Happy Feet

I couldn't NOT share this find!  I will let the pictures/captions speak for themselves:

Stuart Weitzman Alex Wedge 

$365 at Piperlime

Mossimo Pam Wedge

$24.99 at Target

I got so excited that my 6 year old had to remind me we were actually at Target to buy a birthday present for his friend!

XOXO,

Marlene

Fashion Friday...Spring's Hottest Shoes

Allow myself to introduce...myself (what, you're not an Austin Powers fan?).  I'm Marlene.  Better known as the "Accessorize" portion of this blog.  Yes, I've been delinquent in my posts, but quite frankly, Rachel just does an outstanding job and I lost interest.  She begged me to do a Fashion Friday, so here I am.

I've been on a Spring shoe kick for the last week.  Here are my purchases:

Toms Ballet Flats

The only thing that bugs me is the gigantic TOMS label on the back.  I tried to remove it but it's impossible to do without wrecking the shoe. You can read more about my love for labels here. I'm actually wearing them today and they are VERY comfortable.  A word of advice...I normally wear a 6.5 so that's what I ordered, but I probably could wear a 6. 

Zigi Ruler sandal

I haven't received these yet but I just love the color and little studs. I also like the fact that it has a tiny heel so they aren't completely flat.  When If I decide to blog again, I'll let you know how they fit.

Sam Edelman Gigi sandal

If you don't own this sandal in at least one color then you are missing out. I bought the gold two years ago and have worn them to death.  And they still look GREAT! I did return this pair, though.  The ankle strap was too ivory for me and the thong strap was too glittery.  They come in a million colors and hold up really well.  

Yellow Box Auntie sandal

Are you seeing a theme?  Apparently, regular flip flops can aggravate bunions (sorry).  Having a strap holding the shoe on relieves some of the pressure on your toes.  I got these on sale and was totally pumped. I was even more pumped when I tried them on.  Then I noticed the medallions were sewed on with fishing line and one of the "lines" broke.  I'm trying to decide if I should ship them back or simply take them to a shoe shop.  I'm leaning toward repairing them because they were so cheap.  

And in my dream world....

Miu Miu Roccia Rope Wedge

If anyone would like to make a contribution so I can own these, I am more than willing to accept them!  

XOXO,

M

Never, Ever Again

A few weeks ago I wrote this post about coming up with the perfect baby gift. If I'd only known. Pinterest gets me in trouble. I see all these great photos and think to myself, "I can do that..." Well...sometimes I can't. Case in point:

A few weeks ago I saw this:

Tao of Craft

Adorable, right? I walked right into the trap. Printed out the directions, grabbed a few things from the store and I was on my way to making the cutest baby shoes ever.

Never, ever again. I mean it. These little things were a huge pain in the ... Even if William and Cate have a baby, and its a girl, and they name her after me, they will not be getting a pair of these. Not ever. What started as the best baby gift ever ended with me ill at the sewing machine and developing scoliosis from hunching over it for so long. Granted, part of it is my fault. The pictures were great. The instructions were great. I picked the wrong fabric, wrong liner, wrong weave, but was too far in by the time I realized all of this. Boo to the Pinterest Gods for making me think I can do it all.

Rachel :(

Gotta love Target

As I am sure most of you are aware, Target has been doing capsule collections with major (and some not so major, which is cool) designers for several years now.  Although I can't say that I have ever purchased anything from one of these collections, I absolutely love the concept and idea.  High end designers collaborating with Target to make fashion affordable for everyone is fantastic.

The collection released yesterday is beyond...just beyond.  Calypso St. Barth has done a collection of womens' and children's clothing and home goods!  Here's the back story to explain my excitement.  A few years ago I read an article about a perfume.  It was by Calypso St. Barth.  Supposedly the perfume was the most beautiful scent ever created.  I am so weird about my perfumes and smells in general that I became intrigued and wanted to smell it for myself.  J and I went to Boston for a long weekend and were shopping on Newbury Street. There before my eyes was a Calypso store!  I dragged him in against his will.  I immediately became enchanted.  I am a total beach girl and everything about this store screamed "luxury beach resort!"  Instant love!  I didn't buy anything that day, but Calypso has never been far from my mind.  Now, for a limited time, I can buy their products at  TARGET!!!!!

Here is my favorite dress from the collection:

Calypso St. Barth for Target

Here is my favorite dress from their regular collection:

Calypso St. Barth

With summer knocking on our door, either of these dresses would be perfect for day or night!  Especially with these adorable espadrilles!

Calypso for Target wedges

Happy Shopping!

xoxo,

Marlene

Spring Fever

Ol' Mother Nature has been pulling some not so funny tricks with the weather lately.  When it was 80 degrees and sunny I immediately switched over my closet and said "adios" to all of the black and grey.  Now, it's rainy and 50 degrees and I'm ready to wear sandals and dresses.  Did I mention that I HATE being cold (except when it's August and I'm ready to wear sweaters and boots)?

I went on a shopping binge last week.  I have been searching for the perfect pair of tan wedges that are versatile enough to wear with dresses, shorts or jeans.  I found them!  

Frye

Fortunately, I happened to have a 20% off coupon for the store for my upcoming birthday.  

Here's the unfortunate part.  I was wearing jeans and asked if they had a dress I could try on to see how they would look.  Of course they had a dress...and a belt to go with it!  See where I'm going with this?  I tried and tried to find a picture of the dress ( I couldn't simply take one because my camera is still broken) but it turns out I may have purchased a one-of-a-kind!  This is the belt:

Elise M. Collections

I would like to say that I stopped there.  I didn't.  Instead, I stopped at Hand In Pocket on the way home.  Remember the Best Little Black Dress EVER and how H.I.P. always has EXACTLY what I need?  That day they had the exact tank tops, cardigan, and skirt that I wanted needed.  

This tank is so amazing that I think I'm going to order it in every color they make

Michael Stars

Hand in Pocket

I bought this entire outfit except for the belt, which I'm kind of regretting as I write this post.  I got the cardigan in 2 colors-light teal and white.  WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME???

I'm really happy with my purchases.  I still need to fill in with some cute tops and I really want a cute chambray denim skirt like this one from Old Navy

 Old Navy

They don't have it in my size online, but I'm about to start calling around town (jewelry biz is a little slow, can you tell?)

I know not everyone sees the change in season as an opportunity to reinvent their closet.  Some people approach it with reason and buy a few things to fill in.  What key pieces will you be buying this spring?

XOXO,

Marlene

Ooh La La!

I love espadrilles.  They are chic, timeless, and comfortable (for the most part).  They are everywhere this spring.  There is a Prada pair at Saks that I am totally coveting.  The unfortunate part is the $450 price tag (I'd buy 'em, I'd just feel guilty everytime I looked at my son in his he-capris because of his growth spurt) and the fact that it says "Prada" on the bow.  From my rant last month, you probably know my aversion for labels/logo on my clothing.  Not to mention that J. doesn't miss much and Lucy would have some serious 'splainin' to do to Ricky if he noticed the P-word.  Along the same lines of my JC Penney lamps, I have a solution I can live with!

                                                      EXHIBIT "A"                                                     

   

    

                                                          Prada Love-$450 smackers

                                                                  EXHIBIT "B"

  Apepazza Love-$0.00

This Apepazza "Tahiti" espadrille is very close to the Prada one I am lusting after.  It even has cute little studs on the bow!  It doesn't have the height of the Prada one, but my feet will probably thank me.  How do I plan on getting these for free you ask?  My Daddy Father has it at his store!  Yesterday I asked him if I could have a pair.  His response was, "Sure, pack up my grandchildren and come on down and pick them up"!  Okay, so maybe they aren't free but the $120 in gas it will take me to get to his house sure beats the $450 Saks wants!  What do you think?  Are they close enough?

       

The root of my love

I was having a conversation with two friends at a cocktail party last night.  One friend, whom I will call W., was robbed last week.  Not just a little robbed, but A LOT!  She travels to Asia frequently and does a lot of shopping and had just returned from a trip with a bunch of goodies.  She also loves jewelry as much as I do and, I'll call a spade a spade, she's a compulsive shopper.  Needless to say, the thief hit the mother load when he broke into her house in the middle of the day last week.  Understandably, it has completely ruined the holidays for her and not only does she feel violated, she's just plain bummed.

Yesterday W decided to go to the mall to shop and hopefully get into the holiday spirit while lifting her own.  She started trying on clothes and her mood just got worse.  She said she felt fat and bloated (she is the furthest thing from either of those) and trying on clothes accentuated those feelings when they didn't fit quite right.  My jaw dropped upon hearing this tale...

If you only learn one thing from this blog (well, my portion anyway) let that lesson be that under NO circumstances should you ever shop for clothing when you are depressed. Accessories are the answer for that!  My love for accessories doesn't just stem from the fact that you can transform an outfit from "blah" to "fabulous" with the right shoes but from the simple fact that accessories ALWAYS FIT!  When was the last time you tried on a pair of earrings that made you look fat?  Of course, there are earrings that don't look good with your face shape or hair style, but made you look fat and ugly-No Way!  The quickest way to feel petite is to go buy a handbag of giant proportions.  All of a sudden you are Tinkerbell's size.  Want your legs to look long and lean?  Buy (or as J would say, just put on one of the 300 pairs you already own) a pair of 4 inch stilletos. 

W. was shocked when I started shrieking, "WHY ON EARTH WOULD YOU TRY ON CLOTHES WHEN YOU ARE TRYING TO MAKE YOURSELF FEEL BETTER?"  I took it for granted that all women knew this but just didn't talk about it.  When I explained my logic, W looked as if I had given her the answer to a life-long question.  If by writing this blog I save even one woman from the heartbreak that W. felt on Saturday, then I consider my civic duty done.

I always say shopping is cheaper than a psychiatrist ~ Tammy Faye Baker

I couldn't agree more!

Marlene

And yes, those are my drool-worthy, pink satin, ankle-tie Chanel pumps, circa Fall 2001, that I was supposed to be wearing when I got engaged.  Instead I was wearing J's ratty KA Old South t-shirt and flannel pajama pants.  I guess he didn't get the memo.

The best accessory...

The best accessory a girl can have is a computer that works!  I'm back in business, though!  With Thanksgiving upon us, I really have the urge to dig out my old maternity clothes and prepare for the feast.  Not so attractive.  Fighting that longing was tough, but here is what I decided to wear:

Charcoal tunic by Lole

http://www.lolewomen.com/us/atl-33-10.html#images 

Grey leggings by David Lerner

http://www.dlcollection.com/Product/11293-88129/basic-legging

Naot Illusion boot in black pearl.  The picture doesn't do them justice.  It is an amazing color between black, grey and pewter.  J says I look like I should be in KISS when I wear them.  What does he know?

http://www.zappos.com/naot-footwear-illusion-black-pearl-leather-black-midnight-leather?channel=87&mr:referralID=4f76690e-f7ef-11df-ad8e-001b2166c62d

I just added up the cost of this casual little ensemble. You can do the math your self.  Actually, the boots were an early Hanukkah present from my dad!  Yay!  If I had time, I would run out and try to find this cute scarf to add some color.  Fittingly, I am in charge of the dressing this year...unfortunately it's of the "turkey and " variety.  No time to shop for scarves!  Happy Thanksgiving!  Hope you wear your most stylish stretchy pants!

Feeling Good

I know whenever I have on something cute and stylish because when I get dressed in the morning the first thing Mr. T says is, "You look like Marlene today." That's about the biggest compliment I can get. Half of my wardrobe is from Marlene's closet, which I love! However, after her post on layering, I was inspired to put something together on my own. I went to the GAP and here's what I came up with...

of course I also wore these:

and i can't forget this...

So, I was feeling pretty cute....had a few compliments...overall a good day! I'm hardly ever in style, unless Marlene has parted with something prematurely, but I picked these out all by myself (except the jewelry:)) so I was feeling good! Fast forward a week...I had worn my new jean leggings quite a few times and had paired them with some longer tanks and sweaters. I'm into flats these days, so I had worn the new ones almost everyday by now. I was having another cute day when the school called at 11am to let me know Smurfette was sick. After getting her home and settled I spent some time straitening the house and putting things away. As I was doing this I had a thought that went something like this..."My new flats slide all over the hardwood floors..." Random, I know, but it slowly occurred to me that the cute new flats from the GAP I had been sporting all around town weren't flats at all...THEY WERE SLIPPERS!!! And yes, that's how cool I am.

Rachel :)

A grand total of $93.80 (without sales tax)!!!

Early in our friendship, Rachel and I went shopping at Kmart.  I'm not sure what we were shopping for, but we ended up in the women's clothing department.  After looking around, I made the comment, "There is no reason poor people shouldn't dress well!  There are really cute things here!"  Admittedly, I sound like a Paris Hilton-sized snob.  I guess in my naivete`, I was assuming everyone had good taste but just couldn't afford to dress the part.  Ah, sweet youth.  In honor of my youthful outlook on life, I have put together an entire outfit from Wal Mart and Forever 21 for under $100!  And by entire, I mean a sweater, jeans, boots, bracelet, and puffer jacket!
Here is the look:

This sweater has cute and very fashionable studs at the neck and on the sleeves and is $12.99 at Wal mart. http://www.walmart.com/ip/Susie-Rose-Juniors-Studded-Boatneck-Sweater/15026988

I just love skinny jeans.  I don't care if bell bottoms come back in style again.  I'm sticking with the skinnies.  These are $14.00 from Wal Mart. http://www.walmart.com/ip/Op-Juniors-French-Terry-5-Pocket-Skinny-Jeggings/14945529

These boots rock.  They are over the knee with a cute little tie.  They are a whopping $27.00 at Wal Mart. http://www.walmart.com/ip/Women-s-Patty-Over-The-Knee-Sueded-Boots/14892912

 This is one cute puffer jacket.  It has a detachable hood with faux fur trim. 

 How cute and politically correct is that?  It's $27.00.

 http://www.walmart.com/ip/Faded-Glory-Women-s-Faux-Fur-Hooded-Puffer-Coat/14560358

Since this outfit is almost entirely in black, I figured I needed some sparkle.  This bracelet is $10.80 at Forever 21.  I bought one that is almost identical at Madewell for $68.00. 

I've worn it so much that I really do think I've gotten my money out of it.  If I had

paid $10.80 I would feel like I had made money on the deal!

My mother didn't like the fact that I said "poor people" and wanted me to substitute those words for something kinder.  The fact is, though, that's what I said.  Luckily, I have matured.  I now realize that it's not just "financially challenged" people (that better, Mom?) shopping at Kmart, Wal Mart, or Target.  It's fashion savvy  people who know how to mix high and low and come away with a look that's all their own!

Marlene