We now return you to your usual programming after a week’s vacation. Well, I’m not sure if you can really call a vacation a vacation when it consists of spending 11 hours every day in a veritable sweat shop! But I took a week off from work to take an intensive jewelry making workshop. I figured it was time to learn how to solder and make bezels and set stones and weave chain and all that good stuff.

All good stuff indeed! I annealed and quenched, I dry-fluxed and soldered, I wielded a torch. What more could a girl ask for? That was the good part. The not-so-good part? The second-degree burn on my left index finger from accidentally grabbing the lid of the kiln with my bare hand… The various scrapes from too much filing and sanding… The backache from sitting at the bench for 11 hours a day!

But I finished the week with some new skills (not to mention new safety tips), four rings, three bracelets (including the granulated cuff below), an enamel pendant that took two and a half days (!), and a lovely new scar on my finger. Ah, I’ll wear them all proudly!

Technorati Tags: jewelry making

My Fourth of July was overcast and chilly… how was yours? But honestly I didn’t mind — with only one day off, in the middle of the week at that, I wasn’t going anywhere. I was discombobulated enough. I kept thinking it was Sunday…

I decided to partake in some indoor activities — online window shopping for fall!

At $865, this YSL large Tribute tote seems like a bargain. Did I just write that? But what “premium designer” (as Saks puts it) handbags are ever under $1,000 these days?

That said, the YSL quilted patent Medium Tribute tote, while smaller, sure looks worth the upgrade to $1,195.

Now all I have to figure out is how to flatten my wallet and makeup bag to fit into this tote… Oh wait, I know how to flatten my wallet — by buying this bag!

Technorati Tags: YSL, fall handbag, Tribute tote

I’ve had this fantasy for a while now. When I win the lottery and can retire early (like 30 years early), I want to open an arts and crafts shop, where people can sit around for hours, knit, make jewelry, needlepoint, whatever, chat, drink coffee… I’d be there to help them find supplies and work on projects, and do my own. I could spend eight hours a day doing that. Who says I’d be bored if I retired? It could be a real business, I suppose, but it would really be an excuse for me to sit around and do crafts! New York City needs a place like that.
Well, what do you know? It already has one. The Make Workshop beat me to it. It’s just the kind of place I’d love to hang out! I think I’m going to have to try out a class — maybe wallpaper making? I’m definitely thinking I need to learn me some crewel…

Technorati Tags: crafts, knitting, jewelry making, classes

I gotta wear shades. Summer is here! And recently realized, while in the Caribbean, far too belatedly, that the Fendi sunglasses I bought last season really don’t shade my eyes from the sun. (They do look fabulous but… those light green lenses don’t do much.)

These Oliver Peoples Harlot sunglasses would probably make me look too buggy — they are a bit too Posh Spice.

Never mind — now this is what I call buggy: Tom Ford Valesca shades.

Yes, I’m obsessed with the Fendi B buckle, but these Fendi B. Buckle Shield Sunglasses are a bit much, even for me.

Speaking of buckles, the Marc Jacobs Collection Lisa Sunglasses are kind of fun in how the pushlocks echo MJ’s handbags (and you know how many of those I have, despite my best efforts to diversify that portfolio). I think I might have found a winner!

Technorati Tags: sunglasses, Tom Ford, Fendi, Marc Jacobs, Oliver Peoples

It’s a miracle! After two days of using Blinc Kiss Me Mascara, I’m happy to report that I’ve had great results. No more raccoon eyes. . . mostly. After a long-overdue trip to the gym — brought on by the despair I felt after getting my wedding album and realizing how badly I’ve deteriorated since that glorious three-workouts-a-week era — some of the mascara somehow ended up well under my eyes. Not smudged, more like transported one lash at a time. It was almost Mod, in a Twiggy kind of way.

But aside from the post-gym look — and I willingly confess that that was aberrant behavior — there was no flaking, smudging, raccooning. I should note that I read the directions for once and avoided wearing my usual super-rich Kiehls eye cream (which I still swear by for overnight), which seems to seal the deal. Victory!! I no longer look like the evil Emperor from Star Wars (or Pope Benedict).

Photo courtesy of

http://www.agrandillusion.com/2005_04_01_agrandillusion_archive.html

There are dark circles, and then there are dark circles. True, I don’t sleep enough, and it shows on my face, right under my eyes. But beyond the bags under my eyes I’ve long suffered from the dreaded racoon eye syndrome. It’s so bad that a facialist once told me she’d never had such trouble removing eye makeup before. I’ve tried waterproof mascara, I’ve tried cream eyeshadows that are supposed to stay put through snow, rain and dark of night. To no avail.
Could this be the product that will change my life? My friend Madge swears that Blinc Kiss Me Mascara won’t smudge, won’t somehow migrate to the area right under the eyes. Something about how the mascara coats the lashes like little tubes and yet can be removed with just water. Well, Madge, I’m gonna try it out! Stay tuned…

Yup, the first round of designer markdowns has begun at Saks, Neimans, Bergdorfs et al… And yes, I have partaken… I found these Prada peeptoes at Saks — but in the most gorgeous blush-colored crocodile… so beautiful I almost cried (especially when I saw how much they were, even at 30% off). I know these light colors are impossible in the city, but I can’t help myself. My sister has an amazing blush-colored Nancy Gonzalez croc bag (note to self: must steal sister’s bag), but she lives in L.A. and doesn’t ever have to risk dirtying up her precious in a cab or subway.

What else is worth buying now?

How about these Marc Jacobs mouse flats, in golden or nickel. I’m kind of digging the nickel (okay, it’s just silver).

These brown and gold Manolo knot d’Orsays are tempting — though I always have problem with this style. My feel always end up sliding forward through the peeptoe and I get the worst cramps because my feet are caught in a death grip. You know what I mean?

I still like these Prada gold wedges, disco queen that I am.

And I adore this cream lambskin coat from Fendi — when on earth I’d ever wear it this summer I have no idea.

I’m also a sucker for flower details (yes, I confess, I did like Angela’s florettes on Project Runway season 3), so these Fendi peeptoe slings are right up my alley.

Happy shopping!

Technorati Tags: summer sales, Fendi, Prada, Manolo, Marc Jacobs

I was never one to follow the “no white before Memorial Day” rule — especially since I grew up in Texas, where summer often started not long after Valentine’s Day. But Memorial Day is just behind us, and I’m headed for a week in the Caribbean. Which makes me think about what I first declared to my older sister when I was probably about 12: You can never have enough white shirts!

Here are a few of my favorites this season:

If this Chloe broderie Anglaise blouse isn’t the perfect white blouse, I don’t know what is. Love the buttons.

Not quite ready to shell out $1500 for one top? This See by Chloe bib front blouse is a fine substitute at about 10% of the price!

This Charles Nolan dotted voile blouse is a fun variation on the swiss dot.

The balloon sleeves on this Stella McCartney top probably wouldn’t be practical in full-on summer but could be worn into the fall.

I suppose if you’re daring you could almost wear this Elie Tahari tunic as a dress!

The same can be said for this 3.1 Phillip Lim paisley tunic — no, it’s not all white, but it’s super cute!

Technorati Tags: white shirts, Chloe, Stella McCartney, See, Charles Nolan

I’m starting the countdown now. The Saks flagship store on Fifth Avenue is opening a whole new shoe floor in August! That’s 8,500 square feet of shopping heaven — a 35% expansion from the current shoe department — so vast that it is getting its own zip code and commemorative stamps. (Gimmicky I know…) It’s as exciting as when Harvey Nicks finally opened a shoe department in the late ’90s, just as I was moving from London, I should note. Can you imagine, Harvey Nicks with without its fabulous shoes? Even though I couldn’t complain about the shoes I bought at Harrods and Selfridges, I still am filled with regret when I think about how I was deprived all those years before…

But back to the future. Imagine! There will be so much more room to graze, try on, strut, elbow all comers during sales. And most of all, Saks officials say, there will be a whopping 150% more shoes to be had on the sales floor. Be still my beating heart!

Technorati Tags: Saks, shoe department