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- Old Navy Metallic Flip Flops These are just the perfect flip flops. They're soft, made with a special jelly-like rubber, and the colors are great. I really like the gold. The best part is they're insanely cheap - on sale right now for $3.50 a pair. They run a little small, just FYI.
- Gilt - membership is required but anyone can join (and I am happy to provide an invitation if you need one.) Once you opt in, every day just before 12 PM Eastern (9 AM Pacific) you will receive an email telling you the designers going on sale. If you think you might want something, you'll want to have your finger on the refresh button, because the best things go fast - I'm talking within half an hour. Merchandise runs the gamut from housewares to clothing, accessories, even jewelry. Missoni, Marc by Marc Jacobs and Coclico have all caught my eye recently. (This is where I got the Marc by Marc Jacobs dress I wore on my birthday for $140.)
- Dark Chocolate Snickers - the other day, sitting at my desk, I had an inexplicable craving for a good old-fashioned candy bar. Something chewy, salty and sweet - but not too sweet. I hit the 7 Eleven around the corner from my office and found these on the shelf. I am smitten. Apparently it's a limited edition but I hope they keep them around. Milky Way Dark has been around for a while, so why not? (I also kinda dig the mint 3 Musketeers bar - bonus there, low calories.)
- Bumble & Bumble Thickening Shampoo and Conditioner - A few weeks ago in San Francisco - just before my big party - I found myself having a hair crisis. I hadn't packed anything special and the hotel's products were not working for me - so I popped into a salon and picked up travel sized bottles of these. The price was rather shocking, about $8.00 I think, but they turned out to be worth every penny. They do in fact make your hair thicker, but invisibly, with no stiffness or residue. A few days later a co-worker asked me for a referral to my salon "because it looks like you have thick hair." That pretty much clinched it right there.
- Flora and Fauna press on Etsy - I like to keep a few letterpress cards on hand for birthdays and other occasions. A couple of months ago, I ordered from this company, and hands down they are my new favorite. Beautiful, bold colors, nice size, lovely thick paper - they're just perfect.
- Shopstyle - Looking for something? Heeled lace up oxford shoes? A black pencil skirt? Purple flip flops? Type it in. The site will bring up every specimen from across the shopping globe for your perusal. You just click on the little image, and a new window opens up taking you right to the item. It's flat out amazing, not to mention time-saving.
- Essie "Red Label" nail polish - the perfect creamy, bright, crimson red for summer. (Psst...best price I've found online for Essie is here - even though you can't see the colors very well.)
- ASOS - I discovered this site through Shopstyle, actually - it's a British brand - I still don't quite have a handle on it yet - maybe sort of an H&M, but a little nicer? Affordable and stylish clothes, shoes and the like - and they ship worldwide for about $8.00. I especially like this little Festival Guide they put together.
- the iPad - with a few reservations. I love the convenience and portability. It's especially nice for email, iTunes (with better speakers than you might think), reading books (there's a Kindle app you can access in addition to Apple's iBooks) and there are some really nice functional apps out there with specialized formatting for the device - but the internet capabilities are not what you'd expect. It's still a mobile device, and many sites have not caught up. Lack of scrolling capabilities and funky formatting are a problem. Tweetdeck for iPad is also a total mess, which has pretty much put the kibosh on my Twitter participation. I bought Apple's small cordless keyboard (not the keyboard dock, since I use it mostly in lansdscape) and a stand, which I highly recommend. It turns it into a little mini computer on your desk or kitchen counter and improves the functionality ten-fold. Not only is it easier to type, but you can scroll with directional keys, which don't exist on the device's keyboard. When you want it to be mobile you just pluck it off the stand and turn off the Bluetooth connection. I would not be surprised if the first upgrade makes significant changes to the keyboard - it's deficiencies are that obvious. I also hate the smudginess of the screen - and I loathe the $40. case Apple sells. It's ugly and flimsy - the only reason I keep it is because it functions as a stand when you fold it over, and the low angle is really helpful for typing on the go. (Hmm... maybe this should have been a separate post...)
- iPad Apps - I'm still not sure if I've found my iPad's special purpose yet, but these apps are certainly helping - just search the app store for them - they're free or inexpensive. I really like Cool Hunting, Art Studio, NPR, Gilt, BlogPress (since Blogger is not compatible with the device) & Netflix. It has huge potential for magazines, but very few have apps right now. Hopefully they'll get there. Blogs look great on it, and I've had no problems with any of the formats. The NY Times app is lame, since it doesn't include all the content but you can just view the regular site with relative ease. You also don't need a mobile app for Facebook since it functions pretty well, with just a little occasional glitchiness.
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Cool, thanks for the reviews, especially on the ipad. We're considering it for our new kitchen since we have a touch screen computer in our current place and I find it so useful for recipes, radio and itunes, I figure an ipad will be even better as we can undock it and use it for other stuff too!
ReplyDeleteASOS is an acronym for "As Seen On Screen;" the website used to mostly sell cheaper knock-offs of designer clothes worn by American and British celebs. I've shopped the site for years, and it's remarkable how much it's grown since it's launch!
ReplyDeleteJenny - I think you'll love it - that's where I keep mine most of the time, with the stand and keyboard. It's a perfect setup.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous - thanks for clearing that up! I had never heard of it before I stumbled across it. The shoes I ordered aren't great quality, but they're cute and weren't super expensive. Will have to check back in periodically.