Project Chicky Buck

At a time when many of us have had to find a way to make the best with what we have--give up those weekly pedicures, a few less Starbucks, and even cut back on shopping (did I actually say that!?), it is no wonder that I find myself strolling around downtown today in my Gucci heels from 2 seasons ago and my newly acquired Rubber Chicken Handbag. Yes, it's true, this Gucci Girl was spotted, by all those there to see, toting a rubber chicken on her arm today.

Leave it to my mother to come up with the idea. The San Juan Batista Chicken Festival, where chickens roam the streets & there is not a fried chicken stand in sight, is place where chickens stand in high regard--and as mom put it, "Chickens are people too". In fact, I do confess that I could feel a tinge of distinction today while flaunting my beloved chicken about town (which I affectionately refer to as "Chicky Buck"--adapted from childhood memories of "Chicky buck buck"-ing to my pet chickens)--and it's no shock that I did have this feeling. . .As it turns out, the crowned Chicken Princess in San Juan Batista donned the very same handbag!

Off to work I go this morning, clad in my khaki pencil skirt, white button down, and Gucci sandals, ready for Chicky Buck's public debut. I had not a clue as to what sort of response I would provoke from fellow downtowners as they dash from one street to another on their way to 'here' or 'there'. However, the reactions were, in fact, downright hilarious! There I am, this gal walking the streets in normal designer business attire and attached to her arm (worn 'lady bag' style) is a big rubber chicken!

The looks said it all. . ."Is she serious?", "WTF?", and even a whisper to the friend, "Look at what that lady is wearing on her arm" (as if I couldn't hear them with my highly trained eavesdropping ears). I felt like I was in one of those Glamour Magazine spoofs where they set up a scenario such as a woman walking around with her hot pink thong obviously coming out of her pants just to see what people will say and do. Suffice to say, this little adventure in chicken land, was a riot!

I took this gift quite seriously, as one would expect from a connoisseur of handbags. My mother, however, was astonished that I actually displayed the handbag in public. My husband, on the other hand, was not shocked at all. He understands my enjoyment in pushing the envelope of fashion. And besides. . .at a time when life has become so serious, it's vital to create a bit of fun now and then!

By popular demand, Chicky Buck will get another trip out into the public domain with me tomorrow--including her very first yoga class (do I hear a "Chicken-asana") and perhaps even a trip to the mall where she can have her first "Chicky Latte" (okay, I know--enough!)

So for all of you who have Chicken Bag Envy, longing to possess your very own rubber chicken handbag. . .well, there's always next year's San Juan Batista Chicken Festival--And hey, maybe we can all compete there for the Royal Crown of Chicken Princess!

Prescription VOGUE for Virus

Waking up this morning at 7am to a sore throat of which I was in total denial over yesterday. I choke for breath as the lump in my throat is practically suffocating me--%&#^@!! This does not a happy Friday make!

All plans for the day get thrown out the window as I succumb to the fact that my body is begging me to surrender to the microorganisms attacking its system. I get out of bed & look in the mirror (yikes!). I conclude that this is going to be a day of rest--in anticipation of reducing recovery time.

Indeed, I am sick. Yet, there are two things that ease my discontent:

1) I have ice cream in the freezer to soothe my throat :)

2) I have an untouched copy of November's issue of Vogue.

Thus, I abandon all the "I'm not sick" b.s. and get into bed with both of my remedies...

Despite feeling ill, however, I am still up for blogging. Hence, there will be a segment today highlighting Web Bargains and Fashion Finds. Cuz what else is a girl to do when she's cooped up inside a 'box in the sky' harboring germs that cause people to avoid you like the plague?

Web Bargains & Fashion Finds

Save with major online retailers at

http://www.retailmenot.com/

This website is fabulous for getting the coupon codes you enter at the 'checkout' page of online retailers. I've acquired a lot of great deals (free shipping, $10 off entire order, etc) by using this site. I've used it for Sephora, Victoria's Secret, Snapfish & more. Some retailers block themselves from the site, but enough others are there to make it worth adding to your favorites tab.

Online Price Comparison Website:

http://www.beatmyprice.com/

I adore using this site to assure that I have found the most competitive pricing on an item before placing an online order. This was especially helpful when planning my wedding a few months back. I was able to snag my Liz Couture Satin Sandals at a price well beyond what I was going to pay originally.

Shoe Alert!

You don't have to break the bank to indulge in this season's boots. . .

Bakers Shoes online has an amazing selection of fab, affordable shoes & accessories.

Ground shipping is only $5.25 flat rate for you mainlanders--us Hawaii folks have to pay a min. of $21.00/shipment (oh the price we pay to live in paradise!)

http://www.bakersshoes.com/

I just adore the style below for $99.95 (in charcoal or black)

To be a fashionable woman is to know yourself, know what you represent, and know what works for you. To be "in fashion" could be a disaster on 90 percent of women.

You are not a page out of Vogue. ~Author Unknown

So-called 'Bad Economy' Great for Fashionistas? VS Resorts to Panty Handouts

Word on the street is 'Economy gone amiss'. . .Not so for this fashionista gal who wound up with a no strings attached coupon in my mailbox for a complimentary panty at Victoria's Secret.

Convinced that there was something concealed in the fine print below, I scoured every line with no avail. On goes the P.I. hat as I head down to VS armed with coupon card and an attitude that is sure this isn't for real. Our VS recently opened and I had only visited it once as a result of refusing to stand in a queue with at least an hour wait (no line is worth waiting in if cocktails aren't served at the end).

In through the double doors I walk welcomed by wafts of 'love spell', 'very sexy', 'vanilla spice', and a saleswoman draped with a pink measuring tape. "I received a card in the mail that claims I have the rights to a free panty--no purchase necessary. Is this the real thing?" With a slight smirk, the black clad saleswoman replies, "Yes, actually it is. Let me take you to the panty bar that holds the participating panties."


I feel my heart skip a beat as I secretly hope she will steer me toward the 'sexy lil thing' line--amongst my fav. Not a chance...but hey, what's that saying?--"Beggars can't be choosers". She points out the cotton VS signature panty collection. I snag my size in a coral colored g-string with a gold heart print--fabulous!

I victoriously take my prize to the cashier who promptly discovers that my Angel Card has expired due to 'lack of use'. (Imagine that!)


"Would you care to sign up again? It only takes a minute," she slyly suggests. I melt under the surroundings--and who wouldn't with 'love spell' in the air?

A free panty for me in exchange for a new account for VS...I think we know who the real winner is in this scenario. But you gotta hand it to them for their impeccable marketing skills. After all, what else would you expect from a multi-million dollar enterprise?

If love is blind, why is lingerie so popular? ~Source Unknown

Here’s a little shoe knowledge for you:

A d'Orsay style pump is a shoe in which the vamp of the shoe is cut away very close to the toe box, and the sides are cut away, revealing the arch of the foot (as shown left).

It’s a good idea to bone up on your shoe vocabulary. . .you just never know when you may want to impress someone with your knowledge of shoe anatomy.

The Socially Savvy Society goes SHOPPING!

It's uber important that us gals stick together & share the type of fashion finds that compel you to ring your BFF with a full report. Thus, I devote this blog not only to my erratic anecdotes, but more importantly to sharing fashion secrets. And so. . .The Socially Savvy Society goes Shopping!

The following is a link to a website that a fellow gal pal so delightfully divulged to me recently. The clothes are stylish & affordable--I'm all for the high & low fusion of fashion. Grab your 'lows' at CutesyGirl.com.



Follow the link below:

http://www.cutesygirl.com/home.aspx

"Just around the corner in every woman's mind - is a lovely dress, a wonderful suit, or entire costume which will make an enchanting new creature of her." ~Wilhela Cushman

"Just Another Manic Monday. . ."

Alarm (otherwise known as my hubby shaking me intensely) goes off at 6am. I fight off the incredible urge to affix my wide-eyed princess kitten eye mask and crawl back under the covers. My mind starts to drift back into the dream that I was in the midst of when Alarm, aka 'hubby', goes off again. "Okay, okay I'm getting up I promise..."

I stumble out of bed and put the leftover coffee I have from Sunday's extra large batch into the microwave & then fill it with a large amount of white powdery, sugary, & oh-so-delish CofeeMate. Throwing on my 'take the hubby to work at the crack of dawn clothes'--a pair of jeans, tee & scarf and a fantabulous 'just rolled out of bed' hairdo (but hey, that's the look! People spend loads of money to attain what I had this morning naturally--"bed head"!)

I am driving, half asleep & half irritated that I am at up at the horribly dreadful hour of 7am. Then I realize....'sh$%#t! It's Monday!'. I think that for the entirety of my life I could have just skipped right over Monday and went onto Tuesday or even simply started my weeks with Wednesday. I love Wednesday. Such a pleasantly calming middle-of-the-week day. No beginning of the week blues like Monday or anticipation of the many-or not so many-social gatherings that Friday creates.

I'll spare you the details of the rest of my morning and fast-forward to the part where it really starts to turn into a Manic Monday... Park the car in the downtown parking garage, head down from the 6Th floor to the lobby and walk toward the place I'll call 'The Shop' ('The Shop' is where I work. And while I do in fact partake in actual work there, I hesitate to call it my job because I have previously held jobs and I don't think this befits such a title). Upon entering The Shop I find everything in disarray--& then it hits me...Indeed, this is the way we left it on Saturday at 6:30pm. I must do something and I must do it fast....solution: Find chocolate stash in handbag & down a few...or five. Feeling much more up for the challenge I face the task of getting prepared for yet another trade show--and why did I sign us up for this back to back with the other? Because I must love torturing myself with having 'too many things on my plate' at one time.

So then it happens...Just as I am making some progress. The cabinet door comes slamming down on my thumb, smashing my acrylic nail to pieces (& the thin natural nail I have hiding underneath looking petrified & hideous). Lovely. I will be 'stumpy thumb' for our show tomorrow. The perfect way to say "Hello, I am a professional, please buy my product". At this moment I acknowledge something that has been lurking in my filthy mind all morning--I'd rather be sipping cocktails seaside than dealing with the chaos of Mondays at The Shop.

And it is at this point that I make the executive decision (and it helps to make this decision at precisely 6pm) to leave it all behind until tomorrow. As a woman we have an incredible intuition. This intuition is hard-wired into our brains, enabling us to go beyond our opposite gender and be more in touch with our surroundings. My intuition was telling me one thing.....there is a hell-of-a-good chance you have the November issue of Lucky &/or Glamour--or perhaps both--in your mailbox at home.

Homeward bound, armed with mailbox key....and there she was. Precisely as I had predicted--not one, but two lovely 'girly' magazines. Now the only decision to make is what to watch while reading them.

And because this blog would not be the same without some tidbit of fashion FYI....
I discovered a lovely way for shoe-enthusiasts to have a shoe that's a little different than the rest--A SHOE CLUB! I finally found a club worth joining!

http://www.shoedazzle.com/ Check out the site for all the juicy details.

The pair that arrived in my mailbox over the weekend!

ALERT! ALERT!

Fashion Movie Must See: "The September Issue"

http://www.theseptemberissue.com/#/home

A documentary of the making of Vogue Magazine's September Issue

Why Swanky Stiletto?

As a woman among many women who adore flipping through the latest & greatest of fashion/beauty trend magazines, I decided to name my blog after two things that have fittingly earned my affection over the years--shoes & the latest fashion trends.

Now, mind you, I am not one of those girls who goes around sporting every next trend to hit the market--no, I'm not of that hideously ridiculous crowd, although I do admit that some can pull it off (although I'm never quite sure how). . .I am more of an admirer of the luxe fashions that make you want to find a reason to cage yourself inside on a Friday night with the latest InStyle magazine on one side, laptop on the other, and Sex & The City re-runs playing in the background.

I am the girl who goes on the sly through Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Bebe,Sephora--and my fav score-store Forever21--to scout out the newest scents, make-up, shoes, bags, etc....I want to touch it, try it on, breath it in. And then. . .I want to choose! Extract from these niceties only those that speak to me. Then take home the winners and fabricate my own style. [And as an aside: I beg of you. . .Please don't purchase the exact ensemble that is concocted 'just so' on the mannequin and sport it an identical fashion--trust me, your friends will thank you for this. Mess it up a bit, make it you-live it up!]

Unquestionably, I am also the girl that finds a reason in every day life to experiment with fashion in some shape or form....and I love--Loooooove--dressing up! I love planning parties, events, & anything that requires a specific costume or outfit. But don't start your judging yet...I am also the girl who often prefers to be alone on a weekday to peruse the mall, the shelves of Barnes & Nobles--or anywhere else I can people watch--after a pleasant morning yoga class, Earl Grey Misto Tea in hand, while dressed in what most would say 'is not your typical after yoga attire'....(Yet I believe one must always be prepared!)

So here is where we finally arrive at the second reason why my blog is called Swanky Stiletto--because it just dOeSn'T MaKe SeNse! Little in this world makes sense anymore and the more we attempt to figure it out, the more disheartened we find ourselves. However, in this techno-groovy era that I am still feeling a newcomer to, we have decided to go out into Cyberspace and band together. We have grown more and more accustomed to posting our thoughts & feelings all over the Internet for anyone and everyone to riffle through. There is no shame & privacy does not exist. Thus, after fighting it for so long...after reading the blog of everyone else day after day, I have finally decided (with the nudge of a good friend, & you know who you are) to start this blog of my very own variety.

Swanky--posh, classy, Stiletto--a double edged dagger. . .and me--GGal--and recently so--here in the Cybermecca of Blogland to add my approach of wandering around subjects to the stage of which one may no longer comprehend what the point is, nor as to why they are still here reading such material. Yet those who stay-and then return-will become part of this socially savvy society (& did I mention my adoration for alliteration?)--because we can.

Welcome to my blog. Please align with me for arbitrary stories & discussions that may or may not add something to your day. But then again, that's not the point.