Tagged: Style

iCovet Fridays: Old Navy Spring Preview

Last night, my girl Lauren of Everyday to Runway invited me to the Old Navy Summer Preview as her guest.

The event, which took place in the brand’s beautiful downtown showroom, was so colorful that it made us both feel bad for wearing the New Yorker’s Uniform: dark denim, black, navy, and grey. In fact, this will probably be the most color you see on Writing with Wine (who’s brand guidelines also follow the NYer’s Uniform). I entered the space and totally fell in love with the adorable decor: yellow plexi campfires, weathered wooden oars, canvas tents, and the cutest little accent bulbs, all of which I wanted in my home, pronto.

The preview was exactly what I expected, but that’s because I love Old Navy. I discovered the brand my freshman year in college, when I vowed to stop squeezing my feet into shoes a size too small. Not just applying to their shoe selection (which is cute, trendy, and available in size 11 for tall girls like me), Old Navy offers cute styles at affordable prices. I already live by Old Navy fitness products. And beyond that, I caught a glimpse of my future: Maiah (in Old Navy) goes to Martha’s Vineyard. Let the summer countdown begin!

A few of my favorites:

photo 1

photo 2

photo 3

photo 4

photo 5

These items will be in available for your shopping pleasure in April & May (I personally can’t wait. I gave up shopping for lent and all your girl wants is a sandal and a comfy tee).

 

Appendix:
*All photos are my own, taken and edited with my iPhone 4s.
*No formal compensation was provided for this review. All opinions are my own. An adorable gift bag was offered on my way out (thank you!).

Saying Yes to the Dress

It is my personal belief that every woman is secretly thrilled when the stars align and she can spend Friday night at home with a bottle of wine and Say Yes to the Dress. Now come on, I know you do it. You know I do it. So, let’s all embrace the goodness that is Randy, Sarah, Keisha, and Eyebrows.

This past weekend, I had the ultimate pleasure of meeting my closest girlfriends on 20th Street. Two out of our group of six are engaged and we thought it would be a great idea to make the first stop Kleinfelds Bridal. It was: there were tears and laughter (the sign of a well rounded day). I might have even classified it as perfect, except moving forward, one appointment at a time, ladies. I was completely overwhelmed between the dresses, the super nice staff, and their army of interns.

Following our Kleinfelds visit, we went to dinner to debrief and I realized something: “I don’t think I could try on any dresses without my mother” I said, thinking of the extended mother-daughter shopping excursions (dubbed “fieldwork”) I can’t live without. “I would need her eyes on everything.”

As our conversation went in circles about what was necessary and what wasn’t, I realized that I would also absolutely need my Dad’s final nod on the dress he walks me down the aisle in. “You don’t want to surprise him on the big day?” Allie asked.

I considered this, but as I thought through every big decision I’ve made so far, be it college, my jobs, my move to NYC, I realized that each has been punctuated by my Dad’s final seal of approval. ”No, I don’t want to surprise him, I want him to give me the Dad-nod. I’ll save the surprise for my future husband.”

What about you? Would you/did you bring your parents? Could you do it without them?

iCovet // 12.17.11

Yeah, boi.

Lot’s happened this week. Mainly, I produced the most amazing and humbling event in LA for Delta Air Lines called Holiday in the Hangar. We put together activities for children suffering from cancer and abusive households, and even brought them Santa to help them forget their troubles for a few hours. A number of great things were waiting for me when I got back to the east coast.

1.

Gorgeous 2012 calendar from my clients-friends over at Maybelline New York.

2.

Adorable baby Evian bottles wearing adorable holiday hats.

3.

A beautiful Sir Alistair Rai eternity scarf from my client-friends at Shiseido.

4.

Scored a beautiful maxi wrap dress at the last day of the DVF sample sale. Pure mayhem. Pure style.

❤

Girl About Town: BNO and Cocktails & Couture

That’s the thing about Fashion Week. When I’m working with so many beauty and fashion clients it’s nearly impossible to keep up on my labor of love. Sometimes, rather than burning the midnight oil on a post, a girl just needs her girlfriends and a cocktail. So that’s what I did to get through the week.

Last Friday, September 9th, my coworker and I jumped in a cab and rushed over to Pranna Restaurant for Blogger’s Night Out. The event proved to be the perfect antidote to the previous night’s Fashion’s Night Out festivities (or fiasco). #BNOnyc was organized by six amazing fashion bloggers from all walks of life. Their intentions? To create an opportunity for other bloggers to come together and network (or just have a great time) with drinks sponsored by Voga Italia, polishes by Zoya, glitz and glam by Send the Trend, and shopping opportunities by Shop It To Me, Sole Society, OpenSky, and Tortoise & Blonde. Hoping the girls decide to make it a bi-annual party so I can indulge again in February. Is it really too much to ask? Fingers crossed!

The next night, I met up with the girls again for the Cocktails & Couture party. The event was held at Bo Concept and hosted by the fabulous Lianne Farbes. Guests were privy to 3 specialty cocktails by X-Rated Fusion Liqueur, which I’ve been dying to try and was lucky enough to be gifted a small sample for my home. The event itself was so much fun – it was put together by my PR girl crush, Christina Rice of LuxeLife Media. Guests were an interesting range of New Yorkers, bloggers, fashionistas, and more. I was awestruck when Wendy Lam of nitro:licious walked by, and thrilled when LoveBrownSugar perched her gorgeous self on the arm of the sofa I was sitting on for a little chat. Love that girl!

Larissa, Allison, Christina & I
Guests indulged in manicures by CND, hair demos by title sponsor Indique Hair, skincare tips by Specific Beauty, and the gift bag included pieces from Immunocologie, Philippe Matignon, & FRS. What’s more is a few lucky guests walked away with the Clairsonic Cleansing System, which only furthered my jealous of Lianne Farbes’ beautiful skin. #iWant.
Looking forward to next season’s C&C; party, which has already been announced for February! 

Girl About Town: NYFW + an Essence Mag Feature

I feel pretty blessed that a large part of my everyday job revolves around planning for and being at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week every 6 months. While the work that goes into a successful event isn’t always glamorous, I seem to find myself enjoying the finer things when the moment strikes.

Case in point: this girl is featured on Essence Magazine‘s Street Style coverage for fashion week. The photographer, Darío of Art-X Studio was SUPER sweet during the quick shoot. That’s my new fashion week boo.

[via check out photos 40-43]

What I’m wearing: 
Express button down & cami, Club Monaco Skirt,
 Coach boots, David Yurman Jewels, Louis Vuitton Neverfull, & Sunnies from UO

Look, Ma! Essence Mag calls me a writer!

Don’t mind me and my geeked out response to this love – I’m just a girl from the suburbs trying to do it in the city.

xoxo

Girl About Town: LoveBrownSugar 2 Year Anniversary Event!

On Wednesday, July 6th, I joined the urban-glitterati, who were heading to the Financial District in hoards to celebrate the 2 year anniversary of the fabulous Christina Brown of the lovely blog, LoveBrownSugar.

The event was held at the very swanky Gild Hall at the Thompson Hotel. Greeted by 3 gorgeous women who all smiled happily as they checked my name off at the door, I slipped behind a velvet drape into a very sexy (read: manly) space.

The sophisticated space enveloped me in dark woods and deep brown leathers while the urban-glitterati filtered through the space in bright color blocked outfits, floral frocks, and their favorite pumps.

At the bar, we could indulge in champagne cocktails courtesy of Petiller and adorably petite cupcakes courtesy of DesiLu Sweets. The trickiest part of the night was trying to convince myself that just because the cupcake was bite sized didn’t mean I could have 5. I had 5 anyway. Oops.

My girls, Larissa, Allison, and I caught up to the beats of DJ Icon (who I later found out is Mr. LoveBrownSugar, love!) by the bar. We escaped upstairs quickly to use the restroom and our evening ended in a brief iphone photoshoot for Allison’s growing fashion blog, Fiercely Fashionable.

I left the party with a stronger obsession over LoveBrownSugar and a lovely little giftbag with items from Uptown Magazine, Indique*, Kinky-Curly, and SpecificBeauty just for me.

For more photos, check out Christina’s post on her event or go to her facebook page.

Style Scene Exhibit

As an avid reader of LoveBrownSugar, I took her post announcing this event to be a personal invitation for me to attend the Style Scene Exhibit at Bar13. Duh.

I attended with my favorite girls and had one of the best New York City Summer Nights… you know, the ones you look forward to as soon as the summer solstice hits? Yeah. One of those.

Co-hosted by Christina of LoveBrownSugar and Lowefactor, the event was put together by The Victoria Agency. Bar13 provided the drinks and a new company by the name of Stuff Yo’ Mouth provided light bites (those sliders were to die for).

I had hoped for an actual fashion presentation with live models and live fashion, but settled for imagery of each stylist’s work scattered alongside the walls of the roofdeck. Young black New York (including my girl Carolyn of the super hip new brand, Aliomi) was out in full force and the night progressed to the sounds of the city and glasses clinking at the bar.

I left with a cute little giftbag with an issue of Uptown Magazine inside. My girls each left with their very own pair of Stevie Boi shades (straight up Snooki style).

© writing with wine. taken with instagram, nashville filter. 

Summer time in New York City reminds me why I moved here – glad to kick if off with this great party by The Victoria Agency, LoveBrownSugar, and the Lowefactor.

ASH Flagship Opening!

On Wednesday, June 16th, I was invited to attend the ASH Flagship Store Opening.

Seriously such a treat, I was able to indulge in a liquid diet of champagne provided by Nicholas Feuillatte. For those eating, The Bubble Lounge provided super cute canapes. The Whittemore House Salon (a seriously stunning space in the West Village) provided stylists offering cute hair braids and fun feather accents.

And even more exciting, the night offered a super how crowd including the super sweet Christina of LoveBrownSugar and always fierce Claire of The Fashion Bomb. Additionally, appearances by the gorgeous Solange Knowles and Adrienne Bailon rounded the night off right.

[Don't mind my amateur photography skills, I'm just trying to work it out!]

Beyond the fun atmosphere, I was entirely smitten with the great shoes and accessories. All of the pieces were interesting, and studded to perfection, but I completely die over the Vera handbag.

[photo via the ASH digital look book]

For even better images of the event, check out the photos uploaded to LoveBrownSugar’s facebook page. And be sure to swing by the new store which can be found behind a cute little storefront at 44 Mercer in SoHo New York.

Five Trends I Just Can’t Get Behind, vol.1

I love me a fashion and beauty blog, I really, really, really do… but I there are always a few things I can’t help but cringe towards when I see them in those beautiful photos.

Here are my current Five Trends I Just Can’t Get Behind:

1. Jeffrey Campbell Lita Shoes

[via]

Aaaaaaaaah! Please!!! Someone! Help! Tell me why! Because I just can’t understand. And I love Jeffrey Campbell shoes! So comfortable and well made. But these? iCant.

2. 3-D Nails

[via]

Eep!! Why would you do that! I’ll give you a little rhinestone or something “classically” middle school (sorry, that’s when I remember rhinestones on nails the most), but why on earth are your fingernails talking to me? iCant.

3. Backpacks for Grown Ups
[via]

I equate backpacks with college parties. They are usually stacked full of some sort of classy beverage like Natty Ice or PBR. If you’re really lucky, you might also find some Hypnotiq, a bandaid, a hair tie, an ace bandage, and a pen. Just because it says Chanel or Vuitton doesn’t mean I’m not judging you (and hoping you’ll give me a beverage). iCant.

4. Sheer Clothing
[via]

I get it. Sometimes its nice to have something a little sheer on to show off your curves. But I can’t understand showing everyone ALL of your unmentionables. What ever happened to slips? Old fashioned? Maybe. Classy? Definitely. iCant.

5. Full Body Jewelry
[via]

I actually think, if done right, this could be a good look, but the functionality of it makes me nervous. I’m notoriously clumsy with my jewelry. I can’t even begin to guess how many Forever21 necklaces I’ve accidentally caught on a railing (or even the stove) and have had to toss after a night out. These vests and such are a lawsuit waiting to happen for me. And how dominatrix. iCant.

Suburban Girl Shops: Post Traumatic Shopping Disorder

See this image?:

[via]

That was me, this afternoon, waiting for the ever glamourous N train to Queens.

It really wasn’t my fault.


I just want to be very clear about that fact. I have a disorder. And no one has been able to diagnose it! I had to diagnose myself over twitter, by accident, and then realize the diagnosis happened thanks to @Everyday_Runway. No really! I’m not kidding!

It’s Post Traumatic Shopping Disorder. It pops up when you least expect it: It can happen after a 9am Saturday morning dentist appointment. It can happen after a long day week at work. It can happen after a telephone conversation with your grandma ends in “When are you going to finally bring home a boyfriend?????” And it almost always rears it’s ugly head right after pay day. And most likely when summer starts it’s descent into fall and you can’t help but stroll around New York City because is there any place more gorgeous than NYC in autumn?

Well.

My catalyst was that 9am dentist appointment, for which I was 10 minutes late (what? I was listening to K-Ci & JoJo). I found myself thrown out onto E. 56th and 3rd and thought, well, after all that, you at least deserve some chocolate! And then the beautiful and hopeful idea of chocolate turned into devious looking cavaties way too eager to get into my mouth. So then I thought, Well, after all that, AND that horrific cartoon, you at least deserve some shoes. And by “some shoes”, apparently I meant these.


[Nine West Ambitious Pump, Black Suede : shop]

And… these

[Rachel Roy Halia Bootie : shop]

Then, I found myself inexplicably drawn into H&M;, where I found myself inexplicably purchasing a fierce little black dress with an exposed silver zipper! And then, I found myself at my favorite eyebrow place in Astoria saying “yes please!” when she asked if I’d like the massage too! And I almost fell into my favorite nail salon for a little mani/pedi, but I was magically restored back to good sense and promptly rushed home and locked myself in my house, where I believe I am safe from more incredulous spending.

Please, take this as a PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: Post Traumatic Shopping Disorder is a serious matter. Don’t let this happen to you.

[via... this article lies!]