A little orange obsession

So, I have a new obsession.  Well, it isn't really a "new" obsession, but rather a newly obsessed about obsession that I already liked, but maybe didn't really consciously know I liked...  ORANGE!

I love orange.

Now, I've always loved orange.

Oranges, orange juice, Tang, tangerines, tangelos, blood oranges, orange-flavored popsicles, lollipops, Starbursts, Skittles, tic-tacs, etc.

I love the taste of orange.

When I reached the age where I could legally consume alcohol, one of my favorite drinks became the Mimosa.  I mean, there can't be anything better than bubbles and oranges!  Seriously - so yum.

Aside from my food-based obsession with oranges, I always kind of somewhat liked the color orange, but for some reason never brought orange into my life with clothing, shoes, or decorating.  Now, however, I seem to be drawn to all things orange.

I recently went shopping with an amazing stylist at Nordstrom, and she talked me into getting a pretty bright orange cardigan.  I was a little skeptical of it to begin with, but very quickly fell in love with it.  And, I find that it is surprisingly versatile too!

Everywhere I look, I see orange!

Love these adorable orange birdie tea-light holders.  $7.95 at CB2

These orange metal stacking paper trays are just the right pop of color for an office.  $12.99 each at Container Store.

Love these orange trays.  16"x16" square.  $39.95 at CB2

These little laquered boxes are so cute to store any number of things (large or small) in.  Prices range from $6.99 to $17.99 each at the Container Store.

This zig zag rug is adorable.  Available in several colors.  Prices range from $49 to $199 at Urban Outfitters.

I love animal things.  And, now I love orange animal things.  Like this goldfish pillow.  So cute.  West Elm.  On sale right now for $24.99

This rug is also super cute.  The pattern is a little more subtle than the zig zags, but still a fun addition to any room.  Love layering textures and patterns!  West Elm.  $49 to $699 depending on size.

If you are into stripes, check this little orange cutie out.  West Elm also, $19 to $299 depending on size.

Need a little side table or spare seating? How about this little orange stunner?  West Elm.  $129. 

Want some orange that you can wear?  I know I do.

Alice+Olivia flats.
On sale now at Nordstrom
$96.90

 A super cute embroidered dress.

Anthropologie

$198

Love this sequin tank top.
J.Crew
$325

  I have this tank in Aqua, and am about to order in Orange.

Nordstrom

$48

The possibilities with orange are endless - there are so many shades and textures, there is something orange for everyone!

What orange tickles your fancy?

Until next time, bask in the loveliness of orange.

Mazatlan, Mexico November 2006

Catching up with Sparkles

Hello Sparkles!

It's been too long since my last post.  Lots of new things in life have kept me very busy.  First and foremost, I started a new job.  After nearly 13 years with a large financial institution, my position was eliminated in November 2011.  I took November and December to digest being unemployed for the first time since I was 15 1/2, and then went into "find a job" mode in January.  After countless resumes, emails, meetings, and a few key interviews, I landed a position with a start-up company in San Francisco.  I started my new job on March 15, and can't believe it has been almost 2 months already!  Time has absolutely flown by and I am having a blast.  It is kind of strange going from a position of relative anonymity in a huge corporation to the first full-time employee at a brand new company that is building itself from scratch.  Talk about a sea change.  So, work has been keeping me busy, and I am still adjusting to my new schedule.

My most recent mani pedi is somewhat of a departure from my normal hot pink and sparkles, but I love it just the same.

I got a iridescent teal OPI polish (Austin-tatious Turquoise) topped by multi-color sparkles on my toes, and a coraly-peachy sparkly OPI polish on my fingers.  Absolutely love them both!  It is so fun taking off my shoes and looking at my toes and seeing the bright sparkly teal.  So much fun!



Right before this mani pedi, I had a bright fucshia on my toes, and a pale sparkly pink on my fingers.

Pink on fingers is Essie Pink-a-boo, and fucshia on toes is Essie Bermuda Shorts.  Such a fun bright pink!

The other week, I found the need to purchase a new pair of flip flops.  Saw these sparklers at Nordstrom, and couldn't resist.  Reef Stargazer about $26.

I also recently attended the bridal shower for my friend A.  She and her fiancee B are getting married this August.  I'm so excited and happy for them.  Seeing A shine at her shower was so wonderful.  I absolutely can't wait for the wedding.

I spent Easter with my boyfriend and his family.  His parents brought me the most AMAZING Easter basket - I really was touched and excited to get one!  We also dyed Easter eggs.  His Mom knows of my love of sparkles, and found dye that involved glitter!  Sparkly Easter eggs!  LOVE!

  

It was a little messy, but the end result, which the pictures don't do justice, was super sparklicious!

Finally, I encountered a lovely girl at a fundraising event who had absolutely beautiful nails.  I asked her if I could snap a picture, and during the impromptu nail photo shoot, she told me that she had them done this way for her prom.  Love!  A sparkly French manicure?  Why not!

It is finally spring!  Weather is warmer, sun is shining.  Time to break out the spring and summer sparkles!  Until next time (and I promise it won't be so long).

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!