Anna Sui for Fit Flop

Too embarrassed to keep wearing your Uggs, but not ready to give up the warmth and comfort? Trade up to a pair of Anna Sui Shakoha Boot FitFlop. According to W Magazine, Anna and Marcia Kilgore, FlipFlop creator and founder of Bliss Spas, ran into each other at Garren Salon. Turns out the pair go way back (Anna recommended Garren to Marcia back in the day) and Marica asked Anna to create a pair of FitFlop boots.

The suede and shearling boots look just as cozy as a pair of Uggs, but the stud detailing and tassel give them the edge fashion wise. The boots also have the same MicrowobbleboardTM midsole that the FitFlops do that is supposed to tone legs as you walk. We couldn't imagine sliding out of a more perfect boot in the security line at the airport on the way to our next ski trip. Telluride, anyone?

The Anna Sui Shakoha Boot FitFlop is available on Net-a-Porter. Get yours fast--only 1,500 of the limited edition boots were made.

Gossip Girl Cocktails at the Empire Hotel

The Empire Hotel used to be one of our favorite places for a quiet cocktail--the lobby that is. The rooftop in summer is a scene worthy of Gossip Girl. Guess that's why the producers of our once favorite, now-resuscitating-itself show traded The Palace for The Empire, the hotel Chuck bought and is adding a hot club to. So it follows that the bar is now serving Gossip Girl-themed cocktails like S, B, I'm Chuck Bass, Lonely Boy and the Jenny Tartlet.

All this brush with fame should get the hotel ready for New York Fashion Week next September, when it's sure to become to Lincoln Center what the Bryant Park Hotel is to Bryant Park.

Mr. Chow's Celebrating With Free Champagne

Did your invite to the Mr. Chow 57th Street 30th anniversary party get lost in the mail? Ours too! Fortunately, we can all celebrate with bottle of Laurent Perrier Champagne free for each table, now through December 15. With generosity like that, we're sure Mr. Chow's will be around for another 30 years! Psst...to be an insider, let your waiter order for you.

That's China Chow and Michael Chow above at the party.

Holiday Looks from Sephora

While we're big proponents of wearing sequins all year; we recognize the popularity of shine and sparkle during the holidays. We love Sephora's "Get the Look" guides for holiday makeup especially the Bedazzled Lips and Lids above which features long feathery Make Up For Ever lashes and plum Korres eye shadow. While the lip is a great color (Givenchy Rouge Interdit in Vamp Pink), we'd skip the extra glitter here. Afterall, you can have too much a good thing!

You can find this and other great looks at Sephora.

Jennifer Aniston and Penelope Cruz at the Airport

People updated one of our all-time favorite online columns this past week "Stars' Airport Style." Jennifer Aniston looks too cute for words arriving in L.A. after her girls' trip to Mexico. She almost makes us want to revisit the boyfriend jeans trend again.

Meanwhile, Penelope Cruz looks impossibly fresh arriving at JFK. We need that Missoni tote she's carrying for our next beach trip!

Janel Marie Cool Hair

Just browsing through youtube on a bored day I came across some awesome makeup tutorial by one Janel Mariee. This girl has got the raddest scene hair I have seen in a long time.

Check it out!
Black hair with purple and blue streaks and some coontails

Bright blue hairstyle

Awesome green hair

Beautiful turquoise blue with yellowy green streaks.


This girl has amazing hairstyles and great video tutorials on youtube like this one about doing your makeup (especially the eyes) like Audrey Kitching:

Dye Black Hair Blonde

A guide to removing black hair dye.

Ok, so many of us have gone ahead and dyed our hair a jet black and yes it looks absolutely awesome but over time you get the feeling that you need a change. Perhaps now you want to go completely blonde so that you can then add some coontails in blue or maybe some pink streaks here and there.



Any of you who have ever dyed your hair black before will know how hard it is to get rid of the black hair color without completely ruining and destroying your hair. Black hair dye is the hardest to remove of all hair dyes as it penetrates the hair shaft very deeply. As tempting as it is to use a 40 vol peroxide to bleach the black away you may end up looking like Homer Simpson with 2 strands of hair left on your head or a completely fried mop that falls off in your hands.

The best product to use is L'Oreal Color Zap. You can buy this product at general beauty stores or online. This product is ideal and made specifically for removing permanent hair color from your hair, it is a hair stripper, it does contain some bleach in order to do what it is meant to do.

Follow the instructions on the box and do not condition your hair. Your hair should now be a medium brassy orange. Not a nice color I know but it gets better.

Now it is time to bring out the bleach. Make sure you only use a 20 vol or 30 vol peroxide. Add to your hair as per instructions and rinse thoroughly. You may need to do the bleaching process twice to get to the platinum blonde stage.

For a tutorial on how to get platinum blonde hair go here: Bleach Hair Blonde

More on Sex and the City in Morocco

Thanks to Cindy Adams of the New York Post who continues to give us dish on the Sex and the City shoot in Morocco. She's now reporting that our original instincts were on target, and Sarah Jessica Parker is staying at the newly refurbished La Mamounia. (If SJP was there for Thanksgiving, she would have had the opportunity to party with the likes of Jennifer Aniston, Orlando Bloom, Salma Hayek and Gwyneth Paltrow who were in town to celebrate the grand opening of La Mamounia.) Co-stars Kristen Davis and Kim Catrall are at the luxe Amanjena, according to Cindy. And Cynthia Nixon? She's at the Es Saadi.

According to Cindy, filming is at the soon-to-open Mandarin Oriental Marrakech. Cindy's write up contains a plot spoiler, so only click thru if you want to know what happens in the Sex and the City movie.

Read on for more about the opening of La Mamounia.

Web Snob Roundup 11-27-09

Stiletto Jungle is excited that Uniqlo HeatTech clothing is now available online.

Allie is Wired fashion face-off: Jessica Biel vs. Mandy Moore.

Bag Snob has the perfect neon clutch for that sparkly holiday dress.

Beauty Snob has the perfect holiday gift guide for the Frugal Snob.

Fashion Pule Daily reveals an amazing new dry shampoo during the latest 3 Minutes of Beauty segment.

Ouch! The Jet Set Girls experience their first Brazilian wax.

KRISTOPHER DUKES is wanting, wearing, and hating Brulee lingerie.

Second City Style shows us with so much sparkle and shine in 2009 - What To Wear This Holiday Season .

SheFinds won't let you miss a deal - check out the best Black Friday sales, going on all weekend.

Shopping and Info loves Kristen Stewart of Twilight’s Sergio Rossi platform pumps.

StyleBakery.com's Huge Holiday Gift Guide rounds up over 130 gifts for everyone on your list (and most are under $50!)

The Beauty Stop tells how you can get your beauty wish granted by Sephora Claus.

The Fashion Bomb finds the best Black Friday Steals and Deals both online and in stores.

How to Cure a Hangover

While we're still searching for that ever elusive hangover cure, we can at least fake feeling better with these tips from DailyMakeover.com's Carmindy. In addition to her camouflage tips, we recommend a few cooling products. Two must haves are Rohto Eye Drops in Arctic and Lumene Time Freeze Instant Cooling Eye Stick. If nothing else, you'll at least take your body temp down a few notches while you sweat it out.



Please note this blog is an affiliate of DailyMakeover.com.

Black Friday & Cyber Monday Deals - Holiday Gift Ideas

Here's a small selection of our favorite Black Friday & Cyber Monday Deals:

RueLaLa has sales on HankyPanky and Junior Drake today starting at 7.

Wendy Culpepper jewelery is offering 25% off from today through Monday with code: Friday09.

Get 40% of the hair accessories at Bambako today through Friday at 11:59 pm with code: THANKS.


Our favorite EmilyElizabeth jewelry is offering shoppers 25% off with code SAVE25 through November 30. We would definitely use it towards her butterfly necklace.


Get 30% off at Steve Madden.com on Thanksgiving day only with code THANKSGIVING30.

Shop on BobbiBrown.com November 30-December 2 and get 20% off all orders. Bobbi's donating a portion of the profits to Dress for Success.



Hitting the mall? Get to H&M early! Shoppers will get 25% off a single item between 6 am and 10 am on Black Friday.

Old Navy's Gobblepalooza deals include buy one get one free t-shirts, $15 sweaters and 50% off all outerwear.

Read on for more online Black Friday and Cyber Monday Deals.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Over at IndependentTraveler, they're sharing 5 reasons for travelers to be grateful this season. The list focuses on all the ways travel has gotten easier and cheaper. Here are a few of our own travel-related thanks:

• All the great travel websites that make booking your flight, choosing your airplane seat and room and scheduling dinner reservations easier.

• The vast array of travel-size hair products so our hair can look sexy, fab and freshly styled in any city.

• That we can download Glee to our iPod and make any travel-related delay more bearable.

• We can get free Wi-Fi on Virgin America now through January 15.

• One of our favorite homes away from home, the W hotels has opened new branches in Barcelona, Washington D.C., Boston, Santiago (below) and other cities across the globe and has more openings planned for 2010.

Did we miss any? Happy Thanksgiving!

2 Minutes to Kristen Stewart's New Moon Beauty

We just got back from seeing New Moon and loved every minute! We couldn't help but notice Kristen Stewart's natural beauty in the movie--we remarked, along with friends, how much prettier she is in this movie. How can you get her glow at home? We recommend using a handful of Bobbi Brown products that are quick and easy.

Start with nicely shaped brows. Use Bobbi's Pot Rouge in Blushed Rose on your lips and cheeks (pictured below), eye shadow in toast, and her Perfectly Defined Mascara in black. Easy, peezy and you'll look fresh, natural and beautiful, like Bella.

For more New Moon-inspired beauty, check out the Luna Twilight Beauty Collection at Nordstrom's. We're crushing on the "Just Bitten" Staining Balm.

What to Wear for Thanksgiving Dinner

Still stumped about what to wear tomorrow? Contributing editor, Lorena Crowley, created two outfit options.

Go with a dressed up pair of jeans if you're having dinner with friends. We love the bargains: The military coat is $66 at TopShop and the plaid bag is $50 at Gap.

Thanksgiving Casual by lorena.crowley featuring GAP bags

Items in this set:
3.1 Phillip Lim blouse, $136
TopShop coat, 40 GBP
J Brand jeans, 160 GBP
Nordstrom.com flats, $70
GAP tote bag, $50

Meeting his parents, having dinner with your boss or meeting Blair and Chuck at the Empire Hotel for dinner? A tweed skirt, something satin and a dash of sparkle are the way to go.

Thanksgiving to the Nines by lorena.crowley featuring Calvin Klein

Items in this set:
D&G top, 180 GBP
Calvin Klein jacket, $3,495
K Karl Lagerfeld skirt, $195
Giuseppe Zanotti shoes, 490 GBP
Lulu Guinness clutch, 175 GBP

Brazilian Waxing: My Experience with a Brazilian Wax and What You Can Expect

I've only had one bikini wax before braving the full Brazilian; but I'd heard so much about them from my girlfriends, it was finally time to try one myself. Finding a salon is confusing since every one of them does a Brazilian these days. I ended up choosing Circe, an Aveda spa in Old Town Alexandria, Va. because it was featured in InStyle magazine. After my making my appointment, I checked out their website where I was lucky enough to find a $25 coupon for first time waxers.

The first advise I got was from Amy who told me to take ibuprofen before going. Also, don't go while your PMSing, because your tissue is swollen which can make the procedure more painful.

When I arrived at the salon, my technician, Sarah, told me to undress below the waist and lay on my back on the table. Yes, completely bare from the waist down, no draping. I'm not modest, per se; but this was mildly uncomfortable.

First, Sarah sprinkled corn starch on my bikini area so that the wax wouldn't stick to my skin. Then she applied warm wax in small sections and removed the hair in strips. Let me pause momentarily to tell you that yes it hurts as much as you've heard. I'm not sensitive and consider my threshold for pain quite high, but this was a shock to my system. Once the waxing is complete...everywhere... the technician wiped a soothing oil all around and began tweezing the stray hairs.

My results? Well, don't expect images for this one; but I can tell you I resembled a Barbie doll (or Ken doll for that matter). Unfortunately, the next day I also had a red rash either from the shock of the treatment or from a reaction to the wax, but it went away by the second day.

The following week, I contended with a barrage of ingrown hairs and I tried everything I could find to combat the problem. The best advice (again it takes a village with me) was from my friend, Phoebe, who recommended Neutrogena's Black Head Removing Scrub with 2% salicylic acid. While I think that went a long way in keeping the inflammation and infection at bay, there's no avoiding the fact that my coarse hair had a mind of its own.

The salon recommended I return a month later for a touch up and I'm still on the fence. I liked the initial results and the idea of thinning out the hair; but contending with ingrown hairs is daunting. I'm leaning towards giving it one more chance. If that's not an easier experience, I'm looking into laser treatments and, you know, I'll tell you all about it!

Photo by Amazon: you can find the Barbie and Ken Olympic Ice Skater there; but hurry there's only one left!

Coontail Hair Pictures

The sexy coontail trend is largely attributed to scene queen Kiki Kannibal. Coontails are a great way to add texture and color to your scene hairstyle.



Kiki Kannibal Coontails:


This awesome trend was reproduced by the likes of Vanna Venom:



and coontails can be seen on Audrey Kitching and Jac Vanek:


and on the likes of Izzy Hilton and Dani Gore:



And on gorgeous scene girls everywhere:
Coontails in crazy turquoise blue


Coontails in purple and pink or blue and pink, the possibilities are endless and only limited by your imagination.


Coontails in different shades of blue

Hand painted coontails in black


Amazing black hair with white blonde coontails.


Bleach blonde hair with faded black coontails.

Lists for Life - Holiday Gift Ideas

Though it's gotten mixed reviews on Amazon, we're anxious to check out Rory Tahari's Lists for Life: The Essential Guide to Getting Organized and Tackling Tough To-Dos. The creative director of Tahari is a self-proclaimed compulsive list maker and her book of lists covers everything from weddings, home buying and cleaning, parenting and, our favorite, traveling. She tells Travel & Leisure that her three top pointers for packing are: 1. Check the Weather. 2. Plan your outfit ahead of time and 3. Download her Lists for Life iPone app. Pretty good, but she missed our top tip for packing.

We recommend Lists for Life for all the disorganized friends on your holiday list--all your type-A anal friends will know this stuff already.

Thanksgiving Recipe: Chestnut Soup from the 1789 Restaurant

On Saturday afternoon, I took the most enlightening cooking class at 1789 Restaurant in Georgetown with my mother. The highlights of the class were the two uber charming chefs, Head Chef Daniel Giusti above and Pastry Chef Travis Olson below, who stressed quality ingredients and simple preparation make for delicious food. Our menu was based on the American Chestnut, which isn't easy to find. We made Chestnut Soup which I'll reveal below, roasted chicken with chestnut polenta and brussel sprouts, and milk chocolate mousse with poached pairs and candied chestnuts. It was all delicious and made even more enjoyable because we sat at a long table and shared stories with a great group of women (many of whom were former Redskins cheerleaders) and one brave man. Don't be surprised to find my new Redskins friends on JSG because they just returned from a fab trip to Italy that I can't wait to dish about!



Chestnut Soup

serves 4

1.5 cups peeled chestnuts (can substitute asian chestnuts)

1/2 onion (peeled and diced)

1/2 carrot (peeled and diced)

1/2 rb of celery (diced)

2 cups poultry stock

2 Tbsp whole butter

salt and pepper to taste

In a small pot, melt 1 T of the butter and then add the vegetables. Cook the vegetables slowly until they soften slightly. Add the chestnuts and just cover with the poultry stock. Cook the chestnuts until they are falling apart. Let the mixture cool slightly and then blend with the remaining butter. Pass the soup through a fine sieve or chinoise. Possible garnishes: brioche croutons, thinly sliced raw chestnuts, glazed chestnuts, foie gras (seared or torchon).

A Peek Inside Alix Strauss' Carry On Bag

We recently snooped inside the carry on bag of Alix Strauss, author of Death Becomes Them: Unearthing the Suicides of the Brilliant, the Famous, and the Notorious. (Our favorite chapter in the book is "Not the Suite Life: Ten Hotel Suicides".) Here's what Alix takes with her when she travels:


I haven't checked my luggage since 1987. I covered an eco-challenge in New Zealand for 2 weeks and didn’t check anything!

Years and years ago, when I was a junior reporter I went to a Bottega Venetta event. They gave me this beautiful bag with my initials on the lock. I felt like I had won the Golden Ticket! The shape was so ahead of its time. Through the years, I've had it cleaned. I'm a true minimalist: I have very few, but I have very good.



I got my iPhone over the summer as a very early birthday gift. Now, it's an appendage. I’m obsessed with it. The whole world can work out of one little thing.

I also travel with a Nano and back up my computer with it. God forbid my computer falls apart.

My head never shuts off, so I appreciate books on tape. If I wear out my mind, I’ll eventually go to sleep. Currently I'm listening to When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris.



I'm a a very light sleeper and true insomniac. I need a light noise to get me through the night. I have a recording device that you can plug into an iPod. I taped my air conditioner for 2.5 hours, so when I’m in hotel and traveling or in a tent or something, I can actually fall asleep. Ear plugs help, too.


I'm now an alternative music fan — I used to be show tunes. Who doesn’t like Sondeheim? Now I'm on to Ambulance, New Pornographers, Belle and Sebastian. Beta Band and Death Cab for Cutie (below)


As for makeup, I travel with YSL Touche Eclat because I sleep badly, Nars Orgasm Blush, Calyx perfume and hair gel.

I travel with Wrigelys, because fresh breath is a priority.

I always carry a floor map of new apt that I just bought. I'm in the process of interviewing contractors. On that note, I also have a tape measure.

I travel in a V-neck black or navy cashmere sweater. I follow the slide out and rotate rule. (JSG Note: We like this J. Crew cashmere option.)


Coffee is my only vice. My new back up plan is Starbucks instant coffee. If I'm really hard up, I just swish it in my mouth.