Kate Middleton's Style

This is Kate heading to her hotel room
the night before the wedding - how cute
and happy is she!?

I felt that is was only right that I have at least one post about the upcoming Royal Wedding, and it seemed fitting to discuss how cute Kate Middleton is and how perfect her style is. In the last few months Kate has become a bona fide style icon, with anything she wears selling out in seconds and inspiring countless knock-offs.

She always looks chic, put together, and happy, and most of all she somehow manages to at least look calm in the midst of this intense pressure and media frenzy surrounding her and Prince William.

I think Kate Middleton is the picture of the perfect Princess to be, and I can't wait to see the wedding tomorrow - even though it means once and for all that I will never end up with Prince William ; )

Caffe Luxxe

Caffee Luxxe has been called "The best coffee in Los Angeles" by Los Angeles magazine, and this is not an empty statement.

At Caffe Luxxe coffee is an art and the baristas take their time to create perfect espresso and aromatic pressed coffees. Caffe Luxe also offers a small selection of sweets and gifts making it the perfect place for a pick me up and to grab that last minute hostess gift.

With three locations in the Santa Monica and Brentwood area, Westsiders are never far from this amazing coffee, and it's also a great spot for a celeb sighting - Reese Witherspoon, Renee Zellwegger and Jennifer Garner are often spotted stopping by for a caffeine kick.

caffeluxxe.com

Coachella 2011

I'm home from Coachella, which was a blast! I saw some great acts, and discovered lots of cool new bands.

Mumford and Sons, Kings of Leon, Black Keys, Duran Duran and Arcade Fire were all fantastic live, and of course Kanye West put on a huge, over the top spectacle (and wore Celine womens wear, which seems to be garnering more press than his actual set).

I'm exhausted from three days of music, parties and 100 degree desert weather,but loved whowhatwear.com's collection of Coachella fashion so I had to post it. Back to blogging tomorrow!

Palisades Park Santa Monica

 

Palisades Park is arguably one of the prettiest parks in Los Angeles.

Palisades Park is in the ideal location, perched above the Pacific Coast Highway and parallel to Ocean Drive in Santa Monica. The palm tree dotted park offers walking/jogging paths with sweeping views of the beach and ocean below and the famous Santa Monica Pier.

Palisades Park is definitely a must see for any visitor to Los Angeles!

Bar Toscana Brentwood

Bar Toscana is the recently opened offshoot of next door neighbor Toscana restaurant.

Bar Toscana offers  small plates that are classic Italian with a twist; the best items that I've tried are the creamy baby artichoke soup with parmigiano crisps and the lobster with tomato, ginger and basil. Everything on the menu is delicious but it's their handcrafted cocktails that draws in the crowd.

The bartenders use fresh market ingredients when possible and take great care in creating their signature drinks - even crafting perfect ice cubes for optimal drink temperature. 

Bar Toscana has a very cool vibe and is exactly the kind of lounge space that Brentwood has been missing. Definitey worth checking out for a late night drink or snack!

Diane Von Furstenburg

Reina Dress

Alastrina Dress

Agantha Dress

Alastrina Dress

Aria Dress

Cyrani Dress

Gyls Dress

Julian Dress

As of late I have been drooling over Diane Von Furstenburg's line.

Don't get me wrong, like pretty much every girl out there I've always had a thing for DVF and think that every woman should own one of her amazing wrap dresses, but there is just something about this colorful, patteren heavy spring line that makes me wish I could have all of it. Plus, these dresses would be perfect to pack for Coachella!

Above are some of my favorites.

saks.com

Palm Springs

Tommy Bahama Restaurant

Shops at El Paseo

Pool at the Hyatt Grand Champions Resort

Desert Hills Premium Outlets

Palm Springs is one of my absolute favorite places to visit, and I am getting very excited to head to Coachella next weekend!

I realize that Palm Springs for the music festival won't exactly be the same as how I usually spend my time in the desert (relaxing by the pool, golfing with my dad and shopping with my mum) but I thought I would write about a few of my top places to see, shop, eat and do in Palm Springs in case any of you want a break from the craziness or just to know a few cool spots:

Tommy Bahama Restaurant
This seems like an odd choice since it is a restaurant in a chain store, but it is literally one of my favorite restaurants of all time - I talk about their beyond amazing Tortilla Soup on at least a weekly basis. The restaurant is decorated with dark wood and tropical fabrics, and features a large outdoor patio overlooking the bustling El Paseo shopping street below.

The Shops at El Paseo This beautifully manicured boulevard is home to tons of great restaurants and boutiques as well as luxury designer outposts; Louis Vuitton recently opened a mega store here. This is a great place to spend the afternoon people watching and browsing the gorgeous goods.

Hyatt Grand Champions Resort Any pool would do in the intense desert sun, but one of my favourites is at the Hyatt Grand Champions Resort. Tall palm trees provide much needed shade, and poolside bartenders provide much needed fruity cocktails!

Desert Hills Premium Outlets No trip to the desert is complete without a stop (or two) at the Desert Hills Premium Outlets in Cabazon, just outside of Palm Springs. They have every store you could dream of including Bottega Veneta, Jimmy Choo, Tory Burch and Diane Von Furstenburg to name just a few, and all offer legitimately good deals.

The Outnet.com's Birthday Sale

The Outnet.com is having it's insanely low priced, server-crashing birthday sale again! On April 15th, 2000 lucky ladies will have access to the sale, where designer duds will be only $2.00. You read that right.

I found out over on Glamour.com that a regularly priced $4,490 Valentino dress will be only $2.00...that is 99.9996% off! How it works is that you sign up on theoutnet.com and each day for the next 10 days, 200 winners will be drawn and given access to the sale on the 15th. Head over there to sign up now!

Glamour Cookbook

I can't wait to get my hands on Glamour Magazine's new cookbook, 100 Recipes Every Woman Should Know.

I've always thought the "Engagement Chicken" recipe and accompanying stories are so cute (for years Glamour staffers and readers have been making this recipe and getting engaged soonafter...apparently the chicken is just that good!) and I'm sure that the rest of their recipes and cute illustrations are equally as great.

The book will be released tomorrow and is available for pre order on amazon.com right now!

Fig and Olive

Fig and Olive in West Hollywood is the recently launched outpost of the New York based restaurant; we went last Friday night and loved it!

The restaurant is huge (8,000 square feet) but doesn't feel that way. There is a great back patio, the main dining room, upstairs bar, and a large lounge area at the entrance.

Bottles of beautifully packaged olive oils line the walls, and a large olive tree is planted in the center of the room - the restaurant is beautiful, but the food is what really stands out.

Upon being seated we were given three different olive oils to taste with freshly baked bread. We had a bunch of plates to share, and my favorite items were the Mushroom Truffled Artichoke and Parmesan Crostini and the Yellow Fin Tuna Carpaccio. Everything about the restaurant was perfect and I definitely recommend checking it out asap!

Karl Lagerfeld for Diet Coke

I will write something better soon, but for now...how amazing are these Karl Lagerfeld designed Diet Coke bottles? I need them.

Runway to Green

Marni Necklace

Thakoon Dress

Gucci Tote

Jason Wu Blouse

March 29th kicked off the A Bid to Save the Earth's second annual fundraiser, which this year partnered with Runway to Green, a fundraising organization that pairs designers with important environment related organizations to help raise awareness.

Each designer involved (which includes pretty much every major fashion player including Marc Jacob, Oscar de la Renta, Yves Saint Laurent, Manolo Blahnik and Prada...as well as the designers shown above and loads more!) creates an item exclusively for the Runway to Green collection. And above are some of my favorites!

All of the above items available on netaporter.com