This Is A Travesty:

I was doing some online shoe shopping and came across these from Steve Madden:


Excuse me... could these be more of a Dior knockof ? I don't think so. Let's take a second to gaze upon the real (and infinitely better) deal! (And by "deal", I don't mean that they are a "deal"... no, not at all...)


And Guess has some Manolo Blahnik knockoffs, too!


And now for the real thing...



(Have I mentioned that my best friend, V, has both of these beauties? Yeah. Which reminds me, I think I'm going to go over there and take pictures of her room for a closet, simply for your viewing pleasure! It really is awesome.)

Oh, and here are some Valentino's that make me want to contract out my first born.


And here is the BCBGirl version that is hundreds of dollars less...



In fashion, I suppose everything has been done before and following the trends is always going to land you in mimicking territory. There is a reason why high-end designers are so expensive: they are the ones setting those trends, good or bad. Then it is just up to everybody else to swipe them up and make them a different price point so more people can afford it. Same goes for home decor I'm finding...

Totally Trivial:

Warning: Males need not read any further... you'll find this totally boring and trivial.

Whew, now that I got that out of the way... I'm totally loving the new fall trend of purple nail polish. I've always been so anti-color (except toes... which should always be painted, naked toes are weird to me) but after a few football games of painting them red, I was really liking the feminine touch of it. And the dark purple is somehow edgy-feminine. Everyone from Rihanna to Lauren Conrad has been sporting them...




I grabbed a bottle last week, but they're more of a deep wine color... and even though I really like them, I think I'm going to try and find something a little more purple-y.

(PS- I totally can't believe I just blogged about nail polish... Ugh.)

Etsy Shop of the Week:

Maybe something from Momomadeit's Etsy shop would inspire me to do more around the kitchen... Or more likely it would end up hanging beautifully on a hook in my kitchen while I continue to allow Chris to cook nearly every meal... Either way, these aprons are so 50's chic!





So retro... so classy... so cute!

Jacket Dilemma:

I'm in need of a North Face replacement... I hastily bought my current white/black Denali North Face in a size too big because it was the only one I could find anywhere in that color combo. With a fleece jacket like that, it hasn't looked awful being slightly big on me, plus it's still comfortable even with a thick sweater on underneath. Now, two years later, I have lost some weight and the extra space just fills with cold air... not what I want from a piece of clothing that I am wearing in order to keep myself warm.

I already have two peacoats (one short, one long) for dressier occasions so I'm really just looking for something functional rather than fashionable. But of course, it still has to be cute! So here are my top two color combos from this year's Denali selection:




But then I saw these new "Redpoint" jackets... and they look like they'd be even warmer than the simply fleece Denali. Plus, they look more appropriate for when it is super cold (which, honestly isn't for very long here in Georgia, but you've gotta be prepared)...




Decisions, decisions...

How Chic:

This is so classic and wonderful... I want to be this woman.

From here.

A classic bike, a chic outfit, a cool, crisp day in the city... how amazing.