The Good Girl Gone Blog: Shopping!

V-Day Gifts for the Stylish Boyfriend

Feb 3, 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:

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
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.
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.
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!
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

Dec 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

Nov 5, 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:

Fly Away Sachet- Petunia Dot Print: $15.00
The Handbook of Style: $16.95
Lavender Swag Necklace: $72.00 54.00 on sale!
English Coast Bubble Bath Dough: $10.00
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

Sep 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!

Aug 8, 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

Jul 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

Operation Cute Apartment: that one key piece

May 11, 2010

Yesterday, my stepmom and I attempted to find some rugs for my new apartment. Unfortunately, because I didn't know the color of my bedspread or my living room furniture, we ended up spending hours looking, but not finding anything. Additionally, we were trying to find a dresser that matched my current set, but Ikea apparently discontinued my furniture.

Now, I'm still without a dresser, BUT because my stepmom and I found a great bedspread today, I was able to pick out a rug. Here's the duvet and pillow set we chose:

I like that it's mostly white with just a hint of girly purple. (We didn't get that cylinder shaped pillow- it looked weird in person!) Plus, it matches my current curtains, so I'm all set in that department.

After picking this out, my stepmom and I headed to home depot and picked out a rug that will match perfectly with the light grey of my duvet. Now that I have a central piece for my room, I can start decorating.

Get excited guys, it's all starting to come together!

Operation cute apartment: the perfect bedspread

May 9, 2010

Hi everyone, I'm not sure I've told you yet, but I'm moving into a really awesome apartment very soon. I'm bringing in my bedroom furniture from my dad's house and have accumulated a bunch of other pieces from family members including a kitchen table, chairs and a couch. Basically, I have most of the big stuff but still need to find all the little things to jazz up the place.

First step: find a new bedspread.

Although I love my current duvet cover (I bought it for college and it's made for a twin bed) it's really not large enough for my big bed at home. It technically covers my entire mattress, but doesn't spill over the side of my bed, leaving my untucked sheets exposed. It's a bit tacky.

Anyway, here are a few bedspreads and duvets I've found online. There are still a bunch more that I like, so my heart isn't set on any of these. Let me know if you like any of these, or leave links in the comments if you find anything else cool- I need to pick something out soon so I can plan out the rest of my room!

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Stylish Snippet: petite shopping tips

May 5, 2010

As you all know, I like to think of myself as somewhat of a fashionista-in-training. I get a lot of my inspiration from watching TV reading fashion blogs and seeing stylish people on the street. It also helps to get tips from people who know what they're talking about when it comes to clothes, especially when they understand what it means to be tiny.

Enter Henrietta Pertuz, a designer whose clothing is tailored for petite and stylish ladies like myself. Here are a few tips on shopping petite from Henrietta herself, as well as some photos of her pieces. Enjoy!

Henrietta Pertuz's five tips for petite fashionistas:

1) If you buy something off the rack in a regular size and you are petite (5'4" or shorter), it probably does not fit you correctly. I learned this the hard way, and it's the reason why I started my clothing line. I spent most of my twenties in clothes with sleeves that partly covered my hands, armholes that were too low, dresses that hit mid-calf and pants that were too long -- or hemmed with masking tape, or hemmed too short. Either find time for the tailor or buy clothes made for petite women.

2) Stay away from pants that are too long. I still can't erase the image of myself falling on my face in front of my college crush because my jeans were too long! A 29"-30" inseam works for most petite women. If you are a shorter petite (under 5'0") and must hem, still start with a petite size. This way, at least you know the rise and hip measurements will fit you and you won't have to recreate the whole garment.

3) Baggy clothes don't do us any favors. I wore lots of baggy sweaters and muu muu-esque clothes after gaining the freshman 15, and still shudder in horror when I see the photos! I looked like I had gained the freshman 30. The reverse is true, too. If you are tiny (say, under 100 lbs), wearing really baggy clothes can make you look much younger. Petite women have lots of different body shapes. If you are more voluptuous, as many petite women are, you should embrace your curves.

4) Dressing in one color and wearing vertical lines (pleats, ruffles, or stripes) can definitely lengthen your frame. But finding the right fit is just as important. Those stripes won't work for you unless the garment fits well.

5) Finding good fit and quality is much more important than following a trend. If you like the way something fits you, and it is well-made, then you should buy it in 2-3 colors and keep it forever. Buy wardrobe "building blocks" that fit and flatter your body shape. Shift dresses, skinny pants that go from day to night, the perfect button down blouse to show off your lovely collarbone...these are examples of investment pieces that will never go out of style. You can pass down to your kids, nieces, etc. and they'll love you for it!