Big Window Challenge: Eddie Ross & ELLE DECOR

Three designers are currently participating in a Apartment Therapy’s Big Window Challenge. The object was to design the most fabulous window for Bloomingdale’s flagship store in Manhattan. My hands-down favorite belongs to the amazing Eddie Ross. His room would be perfect for the modern day Holly Golightly. It was designed for “The Modern Woman” who is at once a media mogul and mother of two.

In describing his vision Eddie says “The signature space shimmers with a mix of classic and modern, new and old, together with a balance of bold patterns and vibrant colors. A spatter-paint print, like stars in an endless sky, reflects the owner's love of travel to wide-open spaces, and her passion for sparkling evenings at home entertaining friends and family.”

I adore the layered, collected look and feminine color palette along with the magazines and heels tossed on the floor. The room feels very realistic for the modern woman. As always, Eddie manages to include the most amazing vintage accessories to pull everything together.

Eddie is a dear friend and definitely has my vote, but he needs our help because the competition is fierce and it has been a very close race so far. You can vote twice a day everyday until January 28th. Click here to visit the Big Window Challenge homepage to place your vote.

Image Credit: Addie Juell

Flipping Out’s Jeff Lewis on QVC

 

Big news from Jeff Lewis via Facebook: “I'll be selling my geometric chrome accent bench in chocolate, white, and grey on QVC tomorrow night during the 10pm EST show. The complete line will be out in February.”

He posted this last night, so it will actually air on QVC tonight. I love the X-bench, especially in that gorgeous chocolate color. I am excited to see what else will be included in his line. I am glad to see that it looks a little warmer and less modern than his usual aesthetic. So, what do you think? Are you interested in seeing what else he’ll come up with for his line?

Stella & Dot S/S 2010 Giveaway

I am still very excited about Stella and Dot’s new Spring / Summer 2010 line! Inspired by travel (right up my alley!), the new line features collections which draw inspiration from various places. The bright colors of the Palm Beach collection really resonate with me right now.

One of my favorite pieces is the chartreuse Palm Necklace, made of glass beads on hand knotted turquoise silk thread. It features a starfish brooch dotted by hand-set pave glass stones. It looks great layered or on its own and is extremely versatile. “Michelle Obama's daytime inaugural dress color. Pantone's color of the season. This is the piece to instantly bring a favorite outfit up to date with a splash of whimsy. Wear as a single strand, doubled, tripled, with the Starfish brooch or without, with another brooch in back or front.” It can be worn seven different ways!

I will be giving away a Palm Necklace to the lucky winner of this giveaway! All you have to do is click here and then leave a comment telling me which piece from the Spring / Summer Collection (St.Tropez, Sayulita, India, Palm Beach) is your favorite.

In addition, all orders placed here by Thursday, January 28th will also be entered into a drawing for a $30 gift certificate towards your next Stella and Dot purchase!

Giveaway Details:
1. To enter the giveaway, click here to check out Stella and Dot’s beautiful jewelry and leave a comment on this post telling me which piece from the Spring / Summer 2010 Collection is your favorite. Please be sure to include your e-mail address so that I may contact you if you should win!
2. Leave ONE comment on this post between today and Thursday, January 28th Midnight, CST. A winner will be announced on Friday, January 29th.
3. Link to this post on your own blog (include the url to your blog post in your comment) and receive an extra entry.
4. Twitter about this giveaway with a link to this blog post for another entry (follow La Dolce Vita on twitter in order to show me your tweet).

5. Anonymous entries will be ignored, so please include email with comment. Your e-mail address will never be used for anything other than to notify you if you are the winner. The winner of the $30 gift card drawing will also be notified by e-mail. Good luck!

10 Things I Can’t Live Without: Julie of Shelter

The lovely and talented Julie Richard of the blog, Shelter will be sharing her fabulous “10 Things List” today. She is due to give birth to her second child literally any minute, so I am incredibly thankful that she agreed to participate in this series. I have long admired Julie’s style and am still in love with her son’s nursery which she shared with us in my “Personal Style, Defined” series. I was so pleased to see how much we had in common when I read her list. Blogs really do bring like-minded people together! I hope that you’ll enjoy the gorgeous images that Julie has put together for us!

ONE. Accessories. They the heart of a room and the finishing touch to an outfit! I love, love, love to layer and mix!

TWO. Pellegrino - I drink this all day long. I actually crave the refreshing crisp flavor.. {now even more then ever while preggers}

THREE. Beautifully and well lit spaces. It's the first thing I notice when I walk into a room in the evening! I'm always striving to light my home and my client's designed spaces better.

FOUR. Design Magazines, Books, Blogs + Music. They are my guilty pleasure and an amazing source of inspiration!

FIVE. My Day Planner, Office + Computer. I couldn't function without them! I still prefer to write things down and sketch-I guess it's the creative side in me! I love my career and am so happy I took a risk and started my own business!

SIX. DCT Lip Balm + Face Cream with sun block. A part of my daily ritual.

SEVEN. A sweet treat. Because what's life without an indulgence now and then?

EIGHT. The Beach. I feel so fortunate to have grown up near the water. I don't think I will ever leave the coast. I am truly at peace sitting in my beach chair looking out at the water on a warm summer day. It doesn't get much better than that for me! {okay maybe add a chilled, salted margarita to the scene - perfection}

NINE. Comfy slippers. These are what I am currently wearing. After hugging my son, it's the second thing I do when I walk in the door to my home.

TEN. Most importantly My family + friends. I feel truly blessed to be surrounded by such an amazing group of warm, loving, supportive + humorous people. We are beyond excited to meet our newest addition this week!!!

Thanks for including me in your series Paloma!!

Red Carpet Recap: Golden Globes 2010

{My Favorite of the Night: The Amazing Emily Blunt in Dolce & Gabbana}

This year’s Golden Globes were a bit of a let down fashion-wise. The show was actually very entertaining and was peppered with both funny and touching moments: Ricky Gervais calling Mel Gibson out on his drinking, Mo’Nique’s, Meryl Streep’s, and Sandra Bullock’s touching acceptance speeches, and my favorite speech of the night by the hilarious Robert Downey, Jr. So, while I enjoyed the show, I can’t say I was blown away by anyone’s dress. A handful got it right, but the overwhelming theme of the evening seemed to be tacky, overly adorned prom dresses in garish colors. I won’t focus on the negative, but I will share my favorites of the evening with you.

I loved Julia Robert’s drapey, black jersey dress. I could totally see myself wearing this. She definitely stood out in a sea of tacky prom dresses this year.

I actually liked Cameron’s red Alexander McQueen dress. If styled just a little differently, it may have swayed more people to like it. I do think however, that her shiny makeup and pulled-back hair looked much too severe.

I really liked January Jones’ look. I love that she wore a chic black Lanvin gown in a sea of cotton candy hues. The headband is darling and lends a vintage vibe. Does anyone else think she looks much prettier in character for Mad Men than she usually does in modern day clothes?

I liked Anna Paquin’s Stella McCartney gown. She looks great in gold and the shape is lovely on her. I just wasn’t crazy about the shoes she paired with it.

Reese Witherspoon, one of my personal style icons looked beautiful at the Globes. The shape and color of her dress were classic and I loved that she didn't overdo it with the accessories. She, along with Emily Blunt had my favorite looks of the evening.

Image Credit: Getty Images

This Week’s Quote

Image Credit: Quotable Cards

Please Vote for Pencils of Promise!

Last month, I started the Pencils of Promise Blogger Initiative along with several other bloggers in which we introduced you to this wonderful organization that helps educate the most underserved children in the world. Today, we are asking for your vote for the opportunity to win $1 million from Chase Community Giving.
Please join me in supporting the Pencils of Promise One Million for One Million Campaign. PoP has an opportunity to win $1 million in Chase Community Giving on Facebook! InNovember 2009, Chase Community Giving allowed Facebook’s 350 million users to chose from over 500,000 of their favorite small and local charities and vote for them to win Round
One of the competition. Through the support of PoP’s core team, loyal supporters and a massive blogging collective, PoP ranked in the Top 100 Charities and won $25K through Facebook. Thanks to the efforts in Round One, PoP now has a chance to will $1M in Round Two of the competition.


In order to win, PoP needs YOUR HELP. Please join me in
supporting the Pencils of Promise movement. During the Round Two voting period (January 15th-22nd) and in line with the organization’s
mission, PoP will allow each of its voters to decide on the next country of impact with Round Two grant funds. In the effort Founder Adam Braun is calling “true democratic social giving”, PoP supporters will vote on the organization’s Facebook Chase Community Giving page and then be prompted to a microsite to vote for the next country of impact. They will
also be provided with materials to self-organize and refer others to the site.

Please vote for PoP at Chase Community Giving by clicking here.

Then, get more involved and vote for the next country of impact. After casting your Chase vote, visit PencilsOfPromise.org and register your Chase vote with your name, my Referrer username (Paloma Contreras) and network (La Dolce Vita Blog), and your desired next country of impact!

For more information on Pencils of Promise please visit their website:
www.pencilsofpromise.org/blog