Get Your Group-On!!

How did I live my life before Groupon??

Seriously, not only has this website been kind to my piggy bank but it has totally opened my eyes to some interesting places and people to go, see, eat and do ;) in the city.

I’ve lived in San Francisco for the last four years and by no means is this a big city. I would have ventured to say that I fairly had my finger on the pulse but once again despite my best efforts my delusions of grandeur have proven to be just that – delusions!

Through Groupon I’ve come out with great facials (something I would NEVER ordinarily treat myself too), had my hair did – twice, lost some weight through colon hydrotherapy (let’s never speak of this again), learned how to pole dance (although I should probably use the term ‘learned’ rather loosely, put it this way, I’m gonna stick to my day job) and eaten some damn good sushi. My biggest regret is that I was away when they were offering the discount on the Brazilian Blowdry – damn you vacation time!! I want to get this treatment done on my hair sooooo badly but at $300 a pop and after a less than persuasive consultation at a salon that shall remain nameless Cintas (seriously, not only did I come out of there not wanting to get the treatment done but their so called specialist in the area kind of made me feel like a loser for even wasting her time talking about it) I decided to keep my money exactly where I like it - hanging in my closet;) (Sex & The City quote – I couldn’t resist it!!).

But seriously, Groupon really is on to something. Not only is it a smart business model but you really do feel like you get value for money. As I’ve said before, I’m every marketer’s dream – make it look pretty enough and I PROMISE you I won’t read the fine print. I’ve fallen victim to ‘great offers’ before – like those offered on restaurant.com and other such websites (note to self, do NOT buy restaurant.com vouchers they are purely designed to seduce you into spending more money and there are always lots of terms and conditions about what you can and cannot order and when you can do it. Waste of time and money).

But Groupon is not alone, it also has some sistas from another mista in the form of HomeRun.com and LivingSocial.com. The thing that’s really cool about these sites is that they offer more lifestyle options than just purely restaurants or boring Home Depot coupons – I got a great deal on custom framing today which is perfect as it reminded me of the three prints I had at home that need framing (thank you again to my actual sistas who sent me the coolest Cannes Film Festival poster from the year I was born – next time we Skype, you’ll see it on my wall!). These sites have also opened my world up to so many new eateries and salons that I probably would never have bothered to try before. Their deals definitely say quality and I know they are picky (my company has tried in vain to contact Groupon about featuring our venues on their website and they’ve never even returned our calls!).

So my little D-List divas, Groupon and the like are definitely going to help us succeed in our quest to live a champagne lifestyle on beer money. If you haven’t already…….go check ‘em out!!

WHERE TO GO??   http://www.groupon.com/

                                 http://www.livingsocial.com/

                                 http://www.homerun.com/

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Saving Sunday

When it comes to shopping, depending on where you go $100 can feel like $10 and sometimes $10 can feel like $100. I can walk into BCBG (one of my favorite designer labels. There’s an understated coolness to their clothes and I love the fact that you don’t need to be stick thin to fit into their pants!) and barely find a sweater for under a hundred bucks. If I’m lucky I might walk away with a necklace and the ensuing empty feeling you get in your stomach after having a salad for lunch when you really wanted the pasta. I feel one of two ways when I leave that store – sorry for myself, that there was so much I wanted but couldn’t afford or dumbfounded that my credit card wasn’t declined and resigned to the fact that I now can’t go out for the next two weeks.

However, when it comes to H&M, I can spend my money with a swagger. $12.95 for a cute black t-shirt dress? I’ll take TWO! Spend a hundred bucks in this store and you literally walk out with an entire new wardrobe. No joke. The trick with high street fashion is that you need to know where and when to save or splurge. And despite what Lady Gaga protests (love her btw, she kissed me backstage at a show two years ago!!), for most of us fashion needs to be functional. When you’re a babe on a budget it just doesn’t make economical sense to spend on cutting edge items which will be out of fashion in a mere month. Moreover, if on a day to day basis, like me, you spend most of your time in skinny jeans and flats then why would you splurge on stilettos?? That signature black satin D&G bustier might flatter your curves in all the right places but, come one – how often are you actually going to wear it? Silly little fashionistas…..;)

I love it when People magazine, US Weekly et al show you how to get a star’s look for less however most of the time they are critiquing red carpet looks. Reality bites. While my naturally nosey nature loves to know where to find a more affordable Valentino style dress my average Saturday night is a little more grabbing a bite to eat than bottle service. We need to know how to emulate star’s day to day looks. Lucky for you, I have decided to DEDICATE myself to finding fabuless fashions so every week I am going to bring you ‘Saving Sunday’. I will show you how to spend a hundred bucks (or less) and still sizzle like a celeb in fashions not just fit for Hollywood. And this week I will be spotlighting Zara and their beautiful black blazers.

There’s one thing that Zara does damn well – tailored jackets (and this is not a common thing for a relatively inexpensive high street store). Throughout the years I have bought numerous black blazers at Zara (and promptly left them in bars all over the city – hence the ‘numerous’) and that is a wardrobe staple that never goes out of fashion. San Francisco is not a city where you tend to need a coat but in the evening time a light jacket or cardigan will always end up being your savior. Whether it be a boyfriend cut or more fitted style that suits your individual look I can guarantee that Zara will have the answer for you. $79.99 will cover you for one of their blazers and you can get allotta looks out of this. Sexy-secretary it up with a high-waisted pencil skirt and fitted shirt; smarten up your skinny jeans and white tank look; wear it over a soft and flirty summer dress for a more vintage feel or drape it over your cocktail dress and team it with a pair of Gladiator sandals for a high fashion look. I promise you – it will be eighty dollars you will NEVER regret spending.

Some of my favorite celebs who know how to rock a black blazer include Penelope Cruz, Kate Hudson, Sienna Miller, Rachel Bilson, Jennifer Aniston and Kate Moss. Whether it be teamed with a pair of leather pants or cut-off denim shorts the black blazer has remained a celeb staple and is showing no signs of stopping. So what are you waiting for?? Grab that fake Coach purse, slip on your new black blazer, sizzle in your A-List look and put your $20 change in your piggy bank. See – we’re already saving, sistas!

(PS.  Happy Birthday to my sister, Sara!!)

WHERE TO GO??  Find your nearest Zara store at http://www.zara.com/

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For A-list living on D-list dimes......

So it's 2010, I'm teetering close to the edge of 30-dom, even size 6 is a distant memory and I'm nowhere near to making my first million dollars.....what's a gal to do when you have A-List aspirations but only D-List dimes??

Like most 20-something year old ladies, I love fashion....but fashion doesn't really seem to return the favor. I guess it seems that my proportions are just all wrong - I have a skinny little wallet and a big fat ass and from what I can deduce these two are supposed to be in the opposite order!

Now I'll be honest with you, my fashion aspirations are a little less Conde Naste and a little more US Weekly, more JLo than Gisele. In fact, I think it's probably more appropriate to say that I love clothes, shoes, bags, jewellery and make-up than actually 'fashion' itself. I do not believe that fashion is art. The idea that Joan Rivers can compare a red carpet dress to archictecture is hysterical to me. And if I have to look at one more Victoria's Secret cellulite-free model I may be sick.

My dirty little secret is that I am OBSESSED with celebrities and fashion and the idea of combining these two little delicacies into one blog that I could write was too delectable an option for me to resist ;) I LOVE reading about celebs, I LOVE knowing who or what they are wearing but in all the hours I have whiled away online reading other people's blogs I realized that nobody seems to take into account that the vast majority of us are a) not size 0 and b) on a budget!

These fashion blogs taunt my ever dwindling bank account with their $700 shoes and their $300 purses that six months later (at which point I might be able to muster up the few shingles to afford them) are oh so last season. Let's get real for a minute - people are losing their jobs, unemployment is at an all time high, even those of us whose income has not been directly compromised by the economy have learned to be a little more conservative with our cash (last serious moment - I promise!).

We need a forum that reveals not only what fashions are a-la-mode but more importantly, a-la-cheap! Forget Oprah's Favorite Things ($50 for cookie dough - hello?!), as a fashionista come recessionista I will reveal to you my tricks of the trade, the back alley websites the fashion industry don't want you to know about, where Chanel bags tend to 'fall off the back of a truck'....come on girls, let's start living the A-List life on our D-List dimes........

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