Hair New Era

Now that it's officially spring, pastels are popping up everywhere and I am lapping them up. These candy-colored baubles from Irene Neuwirth are beauts, aren't they? They're way, way out of my budget range (the necklace above is almost 20k!), but I'd take any of these trinkets over Easter candy any day...wait, let me think that one over for a moment - I do love candy... ;)

Spotted on Greedy Girl.

Photo from The Sartorialist

Good morning, everyone! It's Friday! {Applause.}

I'm feeling much better today - maybe because it's Friday, or because it's gorgeous out, perhaps because I've taken a massive dose of Sudafed to fend off the cold that I got from B, or maybe just because I've been super productive this morning (much more than yesterday and earlier this week at least). Regardless of the reason, I'm so happy for today and all the sunshine in store (forecast of 67 degrees - woohoo!).

Good mood in tow, perhaps I'll put on all my necklaces, my huge rings and giant earrings like this lady and head out on the town to soak up the sun and get some more things done...but I promise I'll be back here a few times today. See you then?

How have I missed out on Spool No. 72 for so long? The clothes are adorable and really affordable (dresses and blouse above are all in the $50-$60 range). Plus check out these awesome rings from their jewelry line:



And these rings are only $28-$36. Nice bling for not too much bucks.

For those of us not getting real "rocks" for Valentine's Day, I thought these giant crystals might give us something to ooh and aah over instead. (I keed, I keed.) ;)

These photos are from crystal caves in Naica, Mexico called Cueva de los Cristales (or "Cave of Crystals" - brilliant name, by the way, right?).


Doesn't this guy look like Luigi (of Mario & Luigi) in his little navy plumber's outfit and green hat?

Photos from National Geographic

Discovered in 2000, the caves contain some of the world's largest known natural crystals, which are as long as 36 feet and weigh up to 55 tons; the largest crystal in the caves is 500,000 years old.

These aren't the kind of caves you can check out yourself, though: the main cavern can kill humans after just 15 minutes of exposure due to its 100% humidity and temperatures hovering around 136°F. Only select scientists have ever been down there, and they are required to wear protective suiting (basically filled with ice cubes and a dry air system).

Regardless of the danger, these caves yield huge amounts of silver, lead and water, which is handled by a Mexican mining company. The water has been used to create a lake in the desert, as well as water a nearby golf course. (Okay...An amazing natural treasure and that's how we use its resources...)

Either way, these caves are cool. Well, actually, they're hot, but you know what I mean...

Thank you, Alyson, for sharing these amazing crystal caves!

Photo from Lonny Magazine, Feb. 2010 issue

I've been on the lookout for a good way to store my jewelry for a while now. I even posted about jewelry storage/display options back in July.

Then in November I featured an apartment Nate Berkus decorated (for his sister, lucky girl), where he draped a necklace over a lamp for some added oomph. Here's said lamp:


When I saw this photo on Sanctuary Home (originally from Domino Magazine, RIP) the other day, my brain finally clicked into gear and I realized I love the idea of draping my necklaces over something - in this case, a mirror:


See how Camila of High-Heeled Foot in the Door draped a pretty turquoise necklace over a very white lamp to add a pop of color?:


She even did the same thing (in the same room) to a jar to break up all the white:


And I looove this dressing area from Lonny where bracelets and earrings are displayed on a proper jewelry storage apparatus, but chunky necklaces are jauntily hung over the lamp shade (not to mention the gorg lucite shoe display!).


So what do you think? Do you like the look of necklaces draped over something - something not necessarily designed for jewelry storage? I'm thinking of buying a large (maybe lidded?) vase of some sort, adding it to my dresser top, and hanging my necklaces around the neck. Would that warrant me a first-class ticket on the train to crazy town or do you think it would be kind of cool and non-traditional?

I was flipping through a magazine yesterday and came across this ad for Bulgari’s Spring-Summer 2010 jewelry and watch ad campaign. Julianne Moore (or, "is that Amber Waves from Boogie Nights?" as B said) looks so gorgeous in the ad, portraying what Bulgari is calling “Eccentric Charisma” (whatever that means).

But what really got me - other than that I'm featuring another ginger whom I think looks beautiful (what is the world coming to??) - is that the lovely Ms. Moore is 49 years old. 49, people! The woman looks crazy good, and in a way that Photoshop can't fix up alone. Very impressive.

Photo by Mert and Marcus.

Have you seen Kate Spade's 20 ways to merry-make? So merry and bright. Welcome to December, people!



As seen on Oh Happy Day.

Joias da designer Pamela Love.

I just recently came across Lulu Frost's jewelry and loved the unique styles. After seeing the jewelry on its own, I came across this post from Delight by Design where Blair put together pitch-perfect outfits to accompany various Lulu Frost pieces. The casual outfit above is my favorite for its boho-luxe look, but the following three are gorgeous too:

These two outfits are super chic and perfect for the upcoming holidays:



I could see this one working at the office (pared down a bit) and then transitioning for night.

This look is more preppy weekender:

The vintage-y bracelet shown is from the Plaza collection - the number is actually an old room number which came from the famous Plaza Hotel in NY before it was renovated. Lulu repurposed the room numbers and letters for bracelets, pins and necklaces. How cool is that?

Here's the article from the November issue of Real Simple:

I think the new use of the Plaza door numbers is a very cool idea and has such a classic look. And the outfits from Blair are amazing, no?

The Bubble Gum Hunt @ Urban Shopper - http://slurl.com/secondlife/Dubya%20City/27/115/25
Start Date - Saturday, August 29th
End Date - Sunday, September 13th
Total wads of gum to find: 16
Urban Shopper blog


(Larger)

Hair- Tiny Bird hunt prize from the Festivale sim poop hunt lasting ending 4 September - http://slurl.com/secondlife/Festivale/144/169/27

Skin- .::Mother Goose's:: mary Pale_02 LB - Lucky Board - http://slurl.com/secondlife/Turpentine/225/141/21

Lawson Station is a freebie area where you will find a mixture of well circulated freebie standards like textures, furniture, particle systems, flight feather, & face (emotion) huds. You'll also find a couple of original freebies, some available at the stores offering them here for free and others are exclusive to this area. So you may want to swing by Lawson Station and take a brief look around. The store is not packed so it shouldn't take long to browse the area. ($0; m/f; freebie area; http://slurl.com/secondlife/Walker%20Island/120/238/40)

You'll find things for girls....



You'll find things for guys....



More below the cut...


You'll find things for non-human Avs....



You'll also find a number of things for the home & building aids.

On Walker Island sim where Lawson Station is located you'll find a small shopping district on the south west corner of the sim. Most stores have put out a freebie in store, but you'll want to pay particular attention to a couple of spots.

The Mode Shop has an entire free room. You'll find shirts and unisex accessories here. All items are completely free. ($0; m/f; shirts/accessories; http://slurl.com/secondlife/Walker%20Island/4/150/37)



Since you'll probably spot MODE in the corner of this sim, I'll write a bit about it. If you like exploring you'll also want to take a look at MODE which is an area that displays pictures of outfits, information on the outfits, & in front of each picture of the outfit you'll find slurls for each piece in the outfit. Some of these slurls are outdated, but a number of them did yield at least one freebie while others were a complete bust. Although you may not find the exact freebie pictured at Mode you'll find a lot of interesting areas to explore. So this might be something to do when you're bored and in search of some freebies or when you're in the mood for shopping since most of the items that did cost were still available at the slurls displayed. (Information area - http://slurl.com/secondlife/Walker%20Island/41/69/40 One example - Shira Taki a kimono shop yielded a male and female kimono outfit retailing at $500 now free $0 - http://slurl.com/secondlife/SGLand/118/27/31)