Seasonal Sparkle

I'm either giving you a great gift idea, a great gift hint to drop to someone, or a great gift-to-yourself idea! Or even just something pretty to look at. Either way check out these stunning Kate Spade Metro Grand watches I stumbled upon last week. 

Talk about perfect holiday sparkle for your wrist, but also with the option to switch out the strap! To me the whole switching out the strap concept reminds me of the kinds of versatile watches that were around when I was a kid. Switch out the strap or the coloured bezel and it's like you've got a whole new watch! I like these ones because one is party perfect where as the other one is more streamlined and classic... okay, maybe not the neon pink as much but definitely the black! 

I'm torn on which combo I love the most: I'm very drawn to the classic gold and black, but how fun is the rainbow and pink?

Shoe Housing: Past, Present, Future?

I love shoes, you love shoes, we all love shoes! But as you build up a collection of shoes it can get harder and harder to find room to house them. Traditionally shoes go on the floor of a closet but there is only so much useable floor space in a home before you start carpeting your house with shoes. I'm very lucky with where I'm living right now - I live with a girlfriend who also has a good amount of shoes so we have a room dedicated to our shoes! It's supposed to be an eating area off of our kitchen but since we have a substantial dining room and it's just the two of us, this seemed like a better use of space. It also leads to our balcony so there is some stellar lighting in there. 

Our shoe room consists of a giant full length mirror at the end of the room, two 50 pair racks on either side of it (one for each of us naturally) and at the other end of the room we have two red bucket chairs with a table in the middle facing the mirror (which we've used to showcase our shoes at our shoe parties). It's a good little area.

But recently, I ran into a bit of a problem. My shoe rack started to buckle. Not just because I have too many shoes (just kidding, there's no such thing as too many shoes) but because I put my boots on the top rack which weighs it down quite a bit as you can imagine. I should also mention that less than 24 hours after I took the buckling picture below, it full out collapsed. So, I had to go out and find myself a new rack. Which I did. I picked up the stainless steel beauty also seen below.

Now I will say I am quite happy with this new rack and how it turned out. It holds just as many shoes as the other one but is more visually pleasing and also, for whatever reason, feels more compact to me. BUT I am still worlds away from the shoe housing of my dreams - hopefully, the shoe housing of my future...

The dream.

My dream is to still have a house with a shoe room/closet but to have white shelving  house all of my shoes. A step further would be to have that white shelving inset into the wall but that I realize, is quite ambitious. I previously posted about Coach's shoe closet which would be a dream. I've also expressed not just that I would like to have Jennifer Hudson's closet, but that I would be happy live in it - it would be more than enough space for little 'ol me and my clothes and shoes, haha! Her closet is a little off the charts but SO amazing.

How do you store your shoes? Do you have any shoe closet dreams of your own? :)

February Resolution: Constant Manicure

How is it February already? Can you believe we are already one month into the New Year? Anyways, moving on...

No shortage of colours to play with!

As I was doing a little self-pampering last weekend, I thought up a mini-resolution for myself to try out this February: to constantly have a fresh manicure. Now when I say that I should specify that what I am actually referring to is specifically the polish. Fresh, perfect polish. My nails are always cut and filed - I'm kind of obsessive about that - so in a sense they are always manicured. BUT, I don't always have polish on them. If I do have polish on them and they start to chip, I will remove the polish at my earliest convenience but will almost never repaint right away. THIS is what I'd like to try to do. I really love having freshly painted nails, and I definitely notice and appreciate it when someone else always has them done. Now that I've blogged about it, and am somewhat accountable, I hope to be one of those people! :)

First selection: OPI "Red Lights Ahead... Where?"
(this colour is WAY more orange-y than it appears)

To be clear with another thing, this resolution of course involve self-polishing. I think the key to my success here might simply be to really take the time to ensure that my base coat and top coat get on, and that the final manicure has the appropriate amount of drying time. Often times when I do paint my nails it's usually for something and I end up rushing through it and skip the top coat. My life (and chances of success) will be made easier if my manicure lasts longer.

So I realize it's a bit of a fluffy resolution, but I'm pretty excited to look down at my hands and see perfect polish all February long! Wish me luck!

Phone Etiquette Game

The other weekend we had a surprise party for a friend, and the way we delayed her arrival was by another friend saying she left her phone at home and had to go back to get it. Left her phone at home. Of course upon hearing that one would understand the urgency of having to return to retrieve it! But if you really think about it, isn't that a little crazy? Leaving your phone at home is A) a problem in the first place and B) worthy of stopping everything to go get it. Our world has changed, big time! Everyone has got a cell phone that they have with them always.

While reading the December Marie Claire, I came upon a whole section that had to do with phone etiquette which I thought was very interesting and important. With this changing world, some traditional manners seem to have gone out the window - maybe it's time to bring them back. Traditionally, when hosting friends, if you home phone would ring most people might ignore it (unless of course a guest was MIA). Well would you answer your cell phone at this same party? Would you answer a text? This is no different. The world will survive for the amount of time it takes to have a dinner party. Same for going out. Your home phone is not there so you would have to check your messages when you return. A cell phone should be the same. There's always that ONE person though who can't seem to let go. The first person to pick up their phone.  Enter: Cell Phone Roulette. The games rules are as follows:

1. Hand over your phone: when you sit down all phones are stacked face-down in the middle of the table. 
2. Ignore the noise: if you hear a buzz, ring, or ping, ignore it. Stay strong. Who exactly do you think you are that you have to answer? Don't flatter yourself. Be strong. Also, turning off noises might help. Word to the wise, vibrate is not equal to silent. In fact, it can be the most annoying of all notifications. Ever hear a phone vibrate on a table? Awful.
3. You cave, you lose: first person to reach for their phone loses. If you're at home, you do the dishes or some other agreed upon punishment. If you're out, you got the bill.
4. Or Share the victory: split the check or the chores, and when you do check your phone after all is said and done, notice that the world is still turning. 

I say give it a go this holiday season! 

Casual Sequins

When I think of sequins I automatically think about an event or occasion. I love wearing sequins for New Years, my birthday, Christmas, etc. What I never thought about until recently, was making sequins a bit more casual - a bit more wearable for any day. I saw on Pinterest several such outfits that took a sequin piece and made it more casual. Or rather gave a casual outfit some elegance and sparkle!

Now a days sequin clothing comes in all shapes and forms. You can get sequin blazers, tops, shorts, skirts, dresses, pants - you name it, they make it! Similar to clothes with leather or stud embellishments, these pieces are everywhere, and made to mix and match. Previously I had posted about how shoes can take a casual or comfy outfit to the next level - why not do the same with sequins? 

The pictures that really caught my eye have gold sequin tops mixed with a light denim. Maybe this hit home because I have a gold sequin top collecting dust in my closet. I have (sadly) only worn it once, and that was last New Years eve. Not only can you add sparkle to an average day (who wouldn't want that?), but a sequin top can become your ultimate accessory. Oh the outfit ideas... I can't wait to break it out now!

Shopping Bag Art

I'm not sure about you, but when I go to an upscale store, or a unique store, I love saving the shopping bags. I don't know exactly why, but I think it's just another keepsake of a brand I like. These bags however, usually sit in a closet with other bags I reuse, but these ones never get reused themselves. I like to keep them in mint condition!

Apparently I am not the only one who does this. I recently saw a picture of someone who used these bags as art by framing them! What a great idea!

I think it's a very creative way to make use of these bags so that they don't collect dust, and a cool way to show your style/taste but in a simple way. My normal taste in artwork is fairly simple, so this would stay true to that since most bags are fairly simple in design. Gonna have to try it!