Waffle Freebie

Sorry I just found out about this a tad late for most of you, but the Wafels and Dinges truck is giving out free Belgian waffles to anyone at 52nd Street between 6th and 7th Avenues if you are wearing red, black, and yellow.

Go out there and get your free waffles!

Sorry!!!

I am so sorry I've been a slacker on posting. I am in a show and it's taking up all my time.

I actually celebrated Macaron Day 2011 with friends, scoring freebie macarons all over the city. It was awesome - yay, Macaron Day!

Sorry I am not posting well. I will step back in and continue this in mid-April, but for now I have to focus on the show.

Speaking of which, please come to see me in HMS Pinafore! Here's the link:

www.bht.org

In-Store Event 101

Lifestyle event guru pal, C, informed me about the Cole Haan event mentioned earlier on this blog, and last night we attended at Rockefeller Center.

It was simple, yet perfectly executed in-store event fun.

1) Great staff/customer ratio. When you showed up, people greeted you and offered champagne or pellegrino. The store never felt overcrowded, nor was there the awful crush to get any form of drink/food you sometimes have at such events.

2) Simple treats done well. They were featuring their new spring color palette, which is kelly green, bright yellow, and black. In keeping with that combo, they had yummy mini-cupcakes, decked out with white chocolate disks that had the colors brushed on top. Here is a pic of two, side by side:

3) An enticing in-store deal: 25% off all purchases. C needed a new wallet and bought a very chic one.

Thanks C and Cole Haan, for showing us how it's done!

Scoop in-store event

Although I'll be in Arizona, I thought I should post that Scoop in SoHo is hosting a book signing next week: Tuesday, March 15th from 7-9pm

Free cocktails!

Shopping Freebie

Every now and then, Ann Taylor does this thing I love where they mark a bunch of end-of-season stuff waaaaay cheap. It's a great way to stock up on work basics, especially if you can pack everything away for later seasons.

Yesterday, I scored a lovely basic pair of their Signature Fit pants in a light grey wool (this is the closest photo I could find, but they are actually even lighter):And also an awesome grey long sweater trimmed with grosgrain ribbon. Very much like this, except the ribbon isn't ruffled on mine:Both items cost...wait for it... $19.98 each! They are relatively well-crafted wool pieces in basic colors, all for under $40 total. Yay!

But my freebie joy kicked in when I got home, took my clothes out of the bag, and saw that the salesperson had also given me this reuseable canvas tote:
Fairly cute and inoffensive, no? I will definitely use it to carry spare shoes, groceries, etc...

Thanks for the swag Ann Taylor!

Freebie Slacker

Due to a busier than usual schedule, I've been robbed of my time for freebie events! I actually turned down a VIP art show last weekend - Agony!



Things will improve slightly this Thursday, as pal C and I plan to hit the Cole Haan spring event:



It's happening nationwide, so find a Cole Haan store near you and get some shoes!

2011 Oscars: Worst Dressed

There were some not-so-great looks at the Oscars too. I'm going to zip by Helena Bonham Carter because she kind of rocks her crazy styles, and Sharon Stone because she's just depressing. Also, how does she keep getting invited to the Oscars anyway?

1) Scarlett Johansson. This prune/plum contrasting lace/kinda see-through/kinda shiny/backless/sleeveless/with a train(!) monstrosity was just not cool in my book. It was "old" in all the wrong ways, like a granny doily, and somehow also really cheap-looking, like crappy lingerie, in other ways.

2) Michelle Williams. Yeah, we get it. You are a serene pixie who is an Actor and not won over by the poufs and gowns of less discerning actresses (note the lower case "a"). I'm sorry, but Gwyneth Paltrow already went through this phase a decade ago, and she pulled off this kind of dress a lot better. Blah.

3) Melissa Leo. She is crazy onstage and off! This dress is bananas. I don't like the collar, don't like the shoulder pads, hate the gold underlining beneath the crocheted lace. Oh, and I hate the hairstyle! And the center slit on the skirt! Basically, I just hate it all.

4) Marisa Tomei. Marisa Tomei is so gorgeous. And this look is not without redeeming features: She looks great in navy, awesome earrings, and flattering hair and makeup. But the vintage dress looks vintage in all the worst ways: bustline strangely high and too big, waistline high and very defined, pelvis area looking protruding and globe like thanks to vintage shape silhouette, and (worst of all) tulle on bottom faded and substantially different shade than the satin.

5) Colin Firth's wife, Livia. I'm so sorry because she isn't a movie star so it's not completely fair to criticize her fashion. That said, she is married to a nominee and would certainly be photographed. The weird tulle train on this dress is ugly, and so is the droopy bustline. The color is blah, and I don't really like the seaming on the front of the dress either. :(

6) Reese Witherspoon. This was the one that I got the most worked up over. WHAT WAS SHE THINKING!?!?! Cousin A pegged this as a retro-Barbie look, which I'll give her, but I thought of a more recent cultural reference... ...Remember on 90210 when Kelly and Brenda wore the same dress to the formal where Brenda ended up sleeping with Dylan for the first time? I do:

Reese Witherspoon totally stole the look!! Yuck. I hated this, and the high ponytail hair is worse than even Jennie Garth's french twist ponytail with tendrils as seen above.

7) Jennifer Hudson. It's so depressing that she lost all that weight and picked this dress to showcase it. I hate the tomato color. I really am uncomfortable with the arrangement of her cleavage. And it's all just kind of boring/trying too hard.

8) Florence Welsh. I recognize that she rocks the "thrift store couture" look frequently, and she could get points for less traditional shapes, but ultimately this is just ugly. What a zero color, and skirts like that were cringeworthy even back in 1977. The hair is a cool color, but she can't rely only on her hair to carry her through this mess.

Oscars: Anne Hathaway

Anne Hathaway sported a variety of styles at the Oscars, with great range of success. Here are my thoughts (and lest anyone be led astray unfairly, I will say for the record that I'm not really much of a Hathaway fan, but my rancor has abated since I saw her in Twelfth Night in Central Park last summer, and she was actually rather good). All of her dresses styled by Rachel Zoe, btw.



1) Red Carpet Red Vintage Valentino. I'm kind of over the use of vintage just for the sake of vintage. I don't even think this really looks like vintage. Oh wait - it's from 2002! How does that constitute "vintage" anyway!?!? Onto this specific dress: My cousin A says it looked like a comforter was attached to her gown. I agree. Blech. Didn't love the color on her and that is kind of a busted bustle. I will also state, as a point of interest/lucid anger that apparently Tiffany & Co. paid Hathaway $750,000 to wear jewelry at the Oscars!!!! Are you kidding me?!?! It's not enough to get the bling for free anymore? Suddenly, I hate this understated necklace.

2) White Givenchy. Yayayayayay! This is much better than the red, above. The color looks lovely on her, and the bodice beading is really gorgeous and interesting too. And it looked great when she moved, AND from the side (wish I could say the same for Kidman's origami dress!).

3) Red Versace. This is the red dress she should've walked the red carpet in. This makes her look far more "sexy" (vs. pretty or beautiful) than she's possibly ever looked before. It reminds me of the Princess Leia "slave" outfit in only good ways. I really like this tone of red on her, and the designs in the beadwork are perfect for her proportions. As I recall it looked a tad too lifty in the chestal region when it was on TV, but this photo looks perfectly fitted.

4) Vivienne Westwood. Gack. Hated this one, and this is one flattering photo. Interestingly enough, this is the hardest one to find online. The hairpiece (definitely not her real hair!) was a horrid crown of fake hair that looked too tight and weird. The dress did not fit her well on top, and the fabric was strangely offputting. Also this is another strongly emphasized Tiffany & Co necklace, so I feel certain that she was wearing the whole ensemble with the knowledge that every 15 minutes of the Oscars netted her another $100K from Tiffanys. Grr...5) Electric blue Armani Prive. This gown is interesting and the color is fresh and bright. I keep going back and forth on the intense shine of it. I didn't love it, but I give props for the brave wearing of something pretty weird.


6) Oscar de la Renta. Standing still, this was my favorite look. I loved the easy hair with the asymmetrical neckline. The color looked great on her, and the beading was fancy and cool...

...Then, THIS happened:Franco's face in the pic pretty much says it all.

7) Final Tom Ford look. I didn't love this. It was strangely "naked" looking in a creepy way.

2011 Oscars: Best Dressed

When I immediately considered Oscar night, I felt like there were tons of great gowns.

But in the stark light of Monday, I really only loved a handful of looks. I guess there were a bunch of people who looked "fine," but only these five ladies really blew me away with their dresses:

1) Mila Kunis. Keeps picking great looks. This color was pretty on her, but I especially loved the beige nude contrasting color that showed through on the skirt. The cut of the neckline was really flattering on her. And the swaths of lace were just interesting enough to make this a fairly non-traditional dress. Love it!

2) Nicole Kidman. I know some people hated this, but I really loved it. Anything with an architectural structure really gets me, and I thought the embroidery was really gorgeous. Love the red shoes too, and the necklace. I will admit that this dress did not look great from the side profile.

3) Hailee Steinfeld. The young nominee from True Grit dressed so age appropriately, and also in a glamorous manner befitting a nominee. She looks like a young lady out on the biggest night of her life thus far, which is exactly what she is. Her makeup was lovely, but didn't seem overdone for this young actress. And the headband is very cute. Tina Fey/SJP wore this kind of dress for a long time, which I did not enjoy. But Hailee makes the same style look fresh and pretty!

4) Cate Blanchett. Whatever you may say, I love Cate Blanchett and her boundary-pushing fashion choices. This armor/Joan of Arc style dress is very dramatic, but absolutely Cate and absolutely awesome, in my opinion. The color, with neon yellow at nape of neck that stretched around to the back, is just so interesting and cool!!

5) Amy Adams. In many ways the most effortlessly best dressed of the evening. This dress stood on its own, looked great, and she looked happy and comfortable. I just adored it. The necklace isn't neccessary, but I didn't hate it either. My favorite!

Mall Freebies

My friend L and I attempted a Freebie Triple Header yesterday, at the mall at Columbus Circle. There was a buzz of Fashion Week affiliated action, which turned out to be rather minimal compared to what we'd expected...

First, we had prosecco and strawberries at the Wolford shop on the ground level. It was nice, but there are only so many stockings to browse in this jewel box-sized shop, and as it got more crowded we had to seek sanctuary upstairs.

Upstairs, they were prepping a central atrium "Club Coca Cola" lounge with free Coke products and nuts/finger food. We couldn't wait to get in there, and I took this photo before the event began: We bided our time in Bebe, where they were serving champagne, sparkling water, and very very undercooked/overhandled hors d'ouvres. After a short while the potent smell of bad perfume and terrible crowding drew us back upstairs to see about the Coke event...

...only to discover there were door guards armed with RSVP lists. Agh! Freebie Faux Pas! I didn't know it was an RSVP event! While all the less-deserving-looking people walked in, we were negged at the black airport style barrier (so embarrassing!) and we headed down to Whole Foods to lick our wounded egos.

Luckily, Whole Foods gives out freebies to all, and we enjoyed sampling gourmet pickles, this amazing granola, and kimchi.

All in all, not a bad way to spend an hour!

Birthday freebie

One of the easiest ways to enjoy more freebies is to sign up for store's preferred customer programs (But always make sure there are no fees/drawbacks!)

I am a member of Sephora's Beauty Insider program, where you basically earn points every time you shop at Sephora.

Imagine my delight and surprise when I got an email from Sephora this morning telling me my birthday present was ready for pick-up at any Sephora store!

I love my birthday!

I love presents!
At lunch I wandered to the closest Sephora, and soon this little beauty was all mine, completely free of charge: It's a shampoo/shower gel from Philosophy called "Happy Birthday Beautiful!" It smells like vanilla birthday cake...mmm! And it's BIG. You can't really tell from this photo, but it's about the size of a can of soda.

Some of you will recall my short-lived obsession with Jessica Simpson's beauty line that smelled like baked goods. I can enjoy a cake-flavored soap from time to time...

Best of all - no strings attached on this freebie. All you have to do is sign up to be a Beauty Insider. I walked up, said I got the birthday email, and they scanned my BI card and handed me a free bottle of soap. No purchase neccessary - Happy Birthday to me!

2 for $5 Valentine Smoothies

Though not a freebie, this is a great deal and available all over the nation!
Jamba Juice is offering a 2 for $5 deal on their Sweetheart Smoothie, from 2/7-2/20. Just click here, print out the coupon, and grab a buddy for some smoothie fun!

Thinking Theater

Slowly, but surely, the freebies are returning from the immediate post-holiday draught! Hooray!

Last week, cousin T brought me to see Encores! staged concert of Kurt Weill's "Lost in the Stars." It's a rarely-performed piece set in South Africa. Really heavy, serious material that weighs in on issues of class, race, culpability, and moral vs. legal judgment.

Though "Lost in the Stars" doesn't leave you humming any tunes, Encores! did a really nice job of casting and staging this tough piece, and bringing something onstage that wouldn't ever get a big buck revival in today's Broadway market.

Thanks, Cousin T, for a one-of-a-kind night out and some mentally challenging musical food for thought.

Free Coffee February

It appears for the entire month of February, Seamless Web is giving away free coffee at a variety of locations. See by clicking here.

Feb 1-6: Midtown East
Feb 7-13: Midtown West
Feb 14-20: Upper East/Upper West Sides
Feb 21-27: Lower Manhattan

Go out and get some free coffee!

Worst of the SAG Awards

Just as there were some great looks at this year's SAG Awards, there were some not-so-great ones too. Not SOOOO bad overall, but here are my "Bottom 6."

1. Kim Kardashian. Blech. This dress seems both outdated and poorly suited to Kim's body. It looks really droopy, and I'm sparing you the horrendous open back too. Why is she even at the SAG Awards, anyway? 2. Kate Mara. Herve Leger dresses can look amazing. Note my use of the word, "can." They're called bandage dresses for a reason, and Kate Mara looks positively immobile and uncomfortably bound in this dress. And the bottom of the gown looks like a bottle brush. Perhaps it could look OK on someone, but all I'm getting from Mara and her posture is that this is one unpleasant dress. Also, with the beige headband and beige purse, this is altogether too much beige.

3. Eva Longoria. This dress looked even worse when she was onstage presenting. Let's just say it felt like Longoria took "SAG Awards" literally. The drapey top flaps made this stunning woman appear top-heavy and nearly-nude, and not in anything but an offputting way. She also got a strange muffin-top effect (cringe - I hate the term, but I can't think of another way to paint this picture for you) from the taut waistband, which again, I know is not from Eva Longoria ACTUALLY posessing a muffin-top, as she is a perfectly proportioned human.

4. Claire Danes. Anger!!! Danes looked so good at the Golden Globes and then she wore this positively wrong dress for her figure. I refuse to feel badly for women who have small busts, since there are so many amazing styles that they can wear that the better endowed ladies cannot. This dress needs some boobage, and Danes shouldn't have worn it. I love the fabric. I love the dress. I hate it on her. It looks like it's falling down, and only accentuates her non-chest. Small extra credit for her wonderful lipstick hue (and for her wonderful Hugh too!)...

5. Amy Adams. Love Amy. Such a versatile actress, such lovely coloring, such a great "real" figure. Hate this dress, unfortunately. The top is all wrong for her torso proportions, and the color is very draining on her. Worst of all, if you saw her in motion you saw how horrendous it was for her to wrangle with the frontal train. Nothing looks worse than walking while holding your crotch fabric. I'm just sayin'...

6. Angie Harmon. Worst dressed, by far. The only look I actually cannot find a redeeming characteristic about. This woman is gorgeous and could look fantastic in almost any dress. Almost. Not this one. The feathers, bustier seaming, baby pink, and voluminous bottom would be too much for even Barbie to handle. Fashion FAIL.

(all photos courtesy of Just Jared)

Intermission Freebie

Last night, the inimitable J and I attended Roundabout Theater Co's production of "The Importance of Being Earnest," by Oscar Wilde. We cemented our friendship as co-stars in a college production, so it was a wonderful, fun-filled excursion and traipse down memory lane.

And there was also a very nice freebie to be had.

About a week ago, the Roundabout sent me a letter that offered two complimentary cups of coffee or tea at the theater bar either before the show or at intermission. Of course, we availed ourselves of the coffee option: Thanks to J for taking such a graceful looking shot of my hand, and thanks to the Roundabout for the free coffee!

Fashion Freebie: Best Dressed of SAG Awards

I've made the executive decision that since watching awards shows is free, and since I love reviewing awards show fashion, I will be doing a "Best" and "Worst" dressed of awards shows on this blog!

Sunday was the SAG Awards, and there were some truly awesome looks on the red carpet. Here are my top five:

1. Kyra Sedgwick. Boy, is she is picking great dresses this season. Every now and then a solid black dress is just right, and this was one of those times. I believe this is velvet, and I know I read somewhere that it's vintage. The dramatic neckline is SO COOL with the little points on the ends. I slightly prefer her Golden Globes look, but love this too.

2. Mila Kunis. Mila's slowly sneaking up the Hollywood AND fashion food chains this season, with her undersung turn in Black Swan and better and better dresses. This Alexander McQueen dress is the best yet, and I think almost everyone loves this look (including Michelle Obama, who rocked a similar look at the China state dinner!). What an amazing dress, creative pattern, and perfect color combo for her. A-plus!

3. January Jones. It's easy to look beautiful when you're January Jones, but a lot of time her dresses are kind of "eh" or oddly offputting like that dramatic red one at the GGs. This Carolina Herrera looked simply spectacular. I can totally see Jones as a Herrera gal. She should do an ad campaign for the brand. She's starting to realize that we all want to see her in Betty-Draper-esque styles. Not old fashioned, but looks that show off her classic beauty. This photo doesn't even start to give this dress justice. The gold/black lace just popped and fit her to a T. The hair looks odd here, but onscreen I just looooved the whole thing.

4. Hilary Swank. I know, I know...We've all seen her in dresses just like this before. It's nothing groundbreaking, but I'll say that she knows what works on her very muscular body (unlike Claire Danes, ahem! To be continued, in Worst Dressed tomorrow...) and this is it. The color is flattering, the bejeweled asymmetrical neckline gorgeous, interesting gathering on the fabric that DOESN'T actually have to be carried around like a frontal train (I'm looking at you Amy Adams) and my only problem at all is with the not-quite-right hair. I think I would have preferred a low ponytail/bun. Otherwise, me likey.

5. Nicole Kidman. Ah, Nicole...Best dressed of the night, in my opinion! This dress was incredible, creative, unusual, and very very flattering. I wish I could find a photo of the tremendous back, which you saw on TV when she was presenting. This looks very Chanel-y, but I'm not sure who made it (Nina Ricci, apparently). The sleeves are divine. The floral necklace she is wearing is truly lovely and also quite unusual. LOVE LOVE LOVE!!

Tomorrow: Worst Dressed!

(photo credits: all from Just Jared)