Monday, January 29, 2007

Big Bubang Theory

The most important accessory for winter? It's not a hat, not gloves, not a sweater or an overcoat. It's not a body exfoliant, not a facial exfoliant; not a body moisturizer or a facial moisturizer. It's not cozy warm socks and it's not a nice fluffy Patagonia fleece.

No my friends, it is this one simple device: the humidifier.

In New York, the humidifier is a standby to the old radiator-heated apartments. This heating I'm talking about renders you bone dry. For the past few years we have therefore been rocking the $25 drugstore special - the Vicks humidifier without the Vaporub (even the word evokes memories of a toilet paper scarf worn to bed at night, but that is a subject for another posting). After last season, however, we decided the filtration system in the cheap-o model just wasn't cutting it, so my gallant husband upped the ante to the $40 model.

His attraction to the new device was that it had an option for hot humidity dispension, and by hot humidity dispension I mean it boiled water. Back to PC Richards it went and we invested in the $100 Air-O-Swiss option with a back-up ionic silver filter thingy from Bed, Bath and Bayond. We spent the night soaking the filter, filling up the device and switching it on and off every so often just to finally determine that it was defective. Back to B,B and B it went and we spent the next day viewing the city's finest (read: most miserable) appliance stores - PC Richards (both the East Village and Chelsea locations), Home Depot, Best Buy, Circuit City (they do not sell humidifiers..."Who?" "Humidifiers - they're not a band, they're household appliances").

We were nearly at our wit's end when EJ's initial suggestion - a joke at first - sounded so much more appealing. m2m on 11th Street and 3rd Avenue calls itself the Asian Convenient Store. Well three cheers to convenient-ness because the Bubang humidifier was less than $100 and that included a free humidifier cleaning product.

Considering the headline of this posting, is it absolutely horrible if I tell you the moral of this story is that when shopping for a humidifier, always go out with a Bubang?

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Genius Blog about, Yes, Lip Balm

This is amazing - I am adding this blog to my list of faves over to the side but I had to also devote a post to it. The name says it all:

Chaptastic

I myself have been slightly obsessed recently over various lip stuff options with my newest favorite being L'Occitane en Provence's Creamy Honey Lip Balm (yes, that is actually the full name of that retailer). Elizabeth Arden's Eight Hour Cream is a classic favorite that always works.

What Is With That Smell?

A couple of questions have come up recently:

1) Why has the scent of all retail locations of The Body Shop gone from nothing in the atmosphere except the occasional testing spritz to totally gnarly? What is with that putrid stank? Is it the competition with Bath and Body Works? Has my nose gotten more sensitive over the years? (Note: this could be quite possible. There are times when I smell the sulfur in the NYC water system so clearly I have to opt for bottled H2O).

2) Why is it that Broadway musicals went from special, wear your "Sunday-best" events to slap on a pair of jeans for the matinee? Disney's stranglehold on 42nd Street? The evolution of the US into a more "casual" culture (read: the slacker movement)?

I ponder these thoughts with you, my wee bonnie lassies and lads. Tonight I attended a NY Press Club event with a discussion revolving around blogs and blogging so I got the itch and reminder that I needed to reach out. Talk amongst yourselves - discuss - and leave me a comment. I've gotten some great ones recently that have lead me in some good directions here on the interweb.

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Women of New York City run the full gamut of fashion sense. This place is a fashion hub, and therefore to the outsider it may seem as though every woman here is the pinnacle of style, but I would argue that for every woman who's got it, there's one who's off the mark entirely. We have the best of the best and the worst of the worst and everything in between. I give you...

The Good

TG170 is possibly the coolest store in all of New York. The owner is as nice and helpful to me as she is to Jessica Simpson and the way she dresses is just plain old fashioned cool. I was in there last weekend with JK (we were crazy for cords - she bought an adorable maroon skirt with a funky cream-colored pattern and I opted for skinny-leg Mon Petit Oiseau black pants. Do I love that brand? Yes; I will discuss it in another posting) and the owner was rocking the big ol' sunglasses that all the kids are wearing these days except they weren't sunglasses, they were actual glasses. I'm talking prescription that she pulled down off her head to read the price of something JK was checking out. I may not be giving the subtle coolness of the look proper dues with this description, but she's just plain chill.

The Bad

Ok this one I just didn't get at all: a suede jacket with shearling lining emblazoned with the word "History" across the back with a Scooby Doo patch underneath the word. What the?

The Ugly

Camoflauge draw-string pants with the word "Peace" written across the butt. Maybe if it had said "Piece" it would have made a little more sense.

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Schmockin and Jivin

Happy New Year, fashionistas! Did we all come up with some good resolutions like (1) never pay retail and (2) always pay attention to what you're wearing and (3) try to give more women compliments? Oh wait, those are mine but if you need to take one or two and run with them, well be my guest.

I have a few interesting tid-bits to share from Columbia, South Carolina (or Cola as the locals refer to it).

- Schmocking, or smocking as it may be written, is uber-popular in South Carolina, as is monogramming.

- Hand Picked has maybe the best selection of sterling silver earrings I have ever experienced. The website doesn't really do it justice (too much junk, not enough sterling!), but you may find a nice little item to monogram: Behandpicked.com

- Janie Quinn makes super cute belts (and babies - Michael is a peanut)! Check out her site: PerfectlyWaisted.com