Nate the Great - Design Picks for 2011

Nate Berkus Show with Michelle Adams – Picks for Best Design Accessories of 2011

Nate launched his new show this past fall much to my extreme delight!  Despite my disappointment for him that it was not picked up by one of the major networks as Oprah’s other less appealing progeny had been, I remain optimistic that he can pull off a successful series (okay on his looks alone, he will!)  He just makes me happy with his swoosh of a McDreamy hairdo, JCrew meets UrbanOutfitters style and his absolutely drop dead gorgeous dimples.  He smiles, I smile.

I digress, his latest show has inspired me to look for my very own BEST of 2011.  I’m only one month behind on my New Years Resolution, so I say better late than never. 

I vow to implement these 5 Must Have Design Accessories of 2011 despite some of my cynicism below!  If Nate okays it, I’m in.  I'm going to post one a day for the next 5 days so as to not overwhelm you!

# 1 - Mirrored Accessories

Concern:  Disco ball in the living room, channeling Donna Summer anyone?

Love:  Jules Accent Table by Crate and Barrel.  Classic and grown up with a little taste of 70s gold.

Jules Accent Table

Stay tuned for my next pick tomorrow!

Get Your Groove on the 70s are Back!

The Peasant Blouse – a Must Have for Spring!

The 70s are back and as a child of this era, I’m a ready to get the skinny on this fab new trend!

To start with, peasant blouses.  I have experience with a brief foray into this trend in the late 90s with what we called “the poet blouse”.  The only problem with the poet blouse is it had to be white and that one Jerry Seinfeld incident put a bad taste in my mouth on the trend and it seemed to die off shortly after.  I believe it was called the “puffy blouse” episode.

The peasant blouse is more fun because it can be any color and channels a sweet, feminine spring day style.  You could pair with a flowy skirt or a cute pair of your favorite jeans.  I recommend wearing the style with a snug fitting bottom so you don’t feel too puffy or sloppy. 

It reminds me of two of my favorite shows from the 70s!  The girls from Charlie’s Angels and Three’s Company new exactly how to flaunt this trend.

Here are some present day peasant tops to guarantee to have you rocking this trend in no time!

Real Budget

Susina Blouse - Nordstrom

Free People blouse - Macy's

Big Budget

Daisy Organdy Blouse

Robbi and Nicki Ruched Blouse

Okay and I have to put one more, a girl can dream.

Leifsdottir embroidered chiffon blouse

No Budget - You have to love this price!!!  I love Forever 21.

Textured Dot Top

Ideeli Obsession

My neighbor Jen hooked me in one conversation at a neighbor’s party.  She said, you have to check out Ideeli, trust me you will love it.

I admit, I was a late bloomer for online shopping.  Atlanta is a mecca for live shopping from Lenox and Phipps to the shop around the corner boutique.  I never really felt the need to go outside of my live, in person shopping zone.

Until the last 3 months!  My credit card has been on fire as my husband likes to say.  It has opened up a whole new world of designers, discounts and style options!  This winter, sales were a blur of more deeply discounted cashmere than you could shake a well manicured finger at.  I stocked up on sweaters for me and for my closest relatives, if the size wasn’t quite right. . .They did make the perfect holiday gifts.

What amazes me is the competition of it all.  First off, Ideeli makes you apply for membership by submitting your email.  Then I had to wait a few full 5 minutes to receive the confirmation email that you are in fact "in the exclusive members only club”.  Each day Ideeli sends out an email alerting you of the new sales of the day.  They seem to have anywhere between 8 – 10 new designers each day with 1 to 2 pages of new discounted merchandise.  Here is the clincher, the sale only lasts for 40 hours!  AND they can be extremely, gut wrenchingly painful for newbies.  You want that Furla bag, so do 10 other people and they may only have 2 left in stock.  The sales start every day at 12 pm (Eastern), HOWEVER (and this is a big however), if you have Front Row Status, you can snatch up those items before all of the other girls at 11 a.m.  It’s the equivalent of pushing and shoving at Filene’s Basement during the running of the brides.  You know who found out some of these rules a little bit too late as I watched one cashmere sweater and one Michael Kors bag and one Tom Ford pair of sunglasses and one pair of 7 Jeans lifted out from under my little mouse click far too many times. 

My most painful experience happened the day of the cashmere duster sale.  Cashmere is one of my favorite items in the world and this Ideeli fixation has only added to the craze.  I have gotten some steals on cashmere but never like this.  They had cashmere dusters in all of the colors of the rainbow for $18.00, yes $18.00 this is not a typo . . . marked down from $220.00. Unfortunately, I got distracted by the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills marathon on Bravo and remembered the sale 3 minutes late.  Yes, just 3 minutes late.  This ended very badly with a race against my opponent’s mouse.   Every item I clicked on read, Sold Out, Sold Out, Sold Out, size after color after size.  I zeroed in on one sweater, a size small beige duster sitting “In Members Cart”.  I attacked the computer with Refresh Screen after Refresh Screen while playing interference with a medium light blue duster still “In Members Cart” open in another browser window. 

Finally, the member must have been distracted as her 17 minute check out window timed out.  And the prize was mine! 

For the price of a Grande Vanilla Latte for the next 26 days, I can be First Row member for only $83.88 a year.  Honey????

H & M Poncho Quest

This week I digress to a warm summer day in late August when I was on the hunt for one of my staples of the season. . .

The H & M ad had been playing repeatedly during all of my DVR’d shows for only about 2 weeks before I decided to make a beeline for my local store.  The ad captured two shots, one girl in a preppy business like trench coat and another in a boho style poncho with skinny jeans and boots.  Of course, I obsessed over the latter much to my mother’s dismay.  Dreaming of myself in the cool crisp Fall weather as the thermometer crept toward 100 degrees outside in late August in Atlanta.  I gathered up strength and headed off to visit my local H & M.  As the heat of the day beamed down on the asphalt of the mall parking lot, I again perked up thinking of how cozy I would look in my new poncho, skinny jeans, and new boots, all to yet to be purchased in accordance with the latest trends of the fashion season. 

I entered through the children’s department admiring the super trendy, super cheap one and done wear.  I boarded the escalator to the second floor.  Keeping my eye on the prize, I brushed past skinny jeans and leggings, fur vests that would knock Rachel Zoe’s socks off, and found the area I was sure would contain my trend find of the season.  I perused the racks with casual abandon to not let on to the fear that was gradually escalating.  A cold chill ran down my spine as I picked up a blue sequined skirt to collect my thoughts.  This can’t be happening again.  After cooling down, I decide to approach the closest sales girl and ask her a question that can only have one good outcome.  She answers with the confidence of a telemarketer reading a script at dinner time on a Tuesday night, “Well, we HAD the poncho.  It like sold out in 24 hours.  AND I don’t know when we are getting any more in.  The truck gets here only MWF.”

My crusade is foiled again by the competitive shopping nature of the Atlanta lady bargain hunters.  In a city of nearly 4 million people, it always amazes me how small the inventory is for our retail stores.   I leave dismayed but not defeated.  I will not stop until I find my poncho.  If this means going store to store or worse dialing store to store, I will do it.  Even if I have to call in favors to relatives in other states, the poncho will be mine.

So it brings me back to present day February where I continue to get bombarded by compliments on this wardrobe staple.  Perfect for work or play, doctor's office visits or trips to the farmer's market, everybody wants this poncho including the check out guy at Trader Joe's.  And you guessed it, I did get my poncho after numerous favors were called in across the country including to business travelers, relatives and friends.  I ended up with three but who is complaining??  They do make the perfect gift.

In my dreams, here is my upgrade:

And this is the perfect little girl version!