Show It Off!

Are your family photos and kiddie artwork piled in a box somewhere? Well it's time to get them out and flaunt them on your walls! I recently came across Streck (http://kidsartdisplay.com/cart/index.php), a beautiful and unique bulletin board-style frame that you can order in 50 different fabrics. The ribbons that stretch will easily re-position along the board and hold your photos or artwork in place. It's soooo easy to use and you can even get personalized name or message cards made to match the frame. I had one created for my friend to match her blog and she just loved it! Sophistication at it's best.

Zazzle Dazzle

I remember the days my mom would take me to local merchants in the area to get our towels embroidered with initials, or have customized mug cups printed with our kiddie pics for granny to have. Well, fast forward 20 years and the online world is full of merchandise customization and I have friends printing their own stamps and ordering customized dolls that look like their kids (a bit scary!).

On a personal note, I recently decided to print some contact cards and used Zazzle.com. I chose them for the variety of reasons: design, cost and speed. I ordered on Sunday evening and had my cards in hand by Tuesday afternoon! But what really caught my eye were the custom shoes you can order http://www.zazzle.com/shoes. How fun would it be if I could get my nephews to wear the shoe of their dreams! They have slip-ons and sneaker-type shoes that allows you to print anything you like. Looks like I'm going to get two huge smiles on their birthdays this year!!

Just Stand Up!

What do I like about http://www.pandora.com (internet radio)? Aside from the fact that you can listen to a variety of music on multiple devices for free, I love their recommendation engine. You can create channels of artists that you like and Pandora will automatically deliver music that's close in style and taste to the artist that you're listening to like "Just Stand Up!", a collaboration by Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, Rihanna, Sheryl Crow, and Fergie that just played on my station.

I had the opportunity to spend some time with their founder last year and his passion to shed light on unknown artists and give them a chance to shine is really at the core of their business model. There are literally more than 50 people in the room listening to CDs and analyzing the beat, tempo, tone, etc., slicing and dicing the music to make sure that they have a great recommendation engine. To combat the hefty unfair music licensing fees charged to them by music labels (it's ridiculously higher than regular radio station fees), they've successfully incorporated rich media ads that attract lots of brands that's helping bring great revenue. Great news as I sure don't want to see Pandora disappear! In addition to being able to purchase the music on Amazon, etc., you can also "gift" stations; just customize your fave artists or songs and package it up and send it by email for your friend. Such a clever way to acquire users.

If you aren't a Pandora user, what are you waiting for? Access and start jamming today!

Winter Luxury: The Ritz Carlton Highlands, Lake Tahoe

Happy 2010! How did you ring in your New Years? I was fortunate to have an opportunity to join my wonderful friends for a quick trip to Lake Tahoe and had lots of fun in winter wonderland. On our way in, we drove by a new Ritz Carlton Highlands, Lake Tahoe that just opened a few weeks ago. While our destination was a beautiful lakeside home a few miles ahead, who can resist checking out the Ritz?
This majestic Ritz is a gorgeous property that makes you feel like you've suddenly jetted to a European ski chalet. We checked everything out from the restaurants that were decked with New Years eve celebration ballons, to the ski shop and the spa. Everything is very pristine, with a warm and modern decor, truly fitting for the grandiose Ritz. The hotel is situated mid-mountain on the Northstar-at-Tahoe ski area, and features a ski-in, ski-out access with a great gondola that connects the property to the village area. If you can afford winter luxury in this economy, this is the way to go! It's only about 3 hours+ from San Francisco if you don't hit bad weather.

Foot "Fur" Candy

What's a girl gotta do when you need to trek through some snow all day and don't want to ruin your UGGs? With a sudden trip to Tahoe this week, I realized I hadn't had a snow boot in years! After hitting up about 6 sports shops this week, my sad verdict on snow boots was that I'm never going to find one that's economical, light, warm and of course, waterproof. Gee, can it be that hard??

I saw so many brands from North Face to Alpine, and it was an eye opener to learn that my size was mostly sold out in these stores. Wow, Californians, are you all in ski country this week? I eventually came to the conclusion that great brands are too pricey (duh, how about the UGG tall boot for $240!) and the cheap ones had soles and sides made of plastic you feel like a robot in them! I was dismayed that I'd never find "the one" and I'd end up having to sacrifice my poor light colored UGGs.

But alas, after dragging myself to Sports Authority in pouring rain, I finally met "it"!! A boot on sale for $59.99 and it's called the Kamik Brooklyn boot and the best thing is that it's very light, waterproof and cute. The design is similar to a North Face boot which was about $170. With very comfy fleece lining and a breathable membrane that lines the entire boot to keep it waterproof, this was a big winner!!!! I got one in black and it even came with extra baby pink shoe laces, so cute! You can buy this online at Sports Authority with no shipping fee this week (they only have brown online), but here's a better link that has a good photo of the exact one I got in black.

If you're headed to winter wonderland and need a cute winter boot, be sure to check the Kamik brands out.

My Secret Closet - Boutique On Fifty Seven (NYC)

Before I caught my flight on Friday, I managed a very quick visit to Boutique on Fifty Seven, a small but gorgeous designer brand showroom/sample sale boutique that sits right across from Bergdorf Goodman. This boutique is only open to the public by appointment or during the once a month sale. It boasts a long list of celebrity clientele and helps stock wardrobes for movies and TV, which means great quality + good service. The owner (pictured here) is a gorgeous designer/fashionista herself, Kasia Bosne, who has a degree from the Fashion Institute and caters to savvy fashionistas.

The boutique has brand new items and samples; all about 70% off retail. Brand line-up is truly dazzling and selections are great; from Lacroix, Valentino, Blumarine, Missoni, Pucci, Chanel, Gucci, Chloe to Kasia's original design. She sources everything directly from Europe so there are lots of designs you can't get elsewhere. Kasia helped me sift through tons of gorgeous dresses, tops and coats, and I was bummed that the Chloe short boot I loved was a size 39 and too big for me. It was a steal for $390!

Well, what's a girl to choose in just 30 min. before dashing back to my hotel? The boutique is too damn fun to leave!! In the end I chose a very plush and soft black cardigan/jacket that's Kasia's original design, along with a necklace and earring set for the upcoming holidays. My secret is out, will you visit soon? Be sure to check her website (hyperlinked above) and make an appt. before you go!!

Heavenly Dinner at A Voce New York

I'm back in NYC this week for work, yay! Growing up next door to a vibrant Italian family, I find myself never being able to compromise when it comes to selecting Italian restaurants. Here in NYC, Il Cantinori and the now closed L'Impero were on my go-to list, but last year I discovered A Voce, a contemporary and delish Italian restaurant located near the Flat Iron district on Madison Ave.

Well today I had the honor or dining at their newly opened location in the Time Warner Bldg. with amazing views of Columbus Circle!! My trick in getting last min. reservations at the most popular restaurants: call close to dinner time, make a late reservation (chances are, they've had last min. cancellations) and be prepared to kill some time at the bar. Yes, New Yorkers do go home, so chances are you'll get in like us if you're good to eat at 10 pm (7 pm my time in Calif., perfect!) ** This pic is not from tonight, thus the daytime photo.

Tomorrow evening I'm dining at Alto where the well acclaimed former chef of Fiamma and L'Impero, Michael White will work his magic. Stay tuned!

[My A Voce Dinner]
Wine: Glass of sangiovese, merlot, cabernet sauvignon blend - Le Volte, Omellaia, Tuscany 2006 (Super Tuscany style red wine, very soft and has all the great notes of a cherry, hint of oak, and strawberry. I loved it!)

Pasta: Mezzaluna taleggio filled pasta, butternut squash, brown butter, fried sage (Totally blown away by the delicate size, cheese filling and velvety sauce. I think A Voce has the best pasta dishes in the world.)

Dessert: Fig sorbet (you can order from a variety but I thought this was fitting for the season. The fig flavor is not so strong so this one was a bit disappointing but cleaned my palette very well.)