In my next life...

Organza poulette party dress

$995.00 item 20964



If I returned as an ostrich, this is exactly how I imagine I would look like.

FREE SHIPPING! @ Forever 21

I've turned into a bit of a Forever 21 freak lately, thanks to Chloe, ABC and Anthroholic.

While I love quality, the reality is that, I can get 3 quantities for the price of 1 quantity. That's right, I can buy 3 F21 tops for the price of 1 J Crew top... as such, I've been stocking up on F21 instead.

So, when I got this email today telling me that they're offering Free Shipping with NO MINIMUM, well.... I just had to share it with everyone.

But please don't make the same mistake I did. I didn't read the fine print and tried to put an order through today and couldn't quite understand why the heck the system wouldn't remove my shipping. So I called F21's Customer Service line and was told that the Free Ship offer starts tomorrow... Oct 31, 2009. Silly me!!!

To get free shipping, please be sure to use this code: F21FRIENDS

Free Shipping with NO Minimum ends November 2, 2009 at 11:59pm PST. Good in the US and in Canada! Enjoy!!!

Olympic Gold Medal Plates - An Evening to Remember???

My wonderful readers had told me to go in a Cocktail dress... but for some reason, I decided that I was going to wear a long formal gown. That was, until 10pm on Thursday night - 2 minutes to bedtime, when Honey said the dreaded words...."you're not going to be wearing that, are you?"

Don't you just love those words? Words that make the hair on the back of my neck stand-up and go "What's wrong with what I'll be wearing???!!!"

Long story short, I decided to wear what all my wonderful readers suggested. A LBD - strapless that is, with an A-line skirt and tone on tone sequins and embroidery down one side of the dress and along the front and back of the hem.

It was understated and elegant. And seeing that the event took place right after work, most of the other women too were wearing their LBD. There were about a handful of women who wore long gowns... which made me turn to my husband and say, "I'm glad that I didn't wear my long dress." ... of which I immediately regretted because he turned and said, "And you think I know nothing about fashion!". Pfffffff!!!

We got to the Westin Bayshore at 5:15pm - just in time for the VIP Cocktail Reception. Unbeknownst (don't you just love that word???!!!) to me, not everyone was invited to the Reception, we were, because we were guests of one of the Sponsors. We had some wine and some appetizers before we headed to the hall where the Gold Medal Plates were held.

I was originally told that dinner was sit-down - but I was obviously misinformed for dinner was far from sit down. It was more like ... herding cattle - only with amazing food and drinks.

There were a total of 10 stations - one for each of the competing chefs. The chefs had to come up with a dish to complement a particular bottle of wine. No 2 chefs had the same wine.

We then moved from one station to another - getting a substantial wine taster and a plate of the chef's creation. I remember the first 3 stations vividly - unfortunately as the number of wine tasters increased, the faster my memory faded - so much so that I cannot remember what Rob Feenie created that evening. I remember his palette cleanser Sorbet but not the actual dish. Sad isn't it? It's even more sad seeing that Rob Feenie won the Gold Medal of the evening and despite reports of what he created, I simply cannot remember the dish.

How embarassing!

Some of the evening's highlights. I met Tracy Cameron - Women's Rowing Bronze Medalist in Beijing. I even got to hold her Olympic Bronze Medal in my hand. I was suprised at how heavy it was. I was also very suprised to see that it wasn't all bronze and that it was inlaid with jade. It was absolutely beautiful - and likely the only time I will ever hold an Olympic medal in my hands.

I also met Steve Podborski, downhill skier, Silver Olympic Medalist. Seeing that my glass was empty, he offered to get me another glass of wine. What a sweetheart! Honey thought he was flirting with me. He was just being nice, I'm sure.

All in all, it was a wonderful evening and what an experience to be had! (I just wish I that remembered it all)

To whom it may concern....

With respect to the email you sent me today at the office, it of my opinion that you are:

• Mean-spirited
• Petty
• Immature
• Unprofessional
• Unkind
• Biased
• Incompetent
• Overly-Emotional
• Unlevelheaded
• A Big Bully

Before you start accusing me of any wrong-doing, you might want to do some research. Hearsay is NOT research. You need a reliable source. Your current source of information is suspect.

Instead of accusing me of any wrong doing, why don't you first begin by asking me for my side of the story. That's your downfall. Your immediate assumption that everyone is out to get you is so wrong. I am sadden for you.

I honestly was going to say, KISS MY ASS! But I won't stoop to your level. So I'm just going to ignore your email.

Should I or Should I Not?

I'm in love with this. Isn't it lovely? The Gumshoe Sweatercoat is calling my sweet name. Should I buy it or should I not? It's going to look just darling on me... I just know it!

What should I do?

Fashion Advise Needed Please

URGH! I need help.

I just found out that Honey and I will be attending the Gold Medal Plates Fund-Raiser on Friday, October 23, 2009. It all sounded awesome and amazing until I realized that ..... it's this Friday. 4 days from today! Eeeeek!

What is the Gold Medal Plate? click here for more info

Gold Medal Plates is the ultimate celebration of Canadian Excellence in cuisine, wine, entertainment and athletic achievement. Celebrating in six cities across Canada in 2009, Gold Medal Plates will feature superb wines and the premier chefs in each city, paired with Canadian Olympic and Paralympic athletes, in a competition to crown a gold, silver and bronze medal culinary team in each city, and subsequently nation-wide.

Founded in 2003, the goal of Gold Medal Plates is to raise substantial funds for Canada's high performance athletes, while celebrating Canadian excellence. Since 2004, this event has received tremendous support and accolades all across Canada, and generated a combined net total of $2.8 million for Canada's Olympic and Paralympic athletes!

The competing chefs include:

Angus An, Gastropod Catering & Maenam Restaurant
Andrea Carlson, Bishop's
Rob Feenie, Cactus Club
Don Letendre, Elixir
Dale MacKay, Lumiere
Tobias McDonald, La Belle Auberge
Pino Posteraro, Cioppino
Dino Renaerts, Diva at the Met
Vikram Vij, Vij's
James Walt, Araxi

I'm soooo psyched about this event. It'll be like Iron Chef on Steriods! All of these chefs are amazing! And.... Rob Feenie competed and won Iron Chef America! I can't wait to eat their creations, that's for sure!!!

So what's my issue?

My issue is this. Honey got the tickets today and it reads "Black Tie" or Cocktail attire. There is a VIP Cocktail Reception, formal sitdown dinner and Silent Auction, all to be had on this evening. The event starts at 5:15pm and I have to go directly from work.

So, my question is, should I go Black Tie - ie. long formal gown, or cocktail dress? The invite also reads to wear Red to show support of our Olympians. I don't own a red dress and I'm not about to run out an buy one ... just for this event.

We're also expecting Rain on Friday... so trudging around downtown from the office to my car is going to be a bitch in a long formal gown.

What should I wear? HELP!!!

This is sooooo WRONG on sooooo many levels!

Giverny Day Coat

We chose an Italian mill renowned for its artistic forte to create this Impressionist-inspired wool just for us. The silhouette is clean and cropped with minimal seaming (a work of art in itself). Wool blend. Shawl collar. Removable and adjustable self-belt. Bracelet sleeves. Back vent. Fully lined. Hits just below hip. Part of the J.Crew Collection. Import. Dry clean.

A work of art. Okay... I'll give JCrew that. I guess Art is truly in the eye of the beholder. And since I can't appreciate it, I guess I must be uncultured. Oh well.....I can live with that.

This coat is soooooo wrong in soooo many levels. At first glance, I thought that it was a cropped jacket - which lead me to think "why would anyone want to buy a cropped Winter Jacket?". Then it dawned on me that, Nooooooooo, it's not a cropped jacket, it's actually a coat with a different colored lower half - which lead me to think, Oh My Gosh! How ugly is that???!!!

And that doesn't even take into account the sleeves. Here's a coat with cropped sleeves. Who in their right mind (okay, maybe if you live in a warm clime), would spend $695.00 on a coat that has cropped sleeves ... AND looks downright U.G.L.Y. (it ain't got no alibi), it's UGLY!

Call it art, Call it whatever. I'll call it, I won't be buying this for sure ... even at 99% off!

Care to pipe your thoughts about this item? I'd love to hear them.