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Monday, June 28

Celebrity Rant: Does Taylor Momsen have parents??


Okay, I watch Gossip Girl (and 90210), stop laughing, I know I'm almost 30 but this is totally my guilty pleasure.  Any who....you may or may not know who Taylor Momsen is....whether you do or not is really not relevant.  She is on Gossip Girl.  I was perusing the celebrity gossip blogs.....when I came across this picture of her:


Taylor is apparently in a band and she likes to dress like a tranny hooker channeling Courtney Love when she performs.  Fine, no problem!  But then I almost fell out of my chair when I discovered that this girl is...wait for it.....
16 years old!!!

Doesn't this kid have any parents....plus she's smoking in the picture too!!!  I can't believe this.  She has to be emancipated or something....cause seriously, what parent would let their 16 year old daughter dress like this and smoke cigarettes for the entire public to see?!?

Okay, rant over, I just had to share cause I was so appalled!

xoxo,
J.

Gigi's Hosting a Fab Talbots Giveaway!!!

Hey Ladies:

If you are like me, you are probably very curious about the newly revamped Talbots.  I received the Fall Lookbook and was really impressed with some of the items!  This is not your mother's store anymore:)  I can't wait to try some of their fall looks once they arrive in-store.



One of my favorite blogs, Gigi's Gone Shopping, is hosting an amazing giveaway for a $250.00 Talbot's gift card!!  I can think of more than one way I would love to spend this gift card come fall and I'm sure you can too...so head over to her blog and enter!!

Happy Shopping Darlings!!
xoxo,
J.

Saturday, June 26

Massive Closet Clean-out --- Coming soon!

Hey Ladies!

One of my weekend projects is cleaning out my closet.  So check back here the beginning of next week for a post with all my lovelies that need new homes.  It will be a very large variety of stuff -- lots of JCrew!  Sizes 8-10, Small/Medium.  All items in excellent condition (worn once or never!).  Shoes sizes 9 - 9.5.  Variety including suiting, dresses, sweaters, shorts, etc.  All seasons!  

Have a great weekend!

xoxo,
J.

Thursday, June 24

Ask Gwynnie Paltrow your questions.....

Okay so it is no secret that I LOVE GP.  I've posted on her many times.  And I especially love her GOOP newsletter.  In her latest newsletter, there is a little note at the bottom to send her your questions and she will pick the best and respond in a future GOOP newsletter.  

Email your questions to:  hello@goop.com, put GOOP Questions in the subject line.



Also, check out Goop.com if you haven't already!  Sign up for her newsletters, they're free!  I've gotten some really great information from them!  I especially love the fitness and cooking ones.

SPOTTED: Katie Holmes in JCrew

I was perusing People.com and I came across Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise walking through NYC....Katie is sporting the JCrew Sequin Studio Sweatshirt.

(photo credit People.com)

She looks cute and casual.  I think she is a fan of the JCrew brand.  I've seen her in other pieces over the past few years.
Just thought I'd pass along for fun:)  
Have a great night, lovelies!

xoxo,
J.

Tuesday, June 22

Looking to Fall 1: Pantone sets the mood.....

Okay, I'm ready for fall.

I'm not ready for cold weather!  No, not at all, but I'm ready for fall fashion.  Fall/Winter fashion is my favorite clothing to wear.....Fall is my favorite season.  I love crisp autumn days, changing leaves, sweaters, jeans, boots, scarves, and a guaranteed good hair day!

We've just hit the glory of summer where I live with all of it's heat and humidity in full force.  But, my husband and I are planning a fall trip to Scotland and Italy and I think this is getting me in the fall fashion mood.  I started doing some research online.  One of my other favorite things to do is to start researching my fall must-haves in July.  This gives me plenty of time to sort through my current fall wardrobe and start piecing together what I will need to fill any gaps for the new fall season.  I always start by pulling the Pantone sets for the upcoming fall season:




Here is fall 2010/2011....I love these colors they are such a nice change from all of the washed out colors from last year.  Many online retailers are starting to show transition pieces like cardigans, long sleeve tees, and scarves in these colors.

Check out JCrew's Long Merino Cardigan (new online) and you will see it is available in many similar colors to these....so pretty!  Boden also has many of these colors represented in their Fall Preview.  

Time to start researching what pieces I will need.....I'll keep ya updated:)

Are you excited for fall fashion?  What do you think of these colors?

Enjoy the summer!!!

xoxo,
J.

JCrew 30% off: Matchstick Cords

Ladies:

Quick post with an FYI:  

Hidden item alert:  JCrew Vintage Matchstick Cords in Tall all sizes.  They are marked $19.99 and with the 30% off coupon code they are $13.99.  They  have a great selection of colors and sizes.  They also have a few colors and ample sizes of the regular matchstick cords.  Here is the link for the tall.

These cords are a fall/winter staple for me and I'm so excited to have gotten two pairs for $13.99 a piece.  Awesome deal!  They also have some winter coats on the website from last season....search winter coat or wool coat and they should pop up.  The 30% off promo works on these too.  Happy Shopping, Lovelies!!!

xoxo,
J.

PS...I'm on day 3 of the Tracy Anderson Method.  An update post to follow.....I'm so sore, I LOVE it!

Saturday, June 12

Tracy Anderson Method: Quick update

Hey Ladies:

Real quick update:  My videos have not arrived yet.  They shipped on Tuesday from LA...I live in the East Coast.  I could have driven there and back to pick them up by now....hopefully they arrive on Monday.

Also, if anyone is interested in trying Tracy Anderson's Method, thanks to the lovely Summer at Le Musings of Moi, here is a link to all of her FREE online videos.  Summer's blog is awesome by the way so check it out while you are there.

This group of videos is awesome and I would highly recommend trying these before you buy them.  Her videos are expensive, thirty bucks a piece, so you want to be sure you like it before investing.  Check out the dancing on the treadmill link.....I wonder if I will ever get up the nerve to do that at the gym:)

Have a great weekend ladies!

J.

Tuesday, June 8

Tracy Anderson Method: Getting my booty in shape for summer.....

Bathing suit season is here!!!  It has been 90+ degrees for the past week....I wish I could wear a bathing suit all day long!  However, shock of all shocks, being the procrastinator that I am, I have done nothing to  get myself in bikini shape.  I had been running quite regularly...about 20-30 miles per week up until about a month ago.  If you read my blog regularly you may recall the story about my poor toenail.  Long story short, some jerk stepped on it and it was bleeding, bruised, and swollen.....which meant no running for me for several weeks.  Now I'm recovered so it is time to get back into the grind.  During my hiatus from running, I discovered I was getting rather bored with it.  Also, running in heat and humidity is not the best idea for me since I have horrible allergies which can trigger my asthma.  The logical solution would be to run inside on a treadmill.  I'm not a fan of the treadmill not for more than 2 or 3 miles at a time anyways.  So I started to look for some alternatives.  Something that would kick my a** like running does and get me into shape quick.  And I think I may have found  my solution in the Tracy Anderson Method.

Tracy Anderson is the trainer who works with Madonna and Gwynnie Paltrow.  I first was introduced to her via Oprah back in 2008 when Gwynnie was on singing the praises of Tracy's Method and promoting the Iron Man film.  I did a youtube search and discovered several short - 5-15 minute - videos detailing Tracy's Method.  I have done these for the past week and I really enjoyed them.  Some of the sequences are really hard and I am already noticing a difference.  I feel that my stomach is flatter and my arms seem a bit more defined.  So yesterday I pulled the trigger and ordered the most popular of Tracy's exercise DVDs.  They are:
















I've read several reviews online and supposedly both of these workout are really really hard.  I consider myself an advanced exerciser.  I'm in very good cardio shape and I regularly workout with weights for strength training.  The majority of the reviews stated these are very hard even for former dancers.  These are not recommended for beginners.  Tracy does have a Dance Cardio Beginner workout DVD as well.  

Here are Tracy's recommendations:
1.  Never workout with more than 3 lb weights.
2.  Commit to doing these videos together 6 times per week.
3.  Follow her diet plan for the best results.

My thoughts:  
I'm unsure of the 3 lb weight suggestion.  I've worked out with 25 lb kettle bells and I never bulked up.  But Tracy's approach is different, a lot of movement and much higher reps (60 to 100) than I am used to.  No woman is ever going to build muscle like a man but I have seen those girls at the gym who lift really heavy weights and are too muscular for my taste.  But this is personal preference.  

The second rec about both videos 6x per week.  Just an FYI each video is 50-60 minutes long so that is almost 2 hours of working out per day.  I'm going to do my best to work out for 2 hours per day 4x per week.  We'll see how that goes.  Also, with working out as much as Tracy suggests you have to be really careful with over-training. So I plan on working up to what my body can handle.

Lastly, Tracy's diet plan:  Keep in mind this is the same woman who has been in the news the past few weeks after she recommended that Jennifer Aniston go on a "baby-food" diet to prepare for a movie role.  I reviewed Tracy's diet recs (you can find them on the internet) and basically she follows a no dairy, no refined sugar plan with a total calorie intake of about 1200 per day.  Anyone will lose weight with calorie restriction and food group elimination.  Therefore, I will not be following her diet.  I plan on following my usual diet plan which is healthy clean eating with the occasional treat.  The one area in my diet I would like to work on is smaller portions.  Because I need to just face the facts even if I'm eating something healthy like quinoa if I have 4 cups instead of the recommended one I'm still consuming a huge amount of calories.

So I ordered the videos from Amazon.com and they shipped out yesterday via USPS from Los Angeles.  I'm thinking they should be here by Friday or Saturday.  I'm going to be away for several days next week so I may not have a chance to consistently try them until the following week.  But I will be sure to post reviews once I start using them.

We have a large empty room in our basement so I have set that up with a TV and DVD player as my "workout" studio.  Supposedly you need a good amount of space to get the most out of the dance DVD.  We'll see.  Tracy also has some suggestions for workouts on the treadmill which include skipping, galloping, jogging, etc for a song each.  I might try this when I'm a the gym this week.  I'll just have to be certain to go at a time when it is less crowded so I don't look like an idiot:)

And lastly, you may be wondering what kind of results you can expect from Tracy's Method.  Tracy claims that anyone can have "a tiny ripped dancers body" if you use her Method.  I'm curious about this.  Many of the blog reviews and Amazon reviews I read claim drastic results.  Some women have said they have completely different shaped bodies.  We'll see about this.  I did notice that the more I ran the bulkier my thighs and butt became....not large, just very muscular.  In fact some of my pants had become tight in the thigh/butt area because of this.  I've noticed that with the four weeks I've had away from running these pants are already beginning to fit again.....which is good but bad because I think I am losing muscle mass.  I'm anxious to see how Tracy's Method transforms my body....supposedly her arm and  leg workout are killer.

Here are links to two youtube videos.  The first is a sample of her dance cardio style and the second is her leg workout.  

What are your thoughts??

I have to admit I'm hooked and I can't wait to get my DVDs...so check back for my reviews and results:)

xoxo,
J.



Saturday, June 5

Anthro Love: RUN, don't walk, to get this Dress!!! Vagabond Dress Review

Rarely do I try something on and instantly fall in LOVE!  Usually I have to try items with different pieces to get this feeling, ie a new shirt with the right belt, a skirt with the right shirt, a dress with the right necklace, etc etc.  I stopped into my local Anthropologie yesterday (they have tons on sale BTW) and discovered THIS dress:


OMG...the Anthropologie Vagabond dress is beyond flattering.  I tried the blue color which is just beautiful.  I put this on and instantly felt amazing.  I'm going to be ordering the black online.  This is an awesome piece to have in your closet.  It can easily be dressed up with accessories and strappy metallic sandals for a wedding, or paired with nude patent heels and understated accessories for work, or just worn with flat flip-flops and a great bag or scarf for running errands on the weekend.  I also think this would be awesome for traveling.  I had it balled up in a tiny little bag all day and not a wrinkle to be seen, plus it takes up minimal space!  I just love it!  I will update this post later with some in real life styling ideas and pictures of the dress!

have a great weekend!!

xoxo,
J.

Friday, June 4

Meet George Jetson...his boy Elroy....daughter Judy....JANE HIS WIFE....


Here we have Gwynnie Paltrow doing her best Jane Jetson impersonation.  I know Jane is brunette but I saw this outfit and the first thing that came to mind was The Jetsons!!  Ha ha ha....I had a belly laugh all by myself while sitting on my couch.  

While we are on the topic of Gwynnie, I just love her!  I think the older she gets the better she looks.  I actually think she looks kind of fabulous in her pink Jetson outfit too....I just think it is kinda of space themed.  She introduced me to the Tracy Anderson Method (click Here) which I recently started and the results are like almost instant and utterly amazing.  She has some free videos on you tube as well.  If you like that you can order the DVDs on Amazon.com.  I also really love G.P.'s GOOP newsletters (click Here).  Some of them are pretty ridiculous but the cooking, travel, excercise, and fashion issues are pretty fabulous in my opinion.  So check it out!

Have a great weekend!  Stay cool!

xoxo, J.