Coquette

Swarm Over to Stylehive

A couple months ago, I inquired to find out more about stylehive on their preview site. Now the site has finally just launched and I signed up today for an account. Wow. I am completely blown away. Turns out stylehive is a pretty fantastic social bookmarking site for the fashion and digital style crowd. Unlike del.icio.us, your links are all visual and you can browse all the latest in categories like fashion, gadgets, technology, shopping, home, shoes and a whole lot more. The blog is really great to find out about new goods in any category.

To test it out I decided to test out adding links and I started with Glam.com. The interface is easy to use but I forgot to tag the categories. FYI, I woke up at 4am to fly back home from Austin, TX. Maybe it was the lack of sleep, but I ended up copying bookmarks since I couldn't find a way to delete bookmarks. (UPDATE JUST IN: Stephanie from stylehive just informed me that the edit/delete tool will be available in a couple weeks. yay!) So...right now unfortunately I'm the dork with three posts of the same thing. Ooopsy!! I'll be adding more stuff to my stylehive links soon (I've added it to my resources sidebar) so anyone can check out what cool goods I like on the scene. Sign up now!

My Stylehive:
http://www.stylehive.com/nataliezee

Five Foodie Challenge

Andrea of Making Things tagged me for the 5 Foodie Challenge. Thanks Andrea! This is a much needed kick in the butt to really start nailing down some goals for a healthier lifestyle in 2006. This may not work here in Austin, TX as I'm here for SXSW (I just had nachos at lunch), but I'll start when I get back home on Wed. ;)

1) Healthy Decisions
I am starting force myself to consider healthier ways of eating, even when ordering out at a restaurant. I tend to go for the lobster ravioli, rather than a healthier salmon or chicken. Especially for lunch as it's all too easy to get fries and a sandwich rather than having a healthy salad. Making my own food is key and I need to find more variety in my healthy recipes otherwise I get bored.

2) Limit Cheese
It's scary how much cheese and french bread at one sitting, especially if I have some good wine with it. This year of all years I need to cut back because I have to fit into a wedding dress.

3) Less Coffee
I stopped drinking coffee last spring and I realized my body adjusted and I found my own energy in the mornings. It was a great feeling. I substituted herbal tea or green tea which is rich with anti-oxidents. Somehow ever since the beginning of the year, coffee has creeped back up into my routine. I don't want to deprive myself of things (because that's not a healthy way to go), so I just want to make sure I don't make it a daily habit but more like a once a week (or hopefully less).

4) Healthy Breakfast
Sometimes I skip breakfast and other times its a carb filled mix of croissants, pain au chocolat, waffles or pancakes. So I am going to try to eat more fruit, yogurt and have a healthier breakfast. Basically more fruit.

5) Drink More Water
I am thirsty now just thinking about this.

I'm tagging Ms. Glaze my favorite foodie to give us her take on the challenge!

Coquette Things - Hoop Dreams

The best pick me up as you wait for spring? A easy and affordable pick me up is earrings. Get yourself a pair (or more) of these great dangly earrings. Hoops are in this season and it's not just the traditional single hoop style anymore. Hoops are diversifying into so many fun and dangly styles that look great with everything in your wardrobe. Just perfect as we transition this month from our bulky sweaters to cute spring tees.

Banana Republic Multi-hoop Beaded Earring ($38)
A perfect combination of rings and colorful beads.

Long Circle Earrings ($74)
I love this long streamlined look but with the added circle hoops in the middle.

Hoop Horn Earrings ($30)

Kris Nations Mother of Pearl Tusk Earrings ($87.50)

Anthropologie Fermina Earrings ($158)

By Boe Multi-hoop Earring ($66)

Chloe Wins!

I have to say I was really excited last night when I found out that Chloe Dao won Project Runway 2. According to Yahoo News, Chloe plans on staying in Houston to expand on her successful boutique, Lot 8, and expand her own fashion line. Finally a talented woman gets her chance to make it in fashion. Congrats! I called it in my post after their fashion show a couple weeks ago. I know not many people agreed with me when I went over her collection, but I thought the whole show was cohesive and she really makes things fit in a beautiful and different way. I love the 13th dress that Chloe and Diana Eng did. The pockets were a perfect touch. Feminine, sexy and fun! I can't wait to see what Chloe does next.

Matt & Nat: Vegan Never Looked So Cute!

I am loving this new brand matt & nat based in Montreal, Canada. I first caught a glimpse of some of their bags at the store flight001 on hayes in SF. I love of course that my name is a part of their brand, but I also love that they are so fashionable with a conscience. All of matt & nat's products are 100% vegan (cruelty free, no animal products, being kind and dignified) made from the highest quality synthetic leathers (mostly of PVC). Most importantly these bags are functional -- click on the info for what's inside a typical bag and you find a cell phone pocket, a zipper pocket, a detachable keychain, and the positivity message stamped inside the lining or sometimes outside the bag. Plus did i mention how cute these bags are? It's nice to know that you can support these kinds of fashionable brands and feel like you are making some sort of difference just by buying a handbag. How's that for Zen?

Pictured Above:
Strangelove large $110
Strangelove small $90

More favorite finds:

Keller $105

Metro $110

se7ev $85

St-Laurent $55 - I want this in bronze! A cute alternative to MJ's way pricier wallet.

My Oscars Best Dressed List

Yes the Oscars are finally over and now its time to critique all the fashion. The best Oscar fashion photo gallery by far is up via Yahoo! Movies. Here's my votes for best dressed.

#1 Keira Knightley just looked stunning in her Vera Wang gown and 60's baubles by Bvlgari.

#2 Uma Thurman - Can she be any more gorgeous? (Wearing Versace)

#3 Michelle Williams - I liked her daring style and it evoked so much old Hollywood glamour. Very 40's! Some critics gave her flack that her skin was too pale to wear that yellow but I thought it worked well for her skin tone and her young age. It was fun and glam at the same time.

#4 Jessica Alba - Her Versace gown just looked amazing on her tanned skin.

#5 Reese Witherspoon - In Dior. She just looked so elegant and I thought her dress suited her well. I was glad she won!

Honorable Mention - Rachel Weisz just looks so beautiful and seemed to have that pregnancy glow all night. I loved that she chose a black dress which actually gave her more emphasis on her beautiful face and her increased décolletage.

We noshed early in the night as the Oscars began on decadent treats like foie gras, caviar, salmon toasts, and cheeses. All washed down with some champers. Soooo yummy! I got full though after like a good half hour or so of stuffing myself.

Time for an Oscar Party!

We are definitely gearing up for the Oscars on Sunday. Gilles, mon fiance, and I are going to have a special champagne and hors-'derves night complete with foie gras, oysters, caviar, and lots of yummy cheese. Mmmmmm...Cheese. Unfortunately I missed seeing the rest of my required Oscar watching movies such as "Brokeback Mountain", "Hustle & Flow", and "Good Night, and Good Luck". Still, look for my Oscars fashion recap on Monday.

I love the special style section on Oscars.com featuring a interactive sitelet of eight top fashion designers' vision for Oscar fashion. My pick is of course, Giorgio Armani.

My all-time Oscar favs to watch? Here's the ladies who always look elegant and stylish: Cate Blanchet, Julianne Moore, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Nicole Kidman.

And word up to the glamourous Chinese ladies of past Oscars: CoCo Lee, Lucy Liu, Ziyi Zhang, and Michelle Yeoh.

Oscars.com
Oscars Printable Ballot

The All Around Bag - Hobos

I got caught up reading the article in the NY Times Thursday Style Section "Fuller Lives Need Bigger Bags". The writer Michelle Slatalla was on a dream quest to find a new all around big bag. I have to say, having a bigger bag is great because you can stuff whatever you want in there. I carry everything in my bag so I always have what I need. From three shades of lipstick or gloss, band aids, kleenex, mints, notebook, pens, digital camera, cellphone, at least 2-3 pens of different colors, glasses, calendar book, sometimes my apple laptop power cable, oh and my wallet. Michelle finally selected this Marc by Marc Jacobs leather eyelet hobo bag in nutmeg.

I have to say I really like the shape of the bag and the price point is pretty reasonable, only $428. But I like it better in the black color here from eluxury.com. Just a bit more edgy. It looks almost like those big vintage bags from the 70's. The smaller eyelet hobo looks great too (defintely not the silver color) and it looks just as roomy. But this got me started on a quest for an even ahem, more reasonably priced big bag...

These gold studded hobo bags look really hip and are only $75 from Intuition in LA (and worn by Amanda Bynes on the homepage). Considering trends come and go, you could buy at least three or four different styles, knowing of course they aren't of the best quality to begin with. I like the white bag for sure.