Mad for Flats (shoes, not hair)

Mad for Flats (shoes, not hair) by sparklelovesf

So, I'm a sucker for a pretty shoe.  I've been suckered by shoes into buying them and have too many shoes for my small apartment to contain.  But for some reason, I love bringing home new shoes.  I keep promising myself that if I bring home a new pair, I will get rid of an old pair.  But how can you get rid of a pretty pair of shoes?  Even if they are the most uncomfortable, blister-inducing, pain-producing, blood-sucking things.  Maybe the next time they won't feel so horrible.  Or the next time.  Or the next.  But they are.  And I still have a hard time getting rid of old shoes.

Case in point.  I got this perfect pair of metallic (not quite gold, not entirely silver, but sort of pewter-ish) flats many years ago.  I've worn them a lot. They really should go.  I found a replacement pair that I wear quite often.  Yet, the old pair still are occupying space in my "flats bin."

I have another pair of trusty-rusty flats that are getting to be on their last-leg (literally and figuratively).  I love my black flats (from Ecco many years ago). It took some time for us to become friends.  A few blisters, and a several uncomfortable foot chafing occurrences seem to have ceased thanks to wearing the flats a few times with a thin pair of trouser socks.  I think the socks stretched out the flats just enough to stop the blisters and rubbing.  We're simpatico.  We're friends.  But, the flats are getting slightly tired.  They have many more miles in them, but because of the sensitive nature of my feet (literally EVERYTHING gives me blisters, or induces blood or pain), when I need new shoes, I start looking early.

So, in my perusals for flats, I found several pairs that I'm loving right now. They can't all possibly come home with me.  Space and funding prohibit that.  

But, I can share some of the pretty little flats here.

Clockwise from left:

• Kenneth Cole Reaction black flats with small bow - $69
• Sam Edelman studded black flats - $130
• Stuart Weitzman metallic silver cap toe pink flats - $350
• See by Chloe black flats with zipper-detail bow - $240
• Frye rose gold metallic flats - $128
• Cole Haan gold glitter flats - $90 (on sale now!)
• Steven gold studded black flats - $119

Until next time, look cute and make your feet shiny happy people and wear flats!

Black & White & Pink All Over

Black & White & Pink all over by sparklelovesf

So, what is black & white & pink all over? No idea, but I'm obsessed.

For some reason I have an affinity for black, white, and pink, and stripes, and sparkles. I don't know what it is about these combinations, but I love them and can't get enough of them. I used to shy away from stripes, but not now. I'm immediately drawn to them in stores and magazines. I think they stripes are a timeless classic, and love the color-blocked options that go along with stripes. I love pairing a black & white striped top/sweater of some sort with a colored bottom - red jeans, kelly green pants, and of course pink.

I "discovered" the world of Polyvore recently, and am now obsessed with that. Think of it as Pinterest (which I'm obsessed with too) with the added ability to create your own collages of things you've pinned. Remember when you would cut out pictures from magazines and glue them onto big poster boards? Well, Polyvore is your virtual poster board.

That's where I created this collage (above) of some black & white & pink items that I'm loving right now.

• Top row:  pink & white striped sweater - J.Crew $70; pink & black & white striped top - J.Crew $45; black & white sequin tank - J.Crew $98; pink & white striped strapless dress - J.Crew $215.
• Middle row:  black & white striped dress - Modcloth $75; hot pink blouse - J.Crew $110; black & white striped small clutch with sequin heart - Deux Luxe at Nordstrom $36
• Bottom row: pink ombre peep toe heels - Prada at Nordstrom $780; pink studded platform suede heels - BCBGeneration at Nordstrom $110; black & white patterned heels with pink heel detail - Anthropologie $470; black & white striped flats - Lulu's $19; pink studded flats - Valentino at Nordstrom $595

You can follow me on Polyvore (just like Pinterest) at: sparklelovesf

Until next time, find some way to shine every day!

Cupcakes & Glitter - 2 of my favorite things

So, I love cupcakes.  I love glitter.  They are two of my favorite things.

I think I was subliminally influenced by them both when I got my newest mani / pedi last week...

I recently took a weekend trip and stayed at the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo.  If you are not familiar with this place, take a look around their website.  It is kitschy, gaudy, over the top, strange, amazing, tacky, and I LOVE IT!  Their overnight rooms are all themed (some better than others).  Their main dining room (picture at left) is almost entirely pink (another of my favorite things).

If you show up not knowing what to expect, you are in for a BIG surprise.  If, however, you are fully informed and fully aware of what this place is like, and you aren't afraid, you are sure to love it!

For dessert, we had a piece of their pink champagne cake.  YUM!  How do they make pink chocolate, and get it into the curly ribbons?  I don't know.  I DO know that it is delicious and beautiful, and I love it.

So, I guess with cupcakes and glitter and sparkles on my mind, I selected my colors.

 

On fingers: Orly Cupcake.   This is the lightest cupcake-iest pink.  Love.

On toes: Orly Citrine Cheer under OPI Bring on the Bling.  This came out wonderfully - the Orly base coat is a light sparkly gold and the OPI glitter is mostly gold (with some other colored glitter) sparkly loveliness.  I had gold on gold a while ago, but it was a much deeper gold.  Loved that one.  Also love this one.

In keeping with the cupcake and glitter theme, I found a few other things on-line that inspired me and made my mouth water.

Cupcakes.  What's not to love?  Small, petite, gorgeous little round puffs of sugary goodness with pretty, flowery, puffy frosting.  I love all of the decorating on the cupcakes in the pictures below.  They look almost too pretty to eat.  Almost.  (I have a monster sweet tooth, if you couldn't tell...)

I found a picture of this AMAZING glittery gold tablecloth on a blog that I follow - Pretty Shiny Sparkly -  but wasn't able to find where to purchase this unique tablecloth.  I've never seen anything like it.  I found a reference to it on Polyvore, but again, no info on where to actually get it...  Boo.

Pink and sparkles.  Sparkles and pink.  A match made in heaven.

I happened upon a show on HGTV this morning - Secrets from a Stylist - where a stylist takes a couple with conflicting decorating taste and marries the 2 into an amazing room that suits both people.  The episode I saw this morning was called "Single Malt Noveau".  The girl in the couple is super girly and likes pink, gold, and sparkle.  The man in the couple likes modern, clean, manly things.  How did the stylist pull it off?  Quite wonderfully, in my opinion.  Love that she shows the audience that you can decorate with pink and have it not be overly girly and fluffy.  The final design was really beautiful - a nice compromise of styles that go together wonderfully.  Not too pink & sparkly.  Not too modern & manly.

What combination do you like?

Until next time...  Find some way to shine!

Mad for Monograms, Loony for Letters

So, I've always had a thing for monograms & letters.

I remember way back in elementary school when we did arts & crafts projects with our names.  One of my favorites was turning your name into a butterfly.  This was accomplished by taking a piece of paper & folding it in half lengthwise.  Then painting (in black) your name in cursive along the crease, then folding the paper in half so there is a mirror image of your name on the opposite side of the paper.  Then coloring in the white areas of the letters, and voila! a name butterfly.  The other of my favorites was writing your name in black on a piece of paper (cursive or printing), then outlining it in various colors until the outlines run off the page.

That was then, this is now...

My love for letters has evolved some.  I still love letters, but in a slightly more sophisticated way.

I LOVE these "letter" mugs from Anthropologie - $6 each (below left).  I also love letters you can hang on your wall.  My first "J" came from Anthropologie - made out of zinc - $18 each (below right).  Over the years, I've collected letters from all sorts of stores including Anthropologie, Ballard Designs, Pottery Barn (kids & teen), Restoration Hardware, etc.  If you look, you can find letters in lots of different stores.  A little boutique here in San Francisco, Timeless Treasures, has a vast array of vintage letters in all shapes, sizes, and materials (below middle).

 

In addition to letters, I'm pretty mad for monograms.  These days it seems you can get anything with a monogram.  Land's End has some great canvas tote bags (and most of their other items) that they can monogram.  The bags come in several sizes and colors as well as the available monograms.

I also love letters & monograms on jewelry.  When I was little I had a little "name" necklace with "JENNIFER" in capital block letters.  I was so sad when the letters broke apart between the "N" and "I".  I think I still have it in an old jewelry box...  More recently, thanks to Sex and The City, the "Carrie" name necklaces came back into popularity.  I got a new one with my name in script, and absolutely love it.  There are a ton of websites that will custom make for you.  Here are just a few I found from a quick Google search.  I can't endorse any of these, as I haven't personally used them, so just take the typical precautions when ordering things from the internet.  Name Necklace, The Name Necklace, Zales.

I saw this site mentioned in Lucky Magazine - they have some really cute options - Jane Basch.

I also am falling in love with monogram necklaces.  I also found this site in Lucky Magazine.  Moon & Lola - they have adorable acrylic monogram necklaces in all kinds of colors.

I am also loving these script monogram necklaces too.  I found this site on Google.  Can't vouch for the quality or speediness, but they are super cute!!  My Name Necklace.

Whatever your fancy, there are lots of options out there at all different price points - a letter or a name to match any budget and style.  What's yours?

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet."  ~ W. Shakespeare

Snow + Stars + Sparkle

Happy New Year my sparklicious friends! 

I can't believe that the first month of 2012 is just about over.  Crazy.  Seriously, where does the time go?  I honestly haven't any idea.  So, I guess we just go with it.

Speaking of "going with it", I had the opportunity to go to the Sundance Film Festival with a group of girlfriends + the boyfriend earlier this month.

What an experience!  This wasn't my first time at Sundance (it was my 3rd).  But, I can say that this was the best of my 3 times there.  We were lucky enough to get ticket packages (so we had guaranteed movies to see), we rented a car & condo, and made dinner reservations in advance, all thanks to the amazing Nikki-Z.  She hooked us up and planned everything.  AMAZING.

What do snow, stars, and sparkle have in common?  Sundance, of course. 

I live in San Francisco.  We do not have snow here.  Seeing it fall from the sky is certainly a sight to see.  Apologies to those of you who currently or at sometime have lived in the snow.  It is still a novelty to me.  I like it.  It is pretty.  I like to revel in it.  However, I don't want to live in it.

I saw 12 movies in 5 days.  The boyfriend saw 13 movies, and the group of girlfriends saw 10.  It is work.  It is exhausting.  It is amazing.  It is addicting.  I can't wait to do it again!

The star factor - so, Park City is a very small town.  Stars are out and about, and if you pay attention, you'll see a ton of them, not just in the sky or on the screens. 

I saw Andie McDowell, Sharon Lawrence, Parker Posey, Natasha Bedingfield, Ice-T, Coco, Chuck D, Amanda Peet, not to mention all of the actors and directors in the movies we saw - Common, Dennis Haysbert, Edward James Olmos, Charles S. Dutton, a gigantic Danish body builder, and countless others. 

It was cool to see these people acting "normal" and interacting with "normal" people.

There were a ton of sparkles there too...  From the snow falling from the sky in clumps the size of nickles, to all of the twinkle lights on the gigantic trees, to my freshly painted toes.

Toes:  base coat - OPI Overexposed in Southbeach.  Top coat: Orly "Rock it" pink/purple sparkles.  I'm in love with this combo.  Love the sparkles in the sparkly snow!  Sadly, I had to keep my toe sparkles under wraps for the week, can't gallivant around in flip-flops when it is 10 degrees and snowing, or at least I can't.

After the almost-blizzard on Saturday (28" of snow fell), we had a gigantic icicle hanging off the side of our condo. 

I'd never really seen one up close.  It was amazing!

I was in awe of all of the patterns the ice made - absolutely love it.







I fell in love with these lights hanging in the entry of Chimayo (a restaurant we went to one night).  Super yummy Mexican / Southwestern food.

They kind of remind me of pictures of solar flares, or sea urchins.  They were so pretty hanging there.  So sparkly and pretty!








After 5 days of almost 3 movies each day, we were all ready to head home, but were equally sad to be leaving.  Park City is such a cool place (no pun intended), and we all wish we had a few extra days there.

Driving from the condo back into Salt Lake City, I snapped this pic of the mountains - simply stunning.

Equally as stunning was the view of San Francisco, our city by the bay, on our landing approach.  Even though I was sad to leave Park City, I was equally as glad to be landing safe and sound back home.

I hope you all had a little sparkle in your lives this new year so far...  If not, you've got a few more days to get some!

Until next time...  let the stars, sparkle, and snow bring a little shine into your life!

Holiday sparkle!

Merry Christmas to all and to all a sparkly night!

So, the holidays are upon us, we're wrapping, gifting, eating, drinking, merry-ing, food-coma-ing, visiting, relaxing (hopefully), resting, and overall festive-ing, and maybe catching the 24-hour "A Christmas Story" marathon on TBS.

What is a holiday without a little (or a lot) of sparkle?

I am staying with my sister & brother-in-law and we decorated their beautiful tree the other night.  Love the sparkly lights, the red ornaments, and the sparkly snowflakes.

I am always in awe of tree ornaments; how they sparkle and shine, and pick up reflections of light from each other, the lights on the tree and from each other.

I took the sparkle inspiration into my holiday nail polish...  A base coat of OPI Dulce De Leche, 4 nails with an overcoat of OPI Mad as a Hatter, and 1 nail on each hand with an overcoat of Fresh Frog of Bel Air.  Sparkly wonderfulness!

I did my niece's nails too - base coat of a light pink with overcoats of Mad as a Hatter, Teenage Dream, and Crown Me Already (all by OPI).  Love the little sparklers!

Picked up some sparkly loot too from Santa!  LOVE!!!

Love this coin purse - full of silvery sparkly goodness (thanks to my brother-in-law)!

Love this gold sparkly wallet / clutch from Deux Luxe (thanks to my sister)!

And, who can't use a glow in the dark pink LED little flashlight (thanks Dad)!

And, I love these little freshwater pearl & swarovski crystal earrings (thanks to my boyfriend)!

I hope Santa stopped at your homes to deliver packages filled with joy and that you and your families had a very merry and joy-filled holiday full of plenty of sparkle and shine!

Until next time... whichever holiday you celebrate, I hope you shine and twinkle and sparkle, have visions of sugar-plums dancing in your heads!

Adventures in Nail Polish - Part 3

So, today was new mani day!

I'm a sucker for sparkles, obviously.  I'm also a sucker for sparkly Christmas decorations.  I was at a holiday soiree over the weekend at a good friend's house, and was in awe over her beautiful Christmas tree and all of it's sparkly ornaments.

So, this afternoon, I was digging through my nail polish drawer (yes, my nail polish has it's own drawer), and I pulled out a metallic silver, a silver glitter, and a multi-color glitter.  They reminded me of the glittery ornaments on my friend's tree.  Had to try it out.

I used 2 coats of Wet 'n Wild Silvivor (below left).  A coat of OPI Crown Me Already (below right) definitely a favorite of mine.  And on one nail on each hand, I added a coat of OPI Mad as a Hatter (below center).

The result?  Glitter-tastic sparkly ornamental nails!  Love!!!

If you've ever used glitter polish, you know what a pain it is to get off - takes forever.  A few tips I've found on-line to make it easier advise to soak a cotton pad in nail polish remover, and then wrap it around your nail for a few minutes to let it soak in.  This site says to wrap your nails (with the remover-soaked pad) in tin foil to make it easier.  I can attest that it IS easier to get off if you soak your nails in polish remover.  One of the nice ladies at my neighborhood nail spa did it on my toes once and it really worked.

Another method that I will probably try soon is one I saw recently in a magazine (I think it was Lucky)...  Instead of using cotton pads or balls, use felt.  Apparently the felt has more oomph to it that grabs the glitter better than cotton pads...  I'll try it out and let you know the outcome.

EXTRA, EXTRA, READ ALL ABOUT IT!
Sparkle Love joined twitter (see block on the right).  I'll tweet from time to time when something sparkly catches my eye...  If you tweet or follow others on twitter, give me a whirl - sparklelovesf.   Thanks!

Happy holidays to all!  I hope you have safe travels, fun times, and lots of sparkle!

Until next time...  How will you add sparkly ornaments to your everyday life?