Two Men's Outfits at Nordstrom (The Rail)

Nordy's!! Legend has it they will accept anything for a return. Someone even once returned a pair of snow chains!! Well, I don't think anyone would return the outstanding items we found there in The Rail (the younger men's section).



Outfit #1:

Joel's boyfriend, Sean, picked out this hip, striped cardigan. I grabbed some dark 7 jeans, and voila...instant fashionplate! I can totally imagine a skinny Parisian musician wearing something like this on the Metro while writing a song in his notebook. Stripes on stripes: what's wrong with that??

Striped Modern Amusement Cardigan: $98


Dark 7 Jeans: $167


Outfit#2:

Vests!! Everytime I see a vest I think of the dialogue in "Mean Girls."

--Regina, you're wearing sweats. You can't sit with us. Those are the rules.

-Those rules aren't real.

--They were real that day I wore a vest.

-Yeah, because that vest was disgusting!

Well, I think Regina George would be the first to admit that this Hugo Boss vest is anything but disgusting. It is glorious in its fitted simplicity. I was joking at first when I picked out the light Diesel jeans, but I think they contrast with the vest in a very interesting way.

Hugo Boss black vest: $195

Light Diesel jeans: $220

Two Men's Outfits at United Colors of Benetton

Benettoni!! Benetton has long been my absolute favorite store (except for a brief period in 2003 when I was infatuated with Agnes B.). And in Italy, it is all over the place like the Gap used to be here. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to find a location that sells men's clothes. The UTC location had just a tiny rack of men's apparel, but it was deep in gorgeousness. Oh yeah, and everything was on sale and further reduced by 20%.

My theory on this store is that only the most adventurous fashionistas shop here because everyone else is afraid of the weird Italian sizing system. Seriously, who wants to put on a pair of size 52 pants and find out they're too small??

I must add that the saleswoman gushed over my sweater vest and told me that I have wonderful style and that I dressed very European-like! She was European herself so I believed. Also, I wasn't trying on anything so I think she was telling me the truth. While she was doing all of this gushing, though, she wouldn't leave us alone to take the pictures so we had to shoot them in the tiny changing room.

Outfit #1:

Here is a shimmery puffy bronze moto-style jacket with leather trim and equally shimmery gray pants. The stripes on the shirt help to make the solid colors of the jacket and pants stand out. I don't think this outfit would work as well with a solid shirt.

Bronze jacket with leather trim: $112 (sale price)

Grey shimmery pants: $48 (sale price)

Outfit#2:

Joel did NOT want to say goodbye to this ultra-fitted tweed blazer. It fit him beautifully and went really well with the shirt, too. It reminds me of my tweed blazer that I wish was as fitted as this one. I told Joel that he could get a $5 tweed blazer and get it tailored to look exactly like this one, but I think I should take my own advice! I've long believed that tweed jackets and striped shirts go together like pb&j.

Fitted tweed blazer: $128 (sale price)

Two Men's Outfits at Banana Republic

My friend Joel offered to model for me, but it has taken months for us to schedule a session! Finally we went to UTC mall in La Jolla last Friday to try on outfits while Joel wore a " Hebrew Chai on Gray/White Striped V-Neck T-Shirt." Our friend works at that BR so he hooked us up with privacy while we got our shop/blog (shog?) on!

Outfit #1:

These blue-gray jeans are paired with a heavy, thick-knit, chocolate brown cardigan. I love how the buttons shine under the lights. It's too bad you can't feel how silky soft was the cardigan. Neither were too expensive either!

Jeans: $78

Cardigan: $88

Outfit #2:

I couldn't decide which picture to post, so I posted both! It's hard to see, but these are navy pinstriped casual pants and an olive military-style jacket. Notice how much more elegant this outfit is compared to the first one. The biggest difference is pants instead of jeans. I really wish more guys would wear cute pants out instead of always jeans. They are often just as comfortable if they are the right size. Since the waist on pants don't stretch the same way that jeans do, most men have a closet full of pants that are too small so they wear jeans whenever pants aren't absolutely required. Anyway, I love the jacket and wish it were mine.

Olive military jacket: $148

Pinstriped pants: $68

how to get your t-shirt on TV

this is how (my segment starts 30 seconds in):





My incredibly awesome workout studio, Iron Core, was featured on the TV Guide Network last week. I seized the opportunity to be part of the taping and show the nation one of my hope&spray shirts.

I wore my "Red Kettlebell on White Bamboo T-Shirt," picked a spot in the front of the class for easy cameraman access, and worked my butt off to do the moves with as perfect form as possible.

The best result is that Sarah Lurie (the owner and instructor in the video), who has been a hope&spray supporter since I was just giving shirts to friends, liked the bamboo shirt so much that she offered to sell a limited run of them in the studio. Yep, my first wholesale endeavor! Check out this video of Sarah on The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch (it will open up in Windows Media Player).

The results were priceless! I got lots of great close-ups. It was really fun to watch myself on the small screen and even more fun to send the clip to my friends and family!

Unfortunately I didn't get to meet Daisy Fuentes. She didn't come to San Diego. But, my sister's friend's cousin is friends with her so Rosie has hung out with her which is pretty cool. I really love Daisy. I saw her on TV yesterday speaking very intelligently about how girls shouldn't obsess about being thin.

I am especially excited about this because I am getting certified as a Kettlebell trainer next month. I plan to launch an in-home personal training business using kettlebells exclusively. Since they are so portable, people will be able to get great results without having to waste time going to a gym. Hoohah!

it's a hope&spray christmas (part two)

Merry Christmas from hope&spray!!

Today I gave each member of my family new shirts! They each agreed to model them right away!

For my sister, Rosie, I gave her the "Pimp" Japanese character on gray/white striped v-neck t-shirt. I think it looks great! Isn't she a natural model?

I also gave her the Prince "Love Symbol" on black Bamboo raglan women's shirt. I advised her that when she washes the shirt, much of the sparkliness will come off leaving a beautiful gray imprint of the image. I love the shirt both ways, and I'm sure she will, too! I can't wait to list some silver on black shirts.

Here is my brother-in-law, Max, in his "Pimp" on gray/white striped tank top! Max is a cyclist so I thought a tank top would be great for his athletic lifestyle. Look how great the tank looks with a blazer! As I said in an earlier post, the best thing about a tank top is the neckline!

For my dad, I knew he'd love to display his Jewishness on a shirt. Ironic, huh? A Hebrew shirt for Christmas! Yeah, we're Jewish, but we used to spend every Christmas at my Catholic grandparents' house in Arizona so exchanging gifts has become a family tradition even though we don't really celebrate the birth of Christ.

He's also athletic so I knew he would love the super soft Bamboo t-shirt. It wicks sweat like expensive workout shirts, but at a much lower cost.

Now, since my mom's birthday was Christmas Eve, she got two shirts!

First, she's been begging me for a long-sleeved shirt because it gets so cold here in the SF Bay Area (Hercules, if you're wondering). I made her a Peace Dove on silver long-sleeved fitted women's shirt. She loved it, of course.

Here it is with a plum Land's End cashmere cardigan and matching scarf:

Her second shirt is probably my favorite one currently listed on my shop: Om on white women's raglan shirt.

With the cardigan:

That's all! My baby nephew, David, was not in the mood to model his Om on ecru long-sleeved organic cotton shirt. Hopefully I'll get a picture to post soon!

it's a hope&spray christmas! (part one)

Every year my sister and I tell each other exactly what we want for Christmas. This year, I told her that it's gonna be a hope&spray christmas! And it is! I think every year from now on will be, in fact.

We exchanged a few gifts last night because my neice came over and my boyfriend was going away. I gave them both shirts! Also, my baby nephew wore his custom hope&spray sleepsuit. Here are the pics!

Brian is an 80's freak, so I thought he would love the "Love Symbol" that Prince borrowed when
he was The Artist. While Brian does love Prince, he loves Prince's proteges even more! Go Sheila E! I sprayed it on an American Apparel white/charcoal baseball shirt. It's a super soft 50/50 blend. Our second favorite comedian (after Nikki Glaser) is Sarah Silverman who wears nothing but baseball shirts. Oh, how I regret not bringing her a Hebrew baseball shirt when we went to her show in September! You'll get it Sarah! I won't forget Big S!

Here is my beautiful neice Jada wearing her Books on Bamboo raglan women's shirt! The shirt was pretty long on her so we added a ribbon around her waist to tie the look together (pun intended). The image of a person walking up a stairway of books is inspired by Books First. It's a literacy organization that my original model, Sam, is a part of.

Baby David is putting his Dauphin Sleepsuit in Ecru Organic Cotton to good use as he naps against my sister's arm. He dressed it up with a yellow-trimmed pacifier and a Tiki print wool jacket.

I can't wait for the rest of my family and friends to open their gifts! I'll make sure to take pictures and share them with all of you!

Molly at Charlotte Russe

Damn, Charlotte. We thought that since you are a San Diego company, you would want to help out a fellow San Diego enterprise while getting free publicity in the process. Guess not.

Luckily, we snapped two photos before you could stop us! Hit it Molly!

Outfit #1:

This simple black crop shirt goes over the Om shirt very well. I didn't think it would work, but I was pleasantly surprised! It makes me think of the Destiny's Child "8 Days of Christmas" when Beyonce says "a crop jacket with dirty denim jeans." These jeans are NOT dirty denim. It's not 2001 anymore!

Black crop shirt: $14 (on sale)

Outfit #2:

It's hard to see, but this micro-hoodie has sparkles! It's very sparkly! I loved it. Molly was about to give me a hood-up pose, but the manager intercepted!

Black sparkly hoodie: $17.99

The trip was so much fun! I can't wait for the next one!