NYC Mobile Style Alerts: Sign Up!

This is a post I've been avoiding for a long time, for so very many reasons (see disclaimers below). But today, the day before another NYC Snowpocalypse, I'm taking the plunge and promoting a Fashion Herald feature that is hidden away up there in tiny font. See the "Mobile Style Alerts" button on the top left of the banner? That is my frenemy widget, so to speak. Sign up and you'll get a text every day helping you decide what to wear based on New York City weather.

May I recommend a little Desigual for winter chills?

Now, some explanation: I only have 109 characters to work with, so these aren't too involved. I focus on the things I always forget when I leave the house because I am so not an organized person by nature: the umbrella, the hat, the gloves (like today), the raincoat, the boots. Rarely I'll include a shopping tip for 34th Street, although more often when the weather is the same day after day.

Why am I torturing myself with this frenemy widget? Because I'm one of those people who need someone to tell me how to dress for the weather! I'm the girl that always wears inappropriate clothing in the rain, sleet and snow. Ridiculous, yes, that someone like me is managing this, but when we're rolling in the dough here at the 34th Street Partnership I'll hire my own weather girl. She's going to bring me lattes, too, and will remind me to leave work by 6pm everyday.

Big #1 disclaimer: I cannot promise that I will not forget, sometime in the future, to update my weather alerts. I vow to do my best, but I am, like all of us, a person with lots of things to do in a day. I've been practicing for months, and a few times, yes, I've said "throw that umbrella in your bag!" when it's sunny and clear skies all day.Whoops!

Disclaimer #2: I go by weather.com. But I'm no meteorologist. I'm going to need some slack, thanks.
 

Desigual, 358 Fifth Avenue at 34th Street

It's a Fabulous, JCPenney Bridal-Themed Contest

I always swore I'd spend thousands on a couture gown, but look, I ended up wearing my mom's dress and he's in Dolce and Gabbana and Prada! Funny how sometimes things work out OK when they don't go as planned.

 
JCPenney has launched two exclusive bridal jewelry collections, "I Said Yes" and "True Love." These are not your typical bridal gems. Each diamond ring in the I Said collection bears a hidden sapphire(symbol of truth and sincerity).  And True Love's precise cut features a wreath of hearts and a circle of arrows within the diamond, a sort of classic with a twist.

That's my kind of classic, and isn't a bad description of my own wedding. Fond memories include: the grand entrance of a gaggle of model girlfriends decked out in Galliano and such (I asked them to look the part); yanking on my dad's arm because he was practically dragging me down the aisle (he really, really likes my husband); and squeezing my husband-to-be's hand at the altar, wondering "What am I doing in a church with my agnostic fiance?" The last is my particular favorite as I'll never forget that moment, holding his hand and thinking He didn't even protest once.

This is when I was really squashing his hand. I remember it like yesterday.

Leave one of your favorite wedding memories in comments, or tell me what your ideal wedding location is, or your fantasy wedding dress, and you're entered to win the pearl set pictured below (one entry per person in comments). Yes, to celebrate the launch of True Love and I Said Yes, JCPenney is giving away this pearl set, a perfect complement to a girl's trousseau.



Trousseau, it's so old-fashioned! But I hear they come in handy. So do pearls.

After leaving a comment, each time you tweet a link to this contest (please @fashionherald in the tweet), you get an extra entry. Limit one tweet per day, please. Contest is up until the end of the day on Wednesday, January 19th. The winner will be announced on the 20th, and has till the end of day on Monday the 24th to email me (see contact on right). If no one claims the set on Monday, it goes to the runner-up, and so on, and so on...hey, don't make me get too specific!

Good luck, wedding reminiscers and dreamers!

JCPenney Manhattan Mall, lower levels 1 & 2, 33rd Street & Broadway



MNG by Mango Sale at JCPenney Manhattan Mall

Hey, MNG by Mango at JCPenney Manhattan Mall has some killer stuff on sale...

50-60% off.  Next week I'm going to actually edit a MNG by Mango video, you know, add titles, maybe a little shopping mood music, improve quality so you enlarge without fuzziness...But for now it's Saturday, I'm trying to hit the gym, and the hordes are descending, so go get yourself some MNG on sale pronto.

JCPenney Manhattan Mall, lower levels1&2, 33rd & Broadway

New Year's Resolutions Always Come Calling

In the gym every morning at 6am? Walking and running around your park daily? Broken your fitness resolution yet? Then go see Whitney Port and SELF Magazine tomorrow on 34th Street at the Lady Foot Locker launch of BodyTrain, Puma's new toning collection.Whitney and SELF trainer Meaghan Murphy, who will be there to provide tips and help you get the right BodyTrain shoe for all your fitness needs, will do a Q&A and presentation around 11:30am. So don't miss it, ladies, especially if you're a Whitney fan as she'll be meeting and schmoozing up her peeps.

Lady Foot Locker, 120 W. 34th Street between Broadway & 7th Avenue

Holiday Miscellany Haul

It's miscellany post day, mainly because it's 4:29pm and I've failed in making it six blocks south to 34th Street. Sigh. But since "hauls" are the future of everything these days, I'll show you a few things the family got over the holidays:

Please ignore the chipped nails and focus on the gorgeous, long, feather earrings from Karma Krafting at The Holiday Shops in Bryant Park. Thanks to Suzanne, who kindly gave me these earrings while we were shooting this video. On the same post I also endlessly shake the world's cutest kitty bank from Karma Kiss. Although both Karma's are now closed for the season, select holiday shops are open for a few more weeks in Bryant Park. Go here for a list.

PF Fliers for the husband found at Daffy's, $29.99. He's been begging me for more PF Fliers since I got him a pair at Daffy's ages ago. When I spotted black and purple PF's with a lime green lining during a video shoot with Midtown Girl, I knew I had to get them.

Surrounded by new toys (trust me, to her left are a cajillion gifts from her aunts), Baby Herald plays with what? The remote control. Sometimes the old haul is as good as the new. Please note the glittery pink boots by Stride Rite, bought at Macy's Herald Square on Black Friday morning. Desperate for some winter shoes for the baby, I asked the clerk "Are these winter boots?" and she said "No, honey, these are fashion boots." Sold!

Daffy's Herald Square, 34th & Broadway

Macy's Herald Square, 34th between Broadway & 7th Avenue

The Holiday Shops at Bryant Park, between 42nd & 40th and 5th & 6th

It's a Bebe Furry Capelet Craze

I was hoping to get these up before New Year's Eve, and obviously failed! But a girl shouldn't hesitate in buying a glamorous, movie star capelet, and she sure shouldn't wait for New Year's Eve to wear one. Bebe on 34th Street is bursting with faux fur capelets and cropped jackets, like these below:

Perhaps my favorite: classy movie star glam, think Grace Kelly ($139).

Think Yeti glam, as in Abominable Snowman.

Grayish faux fur, a modern Olsen twin glam.

Long hair furry glam with a Joan Collins feel. $139

Eartha Kitt glam, of course! $179

 

This is all kitten, Marilyn purring glam. $179

Bebe, 1 West 34th Street at Fifth Avenue

Strawberry for Boots

I dropped by Strawberry* in the Empire State Building before the holiday, and had to take pictures of their great boot selection. I'm a longtime fan of the Strawberry shoe department, and I still am although I really dislike their new version of shoe display. I miss the old-school, display-shoe with boxes beneath technique, as opposed to the new, banana-clip en masse technique. But this will not dissuade me from picking up some of these for NYFW Fall '11:

These are $29.99, bargain!

Blurry photo, cute boots.

I think these are my favorites.

The classic 80's combat, it could have walked right out of Contempo Casuals.

Flat boots

20 inches of snow convince you to finally get practical snowboots? Try these Levi's.

*prices slashed for New Year!

Strawberry Empire State Building, on 34th Street just west of 5th Avenue

&

Strawberry Manhattan Mall, levels 1&2, 33rd Street & Broadway