Read My Lips: Contest – Tag it “TN Fashion”

Win this cute Mblem – Geometric Tie Back Dress (retail value: $158) from ThisNext. Mblem is the brainchild clothing line of singer/actor/fashion designer Mandy Moore. To win the dress all you have to do is recommend fashionable products on thisnext.com, and tag them “TN Fashion”. The more products you tag the more you increase your chances of winning, so get to tagging you've only got 7 days left. The contest is open to U.S. Residents only, for more information read the contest rules.

P.S. If you think you never win anything and would much rather just buy the dress click here.

Women's Murder Club: Another Good Show Gone

but the great books remain

After finding out that the Women’s Murder Club television series based on the James Patterson novels was cancelled in its first season I went into remission. To mend my broken heart I went to my local bookstore and picked up 1st to Die, the first book in the Women’s Murder Club series, and as much as I loved the TV series I love the books ten times more. I’m now on the fourth book, entitled 4th of July and I could not recommend a more thrilling series. Patterson has created a set of page turning, mind blowing, and tear wrenching novels that I’ve become heavily addicted to. The series is progressively getting better and better and I honestly don’t know what I’m going to do when I finish the series. If you’re looking for a good series to read this one is as good as it gets, so head to the bookstore and I’d advise picking up at least the first two because you’ll want to go straight into the next one after you’ve finished reading the first. There are seven books in all, try and finish them before me!

Nordstrom's Anniversary Sale

Didn’t I tell you about jewel and berry tones? This gorgeous Nordstrom Exclusive magenta DKNY Belted Metallic Satin Trench Coat is on sale during Nordstrom’s Anniversary Sale for $66.90 (60% off the regular price, applicable shipping and taxes not included, and also available in champagne) and worth every penny. Don’t miss this sale, there are many more pieces you'll love, prices go up on August 4^th, so head to Nordstrom.com now!

White Dark Knight

If it isn’t enough that Christian Bale is the best Batman EVER, and that he’s positively lustful, the film was phenomenal. It is packed with action, unexpected twists and turns and a great cast. Heath Ledgers portrayal of the Joker was absolutely sadistic, it was perfect! There’s so much I could say about this film, but won’t because I don’t want to spoil it for those poor unfortunate souls who haven’t gotten to the theatre yet. I can’t help but feel terribly sad from the loss of Heath Ledger, his performance redefined villainous to proportions beyond lunacy. I’d like to take a moment of silence in memory of Heath, [moment] and then go into more detail about the film. I actually felt like crying when Bruce Wayne crashed the Lamborghini, such a beautiful car should never be mistreated like that, but moving on. I loved the cast, yes, but I’m still wondering why they went with Maggie Gyllenhaal instead of Katie Holmes. For a super hero movie there were so many things I didn’t see coming, which is a challenge considering how much we’ve all seen before, it caters to the technology junkie in all of us and that yearning for the rare combination of good actors with a good script. Go see it, you won’t be disappointed.

In Need of a Link to Luxury?

Who doesn’t want to relax in the lap of luxury? Maybe your summer vacation is coming to an end and you’re heading back to school or maybe you’ve saved up some vacation time and you’re looking for the perfect place to spend that well earned week, I’ve spotted the perfect solution to cool your getaway fever. Meet Luxury Link, a website with ‘2640 extraordinary hotels, villas, and cruises’. They are currently offering 551 travel offers that you can buy now and 467 live travel auctions. It’s like Ebay for vacations; participate in bidding wars to win your dream vacation in some luxurious locales. Grab your bikini's, and sunscreen and prepare yourself, because any location your heart desires is a click away, but shhh, it’s a secret!

Lord and Taylor Coming to Canada?

Photo:Mark Lennihan/Associated Press

After reports that NRDC, the owner of Lord and Taylor bought out 80% of the Hudson Bay Company on July 16^th, 2008 the rumour mill hasn’t stopped churning out suspicions that Lord and Taylor will be moving to Canada. I for one think Canada needed the extra touch of class, they really only have one department store as high end as Lord and Taylor, and Holt Renfrew definitely needs the competition (even though L&T may be a couple notches below it on the high end scale). Some may argue that the Bay is one of Canada’s high end department stores, which could be why it’s so fitting that Lord and Taylor bought them out anyway (even though it doesn’t begin to compare). Cardinal rule of business: stomp out the competition before it even sees you coming! Now if we could get Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman up here too then we’d be talking. Will NRDC pull a Macy’s and replace every Bay with a Lord and Taylor like Macy’s did when they bought out Hecht’s? Or will they do some crazy compartmentalizing and have The Bay, Zeller’s and L&T all in one store? I hope not! We’ll just have to wait and see, but I for one am always happy when American stores make the move across the border, it just makes Canadian shopping all the more interesting.

Berries or Jewels

The fall season is creeping up and slowly but surely its colour palette will be making its way into stores. So what exactly can we expect for fall, could it be the rich, deep purples, pinks and reds of berries or should we expect the vibrancy of luxe jewel tones? My thought, the season has enough days for both. If I haven't said it before fashion is dead without colour, colour warms the soul and has the power to liven up any ensemble. I foresee rich, luxurious, saturated colours in the fall and lots of them! Sapphire blues, Ruby reds, Canary yellows and Emerald greens with Raspberry pinks, Cherry reds and Boysenberry purples, as the leaves turn we will evolve with what Pantone calls ‘the season of change’ from the bright, pulsating colours of summer to the deep, sumptuous berry and jewel tones of the fall. If you’re shopping and happen to come across any colours from the fall palette while you’re still shopping for your summer brights slip a few fall colours into your shopping bag and you’ll be ahead of everyone else when this season comes to an end.

Wall-E Stole My Heart & Made Me Think!

Though not for the ones who only enjoy movies with riveting conversation this movie is a great combination of a critique of our lives today and one cute robot. When you were a kid after you’d finished reading a story, did your parents ever ask you what the moral of it was? Point and case, there isn’t much conversation to speak of in this movie but it does say a lot about our lives. Wall-E is a robot that was made to clean earth up, while humans went off into space to wait until the earth they’d covered in waste was inhabitable again. This movie should tell you that our waste consumption is way too high, our dependency on technology is causing a lack of interpersonal intimacy, and that under no circumstances should we ever consider converting all our meals to liquid form. Who really wants a burger in a cup? If you’re a conspiracy theorist you may also think that the fact that the Buy n Large corporation ran everything on earth means that Wal-Mart is coming for us all, but I’ll leave that to you. I’m actually proud that Disney didn’t do much sugar coating with this one, if you read the film for its morals it’s probably one of the starkest critiques on our lives that Disney has ever made, whether intentionally or unintentionally. Plus Eve and Wall-E are so adorable you can’t help but love it, I personally wanted to scream out in the middle of the film “Robots have feelings too!” But then I’d have seemed loopy so I kept my mouth shut and watched the new love story about two robots of the future.

I Got Lucky!

At first glance Lucky Magazine has never been one to catch my eye. For some strange reason I’d always overlooked it, until they put my favourite new actress on the cover. The August 2008 issue of Lucky boasts the beautiful, talented and slightly quirky Leighton Meester as its cover girl. If you’ve been reading my blog you probably know that I’ve got my eye on everything Leighton Meester, including and most importantly her alter ego, Gossip Girl’s Blair Waldorf. Lucky’s spread on Leighton goes through her current can’t-live-without list, a list I’ve come to hold dear to my own things-I-really-want list. If it’s one thing on her list that I can afford and had to have it has to be the velvet flocked hangers. Who hasn’t experienced the annoying inconvenience of going to the trouble of hanging all their clothes up, only to have them fall to the floor at the first sign of movement? Pick up Lucky’s August issue for Leighton’s full list of necessities. Other than my obvious approval of Leighton’s spread in the magazine, I must say that the layout was rather intriguing, and I couldn’t ask for better content. Packed with their signature “Lucky Breaks”: their special deals and discounts exclusive to those people sensible enough to pick up the magazine, and a selection of wardrobe pieces that equivocate to a what to wear bible, this magazine should be every fashionista’s best friend. As a little added bonus Lucky included a sticker sheet for readers to mark their favourites, making my post it’s obsolete (Thank God!).

Beret Me!

Okay, you got me, I said I’d make no more posts about accessories until next season but I can’t keep great finds a secret. Maybe somewhere deep down my French heritage is bursting through, or I’m going bohemian on you (cute but not likely). But I absolutely cannot get berets off my mind. It doesn’t help that Alloy has this beautiful purple one on display everywhere I look. Alloy’s knit beret comes in mustard and plum, they’re $19.50 each and a little birdy told me to use the code SAVE15 at checkout to receive an additional 15% off my order. Wear your beret with a sleek low ponytail or leave out your bangs and tuck the rest of your hair into it, either way you’re sure to turn heads. I had to gush about this beautiful accessory, but don’t think that’s all Alloy.com has to offer, pick up a pair of coloured skinny jeans or their tailored wide leg trousers, or search the site for yourself, you may even find something I overlooked.