The Good Girl Gone Blog

Guest Post: 5 Valentines for Him February 05, 2013

Hello there, again! It's Amanda from The Accessory - here with a Valentine's Day Gift Guide for your main squeeze. Can't say it enough that I'm absolutely stoked for this little blog swap with Alana. Be sure to check her crafty Valentine's Day DIY - it's a perfect, little treat for your sweetheart. 

Without much further ado, here are my five picks for the man in your life this Valentine's Day: 

Keepin' It Sharp | Calibrate Slim Fit Non-Iron Dress Shirt ($59.50)
A nice gingham shirt goes a long way in a man's closet. Paired with a v-neck sweater or worn as is, he will love the sharpness yet playful look of this dress shirt. Personally, I love the navy print. Kudos to Calibrate for making it a non-iron one, too. Less ironing = no fuss handsomeness for the man.

The Life of the Party | Mix Master Cocktail Shaker ($24)

He'll thank you for making him the best bartender your friends have ever seen. This quirky cocktail shaker, found at Urban Outfitters, features lists of ingredients and directions to making the most popular drinks. You'll thank us after a long day at work when he whips up your favorite Cosmo!

Squeaky Clean | Philosophy Man Shave + Skin Care Essentials Set ($48)
Limited edition - this shave and skin care set includes a microdelivery exfoliating facial wash, an extra-close shaving gel and "Hope in a Jar" oil-free and SPF 30 moisturizer for fresh, clean and healthy glow. For the man that's practical, give him the gift that he'll find useful. An extra plus: every morning as he gives his fuzz a  buzz, he'll be thinking of that special someone who gifted him this sweet set.

We Heart Nerds | iPad Mini ($329)
For those looking to splurge on their honey bee, an iPad Mini is the way to go. What more to delight him than a tablet - to cart his cool photos, read nifty magazines and play video games/watch movies while he accompanies you on a shopping trip. With a 7.9 inch display, it's perfect little size makes it compact and easy to carry around everywhere. Think of all the Facetime dates you'll have :) Add a special touch with a personal, engraved message for free!

For the Trendsetter | Silk Bow Tie in Stripe ($55)
Give him the gift of class and help him win best-dressed at the next party. Handcrafted in fine silk, this bow tie adds an extra pizzazz to that button up and slacks combo.

And if all else fails..... there is always ticketmaster! Tickets to his favorite concert or comedy show is always a win. It shows you care and listen to when he raves about his latest and favorite find on Spotify.

Well, I hope you all enjoy these picks, and best wishes to you and your sweetie on Vday! Feel free to share, below in comments, what you'll be getting/doing for your loved ones this year.

Guest Post: Holiday Gifts for the Boyfriend December 07, 2012

Hello there - Amanda here from The Accessory!

I was absolutely beyond thrilled when Alana gave me the opportunity to guest post on her blog and share my holiday picks for getting your man something special this season. Below are some finds that I'm in love with... too bad I created this gift guide after I got my main squeeze his gift. Maybe I'll add a little something extra from this guide to his present. Hope you all enjoy. Xoxo.

Warm Him Up | 1901 Stripe cashmere sweater | $125
There's nothing better than a man in a soft, cozy sweater... because let's be real - when we keep him warm, he keeps us warm. Think, comfy, over-sized bear-hugs. Me like. I'm especially in love with these striped cashmere sweaters. The colors are not only a clean and basic must-wear now, but a year-round must-have in the closet.

Keep It Classy | Jack Spade Newman Tartan Bow Tie | $95
Bowties are a step up from ties. Dress him up this holiday season with a gorgeous Jack Spade, plaid bowtie. Made from 100% wool, this man-accessory brings a festive, suave look to his dapper outfit. If he's a bit skeptical about wearing it - remind him that James Bond channels a bowties, and he's a bamf.

Grooming the Gentleman | The Art of Shaving Kit from Nordstrom | $175
Personally, my main squeeze has gone ga-ga for this shaving kit. The kit includes a Fusion Chrome advanced razor, travel sizes of the pre-shave oil (4 Elements of the Perfect Shave), shaving cream, a gorgeous + soft genuine badger shaving brush and after-shave balm. It's at the top of his wishlist. A bit pricey? Think of it this way - this gift is a two for one deal - not only will he look great, but also, no grizzly-beard burns when you share a smooch! #winning

Bills, Bills, Bills | Jack Spade Cheddar Bill Holder | $95
Please don't tell me he's still sporting a velcro-wallet... haha Regardless, upgrading the leathers are always fun - especially, when the front of this wallet says "cheddar." My first reaction when I saw this? Lupe Fiasco's reference of "stack that cheese" in his "Hip Hop Saved My Life" song. epic. Crafted from fine-grained calfskin leather, blind embossed and printed with gold foil - this wallet is truly more than worthy to hold the cheddar.

For the Playful  | Xbox Halo 4 | $59.99
All guys love their games... I mean, I'm pretty sure if my main squeeze was in full-Halo mode, I wouldn't be able to nudge him from the couch But regardless, I know how much the guys love their guy-time, especially when it comes to video games. Snag your man the hottest game in town. I'm sure it will make his holidays merry and bright. For fun behind-the-scenes trivia tips about the game, visit the Microsoft Holiday Look Book (client).

Treats for the Year | Bespoke | $45 per box
Give the gift that just keeps on giving... Bespoke is a monthly subscription - for $45 per box aka $45 per month, give the gift of gentleman-ness. Each box of awesome holds ingredients for making your man fresh. These limited-edition boxes center around a theme each month - previous themes include alchemy, agave and breathe. The breathe box had a wine decanter, aeration funnel and other lovely accessories for the wine lover.

Have other fun ideas to give your man? Feel free to share below or tweet me suggestions at @amandabnguyen. Thanks again to Alana for letting me guest post, and Happy Holidays to you, m'dears! Xoxo

Homemaker Happy Hour- Holiday Shopping! November 26, 2012

Hey everyone- what are you doing this Wednesday at 1pm EST? If you're not working (or are extra good at being sneaky), I'd love for you to join me in Wayfair's bi-weekly #HomemakerHappyHr chat on twitter. We'll be giving away $25 gift cards every 10 minutes- woohoo! Wayfair is a great place to shop for gifts, whether you're kitchen gadgets, home decor items or even pet products!

Be sure to follow @goodgrlgoneblog and @wayfair and tweet with #HomemakerHappyHr!

Hope to see you there :)

Disclaimer: I am not being compensated to host this chat, but I am partnering with Wayfair on a future blog project. I love the brand so much, I just couldn't say no!

V-Day Gifts for the Stylish Boyfriend February 03, 2011

I truly love Valentine's Day- my mom always sends me the cutest gifts (her favorite are of the singing animal variety), my dad sends flowers (although after the dead flowers incident, he's vowed never to send flowers again and says that responsibility belongs to my boyfriend), my stepmom sends conversation hearts and my best friend Becca usually sends a homemade card. 

Of course, Valentine's Day is infinitely more fun when you have someone to share it with. I know it's just a regular day and we should celebrate love all the time, but it's still special. 

Although I can think of tons of things I'd get for my girlfriend if I were a boy, I don't really know what I want to get Eric yet. He's sort of hard to shop for, being all cultured and fashionable and stuff. I'll probably just get him a hug and a steak.

Jokes aside, here are some things I think would make great gifts for any stylish boyfriend:

1. A piece of clothing with a cute hidden message- I once (poorly) embroidered the underside of a tie I bought Eric with "143". This is sort of the pre-made version, the I Frickin' Love You Pants from Bonobos.t
2. Warm gloves that I wouldn't mind stealing/hand holding- Ragg Wool and Leather Gloves from Hickoree's Hard Goods. I love that the palms are leather.
3. Dark, Sea Salted Chocolate- Sea Salt Soiree from Ghiradelli is almost perfect...but it has almonds in it. Perfect if you're not allergic to nuts and want your boyfriend to give you a thank you kiss, not perfect if you are.
4. A cute bow tie- some people's boyfriends refuse to wear bow ties, even though their girlfriends are positive they'd look adorable in them. This Grassfire Bow from Pierrepont Hicks is reversible!
5. Some fancy man face products- my boyfriend loves Jack Black products, and he's sort of converted me as well. (I've been known to use the Beard Lube to shave my legs and I love the Daily Facial Cleanser  and Cool Moisture Body Lotion!)  I think this Supreme Cream Triple Cushion Shave Lather sounds luxurious and would be especially useful for eliminating the always unfriendly facial stubble.

What are you getting your honey for V-day this year?

Cool Campaign: Project Reindeer December 15, 2010

Whenever I receive an email from a PR firm asking me to promote something on my blog, I typically ask myself: How will I/my readers benefit? Though I often turn down irrelevant (tall people dating sites, etc) and strictly informational requests (there's nothing to review...there's nothing to give to my readers...) I was intrigued by an email I received today and thought I'd share it with you. (Plus, by writing a post, Gap is donating $75  in my name to The Partnership for the Homeless, so I definitely couldn't turn it down.)

From the email:

Tis the season for savings! And this season Gap is making savings a bit more interesting.

Starting  today, December 15^th through Monday December 20^th eight real, live Reindeer are going to determine Gap’s in-store deals. Using GPS, the deer’s movements will be tracked and measured against a different goal each day. Every deer will have a deal. Every day will have a winner, and every Gap in America will offer that deer’s deal to the public the very next day. Head over to Project Reindeer to check out the deals and the deer!

To make things a little more interesting, you will also be able to “Tweet to boost” your favorite deer’s chances of winning.

I say, if you're going to boost a reindeer's chance of winning, go for Zoe, whose deal will bring you 40% off all women's clothing. I sort of have a soft spot for the Zoes (well, Zooeys) of the world.

Fab Five: blonde birdie November 05, 2010

Introducing....blonde birdie! 

"At blonde birdie we are committed to bringing new and exciting items to our customers along with our personal attention to detail. We strive to find product lines that are unique and delightful and something that will bring continued joy to our customers. At blonde birdie our goal is to treat our customers the way we would like to be treated. More..."

blonde birdie is THE place to shop for cute baby items, fun accessories and unique pieces for the home. I love the wide selection of products, plus the fact that their packaging and gift wrap is all eco-friendly.

Items are reasonably priced and inventory is constantly changing. I would definitely recommend blonde birdie for holiday shopping- can you say fabulous stocking stuffers/8 days of chic gifts? 

Items featured:

1. Fly Away Sachet- Petunia Dot Print: $15.00
2. The Handbook of Style: $16.95 
3. Lavender Swag Necklace: $72.00 54.00 on sale!
4. English Coast Bubble Bath Dough: $10.00
5. Holly Sleep Mask: $14.00

So what are you waiting for? Go buy something fun!

**Thank you blonde birdie for your sponsorship of The Good Girl Gone Blog!**

Fall fashion essential: lace September 20, 2010

I love lace, I really, really do. I love combining girly pieces with more masculine, edgy items, like a leather jacket or something with studs. It's that mix of soft and hard, good girl/bad girl that I really love, and I can't wait to incorporate it into my wardrobe this season.

I just bought this skirt (on sale!) at Target for under $12 (for some reason it's not on sale online) and I'm waiting for the weather to get a little cooler to bust it out in true G3B style.  I know a lot of you might shun the color pink, especially when it's combined with super girly lace, but the skirt also comes in black, grey and white. I'd suggest snapping this baby up- it'll be a great addition to your existing wardrobe.

Sunday Confessional: I'm Exhausted and loving it! August 08, 2010

The team: Back row- Ali, Sara, Rebecca (SATC stylist!), Hannah, Karen, Ashley. Front row- Kara, some short girl in a pink dress, Kathy and Stephanie. MIA: Daniela and the photo boys

Wooh! What a whirlwind weekend I just had. Working with the eBay Fashion team was so much fun. I loved meeting everyone and playing dress up with some seriously stylish ladies.

I have tons more BlogHer pictures to post and will do it....eventually. For right now, I'm just going to sit in the train station, hopefully find something to eat and make my way home safely.

Tomorrow is for playing with Zooey and hopefully catching up on some sleep. Oh, and maybe doing some shopping on eBay fashion! (Seriously, after you see the photos of the merchandise we had in our eBay Fashion/Bill Me Later booth, you'll want to too!)

Mini vacay July 14, 2010

The road to a friend's house is never very long - Danish Proverb

I'm off to spend a long weekend in Florida with my friend Eric and his family. I am pumped! Sure, the weather's not supposed to be that great, and we're sort of dealing with a MAJOR OIL SPILL in the South, but I'm ready to make the most of it. I mean hey, we're talking a real beach and getting to hang out with one of my favorite boys.

I ordered this cute travel makeup set the other day from Zappos. Can you believe it's Stila and only cost me $10? These things usually cost $60+ and Zappos never charges shipping! Read about Stila's new travel collection here. (I blame my bud Anna R. plus a job that involves me looking at great sites like Zappos all day for this purchase.)

But seriously, I love it!

Casual Friday: Stacked Heels May 31, 2010

One of my favorite things about working in a corporate setting is that I get to put together cute outfits everyday. Typically, I select an outfit the night before and hang it on my bookshelf in order to save time in the morning.

Sometimes my outfit choices don't look as cute in the morning as they did the night before, but usually they do. In terms of work appropriate attire, I tend to go stylish corporate, a term I literally made up a second ago.  I usually lean towards a fun dress and cardigan pulled together with an amazing pair of shoes. While I could technically wear jeans to work, I think I'm going to try to save them for Fridays, when work attire seems to get more casual.

Here's my first "Casual Friday" look (taken with the help of my camera's self timer and a borrowed tripod), complete with a new pair of super tall shoes. I bought them on a whim at an impromptu trip to DSW. I had a pretty lonely first week at work and needed to do something to cheer myself up. I ended up purchasing these shoes, as well as a really interesting pair of bike chick-esque flip flops- you'll have to see them to understand.

The great thing about these shoes is that although they're not the most comfortable, they make me super tall...well, I guess it's all relative. It was like I was looking at the world as a different person- I could see more things over the tops of cubicles, I had to look up at people less when speaking...

I'm wearing:

Shirt: H&M
Jeans: Loehmann's
Shoes: Steve Madden, via DSW
Earrings: a boutique in San Francisco
Necklace: Primark
Headband: J. Crew