Skeletal Swimsuit

Oh, isn't this a figure to aspire to have, rib bones and all:



This desirable model and photo on a Daily Candy email and is encouraged by designer Elssa Dunlop.

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Valentine Me

As a girl, longing for a Valentine from a beau or special someone, here's what surprises I would like:

Sakura Washi Earrings - $25

BijouBoutique.com

Lust in Love - $45
I am in love with this.

Jewelry from Spipo

Blue Brass - $48


Apple Blossom - $20.50 - on sale!

StaceyLu Conversation Heart Cookies - $25 for 8

Hi Valentine Sweethard Card - $3.50

I'll add more as I find them...

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OLIVER!!

Caught red-pawed!



Oliver has re-visited the scene of his crime.

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No More Candles for Katie

I got grounded. David's hiding all of the matches from me until I can learn to remember to blow out candles when I leave the house. He is already upset about moving up here (we were neighbors on a lower floor, then I moved several stories up, and then I invited him to join me) without a window ladder of some kind for us to climb down in case of a fire. Lord knows what I'd do with the animals.

Candle blob

...so dangerous, but it looked so cool melted! And it smelled so good.

It's WAX

So gross, I know. Dinah is who gave it away when we came in last night. She had clumpy stuff on her whiskers, and more clumpy stuff on her ear. It wouldn't come off, and at first I thought the wax was kitty litter. Dinah likes to clean things around the house by covering/burying them, so I suspect that is what she tried to do with the candle wax, that dripped and splattered all over the floor. Good thing that piece of electronic equipment is just for show b/c I keep forgetting to throw it out.


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An Office/Studio of One's Own - Minus A Corner

The final installation of the shelving happened today. I pretty much stayed inside all day trying to contain the madness that was about to happen with me laying fabric all over the living room so that I could see what was going to make it into the new units. Of course I forgot to factor in what new shelving space I would have from a smaller bookcase when I removed pieces of embroidered silks and dupionis from its shelves, and when I realized the possibilities of finally storing printer paper in a respectable place vs under the couch, I had to approach the situation carefully.

I'm sitting in the office/studio right now. Can I call it a studio? Office is so office-carpet-ish. And we have none of that here. I have two bundles of tulle on top of the shelving units, but no office carpet. The new Epson Stylus Photo R800 is ready and waiting to print pretty shipping labels that will soon design. I covered my little Ikea chair seat with a small strip of chalky chocolate brown silk velvet that I got from the scrap bin at The Silk Trading Company below ABC Home and Carpet. I'm trying to get into a cozy groove, so I've got the Trinity Session on and am drinking some chamomile tea as I type, but to be honest, my to-do list is so exciting, I can't quite come down. And I need to put fresh sheets on the bed, and that always a bit of drag, but soo refreshing to get into.

Better than me gabbing, here is the photo diary of the day!

David holding and testing the massive shelf. He later pulled it out of the wall with ease, so that wasn't going to work.


Derek the Super did some testing of the wall to see what was behind the layers of plaster, and declared it a type of brick, and drilled into it. I don't think this shelf is going to fall. If it did, I would be very sad.


Oliver. Any surprise he was batting around screws on the floor? This is him (and me pre-noon, so normally you would not be seeing me in this state) before he got grounded to the bedroom.


This is a Mountain of Terror. It does reside in the studio, and is the partnership between my file cabinet and David's file cabinet. With everything else that doesn't fit anywhere piled on top of it. This is a project for another month.


The shelf....


And this needs to go into it. So interesting unpacking it from piles of stuffed bags stuffed into corners. There were pieces from the shop that was assembling the checkbook covers, so it was great to see their efficient footprints as I pulled out rows cut for the lining of the checkbook cover, or a curious way of cutting the interfacing also for the checkbook cover that may have revealed how they did such a great job of making the closing seam invisible when they turned the checkbook cover right side out. And please note Dinah in Gerdy's bed. Entitled.


This corner I give to David. It's the equivalent to a man giving a woman a drawer. I hope he uses it well.


The shelf is stuffed and organized by type of fabric - muslin and interfacing, embroidered silks or cottons, velvets, dupioni, pleather and leather.


Complete.


It has made a huge difference, let me tell you. It fits perfectly into the space. It doesn't stick out, and it gives the room so much more purpose. Let's give David a huge round of applause for picking out such a fine set of shelving from Ikea for Christmas! He remembered my glass-top desk, and matched it with the type of glass doors that will keep the fabric safe from dust.

I think the tea is kicking in, as I'm getting a little dreamy. And Dinah has taken to sitting on my lap, but that's where my laptop is, so it makes typing hard. But I'll leave you with this: throw things away! Today was a great day of throwing/giving away things that just have not been used. More later!

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How to Make a Light Box for Product Shots

So simple. Thanks to Kathy at fofolle, we can make light boxes with white boards and clip lights. No more shots in the white of my bathroom in the morning.



For my camera man brother who is reading this: perhaps you can help me construct this in exchange for my 'lending' to you the Adobe Creative Suite...

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Smitten! Valentine's Gifts for Boys

Doing a quick search for valentine's gifts for boyfriends yielded a crazy Google search, but then found these Smitten Mittens at UncommonGoods.com. David's always wanting to hold hands in the cold, but I keep my hands together to keep warmer. More importantly, "smitten" was David's chosen word when he confessed his feelings to me in our elevator back when he lived on the 4th floor and I on the 9th...

Valentine Boy Gift - Smitten Mittens

Click here to get from UncommonGoods.com

Valentine Boy Gift: Heart Bottle Opener

If I hadn't already gotten the below t-shirt (and over-spent on lattes and milkshakes today - thank you PMS), I'd get this...


Click here to buy from ELSEWARES

Valentine Boy Gift: Solid Threads T-Shirts

I've heard about David's legendary skid-outs on his bigwheel from the days he grew up eating the sidewalks of Columbus, OH. (psst: i maybe just got this for him. ;) )


As for fantasy football, when I asked him why he didn't play it, he answered: "You already don't see me on Saturday (college football). Do you not want to see me on Sunday (and basically any other football day) as well?" But I know there are other fantasy football boyfriends out there.


Click here to get both from SolidThreads.com

Valentines Boy Gifts: Cufflinks at Patrick McMurray

The place to buy these cufflinks, Patrick McMurray, is a fellow Mista. I may like the cufflink designs for myself as rings...can't tell. But boys need help dressing sharply sometimes.

Click here to buy from Patrick McMurray

Valentines Boy Gifts: Sheepskin Slippers

The boyfriend just expressed interest in having his own sheepskin slippers to pad around the house in. Apparently, my pink sheepskins have made an impression as it gets freezing cold.


Click here to get from Amazon

Valentine Boy Gift: Chocolate Fondu Pot

Get a little romantic with candle light, strawberries and angel food cake...oh, maybe this is a better gift for you...all the more perfect for him!

Click here to get from Amazon

Valentine Boy Gift: Calvin Klien Cotton Boxers

There may not be hearts on them, but I've heard that some guys prefer the thin, but wide, waistband to wear under pants...

Click here to get from Calvin Klein

Valentine Boy Gift - Napolian Dynomite Boxers

Click here to get from Amazon


PS Ladies: did you see this wedding proposal/ad that aired during Veronica Mars?? SO great...

PPS: If you want to buy yourself a little valentine treat, see my list at Valentine Me

Stay tuned. more valentine's gifts to come. My search has just begun.

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I Heart Nail Polish

I got a brilliant idea for a Valentine girl gift last night before falling asleep - a Valentine rainbow of nail polish! I treated myself to a much needed pedi and 10minute chair massage, which can bring any girl back from a long week and deliver her into quiet time to hear herself think. My polish color? China Doll from Essie Cosmetics. And if you're in New York, where nail salons are practically 2/block, you can get the nail polish for cheap - $5 or $6. I'm sure other New Yorkers know where to get it even cheaper, but this is as low as I've gotten for Cassie - which is that generic looking clear bottle.

Nail Polish Color Rainbow

Yes, you should get 6 nail polish colors and give them to your sister or daughter for Valentine's Day. Or at least, that's what I might do... :)

china doll	charmeause	sugar daddy
bachelorette bash	flirt	national velvet

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Oliver - Evidence

I used to like Oliver, and was going to post a cute picture of him digging out fresh kitty litter from the Arm and Hammer box, but then he turned into a monster. First it was the polkadot tulle...(see those claws???)



And now it's my irreplaceable yard of embroidered silk that matches perfectly with my wall. This is way worse than his little scratches on David's leather couch. This was the last yard - interruption: David has insisted I include that his couch is (was) worth $3000 - this was the last yard of this embroidered silk and it was my first curtain and I was just admiring how little pieces of the flowers were pale pumpkin orange, the same pale pumpkin orange that is the walls of my sewing room.




Ripped. Slashed. Broken.

Here's the stupid picture of Oliver digging out fresh kitty litter. I post this with a pout.



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Designers: How to Sell to a Boutique

It's a cold, windy Saturday and I have candles all around to warm up the space around my desk, and I'd really like to take a bath and order dinner, but, I've just sunk into the blog of Posie Gets Cozie after linking to it from TheSwitchboards.com in an effort to read about how a designer should approach a boutique she wants to sell to. There was a question in TheSwitchboards.com forum about whether or not to make the wholesale price 50% of the retail (the answer is yes, in my book), and someone provided this link to Posie Gets Cozie when she explained last year the mind of the boutique owner, in an effort to help designers in their preparation to sell:

http://rosylittlethings.typepad.com/posie_gets_cozy/2006/01/wholesale_retai.html

I then learned that she has since closed the shop, which was sooo cute, in order to redirect her time to creating her handmade items at Posie, which was how she started it all in the first place.

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Laser Hair Removal - Appointment #3.5

It's been a while since the last laser update, but to tell you the truth, I'm bored with it. I'm still shaving, so the hair has not disappeared like I thought it would have by now after three laser treatments. Yes, it's thinner, but still persistent. There really aren't any more details to report, other than for my third laser appointment, it's possible that the esthetician and I talked too much, because my appointment ran over, and another esthetician came in to ready the room for a VIP client (aka jerky-man-client-who-is-a-jerk-if-has-to-wait). Yes, she barged in to prepare paperwork and such, which means that I was severely intruded upon during my appointment. I was upset and called the very next day to complain. I considered not including it here on the blog, but a bloggerette has to be honest, doesn't she?

So for my next laser appointment, the appointment to finish the lasering of the last appointment, I of course had the esthetician who barged in on my previous appointment. She asked how I was, and I couldn't resist a passive-aggressive, snippy comment like "I'm fine, unless someone is going to barge in on my appointment again." She looked at me quizzically, and we proceeded to the room. It was uneventful from there, meaning the gross laser jell was still cold and gross, and we actually had fun chatting while I leafed through an Bazaar magazine, imagining how I could make a dress out of raw silk rosettes like what was on the cover. The red bumps that usually happen after a laser treatment really aren't coming. We lasered me on the highest level, and still I wait.

The main highlight, really, is buying that great Crystol Exfoliator from AmeriPure. LOVE IT.

ps: Is a "bloggerette" a girl blogger? just curious.

Laser Progress Reports

Laser Hair Removal :: Appointment #8
Laser Hair Removal :: Appointment #7 for pics of technicians
Laser Hair Removal :: Appointment #6
Laser Hair Removal :: Appointment #5.5 for Bikini
Laser Hair Removal :: Appointment #5
Laser Hair Removal :: Appointment #4
Laser Hair Removal :: Appointment #3.5
Laser Hair Removal :: The Second Zap
Laser Hair Removal :: The First Followup
Laser Hair Removal :: The First Zap
Laser Hair Removal :: War of My Legs Part 1


Disclaimer: FashionMista, nor its author, are qualified to give medical advice and cannot be held responsible for anything that may occur. Should you have a medical concern, please consult your physician.


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The Tragedy of Snow

I know this is a blog about fashion, and fashion resources, and the emergence of the label Katie James, but I'm really worried about snow, and how I just don't think we're going to have it anymore. Now, FashionMista is based in New York City, and for those of you who don't live here, it really hasn't snowed. Well, it snowed once about three weeks ago, and I was still in the subway, but my co-worker had just gotten out of the subway and got to walk around in the flurries. So when I got into the office, and everyone said "It snowed!" I sarcastically said: "When, at 10:00am?" because it was about 10:10am, and sure enough, that's when it has snowed. When I was late still in the subway ten minutes prior - and for ten minutes at most.

Today is a Friday, and usually that means that I'm completely worn out and overstimulated with emails and things to do, and my brain is usually swollen with all of this overstimulation, and all I can handle is eating a juicy medium rare cheddar burger with a beer. But today it snowed when I was leaving the office at 6:30pm, and it was so lovely. I mean, it was beyond lovely. I wanted to get a Christmas tree and hang a wreath. In fact, I walked past a wreath and blessed them for being so behind in taking their Christmas decorations down. I went into Duane Reade to fill up on my usual Duane Reade type stuff like bar soap and last minute non-essential hair products that I normally do on Fridays like this, and when I left Duane Reade, it was still snowing. And the cold flakes hitting my forehead and making my black cashmere pashmina white and wet were still so wonderfully refreshing that I walked all the way down to Staples at Union Square just to compare their in-store prices to their online prices (which I think are much higher in the store).

But ever since I saw Children of Men, where all of the women become infertile after a flu outbreak in 2008 or something, and then when I pay-per-viewed An Inconvenient Truth the other night with David, I feel like I saw the future. And the future did not include snow. With the glaciers melting, and the long-ago glacier that melted to form the Great Lakes, but that ultimately stopped a major weather system between us and Great Britain, I'm going to say that I'm very scared that we will just not have snow. We will be living in a very sad Frosty the Snowman Christmas Special, when the evil man in wants his top hat from Frosty, and traps him in the Greenhouse, and Frosty begins to melt and can't stop melting. And Santa eventually saves the day, and reminds us that Frosty will be back someday, but I really don't like feeling like I'm about to enter that very potentially sad Christmas Special where the snow just won't come. I mean, what a tragedy. If any of you are writers out there, that would make a real tear-jerker of a script. Maybe I'll write it, if you don't. Keep me posted. I'll have the box of kleenex by my bed at the ready.

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Jim Gaffigan - Hot Pockets!

Happy Tuesday! Or Friday! Or any day you need a random laugh. My friend and I found this vido while researching Jim Gaffigan, and I've dreampt about it since.

Top 5 reaons why you should not watch this Jim Gaffigan video

1. Your boyfriend may Gammon you in a game of backgammon if you watch it before.
2. A breathy phrase: "...hot pockets..." will be in your head for days. Weeks. It will be the only thing to give you real joy.
3. You were enjoying a nice Norah Jones song in your head, but then you saw a hot pockets commercial.
4. Your boyfriend won't think it's funny. He will think you are funny as you laugh so hard you have to pause before drinking your wine.
5. You may spend money you don't have on his Beyond the Pale cd.

Top 5 Reasons Why You Should Watch this Jim Gaffigan Video

1. To see how "By Mennen" (sung by manly chorus) came to be.
2. The chicken pot pie hot pocket.
3. It's all running together. Can't think of any more, as various "...hot pockets!..." are running through my head.





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Techie Nerd Site for Tutorials - Lynda.com

Hey People:
My brother turned me onto this site. I was emailing my techie nerd friends with it, when I realized there might be other secret techie nerds out there who could benefit from a website that offers gobs of online tutorials to teach you how to do techie nerd things like make animated gifs in Photoshop.

It's Lynda.com, and my brother is in love with it, and I really like it to after it affirmed how to make an animated gif (my younger cousin was the first to teach me).

Here's the first real animated gif I made for ReelInvitations.com:


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