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lusting for: real jewels

October 5, 2010 in fashion

Costume jewelry is all well and good but sometimes a girl wants the real deal. Sometimes she wants a bit of sparkle that makes her feel a bit special.

My jewelry weakness is a beautiful necklace. I particularly love long silver necklaces due to a remembered Trinny and Susannah lesson from my teens that girls of my shape should wear navel-length necklaces to distract from their lack of curves. But I digress.

It was recently suggested to me that I might like ShopNBC.com’s range of necklaces. I was a little sceptical at first – after all, I’ve never been a shopping channel kind of girl – but I was pleasantly surprised with the great range they had on offer and how much I genuinely liked!

In particular, I’m rather taken with this stunning Lapis necklace. The brilliant blue would add a gorgeous hint of colour to any outfit – and the best part is that it’s currently on sale for $149.53 (significantly down from $216.75). This one is sitting on my wishlist for the next time I need a little pick-me up!

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in the news: butterfly clip diplomacy

September 22, 2010 in fashion, news

I appreciate that Hillary Clinton took it upon herself to prove my point from yesterday’s post - women can’t get a break when it comes to what they choose to wear to work.

The US Secretary of State wore a butterfly clip to the UN, where she discussed disaster relief for Pakistan and Haiti with Norway’s Foreign Minister, Britain’s International Development Secretary, and members of the State Department.

It might be a fashion faux-pas but it’s not front page news, or at least it shouldn’t be – the topic of her talks should be the lead.

But, of course, everyone is focusing on the butterfly clip. Which goes to prove my point – if you want people to take you seriously and listen to what you say, don’t wear butterfly clips to work.

Read more at Jezebel.

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in the news: oval office make-over

September 7, 2010 in news

It’s a year this week since I left DC and to mark the occasion (well, I’m choosing to see it that way), Barack Obama has given his Oval Office a make-over.

While the President and his family were on vacation in Martha’s Vineyard, busy bees installed new wallpaper, a new rug, new chairs, lamps and a coffee table.

The new rug features the presidential seal and quotes from two former Republican Presidents – “Government of the people, by the people and for the people” from Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address and “The welfare of each of us is dependent fundamentally on the welfare of all of us” from a speech that Theodore Roosevelt gave at the New York State Fair in Syracuse, N.Y., on Sept. 7, 1903.

It’s not unusual for Presidents to change up the Oval Office early in their terms and Obama has thrown out some of Bush’s personal touches, including the old blue and yellow embroidered chairs that Bush and Obama previously sat in with their foreign counterparts for press calls.

Many items have not changed including the Resolute Desk, built from the timbers of a British warship (a gift to President Rutherford B. Hayes that was installed in the Oval Office by John F. Kennedy, and has been used by presidents Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush).

See more at the Huffington Post.

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in the news: anthro accessories stores

August 18, 2010 in fashion, news

Get your credit cards ready, ladies – Urban Outfitters (the parent company of Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie and Free People stores) has decided in its infinite wisdom to revamp its accessories by launching an Anthro accessories-only test store next year in Bethesda, MD (i.e. painfully close to my old digs in Georgetown, DC!)

Urban’s Chief Executive Officer Glen Senk says 50% of the store’s product will be shoes and will reflect the products available online. If the test store does well, we can expect to see more of these accessories stores pop up around the country (and hopefully the world).

Urban has other expansion plans in mind including about 35 new stores to open next year, store locations for the Leifsdottir line and a bridal store featuring designs by Corey Lynn Calter (read Roxy’s scoop over at Effortless Anthropologie).

I keep my fingers crossed that one day these expansion plans will mention Australia but unfortunately no joy this round.

On a slightly different note, how gorgeous is the Dried Leaves Dress in today’s photo! It popped up on Anthro’s website a couple of days ago and went straight to the top of my wish list. You can buy it online or in stores for $158.

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eating out: the smoke bbq

July 24, 2010 in restaurants

I’ve always been a fan of Blue Smoke so I was interested to see what it would be like following its recent revamp and rename. With the boy one arm down at the moment, food we can politely eat without knives and forks is high on the list and The Smoke BBQ was a local and obvious choice.

Not much has changed other than the name and the new, larger kitchen but that’s not a bad thing. The complementary corn bread to start served with honey butter is still amazing and the margaritas are still my cocktail of choice.

The buffalo chicken wings with blue cheese sauce take me back to the States as soon as I bite into them – and you still have a choice of three levels of heat (my personal favourite being “blue hot”, which makes your lips tingle but is still edible).

After licking our fingers following the wings, we shared a full serve of Kansas City baby back ribs. The smoky sauciness was a little slice of southern comfort and the side of coleslaw perfectly offset the rich sauce and chips. On a cold winter’s night, this was just what we both needed.

Wednesday night offers half price wings but don’t forget to book your table in advance because the restaurant packs out – there’s nothing worse than turning up and smelling those tasty, tasy wings but not being able to eat them!

The Smoke BBQ on UrbanspoonWhere to find it: 85 Merthyr Road, New Farm

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