*Sigh* Happy, Happy!

Well the US Open is over so my life can get back to normal now...

I didn't have time to post ('cause I was busy sitting on the couch) but a wonderful package arrived a few days ago.  I opened it to find this:

Oh happy day, one of my favorite words, Prada!  Just the name makes me happy.  I LOVE her (their) designs, I love the clothes, the shoes, the handbags, the Roger Federer commericals, everything!  My very first piece of Prada was a backpack that Brian bought for me before we went to England back in 2003 or so.  He'd never been there and we were going to have a grand adventure.  I decided I needed something for my carry on items and he was feeling generous.  Look at it, it's so pretty, sigh.

 Now, granted when we bought it new at Saks it cost something like a grand, BUT I've had this thing for 8 years now and I've taken it to England, France, Egypt, Cancun, and all over the US and it looks as good as the day I bought it!  That my friend is quality.  It is form and function (and its pretty.)  I now have a few Prada purses as well as, some jewelry, clothes, and a few pairs of shoes.  

I'm not sure why I like designer wear, it's not really that I see the celeb's wearing it and I want it.  It's more like a gut craving when I see the style.  I also have various things (clothes, shoes, handbags, jewelry) from Dolce & Gabbana, Burburry, Manolo Blahnik, Jimmy Choo, Kate Spade, Diane von Furstenburg, Gucci, Fendi, Badgley Mischka and various other more accessible designers like Michael Kors, Donna Karan, Coach, LAMB, etc.

I didn't buy them all at once, of course, I've collected them over the years and, a lot of the time, waited for sales.  Nordstroms has a half off sale twice a year and you there are also great deals on line.  I know some people think it's a waste of money but everyone wastes money, it just depends on what you waste it on.  Why go to Wal-Mart and buy a cheap pair of shoes you have to replace every month when you can spend a bit more upfront (or a lot more) and have shoes that will last you a lifetime.  Sure styles come & go but if you are going to spend $1000 on something you are going to make sure it is timeless.  Like my favorite Prada backpack, still going strong all these years later.

Back to my silver box that came in the mail....

I ordered these shoes from BeyondtheRack.com.  They were having a major sale and I got them for $125 I think, they were originally $350 or so.  

Pretty, practical, & Prada! ;-)  Notice the card next to the shoes in the picture above.  All real (aka non-fake) designers have authentication cards with each item they sell so that you know it isn't a knock-off.  I know lots of people buy fake designer wear for whatever reason but not me.  I have many reasons for this from the fact that those fakes are made by kids who get paid 30 cents a day to the fact that these designs are copyrighted.  Don't get me started, it's one of my biggest pet peeves seeing people walking around with Proda, Channel, or Coach & Louis Vitton with the wrong logo's!

Anyway, these are the things I splurge on.  Everyone needs rewards in their lives.  If you want something designer save up, find a sale, or get a rich relative to buy it for you! ;-)  If you choose wisely you will have pieces that you can use for years and that will never go out of style (or at least you will be able to count on it coming back in!)

Hellloooo

I know, I'm a slacker but I have a good excuse.  The US Open is on, all my spare time is devoted to watching tennis.  Granted, I could be sitting on the couch and still working on my laptop but then I might miss something important... ok, ok, I have the matches on Tivo so I could rewind but that wouldn't be the same either!

We are down to the quarter finals so things are wrapping up and I promise to get back in the groove.

In the meantime, have you seen some of the cute & not so cute dresses the girls are wearing:


Maria Sharapova looking very classy--too bad she lost.














Maria lost to Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, she was looking snappy in a Stella McCartney for Adidas outfit.

Here are a few of the other girls: Victoria Azarenka--she passed out on the court and had to be taken off in a wheelchair, very dramatic.

Ana Ivanovic made a pretty good run, she won the French Open a few years ago then dropped off the rankings, now she is working her way back.

Jelena Jankovic is slightly annoying to watch but she has great fashion sense.  She's started wearing clothes by a company out of China that doesn't seem to be distributed in the US yet.

You can't tell in this picture but this purple looks pretty cool on TV.

Finally, Venus Williams, she got it a bit of trouble at the French for wearing spankies (the shorts under the dresses) that wear flesh toned.  If you just got a glance it does seem a bit revealing but once you realize they are shorts, who cares!  Here is the controversial picture:

At the US Open she has worn a couple of different dresses this one was also kinda controversial because it was REALLY sparkly when she played under the lights in her night match.  So much so, that the commentators were talking about the fact it could be distracting her opponent.  She wore this same dress in red during the day matches.  Interestingly enough, her spankies this time are black but they also have sparkles on them.  When she finishes a long rally this dress was up almost past her waist so it's a good thing she was wearing something under there! ;-)  She designs her own clothes through her company Eleven.

Well, we shouldn't leave out the boys, there are some weird outfits out there... Novak Djokovic for one, he has crazy dragons and crap on his clothes lately... I don't get it.  I couldn't find a good picture of it, but I did find a nice one of him without a shirt. ;-)

Lastly, the two main hotties (in my opinion) Rafael Nadal & Roger Federer.  Rafa always has the newest, coolest Nike wear and Roger always has very classy--made just for him--Nike wear.  This shirt Rafa is wearing is HOT, you can't tell in the picture but it looks like it has darker stripes then a touch of green, whew!

Here they are:

Oh, one last note... Maria Sharapova is designing her own shoes and handbags with Cole Hahn.  I'm sure you noticed that she is no longer wearing Nike tennis shoes on the court.  It took me forever to find out that she is wearing her own design (with Cole Hahn) that is why there isn't a Nike stripe!

First Day Postscript

So... 3rd toe on my left foot is slightly numb... not a big deal but it does mean I'm out of shoe shape.  This happens occasionally when the shoes are too tall or you wear them too far.  Once, after my step-sister's wedding one of my toe's was numb for THREE MONTHS.  Those were stupid shoes, they were cheap & thin and spindly and I did not even like them.

Anyway, Brian (my husband) said maybe that's a sign to wear flats on Wednesday.  Oddly, whenever I come to him and say "which shoes do you like with this outfit" he ALWAYS picks the highest heels... men, yeesh. ;-)

First Day

Everyone on FB is posting up their kids first day of school picture so I'm posting mine up too!  Accept that it's me and not my kid... cause my dogs don't have to go to school... anyway... here is my first day outfit, please note the bracelet!

Ok the bracelet is hard to see but it is the Ben Amun coin bracelet I was talking about and upon further inspection I think some of the coins are real and some of them aren't.

Also the shoes, Nine West strappy numbers.  Was going to wear some really cute Carlos Santana gold shoes but they really hurt and it was the first day so I need to break my feet in slowly.  I've had these a couple of years they are are variety of browns with a wooden heel.  They are kinda like these:














Nine West are sometimes my go to comfy shoes, I have about 10 different pair of Nine West.  I don't know why they are comfy to me but they are.  I've had some of them so long I can't even find pictures of them any more... but here are a couple I did find:


I have these in black.

These in black.

These in red.













These in cream.













And several paris of strappy ones that I can't find anymore.  What can I say we knew I was an addict, btw I was looking for these pictures and found these which I totally want now too! ;-)

Sidenote

I dislike bergamot, whatever the hell it is.  I tried to like this new Bliss vanilla and bergamot stuff and it isn't happening.  I'm pretty sure it gives me a headache.  Ok, honestly, the same week I started using it I hit myself in the head with a tennis racquet but I don't think that had any effect... I'm pretty sure.  AND I'm totally healed from the head wound (I had to wear purple eye shadow on the right eye to make it look like the already purple left eye).
Back to the lotion... every time I put on the lotion I'd have a headache within the hour, I'm delicate and sensitive and bergamot must go!
For Sale: 1 tube of Bliss vanilla + bergamot lotion, slightly used, cheap, going fast!

Here is a picture from a couple years ago when I hit myself in the mouth with a racquet.. I don't recommend doing that either.

NICE!

SCORE!

So a couple of weeks ago I ordered a Ben Amun by Issac Manevitz coin bracelet from ideeli (more on them in a minute) and it just arrived today.

Yesterday, I was flipping through the August InStyle Magazine and guess what I saw on page 120.  One of their "instant style" pieces features the exact bracelet I just got in the mail!  When I was looking at the mag I recognized it but didn't know if it was really the same or not but yes, it is!

Now, I would never wear it with the outfit they put together--much too conservative for me... and cargo pants, seriously, not unless I move to the Hampton's or Africa!

Here is a tiny picture of the bracelet I found on-line but the one I got is all gold coins.  Honestly, they aren't really coins (I don't think) but stamped reproductions but hey, they are still cool.  Mine are lira, francs, and a Canadian dollar.






Now about ideeli, if you've never heard of ideeli.com, beyondtherack.com, hautelook.com, guiltgroup.com, etc you are missing out.  They are all discount, on-line only, boutiques.  Again, my friend Shannon sent me an invite to ideeli and I shop there a lot.  Some of them are better than others both in price and in choice but you never know what is going to pop up.  They are member only organizations but the first level just requires you to sign up, higher levels (meaning you get to shop before everyone else) cost money.  Although I've been promoted on ideeli a couple of times (for free) because I'm such a good customer. ;-)

I know some people are leery of buying on-line but I haven't had any problems.  One time I got a dress that was too small and I returned it.  Another time I got a pair of earrings that were broken and I returned them.  There are a couple of draw-backs.  A lot of the time they are final sales, meaning if you order the wrong size too bad they won't take it back.  Also, when there are big brands (i.e. Prada, Dolce, etc) they obviously go quick and if you are the free level of member everything might be gone by the time you can log in.  Sometimes, they take forever to arrive, a couple places ship THREE WEEKS after the final sale so it could be a month before you get what your ordered. Lastly, sometimes the prices aren't that great so you have to know what you are looking at or not care if you could save $10 somewhere else.

Handbags & jewelry are the easiest to buy from these places because you don't have to worry about fit.  Shoes usually run true or they mention that they run a half size smaller or whatever.  The problem with shoes is that you don't get to try them on to see if you can REALLY stand in them much less walk in them or to see if they are painful in anyway.  I've only ordered one pair that I almost (almost!) can't wear.  They are definitely sitting down looking pretty shoes, not activity shoes!  Ironically, they were a pair of LAMB's and usually I love Gwen Stefani's shoes and they are amazingly easy to wear but not these puppies they are uber tall and uber hard to walk in.  I can't find a picture anywhere but I'll snap a photo sometime and post it up.  These are kinda similar but they look much easier to walk in!

One last word on these on-line boutiques, do NOT sign up for them without letting me know first!  I get a credit for asking you to join. ;-)

Shoe Revisit

So, the strappy denim heels that I bought for back to school... just found something to wear them with!  Brian & I went out for our anniversary (yes it really has been 14 years) and I wore them with a new Hale Bob dress I bought on-line.  (Which reminds me to mention on-line shopping in the future.)

So here are the shoes incase you forgot:

They look black here but they are really dark blue straps and a dark blue texture on the platform.
Here is the whole outfit:

Again they look dark in the photo but in real life they complimented the blue in the dress.  AND they were super easy to wear.  Looking at them you see the thin heel and think, hmm spindly, but really the platform makes them easy to walk in.  Platforms help give you stability and balance while also giving you height... that's why they always come back into fashion (or rarely go out) is because women like to wear them over spindly, pointed, thin shoes.  Look at a pair of Louboutin's they are way solid and therefore way easy to walk in.

Bonus about these shoes, btw, the ankle strap hits perfectly where my sock-line tan is from tennis. ;-)  Anyone that knows me knows I have perpetual tan lines around my ankles from tennis!