Pedicure Only

Karley, as soon as I read your post I walked out the door and down to the local nail emporium (not its real name). They just opened up recently and they are fancier than some nail places but not so fancy that you feel like a jerk getting your nails done there. Because this was a fancier place, I decided to only get a pedicure, for cost savings.

As soon as I sat down, it became clear where the extra money was going--THE FANCIEST PEDICURE CHAIRS I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE! Not only did they have the ubiquitous massage feature, but they also had a footrest on the other side of the bowl that could be raised and lowered at the touch of a button. And you could move the chair forward and backward using the remote. Yes, the technology was on par with those rocket ships kids ride for a dollar outside Walmart, but it was still cool.

The Color

I chose the Essie color Jam ‘n’ Jelly. It was the first real day of spring and I wanted to shout it.

Spring Aside

In addition to it being in the 50s, how else did I know it was spring? I witnessed the following things all taking place simultaneously in Fort Greene Park:

People walking with dogs

People walking with kids

Picnics

Full tennis courts

A bike clinic

A tightrope clinic (seriously)

A guitar circle

A drum circle

A weed circle (yes, surprisingly, this was separate from the aforementioned circles)

SPRING!

Back to Color

Another reason I chose a bright color is that Jon doesn’t like neutrals on toes. There is no clear explanation for this, but when he sees neutrals he goes “Ummmm….” I think he thinks that there’s no point, because your nails are already a neutral.

The Tabloid

March 2010 Vogue, with Tina Fey on the cover—listen, if it’s in a nail salon, it’s a tabloid.

I read the Tina Fey article. And, get ready for it, I am kind of getting bored of Tina Fey articles. She’s a real woman! She can’t believe she makes as much money as she does! She works really hard! She's changed the face of comedy! She lost 30 pounds and kept it off! Why does this all continue to flabbergast the world so much that we have to keep writing articles about it?

The Price

$26, pedicure only. I think with a manicure it would have been $40.

Price Aside

The most expensive pedicure I have ever seen listed is for $55. Ooh, New York prices, you might say. Actually NYC is probably the cheapest place in the country to get a mani/pedi. You can get a mani/pedi for $20-$25 most places in NYC. The most expensive place is in none other than Honeoye Falls, NY. The small town in western NY where I went to high school!

Oh Mani/Pedi I Love You

Hey -- have you guys gone to get your nails done recently? Matt took nap duty and I was able to go to favorite nail salon in Brookline yesterday. It made me want to create a virtual - we all go to get our nalons done experience.

So. . . . The Colors

I think I discovered by new favorite OPI color - Tickle My France-y. The name is so stupid I almost couldn't get it, but the color is great. It's probably been around forever and I'm behind the times, so maybe you all have been wearing it forever. It's neutral but in an edgy way. Who knew?

This is it:
Cute, right? It seems more of a risk in the bottle than it does actually on your fingers. You could wear it to a wedding or going out. And I don't think chips will be that noticeable. You should try it.

I did my toes with an Essie color -- Chinchilly. In my opinion, a very cute name. Basically it's just a medium grey. I like but I don't think I love it. It's cool, but maybe I was looking for cooler?

I don't know. I will keep you posted.





A Nail Polish Aside
I was telling Matt about the dumb nail polish name and then we started making up names (ours we not very good - Violet Femmes, Ring Around the Rose-y) and then I thought it would be funny to post a bunch of really bad, real nail polish names. Of course, there is already a blog for that. Stupid Nail Polish Names. One of the funniest ones I saw was OPI: Friar Friar Pants on Fire. Ha!

MOVING ON!

The Tabloid

I chose to peruse the March 8 issue of Star Magazine. Here are the only things I can remember from the issue:
1. Brangelina are making up by taking the family to Venice, rekindling a relationship with Jon Voight, and living in a ridiculous mansion. The article mentions how they went to Angelina's favorite gelateria and Brad bought her a lemon ice and got one of the kids "caramello" - but all of the kids are clearly enjoying gelato in the photo. What gives with only disclosing one flavor? And the source was the owner of said gelateria. I think she is pushing that caramello flavor.

2. Two Real Housewives are in the news - one I knew about and one I was shocked about. We all know that Orange County Vicki went to Mexico and made out with some 25 year old guy who must think he just won the lottery. But did you know that Top Chef Sam is now with NYC Kelly?! He got married not too long ago, but is apparently separated from that wife and now is hooking up with a Housewife! It sounds like a bad Bravo cross-promotion. Click here to see it in print! NYPost

3. Giada is now making spaghetti sauce for Target. I will buy it because I love her.

4. There is a photo of Jessica Simpson wearing a creepy facial mask from La Mer to promote her new TV show - The Price of Beauty. I can watch alot of crap, but I think I will pass on this show.

The Price
$30. Pretty average I think.

In conclusion - if we can't all get our nails done together we can at least let each other know what happens when we go separately.

Cute Fashions Made Simple

I am already prepping myself for Jenni to write another "I knew about this three years ago" comment. Especially because my hot style source for this post is the New York Times Business section. We'll see after this whether I should just stick to writing about crap I find on the street.

The new hot tip is: Celebstyle. From the folks at PopSugar, a must for anyone still playing Faffarazzi, Celebstyle takes photos of celebs out and about and tells you where to buy what they're wearing at a price point that you can (usually) afford.



Living in Brooklyn, where

1) I feel like everyone woman on the street has a cuter outfit than I do, and

2) I don't have lots of time to go to the store and the boutiques in my neighborhood scare me so I exclusively still shop at Marshalls

I think this might come in handy.

British fashion is at least 3 years ahead of American fashion, no matter what you say

For Christmas my mother-in-law gave me this bag:



She carried a similar one at my wedding and I thought it was pretty fab. The label said Boden so I googled it and found a pretty awesome clothing and accessories website. The stuff is a little spendy, but it's got that cute "where did you get that" feel that comes from clothing that's made in (or at least originally sold in) England.

When I was younger, we lived in England. Then I came back to America and everyone looked like they did in England 3 years previous (apparently, writing "previous" at the end of a sentence is also something I got from living in England). I thought that with the advent of the internet, fashion would catch up. Wrong. I haven't done a lot of research, but I can tell you that the British dancers I worked with on a cruise ship 3 years ago were all wearing those "maxi dresses" which, at the time, I thought looked insane. Then for the next two summers everyone in the US was wearing them.

So, I don't think you can go wrong with Boden. Check out this coat on sale. Look at me, I'm hip and fashionable but also carefree. And is that an old Englishy looking building in the background? That's right I am worldly, too. SOLD!



And for those with CHILDREN, there is miniBoden. Any company that uses "mini" as a descriptor is all right in my book.

Quit it:

Etsy Sellers I Love

I love Etsy! How could you not really? If something can be handmade, then it's probably on this site. I was recently given a little birthday money to buy something on the site and I decided I wanted a necklace -- a showpiece if you will. Something knitted or crocheted or upcycled. It still had to be chic and fashionable. I wasn't looking for crunchy, hippy jewelry.


I found so many things, I had to enlist my fellow bloggers to help me make a choice. I ended buying this awesome crocheted necklace from craftaria. The designer, Marta lives in Portugal and makes all sorts of cute textile accessories. I love the gold ball and white flower together. I think it's perfect for work or for going out.


I have my eye on some other designers too. Ollies Woollies does cool felted jewelry like this gray and olive "branch" necklace.











LiveInStyle has fun upcycled lace creations that look retro and modern at the same time.


Hmmm. . . which do I buy next?