Luxe for Less: Bamboo Bangle

I came across a gold bamboo bangle on Pinterest and loved it immediately so tried to find where it was from.  Turns out it was Gucci and costs a whopping $4,359 at Saks.  Ummm kind of out of my bangle budget to say the least.  I knew I had to be able to find something with a similar look and feel for less so I started to hunt around. I found it at C.Wonder for $28!  I'd say that's a pretty big difference.  Granted, it's not Gucci, but I'll take it anyways!  And the C.Wonder bangle comes in lots of fun colors making it perfect for stacking.

Gucci bangle                                   C.Wonder bangle 

Keep home close to you no matter where you go

Here's a great gift idea for someone who is about to move far from home...or for anyone who takes great pride in where they live, where they have lived, or where they're from.  Such a fun way to keep your roots close to your heart, no matter where you may travel.  

Maya Brenner's state necklaces:

{had to represent with my home state of CT!}

{for those who want to add a little bling}

{for those who prefer silver}

The perfect laptop bag for traveling!

I do a lot of traveling for my job, and one fun item on my 'to do list' has been to find the perfect laptop bag for traveling.

I had some very specific criteria this bag had to fit:

• had to be lightweight
• had to have a shoulder strap
• had to be durable and not stain easily
• had to have a top zipper
• had to fit nicely beneath an airplane seat without having to be put it on its side
• had to have multiple compartments to keep my belongings organized
• had to easily fit my laptop, tablet, wallet, etc without looking too bulky
• had to look professional so I can bring it into client meetings

I'm happy to report that, after going into countless stores and spending lots of time browsing online, I finally found it!!  I present to you, the perfect laptop bag for traveling, MZ Wallace's Bedford Nylon Bag in black:

{side 1}

{side 2}

{love it!}

This bag has:

• 4 outside zip pouches of all different sizes
• durable shoulder straps plus a detachable cross-body strap
• 10 interior pockets to fit everything from your cell phone to your business cards to your iPad
• a detachable mini purse
• 2 side pouches to hold your drink or an umbrella
• gold hardware and a red interior to make it stylish
• and the list goes on....

And, to top it all off, it's made from a durable nylon that is both water and stain resistant!  You could use this as a baby bag, a gym bag, a laptop bag, or just as an every day purse.  It doesn't get better in my book and I couldn't be happier with my purchase!  

The Perfect Bubble Necklace!

There's not one thing about this necklace that I don't love:  its chain, its clasp, its blue color, its length - I LOVE it all!  This piece could seriously add some quick pizazz to any number of outfits, including your New Year's Eve outfit! 

{Dabney Bib Necklace}

Stylish iPad Cases

I hope you all had a happy Thanksgiving!  My long holiday weekend included a friend's birthday celebration, spending my first Thanksgiving with PRG's family, enjoying some post-Turkey Day R&R with my family, and going to our friends' engagement party last night down in CT.  It was a whirlwind of four days but everything was so much fun!

I started my Christmas shopping last week and, while I was out and about, I noticed that Bloomingdale's has a great selection of iPad cases.  Some cases include little stands, some include shoulder straps, and some are purely for fashion, but they all will protect an iPad nonetheless!

I snagged the #5 Ralph Lauren case below for my own iPad in a fun kelly green color - I couldn't resist.  The stand on it works well for reading in bed or browsing thru Flipboard while relaxing on the couch, two of my favorite nighttime things to do.  And I like how it has a professional look to it in case I end up using my iPad in client meetings.  Merry early Christmas to me!

 

1 - Kate Spade

2 - MARC by Marc Jacobs

3 - Burberry

4 - Lodis Accessories

5 - Ralph Lauren

6 - Tory Burch

7 - Marc Jacobs

8 - InCase

9 - Juicy Couture

10 - Bodhi

Fall Fashion

If I could design one of my favorite fall looks this would be it.  The perfect blend of corduroy, tweed, leather, gold, and jean topped off with a pop of orange and an animal print.  Doesn't get better than this for me!

Talbots isn't just for my mom anymore...

I went into Talbots recently, one of my mother's longtime favorite clothing stores, to get her a drape cardigan because she always compliments me on my sweaters like this and I thought she deserved one too!  ....and I was shocked by how "hip" Talbots has become!  Since when have I walked into a Talbots and liked half the store for myself?  Never before!  I was pleasantly surprised by what I found.  So much so that I not only bought the drape cardigan for my mom but also a few things for myself (whoops)!

{some items from their spring collection}

{here are the 2 striped items I bought for myself (obviously I won't be wearing them together!) as well as the sweater I bought for my mom}

And apparently I'm not the only one to take notice of their transformation.  I went to their site and found these:

• A video about Talbots' Tradition Transformation and
• Talbots Chief Creative Officer Michael Smaldone talking about Talbots' Ageless Woman Philosophy

PRG and I are heading to dinner at Bacco in the North End to help our friend MF "carbo load" before the 100 mile bike race she's doing tomorrow.  Mmmmm looking at their website is making me hungry.  Then, tomorrow, we're off to a wedding down in Madison, CT.  Can't wait to help celebrate with SM and BG! 

Happy weekend everyone!

Our New Striped Chair!

Our new reupholstered chair has finally arrived!  Some of you might remember my previous "Statement Chair" post in which I mentioned the new chair PRG and I received from his mom after his grandmother passed away, and how she offered to have it reupholstered for us as a gift.  It was so generous of her, and I know it will be a special keepsake we will enjoy for many years to come.  After going through countless fabric books, we selected a neutral and versatile beige/off-white striped fabric so it will be able to fit into any room, no matter where we may live down the road.

Here is our new chair in our living room.  I really wish we were able to paint the walls to add some pizazz but, oh well, I guess that's one of the things you have to sacrifice in a rented apartment.  I put a few of our different throw pillows on our new chair so we could get a sense of which one we liked the best.  Which one is your favorite?

And, even though you can't see it, we have this light blue Bogart Flat Weave rug from Garnet Hill in our living room which extends to the foot of our new chair.  Because of this, the coral throw pillow is my favorite...it's funny how I always seem to come back to my favorite color combo, coral and blue!

Unique Belt Buckles

My friend CH was sporting the lobster claw and thought it was one of the coolest belt buckles I'd seen in a while.  I haven't bought one of these yet but I have my eye on the quahog buckle.  Apparently, JCREW was selling a version of the lobster claw buckle but it is currently sold out.  The buckles below can be bought here.

-PRG

Kate Spade Sample Sale!

Check out the Kate Spade sample sale going on right now - great stuff for really reduced prices!

Sea-Inspired

As the weather has been getting warmer, and the making of summer plans is underway, I've had my eye on adding some nautical accents to our apartment.  Having a few sea-inspired accents would also maybe provide us with a little bit of a respite from everything dreary in the winter months.  There's no rule that says you have to have a beach house in order to decorate with nautical accents, so, I say go for it!

I recently noticed that Pottery Barn has a pretty good selection of some sea-inspired goodies and here are some of my favorites.  I've been wanting to buy a wooden sailboat figurine for a long time but I'm not sure where we would put one in our apartment at the moment...maybe that one will have to wait until we have a house some day!

{All of this can be found at Pottery Barn}

Another Great Mother's Day Gift Idea!

I'm banking on this week not being the first week my Mom decides to enter into the blogosphere and visit my blog.  A tad risky, but I couldn't resist sharing this cute gift I picked up for her this past weekend at my local Kate Spade store - it's an idiom bangle that comes in either normal gold or rose gold and is a perfect Mother's Day gift!  It has cursive words of wisdom along the outside of it which read "be kind, call home, say thank you, smile often, chin up, mind your p's and q's" and then on the inside it reads "mom always said".  I really hope she likes it!

Available at your local Kate Spade store.

Mother's Day Gift Ideas

Mother's Day is soon approaching on Sunday, May 8th.  Here are some gift ideas to help you in your shopping - and make sure to remember your Grandmothers too! 

Coffee & tea travel cups from my recent blog post you can find here. 

I posted about Ame & Lulu golf accessories previously here but they also sell great tennis, yoga, travel accessories and luggage.  Here are a couple of my favorite bag combinations:

A new J. McLaughlin tote bag which I posted about previously here. 

Beautiful jewelry, including a monogram necklace from the PRADMAN store on Etsy.  I got one of these gold necklaces with my new married initials as a gift from my sister and brother-in-law and I love it!  You could give a new mom a necklace with her baby's initials.

My mom loves fresh flowers more than anyone I know and I'm sure would like the gift of a monthly flower delivery!  Here is a flower of the month club gift idea from ProFlowers which was voted as "best value" by the Wall Street Journal.  You can pick from 3, 6 or 12 month options.  Or, another flower gift idea could be to get her this spring bulb flower garden which includes 5 tulips, 3 hyacinths and 2 narcissus from Plow & Hearth that looks like this:

My mom also loves shoes more than anyone I know.  Over the years, whenever I was unsure of what to get her for her birthday or Mother's Day, I went with shoes!   One year she had talked about wanting a cute pair of everyday sneakers so I got her these Puma "Mostro Perf" sneakers from Nordstrom.  That same year, we ended up giving another pair to my grandmother for Christmas since she liked my moms, liked the good grippage on their soles, and liked how their velcro closure made them easy for her to slip on and off - pretty cool for an 87 year old to wear, right?!  Last year I got my mom a pair of metallic Jack Roger sandles because they are one of my spring and summer wardrobe staple!

For any mom who loves sparkling water you could get her a SodaStream Sparkling Water Maker from Williams-Sonoma: 

Here are some great personalized tote bags from Ballard Designs for the mom on the go:

 
Last but not least, if you live locally to your mom and grandmother(s), I'm sure they would love nothing more than the gift of your time.  You could invite them for a girls shopping/lunch day, to a day spa, to play golf, or any other ideas you have that would involve hanging out and treating them to something fun!  Or, if you don't live near each other, you can give them a gift certificate from Spa Finder and they can pick to apply that gift certificate at a spa near where they live.  Who wouldn't enjoy some pampering? 

Earring Organization

I love earrings.  A lot.  However my earrings were in desperate need of some organization.  This past weekend I stopped into Marshalls and the second I saw the below earring stand for only $9.99 I knew I had to have it.  They had a bunch of these in stock so maybe the Marshalls near you has some too!

As you can see from this "before" photo, my earrings were living all over my dresser without rhyme or reason.  Some were in a travel jewelry holder (permanently), some were in a ceramic bowl, and some were in a little white cardboard box.  Not pretty and difficult to keep track of.

The "before" shot:

The "after" shot:


Much better!



Colorful Gift Ideas

Here are some colorful ideas to keep filed away...a little variety of things to keep in mind should you need some gifting help down the road.

I have to thank the Chic Geek blog for this great idea.  These are called Eco Chic Cups and they are re-usable 16 fl. oz. ceramic coffee and/or tea cups with silicone lids and sleeves.  And, to top it all off, they are dishwasher & microwave safe. 

Blue Floral ECO Cup from Amazon
Red Ikat, Blue Ikat and Spring Floral ECO cups from South Moon Under

Check out this striped Sharp Hill Designs "Grace" clutch with a bow that's both pretty and functional!  It comes in navy or red. 

I love these personalized monthly calendars from the Stationary Studio, and you can have your year of calendars start at any month you would like!  One of these adorns my desk at work and it definitely adds some fun color to my workspace.

Monogrammed cell phone case covers from the Dani Notes Stationary store on Etsy: 

These snap onto any iPhone or Verizon 3G phone to
protect and personalize!  Each one is custom-made so you
can pick the design, color, monogram and font of your choice!