Match made in Heaven

Everyone is buzzing and it's not just a sugar high.

Nope, it's about one of the best collaborations I could think of. Louboutin and Ladurée. Le Sigh.



Vogue reports:

Not content with making our hearts go all aflutter with his divine shoe designs, Christian Louboutin has got together with Laduree in what must be one of the best fashion/food collaborations ever: the French designer has created gift boxes for the legendary patisserie.

Delight in opening one of three beautifully decorated boxes adorned in jewel-hued Louboutin shoes and purses - the lid of which looks like someone has already got to them first with a torn trompe l'oeil effect.




Inside, the flavours of the macaroons take on a Mediterranean twist, created by pastry chef Philippe Andrieu.

Available from September 11, take your pick - or collect them all - from three designs and accompanying sizes. From £9.80 for a box of six.

Okay, seriously, I'm tired of this. It makes me so jealous when a combo like this happens and there is no way I can be a part of it. Grrr...!!!

I'd love the standard Ladurée macaroons but this... this is too much! Get me to Paris stat!

Picture Perfect... and Pink!

As I've done more with the sites here I've been wanting to upgrade my technology. I swear, it's not just that I like new gadgets... it's for valuable work reasons! And since I don't work on a MAC and have been wanting to do more video, I decided I needed a recorder of some kind. I've had my eye on a Flip for a while now and thought, with the upcoming trip to NYC, that now would be a good time to get it.

There are 4 levels of camera you can get but I ended up getting the Flip Mino. It has great quality, plenty of storage, and just as important... you can customize it!

Not only do they have cute colors and a huge amount of designs, a pattern generator or you can use any image and have it added to create a true one-of-a-kind look.

Guess which route I took?

First I was looking at the pink and Hello Kitty designs but then I saw you could upload a unique picture for no additional cost! I decided on adorably delicious, pink macarons for mine.



How adorable is this? Well, in person it's even more adorable because it is teeny tiny! I need to take picture of it for scale. But it's smaller than my iPhone or iPod and lighter too. Which is great because I now will be carrying around 5 or 6 different electronic devices in my bag!



It's also amazingly simple to use - just turn it on and record. Using the simple touch screen, you can zoom in and out, delete videos right on the spot. And then when you plug it into the usb, you can edit, create stills and save to YouTube, AOL, for emailing, etc.



It took less than a week to arrive and I also added on the extended warranty (since I'm going to carry this around in my purse everyday) and bought the pack of usb cables so I can have one in my cord case, one at work and one at home. If you want to get really fancy, you can get a flexible tripod or even an action mount.



So, it's simple, pretty inexpensive and adorable. But does it take good video? I say yes! I res'd this down to the emailable level and it still looks great. When you look at it at the standard level it is even better.

By the way, this is my pup and he was with me at the office together having, obviously, too much fun!



Now, I can't wait to get to NYC so I can shoot a ton more footage.

Beware!

Macarons on my Mind

Over on Bubblegum Plastic I was talking about the new Laduree charms which got me to thinking about macarons which got me daydreaming about the gorgeous colors and flavors....



...which led me to all the gorgeous Spring and Resort pumps on Neiman Marcus. Sigh!



These are (from left to right) Sergio Rossi, Louboutin, Manolo and Dior.

But my favorites are these Dolce and Gabbanas that I talked about back in October.



They're available now on NM's site. Since I can't get them, I may just have to see if I can get some actual macarons shipped to me!

Covering the 3 C's of New York

On Wednesday of last week I found an amazing rate to New York and I quickly convinced Miss_C to join me on an impulsive trip northward.

We got up very very early on Saturday and in just over an hour we touched down at the airport.



One of the main reasons for going to help celebrate the Gala and Nubby Virgo Birthday Extravaganza at the Strawberry Fields area in Central Park.

I just have to say that it was a very very warm day and had rained the day before. After walking around all morning (Lacroix store, Barney for shopping and lunch at Fred's) I was very happy to get to the Park and sit down and celebrate with a cupcake!

There was a HUGE group of people who showed up for the fun so you will find tons of coverage and photos of the event. Check out the following:

- Gala's post

- Nubby's Post

- Gala's Photo Set

- Nubby's Photo Set

I also got to meet several of my favorite bloggers in person, including Gilda and Marie, as well as meeting a few new gorgeous ladies like Doe Deere (who was totally adorable - you have to look at her pictures of her outfit!)

There are a ton of shots out there, including mine, Gilda's and Marie's, as everyone was taking pictures, including some great portraits done by Bianca (see Gala's post for a sample).

I can never show up at a party empty-handed, so I had to bring the girls a birthday gift... what better than a pair of "wedding rings". Gala's is a pinkish orange and Nubby's is clear.

Of course there had to be a ceremony!

And cupcakes ("C" #1) from Sugar Sweet Sunshine. They were delicious and I don't say that lightly!

Okay - not my greatest picture ever, and I had to change out my cute Corso Comos for flip flops at this point, but here I am with Marie. I was a big, literally, hot mess! I wore my JCrew stripe skirt, a white v-neck, my Paraphernalia chicken foot necklace and the aforementioned Corso Comos (which Nubby was also wearing!). And crazy giant vintage pink sunglasses.

Miss C was hanging out on the blankets we swiped from the airplane.



We even had cute pups there with us too.





Later that night we ate at Rare, which was the restaurant in our hotel. After eating veggie burgers, cole slaw and fried Oreos (not me!) we went up to the room and passed out for the night.

The next day we trekked down to the LES and had blueberry pancakes at 7A. We were going to go shopping around that area but it was even hotter and more humid so we scrapped that idea and went to the Museum of Natural History. Ahhh, several lovely hours of air conditioned museum.

After that we went to the Boathouse in the Park for Champagne and cheese (the other 2 important "Cs") and once we had our fill there we moved on to Flute for more appetizers, Champagne and cheese.



The next day was very leisurely until we went to the airport to head home.

I didn't do a whole lot of shopping - we spent most of our money on food and drinks - but I did get two things... macarons and Louboutins!

I got these delectable Barbie-pink Simple Pumps. I can't wait until they arrive so I can wear them. Compared to the Manolo store, I felt the Louboutin store was a bit simpler but the associates were very nice and helpful.



And more macarons from Maison du Chocolat. Gah! They're soooo good. Luckily the hubby doesn't like them so I get to keep them all for myself.



That's it. A quick trip but a good one. But next time, I'm going when it is not so dang hot!

New York, New York - Day 2

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.