Make a Statement

I love jewelry. It is my favorite thing to collect. I have some pieces that belonged to my grandmother and a lot of new ones that I gave myself as presents. One of my favorite things to buy is the statement necklace. Nothing can give a plain outfit more pizazz than a gorgeous, bold necklace. Even a plain white t shirt can look better with a big necklace on top. Statement necklaces can be found anywhere and come in all different price points. There is never a wrong time to wear one. Even business affairs can benefit from a bold necklace, as long as you keep the rest of the jewelry to a minimum. Here are my favorite statement necklaces that are available now.

Bauble Cascade Necklace from JCrew

Aqua Focal Necklace from Banana Republic

Multi Colored Row Beaded Necklace from Sabine

Chevron Plated Necklace from Tinley Road

Double Row Statement Necklace from Aqua

Metal Collar Necklace by Lauren by Ralph Lauren

Orchidia Necklace by Kate Spade

Chunky Green and Gold Chain Statement Necklace by Tastes Like Gold

The gorgeous braided beaded statement necklace I am wearing today. I purchased it three years ago at Anthropologie. It is the perfect pop of color on my all white eyelet dress.

Current Obsession : Red Hair

I have had ombre highlights for the last 7 or 8 months and I am itching for a change. I had red hair for many years and I think it is time to go back to it. There is something about being a redhead. I always felt put together and fresh. I have recently been searching for the best shade of red and, while I think Hayley Williams is awesome, I want something a bit more sophisticated than fire engine red. Here is what I have come up with:

Drew Barrymore

Emma Stone

Coco Rocha

Alicia from Cheetah is the New Black

Julianne Moore

(Old School) Lindsay Lohan

Ashlee Simpson

I like Ashlee's color the best. It is the right combination of deep and bright red and it flatters her complexion.

Friday Five

Happy Friday everyone. This weekend is the unofficial start to Summer. I am so looking forward to all the fun things NYC has to offer me this Summer. I hope everyone has a great weekend. Please remember what Memorial Day is actually about - not just BBQs and the beach, but the men and women who served our country. Here are my Friday favorites!

1. DisneyBound: DisneyBound is by far my favorite tumblr site to visit. The amazing Leslie Kay puts together adorable and fashionable outfits based on Disney characters, rides, experiences and movies. Leslie takes requests (she even put together an outfit for me for my birthday at Alice's Tea Cup) and manages to make dressing up like your favorite Disney character something every adult should do.

2. Pixar Movie Weekend: This weekend, AMC theaters will have 4 amazing Pixar movies in theaters once again. Wall-E, Up, Toy Story 3 and Ratatouille, will screen in select movie theaters nationwide. Wall-E is by far my favorite Pixar movie (possibly my favorite movie ever) and I never got to see it in theaters. This is a great time to experience it. While everyone will be clamoring for Men in Black 3, I get Wall-E on the big screen. Check out the AMC site. Most places are offering the Pixar fils for $6 a ticket.

3. R2 Fish School Training Kit: The R2 Fish School is a complete training kit that claims to include everything you need to teach your fish tricks. Does it work? I have no idea. Is it awesome? A fish that can do tricks - yes it is awesome! The videos on the site shoe fish doing some incredible things, so I might have to check this out. My beta fish, Barnabus, spends his days in the mouth of a ceramic shark. This is much more interesting.

4. Polaroid Z340: The Polaroid Z340 is a digital camera with instant printing capability - think  your cell phone camera merged with a 1980s polaroid. Digital images are instantly printed into 3"x4" photos. They can be printed with or without borders - that adorable white polaroid border can be omitted if you so choose. The rechargeable battery lasts thru 25 photos (a little low if you ask me, but this is still a great idea).

5. Fleet Week: From now until May 30, New York will be celebrating Fleet Week with plenty of events to honor the men and women of the United States Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard. This year there will be aerial demonstrations, a parade of ships and plenty of adorable men (and women) in uniform.

Art Lessons: Claudia Varosio

Earlier this week, I was on Etsy looking for some new Audrey Hepburn art to add to my collection. I happened to stumble upon Claudia Varosio's amazing shop and instantly fell in love. Claudia is a self-taught illustrator who creates book and movie posters,as well as amazing paper dolls. Her unique spin on these posters is completely original and inspired by pop culture and various elements of each movie. Claudia uses line and color in a way that brings each poster to life. Although many of the figures have minimal facial features, each one is expressive and jumps off the paper. Claudia was nice enough to allow me to interview her. Read on for my conversation with the London-based artist.

Etsy showcases many sellers on their blog with the "Quit your day job” feature. Do you have a day job or is illustrating a full time gig for you?

I do have a day job, so my Etsy shop is currently a part time gig.

Did you go to school for illustration? If so where?

Nope, I am mostly self-taught, though I would have loved to go to a school for illustration.

 What was the first movie poster you made?

It was for the film The Time Traveler's Wife, quite a few months before it came out: I had read the book, loved it and was very exited about the film. Ironically I have not seen it yet!

What is your favorite movie?
Ahh that is tricky... It changes all the time, but at the moment I would say Chinatown.

How do you get the ideas for your posters? What is your inspiration?Watching the film and trying to find a key image is what tends to work best for me... And then, what comes next is to try and make that particular subject as esthetically pleasing as I can. Visually, I would say that my main references are the vintage poster from the beginning of last century onwards, and 'graphic novels'.

I love the subjects you chose for your paper dolls. To me, they seem to be very stylish characters - some of them even icons. Did you pick them for any specific reasons?Thank you! I tend to pick either actors or characters from movies who have a strong charisma- as well as an interesting wardrobe!

Many artists now create across multiple media - photography, painting, sculpture, video. Do you work in any other media?

Not at the moment, but sculpture is certainly the most appealing of the media you mention, and in the past I have enjoyed doing it, so who knows, I may go back to it one day.

Have you ever shown your work to movie studios or book publishers?

2 of my images (Taxi Driver and the Dude paperdoll) are to be published in a couple of books about cinema, in the near future, but I have not approached neither publishers nor movie studios yet...

How would you like to see your business develop in the next few years?I would be happy to carry on doing what I am doing, enjoying it as much as I enjoy it now.

Which movies are you excited for in 2012?

On the Road and the Great Gatsby, I would say, as I love both books and am really curious to see how they have come out.

Make sure you head over to Claudia's shop and check out her amazing work. Tell her Tara from Life is Beautyfull sent you!!!

Something for the Guys

Since I usually focus on cute stuff for women, I thought I would pick out some nice stuff that I think guys would like (specifically my hunny). There is no shortage of really nice casual pieces for men that are "on trend" but have clean, classic lines, so they will last beyond this summer.

Pique Polo Shirt

Blondie 1977 Graphic Tee

Short Sleeved Prep School Shirt

Longer Length Belted Flat Front Short

Slim Straight Jean

Lightweight Linen Pant

Puma Clyde Script

Adidas Adistar Racer

Frye Sully Boat Shoes

Casio G-Shock Digital Sports Watch

Ray Ban Cats 5000



Beach Basics

With Memorial Day weekend almost here, many of us are excited for the unofficial start of summer. This weekend the beaches are officially open for business. Just because you are headed to the beach doesn't mean that you have to look sloppy. Nothing is more classic or easier than a giant straw hat and a long cover up. Just add sunscreen, some snacks and your favorite book to the items below and  you will be set to turn heads wherever you lay your towel.

Eugenia Kim Bunny 4 Straw Hat

Genie by Euginia Kim Cecily 3 Straw Hat (Slightly more affordable)

Ruched Reversible Halter Suit (Two bathing suits in one!)

Echo Ikat Long Caftan

Mia Tonga Sandal



Under One Sky Over sized Straw Tote

(this is affordable and adorable and I like that there is some sort of closure)

Marc by Marc Jacobs Preppy Straw Tote

( A little too expensive to take to the beach, but I love the shape and that it is structured)



Warby Parker Mabel Greystone Sunglasses

Sonoma Life + Style Geo Beach Towel

(affordable and a great pop of color)