July 13, 2010
… and so does Serena! Me and my fave Gossip Girl gal now share a pair of FABULOUS earrings:
I rocked these Rich Rocks NYC ‘Oversized Hanging Smokey Faceted Dangles’ earrings–fancy talk for smoking hot faux-crystal huge sparklers–to a birthday party this weekend and got a TON of compliments. Everyone loved them.
They’re only $75! I mean, could I love anything more?! I now have them in this smoky color AND the clear version, which I rode biking to town. Gotta look glam no matter what you’re doing, I say.
Here are the other goodies I got in the mail:
The necklaces are the super hip collar-style but are really, really lightweight. They’re both statement pieces, perfect for glamming up a simple tank or tee. (Left, $100, Right, $75)
Plus check out the bedazzled ring and earrings, which look super expensive but are actually totally affordable at $45 and $75, respectively!
I love how all the earrings are dangly and sparkly, which elongates the face and shows off cheekbones! 
One of my most glamorous and amazingly sweet friends turned me on to these goods. She says: “Me and all my friends literally live in Rich Rocks. It’s the best stuff and so affordable. Perfect for every day and going out. I even wear some of her fancier stuff for black tie and everyone thinks they are real. When I tell them they’re like $80 they have me email them the website on the spot!”
I love this stuff! Snag some under-$100 jewels for every day and for special events!
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June 10, 2010
Mama and I have long experimented with finding a good nails place — a place that was cheap but not dirty, easy to get in to but not scarily empty, and produced a decent mani & pedi. When we found Embellish (a post from before I’d even had a mani there), we were pretty much done with our search. But when we wanted to get our nails done on a Sunday, we had to start anew.
Good thing mama wanted to be a detective in a prior life, between the Enso Nails mixup and the joint being listed as an electronics shop on yelp, I don’t know how she did it, but we found Crystal Nails at 5501 N Lamar. We made an appointment for 3pm and proceeded to spend TWO HOURS at the shop, getting massaged, scrubbed, filed, trimmed, lotioned, and polished. We were seated immediately and the two women working with us spent tons of time on everything. They were meticulous. My technician, Nahn, even wore gloves.
Maybe the best part? The deluxe mani-pedi combo was a cool $45. SO WORTH IT. My toes have so far survived a run and a soccer game in perfect condition, and my fingernails have chipped a little, but no more than you’d expect. Mama was bummed about a lack of luster on her buff (she forgoes polish on her fingertips) and her technician may have scrubbed too hard at her heel (there’s an obvious crack), but otherwise she’s happy too.
I’d point you to a website, but, well … give ‘em a call 512.454.2875
Posted in Beauty |
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June 3, 2010
Deals sites, sample sales, flash sales, designer sales … it’s all about getting the limited-edition hot deal these days. Below I’ll list the companies I have invites to if you want to join, but first, some nerding-out business news about these sites.
According to WWD, the leading four members-only shopping sites are HauteLook, RueLaLa, Gilt Groupe, and ideeli. Today, HauteLook reveals that they are receiving $31 million in a third round of funding led by Insight Venture Partners, bringing total funding to $41 million (Gilt Groupe has raised $83 million in funding). The company launched in 2007 and became profitable earlier this year. It does not buy inventory, but has 175 employees (2 of which are recent hires in Arthur Lewis, former SVP of adult merchandising for Old Navy, and Tim Lewis of Neiman Marcus) and more than 2.5 million members.
ideeli also has around 2.5 million members (it has more than doubled from one million base in December ’09), largely from households with an annual income of upward of $100,000. They have 100 employees and expect to surpass $150 million in revenue this year.
Envite.com is the most recent one I’ve signed up for, and it aims to stand out by shipping items within 24 hours.
There’s also the site for wine, which, if I had more money, I’d buy and never have to the leave the house. Winery Insider.
Invite to Hautelook
Invite to RueLaLa
Invite to Gilt Groupe
Invite to ideeli
Beyond the Rack: enter code NLA09083B57 at Registration
Invite to Billion Dollar Babes
Invite to Envite.com
[UPDATE] Here’s a link to join Daily Candy’s Swirl!
The flash sales trend is crazy … beyond shopping for clothes, accessories, and other luxury gear, there are tons of companies doing it by city, with restaurants, salons, and adventures like whitewater rafting. Even Aspen is getting in on the action with a mobile coupon that texts you a deal once a week! Aspen Deals
Groupon and Living Social are the big dogs, with deals in Austin, Denver, and more. In Austin-only sites, there’s Adealio and Localiter.
If you know more I haven’t heard of, post in the comments!!
Posted in Beauty, Good people/services, Shopping |
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May 20, 2010
Austinites, I know we have one too, but this ONLY applies to the ASPEN Kenichi. From EatAspen Blog:
Kenichi Sushi is hosting a fund raiser for Mountain Rescue (you know the crew that may just save your butt) Thursday night May 20th. Make any dollar donation to Mountain Rescue and you get 50% off your food, sushi, and sake.
—-
Down the road (because everything is down the road in Aspen, as downtown is about 6 blocks squared), the brand-new 520 Grill is opening today too, in the old Noodles by Kenichi (ha?!) spot at 520 E. Durant.
520 Grill will offer half-pound, hand-crafted burgers using buffalo, beef, or turkey (with bacon ground INTO the meat on bacon burgers!!), and hot dogs (all-beef kosher franks and turkey dogs), plus not-your-average salads like kale-and-quinoa and chipotle Caesar. Fresh-cut fries and homemade potato chips round out the new menu, created by two young locals with experience all over Aspen.
The pair plan to serve lunch and dinner daily from 11a to 7p. Hopefully the hours will extend soon, 7p doesn’t seem very late!
Aspen Times article here.
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May 10, 2010
Hipsters and art patrons alike are coming together for the 11th Annual 5×7 Art Splurge, and the art series is adding a cheaper Social event too. With nightlife kingpin James Moody charing the event, the Arthouse event pulled off quite the coup, because while cool, the art-patron organization just doesn’t have quite the same reputation with the hipsters as Moody’s Mohawk nightclub …
So the suddenly-hip Five x Seven features more than 1,000 5-inch by 7-inch original works of art generously donated by over 900 emerging and established artists with strong ties to Arthouse or Texas. The tricky part: the 5x7s are displayed anonymously and buyers will discover the creators of the works only after the pieces have been purchased. All 5×7 pieces are $100. A full list of participating artists may be found at www.arthousetexas.org.
Event One: ART SPLURGE with food by Kevin Williamson and Ranch 616 and music by DJ team Lean & Bounce.
Thursday, May 13, 7:30-10p / The Whitley Building, 301 Brazos St, Austin, TX 78701. Tix $125, online at www.arthousetexas.org or 512.453.5312.
Event Two (the new one): FIVE X SEVEN ART SOCIAL with music by Balmorhea (you can bet that’s Moody’s influence), food by Frank and drinks on hand. Tix are $30, and 5x7s are still $100, but the Splurgers will have gotten first pick… Friday, May 14, 8 – 11pm / The Whitley Building, 301 Brazos St, Austin, TX 78701
Event three: Saturday and Sunday, May 15-16 from 11a to 6p, the exhibition at The Whitley Building will be open to the public for free admission, where art patrons can still purchase the remaining 5×7 artwork for $100.
Giveaway: 2 tix to 5×7 Art Social!
How: leave a comment by 5pm on Wednesday with what you’d put in a 5×7 blank canvas up for sale for $100. Winner will be chosen by me, not randomly, by what is my favorite answer. No it’s not fair, but I don’t care. Be creative!
Posted in Going Out, One-time event, design, free |
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May 3, 2010
Lately the world has seemed pretty small–a former job applicant turned freelance writer and friend of mine in Austin is best friends with the roommate of a girlfriend of a friend of my boyfriend’s in Aspen who was in Austin this weekend for his birthday party. What the what? Then I got an email about a new boutique from a former roommate and high school friend of mine, and later got an email from a basketball teammate’s little sister who I CrossFit with now whose cousin opened a new boutique … and it was the same girl!
Peacock Plume is a new online-only boutique started by besties Holly and Cara, who have this to say for themselves:
Think of us as your personal fashion spam filter! We’ll sift through miles of racks filled with absurd prices and pieces you’d never wear so you don’t have to…
Our site is unique in that we are offering a boutique style shopping experience but we cut out the snobbery and high prices.
I think their site is unique because they offer super cute outfit combos and actually tell you where to wear them and how to buy them, for around $140 for everything: top & bottom or dress, shoes, purse, accessories. Think:
The ladies do have an eye for fashion on the cheap–women after my own heart.
And, they launched on Tuesday and by Friday had a D Magazine mention … no small feat for a startup company!
Check it out. Peacock Plume.
Posted in Good people/services, Shopping |
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March 29, 2010
Swag abounds during SXSW, so how does a company set itself out from the noise? Yak Pak–yes, the backpack staple–let its stylish, functional tote bags do the talking. They sweetly sent me one after SX to take for a spin, and after I used it as a weekender this past weekend, I can say that I LOVE LOVE LOVE it. It’s perfectly functional and sublimely cute.
Things I love about the Tara Tote:
- Perfect-length straps for a shoulder bag: not too long, not too short.
- Tall and wide, but not too tall or too wide (perfect size).
- Zip top and zip pocket inside.
- Hip blue and white shadow plaid!
- ONLY $25!!! (ok, so I didn’t buy mine, but I WOULD)
And to top that all off, apparently the rappers love the Yak Pak, which makes sweet–and cheap–luggage, purses, messengers, and of course the ubiquitous backpack … check out who is carrying the Laptop Shoulder Bag:
Pitbull 
Lil Jon
AWESOME!
Posted in fashion |
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February 23, 2010
Quite literally, the three chefs involved in this Bad to the Bone Throwdown are about three of the biggest stars the entire state of Texas has … so the chance to taste their food in a competition means one happy belly.
Each chef will choose a preferred ingredient, then will create a dish that includes all three of the chef-picked ingredients which could range anywhere from peanuts to oysters.
Audience participants and a panel of noted culinary experts will sample the dishes and use live text voting to determine the winning chef. A live video feed will project all of the kitchen stage action onto Stubb’s stage canopy so the audience can see close-ups of the food preparation as well as the live feed for the text voting results. The DJ, el john Selector, will be spinning bad-to-the-bone soul, funk and world beats to keep the tempo pumping until final votes have been cast.
Once the winner is announced, the evening melds into a rockin’ live concert with Charanga Cakewalk, a seven-piece Latin band featuring master multi-instrumentalist Michael Ramos and known for pan-Latin tunes that dive into deep, urban grooves.
On tap:
- David Bull, named as one of Food & Wine magazine’s Top Ten Best New Chefs in 2003; now Bolla at the Stoneleigh Hotel in Dallas’ executive chef. Author of Bull’s Eye on Food Interactive Cookbook and former executive chef at The Driskill Grill in Austin.
- Shawn Cirkiel, executive chef of Austin’s Parkside Restaurant, recently named by Bon Appetit magazine as one of the “Hot 10 New American Taverns”
- Paul Petersen, star of TLC’s BBQ Pitmasters and author of Keeper of the Flame Interactive Cookbook. Petersen was also former executive chef of Café Cenzio at the Gage Hotel.
Originally scheduled for Jan 15 but rained out, Bad to the Bone is this Saturday, Feb 27th, still at Stubb’s. Tickets are $35 and available at www.stubbsaustin.com. Ticket sales will benefit the Sustainable Food Center which helps more than 20,000 Central Texans access healthy, affordable and locally grown food annually.
$35 a ticket is a veritable steal for the food of these fellas.
Posted in Eating, Going Out |
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February 16, 2010
Mmmm sushi. I love it. Just wanted to revisit two of my absolute faves in Austin (an no, I still haven’t been to Mushashino or either of the two new down south sushi joints. I know, I have a lot of sushiing to do.)
I’ve written about it as my secret sushi spot and the source of my lunch bento indulgence, but I finally got to check out Snow Pea for happy hour. Prices are fairly cheap–the boring rolls (tuna, california) can be had for $3, sashimi for $2-$4, and fancy-schmancy rolls for $5-9, which is a good deal. Sake half off, domestics $2, imports $3 (no liquor). Our faves were the Foxy Lady roll (spicy awesomeness that managed not to distract from the freshness of the fish):
and one of the Dragons … Green? White? It had eel on top, which I normally don’t like, but we ordered TWO of this baby for the THREE of us, so someone must have been eating her share …
Check out Snow Pea … love!
I cheated on Snow Pea for lunch downtown with a friend at Piranha Killer Sushi (link to my first review). We ordered:
Sushi Bento – tuna roll, five sushi and daily salads — 11.95
Sashimi Bento – California roll, seven sashimi and daily salads — 12.95
and, the star of the show: Salmon Ceviche with Jalapeno, Cilantro & Mango — 11.95
Let me be brief: Piranha’s prepared raw fishes (ie not sashimi, but their ceviches and tatakis and seared things) are their best, and perhaps the best.
This salmon’s flavor was out of this world. Sure, I love the sweet stickiness of a sushi roll with rice, and the raw fish in my bento was fresh and delightful, but the salmon ceviche was absolutely amazing. Order it. Or any of their other raw fishes. YUM!
… I’m really craving sushi now.
Posted in Eating |
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January 15, 2010
LivingSocial is a new Daily Deal site–think Groupon–that will launch any day now. Aren’t you glad you know me so you can know about it ahead of time?!
Each day, LivingSocial members will receive a deal with discounts of 50% or more at local restaurants, bars, salons, spas, theaters, events, and more. When you see a deal that tickles your fancy, you do this:
- BUY. Get in on the deal of the day
- SHARE. If 3 of your friends buy the same deal, you get 1 FREE
- WAIT. Your deal will be ready to print within 1 business day
- PRINT. Follow the instructions on your deal and redeem it
- SAVE. Enjoy your favorite spots around town at huge discounts
LivingSocial is similar to Groupon in that it is a service that provides subscribers unbelievable daily discounts to the best restaurants, bars, spas, events, and shows in your city. But it’s different in that it utilizes social media like Facebook, Twitter, and the iPhone both to deliver daily deals and – most importantly? – to let users share with their networks so more people can get in on each deal. Sharing is so central to LivingSocial that if you buy a deal, then get three friends to buy the same deal, yours is free!
In that vein, if you join their referral program, “Invite Friends, Share $10,” you’re assigned a personal URL (each member of LivingSocial Deals is). You share your link through facebook, twitter, by email and through blogs. Each person that signs up through your link will get $5 Deal Bucks to spend on their first purchase. When they spend it, you’ll get $5 Deal Bucks too!
Sign up using my link! https://deals.livingsocial.com/redeem/538926-lyssam?ref=lnk
Also of note: launching in March, Localiter.com will also offer discounts and deals on local business, harnessing our collective buying power. Awesome! More details to come.
Posted in Business, Going Out, Good people/services |
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They’re only $75! I mean, could I love anything more?! I now have them in this smoky color AND the clear version, which I rode biking to town. Gotta look glam no matter what you’re doing, I say.
I love this stuff! Snag some under-$100 jewels for every day and for special events!
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