Miscellaneous

Last week, I thought, it’s almost midnight, I’m wide awake and I have nothing to do. Why not go crash a swim party?!? So a friend and I drove over to a rented mansion in L.A.’s Hancock Park district and indulged in Havaianas’ third Midnight Swim Club, filled with good-looking people and celebs like Jack Osbourne, Devon Aoki, Mekhi Phifer and more. (In the past, Kevin Connolly, Nicky Hilton, Elijah Wood, Shenae Grimes and David Arquette have been spotted.) We oohed and aahed the hanging Havaianas sandals, the bedazzle-your-sandal tent, the make-your-own-photo-book tent and, of course, the bar while gazing at a table full of Crumbs cupcakes.

The Cobra Snake shot gawkers (these are his photos you see) as people debated whether or not to go into the pool (For most people, the answer was no since it was dominated by Havaianas models in teeny swimsuits). But we spotted several brave souls and at least one skinny dipper as we grooved to the DJ’s sounds of everything from Axel F to Jay-Z. This got me thinking, if you and/or your building have a heated pool, or even just a hot tub, why not throw your own pool party … at night? A novel idea. And the perfect excuse to show off my favorite swimsuits of the season … in your best Havaianas flip-flops of course.

Don’t have a pair yet? Score a limited-edition pair by throwing your own Midnight Swim Party and post pictures of it to your Facebook or Twitter account (tag #midnightswimclub). Every week, Havaianas will award the best pool party picture with special Midnight Swim Club Havaianas.

Hosting dinner parties with the company of good friends, delicious food, and plentiful amounts of wine is by far one of my favorite ways to spend a Friday or Saturday evening. While our conversation and spontaneous dance parties are surely enough fun to last well into the wee hours of the morning, I thought it would be fun to add another dimension to my friendly gatherings. Enter TableTopics Cubes, which I’d been eying for a while at a fabulous Beacon Hill boutique, Flat of The Hill. TableTopics Cubes are available in a variety of topics, including Family Gathering, Girls Night Out, and even Book Club edition. Each card is printed with a question that’s meant to inspire, make you think, or even make you embarrassed! I opted for the “not your mom’s dinner party” theme, which I thought would be versatile enough to use for all sorts of get-togethers. Even political questions like “should we have a national healthcare system?” are interspersed with less mature, more personal ones like “what alcohol can you never drink again?” (My answer? Raspberry Stoli.)

TableTopics Cubes are the ideal game to play with family and friends; easy to transport, basically no rules, and literally anyone can play! Retailing at $25, they aren’t the cheapest game you can buy, but will provide hours of priceless entertainment for you and your friends.

I look forward to adding another TableTopics Cube to my collection of games. Next? The Gourmet Edition! TableTopics Cubes are available on their website, as well as Amazon and local stores near you.

My friend Adrien recently alerted me to a cool new iPhone shopping app called Lustr, which lets you shop what you want anytime, anywhere. This app is essentially a 24 hour event and shopping concierge and makes me briefly wish that I didn’t give up my iPhone for the new BlackBerry.

What I love about this app is that it keeps tabs on all sales and promotions so if you’re watching a particular item (like I always am- at the moment, Alexander Wang Nude Mesh Skirt), it’ll search all the stores that carry the item and display all the prices letting you comparatively shop without having to do any work. And if you’re bored and just want to browse, the app lets you shop all the stores from your phone, delivering you options within your chosen price range.

Another feature that I love about this app is that it works with independent retailers that you may not find on other apps.  I don’t need another app to tell me what’s on sale at J.Crew- but my favorite Meatpacking Disctrict boutique?  Yes please!

Check out ShopLustr.com for more info and to view their current deals and promotions!

Sure, you could proclaim your love for Team Edward or Team Jacob in the usual way by simply wearing a t-shirt, but why not showcase your love in a more obvious way, with lifesize cutouts of your current favorite Bella paramour?

Whether you choose to go with Kristen Stewart’s supposed squeeze, Robert Pattinson, or rumored Taylor Swift boyfriend, Taylor Lautner, Nordstrom is exclusively selling 6 feet high foam core boards of each of these Twilight stars for $33, with minor assembly required.  Given that a recent shower curtain emblazoned with Robert Pattinson’s face went out of stock on Etsy, I would say that you need to click fast to get a hand on these.  I have to admit I’m having a little difficulty tagging this entry as I’m not sure whether to tag it as “Miscellaneous” since I don’t know if a life size cutout of Taylor counts as an “Accessory.”

What do you think?  Too much or a cute gift for a die hard Twi-hard?

couple of days ago I came across this super cool site, Daily Drop Cap, which I have been obsessed with checking back every day since. Topograher and design guru Jessica Hische created the resource as a fun project to allow bloggers and web managers everywhere to add a little extra character to their pages. Daily Drop Cap puts forth a new hand-crafted decorative initial cap every day that is free for the public to use.  Each letter is truly a piece of art- I have yet to find one I don’t love!  She makes it super easy, writing out the HTML on her page that you can just copy and paste into your editor.

As someone who deeply appreciates beauty and creativity but without the personal design training or experience, I’m so excited to have found this site!  I’ve already added it to my Tumblr followers list and can’t wait to see the rest of the alphabet!

I’m soooo not a Techie, but do you ever have those moments when you discover something new that is so great, that you think to yourself, “Technology is so cool?”  For me, that thought came to my head yesterday, when I visited Poladroid.com.  I have  always loved Polaroid pictures: I love their dreamy, muted, look which give them an evocative and nostalgic quality, their instant pictures (immediate gratification), and because everyone looks good in Polaroid!  One of my favorite things to do is to browse Jeremy Kost‘s pictures on Fashionista and those inspired me to almost get my own Polaroid camera: the only thing stopping me?  The $149.99 price tag.

Yesterday, my friend Sami, sent me over a link to Poladroid, a computer application, that turns your digital pictures into Polaroids!  I downloaded the application last night, and loved the results so much that I started Poladroiding all my pictures.  I began with the pictures from my last vacation to the Bahamas with my friend Sarah  (how gorgeous does that azure water look?) and you can check out some of “Before-Poladroiding” picture here.  The application itself is charmingly designed and easy to use.  The interface for the application is designed like an actual Polaroid camera–all you have to do is drag over your photos, one at a time, to the empty frame icon in the camera and wait for your pictures to “develop”.

Your pictures will slowly go from fuzzy to sharp, vivid color, as they would with a real camera, and after they are done “developing,” you get the option of saving them on your computer.  Each session allows you to Poladroid 10 pictures. Once the pictures are done developing, you get the option of saving them to your computer.  Poladroid software is MAC/Windows compatible, as well as free,but they are taking donations.

Visit Poladroid.com and share some of your favorites with us!

Ladies and Gents. This truly boggles my mind.

It seems that Conde Nast has launched a DATING SITE.  Desperate times call for desperate measures, I suppose.

I read about it on Fashionista and then on Vogue.co.uk’s blog.   Supposedly this new property TrulyMadlyDating.com is an international dating site designed to unite “glamorous girls with fashion-conscious GQ-reading boys to create matches made in style heaven.” (more…)

It’s rare for feminine products, like deodorant and other not-so-glamorous necessities, to catch my attention for longer than the 20 seconds it actually takes for me to put them to use.  But when I spotted the newest Australian import, Moxie,  at my local Duane Reade, I will admit that I was definitely curious.  Moxie works just as well as the mainstream American  brands, but they actually took an extra step to make their packaging glam and feminine.   It’s a sweet picker-upper alternative to the grey cardboard tubing you’re probably used to. (more…)

I got a lovely treat last night from the folks over at InStyle- their September issue, Fedexed to me with sticky tabs on the pages that highlighted the editor’s top picks for fall! Now, as you know, fall is by far my favorite season for fashion.  I love the variety, the textures, the colors, the layering, everything. Not to mention, it’s a real plus when your clothes aren’t drenched in sweat after a few minutes in the sun.

To celebrate their 15th anniversary, InStyle put together a new shopping site: instyle15forfall.com where the editors picked their top pieces from 27 different collections ranging from YSL (my fav) to Karastan.  They are also giving away 4 $1,000 shopping sprees !

For more information, check out the site and be sure to pick up InStyle’s September issue for lots more goodies!

Last night I was invited to a special director’s screening of the most anticipated fashion film of the season- The September Issue.  Having watched the trailers on repeat multiple times in a row, I was very eager to see what promised to be an intimate look at a very mysterious industry.

What I loved most about the film is that it so realistically and genuinely depicts the fashion industry as it is.  Everything from the extravagance  to the nitty gritty bitch work are things that I’ve personally observed or am aware of.  In that regard, Cutler has done an amazing job of preserving the true flavor of the business.  This is not The Devil Wears Prada. Quite the opposite in fact, as for most of the documentary, the Vogue editors look exhausted and somewhat unkempt.  The glitz and the glamour take a back seat to a solid look at the business of fashion and the art of fashion.  Some people will find this refreshing and for the same reason, some will leave the film feeling very unsatisfied. (more…)