2010 Emmy Fashion Wrap!

Without further ado...

Worst Dressed:
3. Edie Falco - probably the least flattering black dress on the face of the earth.
2. Holly Burrell - yeah, Carmen Miranda called and she'd like her costume back.
1. Rita Wilson - no surprise here, and no explanation needed.

Best Dressed:
3. Angela Kinsey - a perfectly cut dress with just the right amount of detail and suited to her figure.
2. Sofia Vergara - the vertical line of sequins adds length to her frame.
1. Claire Danes - I realize she was on everyone's list, but for good reason! Perfect fit, perfect color, coordinating hair.

Worst Accessorizing: Anna Paquin - when your dress has that much glitz going on, you really shouldn't have any jewelry at all, and definitely not layers of bracelets.
Best Accessorizing: Keri Russell - I realize she made some worst dressed lists, but I think the accessorizing pulls together the Grecian-meets-beachy look of the whole ensemble.

Worst Use of Color: Naya Rivera - if you're going to do an '80s-style silhouette, don't do teal. Just don't.
Best Use of Color: Katrina Bowden - the wrong style dress could make this color seem garish, but in a floaty dress like this it feels perfect.

Worst Hair: Julie Bowen - I love her on Modern Family, but this looks like my hair after a night of drunken dancing with my friends.
Best Hair: Nina Dobrev - just the right amount of height, perfect with her dress and earrings.

There it is! My thoughts on this year's Emmy Awards red carpet.

Photo - moviestarstyle.com

Get your ax, the zombies are coming

Oops, I disappeared for a while.

Has anyone else been browsing the runway shows from New York Fashion Week? I love it, because with autumn around the corner (ugh) it's nice to see the bright, happy fashions for next spring. I'm loving Tory Burch's collection.

I've been terrible about reading lately. I got wrapped up in summer television - My Boys, Top Chef, etc - and haven't really finished any books. I've started a couple, but I've lost interest. With many of my favorite TV shows premiering in the next week or two, I'm afraid I'll be even more behind. I'm hoping two new books I received for my birthday from my brother will spark my interest in reading; the previously mentioned True Prep, and The Zombie Survival Guide - because my brother cares enough to educate me on zombie protection.

I promise an Emmy wrap up is coming. No, really.

Organic, people

Sometimes I have those moments where I forget why organic is the way to go; where I'm lured by cheap prices or uber-perfect fruit. If you need a couple reminders of why you really should be avoiding chemicals, here they are. The second article is particularly alarming to me, as my husband's two fragrances of choice are Acqua di Gio and Eternity. I want to shout out to Eco Salon, whose existence on my blogroll keeps eco-friendly lifestyle front and center in my mind.

http://www.ecosalon.com/women-pesticide-reform-california-central-valley/

http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/may2010/2010-05-13-01.html

That's a Don't

If you're waiting for an Emmy wrap-up post, don't worry - it's coming!

There are a lot of weird trends in fashion right now, and some of them just simply aren't classy, polished, classic, chic or flattering in my opinion. Maybe it's the prep in me. I just think we can all do ourselves a fashion favor and go without them. So, without further ado, here's my list of fashion dos that I feel are don'ts.

Raw edges
Torn denim
Jodhpurs or any other fluffy-thighed pant
Over-sized grandpa sweaters
Cargo pants
Leather or patterned leggings
Buffalo plaid
Black skinny jeans
Uber-masculine military jackets
Mixed patterns
Open-toed boots or booties
Thigh-high hosiery
Socks with pumps
Neon colors
Cut off shorts
Zippered dresses (more often that not your zipper won't lie flat)
Whatever "Snooki" is wearing
18 different bracelets at once

Of course, my list isn't exhaustive, but it does include plenty of the current crap I'm seeing on the celeb crowd. Just say no to trashy, useless, and unflattering clothing.



Photo of Miley in a number fashion don'ts: people.com

Let's all complain about the heat until we start complaining about the cold.

My plan had been to go to a local flea market this past weekend, but in the end I just couldn't bring myself to go to a place that sells puppy mill dogs. I realize that it's not the fault of individuals selling other wares that dogs are sold there, but until the flea market bans the sell of all animals I just can't go.

Instead, I went to the outlet mall. I did quite a bit of kitchen goods shopping, and it felt good to replace some cookie sheets that were becoming unrecognizable.

Switching purses tends to be a pain, especially when I'm already late and running out the door. I've gotten into a purse rut - using the same purse everyday because it's easier than switching. I think the key to getting out of this rut might be getting one of those purse organizers or simply getting a smaller wallet, as my wallet is rather bulky and it causes me to take quite a bit of time to arrange my stuff into a small purse. I should do something soon as my purse is wearing out.

I had a fantasy football draft last night with one of my leagues. Is everyone on the face of the earth injured? Why is my whole team listed as probable? I guess I didn't do enough research this year, because I had no idea Eli Manning has stitches on his head - which might have been good to know before picking him up.

I've been planning on doing a little makeover in my laundry room. What I would like to do is put in a floating counter top on top of the washer and dryer, add a little curtain to hide the utility hookups, paint the walls, and install a bar and shelf for hanging clothes. But what I would like to do rarely happens. What I think I'm going to get around to doing is installing the bar and shelf. I have the brackets and the bar, a stud finder (best.product.name.ever), and a level, so there's nothing stopping me from doing this project. The bar will need to be cut down to size, and I will have to buy a shelf, but otherwise I can get this started at any time. I need to make this my goal for the week. I'll take some "before" pictures so that I can track my progress, and share once I finally get it done.

Tomatoes, Ahoy

This year was the first time I had a real garden of my own. At our last house we had established landscaping, so I kept my veggie growing to a few pots on the back deck. But this year, when we had our yard landscaped, we had an area put in for me to have a vegetable garden. It's been a learning experience.

I know that next year I'm not going to bother with green peppers. My plant hasn't yielded any full peppers yet, but does have three brewing. It just doesn't seem like enough payoff for purchasing, planting, watering, and waiting when I can get great peppers from my local farmer's stand at two for a buck. Our banana pepper plant, on the other hand, has yielded two peppers already with another ready to be picked and they really were very good banana peppers. This is coming from someone who doesn't really like peppers.

Our tomatoes, on the other hand, are another story. They went mad. I have two tomato plants, bushes really, and another cherry tomato plant. They've gotten so big they've collapsed, they're giving us tons of fruit, and they smell lovely. I know that I don't need three plants next year - maybe just two extremely well-staked plants. It makes me feel, I don't know, earthy, motherly, something...to have successfully grown my own fruit. As someone with a very black thumb, this is a big accomplishment for me.

I love you, but I love myself more.

So much to say, so little time....last night I had a meeting, tonight I have a dinner to attend, tomorrow night I have a margarita date with a couple of my favorite girls, and Saturday I have two gatherings in which to make an appearance. I feel like I have very little time left for myself every week!

Things not getting done right now due to my calendar: my toes need a new pedicure, I still haven't reorganized my closet, still haven't hung art on the walls, and I haven't done any other art or DIY projects I had planned, either.

Let's talk about gold. It seems to have come back into fashion in the past few years. Yellow gold jewelry is making a resurgence, which I trace to Sex and the City character Carrie Bradshaw's gold "Carrie" necklace. Maybe that wasn't the item that started it, but that was the first time I personally started seeing yellow gold come back into vogue. Now it's everywhere in fashion, from sparkly gold metallics to deep bronzes. It's huge in shoes - J.Crew and Blue Tux Shoes have been doing gold shoes for a few years now. I was surprised this past weekend, however, to hear some people talking about yellow gold in much the way we talked about it in the late '90s - as some sort of 1980s nightmare that our one uncool aunt is always wearing. Me, in my little bubble, was not aware that people still felt that gold was in the same league with Hammer pants. I thought it was hip and classic, as long as you don't do it in a Miami Vice sort of way. So how do you feel? Is yellow gold fabulous once more, or a dated color best left in the past?

Photo - sugarscape.com