Cozita Pashmita

It has been completely dumping rain here in LA and apparently this is only the beginning. Hoorah! Rain = Me in hog heaven.

Don't know if it is just the sudden rain urging me to snuggle up with my honey buns or if I am actually on to a good idea here, but I have been struck with the need to find the perfect scarf/wrap/pashmina in a neutral palette. I think I've done pretty well. For those of you that were about to google what makes a pashmina so, let me hook you up: "Pashmina shawls are hand spun, woven and embroidered in Kashmir, and made from fine cashmere fiber. The wool comes from changthangi or pashmina goat, which is a special breed of goat indigenous to high altitudes of the Himalayas." Ta da! No wonder they're so pricey.

Here, my winners, all under $50:

The Limited Cutwork Ombre Scarf

Martin & Osa Embroidered Shawl

Jones New York Satin-Finish Pashmina

Ow Ow Ow Outlets Baby

Truth: I love to shop. Double truth: I am flipping amazing at it.

NO seriously. I know I am completely tooting my own horn, but I can't help it, I am just great. If there is a deal, I will find it. If there is another lady in the dressing room she will ask me what I think of her shirt/dress/whatever-it-is she is trying on, and I will tell that lady the truth, and she will be like, oh my goodness you are so helpful! No joke. This hasn't just happend once or twice. Seriously 3/5ths of the time I go shopping some stranger asks my opinion on what they are contemplating purchasing. I must exude "shopping guru" or something. It truly is a gift.

Don't believe that I am the deal-finder-of-the-century? Take this yummiest thing I have ever seen amazingly gorgeous and soft Tory Burch yellow suede Solano jacket (yes, I know you just swooned, but it gets better). Originally $430, found this weekend for $200 AND eligible for BOGO sale so you could just go ahead and live a little. Sigh.

Not convinced? How about this stunning silk charmeuse and chiffon Nicole Miller Signature evening gown, originally $900 for... I can't even handle typing this... $170. Oh man, if I only had a large, disposable income OR someone else to buy all of this gorgeousness for on their Visa, OR if someone would just HIRE ME ALREADY to be the buyer for their boutique... then everything would be right with the world.

:)

The best part about my amazing shopping skills, is the fact that I love to shop for other people almost as much as for myself. Like this weekend, as amazing as that TB jacket was, I was really shopping for my bridesmaid's and for my Stepmom for the wedding. Ok, I also really liked this olive green wool BCBG trench that was 50% off... but how can you blame a girl?

Back to other people! At Aldo I found a million+ strappy gold heels all on super clearance at 70% off. Hurry to your nearest Aldo outlet, run! They had such variety! I ended up with these cuties for my cousin Rachi...

And these sexy thangs for my girl Aimee...

Woot! Neiman Marcus Last Call had some really beautiful evening dresses on mad clearance. This gorgeous deep coral Kay Unger dress was only $140 bucks and they had a coral Marchesa gown (you can see it to the left of the Kay Unger gown, it was light coral and all beady and fabulous) that was originally $1300 but was marked down to $200... I just wish I had someone to buy them for! I really was having too much fun.

I searched pretty hard for my Stepmom and found a few things here and there, but nothing that was perfect. Oh well, guess I'll have to go shopping again soon. :)

Love by Enzoani Bridesmaid Shopping

Over the Christmas break I finally got a chance to shop with one of my bridesmaid's in person. While two of my lovely ladies are clothed, two remain not. Since they all live all over, I grabbed the opportunity to shop in person for my cousin Rachi although we really didn't find much.

There is a new bridal boutique in Rancho Mirage called Signature Bridal that we checked out. They only carried two lines of bridesmaids dresses and we didn't really like any of it. BUT if you are looking for a bomb quinceanera get-up then this is your spot. The gal said she could get any of the new Love by Enzoani collection, all of which was pretty awesome looking, but none of those came in coral...

We weren't loving any of this. The green one was cute, but kind of boring. Why did I choose coral? It is impossible to find and impossible to match... Why does it appear that I try to make things as difficult as possible for myself? Oh wedding, you win this round...

Hopefully there will be more coral/springy dresses out in February. This one's pretty...

Kay Unger Coral Chiffon

LINDZEE BOUGHT HER DRESS! Yay! Matron of honor covered. One bridesmaid covered. One Mother of the Bride covered. One bride covered!

I would totally provide a pic of Lindz's gorgeous Kay Unger gown but Neiman Marcus won't let me, so you can click here and see.

Hopefully it looks amazing on her (I can't imagine it won't) but she ordered the very last one online so we shall see in 7 to 10 business days. I am so PUMPED!

On another note. Look how amazing Kay Unger's coral chiffon dresses all look together.


Whose more excited than me right now?

How Grey is too Grey?

Took the man on a mini filed trip today to Nordstrom to look at some suits on his way to football practice (It's his last week FINALLY, yes!). I think he is liking the grey a bit more, possibly because that's all we can seem to find during winter. Also, the grey makes his dreamy blue eyes even more dreamy. :) We are kind of trying to figure out how to make him stand out if he does go with the grey. Should the groomsmen do tan then? Or should they all match?

We didn't find much. But I took his picture for posterity. It was this bald suit guys very first day. What fun! Maybe that's why we didn't find much...


But really, how grey is too grey? Because here's the dilemma. My 3 remaining dressless maidens can't seem to find anything in coral. I keep telling them to shop online, but I understand not wanting to order something sight-unseen. I lurve Aimee's coral chiffon Patra dress, and I do think that the color is so Springy and yummy, but I am having serious second thoughts about the coral dresses. Besides the part where the color is hard to find, the color is also a bit hard to match.

So, while shopping today at Nordstrom for Jonathon's suit, we made a detour through the ladies extra-fancy-dress section. Confession: I kind of fell in love.

Not only is the man of my dreams here in this photo, but possibly the two bridesmaids dresses of my dreams? On the left, ABS by Allen Schwartz Illusion Yoke Sequin Shift, and on the right Adrianna Papell Beaded Silk Chiffon Dress. Hello! How cute is the mismatchy grey with loads of bling? I really love. Don't these dresses just scream party-on-Wayne?! Then again, today I also found this and am being a big-time pushed for my Matron of Honor to buy buy buy.


Am I being a stresser? Should I switch the bridesmaids color to grey? Should I keep the coral? Would it look crazy ridiculous if all of the men wore grey suits, the bridesmaids wore grey dresses and some of the moms and grandmas wore grey? Am I even spelling grey right?!

Friday Gown Showdown: Bridesmaid's Edition

Dear Bridesmaids,

I know you are amazing beautiful busy women with complicated lives. But really, start shopping. You only have 4 and a half months (135 days to be exact) to pick something hot to wear. Here, let me hook you up. Your one stop shop... 57 Grand, all dresses under $200 and this first one's even the right color.

You're welcome. If you don't like any of those options, then you should come to LA and I will take you shopping. Spend the $200 on a plane ticket and I will find you something hot at Salvation Army. You know I'm not joking.

Love Always.

Sassy Headbands

Some outfits just need that extra oumph to really feel complete. An engagement photo-shoot ensemble might be one such outfit, and another might be a bridesmaids get-up.

Can't afford ban.do? Neither can I. But never fear... Bambako headbands and accessories are here! Shop on their site this week with code DC30 and recieve 30% off. Shop some of the pink headbands on their site and 100% of the proceeds go to the Susan G. Komen foundation.

Now how do you say no to that? You're welcome ladies!

Dresses and Dresses and Veils, Oh My!

Things are happening fast over here in bridal world! One of my bridesmaids, Aimee, ordered her dress. It is absolutely perfect. It was actually one of the dresses I showcased on a Friday Gown Showdown. Can you guess which one?!

In more dress news, my mom offically ordered her MOB dress and I think it is just GORGEOUS. She is going to look stunning. Here it is!

We were having a little indecision over the color (she looks so pretty in green but it was the wrong green) so in the end she went with a beautiful slate grey called Platinum.

Love it! She is going to have the seamstress make the bolero jacket into little cap sleeves so it isn't too revealing with the strapless look. I can't wait to see her in it. So now we have three bridesmaids, one stepmom, one mother of the groom, one flowergirl, one ring bearer and some grammas to dress! OH! And the groom, groomsmen and dads. Get on it people!!!

I also made a big decision this week by picking out my veil! That was such a tough decision. I had to choose between big and traditional and subtle and sweet. I am happy with my choice but it was a bit nerve-wracking. I've never exactly worn a veil before so I didn't know what to choose! What do you think I went for?!

Mismatched Maids

It seems I'm jumping on a bandwagon here, but so be it. I love the look of bridesmaids all in their own unique dress. It always seemed weird to me to see 3 (0r 8) beautiful women all dolled up in the same dress, in the same place, in the same pictures. I thought that was a huge no-no! Don't you want to be the only lady at the party in your hot little number? I suppose it does bring a theme together, and it looks very neat, and you can identify the troops but it just isn't for me.

Anyhow, I am pretty excited to allow my bridesmaids to choose their own dresses (only one has bought hers so far, GOOD WORK AIMEE), while sticking to a unified color palette. I suppose it's the color palette part that is stressing me out a bit. Of course I couldn't just choose yellow and be done with it. I had to choose coral, which can apparently be interpreted differently by different people. :)

So my only potential nightmare at this point would be if my lovely ladies clash, but then look:

So cute! No nightmare after all.

Some bridal parties go a little further than others with the level of similarity between dresses, but all in all, I think it makes for a nice effect. I also think the gals all look good when they feel good. Below, some examples... I especially love the grey. Grey is part of our wedding color palette, is it too late to switch to grey dresses? Hmmmm...