Month: June 2008

Wedding Bells and Belted Cows

Posted on by Shoe Daydreams

We went to a friend’s wedding on Saturday and it was just gorgeous (albeit a little warm). The wedding was hosted at a location I hadn’t been to yet – Fearrington Village. The grounds were beautiful and there looked to be a number of shops and restaurants in addition to the Inn and the grounds.

The wedding was outside under a huge tree and the reception was held in The Barn and yes, it was as pretty as this.

Because the wedding started in the afternoon, I wanted to look nice but not be too formal. The setting didn’t lend to being dressed to formally either. I did end up wearing the black portrait collar dress with the eyelet edges. I guessed that we would be on grass for the ceremony, and we were, so I did bring my little Old Navy sandals. I’m glad I did because I saw many a girl sink into the grass and I would not have been a happy camper if that was me.


But I can’t be without heels so I used the opportunity to wear my Prada flower heels. And they were stunning! They also got a good amount of attention. And I didn’t break them on any of the bricks or cobblestones so it was a good night all around.

The bride was gorgeous as was the setting and food. The music rocked and it seemed to be a very low key but fun wedding. Congratulations K & C!

New York, New York – Day 3

Posted on by Shoe Daydreams

New York adventures – Day One
New York adventures – Day Two

After staying up way too late the previous night, it took some doing to get up the next day. As it was, we didn’t get going until mid-day. I wanted to stroll through the park because the day, again, was unbelievably gorgeous.

Wanting to be outside and maybe have a cocktail, we ended up at The Boathouse in Central Park.

It was the perfect place to be for the next few hours. We grabbed a tall table and ordered a plate of fruit and cheese. My friend had a vodka tonic while I had (quite a few) Kir Royales. Being that I don’t drink all that often and somehow I got the idea that four (!!!) Kirs were somehow in order, I was a bit tipsy (hic!) as we left the restaurant.

I’m not going to say I was drunk but it may have been less than a great idea to try and figure out a new subway line while being tipsy AND late to meet up with Miss Gala Darling at Magnolia Bakery for an obligatory cupcake tasting.

It was early afternoon on a Thursday and yep, there was a line. But still, we were chatting and in no rush.

I have the Magnolia Bakery cookbook and have tried to make their cupcakes and icing before. It wasn’t my favorite icing of all time, but I was game to try an original. We got in line and grabbed our box and each took two cupcakes. I got a chocolate chocolate and a red velvet. Don’t they look tasty?

I started with my chocolate one and I have to say, the icing on it was pretty darn good! Very fluffy. If you want more images, check out Paris Breakfast’s post here. We sat in a little park across the street and chatted as we enjoyed our treats.

After that we walked around a bit, saw Carrie’s steps and stopped in a Batch for another cupcake sample. I got us both a cupcake – mine was lemon with a lemon curd center (I ate it later and it was delish!).

We went into a novelty store and looked masks and then went to a Marc Jacob sample store. After an hour or two we both had to run off to other appointments but it was really great to meet her in person. She’s a sweetie!

During the day, I’d been wearing my red Gap v-neck light sweater with my denim skirt and my red snakeskin Manolo mary janes. I walked all over and I have to say, I think these were more comfortable to wear than my flats.

That night we went to dinner at Ruby Foo’s – Uptown not Times Square. It wasn’t bad. I’m not sure if it would have been my pick but this was sort of a “thank you for letting me stay” dinner so I didn’t do the picking. The restaurant itself was nice but it kept playing really bad 80s music. Not sure what that was about.

To dinner I wore my sequin skirt from YOOX and a simple black v-neck. I had my black heels but ended up wearing flat more since we walked all around for a while. We stopped into a small clubby bar and had a final night cap. I got a St. Germain, which may now be my new favorite drink. I love champagne and I live elderflower presse. What could be a more perfect drink!

That night I was up super late. I was not scheduled to fly out until 7pm on Friday but when I woke up I was missing home a bit. Since I’d been able to see much of what I wanted, I decided to push up my flight. I got a flight home mid-day and am now back with all my new goodies.

I love New York, but I think next time I’d prefer to go with the hubby. New York is such a beautiful city filled with unique and romantic opportunities. It was a bit sad to be there with out him.

UPDATED: I forgot to mention that we did see a bunch of girls going to the midnight (?) showing of SATC movie. There was much shrieking and wearing of their best SATC outfits and shoes. I’m kind of glad that I wasn’t a part of that group.

New York, New York – Day 2

Posted on by Shoe Daydreams

Sooo, where did we leave off? Here’s Day One to check out.

On Wednesday morning (Day Two) I was off for my main reason to come to New York – a conference for work. I figured it might be chilly in the Times Center all day so I wore a denim skirt, my JCrew tee with the sequined crest and a dark brown corduroy blazer. For shoes I wore my Franco Sarto heeled sandals.

They actually ended up being pretty comfortable because I walked for blocks in them and they didn’t bother me. Plus I got quite a few compliments on them.

The conference ended at 5pm so I was able to hit a few other stores that I had not been able to the day before. One of the main places I wanted to go was to Town Shop. After reading reviews of the service there, I decided to see what advice they gave me. This place has been around since 1888 and many of the sales people have been there for decades.

Well, I walked in ready for anything and was helped by a lovely woman who made me feel instantly at ease with her professionalism. And she told me, like most women, I was wearing the totally wrong size. I’d always gone for a larger band size and a smaller cup. When I was the opposite, a bigger cup was needed and smaller back! Imagine that! I tried on one of the bras she brought me and then put my shirt over it to see. The change was amazing. I felt plumped in a good way! I was so happy I bought two bras on the spot. And they’re elegant womanly bras, not saccharine pink Victoria’s Secret garbage either. I’ve decided I’m totally done with them.

If you get the chance to go, I obviously recommend the store!

From there, I wasn’t far from an actual Manolo Blahnik store. Now, granted, given the other day I should not have gone there. But I couldn’t not go, even just to look.

Yeah, I’ll admit it. That was a mistake.

The store is a tiny boutique and very simply designed. I saw a few shoes I knew but there were many not carried by the major department stores.

I tried on a few adorable pairs but ended up getting these brown linen Toluk mary janes with dark brown edges. Very very comfortable as well. And, seriously, I don’t have a ton of brown shoes. These I did end up taking with me since I figured I could fit one shoe box into my bags somehow.

After that I took a cab through the park and went over to the Maison du Chocolat store on Madison.

I’d been dying to get some macarons and I succeeded. I got a big variety pack and am still eating them. I also got a bunch of dark chocolate pieces mainly with ingredients like ginger, tea and honey. They were also delish!

It was an absolutely gorgeous day so I walked from Maison all the way to the subway pick-up down by The Plaza. I then returned to the apartment to order an Indian feast to be delivered to my door.

New York, New York – Day 1

Posted on by Shoe Daydreams

My first day in New York was quite a hectic one. It’s been ages since I’d been back there. And it didn’t start off well – I got off the plane and it was pouring down rain! Good thing I’d packed other shoes. I wore a black trench dress (which I’d had for a while but hadn’t worn yet) paired up with my Jimmy Choo Buzz heels. I’d packed a ton of outfits, because you know you need options, and had all of my shoes in the carry on bag. I just don’t trust checking them, ya know!

So, I got in around 8am and the friend I was staying with picked me up at the airport. We went back to his apartment and both took quick cat naps, since he works nights and I’d been up since before 5am. Then we got a yummy lunch in a local restaurant. I had a great ahi tuna-topped salad.

After that and since the rain had stopped, I decided to slip on some flats and take the N train into the city. Lucky for me, the train lets off right near Bergdorfs! First check on the To Do list.

I wandered around a bit and ended up in the cosmetics section. I’ve been looking for a replacement lipstick for this one special edition color that I just love. Sadly, I haven’t found it exactly yet, but I did get a lipstick and a Glossimer. The lipstick is Rouge Allure #17 Emotion and the Glossimer is #197 Gazelle and both are a light pinkish-orange.

But the lovely surprise is that, when I wandered into the shoe department, they were having a big designer shoe sale. And it was a mad house. Ladies, shoes and sales reps were everywhere with piles of shoes in their arms. Shoes of every designer brand were out on the racks and started at 30% off. I grabbed a few to try on myself, because, you just can’t pass up a sale like that, right?

After trying on a bunch of styles I ended up getting these two pairs. The first is a pair of black patent slingback peep-toes from Christian Louboutin. I had already been walking around in my flats quite a bit but slipping these on found they were so comfortable. I almost considered wearing them for the rest of my shopping.

The other pair were these sapphire blue satin Manolo Blahniks. They’re a big big but with inserts they fit fine and I couldn’t resist the gorgeous blue color.

I seriously wanted to take them back to the apartment with me and wear them during the trip but I knew I would never be able to fit them in my bags (and I would have been right!) so I had them ship them to my home. This actually saved me from having to pay NY sales tax which would have been more than the shipping.

From there I decided to make my way down Madison and see what I passed along the way. I didn’t have too much of a game plan. What was amazingly helpful was that before I had left, I put all the places I wanted to go into my iPhone. I had a general idea of what places were near each other so I would just use my iPhone to map the location and see where I was going. Much better than carrying around a guidebook or map, plus I could call the locations if I had a question about their hours or where exactly they were.

I did pop into H&M since we don’t have one at home. But, while I’ve seen some cute stuff from there on folks, I just didn’t spark to anything. So, back out I went.

Next up was Saks and the 10022-SHOE shoe floor. They have an express elevator which takes you right to the floor (or just confuses the heck out of people when they aren’t paying attention to the sign above the doors!)

I walked all around to see if there was anything I was really dying for, since they were also doing a sale, but no luck.

I did get an opportunity to try on the Gucci sandals that I really really wanted, but, alas, the size 6s were too big. I was hoping that I could get away with the 6s and they looked really cool but nope. I did have the look to see if they came in 5 or 5.5 at all, but sadly no. And they were on sale too. Wah!

From there I kept on walking and ended up spying this store filled with gorgeous gloves. And I love gloves. I’d even brought my vintage driving gloves and Italian black embellished gloves with me.

I didn’t know that Sermoneta gloves were where WendyB had purchased her controversial yellow gloves (I say she wears them well).

I tried on a few pairs but didn’t get quite as adventurous as Wendy. I was more interested in the driving glove looking ones and finally got these two-tone green and off-white pair. I was hoping for an orange-pink pair but no luck. I wear a lot of green in the summer so I think they will get a lot of use. I may wear them to work on Monday.

One of the other places I wanted to go to was Caron Perfumerie. They’re owned by the same person who owns Phyto so it was a bit difficult to find. The Caron products are house on the third floor near the spa but they still have the gorgeous decanters of perfumes.

The lovely Diane Haska took a great deal of time letting me sniff endless strips of delicate scents to help me narrow down to a few perfumes to try on.

I tended to move away from their more floraly ones and gravitated towards some of the more spicy ones.

The other reason I wanted to go there was to get an adorable “poof” which come in three sizes and an endless array of sherbet colors. You can get scented powders to go with these but I justed ended up getting the poof. Can you see the huge pile of tester strips under there? Those are all from me.

I ended up with the medium light blue poof. For perfumes I bough a bottle of the Parfum Sacre, which has top notes of pepper, cinnimon and coriander. You can smell the pepper clear through the box. Here are a few reviews who describe it better than I ever could –

– by Bois de Jasmin
– at BaseNotes
– by Sweet Diva

Diane also gave me decants of the three scents you see there in the front. Since I liked the spicy, she gave me Tabac Blond, Poivre (more pepper) and a classic Nuit de Noel. They’re all delicious as well. You can order decants through The Perfumed Court.

After all this I was just beat. So I headed back to, basically, crash. On Wednesday I had my work conference so got ready for bed.

Day two to follow.

Hello! Anyone Home?

Posted on by Shoe Daydreams

So, I’ve been bad and slack about updating everyone on my New York trip. But I have good excuses, I promise.

1. I was staying with a friend and did not bring my computer, so all my “stuff” wasn’t available. I really needed to pack 6 pairs of shoes and about 9 outfits for a 3 night trip. So room was at a premium.

2. I started to feel a bit crummy on Friday and actually paid to fly back a few hours early. I got home and just crashed. I think it was staying up past 3am most nights but still getting up at 6-ish, plus way more food (and alcohol) than I was used.

3. We had to go to a wedding out of town yesterday. On Friday night and all day Saturday I was unpacking and doing the “Seasonal Switch” then I had to get ready for the wedding. We didn’t get home until late.

4. I actually didn’t take photos of my purchases yet. I need to do that RIGHT NOW so I can give you the complete download, which is up next.

Updates to follow asap!

Luv,
Poochie