Romance is in the Air for Fendi in Spring '09

Fendi's Spring '09 collection in Milan captures most of the key trends we've seen thus far for Spring with lots of sheers and neutrals, but there is more whimsy in this show and focus on silks and very gauzy, chiffon...light, feminine fabrics and pastel shades than we've seen in other designers for this upcoming season. Also besides showcasing some amazing new handbags and fun platforms for the season, there is also the apparent peek-a-boo to dainty bralets and undergarments.

Between Chanel and Fendi alone, Karl Lagerfeld has designed some of the most feminine fashions for Spring. It's not even cold yet, but I'm already looking forward to the sheers in Spring!

Chanel's Country Chic

Chanel's Spring 2010 show in Paris continued to show the key trends as in the New York shows: lots of neutrals and whites, ballet inspired, bits of lace and lots of texture in interesting fabrics and styles.

Dries Van Noten-French Effortless-Looking Fashion

At the Dries Van Noten show in Paris, his Spring '09 looks seem to capture the true sense of French fashion: effortless chic. Lots of fun ethnic inspired prints paired with neutrals/simple pieces to give these looks that not over the top vibe.

Fringed Moc Booties at A Great Price

Fringe continues this season and I'm especially loving it on moc booties. The Belle by Sigerson Morrison booties are great, but if you want to save a few hundred the Minnetonka brand has great looks for very affordable price points.

L to R:

Belle by Sigerson Morrison $345, Minnetonka $60, Minnetonka $90, Minnetonka $100

Laces Out Ladies

Loving all these lace-ups for Fall. It's a must buy for the season!

Left to Right:
Yves Saint Laurent $1170, Christian Louboutin $1195, Giuseppe Zanotti $650, Christian Louboutin $1195, Brian Atwood $795, Bottega Venetta $890, Sigerson Morisson $895, Christian Louboutin $995, Loeffler Randall $595, Loeffler Randall $895, Christian Louboutin $595, Repetto $270

New Peices with an Antique Feel

I love new pieces with an antique feel and these pear shaped earrings with scalloped diamonds inlaid on 18K gold by Jamie Wolf are beautiful. I wish they made a necklace version because it would be half the price, hopefully, and possibly more in within financial reach. Besides this beautiful piece of jewelry, when I saw this email from Barney's this morning, I just couldn't get this iron filing owl image out of my head. I bet that took some serious time with a magnet to try and get all the owl details in place. I am really loving this image and the whole design of incorporating the showcase earring in place of the owl's hooked beak. Barney's does an incredible job styling and sending out unique messages to consumers. Always nice when an email stands out from all the mass marketing we get in our inboxes on a daily basis.
Props Barneys!

While in Nashville Stop by H.Audrey

Opened in 2007 by Holly Williams, daughter of famed country signer Hank Williams Jr., this store carries innovative lines and helps fill the missing gap of high-end retailers that Nashville is lacking. I first found this store when I was doing on research on Nashville before a weekend trip. As soon as I stepped in the door I was an instant fan. She carries fun and edgy lines and accessories. Price points are similar to Barney's Co-Op or Neiman's Contemporary Department. The store has a great feel and makes you want to comb every inch. If you're ever in Nashville, it's a must shop!

www.haudrey.com

BEAUTIFUL OREGON

I recently went to Oregon with one of my besties and discovered one of the most charming and breathtaking places to visit in the U.S. I really didn't know much about Oregon before jet setting Northwest except that their wines, especially Pinot Noirs, are excellent and on the up and up in terms of U.S. wineries. I did not expect to find all the natural beauty that laid in store for us over our long weekend.

The trip started off ironically enough with us girls laughing and telling each other that in the spirit of the weekend we both chose a new shade for our mani/pedis in honor of our wine tasting trip. She got Merlot and mine, Bordeaux. Naturally, laughter ensued. When we finally arrived in Portland we ate a wonderful meal at the bar in our hotel, as the main dining room had already closed for the evening. Apparently people eat rather early in/around Portland we soon found out. We stayed the night at the Heathman Hotel in Portland. A charming hotel in the city center with wonderful down comforters and slippers waiting alongside the beds. In my general opinion, if there's a clean white down comforter in the pictures for a given hotel...that means it's typically going to be a pleasant stay! The next morning we took off with a vengance to conquer as many wineries as humanly possible for two girls in two days. And here it goes...the list of the vineyards we visited and some of our favorite wines as well. Pretty much any of these can be purchased online through the wineries sites if anyone is interested. Oregon is mainly known for Pinot Noirs, but they also have excellent Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc and their Chardonnay isn't bad since they're mainly done in stainless steel barrels instead of oak which gives off that strong oaky flavor.

WILLAMETTE VALLEY VINEYARDS:

Rex Hill (under the umbrella of A to Z wines)
2007 Chardonnay
2006 Jacob Hart Pinot Noir
2005 Francis Tannahill Grenache

Four Graces
2007 Dundee Hills Reserve Pinot Noir
2007 Dundee Hills Pinot Gris



Domaine Serene
2006 Two Barns Pinot Noir
2006 Etoile Chardonnay
2006 Rockblock Reserve Syrah*
*This is a wine you would want to age if you can wait that long. We tasted a '99 vintage from this vineyard and it was excellent.

Patricia Green
2007 Pinot Noir Reserve
Need to make an appt at this vineyard. Closed during harvest but Press Wine Bar also sells.

Chehalem
2007 Stoller Vineyards Pinot Blanc
2007 3 Vineyard Pinot Noir

Argyle
2006 Spirithouse Pinot Noir (there's a rumor the house is haunted hence the name and PR)
2007 Brut Rose
Try the sparkling wine/champagne flight. Fun to have a few bubbles in the mix of all the tastings!


Sokol Blosser
Evolution, Lucky Edition
2007 Pinot Noir
2008 Dundee Hills Cuvée Pinot Gris

Penner-Ash
2007 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir

Wines By Joe
2005 Dobbes Syrah Grande Assemblage Cuvée
2007 Dobbes Pinot Noir Rouge Valley Skippers Cuvée

Erath
2007 Oregon Pinot Noir

Winderlea
2007 Pinot Noir
Amazing views of the valley. Great time to stop and have a break on the deck.

Stoller
Beautiful vineyard but didn't fall in love with any wines. The land was previously a turkey farm hence the turkey logo on their bottles.

Duck Pond
Same deal. Pretty land but wouldn't recommend the wine. Good stop if there's traffic on the road though!

Note: Shipping wine back appeared to be a challenge for us. Either have the place your staying handle it for your or we heard of a UPS store in Newberg and of course if you're at the beach we found one store there with the nicest owner, Jeff at Copies & Fax on Cannon Beach.

 WILLAMETTE VALLEY DINING:
(we didn't get to all of these, but I've put our favs on top)
Bistro Maison (best mushroom ravioli I've ever had! So delicate and mouthwatering!)
Allison Inn
Tasting Room/Press Wine Bar
Dundee Bistro
Farm to Fresh
The Painted Lady
Nick's Italian Café
Red Hills Provincial Dining
La Rambla
Kame

After days full of tastings, we were in no shape to go out after dinner either night, but we did hear about a few local bars that sounded like a good time: Golden Valley, McMenamins (3 bars: rooftop, cellar, main), The Deluxe (local dive bar).

We stayed at the most wonderful, quaint and genuinely nicest B&B I've ever seen called the Black Walnut Inn. There isn't a single other place that I saw in the Willamette Valley that looked any better. Fabulous views, breakfasts, cookies...ohh the homemade cookies! The owners are a husband and wife and they are living their dream. A definite must stay!

If you have an extra day or so I highly recommend driving an hour or so to the coastline. We had a fabulous time in the charming beach town of Cannon Beach. The Stephanie Inn on the beach with beachfront views was the perfect way to relax and wind down a whirlwind trip of wine tasting!

Shhh... It's "Top Secret"

Loving these pieces to go under that impossible shirt (i.e. the long armhole tank or deep-v shirt especially if you're not in the mood to show any clev). These bralets are SUPER comfy and actually hold you in place...not flimsy at all, even in lace surprisingly enough! The line was created by two sisters out of Miami and I think they've done an amazing job. You can buy them online at their site (see below), but I've also seen them at Scoop NYC. Scoop only carries "Lacey's Secret" at this time, but it's my favorite anyway. Delicate and feminine and in my opinion the best updated bra top I've seen in years!

Just a thought....I wonder if they'll ever put an underwire, mesh or some other new technology to lift and separate to avoid the uni-boob effect. Guess we'll just have to wait and see!

www.topsecretsociety.com

Private Home Decor Sale Site...One Kings Lane

One Kings Lane was recommended to me by an amazing friend who knows how much I love finding new stores, especially ones where you can find amazing values. Similar to the sample sale sites I've previously written about, this site opens their sales at 10am CST weekly and closes 72 hours later with discounts up to 70% off. You can find great little finds for your home, bedding with incredible savings, cute hostess gifts...the possibilities are endless. It's a must see if you even remotely like home decor! Of course online sites like Rue LaLa occasionally carry home decor (i.e. we bought an espresso machine a few weeks ago), One Kings Lane is solely home decor. Pillows, bedding, cookware, stationary, table toppers, I think you get the point. Check them out!

www.onekingslane.com

Kindle Me This...

I am OBSESSED (that new Mariah song just started playing in my head!) with the Kindle. I might be a little late on the bandwagon but lets face it with a job and a social life we don't have countless hours to read. When I picked up the new Dan Brown book last week I remembered how annoying it is carrying around a 500 page hardbound book and since pretty much all new books are hardbound that really weighs you down. But not with a Kindle only weighing 10.2 ounces! Whats really cool is that you don't have to sync to your computer or pay for wireless and the Kindle is on 3G. That's how it downloads the books in under 60 seconds! They have over 350,000 books, newspaper and you can even read blogs! Some downloads are free and still the avg price of a book is around $10. Huge fan and def asking for one for Christmas!

The 6 inch model is avail with US wireless coverage for $259 and US & International for $279. Both hold about 1,500 books. The 9.7 inch model retails for $489 and hold over 3,500 books but its US wirelesses only.

Buying books on kindle is certainly cheaper than buying them at a bookstore but then again you don't get to keep the physical books for years to come. This raises some immediate questions for me: What happens to bookstores like Borders? Will they somehow partner with Kindle or come out with a Kindle of their own? Will more school textbooks be offered on Kindle? Now that you can highlight is there a way you can print out all of your highlighted text so students can study?
Come Christmas time when I have my own I will hopefully have these questions answered! Happy reading.

Leifsdottir Super Cute Fall Styles

I started noticing this brand in the spring and have been following it ever since. At first I thought it was a little too frilly and fem but I think it looks great this season! Neiman's just got their fall merchandise within the last few weeks and it looks amazing. Nordstrom’s, Bloomies and Anthro also carry. When I went to do a little investigative research on this line I learned that it was launched in the fall of 2008 by the design team at Anthro! I think it's awesome that the line is only a year old and even though it's under the umbrella of Anthropologie, they sell it to other major department stores and specialty shops.

BTW, doesn't this first look completely Blair Waldorf? Although she has gotten edgier this season, being that she's at NYU, I guess she WOULD have to wear plaid at some point!

xoxo ;)