I love to take photos with my iPhone but once it's copied onto my computer, they are most often forgotten. I only wish I had time to create fun movies of trips or my daughter's birthdays. Now there's a new app in the works called Explory. With Explory, you can actually your own movies using your photos and videos – all from your mobile phone or iPad. I have never seen anything so brilliant and easy to use. Just think about how perfectly easy it will be to capture a special event, birthday party, vacation or just a fun afternoon.
The team is made up of the amazing geniuses that created Flash who are also my former co-workers from Macromedia back in the 90's. Help support them in the creation of Explory as they try to launch this product by this summer.
Do you want to know what I really hate doing? Shopping in physical stores during the holidays, especially as the days get closer to Christmas. The parking, the crowds, searching through all the goods, the long lines, you name it.
For those of us lucky enough in to live in San Francisco and New York City, you can now shop from your mobile phone and have an eBay valet shop for you and deliver the presents to your door within an hour with the eBay Now app. Deliveries are free from now until December 22nd. What's extra special is that as a first time user I got $20 off my first purchase!
You can also browse through your favorite shops such as Macy's, Target, Toys 'R' Us, Best Buy and more.
I had already spent the morning searching City Target in SF for the ponies my daughter wanted. Today was the only day I could get the last of these gifts because she would be out of school tomorrow. So, instead of having to run out to Target in Daly City to find the EXACT My Little Pony sets I needed, I was able to finally catch up on emails and eat my lunch calmly. It was so easy to shop too! I just used the search field and typed in "My Little Pony" and results would pop up, just like shopping online.
I picked the two sets I needed. Steve called me right away after the order went through to confirm what I wanted and he was off! I then received a call that my items were a few dollars more than in the app and if I still wanted to purchase it. I said "yes" so he told me he would be back to deliver me the goods. He called me upon arrival and the products he gave me were the right ones. I only had to give him my credit card for him to complete the transaction which was done easily by his iPhone. I could also choose to give Steve a tip or not. I did give him a tip because through all the chaos of the last few days, he was a godsend. Thank you Steve!
All in all, spending around $15 total for the gifts I needed while also having a little bit of me time was wonderful and so worth it. This is a Christmas miracle!
eBay Now is a free app available for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. Download it from the Apple App Store on your device. All items come with limited-edition gift wrap designed by Jonathan Adler (pictured at top).
Merci to IFB (Independent Fashion Bloggers) for choosing me to be a part of their 30 over 30: 30 Spectacular Style Bloggers You Should Follow. I'm on the list with some amazing fashion people I admired over the years, so it's just such an honor to be included in this group. Thanks to you lovelies who visit me here for your constant support!
I never liked my alarm and quite frankly I really hate my husband's alarm. He usually wakes up 1-2 hours before I do and it's always a mix of loud beeping and static-filled radio. Annoying! When I found out about LARK, I knew I had to test out this new kind of alarm that wakes you up silently and works in conjunction with your iPhone or iPad. The main component is a little square device that charges in a dock. You download the LARK app to your iPhone or iPad and the two pieces work together to not only wake you up on time but also track your sleeping patterns.
The device is worn on the wrist with an included velcro band. I am not a person who likes to wear jewelry to bed so I was pleasantly surprised at how lightweight the device felt on my wrist. I barely knew it was there. I chose to use the app on my iPad which would eliminate any potential message alerts I usually get. If you do use your iPhone, it can rest nicely on the LARK dock.
Let's talk alarm first. Instead of loud beeping, the alarm wakes you up with a small vibrating motion. You can then choose to "snooze" for another 10 minutes by going to your iPhone/iPad and pressing the snooze button or you can choose to wake up by turning off the alarm. Once you do, all the data that was collected when you were sleeping is displayed on a graph noting the length of time you slept. It notes the times you woke up in the middle of the night as well as your period of deep sleep time. As a backup in case you forgot to charge your LARK, an Peace of Mind, an audio back up alarm will sound.
To start using LARK to it's full potential, I did the recommended 7 day sleep assessment and my husband agreed to wake up with me each weekday morning at 6:50am. From my data, I realized this made the difference because my deepest time of sleep was usually in the 3am to 6am time. I know I probably shouldn't have done my Downton Abbey marathon night while I was doing my 7 day sleep test, but it definitely showed me data-wise that I couldn't make do in the day with just 4 hours of sleep. At the end of it all, I also realized my sleep sweet spot was sleeping 7-8 hours a night. The app includes tag buttons you can press in the morning to note things like "woken up by someone" or "had caffeine". There were nights I was woken up by my daughter and even my dog, which I would note in the tags for that night's sleep. Too bad there wasn't a Downton Abbey tag, haha.
I was able to try out LARK pro which I recommend completely. It takes all your sleep data and has a coach give you an assessment of your sleep type and recommendations on how to sleep better. With a toddler, anything can happen during the night so my label of "Rookie-Erratic" is correct. I do know that I can control the Rookie part so it's up to me to get myself to bed a lot earlier. TV shows, reading, blogging, surfing my iPad should wait until the next day.
LARK is new and currently works with iOS on the iPhone/iPad but Android isn't too far behind. (Read this support note.) I honestly recommend this alarm to everyone. I can't imagine anyone likes to hear their alarm but it's even more useful to couples and those who are new parents. LARK is perfect if you a partner who snores and you need to wear ear plugs. You can still wake up on time! This alarm is also perfect if you have a baby sleeping in your room and you need to wake up without waking up the baby. You also can't beat having your own personal sleep coach to help you get a better nights sleep.
Buy LARK for just $99 for the device or $159 for LARK pro which is your personal sleep coach for one year and helps improve your sleep. (You can also upgrade your LARK to LARK pro later for just $60.)
LARK Tips:
Make a quick read through the User Manual or FAQ if you have questions.
Make sure you don't set your alarm and unplug your LARK device, until you are actually going to fall asleep. (i.e. You can read in bed and set your alarm after you are done reading.)
Watch this You Tube video to find out more about LARK.
I attended the State of Style Summit this past week, a new edition this year (and deemed the unoffical kick-off) to New York Fashion Week put on by StyleCaster and the 92nd Street Y. It was a day packed with fashion insight and best ways to leverage technology from some of the best in the field.
(photo: StyleCaster.com)
The panel I most enjoyed and had the best takeaways was "From Social Commerce to Soho: Where Does Digital Drive Traffic." Lauren Indvik, Media and Fashion Editor at Mashable moderated with panelists: Alexandra Wilkis Wilson, Co-Founder and CMO of Gilt Groupe and Catherine Moellering, EVP, Tobe Report of Doneger Group. Wilson said Gilt's value proposition has become a place for brands to get the word out and market to consumers, a leap from where they started as a discount ecommerce site. She shared some data that I found interesting (and validates the mobile device usage surge), 30% of sales on the weekends are from mobile devices. And if you can believe it men buy more via Gilt mobile. Her advice to anyone in fashion is to be helpful – help drive consumers to a brand's retail store, website, social media or mobile app.
Catherine shared a ton of great data from The Tobe Report her company publishes on retail trends. Her advice for anyone who wants to see what consumers want for free, use Pinterest. She feels it is the best way to forecast trends, see what people are interested in and see what people are sharing. She would love to see conversion data shared to determine if people are actually buying the products they pin.
If you would like to read more about the event and see photos, Stylecaster has a great wrap-up and slideshow.
Do you like to take pictures with your iPhone? Do you like cute, cuddly characters? Think bunnies with teeth, dreamy rainbows, and smiling fruit. Mr. Chiizu ($2.99 on iTunes) is one of the cutest iPhone apps that lets you decorate your photos with cute themes, photo filters, stickers, pens and text bubbles. It's an app you can truly have fun with! Pictured above are my two little loves Chloe and Lulu. Seriously, I can't stop giggling over Lulu dressed as a mouse with balloons!
Mr. Chiizu was created by Stella Lai (pictured below) and Krister Olsson of Tree-Axis as well as designer/illustrator Jessica Lopez who made the Goth Loilita & Mr. Chiizu themes. Stella, Krister and I are old time web design peeps going back to the late 90's. I have always loved the design work from the duo. They know just the right way to utilize the best of technology while creating designs that are always super duper cute! The interface is really easy to use. New themes and designs will be added periodically starting this fall from some hip designers.
Coquette Giveaway!
One lucky Coquette reader will win a Mr. Chiizu iPhone app! Just leave a comment below. All entries must be in by Monday, October 3, 2011 by Noon PST.
I am so excited that US visitors to Zara.com can now shop online! All the prices are the same as the retail stores and the site offers free shipping for standard delivery (3-5 days) to all 50 states. You can also choose the option to pick up your garment in store as well. Fall shopping just got much easer!
Today in NYC is the Independent Fashion Bloggers conference which has become one of the premier conferences for the fashion blogging community. Don't worry if you aren't in New York, just click the video below to catch the live stream from the conference today!
@dkny is one of my favorite Twitter peeps and it's so fabulous to see her have her own blog now on Tumblr. Visit dknyprgirl.tumblr.com for daily inspiration. I love the cute design and layout. Today's post features a gorgeous fashion sketch by Donna Karan for fall 2011.
HP's new Everybody On campaign features Alicia Keys in the TV ads as well as lots of inspiring folks from different industries. One of my favorites is this video featuring fashion industry veteran and creator of New York Fashion Week Fern Mallis. See more inspiring videos on the HP site.
