I am still on the road and loving my days here in Portland. Staying at the Ace, I don’t feel like I have to venture out, but I am meeting some wonderful people. Last holiday season, a met a couple of lovely women at a holiday event for The Finerie in Seattle. The were the designer, Naomi, and rep, Sandy, behind YedOmi Jewerly. I instantly fell in love with the design of their pieces, bought one for me and special ordered a few for my clients. I met the gals for a couple of cocktails last night at a fun place on NW 23rd called 23Hoyt ~ great happy hour destination btw. It was really fun the get the “story” behind the line of jewelry which is a delicate yet sexy and bold combination of metal and semi-precious gems. It turns out the Naomi loves to play with metal. She has an art background and started forging and sculpting back in art school days. It developed from there. She hand creates all aspects of her pieces and works through gem rep to get gems directly from the source country. Can we all say together, “sustainable”? I love that I zoned in on the pieces for their unique beauty and style and it turns out, it is sustainable too…Naomi now works on design with her husband and continues to be fascinated with “how far she can go with metal”. While it was hard for her to decide which piece out of her collection is her favorite, they are all like her children, she is zeroing in on her chandelier earrings this season. She is known in PDX for her custom wedding jewelry and basically the bees knees as far as I am concerned. If you are a client of mine, you will be seeing her work. RLP.S. Still trying to figure out how to get on-line photos with my MAC…sorry no image on this one, but as soon as I get a PC later this weekend, I will get one up.
Hey Everyone. I am back in PDX participating in Portland Fashions Week’s events around the Better Living Show. Pretty great scene down here as mentioned in my previous blogs and last night’s event was really fun with an oh so fab showing of the chic fashion crowd. The crew down here in Portland is really pushing for it’s fashion scene be all inclusive and a representation of what is happening in the Northwest. I love this thought and the collaborative mindset of Tito and Chris, the producers of Portland Fashion Week. I know that Sustainable Style Foundation is looking forward to working with them to help forward our mission to educate around the area of sustainability and lifestyle choices. I look forward to bring you more news from here. Today I will be meeting a few PDX fashionistas for cocktails and Saturday I will be participating on the Eco-Fashion Panel at the Better Living Show. I will post again this weekend if I can with photos. RL
Whenever I am doing a female client’s closet and we get to the drawer or box full of scarves, I always say, “keep them if you have the room”. Scarves can be an easy way to complete a look and I am constantly using them myself. I love my mom’s old scarves, especially the the ones that went with the Indian outfits called “shalwar kameez”. It is customary to have a matching scarf for each outfit…maybe this is where my influence came from?Over the past two years we have seen the seventies blouse with tie trend come in and I personally love it. A new way to think about sporting this style without doing the blouse is to take a long scarf and tying it in a bow…I have been doing this look all week and have really loved it. Over a turtle-neck, t-shirt or under a jacket. RL
If you are my friend, and even just an acquaintance, you know I have been obsessing about getting into a bikini since before the holidays…as promised, this posting should give you all my tips to a successful launch of yourself into the two brief little pieces of fabric. I should note, that before this last trip of mine to Mexico, I hadn’t donned a bikini since ‘97…that is telling you something…
Step 1 ~ Get to the gym & Watch what you eat ~ Time for me to tell you of my secret weapon, Zum…my gym. They are truly gifted there and I have been to every gym in Seattle. I finally found my home. Props go to Bobby, my trainer at Next Level who strengthened me to get to the point that my work outs made a difference. Looking strong and toned was key for me feeling great in my bikini. Another note…walk as much as you can, take the stairs and follow my friend Melody’s example who schedules walks for her meetings as much as she can…she and I have been doing this for a couple of years and I love it. As far as diet, I am a garmento, not a nutritionist…but, I tend to stay away from cheese and anything in the white food groups…I do have my cheat days…
Step 2 ~ Skin Care – My favorite esthetician Kimberly (Premiere) told me ten years ago about something called “dry brushing”…I tend to do this every week. Along with your loofah, this sloughs off the dry skin and leaves your skin glowing and refreshed. I do this once a week before I hop in the shower and every time I bath, I apply baby oil all over my body and towel it off. This is daily for me and I have been doing it for years. While on vacation, before I put my bikini on…that I wore all day by the way…I would dry brush, then applied lotion and sunscreen…great for an even tan. Drink tons of water along with your wine and you will stay looking refreshed…
As I was prepping for the trip, I did succumb to Bliss Spa products…it was raining and I was feeling especially nervous. I purchased three additional skin products to add to my routine, “Fat Girl Slim”…wish it had a better name, “Love Handler” and seaweed cellulite soap. These products are designed to attack any cellulite (Fat Girl Slim & soap) and tone your ab/belly area (Love Handler). As mentioned in the Winter Break blog, I am not sure if the products helped? But, it did help me feel confident…that is 95% of it, no?
Step 3 ~ Bikini Shopping ~ I had so much fun bikini shopping. One of our favorite places in Seattle (“our” meaning my fab and stylish gal pals in the city) is Tiniha’s Boutique in Fremont. As soon as we booked our tickets, I went in to get my incentive suit…you may drop a bit of change on a suit here, but it is worth it. Everything is cute and they have the best cover ups and resort clothing that even if you are going to St. Barts instead of Mexico, you will feel fabulous. I picked up a Trina Turk bando top bikini in awesome colors, including my summer signature color, bright yellow. I then finished up my bikini outfits at JCrew. They have affordable and super cute options. You can only purchase them on-line so make sure you allow for shipping. I love the bikini skirt…
Step 4 ~ Accessorize ~ I loved accessorizing my bikini looks as much I like it with my regular looks. I had a specific cover up look for each bikini as well as earrings and bracelets…all of these can be removed to jump in the pool or ocean. Remember, we were wearing our suits every where and all day long…I felt confident going to lunch, the beach or visiting a friend in their villa down the way. Bigger earrings that look lovely with your hair pulled back and bangles…the way to go. I ended up wearing my Havaianas almost the whole trip. I brought heels, but where we were didn’t call for them…however if you are at a resort, a 2 – 3 inch wedge heel with wood, cork or rattan makes your legs look even longer in your suit. Oh, and don’t forget your big sunglasses…
Step 5 ~ Relax ~ Once you arrive at your tropical destination and you feel the warmth in the air, you kind of don’t care…so, after all that prep, it is great to just know that you have done the work and you serve to relax…by the pool or ocean with a larger than life Margarita. Have fun and laugh a lot…RL
P.S. Photo is of a great bando style from Trina Turk. Hair and accessories are right on for trend right now.
Just got in last night from a couple of days in Portland. I headed down to participate in Crave Party’s Shop 08 Conference for Independents. One was held in Seattle last week and I was thrilled to be able to participate in the Portland event. The panel I was on focused on Trends and the effective use of them in your business whether it be a retail business or not. My co-panelists were really amazing (go to the list on the conference site to check them out). The biggest message we left the attendees with was being true to your business and yourself, despite trends, by really focusing on your customer, their experience, needs and feedback. Check out the link to get all the info and follow the links to all the speakers. It was an incredible crew and congrats to Erika and Melody for a job well done. I would definitely note this on your calendar to attend next year…
Of course I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t check out the scene in PDX while I was there. It is pretty evident that there is a relative hipness around the city that it harder to find here in SEA. The epi-center has to be the Ace Hotel and the surrounding block on Stark. The two restaurants flanking the hotel rock not only for the scene, but the food and of course, Stumphouse Coffee can’t be beat. If you are planning a stay in the city, stay there. Each room is unique and has fun elements like record players and found objects from the city. If you live in PDX, hit the bar. They have a great happy hour and the Fig infused vodka Martini is the cocktail to try…for lunch, yes, I went there twice, try the egg sandwich and a bloody mary…
I ended up on my own in the city Monday night and really wanted to seek out something super local. It was recommended to me to go check out Karaoke from Hell at Dante’s, apparently a Portland institution. The first thing I said was, “isn’t that the strip club?”…”well, yeah…but it’s not in that part of the space…” I couldn’t resist and headed out….I wasn’t sure what to expect, but wow, so much better than watching TV in my hotel room. This list of characters couldn’t have been cast better. I stayed the entire time and even got up and to dance. The concept is a live band; super talented musicians, backing you up as you live out your dream of being a rock star. We had a run of this for awhile in Seattle with Rockaroke at the Sunset Tavern…remember? These guys however, blew ours out of the water. The host was funny and a complete a#@, but that made it better. There were obvious regulars coming up to the stage. My favorites included the conservative suit wearing guy who was super funny on the mic, a bit like Steve Carrel, who sang ACDC’s Shook Me all Night Long, and sang it well.
Portland folks are super friendly and by the end, I felt quite at home. By the way, I met people not just from Portland, but also Manhattan, Saudia Arabia, Puerto Rico and well, Bend, OR…check it out next time you find yourself in Portland on a Monday night.
And, of course, I did shop for clients and did my regular turn of stores in the Pearl and Zelda’s shoe bar on NW 23rd. I finally got to check out my friend and designer Rachel Mara’s store Moule’ in the Pearl. It is a beautiful space and I they have a great selection for men and women. They also have amazing jewelry, great home accessories and yes, even something for the bambino’s and pets in your life. It was fun to meet all the folks working there who are super nice…spring is just coming in, so if you head there in a week or so, you should have lots to choose from. RL
Hola friends…I know, I know…no entries since the Oscars? What kind of blogger are you? I am the kind that is bringing Winter Break back baby…I just recovered from my fabulous trip to Mexico with our fantastic friends. Where there were no phones, no Internet, no work…just the roosters, the dogs, the beach and friends.
We decided to join our lovely friends Corinna & Rob as they celebrated their wedding in a charming fishing village north of PV. It was absolutely incredible and so relaxing. Traveling with friends can sometimes be difficult. But, of course, our friends rock to travel with. Even more fun for me, was all the incredible style we had in this little town. It helps that the bride is a designer friend of mine and the our traveling companions are in the style industries…but it is nice not to be with group that doesn’t resort to khaki shorts and baseball caps.
There was a lot of prep involved with me going on this trip. We planned it last minute so I only had a month in the gym to get my self comfortable in a bikini. I did actually try the Bliss Spa products for this purpose…I couldn’t exactly tell if it helped? But somehow, I felt better and that is all you need right? I had to dial in my wardrobe as well as my husbands and yes, I know, what do you need if you are going be by a pool or on a beach drinking cervazas all day? Well,you know. My gal pals all had fabulous looks as did our guys and we all had a fab mutual admiration society going on. Our guys definitely appreciated the effort and we girls had fun…My cutie pie bff ,V, had a line that was so fun I adapted it…”has there been a picture of me taken in this outfit yet?” Now this may all seem superficial and not relaxing, but I tell you, it made it so lovely as we all had confidence in ourselves that allowed us to let loose and have fun…and that my friends is the ultimate lesson.
We all adapted Mexico names that ranged from Coco to Rico and Juan Carlo. My name is Rita…as in…All of this just helped melt all the pressures of our other life away. A winter break rocks and it has to be done in the most relaxing atmosphere…I recommend it to all.
Off to Portland now to participate in Crave’s Shop 08 conference for retailers…stand by for a full report. RL or Rita till the tan fades…
p.s. later this week I will post my fav finds for shopping and prepping for a bikini clad week…stand by