Sandals at Twig

I've never bought anything from the online store Twig, but I have often wanted to. Most recently, I have been coveting their adorable selection of sandals. These items are triply impractical for me because in addition to the fact that they're really expensive (though all on sale), I already have too many sandals and I live in a place where we have real sandal weather maybe 20 days a year.

So anyway, enough talk, let's look at some shoe porn!

First up is a pair by my recent favorite shoe designer Chie Mihara. These look so soft and comfortable!



They're an obscene $276.75 (though marked down from $325!). Next are several pairs of Cydwoq sandals. I've always thought Cydwoq shoes were kind of ugly and looked like the sort of thing rich middle-aged arty pseudo-hipsters would wear, but it turns out they make really cute sandals. Like these "Bare" sandals:



Which are $184, plus there's a 10% discount right now on all the Cydwoqs. I am also quite fond of these "Hook" sandals:



They are $248 minus the 10% discount. And finally, I really love these unfortunately named "Sprinkle" sandals, which have a cute little wooden heel:



And they are also $248 minus the discount.

Perfection Champagne glass

I normally don't get very excited by glassware. It's made out of glass, it holds liquid, and hopefully, when you drink from it, you won't dribble something down the front of your dress. But for some reason, I am in awe of the perfect shape of these appropriately named "Perfection Champagne" glasses by Holmegaard:



They're $24 each at Heath Ceramics.

Chilewich "Bamboo" Floormats

My house, it has bare floors. I would love to have something down there to protect my pretty wood floors which I always seem to somehow scratch, but man, rugs are expensive! Even this plastic rug, which I covet for my dining room (a plastic rug is a brilliant idea for a dining area, in that you don't have to worry about how many glasses of red wine your guests have had) is out of my financial reach. Unfortunately, this rug is not very photogenic, it seems, because I can't find a good picture of it online, but in person it's lovely. Bamboo always looks kind of fake and plasticky anyway, so fake plastic bamboo is an inspired idea:



It's $500 for the extra large size (5'10" x 9') that would look soooo perfect in my dining room.

Utility Canvas

I have always thought that mover's blankets were really visually appealing, although usually actual mover's blankets are greasy and stained and they're probably scratchy and not something you would want to put next to your skin. But voila! Now Utility Canvas makes a more civilized version perfect for a civilized picnic (along with many other lovely things that I can't afford)! And there are many fabulous colors from which to choose:



Slate



Black



Porcelain Blue, and many others. This throw version is $125, but they also make bedspread versions in twin, queen and king sizes. But those are even more expensive!

OK, I'm back again

Yes, this blog is on again!

I have been coveting many things in my absence, such as the beautiful clothing made by etsy seller gaiaconceptions.

My favorite item of hers is this "Tiny Dancer Tank":



It is $55 and available in many beautiful hand-dyed colors of organic cotton.

This "Tie Strap Dress" is also fabulous, although a little cleavage-tastic for my own comfort level (which is just as well, as I can't afford it anyway, sigh.)



The dress is $130.

Not even nail polish!

This is a rough year, wallet-wise. I'm remodeling my house and getting married, so I've decided that I can't afford to make any frivolous purchases. Not even nail polish!



So no pretty dark gray shiny Lippman Collection polish designed by Pat Benetar.



No lovely, glossy dark magenta by Rescue Beauty Lounge.



And of course no perfect tomato-red by Nars, either. Sigh.

Bad thoughts

I kind of wish my refrigerator would die so I could get a Big Chill. Even though it totally wouldn't go with my kitchen.

Virginia Johnson

I read about Virginia Johnson in a magazine a while back, but never checked out her website until she was recently featured on Oh Joy. She's a textile designer, but she also sells products made from textiles, including, you know, clothes:



Like this t-shirt dress with crocodiles on it which is fabulous, but also $198. For a t-shirt dress. Thankfully, they don't have it in my size.




Luckily, her website has a pretty extensive sale section with stuff like this blouse. Unfortunately, I still can't justify its purchase, as it is $85 and living in San Francisco as I do I am virtually never warm enough to wear a short-sleeved blouse.





You know, I'm just not a scarf person, but if I were, I would totally want this one. It's $98. And I kind of want it anyway!

One-pieces

For a long time, it seemed like designers were only interested in making bikini swimsuits, but now everyone is making cute one-pieces. It's sort of like how it used to be impossible to find nice flat shoes, and now it is harder to find anything with a heel. But anyway, check these out:



I love the fabric and the shirring in this Tyler Rose "Cartier" suit. Unfortunately, I don't think I could ever wear it even if I could afford it because of side-boob issues. It's $192 at shopbop.com.



You know that one-pieces are popular when even the queen of bikinis, Malia Mills, is making them! I love this "Vixen" suit with the little ribbon tie in the back but it's $300! Until now, it was a non-issue as this one was also intended solely for the smaller-chested girls, but now I see that it is available as a special order for C/D cups! For probably even more money!



This Malia Mills "Dionne" suit is also pretty awesome. I love the purple. This one is $325, but also has to be special ordered if you're a C/D cup. Looks like I will be sticking to my old bikinis this year...

Built by Wendy boatneck dress

Dresses are the best. You only have to put on one garment and then your clothes are on! Unfortunately, I rarely wear dresses because 1. I'm always cold when I wear one and 2. If I wear one everyone always asks me why I am dressed up.

But this one from the new Built by Wendy collection is just so awesome:



But I want the purple one (and also the sunglasses the model is wearing in that first picture):



Tragically, it is $292, but if nobody buys one, it'll go on sale in a few months. Keep your fingers crossed!

Urban Outfitters shoes

Urban Outfitters is a reliable source of cute but crappily made shoes that will last you for one season. In that sense, they may be thought of as extravagant, but I like to indulge myself from time to time.



Sure these flats appear to have no arch support whatsoever and would probably shrivel up and die if you ever got caught in them in the rain, but they'd look good with lots of things and are probably pretty comfortable and only $58.



These shoes are sort of trendy and silly, but I like them. I guess I'm kind of a sucker for the '80s. These are also $58.



I was in an actual Urban Outfitters store yesterday and saw these and they are far better looking in person than on the website. And only $29.99! Of course, they don't have them in my size online, but they did in the store. But I didn't get them because the last thing I need is another pair of silver flats.



...speaking of which, the above are a great $19.99 version of the gorgeous Lanvin ballet flats which I also saw in person yesterday. The Lanvin flats...of my god, that photo also doesn't do them justice, but they are spectacular in person. And also $460, sadly.

Frye Shoes

The only thing better than pretty shoes is pretty shoes that are actually practical and that you can wear all day long even if you walk a lot. Frye shoes definitely fit the bill. I bought a pair last year and I wear them all the time, even though they have wood soles which kind of makes me sound like a horse when I walk around. But the shoes I am about to show you all have leather or rubber soles anyway:



I think I might actually buy these "Clementine" flats. They are on sale at shopbop for $103.60, but not in my size. Zappos had them in my size at full price, but not in the gold color I most wanted. A lot of the cutest Frye styles sell out fast.



These "Ada" shoes are so cute! Too bad I don't really need any open-toed heels. They're $148.



These "Cameron" shoes are the ones I'm really lusting after, but they are also sold out in my size. I'm hoping that some show up over at zappos soon, possibly in gold? These are also $148.