Boston and Lobster Roll Love

This week I went to Boston for business, shopping, and LOBSTER ROLLS!


I headed straight to Quincy Market .....and chowed down on a plethora of lobster rolls and lobster bisques and any other delight of the crustacean persuasion I could get my paws on.
Boston is one of my favorite cities. I love the culture, the history, the shopping, etc. After Quincy Market I went to Newbury Street and shopped at Louis Boston, MAC, Intermix, etc. The weather was great and there were no crowds at all.


At Copley Center they also have a really big Barneys New York. It was so nice and the lady working in fragrance really new her stuff. I did not even know that Barneys existed..I only knew about the tiny one in Chestnut Hill.

This is a photo of The Boston Common, which is said to be the oldest park in the United States. This photo was the last photo I took before I dropped my camera AND BROKE THE DAMN THING. Ack--I was so mad. It was a great trip and I look forward to going back for Celtic games and of course more Lobster Rolls.

Tomorrow morning I am headed to Oklahoma to visit my family and some friends.
I am not taking the laptop, so I will be out of the loop and not blogging for a few days.

In addition---
Today is my gorgeous, sweet, smart and hilarious friend Angela's birthday. She has a sharp wit, and hearty appetite and keeps fit with faux yoga. Ange and I both have a strong averson to extra skin and we stay far away from sliders (the ones at White Castle and beyond). Thanks to Ange for our frequent chats and for all the times she cracks me up with her quacky sense of humor! She seriously makes my ribs hurt with laughter sometimes.
Here is wishing Ange a great day of birth!

I hope everyone has a wonderful first week of December.

(photos property of MonkeyPosh LLC)

Very Thankful

I know I am a few days late for a Thanksgiving post, but I wanted to say a little something about a few things I am thankful for right now.

I am thankful for my friends and family. I am very fortunate to have friends from Los Angeles to New York --in between and beyond. A lot of my friends I have had for over 20 years. I am also thankful to the internet so that my friends whom I live far away from and I can have a daily connection. I try to be a good friend, and I am fortunate to have friends who are very good to me.

I am thankful that my Grandma who is 93 is still with us. She only has flickers now of reality and rememberance, but she is still silly and loving and ornery. My Grandma is my favorite person on the planet. I love her and I am very thankful for her and what she has meant to me throughout my life. My Grandma has lived a long and eventful life and that reminds me of how thankful I am for my own good health. I thank God every day for my health and I never take it for granted.

I am also thankful for my dogs.

My Forrest (the dalmation) is 12 and he is getting quite cranky and elderly. He has become a bit loopy and at times he is difficult to deal with but I love him, and I am very thankful he is with me. My Finley is sweet and a pleaser, I am thankful for him too. He is very cute dressed up like a Chicago Hot Dog. I know, right?


I am thankful that my husband gets me fattening gifts like this cookie and chocolate covered strawberry gift from SHARI'S BERRIES . It is a wonderful website full of delicious, blissful sweets.

Shari's has gourmet cookies---delicious. They ship anywhere in the U.S. and I have always been pleased with them....but hello I am always pleased with chocolate and cookies.

I am also thankful for HANCOCK GOURMET LOBSTER who provided my Thanksgiving dinner straight from Maine. We had lobster this Thanksgiving because I felt like being NON traditional. We had lobster rolls and lobster pot pies. It was delicious. Hancock has wonderful, fresh food and fast reliable shipping. When you cannot get to Boston or Maine, Hancock can bring a little East Coast culinary bliss to your doorstep. I just placed another order from them today. Boston, Mass has the best lobster rolls I have ever had. You can find lobster rolls just about everywhere in Boston. I am going to Boston tomorrow morning for some business and the first thing I am doing when I get off the plane is getting in a cab and heading to Quincy Market to eat lobster rolls till I am full. I really do not know anywhere in the Chicago area with good lobster rolls, but my favorite place in NYC for lobster rolls is Ed's Lobster Bar. Ed's is located at 222 Lafayette Street in New York City and the website is ED'S LOBSTER BAR . I am a tad obsessed with lobster rolls, and I could seriously talk about them for 3 more paragraphs.....but I won't. I will just say that they are good and if you have never had one, you must try one before you die.

Lastly, I am thankful for my peaceful place in the world. Sometimes my life seems so busy and hectic and I feel overwhelmed....then I look out my back door and see the geese landing in my pond and I realize how blessed I am for all the great things and people in my life.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and here is wishing everyone a beautiful holiday season.

(Photos from MonkeyPosh LLC)

Holiday Party Pink Kicks....and Happy Thanksgiving!

Here is hoping everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving full of friends and family and lots of good food. I am thankful every day for all my blessings, and I plan to do a post of all the things I am thankful for......but in the mean time let's talk shoes. Here are some great pink party shoes to compliment the party pink dresses I posted below.

First and foremost is one of my favorite shoes in the world--the Brian Atwood Ashland shoe. I love Brian Atwood. I met him at a party in New York City not too long ago. He is model gorgeous and very gracious and obviously a design genius. I am not sure if this shoe is still available as it was for sale about 2 years ago on NEIMAN MARCUS but I could not let a pink party shoe post go by without paying homage to the gorgeous candy pink Brian Atwood Ashland shoe.
This sassy little number is the Fran by Via Spiga. Very flirty and feminine--I love it. I found this shoe at ZAPPOS which is an AMAZING site for all kinds of footwear--in case you are one of the 10 people who do not know. Their selection is great and their customer service is AMAZING! This is the Bessy by Steven (for Steve Madden) in fuschia patent. I love the rounded toe and the chunky heel. I think it would be perfect with a black outfit for a pop of color. I also found these at ZAPPOS . I saw Ann Curry (from the Today show) in a pair of these one time standing outside of Barneys and she looked HOT. By the way, Ann Curry turned 50 or 50 something this week and I have to say, she is gorgeous and she makes 50 look fabulous. Rock on Ann!
This is the lovley and shiny Pandora Bow shoe by Charles David, also from Zappos . Although I do like this shoe, I am not sure about the gold heel. Gold on footwear freaks me out a little....incidentally ( and for the sake of full disclosure) I have an aversion to denim on footwear too--it is so tacky.....at least to me. This is the Ann Klein Blush Peep Toe Wedge. I love the deeper pink/purple of this one. It also looks comfortable enough to wear around town. You can find this one also at ZAPPOS . This sexy number is the Betsey Johnson Weston shoe. I appreciate all of Betsy Johnson's funky designs. I cannot wear some of her stuff because I am just not that brave or cutting edge--however she does have some very beautiful and unique stuff. This shoe can also be found at ZAPPOS .

This is the very cool Nine West Egret shoe. I love how structured this shoe looks--very funky. From the photo, I am not sure how easy they would be to walk in, but I like looking at them. The funky Egret is also found at...yep you guessed it- Zappos .

If you are brave enough to fight the crowds today then I give you kudos and good wishes to find lots of great bargains. I will be doing some shopping on line, but mostly using this day to work from home and watch some great movies. Per my friends suggestions I will be watching "Home For The Holidays" and "Paris, Je T'aime". I may also fit in some "Ugly Betty" episodes since I have never watched an episode of that show. I know--no one can believe it. I also plan to indulge in left over lobster and curry.....bliss. If I do leave the house, it will only be to get a manicure.

Whatever you do today, I hope your day is wonderful.

(photos from www.neimanmarcus.com and www.zappos.com )

Holiday Party Pinks

Ok- I think I am officially obsessed with hot pink and /or fuschia this holiday season. Lately, I am drawn to things more unconventional. No more red and green for me this holiday- I want bright pinks and dark blues and silvers. I want interesting and vibrant. As a redhead, it is difficult to pull fuschia off--but I still try. Also in high school- my nickname was Fuschia--I am not sure how it got started, but I think it had to do with my bright hair. Anyways. Here are some gorgeous fuschia pieces that are sure to spice up your holiday party season.

This is the gorgeous Catharine Malandrino Halter Dress from INTERMIX . Stunning and swishy and amazing and Monkey likey! This one is easily my favorite.

This is the Carson Marcus Cowl Neck Top found at INTERMIX . It looks great with the jeans in the photo, but you could totally dress this up with some wide leg black slacks, chunky black jewels, sequined black clutch and be totally party perfect.
Sleek J. Godfrey One Shoulder Bow dress--also at INTERMIX. So cute yet sexy at the same time. Beautiful.

This is the beautiful Zac Posen Neptune Silk Dress found at NORDSTROM.COM. The lines are so clean and simple but the unique neck line dresses it up beautifully. The color is so vibrant and happy. This is the gorgeous Marc Jacobs Night Blossom Silk Top. The color of this shirt, according to the NORDSTROM.COM is scorching pink--I agree. Scorching indeed.

The gorgeous Diane Von Furstenberg Kimono Silk Dress. So simple and so classic. It is a dress, but could be a tunic or you could belt it over slacks. Versatile and gorgeous and found at NORDSTROM . On a side note, I love the look on the model's face. It looks like she is saying "Bitch I know I look fierce in my DVF--step on". HA--there is nothing better than a bitchy looking model in a fierce dress. I bet she can tear a runway up.

This is the lovley Max Mara Ghianda Twist Front Dress. This is the perfect party dress. It has a formal air about it due to the interesting detail of the twist at the top. This beauty is also found at NORDSTROM .

Have a pretty day.

(Photos from www.intermixonline.com and www.nordstrom.com )

A very good week and Happy Birthday Finley!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FINLEY!

This has been a great week in spite the dip the temperatures took in the past few days, all things considered I have been blessed with a great week. On Wednesday, Finley turned one year old! For his birthday celebration, we had cake, party hats, long walks, and belly rubs. That is his birthday bone cake.

For dinner he had Tilapia.
And his very favorite gift was his new pair of cool Oliver Peoples sunglasses.

On Sunday I went to a Billy Harvey -BILLYHARVEY.COM -concert in my friend Emily's living room. It was a very cool and intimate soiree with the lyrical genius of one Billy Harvey. The show was really great. Billy totally connected with his audience and the cozy, friendly atomosphere just added to the great entertainment. One of his new songs almost made me cry, the lyrics were thoughtful and true about how we are all different, but when you get down to it we are all the same--really beautiful. I cannot wait for his new album. You can check out Billy's music on YouTube or at his website.

Also on Wednesday, PROJECT RUNWAY started. I have been looking forward to this for months. It looks to be an awesome season with tons of excitement. +

=

My husband made the night even sweeter by saying that designer Kevin looks like the love child of Santino Rice and Joey Fatone--HA! I could not agree more. I cannot wait to see it unfold. I cannot tell who will by my favorite this season, but no one will ever compare to my favorite Nick Verreos.

I hope great things have happened for you this week too. Anyone care to share?

Beautiful day to all!

(photos from bravotV, celebritynet, and MonkeyPosh LLC)

Random Lovely Things

I am not a huge Jane Krakowski fan, but I really liked the photo layout her and Tina Fey did in this month's InStyle magazine. One picture I particularly liked was this one below of Jane in the hat with the fuschia feathers. I find it so lovely and random and interesting.The photo of Jane reminds me a little of the photo below taken by famous Italian photographer Gian Paolo Barbieri in Italy in the 1960s. I love the unique use of feathers around the face.

The above picture is from a very cool book my husband gave me before we went to Italy.
The book is Dolce Vita Style by Jean-Pierre Dufreigne. Dufreigne is a film critic who loves all things cinema. This book has beautiful photos of Italian style from the 50's, 60's and 70's. The cover photo is of Anita Eckberg, who is the timeless epitome of La Dolce Vita Style immortalized in Frederic Fellini's beautiful movie, La Dolce Vita.
This is a beautiful photo of Anita Eckberg from the scene in La Dolce Vita where she jumps into the Fontana di Trevi. So sensual. The bulk of the movie is about the high flying days of Roma along the Via Veneto in the 70's. I believe the movie came out in 1972. . The Via Veneto is but a shadow of it's former self in it's former glory, but it is gorgeous and historic none the less.

Photo I took along the Via Veneto in Rome.
This is a photo of the gorgeous Fontana di Trevi I took while I was in Rome. There is truly no more stylish and sensual place than Italy.

As the title of this post says, this is just my take on some random and lovely things for Tuesday.

Vive la dolce vita!

(photos property of InStyle, La Dolce Vita Style, and MonkeyPosh LLC)

Gillette Mach 3 for you and me

Made for a man, but strong enough for a woman?
I know this is a razor for men, but girls let me tell you--I love the Mach 3 for me and I am a total girly girl.Honestly, I am not a talented nor skilled shaver of leg. I mean, I do shave my legs regularly...alas I lack artistry on the knee and ankle and I am the unfortunate Queen of nicks. I have tried all the fancy, girly razors in the pastel colors with the pretty names like Venus Devine (which also sounds like a stripper name) and Schick Intuition and Schick Silk Effects. All of them sound so lovely, and they do work well, but out of all the razors I have ever tried on my gams, the Mach 3 is by far my favorite. A friend of a makeup artist who applies makeup to the legs of celebrities (yes there is someone who has that job--Official Celebrity Leg Cosmetic Application Expert) told me that said friend who applies leg makeup will only use the Mach 3 Razor to prep the legs of her celebrity clients. Who knew everyone went around with leg base on? I have seen the stuff that is like spray on pantyhose and that leaves a nice sheen, but that is totally different than makeup for the leg. I had no idea.

So my point is that I heard about the Mach 3, went through a skeptical phase because it is a man razor , then tried it and was surprised by how much I love it.

It is pretty masculine looking and it does not come with a vibrating option--oh Venus who are you trying to fool? However, I get the best results ever with the Mach 3. No nicks, cuts, and no more cactus knee. I know, I know, cactus knee-ewwww, but be honest- we all sport a little cacti in the winter.

You can find the Gillette Mach 3 at most drugstores and Target, etc.

You can also find it at DRUGSTORE.COM --that is where I ordered mine.

Have a smoothe day!

(photo from drugstore.com)

Benefit - D'finer D'liner

It's delightful, it's delicious, it's de-lovely, its D'finer D'liner by Benefit....la la la ... It is always a good day when I can segue a lip liner review with a Cole Porter song...a good day indeed.

I know lipliner is considered by some (hello Carmindy from What Not To Wear) to be passe', but I must admit--I like lipliner. I am from the South, where we call it lip pencil and we love a pencil of cosmetic persuasion--what can I say?

One of my holy grails is Chanel Nude lipliner and I have blogged about it before, it is great. Part of what makes it great is that is IS nude. I do not wear lip liner to have an outline of my lips--I wear it as a border to keep the lipstick or lip gloss from creeping.

The Benefit D'finer D'liner does just that without the fear of the scary outlined lip look.

It most definitely does what it says--it defines and lines -er.. d'lines beautifully. It is totally colorless yet somehow gives your lips a gorgeous "finished" look and keeps all lip gloss and stick in place.

I loved my first Benefit D'finer D'liner so much I went back to Sephora and got another one to keep in my purse.

You can find this gem at SEPHORA.COM or BENEFITCOSMETICS.COM .

My opinion is that it would be to your lip's Benefit to get this liner (or pencil depending on where you reside) ASAP.

Lovely day to all.

(photo from BENEFITCOSMETICS.COM )

Dreaming of a Pink Christmas --Blueprint Magazine

I am loving this pink Christmas tree on the front of Blueprint this month. To me, it is just barely teetering betwixt being elegant and totally campy. I love that combination. Pink is unexpected and that is cool. I am always trying to find ways to think outside the box during the holidays. Red and green are just so 5 years ago-ha. Mistletoe and holly--yawn yawn yawn.
According to Blueprint, this awesome tree is the "Pretty in Pink" tree from TREETOPIA.COM . It retails for $250.00.
The Modern Holiday issue of Blueprint is full of wonderful recipes, creative gift ideas and nifty holiday party ideas. There is also a great red lipstick spread on page 52 and a beautiful Winter Coat spread called Outer Beauty starting on page 68.

You can also get all sorts of Blueprint information on BLUEPRINTMAG.COM . It has a little something for everyone.

Have a festive day!

Beauty Product Challenge :day 7-CoverGirl Lash Blast Mascara

Today marks the final day of this little beauty challenge. I have enjoyed participating with my friend Pat at DOODAD KIND OF TOWN . Pat and I also saw a groovy, creepy and very cool play on Friday called The Sparrow. It is getting rave reviews and it is playing at the Apollo Theater in Chicago. If you are in the Chicago area--give it a go.

Meanwhile back at the beauty challenge......

I know there have been tons of reviews for this mascara all over the internet ever since it's release in October, so I will make this review short and sweet as I am many things, but I am not a redundant joiner- ha!
I have tried tons of mascara throughout my life and I have to say, I LOVE MASCARA. It is probably my favorite beauty product besides concealer. I am very picky with mascara as I have very long lashes and I hate clumpy messy lashes. I like a clean, thick, lovely lash.
I have been less than impressed with most of the new rubberish/ plasticish mascara applicators, but undaunted I decided to give Cover Girl Last Blast a try. I am happy to say that I LOVE IT. It is every bit as good (if not better) than a lot of high end mascaras I have. Some people are comparing it to Chanel Inimitable. I have the Chanel Inimitable too, and I love them both, but for the $6.39 price tag, my love for Cover Girl Last Blast soars.

I highly suggest this mascara.

Cover Girl Last Blast can be found at most every drug store and the price just about everywhere is under $7.00.

Have a wonderful day!

Beauty Product Challenge :day 6- Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream

I roll old school. A lot.

Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream equals old school beauty to me. I have used this cream FOREVER. I always keep it in my handbag and in my car in case of emergency because it can be used for everything--lip balm, body, hand , feet, knee, cuticles, eye cream, tetter, psoriasis and removes corns and callouses. Ok, ok....I just made up the tetter, psoriasis and corns and callouses part. That was from a Gold Star Ointment commercial from back when I was a kid. By the way does anyone even know what tetter is? I work in the medical field and I do not know.

Ahem. My point is that Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream is amazing. It has been around forever and continues to be one of Elizabeth Arden's best sellers. In the last couple of years they have added some new products to the Eight Hour line. The new Eight Hour Hand Cream is amazing, and I buy the Eight Hour Intensive Moisturizing Body Treatments two at a time because I love them so much. I love the texture and the smell. I cannot describe the smell...kinda floral, yet kinda medicinal in a soft lovely way--if that makes any sense. It won an Allure Magazine Editor's Choice award in case you could not tell in the picture--so other people love it too.

Elizabeth Arden is a tried and true brand with a longevitiy to back it up. I consider their Eight Hour Cream to be a classic that I am sure I will use forever.

Have a great day.

(photos from http://www.elizabetharden.com/ )

Beauty Product Challenge :day 5- Kerastase Oleo Relax

Divine--that is the word that sums up Kerastase Oleo Relax to me.

I started using this conditioner (they call it a daily treatment masque for dry rebellious hair) about 6 years ago and I have been having a love affair with it ever since. We go through dry spells where we do not see each other for a while because sometimes the Oleo Relax is hard to find, but then because destiny is a beautiful thing, we find each other and we pick up right where we left off.
Dry and rebellious is EXACTLY how I would describe my hair, and this product does indeed address those issues. At first I was turned off by the word masque or mask as we say in the King's English. I had used masques/masks for the hair before and I was nary impressed. The Kerastase Oleo Relax is so rich and thick and effective. It leaves my hair soft and shiny and it totally relaxes my crazy waves and makes them less obnoxious. Those of you with naturally curly or wavy or "cowlicky" hair know exactly what I mean when I say our hair can be obnoxious.

I love many conditioners, but I must say that this one has never let me down. It is sold at salons only, and as I said, it can be a bit hard to find but it is worth the search.

You can find information on their products here: KERASTASE WEBSITE as well as a Salon Locater for purchasing.

Have a relaxing day.

(photo from Kerastase website)

Beauty Product Challenge: day 4--Yes To Carrots!

Let me start off by saying--I love Walgreens.

I love all the choices and new products in the cosmetic section and they usually have a very nice lady working in the cosmetic section (shout out Mary and Nina). The other day I was at one of my local Walgreens and I was getting my products rung up in the cosmetic section and the nice lady named Mary asked me if I had tried the YES TO CARROTS brand. I had seen it, I told her but no, I had not tried it. Honestly, I probably would not have tried it, so she said "Oh give me your hand". She proceeded to rub some of the Yes To Carrots Body Butter on my hands and I was quite surprised at how wonderful it felt --and smelled. It actually felt very luxurious. Very thick and rich, and the smell was lovely. It smells of soft baby powder which is a smell I happen to love.

This is what the Yes To Carrots website has to say about it's products:

"Yes To Carrots™ is an incredible new line of Skin and Hair Care products that are all:
Paraben Free
High in Beta-Carotene from organic fruits and vegetables to help repair damaged hair and skin and give your body back its natural glow.
Rich in minerals and nutrients from the Dead Sea to help lock moisture in!
CAUTION: Products may cause you to smile more often! "

Since I was so enamored with the Yes To Carrots Body Butter, I decided to give the Pampering Hair Mud Conditioner a whirl. It says it is for all hair types, and I usually go for things made for dry hair, but I have to say, the Yes To Carrots Conditioner was pretty darn good. It is thick and rich and also smells slightly of baby powder with a hint of honey.

I would recommend the body butter over the conditioner, but both are wonderful products and worth a try. I use the body butter all the time and it works wonderfully on my dry skin.

Yes To Carrots is retailed exclusively at Walgreens or Walgreens.com

You can find them here YES TO CARROTS , or at HSN.com

(photos from Walgreens.com)

Oh and I just noticed that Walgreens.com now takes PayPal which is very cool.

Have a beautiful day!