Thursday, December 1, 2011

VALENTINO

Thanks to GOOP I am now aware of Valentino's virtual museum coming to the web December 5th!




Not only does it look really well done, but it shows all of his AH-mazing clothes that he has made throughout this career and stories and interviews that help us understand what was going on during his life at the time to influence these creations.  I LOVE this!  love creative peeps......there are too many bores in the world, live it up!!!! Thank you Mr. Valentino!


Also, if you go to GOOP you can read interviews with Valentino and his business partner about their reasons for creating this amazing virtual archive!

love,

abs

Friday, September 23, 2011

little booties

I have wanted some trendy booties for a while now...and when I saw my friend Annie, designer of the Annie Griffin Collection, wearing these puppies:
J.Crew MacAlister Wedge Boots $198

I fell in love.

Now, you might be saying Anna, those look like a glorified Clark's shoe or that is waaaay too granola for me... BUT you will be WRONG!  They actually look very chic and trendy with a pair of skinny jeans or leggings, and I have heard they are ooh so comfy.  I will warn you though, that if you have large feet these might look a tad silly because of the elongated front.


So! While I was searching for the above booties at J.Crew I was pleasantly surprised at how many cute shoes J.Crew has right now.  Flats, heels, boots, wedges etc...their designing gets better and better every year, and their prices aren't too terrible either.

Some other J.Crew Booty Faves:
Owen Boots $265

Miller Short Motorcycle Boots $265

Ryder Boots $268

Greer Wedge Ankle Boots $268

I actually have these and they are AWESOME! Minnetonka $168

I have always thought these were neat looking kicks- but what the hell do I wear those with? Quoddy Boots $300 
Their flats and heels are pretty sickie right now too so go check it out!


love,

abs


Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Baby Williams

One of my best friends is having a baby boy- yaaay!!!!


Meet Margaret:
excellent friend
and animal lover
she and her doctor extraordinaire hubby Juddy:

will be wonderful parents and I can't wait to meet the little bundle of love!!!


Congrats to the Williams!!!


On another note, Margaret is also an amazing interior designer, this is not her career, but she dabbles in it for fun... while she is creating Baby William's nursery I will try and get some sneak peaks because I am sure it will be FAB.



love,

abs

Friday, September 2, 2011

Handbag Heaven

I am very picky about my purses/handbags and what have you...

my idea of a perfect purse includes:
-thick straps, preferably out of a nice, smooth leather.  If the straps are too skinny they end up digging into your shoulder if your purse gets heavy = not fun.
-semi- slouchy 
          -if a bag is too structered sometimes it looks a little too hard and intense for my taste, I would rather have an easy, comfortable looking bag.
-good zipper and storage pockets

for example:

too structured:

this is a beautiful YSL bag, but it just looks too intense and "FANCY PANTS" for my taste


perfect and easy:
this one is from J.Crew, it is $298--- I am loving their handbag collection for fall...



I guess I need some slouchiness in my bag, and for it to look a little worn, not so shiny and new.  I love the feeling of old, soft leather... this is Sarah and me in ACK and I am carrying my almost 6 year old Rebecca Minkoff bag.  This bag is awesome and just gets better every time you wear it.  I bought mine at Bloomingdales, but I have seen this exact one at Ann Mashburn recently.
please ignore the crazy face I am sporting in this pic....
This looks like the same one I have...Classics MAB-mini satchel $495


My bday is coming up and I would not mind a new handbag...hint...hint....here are some of my faves out there right now....
this puppy is also j.crew, their darlington hobo coming in at a cool $325- i love the motorcycle jacket inspired sides
These J.Crew bags are steals considering what nice leather they are made of-  I must say that I have never owned a J.Crew bag before, so I am not sure how well they hold up or if they feel as great as they look...but I would give this bag a chance for sure.
Burberry Buckled Leather Tote $1,495


This Burberry Tote is tote-ally awesome-hehe- or so it seems via the internet...I love the chartreuse color because who wears a chartreuse purse? no one- people are so boring just trying to fit in with the same black or brown purse all the time.  It would be nice to switch it up! Be Wild! The Burberry one is def. on  the pricier side but like I said I have worn basically two purses for the last 6 years of my life and these puppies get a lot of wear out of them.....so you get a lot of bang for your buck!



I am also a huge fan of Miu Miu purses.  They aren't too flashy with labels plastered all over themselves and they have very nice leather that lasts... I have this one in a dark green:
Miu Miu Matelasse Leather bag $1,695
This is also on the pricier end (mine was a gift...) but it is a nice size purse you can wear everywhere

Anya Hindmarch has some sweet bags out right now as well:
Maxi Zip Leather Shoulder Bag $1,350
 Maxi Zip Ebury
Don't let the orange scare you--like I said- LIVE A LITTLE
don't be so worried about fashion, just have fun with it and wear what is appealing to you, not what others think you should be wearing.

Ralph Lauren also has some good options out right now:
Bohemian Suede Bag  on sale for $569
LOVE suede bags for the fall...I can't tell if this one has a zipper though...not good for someone who stuffs their purse full of muy importante items




Burnished Calfskin Cross-Body $595
LOVE A GOOD CROSS-BODY PURSE- HANDS FREE PARTAY!


Lastly, not to jump on my high horse or anything  but...I know that some of the handbags on my post are a tad pricey and a good friend told me once that you should never buy something expensive unless you can give that same amount of money away to help others.  This might be a DUH moment for most of you...but peeps can be very materialistic.   My blog may be based on a lot of material stuff but these are very trivial wants in the grand scheme of life..... I may not always follow this mantra, but there are so many people in need that we can all learn to give away a little more....

HAPPY LABOR DAY WEEKEND!!!!


love,

abs








Saturday, August 27, 2011

Helen Ficalora

These charming alphabet charms are made by the talented Helen Ficalora.

I know you might say....I SEE THESE EVERYWHERE....or those are so last season...


BUT, I think they are beautiful and timeless. I would love maybe a B for my middle initial or a G for my little pup.

She also has other charms that might strike your fancy:
There are also charitable options where a portion of the proceeds go to certain foundations...like:
Project Sunshine
Breast Cancer Ribbon
A ton of celeb's have been seen strutting around town in these jewels:
I also like her stuff because the designer seems to be pretty down to earth and i like her vibe as you can watch in this interview:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8YkI4preMY&feature=player_embedded


and she has rings too!
most of her jewelry comes in either rose, white or yellow gold...and maybe silver?

love love love


love,

abs

Friday, August 26, 2011

H&M

H&M has some awesome dresses right now.  My sweet friend Susanne:

has great style, always finds amazing deals and recently purchased this:
H&M
H&M

awesome, right? she got the blush color and it is REALLY pretty in person, but if you are looking for more of a fall color, the mustard is pretty hot too. AND the best part is that it is only $24.95!!!!

H&M

This is another sickie H&M dress that I spotted while browsing their online site...a little more pricey at $49.95, but still a steal!


Both dresses remind me of this dreamy DVF dress, that is $345.
DVF
*Different silhouettes but similar idea with the fabric and fluidity

Diana has it in this pretty berry color:


love,

abs

Thursday, August 25, 2011

FLORIDA

My mom and I ventured down to Florida last weekend and brought our dogs to the beach for the first time--- and they freaking loved it!
please ignore my annoying voice in the video- ugggh...

But how cute and fearless is Gracie?! My little love...

love,

abs

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

L.K.Bennett

Wanna look like this?
start here:

L.K. Bennett  is where most of Kate's chic footwear comes from.  Their styles are simple, classic and reasonably priced, if you are comparing them to designers like Jimmy Choo, Manolo etc...
Kate has been seen wearing these:
And these a lot:
both are classic and lovely.

Personally, I find it VERY hard to find a nice looking pair of classic, nude pumps these days unless they are $600, so thumbs up to L.K. Bennett.

Their bags have also been making some appearances on the arms of Kate's pretty sissy Pippa lately:
anyways- here are some of the L.K. Bennett pieces in my wish list at the moment:

Cranley Boot
Bolton Shoe

Olivia Shoe
Hampden Bag
They have stores in Atlanta and Chicago and of course all across Europe.  Some of their pieces are also sold in select Bloomingdales.  If you live in Atlanta, you are in luck! Their store opened at Phipps about 3 months ago, and right now they are having a huge sale.  Go check it out!


love,

abs