Eat your heart out, Carrie Bradshaw

My new favourite shoes and some current reading material.

Shoes, ASOS


P.S. Apologies for the tardiness of this post! Please also note that there will be no Socialite column this week as our columnist is currently vacationing in the Maldives (on my suggestion - the resort is fantastic) and I am off to the Big Apple! See you all next week!

the Socialite

Today on the Socialite: the seven deadly sins, incarnate

I recently placed an order for this baby on Moda Operandi. It's the beautiful Marc Jacobs Bowery Satchel, which I know also comes in burnt orange - a fabulous colour for the fashionista in all of us, and a gorgeous example of the brights trend that is spreading like ravishing rabies right now. This is truly my perfect bag: roomy, polished, with a ladylike structure, making for an easy day-to-night transition, and nude. It pushes all my buttons, simultaneously. Oh. I think I just had an orgasm.



Marc Jacobs Bowery Satchel, $1,285.

P.S. And if you were a little puzzled by the title, let me clarify: wrath, because I don't yet possess an MJ Bowery Satchel. Greed, because I could literally sell my grandmother for one. (She's famous, too - I'm sure she'd go for a few bob.) Sloth, because it's invaded my thoughts and I'm so lovesick that I've become lethargic. Pride, because I JUST FRIGGING ORDERED ONE! SCORE!!! Envy, because if I see anyone with it first I will rip their head off...gluttony, because I could have ordered three without consideration. And lust, because...well, didn't the orgasm give you a clue?




Image: Moda Operandi

Kumbuya: deals on the things you really want. No, seriously - you create them!

Hi guys. Firstly, I want to apologize for the hiatus last week - it was a cah-ray-zee time! I flew from the US to the UK, then took a bit of a road trip - to Belgium! It was a marvellous trip, involving French food, Belgian waffles, and a Belgian chocolatier established in 1857...but let's not go there.

Anyway, the awesome thing I want to bring to your attention this week is a little thing called Kumbuya. It's a bit like Groupon and works like this: "I want X deal on Y experience and I'll get Z amount of people to join me". But here's the really awesome part: you get to specify Y experience. Seriously. You get to create your own deal. You create your deal via the Kumbuya site, and once the company agrees, you're good to go. How cool is that?! So whether you're craving Michelin-starred food on a Carl's Jr. budget, a five-star spa experience at a two-star price, or luxury goods without needing the luxury of a trust fund, to borrow from the vocabulary of our friends at Apple - there's Kumbuya for that.

Head on over to the Kumbuya site (you can access it by clicking on my Kumbuya badge on my sidebar to the right) and start nabbing your favourite experiences for less!




Images (from top): Fashion Squad, portugalweb.com, bodyscoop.org.

the Socialite

Today on the Socialite: welcome to my new pad

I admit it: I have never been a saver. Back when my parents used to give me pocket money (that's the cute British term for an allowance, to all you lovely Yanks), I could almost feel it burning a hole in my pocket. (Oh no, wait, that was the smoking spliff I used to buy with it and hide from the aforementioned Parental Police. Kidding! Jeez. You really should know me better than that by now. Couture does not have pockets. Unfortunately.)

Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that if there's one thing I'm truly good at, it's blowing money. Back then, it was luxury shoes and handbags, facials and spa treatments. Now - we're on a whole new level, folks. Welcome to my new pad, at The Peninsula hotel, New York.

Sure, I could've sprung for a place in the Costa del Sol (Laura's is beautiful, from the photos I've seen of it - she has great taste) or an Italian villa, but really, do either of those have room service? Or a rooftop bar with 1920's Shanghai socialite-worthy decor? Or TVs over the tubs in the bathroom, access to, like, the entire world (Bergdorf Goodman, MoMA), a spa, Van Cleef and Arpels breakfast and private shopping event possibilities?? Exactly. They both have five-star luxury oozing from every pore, but there's just a difference in the quality of the luxury involved. I mean, would you rather have a $30 blowjob from a drawn-looking streetwalker, or a girlfriend experience with a beautiful, cultured HDH (that's High Dollar Hooker)? Metaphorically speaking, of course.

Of course, I won't be spending every moment of my time at the Peninsula (I live in England and spend a lot of my time flitting around Europe - so Laura knows exactly what I'm talking about!), so some of you might be wondering why on earth I would pay a crazy rate for a C-RAAY-ZY room year-round. But, honestly, even if it does end up being way more expensive than buying a place outright (I even considered a catamaran, and we all know what the mooring rates for those are like), it just feels more...mine. No one will ever stay in that particular room but me, and I love it. Plus, the service is insane. Like, IN-SANE. And we all know that building a relationship with people takes time and continuity. It's like having a team of subordinate friends to wait on you hand and foot, no matter what your need. You can't buy that. Oh wait. You can.




Images: The Peninsula hotel media gallery

P.S. Come party with me! Gilt's sister site, Jetsetter, has a great deal on rooms at The Peninsula right now. Check it out here.