New Year's Eve 2010 Attire

I'm often at a loss for what to wear on New Year's Eve. (As evidenced last year... I needed your help choosing my outfit!)

So I was excited to see some stylish New Year's Eve attire ideas on one of my favorite style blogs, FabSugar. The looks range from 70s glam and Brazilian bombshell to Mad Men chic and classic glam. I identified with Jennifer Connelly's updated, feminine tuxedo style.

As seen here on FabSugar.com.

I'm going to use Jennifer's look as inspiration, using items already in my closet. Will post pictures in the New Year*!

(Here's more coverage of Jennifer's look on Shopping the Trend.)

What are you wearing tonight? Everyone be safe and enjoy ringing in 2011!

Katy

*Speaking of the New Year, I'll have an exciting announcement (and some giveaways to accompany) in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!

Mini Review: Herstyler Curling Rod

Like I mentioned a few weeks ago, I sometimes am challenged to go Christmas shopping without doing a little shopping for myself. Color me guilty — sorry!

One thing I'd been eyeing is a curling rod.

A curling rod is like a curling iron but without that pesky clip/arm piece. They are essentially ceramic or metal shafts that you wrap your hair around (then you hold the ends of your hair using a heat-resistant glove). My 20-year-old brother Paul told me about the wonders of the curling rod on a jaunt to ULTA a few weeks ago. He told me he has several thick-haired girlfriends who own them, and that they can curl their whole heads in under 10 minutes with the magical wand.

I've been googling and Amazon stalking ever since. I finally pulled the trigger at a hair appointment last weekend while spilling all the tool's deets to my stylist.

Enter the Herstyler curling rod (I picked up the 18mm - 25mm one that's about $50 on Amazon.com and includes the heat resistant glove).

One reason I thought I'd be a good candidate for a curling rod is that I have naturally wavy (but not truly curly) hair. For some strange reason, the hair from my ears up doesn't really have much body or curl. I hoped the curling rod could give me some additional oomph.

Oh, and I forgot to mention another key element: usability. Some gals have a knack for doing hair. I am not one of those girls. I ride the short bus when it comes to doing my own hair or makeup. I'd heard the curling rod is less complicated/more user-friendly than it's curling iron cousin because you aren't trying to navigate your hair around the arm/clip of the curling iron.

Bleh semi curly hair (though I must say I'm very happy with the recent cut and color job I got with my girl Mary Verilli last weekend... highlights/lowlights with some fun chocolate foils underneath).

BEFORE

And this photo has nothing to do with this blog post but check out my beautiful sister and mom. :)

Okay, fast forward about eight minutes. I gave my hair a light hair spray then wrapped one or two-inch chunks of of hair around the barrel (I chose to curl under). You hold the end of your hair to the hot barrel using the heat-resistant glove. Hold for 10-15 seconds or until very hot, then release.

AFTER

Voila! Because we were running late for the wrong holiday party (see post about that here) and because my hair has some natural wave in it anyway, I chose to only curl the front/top of my head. But given the time commitment, I would estimate it would only take another 5-10 minutes to do the rest of my head.

The good:

• Curling rod gets super hot, fast
• Construction seems durable
• Heat resistant glove included
• Amazon vendors ship quick so you can have this in-hand within 2-3 days
• Easy, foolproof way to give yourself beachy waves or fun curls

The not totally awesome:

• Best curling rod with decent reviews is $50 plus shipping (that's not awful but I wished there had been a more budget friendly option)
• Kits that include more sizes of barrels (so your curls aren't all the same size) are more expensive

All in all, I'd vote this to be a win.

Do you have a curling rod? What do you think?

The Shoe is Where the Fun Is

I'm helping with an executive meeting this week and needed to keep my wardrobe relatively tame and professional. I'm lucky that that we aren't business professional (i.e., suits only) or else it would make dressing creatively much more challenging.

So I chose a navy ruffly top, a black cardigan and black pants for today (I am a believer in navy and black going together just fine). But to keep things interesting, I dusted off a pair of fun shoes for the day.

What I like about these shoes:

• Professional silhouette/shape (2.5 inch heels, closed toe... pretty much a classic pump shape-wise)
• Funky design (if you can't tell from the iPhone photos, they're navy, light blue and light aqua)
• A price I couldn't turn down (these were a Goodwill find - $4 I think)
  

And there you have it: A fun but appropriate shoe is a great way to de-boring-ize work look.

What are your go-to "fun" shoes?

Katy

p.s. I can't wait to take my friend Erica out on one of her first real thrifting excursions. Save the date (first full weekend in January), bb. You're about to be converted!

Oh, and BTW, for you Atlanta fancy handbag mavens... this is a pretty sweet deal:

Brahmin (New England-based, quality handbag company) will be supporting the Make-A-Wish foundation this year by hosting a holiday shopping day at their Lenox Mall store. This Friday, December 10th from 10:00 am-10:00 pm shoppers can stop by the Brahmin handbag store at Lenox Mall to purchase $5.00 donation coupons to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Atlanta. For every $5.00 donation, customers will receive a 20% discount off any full priced item in the Brahmin store. (Caveat: discount can only be used that day.)