Steeltown spectacular

I came across this fantastic blog- Steeltown Anthem- which is dedicated to the art, design and architecture of Pittsburgh. I really love architecture and design, anticipating the purchase of my first home when I can go crazy all over it and design up a storm. But in the meantime, I have this great local blog to hold my attention.

Check out Steeltown Anthem's latest post below. I know exactly how I'm going to enter!

Show us your Interior Space!

Do you have great decorating style? Proud of your space?
We would love to see it!

This could be any of the following:
+ Interior of your house
+ Office
+ Bedroom
+ Kitchen
+ Before & After projects in your house
+ Furniture pieces
+ Interesting flea market / yard sale finds
+ A wall with interesting art / decor

Please submit your photos along with your name,
a description and if you have a story behind it feel
free to tell us!

We are hoping to inspire other local readers with decorating
ideas and just to give people an inside look at the local interior
style we have here in Pittsburgh. Email us steeltownanthem@gmail.com

Style definitely goes beyond your wardrobe.

November no-spender: week 1

Ok so No-spend November hasn’t been going that great. I can’t seem to break away from going out to dinner with my friends. I guess this is what we do, and of course I love eating out. This year, I have really become accustomed to going out with my friends whenever possible. They have been a great support system in my post-breakup mess, and contributors to money spending, but I don’t seem to hate it

This past weekend, my friend Mandy, who is the Queen of bargaining at Marshalls, let me tag along with her during a shopping trip and I found myself purchasing some items. Of course you know a justification on why this was okay is to follow…

I could not pass up the $3.00 New Balance tennis skirt. I mean really, how can you. I’m a weekly tennis player during the warm weather and I always alternate between two skirts. It will definitely be used during this year and the next and many more after that. And it’s way cute.

Also, I couldn’t pass up a $5.00 dress. Although it’s a summer duress, I believe Isaac Mizrahi once said on his former TV show on the Style Network something about how you should always purchase a dress when you see it because you won’t find one when you are specifically looking for one. It's way cute too and I'm in love with the print.

Third purchase was an iPod/iPhone armband for running. I’ve been running 5K-s and I am going to run another one next month. Needed.

This Marshalls trip totaled around $16.00 and I think it’s well justified. I will just need to not shop with Mandy and stay away from Marshalls.

Bead for Life Giveaway Winners!

I had 17 comments to the giveaway post here and according to www.random.org, the winners are:

First Winner:

Comment 14- hofken

Second Winner:

Comment 9- smtracyt at hotmail dot com

You guys have 24 hours to confirm!

Green & Chic links of the week

Green,Eco-Friendly And Conscious Living...

The Fashionable Housewife fell in love with Retro Eco Friendly Reusable Steel Water Bottles from Olive Sandwich Co.

Fashion Pulse Daily is beyond excited to team up with eco-chic site Green is Black for a Thieves Racerback Empire Dress giveaway- enter to win!

Looking Sharp! is giving away two BeadforLife jewelry sets.Leave a comment to enter and win

My Beauty Bunny is giving away a Baby Quasar light therapy system ($449 value)!

Posh Swaps has been looking for an easy way to live a greener life and now she has found one. Find out more about a one stop shop for all sorts of green products in her post Wekangogreen - can you?

Prissy Green Karissa at Prissy Green has an easy contest: win a magical, make your face glow, Clarisonic Plus!

The Fashionable Bambino found fabulous Safe, Lead-Free Toys from Green Toys Inc. Great gift idea for the Holidays!

The Fashionable Gal is excited about Crocs Fashionable Fall Footwear. Cute styles and great prices!

Image from The Fashionable Gal here

Summer dreamin'

Fashion blogger friend Dream Sequins recently posted about the Hui-Hui Summer 09 Look Book, and I have to say there are some great examples of how to tie scarves, such as the fabulous example above. I will definitely be sporting this look and I have just the perfect scarf in mind.

View more images of the collection here.

Back flip

I was back flipping with excitement when I noticed my blog among a list of amazing sites on the flip & tumble Press page. I can't believe I'm on a list including Martha Stewart, Oh Joy, Real Simple, and many great others.

I've done a couple of posts on these cool reusable totes bags. Check them out at here and here.

All I have to say is #famous

Baby bird

Finally back to posting at The Savvy Grouse over here featuring The Picket Fence in Shadyside. Go have a look-see!

Crazy blogger

My homegirl Brittney Thieroff is blogging for Maniac Magazine and I love her new post- Street Seen, a post where The Sartorialist meets Pittsburgh.

This is a something I have always wanted to do on Looking Sharp!, but I just haven't had the time. Hopefully someday!

Until then, read Brittney's blogs here.

Image taken from the Maniac Blog: http://blog.maniacmagazine.com/

Boots boots boots

I love my Ugg boots. As you can probably see, they have been well worn over the past two years. I love them because they are warm and comfy, not because they are mainstream.

This post comes in response to my #rockstar friend Nelly's question as to why everyone is wearing Uggs with everything.

I agree with her. Uggs have a time and place, but I'm not so much a fan of wearing them all the time, unless its the dead middle of winter. For instance, I wear mine mostly in the winter, when its fall and pouring down rain, when I'm at a bonfire, or somewhere outside doing some sort of labor. I also wear them to the store while running errands or taking out the trash.

As I said earlier, I love my Uggs, but I have also found some other great boots that I love..



Slouchy Flat boots. These Steve Maddens are a couple years old too, but I love them. Jeans tuck well into them, and they look great with dresses and skirts.


Booties- Recently new to my show collection, is this great pair of Pink Studio Booties from Pavement in Lawrenceville. I remember having my first pair of booties, similar to these, during high school, but I was totally embarrassed by them. I always wore them with jeans, hoping no one would notice they were not mid-calf boots. But now, I am totally coveting them. I love pairing them with a dress, socks and tights, and wearing them with cuffed jeans.

These are just some of my favorite booties. Since it's No-spend November, I'm not purchasing any new boots this month, but If I would I would look for some of the following types:

• Bold colors, texture and hardware
• Booties and Thigh-high Boots
• Open-toes

What types of boots are you rocking this fall/winter?

Bead for Life giveaway + event

Another giveaway and an announcement about a special event.

Thanks to Kathleen Ganster, my former professor and all-around #rockstar, I am giving away TWO BeadforLife jewelry sets, each complete with a homemade jewelry pouch.

The first winner will receive a longer necklace, which can be wrapped around the neck twice, bracelet and pouch.

The second winner will receive a shorter necklace and matching bracelet.

How to enter:
1) Leave a comment below. Only one entry per person. Must be 18 and older, and U.S.A. residents only.

2) Contest will be held from Sunday, November 1, 2009 at 9:00 pm to Sunday, November 8, 2009 at 8:59pm (Eastern Standard Time) You must comment within this time frame to be entered in the contest.

3) Two winners will be chosen using http://www.blogger.com/www.random.organd will be announced on Monday, November 9, 2009. Winners must respond within 24 hours.

4) Please leave your blog link or email in your comment so I can contact you if you are the winner. If you do not want to do that, please drop me a line at fashionista0921@gmail.com with your name and the comment you left. This is to ensure the real winner gets the awesome prize!

Also, if you are in the Pittsburgh area, visit Henne Jewelers in Shadyside for a special BeadforLife Fundraiser from November 2 – November 7 during store hours. 100% of the profits will be donated to BeadforLife, which benefits women from Uganda who make these beads out of recycled paper in order to create a sustainable income for themselves.

Be sure to check out the reception at Henne on Thursday, November 5 from 4 – 7pm, featuring African music, food and beverages.

More information about BeadforLife here

More information about Henne Jewelers here