post-oscar fever: best dressed at the academy awards

now that awards season is officially over, the only thing left to write about is the best dressed at last night's academy awards. so here are our top picks....don't forget to tell us who your best and worst dressed nominees are!

mila kunis
(jessica's #1 pick)

her dress was both feminine (lace) and sexy (sheer) at the same time - that's what makes her irresistible


cate blanchett
(alanna's #1 pick)
i am by no means a fashion risk-taker but i LOVE LOVE LOVE this dress. it is both edgy and feminine, simple yet intricate.  so beautiful and truly an oscar worthy dress.

gwyneth paltrow

let's face it - gwyneth is h-o-t.  she looks better than an oscar statute in that metallic gold dress. i'm sure many guys in attendance would rather take her home too. 


halle berry
this picture doesn't do the dress justice, but halle looked stunning. my favorite part of the dress was the train. i guess all the negative publicity in her personal life does the body good?

jennifer lawrence
newbie jennifer lawrence looks as hot as a baywatch lifeguard, only way more demure than overtly sexy.  my favorite thing about this outfit is that she has minimal accessories and just lets the dress speak for itself. 

michelle williams
she looked absolutely classic in a chanel haute couture gown and harry winston jewelry

all images via people.com

LIVE FROM THE RED CARPET! - it's the academy awards!

the big day is finally here...the dresses are on, make-up and hair all did, and finally the celebs are walking the red carpet (in a mall, remember!) we are tuned into e where ryan seacrest owns the red carpet. we will be providing our opinions throughout the red carpet and show itself, so stay tuned!

7:23pm:
a recap of our thoughts so far: can we become best friends with mila kunis?? loveee everything about her. i am striving to look just like helen mirren when i am her age. scarlett johansson should go home, and hailee steinfield looks so poised and is dressed so appropriately and cute for a 14 year old!

7:42pm:
glad to see the trump has arrived...i wonder if he is going to announce his intentions to run for president in 2012. also robert downing jr...how do you get cuter at every awards show??

7:45pm:
um, can you say hot post-baby body?! celine dion and penelope cruz are rocking skin tight dresses and looking great doing so.

7:49pm:
anne hathaway = smokin' hot.

7:57pm:
i'm glad natalie portman saved the best pregnancy dress for the last rewards show. she makes the best dressed list for me.

8:01pm:
just switched over to abc for the last 30 minutes of the red carpet...jess is bummed to leave ryan and guiliana, i got pumped to see tim gunn - he can make it work.

8:38pm:
anne hathaway = super nervous!

8:43pm:
crossing our fingers that james and anne fall in love after being this year's hosts.

8:45pm:
...or that they at least hook up ;)

see the rest of our updates after the jump!

the oscars countdown: day five - picks for the 2011 nominations

the oscars are just one day away! do you have any exciting plans for tomorrow? we are going to watch at my house and do some live blogging throughout the red carpet and show....so come visit sweet snippets during the commercial break or on monday to check out our thoughts on the big night.

today to mark the last day before the big day, i'm sharing my picks for the nominations.  what are yours??

best motion picture of the year

black swan

the fighter

inception

the kids are all right

the king's speech

the social network

127 hours

toy story 3

true grit

winter's bone

performance by an actress in a leading role

annette bening (the kids are all right)

nicole kidman (rabbit hole)

jennifer lawrence (winter's bone)

natalie portman (black swan)

michelle williams (blue valentine)

performance by an actor in a leading role

javier bardem (biutiful)

jesse eisenberg (the social network)

colin firth (the king's speech)

james franco (127 hours)

jeff bridges (true grit)

performance by an actor in a supporting role

christian bale (the fighter)

john hawkes (winter's bone)

jeremy renner (the town)

mark ruffalo (the kids are all right)

geoffrey rush (the king's speech)

performance by an actress in a supporting role

amy adams (the fighter)

helena bonham carter (the king's speech)

melissa leo (the fighter)

hailee steinfeld (true grit)

jacki weaver (animal kingdom)

best animated feature film of the year

how to train your dragon

the illusionist

toy story 3

see the rest of the picks after the jump!

the oscar countdown: day four - some fast facts about mr. oscar

with the oscars just hours away (well a lot of hours...), here are five trivia facts to use to impress your friends on sunday (or maybe they will come in handy in a game of quizzo??)

picture via people.com, photograph by Bob D'Amico/ABC

• charlie chaplin's movie limelight won an academy award TWENTY years after it was produced.  a little known rule of the academy awards is that the film must be played in los angeles for it to be nominated and it was not shown in la until 1972.  crazy!!

• ever dreamed of walking the red carpet? well pick up some red fabric and lay it down in your local mall.  kodak theater, where thousands of fans gather to watch hollywood's royalty (and maybe heidi montag/pratt) walk the red carpet each year, is actually in a mall!  yes...you read that right, luckily for the celebs if they need a quick snack before the oscars they can pick up a pretzel from auntie anne's on their way in.  

• the real name of the statute is in fact not oscar, but instead the academy award of merit (i dont know why that name didn't stick).   the statute is 13 1/2 inches long and it weight 8 1/2 pounds.  sounds like a brand new baby to me.

• if you are married, there is a legitimate reason why you should be happy you are not nominated for an oscar. 60% of all women in the past 75 years who were nominated for best actress got a divorce some time after receiving the nomination.  i was surprised when i read this but then quickly thought of 3  break ups of recent nominees...reese witherspoon, kate winslet, and sandra bullock.  i wonder if these husbands were worried about mrs. witherspoon, winslet, or bullock.

• wish that the oscar nominations were a little steamier this year?  well to get this fill, check out midnight cowboy...the only x-rated movie to win an academy award for best picture.  for those of you who don't know, according to imdb this 1969 movie is about "a naive male prostitute and his sickly friend who struggle to survive on the streets of New York City" and features a young dustin hoffman and jon voight.

these fun facts were found at people.com, about.com, and neatorama.com

a toast to andy warhol

how sweet are these? dom pérignon's tribute to one of the most influential artists of all time, andy warhol. in this limited edition collection, vintage 2002 bottles of the premiere champagne have been made over with warhol's colorful silk screens.

the bottles come in three colors - red, yellow, and blue. it sounds like a beautifully delicious celebration!

images via freshnessmag.com

the oscar countdown: day three...hosts of oscars past.

the closer it gets to the big day on sunday, the more commercials there are featuring james franco and anne hathaway...i don't know about you, but these make me literally "lol" every time.  they are so funny, attractive, and smart (can you tell i have a major crush on both of them? totally normal.)  as i get excited to see how they will be as the hosts of the night, it makes me think of former oscar hosts.  here are my top 3 favorites...are there any that you would add to this list??

1. ellen degeneres - host of the 2007 oscars

maybe it is just because i looooove ellen, but i thought she was hilarious.  her sense of timing, creativity, and witty humor made these oscars extremely enjoyable.

2. steve martin - host of the 2001, 2003 oscars, co-host with alec baldwin of the 2010 oscars.  

steve is an academy awards host veteran.  as he is in all of his movies, he has a natural sense of coolness and humor that make you crack up at his jokes and he acts like it was not a joke at all.  his dry sense of humor and ability to poke fun at all types of celebrities always makes the oscars enjoyable when he is the host.

3.  whoopi goldberg - host of the 1994, 1996, 1999, 2002 oscars

this was a close call between whoopi and billy crystal (and while i looooove billy crystal), whenever i think of the oscars and past hosts, i always think of whoopi dressed up as queen elizabeth and then giggle to myself.  she was the first african-american female to host the academy awards too, talk about being awesome.

all pictures via access hollywood

why cards are so special to me

i was at my dad's house tuesday night going through some things and i came across a box that had a bunch of old cards in it. some were recent, from my 23rd birthday last year, and some were older, going all the way back to my high school graduation in 2005.

i can't decide which ones are my favorites, because i love them all (hence why i saved them)!

maybe it's the card my boss and his family gave me on the day of my high school graduation. they wrote the sweetest note about me being "beautiful inside and out". they had known me for many years, but unlike true family members, they had no obligation to say those things about me...so it meant that much more.

or maybe it's the cards that ainsley, jane, steph, and i sent each other the summer after high school graduation telling each other how sad we were going to be without our crew all together, how much we valued our friendships, and all throughout freshman year of college having countdowns until the next break when we could all come home and be together.

maybe my favorites are the cards from my dad because he always signs them "with love, a very proud daddy".

or maybe the most special is the last card i received that was signed "mom and dad" - my 20th birthday card.

some of the best are the ones i receive from my college roommate, erica. we don't get to see each other or talk much but getting her birthday cards and christmas cards in the mail every year always makes my day.

a lot of people don't put time into picking out a card, or writing anything special in it. after all, isn't that what the card companies are for? but i'm urging you to reconsider. these are the things that people (or maybe only me) save and come back to at random points in life. these are the things that bring you back to special moments in your life and remind you who was there with you for them. and that's what makes them all special, and worth keeping.

bieber fever part two...the utilization of social media to create a teen sensation

like jess mentioned yesterday...we have a serious case of bieber fever right now.  after seeing never say never, we are determined to score some sweet tickets for his next tour.  i have to admit that prior to seeing justin perform at the grammys and then in his movie, i was under the impression that he was just another teenager that was mildly talented but had a mega-company like disney or nickelodeon backing it up (yes, i really didn't know much about justin besides his killer haircut).  but after seeing the movie about his rise to fame, i have come to two conclusions: 1. i hope my child grows up to be as cool as the bieb and 2. there really are no limits to what social media can do (especially when combined with millions of overeager teenage girls). 

justin in one of the first videos posted by his mom on you-tube. check out those mad beats.
video via you-tube

justin bieber, the you-tube sensation turned teenage phenomenon really owes his success to 2 little websites - you-tube and twitter.   what really amazed me about his success story was that he really became famous and gained a fan base before having hit records on the radio or major record companies backing him up.  instead he relied on his talent and dreamy good looks to gain the traction that ultimately lead to him selling out madison square garden in under 22 minutes.  this success is purely based on marketing through a channel that didn't exist when he was born and in the same way the beatles are known for triggering the british invasion in the u.s., justin has established his legacy as being the first performer to truly become a success using social media.  

justin and his momma pattie, she seems to be an awesome role model for her son. 

picture via pop on the pop

i am by no means a music expert, but i think that justin bieber makes for a really cool case study in how you can use social media to define your brand, expand your business, or even establish yourself as the biggest teen sensation of the day.  it is always amazing to see what are the by products of the evolution of technology and if it means that more people as talented as the bieb are able to get famous, then i say never say never to what is possible (too cheesy?) 

the oscar countdown: day 2

with alanna's permission, i've stolen her thunder a little... she had the great idea of dedicating a post each day this week to the upcoming academy awards, and as i was browsing the internet i came across an article featured on thehuffingtonpost.com that combines two things i'm sweet on: wine and the oscars!

gregory del piaz of snooth.com tells us the appropriate wines to pair with some of this year's oscar nominated films. there's a black swan chardonnay from australia for (you guessed it) black swan, inception pinot noir for inception, true grit petite sirah for true grit - yes these are all real brands of wine! the most clever selection - albeit the most morbid - is an australian shiraz called "the dead arm" for the film 127 hours. the irony of this wine? it's a screw top.

check out the whole list of wines here.

the oscar countdown

with less than a week till the big day, i decided to write a post each day dedicated to the big show on sunday.  first up i thought it would be fun to look back on last year's winners, it is crazy to see how much has changed in just a year.

 first up: mariah carey.  at this time last year she was enjoying being a newlywed with hubby nick cannon and now just a year later she is very, very pregnant with twins.  i am guessing that those babies will have a blinged out butterfly-themed nursery. 

next - miley cyrus...in the past year alone, miley became legal, tried out "salvia", started in the worst movie ever (the last song), and had to suffer through her parents' breakup.  seems like a lot of lows and highs to me.  oh and she starred in never say never, i guess it was an excellent year after all.

not only did penelope cruz look smokin' hot last year, she also had a pretty awesome year.  she got married to javier bardem and gave birth to a son, rumored to be named leo...love!

and finally with by far the most dramatic year since the oscars...sandra bullock.  that girl deserves an oscar just for handling everything she was dealt this year with such class, she is truly an idol.  having to deal with someone like jesse james not only cheat on her but then get engaged all in one year (to someone who looks-wise at least is the polar opposite) and finding out she has to raise a (very cute) baby as a single mother...she handles everything flawlessly.  clearly i am a fan.  i hope that this year treats her a little better!

can you think of anyone else that i forgot??

all pictures from just jared

i love all things letterpress

this print seems like the perfect mantra these days, as we are in the awkward age of still figuring out our lives and expected to be real adults.  i hope we are making the right decisions each day.

picture via etsy

confession: i've got bieber fever

(paramount pictures movie poster image via fandango.com)

yesterday on our day off, alanna and i went to go see justin bieber: never say never with our friend ainsley. i definitely recommend that you see it! despite being the oldest people in the theater without children, i didn't feel creepy - the movie was done documentary style so it made it easy to say you were just there to learn about one of the up and coming artists of our time. (plus, once the lights dim in the theater, no one can tell how old you are anyway) but the real reason we were there? you guessed it...bieber fever. i have it - bad! the kid actually has an amazing voice and is super musically talented. the movie really portrays how hard he worked to get where he is and how much he appreciates his fans.

i'm trying to decide what my favorite part of the movie was... it's a toss up between seeing so many baby pictures and home movies (adorable!) and the fact that it was in 3D so every time justin sang into the camera and reached out his hands, it was like he was singing and reaching right to you (*sigh*). clearly i'm having trouble deciding whether i want to be this kid's mother or his girlfriend (when he's legal of course...).

after the movie, i went home and downloaded ten more of his songs from itunes and made a playlist dedicated entirely to the biebs. alanna has already asked me to put the songs on her ipod, too.

a week late but...

here is quick look into who i thought was the best dressed at the grammy's last sunday.  i love the red carpet at the grammys because people are more willing to go out of the box and wear awesome, cutting edge fashion.  these were my top picks...any other favorites??

 

eva longoria looks hotter than ever, i think being single suits her

 paz vega is not a household name, but i am really digging her white mini dress...and those shoes!

 giuliana ranic is a red carpet expect by now, i love the red ribbon!

 okay i might be the minority here, but i think janelle monae's outfit is beyond cool. i love that blazer. 

 juliana hough is radiating, maybe because ryan seacrest had a secret date planned for valentines day

 LOVE selena gomez...and not just because she is dating justin bieber

 

you can't have the best dressed of any red carpet without heidi klum, i dont think it's possible for her to look bad.  

and last but certainly not least...

lady gaga. she is a genius. 

all pictures are from style bistro.

a sweet way to rep your city

one of my best friends is trying to figure out where she wants to live next year. currently the leading choice is chicago (i am still hoping california will end up in that top position when it becomes decision time). if she decides to make the move to the windy city, i think this tote from maptote would be a cute going away present...it will be very handy for her to refer to if she is walking the streets and gets lost.

picture via maptote

this website has several other cities as well including brooklyn, los angeles, and seattle...all of them are designed differently to represent the soul of the city...adorable!

things about alanna

hi loves, happy friday!! i am very excited to share my five things with you...hopefully these will give you a snippet (corny right?) of who i am and what gets me pumped.

1. i cardi-hardy...as in a have a slight obsession with cardigans.  i recently counted all of them and i have over 50 in total.  and i even wear all of them regularly.  i have about 20 jackie cardigans alone from jcrew...not obsessed at all.  so i can usually be seen wearing a cardi, jeans and sperrys...perfect outfit, right?

2. i am a bit of a running fanatic.  when i played sports in high school i used to loathe the runs unless they were sprints against my older sister (maybe one of my 5 things should be that i am very competitive too). but oddly enough in my senior year of college i got the running bug. like i mentioned before, i just got permission to run again and to celebrate i just designed an awesome pair of sneakers, so cool they deserve their own post so stay tuned.

jess and i after the philly distance run

3. i love lucky charms. i could eat these things for breakfast, lunch and dinner, every day of the week.  opening up a fresh box where there are tons of marshmallows on top...best thing ever.  and obviously i eat all of the cereal first and save the marshmallows for last and eat those by type.  i guess part of me is still 5 years old.

4. i am obsessed with painting my nails and  i usually paint them 2-3 times a week.  i think my obsession is more with buying the nail polish than with having the nail polish on itself, buying a new nail polish makes my day (and if i eat a bowl of lucky charms with freshly painted nails, i am in heaven).  i got a manicure last friday and haven't painted my nails since them...it is a record i think, jess is very impressed with me.

my week old nails...impressive right?

5. i really enjoy editing resumes and cover letters.  random, right?  whenever my friends or family ask for my help with writing a resume or cover letter, i get really siked about it.  which is good, because i think the majority of people dread it.  maybe i am in the wrong profession...
so that's my five facts, i could go on and on (who doesn't like to talk about themselves?) but i don't think anyone would want to read that.  so lucky for you i will stop :)

hope everyone has a very, very happy friday!

the youngest little monster?

if you're obsessed as i am with the new lady gaga single "born this way" then you have to watch this little monster's cover of the song. the single hasn't even been out a week - i've barely learned the lyrics to the chorus, and this girl already knows the music and the lyrics!

five things to know about jess

by now you are probably wondering: who are these girls? we want you to feel like you know us, so here are five things to know about me:

1. i have a habit of peeling the labels off my bottles of beer. it's like that sheryl crow song...except i don't like bud.
   
2. i'm an aggressive driver. the speed limit? it's whatever is posted +15. never drive behind a prius - trust me, they will not go the speed limit. but, i have no points on my license and i've never been in an accident that was my fault (knock-on-wood!).
   
3. i get really emotional when i leave vacations. it started when i was a kid and i would cry on the way home from our family vacations at the beach. but even now i notice how i get quiet, reflective, and even a little sad when i leave places. when you're on vacation, that place becomes your home for a brief period of time and so i get a little tug on my heartstrings when i have to leave. most recently this happened as i pulled away from the grand floridian resort in disney. i'm not even in love with disney, but i had so much fun during my time there that i got sad to leave...it's like saying goodbye to all of the memories.
4. i am petrified of cats. not even big cats like lions or tigers...i'm talking house cats (and the stray cats that live on my street and show up at the glass door in my kitchen when i'm making dinner and make me scream out loud - like a girl).
5. i'm very protective of my family and friends. i don't always do the best job of treating them the way they deserve to be treated, but the second someone tries to hurt or disrespect them, you better believe i have their backs.

next up: five things you have to know about my bff alanna

a little shout out to the awesome nineteenth amendment

yesterday was susan b anthony day and sadly, like the bad great great great niece i am, i totally forgot to celebrate (yes - that does mean that susan b anthony is my great great great aunt - totally rad right?)  i am going to blame it on a holiday hangover and my crazy valentine's day plans...but late is better than never to celebrate, right?

image via the history channel

sba was one fine woman - thanks to her and elizabeth cady stanton and hundreds of other suffragettes, women now have the right to vote.  although she died 14 years before the nineteenth amendment was passed in 1920, giving women the constitutional right to vote - her tireless fight was instrumental in helping this dream become a reality...she was even arrested in 1872 for voting in the presidential election (she wrote in stanton's name on the ballot...talk about representing a sister).  besides fighting for universal suffrage, she also fought for the abolition of slavery and women's property rights. 

her motto was "failure is impossible," perfect words of encouragement for the fight to vote, but also now 91 years later, as you go about your daily life and set forth personal goals.  if sba was able to keep this motto in mind and help change the constitution, i know i am going to try and do the same to achieve my goals and remember that failure is impossible. 

image via coin facts

so pull out your susan b anthony silver dollar if you are so lucky to have one and give sba a little thanks for helping our country be a little closer to a true democracy. 

the continual upgrade

although gilmore girls has been off the air now for 3 years (so sad), whenever i catch an old episode on tv, it makes my day.  yesterday's episode featured both dean and logan and it made me think...which boyfriend was rory's best??

throughout the series she had 3 serious boyfriends...

option number 1:  the perpetual good guy/boy next door:  dean forester. 

photo via share tv

with the small town charm, dean was head over heels since the moment he met her.  besides his minor crisis when he married lindsey (what was he thinking??), dean was by far the most loyal and committed to rory.

option number 2: the brooding, so jaded and way too cute jess mariano.  

photo via crushable

jess and rory had obvious chemistry, perhaps because alexis bedel  and milo ventimiglia dated in real life for several years.  it was strong enough to pull rory away from her first love, dean.  i remember thinking that jess was pretty much perfect for rory - he shared her love for reading, brought her out of her comfort zone, and made her life more exciting with a few car accidents (ok so maybe this wasn't his best trait...)  regardless, jess was just oh so cute and i remember being so sad when he left on that bus without saying bye.  (not a smooth move jess.)

and the final option: logan huntzberger - adorable, witty, and loaded: all the characteristics of the ideal college boyfriend.  

photo via oy with the poodles already

rory and logan had the cutest flirty banter throughout the series and his nickname for her "ace" made me wish that my boyfriend would give me an equally adorable nickname.  alas, when rory's graduation rolled around, she decided to turn down his marriage proposal for a job campaigning with the obama administration.  perhaps rory is a staff-assistant now at the white house...and call me lame, but i like to pretend that maybe a few years down the road, once rory got the chance to be on her own, her and rory would have gotten back together if the show was still on tv. 


for those of you who aren't gilmore girl fans - check them out on netflix or go to your nearest redbox and get all of the seasons, they are too good for anyone to miss. 

for those of you who are avid fans, who is your favorite bf?  it seems like rory had a constant upgrade from each boyfriend...not that dean was a bad place to start.

happy valentine's day!

i hope that someone makes you feel like this today :)

photo via flickr

daily inspiration

photo via allposters.com

today i ran for the first time since the end of september...for everyone who knows what i have been through the past five months, it was a day i was afraid would never come again.  with running on my mind, it reminded me of this story i heard on npr on my way home the other day (clearly jess and i drove separately that day).  stefaan engels, a 46-year old belgian man ran 365 MARATHONS in a row this past year.  i was in disbelief when i first heard this, can you imagine running 26.2 miles every single day?  i can barely imagine running that distance that once.  check out the whole story on the npr blog here...it is a great motivational story. 

stefaan engels completing his 365th marathon in as many days.  photo via npr

as promised... the cute shop from downtown disney

last friday, the morning after my cousin's wedding, my mom and i were strolling through downtown disney shopping, lunching, and lounging by the water. the entire place is full of stores that feature disney merchandise - the standard stuff and then things you couldn't even imagine existing. but right in the heart of all these plastic toys, christmas ornaments, video games, and stuffed animals was the sweetest little bath and beauty store called basin. the store is great for shopping, either for gifts or for yourself, but they also offer some do-it-yourself, create-your-own kind of options that really provide an experience.

here i am creating my own soy bead candle. there were fourteen scents to choose from. i couldn't choose just one so i layered a few of my favorites.

the final product! they shrink wrap it and tie it with a nice bow to make it perfectly easy to pack for the trip home.

there's also a sink where customers can try out the body scrubs. there are salt scrubs and sugar scrubs, and they come in flavors like pomegranate, orange vanilla, and pumpkin.

here's my mom testing out the exfoliators.



these fresh cut soaps make the perfect gift. there are so many options to choose from - there's bound to be one for every woman in your life.

clearly the wino in me was drawn to this one in particular :)

okay so i lied, it's not totally unrelated to mouse ears

the best part is, you don't have to go all the way to disney world. you can shop online at their website and have it shipped right to your door! check out everything basin has to offer

cute heart-shaped things

in honor of valentine's day and all things "love", here are some sweet hearts for your viewing pleasure.

heart shaped measuring spoons. the cutest part? read the labels on the spoon handles!
(photo via weheartit.com)

mmm these look delicious!
(photo via Joanna Si)

a photo i took of my cappuccino in florence, italy

photo print with a customizable candy heart and city of your choice
(capow Etsy shop)

je t'aime print ... because who doesn't love french?

(LoveSugar Etsy shop)

a heart mixed tape print with personalized label
(shannonpix Etsy shop)

a garland of hand-cut hearts
(PaperPolaroid Etsy shop)