end of days (in 2006)

left l.i. yesterday to mainline nyc straight into the veins before heading out to BVI, tortola tonite. hooked up with meg and nicole and sam. we had yumy sushi across the street from megs place on 1st and 1st. met the band army of me at the restaurant who were playing the bowery ballroom last night. they invited us to the show which we headed to after large amounts of sake and edamame. ended up catching the last part of their set and then got totally turned on to the headlining band, men women and children. this trendster highly suggests checking them out. after the show, we said our goodbyes and headed back to catch some zzz's. came home to an email from nicole's beau in the BVI who is throwing a mustache party for us upon our arrival. today I am checking out the bodies exhibit at the southstreet seaport, picking up a couple of much needed last-minute travel items (including a laura mercier lip gloss and stila cheek stain in petunia) and meeting cait and michael at panna II (my fave ny indian joint. go!), before leaving to ring in 2007 right. not a bad second to last day of the year rounding out a really great year.

merry christmas, ya'll

I effin love xmas. got great gifts like a digi cam, white hotel sheets with black piping, betsey johnson shades and a tool kit. cait got tod's shoes and kate spade wellies, a barney's coat and a wicked awesome blender. my mom got two little blue boxes this year. a ceramic jewlery box from me and cait and a beautiful gold and mother of pearl necklace from my pops. clothes and accessories are the new toys. went to aunt marilyns, did the feast of the seven fishes thing. went to uncle mikes, did the nine hour italian dinner thing. just got home and headed to the movies with cait and michael to see blood diamond. it was incredible. leo is incredible. the movie is incredible. I said that. boycott diamonds. those things are bad news bears.

the style world according to richard zaino

when I come home to long island for the holidays, I seriously revert back to being an 8 year old. I wear the same over-sized sweatshirt for days in a row with no thought to what the peeps at the smithhaven mall think. wellllll, last night, we were heading out to pick up some gifts for my dad's secretaries (by the way, we picked out three very yummy smelling, over-sized candles for $5 each at marshalls. that added with a beautiful holiday bag made for an inexpensive and great looking gift) and he refused he go out with me looking like a ragamuffin. his very opinionated thought was why go out in your pajama top and big jeans when you can throw on a nice sweater and normal fitted pants because you dont who you are going to run in to or what impression you will need to make. I agree. I'm lazy about but I agree. there you have it folks - if it weren't for my dad, I would be talking trends in a flannel set from old navy and who the heck would be listening then?

crafty gift in a flash

with only a couple of days of gift buying left, here's a fun and easy way to surprise your friends with something sassy -- stationary!!!!! I'm in new york with the fam for the holidays and yesterday me and cait headed to joann craft store and picked up blank note cards and envelopes for $5.99 and a set of large courier font alphabet stamps for $9.99 and made personalized stationary for all the friends and cousins in our big italian fam. stamp out the names on the front of the note card, tie up five pieces with envelopes with pretty red ribbon and voila! you made someone very happy (and saved some cash too!). merry chanukah. xoxo.

in the mucky muck

I loved these textured wellies from j.crew so much, that I ditched the winter uggs and bought the last display in the store that isnt even in my size.

new years trendz

Yup, it’s that time again when the apple drops, another year has passed and a whole new line of fashion moves us forward into the future. When it comes to clothes, think glamorous 1950’s starlet. Fitted, lady like pieces with lots of soft layering. Scarlett Johanssen is a perfect example of a curvy girl who dresses to impress. Make sure to pick something pretty that is heavy on prints – plaid, animal, crests and bad girl skulls are a few of the patterns we have to choose from in the New Year. Also, lady-like lace embellishments. Benhaz’s go international collection at target has some fun and frilly pieces adorned with lace perfect for the new year. Not that we’ve got the top figured out lets address your bottom and everyone wants their bottom to look banging. The new year will ring in a slew of jeans that are much wider at the foot. The pendulum is swinging back toward wide-leg bellish bottoms. Justin Timberlake’s line William Rast has a fab pair of ‘belle’ stretch jeans. Whether its boot cut or skinny, I am a true blue fan of the 7 for all makind line and feel every woman will find something she likes from their collection. Leggings are also sticking around and look sassy when paired with oversized tops and cinch-waist belts. Accessories are your cherries on top and this year is no exception when it comes to pieces that make bold statements. Lots of Black and gold popping up in handbags and jewelry. Oversized gold pieces for your neck, wrists and fingers. Cleopatra has got nothing on you. Keeping with the oversized theme, your bag should be BIG for daytime. Buti’s large handheld bag is one of my faves. Large slouch/hobo bags with rich fabrics like heavy leather, suede and wool. When it comes to night-time make sure you have a fun wristlet that fits all of your necessary accouterments but still looks fun and flirty. Something we are seeing a lot of this year is gloves. Yummy, buttery leather of all lengths worn outside or in for a chic finish to any frock. Yup, Gloves are back big time! And finally we finish it off at the feet. Nothing says hello! Like heels. This year we are seeing the platform sole which with its heftier sole balances out a fitted-top and the season’s wide-leg pant. if you look around you’ll see its boots that are made for walking. From ankle booties to slouch boots to lace up boots, you’re bound to find a style that sexes up your look. Ok for folks, that’s it for me on the fashion trends of 2007. I wish the happiest of happy and the merriest of merry.

save the eggs!

me, bree and wendi got up super duper early and did the ovarian cancer friendship run/walk for cedars sinai. it was really fun. there were calvaries of ROTC army men running and yelling something about doing good in unison. sir yessir. we saw many good looking people this early in the AM and figured that good karma (and looks) do go to those who do this sort of thing. we were given t-shirts to wear for the walk and for a second we thought about tricking them out but realized it was 6am in the morning and we would take our chances looking like dorks if it means fighting the fight against ovarian cancer. p.s. if you're a women and reading this, schedule an appt. with your gyno to get the cervical cancer vaccine shot asap.

fashion is funny

sometimes I think the designers of today are just taking the piss. have you caught the oversized chanel plastic carryall? it literally looks like a black garbage bag but they've managed to add a double C charm to it and stick a $1000. price tag on. that's funny. how about gaultier's super-sized model in the paris runway shows? I'm sure her use was to be provactive from the backlash of the madris skinny model setback, but she was just that. used. funny? fashion is not saving the world so we cant take it too seriously so when gals get serious with such obvious attempts at irreverence, we must step back and laugh.

raised eyebrows

went to go see my friend damone roberts, the eyebrow king of beverly hills today. I am doing s new headshot photog session with ingrid next week in addition to shooting a how do I look? so I need my brows looking their best. I asked damone what the current beauty trend for eyebrow shaping is and he said still natural, not super arched. think brooke shields early eighties.