POTD: Rainbow Bouquet

For when you want to blow a hundred bucks on flowers for your favorite hippie, the Time to Celebrate Bouquet is here to save the day. On one hand it's kind of cool, but then on the other hand it's a complete abomination of nature and all that is holy.

POD: Ain't Nothin Sexier Than Scrabble

I found this Sexy Scrabble costume while doing my Christmas shopping and am now kicking myself for not finding it in time for this Halloween. Only I wouldn't be going as Sexy Scrabble I'd be wearing it in protest of the fact that people are attempting to make a 'sexy' costume version of everything under the sun*. Ok, ok, I need to work on this concept since that's kind of a mouthful to explain to someone at a Halloween party...good thing I've got plenty of time until October 31st, 2011.

*Out of curiosity I looked for a 'Sexy Sun' costume, no doing. But hey! Now they've gotten an idea for this year. I did, however, find a Sexy Sunflower costume. *sigh*

POD: DIY Edition

Another item Unica Home is incredibly proud of and promoting heavily in their e-mails this year is this 58" christmas tree by kuno prey. Love the look, but just aren't quite sure if you can afford the $375 price tag? Well my friend, have I got the solution for you. With a coat tree, some bottle brushes, and a bottle of green dye you can achieve this level of sophistication for your very own home.

POD: Severed Baby Hands

Now we get to the time of year where there are gift recommendations coming in left and right to help make our holiday shopping easier. For example, I received an e-mail from Unica Home suggesting this hand soap by marie gardeski might make a great gift. Now while I personally don't have anyone on my list who needs severed baby hands for their guest bath, I wanted to make sure to spread this delightful holiday treat with you. Makes a great stocking stuffer!

POD: Putting the extra Ho in Ho, Ho, Ho

Putting together a list of LBDs (Little Black Dresses) on ProntoStyle for our Holiday party dress trends collection and came across this little dress by Rochas. Please note that it does in fact specify that it is part of the Fall/Winter collection. I'm not one to give out too much fashion advice, but I'm going to go out on a limb here and forbid you to wear this to your office holiday party.

POTD: Infinity Scarf Attempt

Roman's Plus Size clothing attempts to imitate the latest infinity scarf trend with this Crochet Infinity Scarf. They overshot chic and fashiony and wound up with a look that is more Ring Wraith.

POTD: Coolest Couple on the Block

A drop-seat back AND a kangaroo pocket? What's not to love?!

Relationship Test: If you can convince your boyfriend/husband to wear these matching Puppy Paw Footie Pajamas with you break up with him now and save yourself a lot of heartache down the road. Just trust me on this one.

POTD: DIY Edition

You could spend $105.95 for this Stainless Steel Pendant Light....oooOOoor you could spend $22 on a stainless steel colander. Just giving you options. You are WELcome.

POTD: Put the gun down

Someone needs to revoke Mary Frances' glue gun wielding privileges immediately. Here she flaunts her complete lack of taste with this Embellished Sunny Days Evening Bag. Clearly this woman never learned when to just say no to more embellishing.

POD: Ho, Ho, Ho?

Well folks, it doesn't get much more festive than the Timmy Woods Designer Handbag Bling Santa. I just want to know how they got permission from the fashion gods to put the word 'Designer' in the title.

POTD: Sequin Tank

I tend to think of J. Crew a bit on the pricey side and try to stick with their sales, but this baby really takes the cake. Really now J. Crew? You want to charge me $495 for a sequin tank?

How about this Express sequin-front tank for $39.90?





Or this sequin knit tank from White House Black Market for $39.99?





Remind me again why I would want to pay 10X that amount for your tank? Does it do my dishes for me or give me back rubs? Because then we can talk...

POTD: The Murse Hook

There are these ingenious little products called purse hooks that I swear by, especially living in NYC where you definitely don't want to sling your bag over the bag of your chair. The one I have folds up to the size of a dollar coin and a nifty little magnet keeps it folded up and neat while it's in my purse- it's perfect. I astounded and amazed my colleagues with this handy little contraption at a recent happy hour and iPhones where whipped out as people tried to find where they could get one for themselves. The male contingent in our group must've been envious, because one of them found this little beauty: The Cole Han Men's Handbag Hook aka The Murse Hook. Way to go Cole Haan, why limit a product so cool to one gender?

POTD: Beer Mug of Blooms

I love that flower merchants are attempting to make manlier bouquets. In particular I am enjoying this Beer Mug of Blooms. The only way I could like this more is if they called it the "Beer Mug 'O Blooms" instead. Nevertheless, I won't be sending this to my dad for Father's Day, I still think he'd rather I just actually bought him a mug of beer.

POTD: Modeling Tip #3

Hmmmm...actually, now that I think about it, I don't have a tip for you. You look so beautiful in that elegant dress! (Please don't hurt me.)

POTD: Sexy Modeling

Modeling tip #2: To be exceptionally sexy, make it look like you have to use the restroom really badly. No one will be able to resist your sex appeal and will buy your sexy leopard print dress by the droves.

Life of Marie: Diva Much?

Wow J-Lo, are you really that much of a diva that you have to put your hand all across your co-star's face? Don't worry Miss Lopez, you are taking up 80% of this poster.

Life of Marie: KFC Double Down

Dear KFC,

It's probably a pretty strong indication that you have made a ridiculous product when you have to post the line "The new KFC Double Down sandwich is real!" on your website.

Sincerely,
Marie

PS- While I normally think people suing fast food restaurants for being overweight and/or unhealthy is ridiculous, stuff like this could make me change my mind. Do you not feel any social responsibility?

Life of Marie: More Resolutions

1. Learn to Sail Now that I live on an island, it feels like the perfect opportunity to learn this new hobby. Sailing lessons are booked and now I just have to find some cute boat shoes!

2. Read More With my discovery of the Kindle app for my iPhone I'm finding it easier to squeeze in reading time in my life. I've been reading more for pleasure (fiction) and will be adding a book review section to this blog. I have also been reading more books to enhance my knowledge base for work (Web Usability, Web Marketing, etc) and for my hobbies (Photography, Sailing, etc) which is surprisingly rewarding and not nearly as dull as I anticipated.

3. Get some Cowgirl Boots Even though I'm back in NY and my original roots, there's no denying that part of me is now a Texan. I plan on representing my Texan side while in Yankeeland by gettin me some cowgirl boots. I'm looking for the styles above, but those are sold out, so I will continue my hunt - look for a Savvy Shopper post coming your way soon!

POTD: The Armpit Sniff

Aaaaaand we're back with today's modeling lesson*.

Tip 1: Refrain from any pose wherein you appear to be sniffing your armpit. Please see above example.

*Disclaimer: I am currently not a model, have never been a model, and never plan to be a model. All modeling expertise imparted here is a combination of things learned whilst watching America's Next Top Model and common sense.

POTD: Bacon Baby

I'm seriously hoping this Bacon Flavored Baby Formula is an April's Fools Day joke, but in the United States of America...who can really be sure?

Cheese Festival!

The 6th most popular searched term on Pronto.com this week?

"Cheese Festival"

Heck yes. I'm glad people want to have festivals of cheese, but boy have you come to the wrong place.

Spam E-mail

Today I received quite possibly the best spam mail ever, it goes a little something a-like this:

"Hurrah my boy! She must have been a clipper. What is the matter with you? Why don't you get up and dance? What are the poor things to do?
We heard from Pearson to-day. That is why we have the fire.Shall we go down and shut it? Let me see!
But thou art my woman now. He looked at Pablo and grinned again. And you can love me? It is already hard to get food. With this face? You were all right at the train."

I'm not even angry that my spam filter fumbled on this one. That was an entertaining read.

Life of Marie: NY Resolutions

Now you may read the title of this post and think "Oh ok, Marie is making some resolutions now that she's moved to New York", but sadly, in this instance, NY does in fact stand for "New Years". Thusly, resolution #1 should come as no surprise:

1) Procrastinate less. Despite the the evidence to the contrary (Exhibit A = this blog post), I'm making some headway here.
2) Play more video games. Yes you read that correctly. As it stands my PS3 is almost exclusively used for streaming Netflix, which while fully awesome, is an egregious affront to my gamer sensibilities.
3) Get back in shape. This one is pretty much a given on most NYR lists, but my wedding led to my honeymoon which then flowed right into the holidays last year so I had to put this one on the list as cliche as it is. After a small amount of procrastination I have signed up for another triathlon and joined the Chelsea Piers Sports Center, so things are looking good on this front.

POTD: Super Reeboks

As seen in TJ Maxx.

You should really only be wearing these if you are Captain America, Wonder Woman, or a descendant of both.

POTD: F U, Penguin

As a lover of penguins, this book caught my eye on a recent trip to Barnes & Nobles. One minute of flipping through F U, Penguin later and I was sold. Unnecessary swearing and adorably cute animals? I'm all over it. Made me laugh out loud in the store, so if you get a chance, give it a flip through.

Spoiler alert: If you are a friend and/or family, don't be surprised if you receive this from me as a gift in the future.

Savvy Shopper: Lady in Red

I'd been in the market for a new winter coat for quite some time when I finally laid eyes on the Lady Day Coat from J.Crew. I knew I was smitten, but I also couldn't ignore the three hundred dollar price tag. Finally, J.Crew marked it down to a price that I started feeling much more comfortable with. Then, in December they had a 30% off all Outerwear sale! Great! ...except I was smack dab in the middle of my Christmas shopping so couldn't shell out the money at that time. So I missed out, the Holidays came and went, and then I hunkered down to play the waiting game. In February my patience paid off and J.Crew announced another 30% Outerwear sale. Well, you better believe that coat was in my cart before you could say Billie Holiday. I picked red after the husband vetoed the pink one and with my low tolerance for cold it was a no brainer to spring for the Thinsulate version. Here are the results:

Originally: $318
Marie Paid: $180
= Total savings of $138 or 44%

Savvy Shopper: Jacky Pumps

When the hubster and I came to NYC to find an apartment we experienced bitter, bitter cold. Expecting more of the same weather-wise, limited by the two suitcase restrictions of the airlines, and wishfully thinking that the rest of my wardrobe would be joining me soon I find myself in need of a few items to tide me through this awkward in limbo moving period. First on my agenda was to acquire some pumps and after a little browsing around on ProntoStyle.com I came across these Banana Republic Jacky Platform Pumps. Gorgeous, good comfort reviews, and already 58% off? Yes please. Now factor in various coupon codes and reward cards and I am looking on quite the deal:

Originally: $120
Marie's final price: $35
= Savings of: $85 or 71%

POTD: Hop To It!

Oh ModCloth.com, you have such adorable goods for sale! But this Hop To It Wedge perhaps takes things a little too far. Try as I may, I'm having a hard time picturing someone pulling this off. And yet it's sold out! Now that I live in NYC where you can see just about anything I am going to be on the lookout for hipster fashionistas sporting these little guys.

POTD: Baby Torture

This Stokke highchair looks more like a torture device than something I'd care to put my baby* in. Must be a dutch thing.

* This "baby" is completely hypothetical and by no means real.

POTD: Grobal Flower Pot

This is rare folks, I'm going to use "Product of the Day" without being sarcastic. Without being particularly in the market for a flower pot, I happened upon this Grobal Grobal Baby Self-Watering flowering pot and now I can't live without it. I really want to buy a few and create a mini herb garden in my new swank apartment in NYC...it's actually kind of hard to not order them now, but actually obtaining keys and moving into said apartment is probably a scoatch above starting an herb garden at the moment priority-wise. And no, I don't just like it because "Grobal" is really close to "Groban", although, it doesn't hurt.

POTD: Karmaloop Hiring Male Models!

Wow Karmaloop, I know we're in a recession and everything, but did you really see this guy and think 'YES! Now that guy is the male model we want to use for the Spring Collection!'? I don't think so. Let's all just be honest here, this guy stumbled into your building for warmth, you threw this RVCA black t-shirt on him, gave him a cup of coffee for his efforts and called it a day. Charming.

POTD: DSQUARED "Hiking" Shoes

Ok, so today I am cheating a little. I honestly couldn't decide which of these shoes was the most absurd/hideous. So today it's up to you: Which shoe is more grotesque? The Dsquared hiking sandal or the Dsquared hiking platform pumps? And I won't even start on how inappropriate the term "hiking" is for both.

POTD: That's some pumpernickel!

The makers of this westphalian pumpernickel bread are proving that sex sells pretty much anything. Makes a great Valentine's Day present!

POTD: Supplied Air Hood

These supplied air hoods remind me of the scene from E.T. where the scientists raid the house, except with now with more moustache! That scene was so terrifying to me as a kid, I wonder if it would hold the same horror for me today? Hmmm...probably.