Coming Posts.....

This weekend, look for a full review of the book "Skinny Bitch" and I'm going shopping today, so some clothing reviews! Have a great weekend everybody!!!

South Moon Under is having a Sweet PROMO.....

So another store I love: South Moon Under. The b&m locations are in the Baltimore, Philadelphia, and DC metro areas; however, they have a fabulous website, HERE. They offer free shipping on all orders over $125.00 and are having a promo for 20% off your $150.00+ order with the code SUMMER20. I find that they have a great selection of casual shoes, bathing suits, summer dresses, and tops. And I absolutely love their accessories!!! So check it out.....

JCrew Haul...SUMMER order part deux....

I really need to go on a shopping ban like so many of the other bloggers!!! But in the meantime, I continue to keep stimulating the economy with my JCrew purchases. So, here is the remainder of my SUMMER promo code haul.

First up, the Slub Cotton Pleated Front tank, $29.50, Item # 14948, Pewter, Size Small. Overall, I have to say that I really like this item. The fit is good....Just for reference I'm 5'9 and wear a size 6/8 in JCrew. This top (like many of JCrew's tanks this season) seems to run huge. So while a small works well on my larger frame, I think some of you petite gals may swim in this. I like the color, the material (love slub cotton) and the detailing. The shape is flowy yet body conscious so it is very flattering. This is a definite keep for me!




Next up, the Sorbet Strip Cardigan, $79.50 on sale for $29.99, Item 13899 Size Medium, Bark Pewter color. I really love the color combination of this cardigan. This cardigan is the same style as the Summerweight V-neck Cardigan which I have in navy. I'm not the biggest fan of the fabric...it looks nice enough and is very light weight but after the first 2 hours of wear the sleeves have stretched out. It needs to be washed every time it is worn and that is a pain in the neck. Additionally, the cardigan I recieved has some mis-stitching along the neckline and a snag on the right side. However, at $23.99 I may exchange this and keep it. I really like how it looks with khaki or grey shorts and the Slub Cotton pleated tank in pewter which I have on under it in the picture. I'm unsure, I may return it because there are many other sale items I like better.





Next up, the Soft Tee Ruffle Top, $39.50, Item # 16068, Color: Fresh Melon, Size Small. Again, this runs HUGE!!! I would actually like to try the XS just for reference. (It actually hangs lower in the front, I have the straps pulled back a bit). It feels great, it is the same material as the Cascading Ruffles Tank, which many of us JCA's own and love. However, this tank is kind of funny....I'm unsure how I feel about having a ruffle across my boobs!?!?! It seems a little odd, yet doesn't really look bad. This is a top I'm going to have to experiment with....I want to see how it looks with a cardigan or blazer over top. Overall I like the idea, but am unsure if I will keep it because I don't know how much I will wear it.

The last item in my haul is the Desert-sky cotton petal cami, $88.00, Item # 15657, Size 6, Color: Lemon Twist. I AM IN LOVE WITH THIS TANK!!! It is very versatile. The material is a very substantial cotton. The top is fully lined and not see through at all. It looks great with khaki shorts, jeans, capris, and under my khaki suiting. The color combination is just beautiful and will look fabulous with my weekly summer Mystic Tan:) The shape of the tank is very straight. I think that anyone who likes to have a defined waist line may not like this tank, but I am kind of straight up and down so it works for me. I think that this cami is worth the price as I will wear it almost weekly throughout the summer. A truly diverse piece that I am defintely looking forward to wearing!

What do you think of my haul? Should I keep/return the items? Anybody have any styling ideas?

J.

You Can Always Count on JCrew for Summer Suiting....

Confession time: I love JCrew suiting. It is extremely conservative and very expensive but I just LOVE it! I hold a special place in my heart for their summer suiting and I wait with anticipation for the April/May catalogues and website updates to peruse the Suiting section and plan my summer purchases. So this year, blah!, I was so not impressed.....until, the Chambray Suiting popped up. It is only available online/JCrew Catalogue so I waited for a decent promotion (besides free shipping) to order it! And when the SUMMER promo email came through, I filled up my shopping basket and clicked "Complete Order." And I am so glad that I did, I LOVE this suiting.

I have two other JCrew 3 piece (jacket, pants, dress) khaki suits from previous seasons. I have no idea what they are called...but one is navy and the other stone colored. They are both similarly cut and very classic Khaki suiting...ie NO STRETCH! However, I love them and wear them every week during the hot summer months.

The STRETCH Chambray Suiting fills a void that I have in my work wardrobe. This suiting is extremely light weight, perfect for the stifling summer heat; but, the stretch helps it to hold its shape. The dress is very flattering, I like the thicker straps (my other JCrew suiting dresses have very thin straps). Also, the wide panel under the bust looks really great with a waist cinching belt.

Here are some pics....if you have any questions, let me know!!!

Pictured: Stretch Chambray Trouser, $148.00, Item #14981, Stretch Chambray Blazer, $168.00, Item #14979. Pictured: Stretch Chambray Isabel Dress, $158.00, Item # 14983.

And....just for fun!!! Here's a close-up of my leopard print ColeHann peep-toes (Spring 2007) and my Essie Mini-Shorts polished toenails!!

Any questions, let me know!!!

J.

Coming up.....

Review of the JCrew Chambray Suiting!! I'm lovin it.

Your Sex is on Fire.......

I have a confession to make....despite being almost 30 years old, I Love, LOve, LOVe, LOVE the Kings of Leon.

DH suprised me with tickets to the concert. Here are some pics...please excuse the grainy quality...darned iPhone. Just for fun!

And lastly, a grainy pic of ME enjoying the concert! woo hoo!

J.

Movie Reviews...The New Captain Kirk is HOT!!!!

So, the DH and I love to go to the movies. We've seen several of the early Summer Blockbusters. We have seen Star Trek, Terminator Salvation, and Angels and Demons in the past week! Kind of a masculine movie selection, I know. So here is a brief female perspective on these flix. (PS...If only DH knew that my true motivation for seeing all of these movies was to sucker him into going to see The Twilight Saga: New Moon with me this Fall...LOL...he doesn't have a CLUE!)

1. First up, the new Star Trek.

Most important point of this movie, the NEW Captain Kirk is way HOTTER than the original! But seriously, all of the CGI techie stuff makes this an amazing movie. I mean space actually looks real, (not that I've been there!) This movie is quite funny.....Scotty is simply hysterical, if not a little bit stereotypical. The original Spock makes an appearance via a worm hole time warp....kind of cliche, I know. This movie does Science Fiction the way I like it best: amazing special effects, a tight story line, minimal character development, and lots of humor. I would highly recommend this for a date night movie.

2. Next up, Terminator Salvation:

Meh...I wasn't really impressed. This movie dragged horribly at certain points, easily 30 minutes could have been edited out. Christian Bale's rendering of John Connor is eerily reminiscent of Batman. He spends a good portion of the movie using his gravely Batman voice....I mean if I closed my eyes, it totally could have been Batman. I was waiting for Heath Ledger's Joker to make an appearance, that would have made this a BETTER movie! Overall, it wasn't horrible, but it wasn't great! There were too many back stories that were never developed. (According to DH this movie is the first in a new Terminator Trilogy so those other back stories will likely be explained. That is all well and good, but I believe that each movie should be able to stand on it's own...like the Bourne movies!).

3. Lastly, Angels and Demons:

I really enjoyed this movie! I thought that it followed the book fairly closely. Unlike the DaVinci Code, which I felt focused very heavily on the religious aspects, Angels and Demons is more about the mystery, and the religious aspect only serves to compliment this. They did an amazing job recreating the inside of the Vatican. Ewan McGregor was great as the Irish secretary of the late Pope (Father What-a- Shame). Overall I really liked this movie and I would highly recommend it!

Note: These are not meant to be thorough reviews, as many of these movies just came out and most people have not seen them yet, I didn't want to offer too many plot spoilers!

Have you seen any of these? What are your thoughts?

J.

Got GOOP.....Gwynnie hits the mark....

So GOOP.....in case you are unfamiliar, this is Gwynnie Paltrow's weekly e-newsletter. (You can check out the newsletter archives or sign up HERE.)

GOOP and I have sort of a love/hate relationship. I find some of the newsletters downright ridiculous (ie. The $1000 dollar party dress every woman needs to own). But, I have had a lot of success with her recipes.

Her latest newsletter included a recipe for an absolutely amazing Eggplant Parmesan recipe that the DH and I tested over this Memorial Day weekend.

SERVES: 4

TIME: 1 hour
4 small eggplants (about 2 1/2" in diameter) or 3 regular eggplants
Coarse salt
1 cup unbleached, all-purpose flour
Olive oil
2/3 cup of your favorite tomato sauce*
1 large ball fresh mozzarella (about 4 1/2 ounces)
Small handful of basil leaves, roughly torn
3/4 cup finely grated parmesan (about 2 ounces)
Slice the eggplants into about 1/3" discs. Sprinkle slices with a small pinch of coarse salt on each side and place in a single layer between two clean kitchen towels. Place a cookie sheet on top and weigh down with something heavy (a few cans of beans or tomatoes will do). Let the eggplant sit for 20 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Lightly dredge the eggplant slices in the flour. Heat 1/4" of olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. When a pinch of flour sizzles on contact, add the eggplant slices in a single layer, turn the heat to medium-high and cook for about one and a half minutes on each side or until dark golden brown. Drain the eggplant on paper towels and repeat in batches until all of your eggplant is cooked, adding more oil as necessary.
In a 13" x 9" baking dish, arrange as many slices of eggplant as can fit snugly in a single layer. Top each slice with a small spoonful of tomato sauce, a few small pieces of torn mozzarella, a bit of basil and a dusting of parmesan. Continue the layers, evenly distributing all the ingredients, until everything is used up.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the cheese is melting and bubbling and the house smells divine.
*For my simple homemade, never-fail tomato sauce that's always in my fridge...In a large saucepan, slowly cook six cloves of thinly sliced garlic in a couple tablespoons of olive oil for five minutes over low heat. Add two large, fresh basil leaves and stir for a minute. Add two 28-ounce cans of whole, peeled tomatoes along with their juice and two more whole basil leaves. Bring the sauce to a boil, turn down the heat, season with salt and pepper and let it bubble away on low heat for 45 minutes. Cool and refrigerate.


I used some homemade marinara sauce that we had frozen. I added some shredded TriBlend Italian Cheese -- DH loves cheese.

This is a very nice alternative to some Eggplant Parm recipes that can be quite time consuming and the leftovers taste great! DH loved it and I would give this a double thumbs up!

J.

A Girl Can Never Have Enough T-Shirts.....or Knit Dresses

So....I'm continuing on my perfect knit dress crusade. I just recieved this email from one of my favorite websites EVA!!!

Tee-Zone.com is offering 20% off every order with the code HOTHOT now thought 5/26 + plus free shipping & returns on orders over $75.

Tee-Zone.com is my secret for finding all of my favorite/staple t-shirts and knit dresses. They carry every brand you can image including, Splendid, James Perse, 3 Dots, LAMade, and many many more! So check it out......

J.

The Quest for the Perfect Summer Knit Dress......

So, per usual, I am contradicting myself. In the last post, I said "I would not pay $78 - $118for a knit dress I could probably get at Target".....well, then I saw this on the Anthropologie website:

Anthropologie's Quite Fetching Dress, $98.00, Item # 933109.

There is absolutely nothing I love more for hot summer days and nights than a sassy knit dress. I saw this and instantly saw myself sipping mojitos on the deck of my beach house or hitting the town for dinner and drinks. I'm thinking it would look fabulous with silver flat sandals or nude wedges. Also, I love the draping in the front and the back has a deep V detail, which in my world means this baby is totally reversible, so it is really two different looks for the price of one!!! (Oh how I rationalize!!!...quite the talent I have.)

What are your thoughts? I'm so very tempted by this....more so than with any of the current JCrew knit dresses.

J.

New Arrival Wish List......(There is NOT much)...*sigh*...

So I spent some time this weekend perusing the new arrivals on the JCrew site and these are my "wish" items:

First up the Sunbleached Crinkle Flower Tee, Item # 19095, $42.50. I think I would get a lot of use out of this tee. I have to wear suits for work and I'm a huge fan of wearing t-shirts under summer suits. It keeps the look casual and fun while still maintaining the business dress code.

Next up, Soft Tee Ruffle Top, $39.50, Item # 16068. I'm not sure which color. This is one of those JCrew items that could be really fab or really bad! I have the Cascading Ruffles Tank and I absolutely love it! So I would be willing to give this a try.

I love this Desert-sky cotton Petal Cami, $88.00, Item # 15657. I would wear this under the Chambray suiting that I just ordered or with shorts or white jeans. I think this will be a really versatile piece for the summer.

To be really honest, I'm not that thrilled with the new arrivals this month. Some of the pieces are cute but very similar to items that I already have. I like a few of the knit dresses but I'm unwilling to pay $78-$118 for an item that I can find a comparable version of at Target.

I have an order coming that includes my Chambray suiting so I will be sure to post a review later this week.....

Thoughts??

J.

Oh my, Oh my, Oh my....my first AWARD!!!!

Wow what a day, not only do I realize that I have followers and comments but now I have an AWARD!!!! Oh my god, I'm so excited......

Drum Roll Please......Thank you FFM!!! You rock as always and I have loved your blog since discovering it in November 2008. Her blog is Fabulous Florida Mommy.

The Rules of the award, as I am told, are as follows:

1) Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award, and his or her blog link.

2) Pass the award to other blogs that you’ve newly discovered. Contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

UPDATE:

Here are my choice for my "newly discovered" blog awards:

Lollipop26 and her blog Lollipop26. I just discovered this blog yesterday. I have been a fan of Lollipop26's YouTube channel videos for a few months now and finally took the time to check out her blog. She offers tutorials on everything from hair straightners and connical curling irons to hair extensions and make-up. Check her out.....

Simply Me and her blog Simply Said by Simply Me. I love her music selections and daily musings on her life. Take a look.....

And lastly, JTS and her blog J'Adore These Stores. I love her clothing reviews and I can always count on her to post the weekly store email discounts.

Check them out and Enjoy......

J.

"What is 8 Hour Brunch" you may ask????

Let me tell you.....

So, I have this amazing group of girlfriends, the core group is me, H, and L. And we have others who come and go. And when we were single, we were always together....happy hour, brunch, summers at the beach, crappy waitressing/bartending gigs......but, this little thing called LIFE intervened and as we got new jobs, bought houses, got married, and widened our circle's of friends, we found that sometimes 4-6-7-8 weeks would go by before we saw each other. We all finally decided that was just not acceptable so we started having a standing date for Sunday Brunch. The first few brunches were rather mundane affairs consisting of a quick catch up/gossip session over Eggs Benedict; very often cut too short my our other obligations. Well about two years ago, for no reason in particular one of our Sunday Brunch meetups turned into our first 8 Hour Brunch Session.....and so much fun was had by all that we have been doing this monthly ever since.

So now you are probably wondering...."What the heck do you do at brunch for 8 Hours?".....so here is the standard itinerary........

11am -- meet up in the City at chosen brunch spot....spend 2-3 hours chatting, noshing, and drinking.
2pm-- hit the High Street....otherwise known as SHOPPING!!!! Let me tell you, I have justified some outrageous purchases thanks to my girlfriends and a few mimosas:)
5pm -- head to a Wine Bar for tapas and a few cocktails.
7pm -- wrap it up and hop the train home.

So now you may be asking "What does this brunch schedule have to do with a blog?".......the answer to that is quite simple, this time is not about where we are, what we do, but mostly WHO you are with. And it is also taking time out of our busy schedules to nourish our friendships and have girl time. I think every strong independent woman needs this support system. I'm starting this blog because I have found so many interesting blogs and bloggers through the JCA (Thank you Alexis!!!) community. At brunch we talk about such a huge variety of topics from relationships, diet, exercise, fashion (JCrew!!!), children, pretty much if you name it, we've covered it! And my goal for this blog is to post about topics that I find interesting, put them out in the blogosphere, and get anyone and everyone's thoughts.....so with that...Ladies, I welcome you to:

8 HOUR BRUNCH!!!!

J.

I'm so excited and.....I just can't hide it!

So I started my blog last month and you can see that I haven't updated it since....But I checked back today and was so excited to discover that I have FOLLOWERS!!!! and COMMENTS!!!! I almost passed out....I'm so excited. Thank you all! So now, I'm committed to making my blog a priority. I'm going to start putting up some posts this weekend! So thanks guys for giving me the *kick* I needed.........



J.