A Lotta Links

Happy Saturday! This post is going up much later than I intended because the new issue of Domino arrived today. I am generally gaga for Domino but when you combine that with the gift guide issue it is a perfect storm of magazine goodness. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and has gotten a chance to get out there and revitalize our economy at all of the Black Friday sales. For those of you who didn’t get quite enough food on Thursday check out these insanely delicious looking butterscotch brownies from Bakerella with a butterscotch ganache topping. I think I got fatter just looking at the pictures. I hope licking my computer monitor isn’t bad for it. Continue reading »

Fuzzy Food

We are going totally low cost this Christmas at my house- and I have already received my very sweet and low cost early birthday gift (Dec 7), this cd, which I LOVE, from my husband.  He knows I am unable to procure cds for myself- and he is a serious music person who does not approve of single song mp3’s, so I am kind of helpless unless he can make his way to the top 40 section for me.  Anyway the first stop for good affordable gifts is of course Etsy- how cute is this crochet breakfast pattern, I love the egg.  there is also sushi and a sandwich.  Any kid with a play kitchen could use these, and they could just be a cute breakfast table display for adults.  Alert- these are patterns- you can do it! 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! Seeing the Rockettes in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade this morning really reminded me why we should all be wearing camel patent leather pumps everyday. Those girls legs looked a mile long. I’m 99.9% certain that is because of their shoes not because of their really long thin legs. When I see them wearing silver shoes they still look good, but not that good. Seeing them also reminded me of my childhood dream to become a Rockette, but that’s a story for another day. If you too wish to have the legs of a professional high kicker here are some shoes that may work for you. By the way, one of these pairs falls far outside the realm of affordable. That pair is only here in case Santa is reading this.

DKNY Gram Patent Leather Pumps $239, Jessica Simpson Teluride Pumps $89, Nine West Thyme Pump $79, Christian Louboutin Simple Pump $575.

Dresses to Eat In

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I love a holiday for and about eating as much as anyone, but by the end of the day I am usually digging the waistline of my skirt out of my stomach and planning to buy 10 bags of shirataki on the way home.  I thought this year I would wear one of those waistline free dresses I see everywhere, they kind of look terrible on me, but I’m sure my 6 o’clock pot looks far worse.  Here are some dresses with extra room for Thanksgiving! The model above is positively drowining in that dress- check and check.  It is French Connection at Bloomingdales, 76$ on sale. 

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A Jewel of a Bag

I have been e-stalking this jeweled clutch from Banana Republic for a while now and it has finally gone on sale for $84. Doesn’t this say bride to you? Or maybe holiday party? Or Happy New Year! Or perhaps it says “I bought this for my wedding but am carrying it early to this holiday party.” Whatever the statement is that its making, I’m buying it!

The Great White Way

This white croc embossed lamp from ZGallerie is out of stock for good reason- it is a nice balanced shape and chunky size- 29 inches high and 18 inches wide at the top,  I love the combination of the textured material (let’s face the facts, it’s plastic) and the white white and white color, and the two pull chains remind me of fancier lamps I can’t afford.  And it is $129!  In scary lamp world that is a cheap price.  Yes, it is out of stock, but you can place a phone order and wait for it to come back. 

Shoot the Moon

When I was little I had tons of wooden toys. My parents are both teachers and are big fans of skill games. Nowadays when I shop for toys for my friends’ kids I never see any of those old wooden toys and skill games. I am very much of the “if it was good enough for me its good enough for them” school so I refuse to give in to the pressure to by Bratz and all other non-enriching toys for kids. Also, wooden toys just look so much nicer and if you’re going to have this stuff laying around everywhere it should look nice. My local Target does have a tee tiny section of cool wooden toys. Its located right next to the 15 aisles of other toys, but the selection isn’t exactly great. I was thrilled yesterday when I got a catalog from Back to Basics Toys. As the name implies, they stock all of the toys that I grew up with along with many of the toys that my parents grew up with. Shoot the Moon is $29.95.  I was the worst at that game when I was a kid.  I also had the Brio Labyrinth which is $39.99.  Who knew these old school games were so pricey?  Mom, if these are still in my closet we should definitely save them!  Something I didn’t have but would have loved is this awesome puppet time theatre for $99.99.  They also have a good selection of classic board games liked Chutes & Ladders,  Candy Land and Sorry.

A Lotta Links

Hi everyone, I am in the middle of a busy family wedding weekend, so this will have to be short but sweet!

Putting dimmers on every light in your house is almost free! Here are some party lighting tips.

This is a great idea.

This is a terrible idea!

Oh my gosh I went to do crafts at Marha’s Stewart’s office too! Oh wait, that was just me looking through the sale section of the Martha Craft website.

Thanks for this Design Court!

And another one via Desire to Inspire!

Oooo, colors, backyard, figs, cupcake tower!

That’s true, there is also vases and Tchotkes!

I thought this was a cover from decades ago but it is new!

Great Scott! sorry

Ok I have to run- have a great weekend and keep warm everyone!

Pssst…

If everyone could do their part and give one $10 gift subscription to Domino this year I really think that would help to keep them afloat during the tough economic times.  If you want to do even more, all aditional subscription after the first are only $5, which is a real steal.  Think of it as a gift to yourself, so that you can sleep at night knowing that your monthly fix is safe.  I’m going to make this my go to gift for the secretarial staff at work this year!

A Tee Tiny Ode

I know that many of you (okay, maybe 2 of you) are wondering why there has been no Ode to J.Crew this month.  Its not that my love for J.Crew has faded.  No, sadly it is because their holiday collection was released in dribs and drabs, none of which were at the beginning of the month which is when I typically write my ode.  Still, I would be remiss if I failed to mention that sale items are currently an extra 20% off (promo code is EXTRA20).  Also, it is bordering on criminal if I fail to mention the merino sequin chiffon shell.  I LOVE this top.  It has holiday party written all over it.  You could wear it with jeans and heels to a casual holiday party.  Or with a black suit to a work party.  You could even wear it with a ball skirt to a black tie wedding.  Its incredibly verstale.  Like 3 shirts on one, all for $148.  A little pricey for one shirt, but a real bargain for three!

P.S.  You should also check out this super cute silk taffeta ball skirt.  Kind of pricey now, but I’m hoping it will go on sale!