Smitten Saturday

♥Head Case Over the years I’ve accumulated seemingly hundreds of headbands, but yesterday I came to the conclusion that out of them all, there are only three to five that I use – the rest have gone untouched for quite some time now. And, to be completely truthful, I see no possibility of me wearing them anytime soon. I want to do an overhaul and start a new collection with pieces that are playful yet polished; sassy yet smart; elite yet everyday. The problem is, I acquired my treasured collection when there was a single style to choose from; now there are hundreds. Should I go the embellished route and select pieces like bebe’s Crystal Flower Double Headband? Take a cue from Gatsby’s beloved Daisy and opt for something Twenties-influenced a la Free People’s Flapper Flower Headband? Go completely back to the Woodstock days via Victorian Hippie’s Roxanne Grace for Victorian Hippie Sparkle Headband? Channel my inner Park Avenue princess Blair Waldorf through Juicy Couture’s Grosgrain Bow Headband; or go all Lady Gaga with Marc by Marc Jacobs’ Runway Bow Headband? Do you see, darlings? Now do you understand why I’m such a head case at the moment? There are too many choices! Perhaps I should simply renege on my plans of making over my headband caboodle, and simply allow my hair to flow free in the same manner as the blissfully beautiful Brigitte Bardot. Sounds like a plan to me!

♥Uptown Girl Does it plague you as well, darlings? The inability to simply make up your mind regarding what your soap scent du jour is when you clickety-clack into the parquet floored foyer of the heavenly scented hand soap hall of fame (aka Bath & Body Works). It’s an overwhelming predicament that hits me like a ton of bricks during each one of my impromptu visits. What will I have today – Warm Vanilla Sugar or Vanilla Noir? Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin, or Sweet Pea? Cherry Blossom, or Cotton Blossom? Country Apple, or Irresistible Apple? Oh, I know it sounds quite trivial, but this is serious stuff. We’re talking about how we smell here – and we want to smell divine! So divine that I end up leaving the store with every scent that captures my attention – I am incapable of making even the simplest of decisions, I should note. In kind, my discovery of Uptown Soap Co.’s Two-Scented Soap comes none too soon. No longer will I deliberate between favorites – I’ll simply devour two scents in one – Chocolate + Mint (who could possibly resist such an indulgent combination?), Vanilla + Violets (a double shot of sweet), and Rose + Orange (the color alone – pink! – says it all). Join the sweet-scented revolution, Uptown Girls!

♥Someone’s In the Kitchen with Dinah Attribute it to the burgeoning Suzy Homemaker in me, but I find it hard to resist the lure of a recipe box. They are some of the most quaint, homey items one can add to their kitchen. I bought one a few years back that is stuffed full of recipes (all desserts), all of which I’ve never tried – but I will someday. Probably. Then someone bestowed a little wooden one on me last year – a piece that I can paint, with four tiny interchangeable wood inserts that I can switch out for each season. This one remains empty, and unpainted. I’m beginning to see a pattern here, loves. Maybe it’s not in the cards for me to actually peruse these pieces. Maybe I’m simply destined to have a shelf lined with recipe boxes in my kitchen. A glorious little assemblage of all different shapes and sizes. Yes, that must be it. Thus, it’s not strange for me to be eyeing new pieces – it’s totally normal, in fact. FineStationary’s Bon Appetit Recipe Box embellished with illustrated people in chef ensembles is a favorite. The kitschy colors found adorning Tatutina’s Recipe Box – Cup have the power to brighten up any room it happens to find itself in. America Retold’s Cookbook Stand with Recipe Drawers in Antique White is a blissful piece of retro sublimity. But no, my favorite is not amongst the aforementioned selections. The apple of my eye is the Tiffany blue Martha Stewart Collection Recipe Box. A piece that, well, on occasion, you may find packed to the gills with my beloved cocktail rings. But I’m sure you won’t mind, darlings!
♥Fringe Binge I’ve recently discovered that I have a love/hate relationship with fringes, of all things. Part of me adores them, while the other feels that they are too hippie to work for everyday wear in the twenty-first century. The only thing I can think to do in order to please the warring sides of my brain is to indulge in fringes in small doses. No more complete fringe binges – I’ll have to choose one, and only one fringe-encrusted item to add to my wardrobe. What item have I chosen? Why one of my most favorite things of the moment – a vest! Mink Pink’s Fringe Benefits Vest is a sublime juxtaposition between hippie and rock and roll – not to mention the color is pure heaven. Urban Outfitters’ Reformed Silk Fringe Vest is a more polished take on the trend that would work wonders in the office or out on the town. Xhilaration’s Fringe Vest is a chic and cheap piece easily tossed on over any top in your closet. And the Torn by Ronny Kobo Heidi Leather Vest with Long Fringe? Well, who doesn’t love a yeti-inspired silhouette?!

♥Falling for Patagonia I blame it on Couture Carrie. I devour her blog daily with the same fervor in which I down White Chocolate Mocha’s from Starbucks; thus I was incapable of resisting the lure of visiting PatagoniaGIFTS after seeing a pendant or two on her blog last week. Dear CC, you are going to be the ruination of my bank account. You already know how much I adore the fall season, and now you’ve introduced me to glittering Gold Leaf Pendants that so perfectly capture the essence of the Autumn months? Shame on you – or, rather, shame on me, for I simply can’t help myself. I’ll take the Maple Leaf Autumn Gold Pendant Necklace, the Real Leaf Autumn Gold Pendant, the Maple Leaf Gold Pendant Necklace, and since we’re already in the buying mood, we might as well toss in the Birch Leaf Gold Pendant. Oui, I’m falling for Patagonia and I have no one to blame but the celestial CC!

♥E. Jean la Reine E. Jean is not a royal residing in some far off fabulous country draped in yards and yards of cascading silk, satin, and lace; nor is she an individual you see splashed about the covers of check-out stand tabloids in the market. Even so, I hold the enchanting E. Jean in the utmost highest regard possible. In my mind, she is a celebrity of sorts, and one of the top reasons why I pick up ELLE each month. Before the fashion editorials and book reviews have been devoured, I flip to her column and take in each of the questions that she has deemed worthy of answering for the month – dating advice, fashion, shopping, she answers it all; after which I gaze affectionately upon her look du jour – always something dazzling and accessorized with cocktail rings and necklaces galore. She drips elegance, refinement, posh. Let me tell it to you straight, dolls, it’s simply impossible for me to think of the divine E. Jean as anything less than a Queen!

What were you smitten this week?


Fashionably yours!


Thanks to So about what I said... and Chick Downtown for the pictures.