Blog Carnival: A Trip Around With Worldstock From Overstock.com

I've shopped at Overstock.com for shoes before but I never noticed their extensive jewelry selection until the Blog Carnival pointed me in that direction. Not only do they have great prices on regular fine jewelry, they also have an extensive collection of unique handcrafted pieces from around the world inside a section called Worldstock, which also features home decor. While a few of my friends are going on foreign jaunts starting this Memorial Day weekend, I'm stuck here in New Jersey with unseasonably cold weather, so I'm going to have to get my travel fix from surfing the web with my Blog Carnival buddies.

Stevie from LA Story selected a gorgeous amethyst Roman glass bracelet (it also comes in turquoise) that fills me with longing for the sea glass I would normally be at the beach searching for this weekend if the weather were cooperating. Stella from Well Above Average picked a coolly modern freshwater pearl necklace from Israel that is elegant, simple and versatile. Tami from fête à fête chose a beautiful pearl and carnelian sea treasure necklace that truly is a treasure (and sigh, there go those sea references again).

My pick is this "Muse" pearl and tiger's eye matrix necklace from Thailand, and not just because I'm so behind in my writing that I could really use a muse right now. There's just something about the hardware on it that's so appealing to me...it looks like something a princess in a fantasy novel would wear that would turn into a magic key when she most needed it, and I can wear it to my local Thai restaurant for a little much-needed heat right now.

Sandra from Debutante Clothing is up next and I can't wait to see her choice!

The Blog Carnival Continues with More Unique Vintage!

A week or two ago we featured a girlfriend shopping trip to Unique Vintage, one of the best vintage and vintage-inspired retailers on the web. Stella from Well Above Average picked a modern-looking but vintage-inspired top with a splashy pattern that's perfect for lunch at a 5 star hotel, and my pick was a vintage-inspired 30's style gown that's now on the home page of Unique Vintage.

Today we catch up with Stevie of L.A. Story, Sandra of Debutante Clothing and Tami of fête à fête to see what's in their virtual shopping carts.

Stevie's keen editorial eye managed to look past the dresses, as gorgeous as they are, to find some hot red-carpet worthy shoes. I'm thanking her from the bottom of my heart for this because my spring, summer and fall are full of black-tie weddings and the parties surrounding them. I can totally see those leopard print shoes on her and I'm going to have to buy the red ones for myself for all the rehearsal dinners in my future.

Sandra, our resident vintage guru, picked out a hot LBD that will bring out the Dita Von Teese in all of us, and Tami found this 1920's style flapper dress that will break hearts on the dance floor. Thanks once again to Stevie to turning us on to this amazing store, and stay tuned for the next installment of the blog carnival, which features jewelry at eye-dropping prices from World Market!

Girlfriend Shopping Trip To Unique Vintage (A Blog Carnival)

Now that it's springtime there's nothing I'd like more than a shopping trip with a bunch of girlfriends, but what can you do when some of the people you like to shop most with live on the opposite coast? Shop online, of course! My friend Stevie of www.la-story.com came up with the ingenious idea of a blog carnival where a bunch of us could visit outstanding online shopping sites together and post our favorites...all the fun of a girlfriend shopping trip without the fluorescent lights and "does this make my butt look big?" Our first stop is Unique Vintage, a site that mixes true vintage with vintage-inspired clothing for the ultimate selection of glamorous retro dresses in a wide range of styles, sizes and prices.

Stella of Well Above Average has gone first and picked a retro satin print blouse that would look equally gorgeous in the Hamptons or Miami as it does in L.A. Sandra of Debutante Clothing and Tami of fête à fête will also be posting, and I can't wait to see what they and Stevie pick out. As for me, I went nuts over this 1930's style bias-cut silk satin gown. It totally fits in with the 30's vibe from New York Fashion Week Spring 2008, is a dress that will allow your beauty to shine rather than calling attention to itself, is supremely flattering due to the bias-cut, and features seriously high-end material and construction. Wear this and you can glide across the floor with a martini (a real one, not flavored) like Myrna Loy as Nora Charles without worrying that you'll see three other people in the same dress. The gown is on sale right now for $350 for prom/wedding season but a comparable gown in a department store could easily cost upwards of $1,000.