tuesday shoes-day

Today is all about the shoes.  I scored these Valentino d'orsay pumps on sale after much, much stalking, but haven't busted them out due to cold weather &/or lack of polish on my toes.  Today was pretty much my last opportunity to wear them in 2009 - it's pretty mild out, and in 2 days I'll be headed to Wisconsin where it will be anything but mild.  I kept the rest of my outfit fairly simple:

...and the piece de resistance:

Major swoon units *sigh*. 

details:  shoes: Valentino, top: Ya-Ya, cardi: Alternative Apparel, jeans: Jordache, bag: Rebecca Minkoff, earrings:  Untamed Menagerie

On second thought, maybe I'll bust out these shoes on Friday with red tights.  Would that be too much?

Advocate Magazine

Advocate Magazine, a local publication to the DFW area, did a great series of articles for the December issue featuring Etsy sellers in their respective neighborhood editions.  There's a mug you may recognize on the cover of the web edition:

www.advocatemag.com Preston Hollow Magazine - COVER STORY: Think Outside the Gift Box

I had no idea - I'm so honored!  I have yet to see the print copy, but I heard from a customer (that found me via the article, no less) that it's a two page spread.  I'm so excited, AND already getting business from it.  Holla.  Thank you Advocate for the Etsy love!

oh hi, i'm hollywood steve...

...and you've caught me not wearing jeans and a t-shirt.**

My office is officially a business casual office, but we're also a small'ish sales office that for most intents & purposes is self-governed, so 90% of the time management decides to let us go casual. This is great for my laziness, but bad for the majority of my closet. Part of the reason I haven't posted an outfit in about a million years is because I've been in some variation of jeans & a tee/sweater/tee & cardigan combo. Not exciting. Today I decided to switch it up again in a green ombre Theory number:

dress & cardi: Theory, shoes: Givenchy, tights: Limited (I think? they are OLD)

**The title and first line of this post are a Yacht Rock reference. For those of you not familiar, click here immediately & prepare for your life to be changed for the better.

jingle bash sneak peek

Here are just a few of the many, many new things you can expect to see at the Haute Hardware booth if you come on Saturday.  I've been a busy gal.

I'm really excited about these new "bauble" necklaces.  They're a mix of freshwater pearls, czech glass beading, a mess of chain, and satin ribbon:

 

 

Some charming new charm necklaces:

 

A pretty piece with a vintage brass finding and teal chalcedony briolette:

 A new Swarovski pendant I've been using:

 

 And finally, some earrings - these pin-up gals are my new favorites:

 

Hope to see you Saturday at Sons of Hermann Hall.  Visit http://etsydallas.com/ to get more show info than you'd ever need, and preview the rest of the fab designers!

save the date ~ etsy dallas jingle bash, 11/21/09

Yes yes, y'all, it's that time again - time to think about holiday shopping. The mere thought of this strikes fear and panic into the hearts of many, but it doesn't have to - not when you shop the Etsy Jingle Bash. There will be over 50 local artists, including yours truly, featuring clothing, jewelry, accessories, candles, bath & body, home goods, baby stuff...there's truly something for everyone. Imagine knocking out your entire Christmas list in one fell swoop, never having to set foot in a mall, all BEFORE Thanksgiving. It's easy if you try.

So if you're in the Dallas area, tell your friends about it and be there on November 21st. Shopping, full bar, music, food, more shopping, and all-around good times. You know you wanna.

More info on the Bash and its vendors here and also check out this article - we were voted Best One Stop Shop by the Dallas Observer. Holla.

mo' wedding

We've finally got our wedding photos up on Snapfish, and they have a nifty feature that communicates with Blogger. So I thought I'd try it out & share the album on here. Enjoy!

Click here to view photos

you & i

I know it's been a lifetime since my last post, but I've been busy marrying the love of my life, so I hope all will be forgiven. Here's what I wore on October 11th, 2009:

My lovely, lovely ladies:

The ever-handsome groom, Rodrigo, and a celebratory fist-pump from yours truly after the 'I Dos':

I love this shot 'cause it has great 'awww' factor AND showcases my hair/veil (from BrendasBridalVeils on Etsy) quite nicely:

One of our delicious cupcakes from Amy's Cupcakes - this one was mango (we also had s'mores and brown sugar pecan...are you drooling yet? I am.), with toppers by giftsdefine on Etsy, accessorized by me. I gave the groom bird a tiny bowtie (that you can't see very well) which also could pass as a mustache. Ace.

Just a taste of the party we had going on at the reception - our salsa band, Extasis, was out of this world:

His & hers shoes, resting after a night of dancing hard:
It's safe to say that this was the most fun I've ever had in my life...so far! I have to tack that last part on since life with Rod just gets better and better every day. Thanks for reading and sharing in our day a little bit. I promise to follow up again soon with more Puerto Rico/St. John pics and vacation outfits.

xoxo Mrs. Cruz

fail safe dress

This DVF dress is one of those "instant win" pieces in my closet - it's a shift, but not a tent-y shift, so it's body-conscious enough to feel a bit sexy, but comfy enough to feel like I can still eat a slice of pizza (or four). It's one of my very favorite dresses - polished, yet comfortable as PJs. It doesn't get much better.

dress: Diane VonFurstenberg, shoes: Ciao Bella, necklace: Paige Sargisson (close-up below)

birthday part deux

I couldn't lay my birthday to rest without posting a few photos of our dinner at Abacus that night. It was our first time there, and everything was amazing. Like one-of-the-best-meals-I've-ever-had amazing. I was basically in a food-induced euphoric haze the entire time.

But before we move to the food, my ensemble of the evening - I swapped out the top & skirt in favor of this Martin + Osa dress & Banana Republic clutch:
This drink is called the Big Daddy (which reminds me of Blanche Devereaux's father on the Golden Girls. I'm sure that's why I ordered it.):
While we were still at the bar, the bartender brought us this delightful melange of Spanish tapas. From left to right you have olives & almonds, Serrano ham, pan con tomate, and croquettes. This got me both nostalgic for the year I spent in Spain, and excited for the trip we booked recently for this spring. Both Rod and I had enough airline miles to fly round-trip to Spain FOR FREE, so we're going for two weeks in April/May of next year - so. excited.And then there was dinner. Rod ordered filet, and I got the lemon sole, both of which were conveniently divided/presented in two pieces, so halfway through we made a switch. I love being able to try more than one thing at a great restaurant, and fortunately Rod is the same way.

Finally, this stupid good chocolate slab I had for dessert:This look on my face says it all!

high/low: the birthday edition

So today's my birthday, y'all. So much has happened already, and it's only 10:15. Rod made me a kickass breakfast, played me a birthday slow jam that he wrote and recorded on the new T-Pain app, Ruby (one of my bunnies) came in for a birthday snuggle, and I've already gotten countless calls, e-cards and messages. I feel trés spéciale. Let's see, am I forgetting anything? Oh yes, I got YSL cage sandals (!!!):

I've been dying for these suckers since I first laid eyes on them, and by some stroke of luck (and a Barney's sale, and an extremely generous fiance), that dream became a reality.

It amuses me that I'm wearing them with the aforementioned Miley Cyrus Wal-Mart blouse. I love a good high/low combo, and I think YSL/Miley for Wal-Mart pretty much takes the cake.

I'm full of little sidebar comments today, but it's my birthday so I'm allowed. I realized that this Tahari skirt, my perfect, staple, fallback, basic black skirt is now way too big on me. It's a good problem to have, but still kind of a bummer. I've had it for years and years, so I may get it tailored or I may just replace it if I can find one just as perfect.

One more time for the cheap seats. **swoon**

shoes: YSL, top: Miley Cyrus for Wal-Mart, skirt: Tahari, bag: Hoakon/Helga (etsy), belt: Max Mara, shades: Dior, random silver cuffs/bracelets

the wal

Hope everyone's holiday was fantastic - we had a lovely time in Wisconsin with my family and friends. It was hard to come back, and even harder to get up for work today...bleh.

I had a helluva great score at Wal-Mart this weekend - two clearance swimsuits for $7 each, a sweet ruffle blouse from the Miley Cyrus line (don't judge), some Op shorts for Puerto Rico, and this blouse:

top: George (Wal-Mart), skirt: Mango, shoes: Bally, enamel cuff: Old Navy

This blouse comes in several other colors/patterns, and it took some restraint to not buy them all. At $12 I could've come away with one or two more, but in an effort to not overstuff my closet, I thought I'd stick with one for now. It really is a great buy, though, and looks spendier than it actually was. The ruffle detailing isn't popping all too well in the pics, but if you enlarge them you can see it a bit better.

One day I will get better at remembering to take detail shots.