Bag of the Day: Coach Waverly Heart Wristlet

So, I promised pics of my Coach Waverly Heart wristlet as soon as she arrived, and here she is:

I love her even more than I thought I would! She is going to be so versatile because of the coloring, and hardy, because she is coated canvas.

And here's a peek inside. The lavender lining is so springy!

Also, as of this posting, this wristlet has been released in the US and is available at www.coach.com

Charm of the Day: Vintage Camera

I am a child of the 80's. I did it all: the big hair, plastic charm necklaces, the jelly bracelets and shoes, the Madonna, the neon colors, Cabbage Patch Kids, My Little Pony, you name it. I totally embraced the 80's as the time of my childhood and early teens. In my adult life, I like to return to that era every now and again. To me, as a child, it seemed like such a carefree and fun time.

Enter this charm: the "vintage" camera, or Polaroid, as people older than 20 would remember it. I had one of these as a teenager, and my favorite thing about it was the "instant" development of the pictures. (My least favorite thing was the price of a roll of film.) This charm is super cute not only because it is a Polariod, but because of the rainbow down the center of the charm. The rainbow, an homage to the 80's. Which brings it all back together for me and why this charm is one of my new favorites.

A side view of the charm, which depicts the "lens" of the Polaroid.

And last but not least, my favorite thing about this charm: a little picture pops out! Don't ask me why it's a "photo" of Marie Antionette, it makes no sense time-wise, except I know Juicy has this thing for Marie Antionette.

Blogworthy Flick: Zombieland

So this is one of my favorite movies. I'll just start by saying that. I have very.....unique taste when it comes to films, but one of my favorite sub-genres is "horror-comedy" - when done right. And this one, my friends, hits the nail on the head!

The plot centers around college student Columbus, played by Jesse Eisenberg, who I had previously seen in Cursed and The Village. Columbus believes he is the last human on Earth, having survived the plague brought on by a Mad Cow Disease mutation that turns humans into zombies. He survives day-to-day by relying on a set of rules he created for surviving potential zombie attacks. For example: Cardio, Beware of Bathrooms, Check the Back Seat, Limber Up, and When in Doubt, Know Your Way Out. His mission is to make it back to his hometown (you guessed it, Columbus, Ohio) to see if his family is still alive.

In his wanderings he meets up with Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), who is basically a zombie hunter out for revenge due to the zombies killing his family. He is also on a search for the last Twinkie on Earth. The two men become partners on a quest to kill as many zombies as possible while looking for more humans (or Twinkies). They meet two more humans, Wichita, played by Emma Stone (Superbad, The House Bunny) and Little Rock, played by Abigail Breslin (My Sister's Keeper, Little Miss Sunshine). The girls are basically con artists who steal the guys' guns and car (several times), but for some reason, the four gravitate toward each other.

Wichita tells Columbus that there is nothing left in Ohio and they all change course, headed for a rumored safe haven at an amusement park in Los Angeles. They stop in Beverly Hills and spend some time in Bill Murray's mansion (Murray makes a cameo that is hysterical) before heading on to the theme park, which of course, before the end of the movie, becomes crawling with zombies. There's not really too much else I can say that won't ruin this movie for anyone who hasn't seen it, so I'll stop at this point.

I did not expect to like this movie. Don't get me wrong, I wanted to like it, I just did not expect to. But I was very pleasantly surprised by the plot, the performances (Woody steals the show), and the effects. Even though the movie is not scary at all, and there is actually very little gore (save the first five minutes), the comedic timing and story make up for it. And the movie has quite the cult following, too.

Find of the Day: Louis Vuitton Epi Leather Matsy

Oh. My. Lord. I am in LVoe!!! I got my very first Louis Vuitton bag today! I have never been in the market for LV, as it's a little, ahem, out of my price range, but far be it from me to deny it anyone else. They have gorgeous bags and accessories, and I have a deep, deep appreciation for them, probably above any other premium designer out there. I love looking at pics of people's LV collections, it is like stepping into my dream closet.

So.....imagine my shock and excitement to walk into my local consignment shop today (actually looking for Coach bags, LOL) and see this lovely bag hanging all by itself in a corner near the register. I tried to be sly walking over and glancing at the tag: $210!! I tried to be sneaky busting out my phone to try to identify and authenticate the bag. I tried to contain my excitement at the thought that I could actually afford this bag. I tried to pretend to deliberate. Thirty minutes later, I was walking out of the store with her.

I learned she is called a Matsy, and she is from the Epi Leather line. I learned she was made sometime in 2003. I learned I love how smooth and sleek she is. Not to mention the inside, which is beyond soft! The bag was kept in amazing condition, I don't actually think the owner carried her that much at all. There are no marks or cracking that I can see on the leather or the suede inside. All in all, I think I got a steal of a deal.

She is a very thin bag (almost 2 dimensional, LOL), but she fits comfortably on my shoulder and I am very happy with the hobo style. I found very quickly that she will be absolutely perfect for my netbook plus a few other essentials.

Here's what she looks like:

Close up of the Epi Leather pattern and monogram:

A couple more shots:

I'm a very happy girl!

My Spoiled Pets

I wanted to share with you all my lovely animals. I have had pets my entire life, and now is no exception. At some point in my life (not all at the same time!!) I have had dogs, cats, birds, fish, hamsters, gerbils, iguana, mice, and frogs. We are a little light on the animal side right now at my house, and it is working well for us.

I will start with my fish. Fish are the one animal I always have. Even when I am at a time in my life without any furry friends, I at least have my aquarium. Right now I just have a tiny 2 gallon tank filled with zebra and leopard danios, nothing too fancy, but boy they are hardy and low maintenance! And I apologize, but this picture of them was really hard to capture as they are fast:

Next up is my betta (Siamese fighting fish), Tony Soprano. I have had him for over 3 years, and I recently upsized him to this chic wall-mounted "apartment":

And my neice's betta fish, Jasmine (even though he is a male. We won't tell her.)

Next up is my Shih-tzu, Mopsi. She's very, very spoiled and actually belongs to my parents, not me. But when I was telling my dad I was going to write about my pets, he said I needed to include her. She's very sweet. She's like a teddy bear! A little....um....not smart, LOL, but her sweetness and cuteness makes up for it.

Last but most certainly not least is my princess kitty, Cozy, short for Cosette. I adopted her from the animal shelter when she was 4 1/2 weeks old, and had to hand feed her bites of wet kitten food for the first 3 weeks I had her. She is the friendliest cat I have ever had, mostly as a result of the time and care I took with her when she was so little. I have had her for 8 years and cannot imagine my life without her. She is the first pet I got that was just mine, solely my responsibility to raise, and I am very proud of the results.

Bag of the Day: Dooney & Bourke "It: Miami" wristlet

In honor of warmer weather (finally) I decided to bust out this whimsical little wristlet I acquired a couple of years ago. It's the It: Miami wristlet made by Dooney & Bourke. This is my only Dooney piece, I am not really a huge fan of the brand (I'm a COACHie, as you know), but they do make some really fun things, especially in their "It" line. I have debated back and forth about some of their bags covered in hearts, bees, fish, and what have you, but have never owned one. Then a friend gifted me this wristlet.

It's super cute. The wristlet is covered in "summery" print complete with beach bags, beach balls, flip flops, daisy dukes, and other "beachy" things. It is made of a coated canvas with a leather wrist strap and zipper pull.

The inside is lined with (what I believe is) plastic of some form or another. Normally I wouldn't like this, but that's actually the beauty of this wristlet. With the exception of the detachable wrist strap, the wristlet is almost completely waterproof! So it belongs at the beach! It is definitely my "go-to" accessory when going there, or to the pool, or the park.

If I weren't so addicted to Coach at this point, I might be a little more open to collecting a few more pieces like this. They definitely are colorful....and fun.....well, never say never!

My favorite things about the colorful "It" Dooney pieces are the heart hang tag

And the rainbow zipper

Bag of the Day: Coach Poppy Tartan Spotlight Tote

People who know me best often ask how I came to fall in love with Coach. Well, it all started with this bag:

Stock Photo

My Photo

I was in the market for a plaid bag for fall last year. I had gotten myself a Juicy Couture plaid Daydreamer in Vegas, but, after a month, still hadn't fallen in love with it, so I sold it to a friend. I was back at square one, still needing a plaid bag for fall. I knew I was coming into a sizeable bonus from work at the end of October, and I thought "Well, I think I'll get myself a Coach bag with some of that money." I didn't realize at the time that my perfect bag was waiting for me. That first experience in the Coach store was a blur, I remember walking in and seeing that bag. And only that bag. Like, the bag practically slapped me in the face. I don't even remember the rest of that floorset. I was only in the store a matter of minutes before she was mine. She was just so....perfect for me. Perfect size, yummy fuschia lining, lots of pockets....and plaid. Thus began my love afair with Coach. It has become a mind-blowing, heart-stopping, spirit-boosting full blown obsession, and I now, six months later, find myself taking pics like this:

of my boutique's display window, to use as the screen saver for my phone. Sigh.....

Project: Rainbow of Duckies

I was feeling really creative today, and needed an outlet for it, but couldn't think of anything that wouldn't turn into a full-blown investment (I just wanted something for the day). While grocery shopping, I found the perfect solution: a vending machine that sells miniature white rubber ducks for 50 cents apiece. A light bulb went off, and off I trotted to the customer service desk for quarters. Several hours later, here are the results:

The teal and pink ones (pictured below with a postage stamp for size reference) are an homage to two Juicy Couture charms that I will likely never own, and those, along with the yellow one, I am keeping for myself. The rest belong to my niece Little S, who customized them herself (and has yet to see the results, as she had to go to bed before I was finished).

Yummy: Tucanos Brazilian Grill

I had been wanting desperately to try this place out ever since it opened about 8 months ago. I had heard wonderful things about it from everyone; friends, coworkers, even the reviews in all the papers were great. The only thing that made me hesitate at all is the fact that I am not that much of a meat eater, and their claim to fame is their grilled meats. But then I was told that there is much more there than meat, so I thought, "why not?", and went there yesterday with sis.

This restaurant is simply to die for. The idea behind it is quite simple: no menu. You read right. No menu. They offer one entree: their famous churrasco (the grilled meats, veggies, and the best pineapple I have ever had). The churrasco is served in a rotation of 9 types of meat and veggies at lunch, and 15 types at dinner. The rotation never ends, as the "meat servers" basically just go from table to table and then back around again. The churrasco is all you can eat, so every time they come to your table, you have the choice to take more, or refuse for now. I quickly learned that my favorite items were the beef brisket (a rarity for me), the fish grilled in a mango batter, the grilled veggies, and (of course) the grilled pineapple.


But that's just the beginning. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, the Salad Festival (pictured below), which has over 70 hot and cold items ranging from salads to soups to sushi and pasta and everything in between. My favorite? The mini "cheese rolls", which were simply rolls with cheese baked into them, but absolutely mouthwatering, followed by the herb pasta salad. Let's just say there is more than plenty available in the Salad Festival for the non-meat eater.


So I am definitely going back. My birthday is next month, and I think I've decided where I want to spend it. LOL! My best piece of advice to anyone wanting to try this restaurant is go at lunch, not dinner. It is about $8 cheaper at lunch, not to mention the fact that I needed the rest of the day to recover from the amount of food I took in, and so did my sister. Right now, there are only Tucanos restaurants in New Mexico, Idaho, and Utah, but expansion is in the works, so if you're interested, be on the lookout!

Charm of the Day: Sushi

Here's another charm that I was really, really excited for way before it was released: the sushi roll charm! I began hearing rumors about this charm months before it came on the market, and I was more than sold. In fact, this charm sent me into quite a panic attack, as it was much more popular than I thought it would be, and I didn't order it right away due to lack of funds. Literally the day I went to order it, it was gone off the website, so I started calling Juicy Couture boutiques to see who had one in stock. Luckily, I found one at the Portland, Oregon store, and they were more than happy to do a charge ship for me.

This charm is really beautiful. I do apologize for the quality of the pictures, the lighting just was not cooperating with me. The real standout of this charm is the crystal "rice". In the right lighting, it really sparkles. There is a leather strip around the outside of the charm to represent the seaweed that I just adore as well. Those and the fact that it is pretty much "life-size" of a sushi roll piece are what make this one of my favorite charms.

The back of the charm says "Let Them Eat Couture", and part of the wording is rubbed off on my charm. It came to me this way. I am at a real disadvantage having to get 99% of my charms online, because I never get to see them in real life first, never get the chance to compare them and pick the best one. But I cannot complain too much. At least I was able to get my hands on this beauty, as it is completely sold out everywhere, and pretty much limited to the secondary market now.

Find of the Day: Coach Waverly Heart Wristlet

I was very, very excited to score this on the bay a couple of hours ago. This wristlet, made by Coach, is exclusive to Japan (and me, LOL). It popped up on Japan's Coach website in February and I have been obsessing about it ever since. A couple ladies I know who collect Coach ordered this at $88 a pop, plus shipping from Japan. I scored it for $34! Here is a stock picture for now, and I will post pics of the real thing when it comes in.

Find of the Day: Coach Hamptons Lunch/Book Tote

I was completely stoked to find this vintage Coach handbag at one of my local thrift stores for $10!! It's the Coach Hamptons Lunch/Book Tote in supple black leather, and it is in fabulous condition!

I know everyone needs a black bag, and I, alas, had none. Until I found this baby! Now I am a lover of color (as I have said), and even though I have an appreciation for a black bag, I, personally, find plain black a tad boring. I had to get a couple of accessories to dress her up:

Here she is, all dressed up and ready to party!

Easter

We had a very relaxing Easter yesterday, the church service was wonderful, and we had an excellent meal of turkey, squash, asparagus, and deviled eggs (and chocolate LOL). I snapped a few pics that I wanted to post:


First, one more pic of our colored eggs:

We had some ducks chillin' in our yard yesterday morning and I had to take a pic of them since animals and Easter just go together:

And my little neice, striking a pose in her Easter dress:

Hope everyone had a fun, safe, and relaxing day as well (and my thoughts go out to friends in California, who had an earthquake yesterday).

Coloring Eggs

I love this time of year. Flowers blooming, birds chirping, baby animals being born. It just feels like new beginnings. And I also love the time honored tradition of coloring Easter eggs. Here are some pics from tonight, when my neice and her little friend took on the challenge:

And my masterpiece (LOL):

And a bonus pic of my Easter tree, in celebration of the season and colored eggs everywhere!

Charm of the Day: Laptop

Anyone who knows me knows one of my major obsessions is Juicy Couture Charms. I have been actively collecting for about a year, and have amassed a pretty decent collection of about 35 charms. This pales in comparison to some collections I have seen, but I am pretty proud of what I have. And my collecting has been fulfilling personally as well, as I have met some wonderful people who share the same obsession as I do.

This blog was not started to be about charms. I was not even going to write about charms. Charm Candy is about charms, and it's a wonderful site owned by a great friend. But then I got to thinking: charms have become such a big part of who I am in the past year, it would almost be....wrong not to at least write about some of my personal favorites. After all, this blog is about my world, the things I do daily, and things I like that bring me joy.

That being said, I had to write about this charm. It makes my list of the top 3 charms I own easily, and I think it makes my top 10 list of all charms released by Juicy so far. And I have to take a little bit of personal pride in it. I remember suggesting about a year ago on a forum that Juicy make a laptop charm. Now I know Juicy did not create the charm because I suggested it, but I was still more than stoked when I learned a laptop charm was going to be released.

One of the best things about this charm is how realistic it looks when opened. My little neice likes to pretend to type on it. I also adore the little electrical cord that is visible when the charm is closed. It is a very whimsical charm. It is also one of the heaviest charms I own, so it does feel a little awkward when I wear it on a necklace. Still, I absolutely love it.