~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Recent Posts

Monday 25 February 2013

Oscar Winner Jennifer Lawrence: New Face for Dior

Congratulations to the beautiful Jennifer Lawrence who has won an Oscar for Best Actress for her performance in Silver Linings Playbook...which I have yet to see.

New heights for this young actress,not only the much coveted Oscar, a Golden Globe before that and Now!.... the new face for Dior.





She may have tripped and stumbled under the weight of her Massive Dior gown but that is nothing....because she has captured all our hearts.
















Walk With Me : Zanotti Selection s/s 2013



Here are a select few from the catalogue and the ones I singled out while checking out the new collection in the Zanotti boutique in Cannes...

Walk with me....:

SEXY, SEXY, SEXY!

















I have my sights set on the flat fringe gladiator sandals....bizarrely enough they are not less expensive than their high heeled version....Hmmmmm!

Despite the snow and awful weather...head on down to your nearest Zanotti and feel the breeze on your toes as you close your eyes and think of Summer!
















Tuesday 19 February 2013

Good Grief ! HOLLISTER AND A&F in NICE !



I guess it was only a matter of time before the behemoths that are" Abercrombie & Fitch" and "Hollister" hit the Riviera.
Their appeal is certainly worldwide but what gets my goat is the following:
What ever happened to shopping Stateside for goodies found only Stateside?!!

Everything can now be found everywhere,the pleasure has gone out of shopping while abroad because once you get back home...your neighbour/best friend is wearing the sweatshirt/t-shirt/dress or trainers that you have bought with such enthusiasm (if only to lord it over everyone!) and have rendered the whole experience obsolete!

These US brands may certainly be cheaper Stateside...(so you can lord that fact over everyone who has paid through the nose) ...but still...it saddens me as a shopper who LOVES to hit the stores once I get to New York ( as soon as my feet hit the tarmac) that I will have to double my efforts at unearthing new designers that no one has even heard of in Europe and then pat myself on the back.
So let us call it "Fashion entente cordial" and move on. I know some people who will be very happy that they no longer have to got to Milan or Paris for their A&F hit!!
I for one will steer clear of Nice Etoile and that whole zone...call me old fashioned or simply call me old....I will get my A&F on 5th Ave. if need be; poor lighting,pulsing beat and all !






Now I've Seen it All.....


































....There are no words other than:
You Must Be Having a Laugh!!!!

Monday 18 February 2013

SIT!!!!...Good Boyyyyy!

Obviously this has nothing to do with the current catwalk shows during London Fashion week :15-29th Feb. 2013....although sometimes this would be extremely helpful when people gather and clog up the seating system at some of these events. Somebody should get on the tannoy and yell a collective :

"SSSSSiiTTTTTTT!" followed by a reassuring :
"Good Girls and Boyyyy-zzz!!"

This is more about my beloved 7th month old Amstaff puppy: Titan and his weekly obedience classes with the formidable Dr. Michael Arnold. He runs educational classes for puppies and dogs in groups or individual sessions,helping to socialise and educate our canine friends to be more sociable and well rounded, happy dogs. Which in turn makes for happier,relaxed and more sociably available: "mommies and daddies".



We have been going on and off for months now,having attended 7 out of 10 classes (10 for 150€) but yesterdays group was by far the largest we have ever been in: 15 dogs and several more owners all of which came in various shapes and sizes. There was a highly charged,rather scary looking German Shepard called: "Gizmo"...which may well be the reason he lashes out when approached by a dog seeking to play:"sniff the genitals" or jump his bones and he has to remain on a leash at all times.  

"He has never bitten anyone" pronounced his mom to the group of petrified people giving them wide berth. " He just thinks he is the leader of the pack..."

Titan took a liking to their other dog some higgildy piggildy little mixed breed called "Winnie" who seemed to excite him no end,which he freely demonstrated by humping him with great abandon.  In turn "Winnie" would show his ardour by seeking out the generous proportions of "Abbie":the Bouvier Bernois and top model of the group and attempt to hump her, much to her owner's disgust. He tried to fling the amorous" Winnie" to one side...not realising of course that his "mommy" was right beside him:

"If you have a problem with dogs PLAYING together...you shouldn't come!!" she proclaimed haughtily...Abbie's dad deflated, went off to lick his over protective wounds. Titan was happy to supply plenty of "playing" time with "Winnie"...so much so that we had to eventually pry him off the little chap:

"What is it? What is the problem Reem?" asked our educator Michael who has eyes in the back of his head.

"No, no, nothing..." I replied..." we are just prying Titan off Winnie because he keeps humping him"... and it was becoming a  royal pain in our asses!!!

"And where is the problem??" he replied

Obviously their way of playing is seen as perfectly normal when in our eyes...certain behaviour remains dubious at best.

Sunday 10 February 2013

Welcome to "Pomellato 67" Heaven


Pomellato has newly launched a  collection of their classic pieces in silver called "Pomellato 67" .
Inside the catalogue and in bold letters" Pomellato 67" is referred to as:..."Glam&Rock emotions"...hmmmm.... I would simplify things by calling it: "Glam Rock"...or the "Rebellious little sister"...
No need to evoke emotions:this is a solid silver ,no frills collection of rock and roll pieces that have been taken from their classic Pomellato collections and rendered immortal and affordable (let us call a spade a solid silver spade...) 

I discovered this collection in the window of "Aubry"jewellers on the Rue D'Antibes yesterday, Marie the saleswoman was overjoyed that I knew immediately that this was:
a) Pomellato...!!!! Duh!
and b) a collection in solid silver..... double duh.

I tried on the ring which was everything a cocktail ring should be: BIG, BOLD and kind of heavy. The stone is quartz but ...and here comes the science...it is a: "hydrotherma quartz...which is otherwise what?... A fake quartz? ....A reconstructed,bullet proof ,never to crack or break...quartz???  The little sparkly stones are: marcasite which was very much used in Victorian and Edwardian jewellery. 
Ring:680€



I also tried on the earrings that match the ring which were lovely...still a little big for my taste and a tad heavy but  we are talking Pomellato here not Thomas Sabo...




The collection includes: a large key,the well loved and much seen tiger claw, as well as chains and pendants . Apart from seeing the signed "Pomellato" on the pieces themselves,my mind did wander back to Thomas Sabo and even Tiffany....will this collection prove to be popular?

Would I buy it? I am already a lucky owner of a brushed gold and aquamarine ring from Pomellato that I cherish and simply adore...the ring above is a rather bolder version of it...so :No and I have forbidden my partner from even considering it for my Birthday which is coming up soon.
 As for the earrings... they could be contenders but at the price of : 720€...I find myself hesitating.  Even if this collection does come up "cheaper"....I found myself eyeing the delicate gold earrings and beautiful colourful semi precious stones in the main Pomellato collection and yearning for them and their everlasting "chicness".

You can dress the girl up in Biker Chic but you can't replace the essence of a quintessential Pomellato gold piece.

"Pomellato 67": at Pomellato.com and at Aubry: 81, rue d'Antibes-06400 Cannes





Friday 8 February 2013

Made in Mattel Heaven? When Plastic meets Fantastic..

Valeria Lukyanova and Justin Jedlica: When "Barbie meets Ken"... a match made in Mattel heaven?




Apparently not!!..or so the article in the Daily Mail proclaims.
Not that I think anyone really cares...in the grand scheme of things.

Where do I begin on this subject:....First of all this young man looks nothing like the "Ken" I knew back in the day so maybe this "Barbie" detected a fraud....or maybe this is simply asking too much from two people that have decided to be real life Mattel toys and succeeding  to attain this "status symbol". 

Apparently Miss Lukyanova has not resorted to plastic surgery but wears blue lenses on her green eyes to create this otherworldly look, lots of clever make up and hair extensions.  
Mr. Jedlica on the other hand has gone full hog and been under the knife....or isn't it obvious?

I loved my Barbie dolls,the clothes,the cars and all Mattel had to offer in order for me to lose myself for hours in my idea of heaven. I never sought to look like Barbie let alone marry a Ken look a like so I am baffled at the extent some people go to actually to look like these dolls. Has the need for perfection surpassed itself to such an extent that the ideals of some has crossed over from the sublime to the ridiculous?
Where is the harm,many would say? Other than to themselves? Because you have to have incredibly thick skin in order to deflect" the strings and arrows of outrageous fortune."
Then again Barbie and Ken are actually made of plastic and have survived decades of wear and tear,always smiling,always around. 

So what of these two? Just because they chose to look like their "idols" doesn't mean they have to necessarily like each other...as long as they love themselves,no?

Moral of the story: Plastic ain't always fantastic....

Monday 4 February 2013

How to get your kid to eat his veggies...



We were invited to a "friendly drinks" evening  on Saturday night that started rather early...
when we showed up around 7.30pm the rest of the guests were doused , soused and sated with one rather entertaining guest running in and out demanding to listen to Gangnam style before dashing off again to puff merrily on her spliff...

There was a varied array of food ranging from the perenial cheese platter to homous and labne (a thick yogurt dip ),various breads, parma ham and freshly cut carrot sticks,cucumbers and tomato's.
We soon joined in the conversation,pecked at the food and drank gorgeous wine.

The dessert platter was placed before us with a colourful array of pastries as well as a box of Lebanese delicacies straight from the hostesses mother land. A little boy runs out and looks upon these sugary treats with dismay:

"Maman! Where are the carrots?"

Wow! I think...

The mother politely asks the hostess:

"Maya? Where are the carrot sticks..? My son would like some more!"

"They are in the kitchen...you do know that they are soaked in Whiskey?!.."

I thought they tasted rather good!!..attributing that to lemon juice and nothing else!

"Really? " replied the mom equally surprised. "Oh well...he's been at them all night...another one won't hurt!"

How to get your kids to keep their fingers out of the dessert platter and firmly around a carrot stick!!

"...CHEERS..to the freakin' weekend,
I'll drink to that..yeay yeay..
Let the Jameson sink in...yeay yeay!!






Friday 1 February 2013

Spotted :Lily Van der Woodsen in Valbonne.



This is on the down lo...gorgeous actress Kelly Rutherford was spotted (by me!) coming out of the Cafe des Arcades in Valbonne this evening with her gorgeous kids in tow.

I was sitting outside nursing a beer,popping extremely salty and spicy olives into my mouth while waiting for our pizzas when out comes a gorgeous,tall blond haired woman,child in her arms,more trailing behind. She walks passed Titan, my Amstaff who immediately tugs his ways towards her :

She smiles at him while quietly saying : "Hello...Hello"then looks at me as I smile at her (for taking the time to acknowledge my dog )...when it suddenly hits me: it's Lily Van der Woodsen! 
From "Gossip Girl" to "Village Vixen"...low key,bare faced, hair pulled back and so utterly lovely ...I couldn't believe my eyes.

How far from Manhattan we are , no Chuck,no Serena..no paparazzi.
Small world,small town and yet celebrities walk amongst us. Made my evening!

Have a great weekend!