Guilty Pleasure: Juicy Couture Tracksuit

I think Uggs are horrible. The opposite of style. Like stinky little suede marshmallows that you wear on your feet. However, I can sympathize with fans of Uggs who claim to love them due to their warmth and comfort...because I will wear my velour Juicy Couture Tracksuit until the day it falls apart. I reach for it on chilly days, on sick days, on days that I'm likely to spend the majority of my waking hours shuffling around the apartment and scanning the cable guide in hopes that Bravo will show a marathon of "The Rachel Zoe Project". There is even a hint of nostagia to my tracksuit: all I have to do is put it on and there, in the mirror, I'm back in my college apartment in 2003, cramming for a test in Textiles & Merchandising and listening to J.Lo and Ja Rule sing "I'm Real". Wearing a velour Juicy Couture Tracksuit is like wearing a hug.

Yes, I can sympathize with the die-hard Uggs fans out there, but the difference between us is that my tracksuit never goes out in public unless I'm taking the dog out to the yard for a potty break at 6am. Some things are just meant to stay behind closed doors...and immortalized forever in mid-2000's R&B videos.

Image courtesy of Juicy Couture Outlets.

J.Crew Double Cloth Metro Coat in Dark Eggplant

I traveled through two airports this weekend while wearing this coat and got SO MANY compliments. One guy asked me if I was on my way to Europe (I wish), another guy told me to smile (which I really don't like) and then said, "I know I'd be smiling if I was wearing that gorgeous coat! LOVE the color!" It's slim-fitting and hits just above the knee, perfect for a chilly autumn day (or any chilly day from October to March in Georgia). Most of my coats are from J.Crew - they are durable and oh so stylish - and I was so glad to add this one to my collection.

No Fair

I would very much like to wrap myself up in this Anthropologie Dressage Sweatercoat. To guard myself against the chill of winter with cuddly prancing ponies...



...but it costs $188.00.

Horses are expensive.

The Look for Less: Grey Suede Wedges

I've been admiring J.Crew's Martina Suede Wedges (and pretty much everything else on the J.Crew website) since they were shown in the catalog earlier this fall. They have a nice, classic shape, and the 3" heel height isn't too tall for comfort if you need to walk in them all day long. Although it would be nice to have a pair of J.Crew's wedges in the slate color, I really can't afford to drop $228.00 on a single pair of shoes right now.

But last night at Target, as I was passing through the shoe section on my way to the greeting cards, I saw these Merona Milena Suede Wedges:



Almost exactly the same shoe, and the Target version only costs $29.99! Granted, the quality is nowhere near what you would find at J.Crew, but the upper is genuine suede and, for $30, it's no big deal if your shoes start looking a little bit shabby after a season of regular wear. The heel is 2.25" and the shade of grey is slightly darker than the Martinas but, all-in-all, I'm very pleased with them and so happy to have gotten such a great deal!

The perils of stimulants.

The picture above pretty much sums up my morning at work so far. Will switch to PG Tips for the afternoon and pretend that my boss is the Dalai Llama.

Women to Love: Dylan Lauren

Rich, famous (she's the daughter of Ralph and Ricky Lauren), and dazzlingly beautiful, Dylan Lauren could have decided to spend her life partying on a permanent vacation around the world. Instead, she opted to use her considerable connections and savvy marketing abilities to open her own fabulous business, Dylan's Candy Bar!



Her love of candy was inspired by a showing of "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" during one of her childhood birthday parties, and she cultivated the ideas for the bright, modern design of Dylan's Candy Bar by collecting candy wrappers from sweet shops throughout Europe.

Wouldn't this be a ridiculously amazing job!!! I'm dying to visit the flagship store in NYC on my next visit. I also love her style - classic American with a fun, sexy twist. I would imagine that cultivating this sort of style was a piece of cake with THESE TWO as your parents:





Images from NY Post and Dylan's Candy Bar Website

What would Regina George say?

So apparently we can rule out "going to the dentist" as one of the things that Lindsey Lohan was doing instead of completing her court-ordered community service.

Pic courtesy of RadarOnline.com.

In Praise of Toast

Now before you say, "Pssh - toast is boring", just hear me out.

This morning, surrounded by the icy leftovers of an early March snowstorm, I came to work and slipped off to the break room to get some hot water for my tea. As soon as I pushed the door open, I was enveloped in warm sunlight pouring through the windows and the scent of toasted bread - somehow unmistakeable for a bagel or an English muffin - and suddenly I'm friggin' Proust musing over his Madelines.

I have a long history with toast, mainly the Wonderbread kind, due mostly to the fact that it was the only thing I could eat - besides Ginger Ale and Saltines - when I was sick in bed as a child. You would think that this would cause toast to inspire negative thoughts (of nausea) in my mind, but instead it has achieved "comfort food" status. I am also not a big breakfast eater due to a weak stomach before noon, so tea and toast is what I usually turn to if I want something more substantial than yogurt.

In general, toast is best when served hot directly from the toaster or oven, golden brown and crunchy on the outside, hot and still slightly soft on the inside. This, to me, is the best way to ensure that the butter will melt evenly across the surface and the bread will sop up all of the jam or marmalade that you might want to pile on top (really, how delicious is butter + jam? and does anything act as a better foil to butter + jam than toast???). However, the best toast that I have ever eaten was served at the hotel where I was staying in Edinburgh, Scotland, on a weekend getaway during my semester Study Abroad. It was a heavy wheat bread, at least an inch thick, cold but perfectly toasted. They included with it a heavy little ceramic crock of pale, creamy butter that would make any stick of Land o' Lakes green with envy and, oh boy, was that the perfect breakfast to go with my fragrant cup of Earl Grey.

So you still think that toast is boring? Fine, maybe it is, but I'll take wholesome simplicity any day over sugary cereal or a giant, greasy plate of IHOP fare that will sit in your stomach like an anvil all day long.

...unless I'm hungover. Then I want McDonalds.