I don't think I'm ready...for this jelly

Among all the flats this summer that have inspired a sense of nostalgia are the oh so once-upon-a-time-jelly shoes. If you were ever a preteen in say - achem - the 80s you may have owned a pair of Sparkly.Purple.Caged.Jelly Shoes. As an adult I now I can see its attraction to parents as it could dry almost immediately when accidentally splashed, they were fairly inexpensive (at least I never broke out Miss Piggy for a pair) and the plastic/rubber soles provided a slip proof protection. I can also see where they may have appealed to a young primadonna with all its shade of fun and its affinity to low low low lady like heels.

These days the thought of sticking my feet into a pair of prone of overheat and become smelly sandals gives me the he-bee-gee-bees. I have rounded the prettiest pairs out there below but...mmmm dunno -what say you?

Purples and Violets and Pinks - Oh my!

Maybe it was the overcast all day today, or the fall like temperatures, but I went to the salon with the intent of getting either summer pastels (here) or the very popular neon shades (here) and ended up with:

{Essie's Lincoln Park After Dark with Erica Anenberg Ice Princess double ring}

{ Essie's Big Spender with Seychelles Gypsy sandals}

I nearly drove all the wonderful ladies at the salon nuts trying to get me my deep deep shade of purple but I guess I was just in that shade of mind!

Molly's Cupcakes

In a recent gorge-fest my friend and I visited Molly's Cupcakes in the Lincoln Park area of Chicago. It was my first time there and certainly not my last. It has a very back in school nostalgic feel from the counters, cupcake sprinkles stations and teeny tiny tshirts on the walls. All the various cupcakes made me think of the treats we used to bring to school for our birthdays. For those independent and adventurous in nature you can combine any cupcake with the various choices in toppings. However we purchased for sampling ~Strawberry Shortcake, Chocolate Mint, Peanut Butter Nutella (my new fav!!) and Wild Berries (my second new favorite).

All the berries and fillings were incredibly fresh and the presentation of the cakes could not be beat. However there was just the two of us ordering these substantial cupcakes and I guess we must have looked confused when they wrapped them to go in a box.....I mean - do we look like rookies? Oh staff person - prepared to be amazed........

All in all it was a nice place to take a breather and enjoy one of life's little pleasures. Their menu has a few seasonal items but we did the math and I think we have two more visits to experience the remaining available flavors before we start moving onto all the available combinations.

{everyone is a comedian}

Old hangout - New friends

So I was chillin' at my local Forever21 scoping out their basics section when I bumped into the chillest girl I was yet to meet. Rikkia asked me where I got my shoes from and I had the proud pleasure of introducing her to Endless.com. The place that has excellent service and delivery and for us Chicagoans - no tax!! So her and I got to talking about all our shopping secrets and soon we had dived into all aspects of life...how there is nothing in life worth getting so upset about you would want to harm anyone....how a dollar saved is a dollar to spend on the next shopping trip....how in life you can't take yourself too seriously...

I then met her friend Clarisse who was trying on a shirt that I liked and Rikkia hated. She warned Clarisse that if she bought it she would look like Fabio or she was just off the boat or...well there were alot other comments. Here they are discussing the merits of the shirt (excuse the camera phone shot)

That's what I love about Chicago. You just never know when you will make a new friend (or two)

Curb the Urge: Summer Totes

I have long since fell in love with all things Marc Jacobs and his purses are no exception. They are fun and fashion forward without ever appearing juvenile. That's why when I saw his line of nylon totes I immediately decided I had to have one. This MJ Tate purse was an urge that even made sense. Its nylon exterior is perfect for the summer and all the fun colors it is available in was a sure fire way to make any plain outfit pop. However the $158 price tag slowed my trigger finger from tapping the 'Purchase' button. While I loved the style I couldn't help but feel like I was better served saving that $$ for a more lux purse of Jacobs. You know - supple leather and all. Not wanting to pout on it long I discovered the curbed purse at Old Navy for a fraction of the cost. Its canvas exterior will be a welcome change in the sticky days of summer and the pale wash of yellow a soft way to introduce to za za zoom into a jeans and t-shirt outfit.

Bookclub Bookworm: The Curious Incident of the dog in the night-time - by Mark Haddon

I have a confession to make. I have become terribly competitive in my bookclub selections. We have read such a good assortment of books that I definitely do not want to be the one that breaks the cycle. This brings me to my dilemma. Its my turn to select the next book. I have procrastinated this enough already and still have no selection to show for. Tonight I went back and looked over some of our previous reads and I came across one of my past favorites. Mark Haddon's Curious Incident was an enjoyment for me on several levels. First it dealt with math (I know - what a nerd!!). But more so I thought it did a terrific job of carrying the voice of an autistic child. The read was quite fast but carried alot of depth. It managed to convey the simplistic, straightforward...almost stoic world the main character thought in while counterbalancing it with the real life world of color we all live in. I personally thought it was a fantastic read and am so glad that my friend Joe introduced me to this author.

SATC - Outfit 1

The much anticipated Sex and the City II was the perfect ending of the girl's day my two best friends and I had this weekend. Inadvertently we ended up exploring another very fun bureau of the city - Wicker Park - and capped it all off with this fashion forward sequel. One of the many reason's why the movie and storyline of the show perhaps has had such success, is the relationship of the girls and how it portrays how we oft lean on each other. Of course the fashion doesn't hurt either! After the show, as we were still giggling and exclaiming over certain scenes, my friend Jackie asked about the first "white" outfit Carrie had wore. It was Halston Heritage and one of many Halston outfits smattering the movie. Available for purchase at NeimanMarcus.com I can't deny the attractive simplicity of the white flowy lines of the dress and its subtle marks of sophistication.

Halston certainly played alot of air time in this movie which made sense given the movie's primary location in scenary (and SJP's design role in the collection!!). It has certainly turned my head to all the options out there to looking good without sweating bad.

My favorite of the opening white outfit above though would have to be the shoes. Ahh...Louboutin, you can do no wrong. Reportedly they were made solely - pun intended - for Carrie in the movie and are not available anywhere.

I would need to freeze pane many a scenes in the movie (including this opening) to verify that these are not the same one's available at Bergdorfs that coincidentally are now only available in pink online.

Perhaps it's lighting? Or my wishful thinking? They are both gorgeous shoes but there is always something attractive in the unattainable.