Fashion, Travel & Lifestyle.

Today kicks off a 3 part Cheap Monday series featuring gifts for Valentine’s Day.  First up, inexpensive ways to celebrate the friends you love…  

People seem so quick to dislike this holiday for it’s great expectations or because they think it’s designed against those who are single.  But some of my favorite Valentine’s days were spent with girlfriends, getting manicures and eating cupcakes.  So why not embrace the chance to show everyone in your life just how much you love them?  

Nest:  Pick your poison and head over to your best friend’s house armed with these adorable plastic tumblers (available at Target in a convenient set of 4) and pretty paper straws.  So much safer than braving a bar on Valentine’s Day, and at $13.99 total there’s really no excuse not to show the love.  

Dressed: At $10 each, these sweet little rose gold earrings from Lulu’s would be just the thing to place inside a card you mail to your long distance friends, give to your sisters, or place on your favorite co-workers keyboard come Valentine’s Day morning.  They’re simple, pretty much universally likable, and go a long way in proving that it’s the thought that counts.  

The Rest: Nothing says Je t’adore like a guide to Parisian Chic.  Conveniently festive in red and gold, this pretty book is perfect for gifting a close friend on Valentine’s Day.  Especially since it’s not over the top love themed, making it enjoyable all year long.  You know, kinda like your friendship.  

Check back next Monday for gifts ‘For the Boy you Love’…

The past week proved to be pretty exciting here in the Steele Maiden world, with features both on the Tulle facebook page (doesn’t hurt that I do their graphic design, I suppose…) and on VMac+Cheese (as a faithful reader, seeing my name over there was thrilling to say the least) based on my book recommendation of ‘The Marriage Plot’ by Jeffrey Eugenides.  This all comes at the perfect time, as I’m amping up for a big redesign and lots of new features (plus some improvements on existing ones).  So be sure to keep checking back!  

P.S. Hope you’re in the mood for love.  Valentine’s Day is coming early to The Steele Maiden this week (I swear I’ve going to have something for even the most cynical of readers…)

The dusty colors mixed with make-it-count flashes of neon, the easy mix of patterns, the laid back silhouettes.  That lighting.  It makes me long for the days at the end of last summer we spent driving through the faded Southwest landscape.  Ah.  Maybe a mini road trip is in order this weekend?  Happy Friday!

As I work to decorate our new home, I really want to stay true to my personal style and make sure it’s reflected in the things I surround myself with on a daily basis.  So instead of my usual ‘How to Ware It’ posts which take a home interior shot I love and turn it into an outfit – I figured I’d reverse it, and using an outfit that I like, find housewares that would be an equivalent…

For every part of me that is drawn to girly things, I think there’s an equal amount drawn to boyish looks.  This Shopbop outfit has all the makings of a classic off duty look.  Translated into a living room that means borrowed from the boy accents (here, a tobacco and teakwood candle that smells masculine but not at all overpowering in person), clean lines (the most perfect mid-century inspired occasional chair from West Elm that can be pulled forward when guests are over), layered with pieces that have an artistic, easy going air (this Moroccan rug, somehow geometric yet abstract all at once, is pretty much my dream come true).  

It’s been almost a year and a half since Marc Jacobs first showed his Spring 2012 Collection for Louis Vuitton.  But, as usual, sometimes it takes the rest of the world a while to catch up…

So for Spring 2013, it seems retailers are embracing his girlish mood with open arms.  Embroidery, eyelet, lace, head to toe pastels – it’s all fair game.  To keep it looking modern (and not like you’re 8 and it’s Easter Sunday) try a few tricks.  First, go monochromatic – or at least tone on tone.  One color dressing is huge right now, so instead of pink and yellow and mint, stick to just one.  Second, go heavy on textures.  An eyelet skirt with a lace collar and a perforated bag is perfect (as long as you stick to the aforementioned one color palette rule, even better if it’s all in white).  And finally, add a bit a of flash with metallic accessories.  A glitter hairband and futuristic metallic heel are just the thing.   

(1. J.Crew sweater; 2. Express heels; 3. Ban-do headband; 4. Urban Outfitters skirt; 5. Ruche top)
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