique on Boutiques.com is Finally Up!

Find My Boutique Here ...and follow me! I had such a fun time choosing my favorites that I went well beyond what was necessary for set up. I tried to pick a great mix of high and low end items as well as extravagantly fun pieces mixed with every day basics {& oddly enough, quite a few little black dresses}! In fact, it was through searching Boutiques.com that I found my Alexander Wang Constance boots at such a great price! It's really a fun way to shop! AND you can create your own boutique as well ...if you haven't already, it's really a fun process.


Go to Boutiques.com for your very own personalized shopping experience and search celebrities, stylists, designers, and fashion bloggers featured collections ...CLICK HERE to check out my Boutique

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Alexander Wang Constance Ankle Boot Porn

* Eiffel Tower print by JKL Design *

When I first saw the Alexander Wang Addison platform boots with the BLUE toe, I almost died. I'm not gonna lie, I fell for them hard. But when push came to shove, and all the 2010 Wang boots went on sale {most probably because the heel is so damn high even I have a hard time walking in them}, I opted for the shorter ankle boot because I thought I'd get more wear out of them. However, when I got them {thank you UPS}, I realized that they had an almost identical toe seam & shape as my Velvet Angels Naked Lunch wedges. And though I will most likely keep them, I was hoping they'd be my go-to boots but because of the heel height, that just may not be the case. What kinda bums me out is every time I fork over the cash for designer shoes, they're too uncomfortable to wear and end up sitting in my closet {or on my magazine stacks} collecting dust. My Louboutin's as well as my Pierre Hardy's, most specifically fall into this category. I just figure if I'm going to pay for the shoes, I want to be able to wear them ...and not fall over in them.









But they're just so lovely! ...these little Constance booties are on sale just about everywhere right now BUT Madison Los Angeles has them for the least ...especially when you enter the code "shopaholic" and get an extra $60 off ... WHAT!??! I know, I freaked out too. {and I'm happy to support any shop in LA} ...but there are only 3 sizes left. Also, if you're like me, always size up in high-end designer shoes {and if you don't have a bum ankle that you refuse to go see the doctor for and love heels, these probably won't be a problem for you}. For now, I'm going to try them with Foot Petalsunder the balls of my feet to see if that helps.

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shoes, boots, ankle boots, alexander wang, platform boots, black leather boots, boot trends, amazing shoes