I'll have what they're having

photo by Annie Leibovitz for Vogue

Everyone has to have a mental image when working it in the exercise department. This is mine. Once you get rolling into whatever exercise method you choose, you end up doing it because it just darn feels so good and productive. Something nice we have done for ourselves, mentally and physically. But getting to that point is hard, and being the frivolous gal that I am I use fashion images to get me motivated. I keep fashion photos of things I know I can wear better when I trim down and then I keep some gowns that I know I will never get to wear in this lifetime but would like to be ready if Oscar de la Renta or Vera Wang showed up at my door with a few frocks. For the most part, road cycling is a summer sport in our climate so each spring I must get super-motivated and the older I get the harder it is  come by and I have had a late start this year. But, recently I have been visiting my Dad in a nursing home while he does a 8 week rehab for a fractured leg and I never come out of that facility without telling myself " You silly girl, you get on that bike without complaining even if it is snowing outside". I realized I tend to think of cycling as a way to trim those hips and pounds (and it does, believe me), a novel and pleasant weight loss program and not what it should be.............a way to hopefully keep my old age happy and healthy. Right now that image is working better than a Vera Wang dress. You should see me cycle now.










Photo of Johnathan Horton and Karlie Kloss here

NY Fashion Week Gift Wrapping.............with Manolo Blahnik

It was probably our cold spell, but maybe the hefty September issue of Vogue that finally got me off the screened veranda "office" and back to my real office, the one where I actually gift wrap. There was a lovely surprise in the last few pages of Vogue that got me motivated to play around with a a pair of scissors, tape, gift wrap, and ribbon and I must thank the talented Manolo Blahnik for getting me out of my summer slouch and back where I should be once the calender turned to September. It isn't the first time that these talented drawings have inspired me, go here to see what became my first Fashionista gift wrapping, something fun and frivolous for my fashionable friends. See........  having fun with gift wrapping can be as simple as buying Vogue. This Peep Toe Slouched Wedge Bootie the real one here inspired a few gift wrapping colour directions and I will post them as NY Fashion Week 2011 unfolds...............I am bound to be inspired in more ways than one because I really do need more than a stylish pair of slouchy boots. 












Photos by Sande Chase ~ A Gift Wrapped Life

Coveteur................the most stylish closets

Karla Martinez
Fashion Market and Accessories Director ~ W Magazine

Jane Keltner de Valle
Fashion News Director ~ Teen Vogue

Joanna Hillman

Senior Fashion Market Editor ~ Harper's Bazaar. New York

Fiona Green

  Associate Fashion Editor ~ FLARE Magazine Toronto

Mary Kate Steinmiller

Fashion Market Editor ~ Teen Vogue NY

Mona Sharf

Director, Communications & Celebrity ~ Theory and Helmut Lang, NY

Peeking into the closets of the high-profile tastemakers? I'm in and so are you if looking at how the fashionable style their look and their closets feeds your harmless voyeuristic tendencies. Can you ever see too many good closets? The recently re-launched new Canadian website suffered through a bit of controversy last month over their original name (which wasn't that original so it seems, click here to read the scoop) but they graciously and quickly pointed their stylish Blahnik's in the right direction and The Coveteur is now on it's way to the best cyber parties, hooking up to Vogue for fashion week. Personally, I think their new name is much more original anyways and so is their website idea so go take a peek...............no need to feel guilty, these tasteful closets have lots of company right now.

Photos via The Coveteur. Photos by Jake Rosenberg