Glorious Glasgow

I do understand that for some the title of this may seem a bit (or even a lot) off character, as Glasgow has had the misfortune of being labelled one of the more undesirable Scottish cities to visit. However, last February I fell in love, and since I was on a solo holiday I decided I needed to visit again to explore a bit more. It was every bit as charming this visit -- if not even more so with the amazing blossoms everywhere -- that I know this is a city I will visit over and over.

Such blossoms,they were so enormous and vibrant!

The Punk Glam King took the Punk Glam Princess to Florida to do the whole Disney/ Universal thing, and since I wilt in the heat I was seeking more temperate climes, especially after our recent heat wave in NY. I wasn't disappointed, and even seemed to have brought some NY sunshine which made for a lovely visit.

First order of business after the warm welcome back to the luxurious Blythswood Square Hotel and Spa (full follow up review to follow, they deserve a post of their own), was a joyful reunion with Queen Michelle. After catching up, we hit the beautiful ancient streets of Glasgow for a lovely wander about and of course just a wee bit of shopping had to be fit in!

One of Glasgow's old buildings with a fantastic metal peacock sculpture atop.

A close up of the peacock sculpture.
Later that evening Prince B met us at the hotel bar for drinks, where I enjoyed great conversation with both Prince B and Queen Michelle. I don't think I really wanted the night to end between the lovely bar and the good company!

Spooky iPhone photo of Prince B and Queen Michelle!

Queen Michelle and I at the lovely Rally bar at the Blythswood Square.

The next day was my reunion with Queen Marie, and all three of us Queens hit the town running! So much fun was had wandering the markets, stopping for a tea (or in my case coffee) breaks and just laughing and enjoying each others company. My prize for the day was two large pieces of 50s barkcloth for a mere £3! There's enough for me to redo all my patio cushions as well as my front porch love seat if I use a coordinating solid for one side. I know it sounds rather dull, but here this would have cost me $50 at the very least!

Three happy shopping Queens in front of one of the markets!

Tea and coffee break for the weary shoppers!

Goofy iPhone shots, as you can see the time difference and my refusal to slow down is catching up with me!

Gosh I really treasure these silly candid shots so much, they reflect all the fun we were having!
The remainder of my stay the Queens were ever so gracious and drove me around the city to all their favourite vintage haunts. Of course we fit in a wee splurge at Primark which is the only place on earth where I can purchase a pair of jeans off the rack, without trying them on and have them fit perfectly. I have an extremely hard time finding jeans due to my very small waist and hate that bloody waist gap I find in brands both inexpensive and high-end. How do they do it?? It has never failed to amaze me!

Shot from a parking garage of the city.

The city of Glasgow has such charm, I feel its sad that most decide to forgo visiting for other cities. There has been so much urban renewal, with lovely pedestrian malls that house beautiful old buildings where you'll find all sorts of shops with various price ranges. Wandering the streets alone on my last evening (after practically causing a scandal at the hotel, as apparently this is something a single woman shouldn't do -- um, I'm a New Yorker, lived in some pretty rough neighborhoods, and since I believe I can handle myself anywhere, I can!) I was quite melancholy, thinking of the next time I get to visit this lovely city.

I know my wonderful return visit to Glasgow has to do with the amazing Queens. They are two of the most creative, talented, gracious, fun, and beautiful women I'm proud to call my friends. It sounds trite but I feel so blessed to have them come into my life and treasure their friendship the same as those of friends I've had for many more years!

In a few days I'll write more about my second leg of my journey to my second home, London.

Cheers!

Links à la Mode ****for week of August 5, 2010****

Jealousy, Race, and Summer Jackets

Edited by: Thom Wong of The Sunday Best.
A veritable cornucopia of stylish reading awaits you in this week's list. You'll get taken on a tour of (rarely mentioned) downtown Halifax, discuss again whether any role model should be based on image, and look into doing the impossible with a dying medium. Along the way discover what tips men might have for women's style, whether a closet can be perfectly unisex, and what Mormons might know about minimalism.

Links à la Mode: August 5th

• Amanda Lee: Avoiding Fashion Impulse Buys


• All Tumbled Down: Reflections on a year of no shopping


• An Early Life Crisis: Project 27 Completed!


• Beyond Fabric: Work appropriate: tips for being presentable at conservative workplaces


• Broke and Beautiful: You smell different.


• Clothed Much: How to create a minimalist closet


• Fashionable People, Questionable Things: Big Day Downtown: A Roundup of our shopping trip in downtown Halifax.


• Frenchleave: Who wants to wear a summer jacket


• Guacamole and Toast: An interview with The Impossible Project's Florian Kaps


• Independent Fashion Bloggers: How to take your own outfit photos


• Mariel's Castle: A case of unisex


• The Demoiselles: Women in the Media: Adele


• Stylish Thought: Losing Out Essence: Issues of Race in Fashion


• Modly Chic: Friend Friday: Blogger Jealousy


• Oranges and Apple German magazine bans professional models - nine months on


• Sparkle Birds: Sunday's Best


• Sugar and Spice: Christina Hendricks: curvy role model or another unattainable ideal?


• The Coveted: Three essential beauty products under $20


• The Sunday Best: Copy Fail | Gap CORE


• The Very Subjective: The Style Thing


• Un-Stitched: Best of etsy.com

Novica and National Geographic Bring you Artison Items from Around the World

I was recently contacted by the lovely people of Novica asking me if I would like to write about their incentive which is in conjunction with National Geographic. They have so many items from artisans all over the world, handcrafted to bring you the best the world has to offer.


Upon checking out their site (I am very picky about who I write about and not all PR's are of the same ilk) I was pleasantly surprised to find a wide variety of gifts, jewelry, art, clothing, and more. If you have preference for a certain country's artisans, you can choose the area you're most interested in. Say you're a huge fan of Mexican jewelry, just click under "jewelry" then "Mexico" and all the jewelry crafted by artisans in Mexico will show up for you to peruse.

The other incentive Novica has is called "Novica Artisan Loans" also called "Microfinance" (http://microfinance.novica.com/ as well as an FAQ: http://microfinance.novica.com/faq/) an incentive they came up with to help artisans who wouldn't be able to obtain loans through banks, etc. If you'd like you can make a loan to specific artisans,and each one tells what they need to grow their business. It's a wonderful way to know you're helping mall businesses grow worldwide, and hopefully get themselves out of poverty.

Novica was so kind as to offer me a gift certificate to try out the service.And what a difficult time I had choosing from the many beautiful hand-crafted items. You'll have to wait until my items arrive to see what I choose. But here are just a few categories you can choose from.

Handmade Jewelry: http://jewelry.novica.com/ The list of what's available is exhaustive, and not only beautiful, but affordable. Great for gift-giving.

Unique Gifts: http://unique-gifts.novica.com/ Again you'll find many unique gift items to suit all tastes!

There are many other categories to choose from, these are but a few. Do check it out, I'm sure you'll find something beautiful, and help an artisan grow their business!

Cheers!

Links à la Mode ****for week of July 22, 2010****

Links à la Mode: The IFB Weekly Roundup 7/22

8 Comments 22 July 2010

More than a Fashion Blogger

Edited by: Marie Denee of The Curvy Fashionista

Whatever your thoughts are about fashion bloggers, this week’s links a’la mode reads were quite evocative. Hardly does an article leave me questioning my own thoughts or ideals, especially when talking fashion. I may be moved to buy, but deeper? (sans any type of societal injustice) These bloggers brought more to the table, as Vogue Gone Rogue did with her declaration of the coexistence of feminism and fashion. Yet, I was proud to be an entrepreneur after glimpsing into the world of a bridal consultants leap into fashion design.In a world where a new fashion blog is born everyday and everyone is a critic. Confessions of a Fashion Editor interviews an outspoken blogger critic while Guacamole & Toast ponders if we should even care what others say. Whether you read because of the pretty pictures, fun reads, or fashion tips, know your authors are more than fashion bloggers.

Links à la Mode: July 22nd

• 365 Fashion Rehab- The Cost/Quality Conundrum. Three tops in three different price ranges: How do you really know if the quality of a garment matches its price tag?
• A La Modest- Thrifting Down the Mainstream: “With this new wave rave for vintage, even Goodwill is raising their prices because the more affluent kids are ransacking their racks for one-of-a-kind retro rompers and sixties sandals.”
• Bachmans Sparrow- Transform your basic tanks into beautiful, statement pieces with just a little lace. Check it out in my easy DIY tutorial!
• Bobbins And Bombshells: Who’s That Behind Those Foster Grants? Part fashion history part give away!
• Confessions of a Fashion Editor- Nati Hell, of ‘Fashion Bloggers Why?!’ Answers Back
• Cuffington- The Tale of the Tape- A chance encounter with an old handmade mix tape cover (crafted nine years ago from a page torn from an issue of W) takes me back to the very moment when I truly became interested in fashion, and what fashion was capable of.
• Denim Debutante: Paula’s Denim Dear John Letter
• Eva Lu- Tame those Bangs! 3 ways to keep your hair looking pretty while cycling through the city.
• Fashionizehaus- Style vs. Fashion: Tips on Developing the Fomer
• French Leaving- Lovely Clusters of Beige: A collage of selected Etsy/Lovely Clusters picks of beige items.
• Hello Beauty Blog- Bobbi gets a little rock ‘n roll with her latest collection, Denim & Rose.
• Independent Fashion Bloggers: When Words Attack Bloggers
• Living Embellished- Unmask Italia: Learn of the wonders that lay in the Venetian Masks
• Miss Jones and Me- Binary Opposition: Applying the device to my life and my wardrobe
• Parker and Muse- Balancing my day job as a bridal consultant/photo editor with starting a fashion line: The economics of pursuing my passion.
• Style it You- Condé Nast recently rejected Mario Epaya’s proposal for Vogue Africa. Will fashion ever embrace diversity in beauty?
• The Curvy Fashionista- Christian Siriano for Payless for Fall 2010: From Runway to Realway?
• The Haute Hoosier- Supermodels are Dead: Introducing the Catwalk Queens You’ve Never Heard Of- A round up of some of today’s hottest catwalk queens.
• The Vintages Contemplations on caring about public opinion and considering the potential success of the typical blog – one with a blogger who is not particularly glamorous, rich, or thrifty, only average, as most of us are.
• Guacamole & Toast When the day is going bad just hop on your bike and ride out into the sunset. Your worry’s will melt away as the sun sets! Let the wind blow all the cares away! And do it in style of course!
• Vogue gone Rogue- A closer take on feminism and fashion.

Local Treat: The Boathouse Restaurant

On Father's Day I was just recovering from a three and a half day bout of food poisoning so when it came time for dinner I was absolutely famished but in no condition to cook. So my husband took a look around local places and came across this gem.



Located directly on the Hudson River, with beautiful Hudson views in Ossining, NY, the Boathouse feels like a treasure tucked away and hidden from the more mainstream restaurants. The ambiance is lovely, with a bar and tables both in and outside. A family restaurant, they also offer a child's menu but many of the adult items kids will love too. We were surprised to find that they had been open for two years, and somehow escaped our radar!

Since it was Father's Day the restaurant was packed. A short wait at the bar, and we were seated inside. A nice sized loaf of freshly baked rustic bread was placed on our table to keep us busy while our food was being prepared. Crunchy crust, soft inside and still warm, just the way I love my bread!

One of my favourite warm weather meals to eat is lobster rolls. I don't recall the first time I had one up in New England, but I fell immediately in love. I love lobster but hate having to work for my meal, so the lobster roll is the perfect compromise. I find that here in NY its not uncommon to find shredded lobster with no chunks of the tender crustacean in sight. Not the case here! Huge chunks of lobster filled this lightly toasted roll, with the addition of a little mayo, small amounts of celery and onion for crunch. It was so overstuffed that there was no way I'd finish the entire thing, so I shared with my Punk Glam King. Homemade coleslaw and crispy sweet potato fries rounded out my meal (all came with.) PGK had another one of their specialties, the Seafood Pot Pie which he enjoyed, and the Punk Glam Princess had homemade mac n' cheese and she cleaned her plate, then grabbing some of my sweet potato fries!

My enormous lobster roll. I can't seem to make out the chunks of lobster, but trust me, they were abundant! I must say that outside of New England, this lobster roll had the most chunks of lobster I've come across thus far.

Other items that looked great were the Crabmeat Avocado Salad served over a bed a Mesclun greens with balsamic vinaigrette. Again, love crab, hate having to work for my meal, so anything that entails having the meat already out of the shell is perfect for lazy me! Portobello Burger with roasted red peppers and mozzarella sounds great, as does the Chicken Capistrano -- cutlet sauteed in light lemon, tarragon, and artichoke sauce. For dessert, had I had room, I would have had the Chocolate Crepes -- crepes filled with chocolate ganache and drizzled with raspberry sauce or the Apple Raspberry Pie -- French crumb topping served with a dollop of whipped cream. If you're a shrimp lover (I'm allergic, boo!) there are loads of choices as well as burgers, steaks, and all kinds of fish and seafood. Lots of wraps, salads and pasta rounds out a very nice menu with something for everyone -- even vegetarians and vegans! (Vegetable Nori Crisp -- julienne vegetables wrapped in seaweed dipped in tempura batter and fried, or ask for one of the great salads or Portobello burger minus the cheese.) If you're a martini lover, they have a whole page of specialties -- how great would it be to be sitting outside overlooking the Hudson and sipping a martini? Summertime at its best!

A thoroughly enjoyable meal for Father's Day, and the perks include being next door to the Marina we may be joining (we're not boaters -- too much work, ugh, have you guessed yet that when I like to relax it entails NO working whatsoever? -- we'll be joining for the pool overlooking the Hudson, just lovely!) this summer. We've been told they give Marina members a discount, so that's another reason not to make dinner in the sweltering NY heat!

A very fuzzy iPhone pic of the Marina's pool overlooking the Hudson.

The Boathouse is easily accessible to those of you in the city who feel like taking a short jaunt into the 'burbs for some beautiful riverside seafood/ fish dining (burgers, chicken, steak as well as wraps and salads available as well), as its just below the Ossining train station, directly on the Hudson (simply walk to the riverside of the train tracks, and head north -- to your right -- to find it tucked away along the river.) Jump on a Metro North train at Grand Central Station and in under an hour you're inside the restaurant!

Beautiful sunset over the Hudson.

The Boathouse is located at 800 Westerly Road, Ossining, NY. Phone: 914.923.6466. They accept reservations, so if you're planning ahead best to call. They don't have a website, but here is their information on the Guide to Ossining, which also lists their business hours: http://www.guidetoossining.com/business/listing/business/20825386/The-Boathouse

Here's to a summer filled with lobster rolls, crab salads, and beautiful views!
Cheers!

Jessica Simpson "Dany" Sandals Update

Yesterday when I got home after picking the PGP up at school, I found a box on my front porch. My sandals had arrived! I honestly didn't expect them this soon, as I had only gotten the shipping notice yesterday and the tracking information was coming up with nothing. So I was hugely surprised.

Of course I had to rip open the box and put them on immediately. They are super comfortable, but I will warn those of you not used to wearing heels this high that these are seriously high. I have no trouble walking in them, even up and down stairs, but I'm rarely out of very high heels so I'm very used to the difference of walking in super high vs. average heels.

They appear to be fairly well made, although the "wood" is actually some kind of plastic (I think, definitely synthetic), however this makes them more lightweight on your feet rather than the heaviness of a wood heel so I'm not really bothered.



This picture was taken just before we got hit with terrible rainstorms hence my hair is starting to explode with the humidity! Also excuse the hideously enormous jeans. They are so giant that I just pull them on and off, and are my housework jeans. Its odd to see myself in something that adds pounds due to the bulk, but I was entirely too lazy to change!

Also wearing my vintage dead stock YSL cat eye sunglasses I found on eBay a few months ago. After getting the McQueen sunglasses that were a slight cat eye, I had pulled out some vintage ones and realized how much I loved them. However most of my vintage sunglasses have very scratched lenses, so I searched for a new pair and came across these. I highly recommend the seller if you are interested in getting a pair for yourself, they arrived in just a few days and came with the case and the original box as well.

Also while looking for something completely different, last night I came across a leopard version of these shoes made by Jeffrey Campbell called "Foxy" and available here. More expensive than these, but if you're a fan of leopard, they are quite cute!

Cheers!

DIY Studded Ballet Slippers

I decided I needed a pair of fold-up ballet flats to keep in my bag. In summer, while wandering around any city, feet tend to swell pretty fast when wearing heels. So this would be the perfect solution as they are lightweight and don't require carrying a tote bag. After doing a little research, the pairs I found made specifically for this purpose were made out of vinyl, and didn't look like they would hold up very well on city streets. Then a light went off in my head, and I recalled years ago when I had a pair of Capezio Ballet Slippers that I used to keep in my car for driving when I wanted to give my tootsies a rest from heels. Yes, real ballet slippers can be worn out on the street. I personally would be leery of wearing them in the pouring rain, but other than that they hold up very well. They can even be resoled easily by your local cobbler and I'm considering seeing if mine can put some type of rubber sole so that they'd be more shock absorbing, have a little traction, and perhaps keep them in shape longer. So I found a black pair on Amazon (here, super fast shipping which is free 2nd day if you have Amazon Prime) and promptly purchased them. Hint: if you have small feet, you can order girl's sizes and the price can be a little less. So don't be afraid to click on description's for girl's ballet slippers. They are the exact same style as adult versions with a sometimes slightly lower price, honest.


Once they arrived and I put them on, I thought they looked kind of boring. I thought I'd maybe add lace trimming (nope, way too girly) or some vintage trimming I had (not enough omph!) Then I recalled seeing a pair on an online shopping site (I don't recall where it was, the heat has me too lazy to google, sorry) that were studded. That mixture of demure with tough appealed to my sense of style. So I decided I would embellish my ballet slippers with studs.



I didn't take any pictures of the process as its easy peasey. Just figure out your design in advance, and then apply the studs. The only tools needed are some type of tailor's marking pencil or chalk (anything that won't leave a permanent mark), an awl or something similar for poking holes for the stud prongs, and needle-nose pliers. For figuring out the design I used a piece of cardboard to push the studs into so they wouldn't slide around.

Before you can apply the studs, you need to find the center of the area to be embellished. Real ballet slippers conform to your foot, so you will find the center of the shoe may not be positioned in the center of your foot therefore I suggest you try them on and stand in them, then mark off the center with the tailor's pencil or chalk.

When you decide where the studs will go, its easiest to make a hole (depending on the size of your studs -- don't make a huge hole if your studs have tiny prongs) with an awl. I don't suggest a leather punch as it will make too big of a hole even on the smallest setting. The prongs on my studs were fairly big so a small awl worked great. For the spikes I actually had to put the awl through a few times and turn it around as well as pull to the sides a bit to stretch it, as there are screws that go in the bottom and they need to fit through the leather and lining of the slippers.

I used the pliers as I went along to set each stud, but you can also wait until you have all the studs in place and then set them.




That's it! The last thing I did was find an old vintage Mary Quant makeup bag to store them in while they're in my handbag. The case will keep your handbag free of dirt from the soles, as well as keep them handy to find if your handbag is as much of a tangled mess as mine!



They came out so nice that I'm considering a pair of pink ones as well -- I can't resist ballet pink, and the addition of studs suits me perfectly!

Have you DIY'ed some ballet slippers? Plan on trying this? Let me know, I'd love to see what you came up with!

Cheers!