News Alert from WWD

How can this be?????????????????????????????????????????????

Domino magazine is closing. I am sad. Very sad. I have every issue, including the very first.

Dress by BCBG, available on My Designer Closet

How cute is this? A BCBG dress for only $42? Yes, and there is more where that came from on My Designer Closet, a shopping site which specializes in selling and consigning new and pre-owned designer clothes, shoes, bags, accessories, and jewelry -- all at a nice price, I might add. Like this Marc by Marc Jacobs dress for $40, and this Marni Gold Trench for $90. Hurry and shop because there is only one of each piece in a specific size. This site could be your Cinderella story.


Please note: My Designer Closet is currently having a BLOWOUT SALE, with huge discounts up to 90% off retail. According to owner, Renee, "I am trying to make some room in my closet for new items that will arrive very soon."

NASDAQ

Reuters

After I watched President Obama's Inaugural Address yesterday, I knew I had to run to Times Square to feel the pulse of the street and be amongst the crowds. It was rather electric -- and I'm not just talking about the larger-than-life screens and blinking lights. Take a look.

CBS News

ABC News


The WPIX News Truck


This woman lifts her Obama Mask for a moment to snap a photo of the action.


Obama Merchandise. Calendars, buttons, and more. Everything $2.

[image from Cannelle et Vanille]

Check out this delicious recipe from Cannelle et Vanille. Matcha Almond Sponge Cake. I think I want to try this. Or some form of this. Using this baking pan. Yes indeed. I can cut one layer in the middle and add the ganache and the lemon buttercream. It seems rather complicated. I am a bit doubtful that I will go through with this. Well, at least a girl can dream...

Matcha Almond Sponge Cake

Makes 3 1/4-sheetpan sheets

160 grams almond flour
110 grams sugar
40 grams flour
15 grams matcha green tea powder
4 eggs
4 egg whites
55 grams sugar
30 grams unsalted butter, melted and cooled


In the bowl of an electric mixer combine the first five ingredients. Whip in high speed for about 5 minutes until it becomes thick and the batter forms a ribbon. Transfer this batter to a large bowl and clean the mixer bowl.

In the electric mixer, whip the egg whites until it starts to form a meringue. Slowly sprinkle the 55 grams of sugar. Continue whipping until a stiff meringue forms.

Fold a third of the meringue into the almond batter. Add the rest of the meringue and fold carefully not to deflate it too much. Add the melted and cooled butter and fold until it is well incorporated.

Divide the batter equally into the 3 quarter sheetpans that we have previously lined with parchment paper and sprayed with pan spray.

Bake in a 375 degree oven for about 10-12 minutes until it starts to turn a little brown. We don't want a brown cake. We want to keep the green color so remove the pans from the oven when the cake is baked and before it starts to change color. Let the cakes cool until we are ready to assemble the opera.

I woke up this morning with a start. "I'm off to do some laundry!" My husband was already outfitted in two coats and a knit hat. "Hey, wait for me!" I lept out of bed and into a headscarf and some laundry-doing outfit. It was already snowing. Oh great. We got there at 7:45 AM. Most washers were already taken. Our Brooklyn neighborhood gets up inexplicably early on a Sunday to do laundry. I don't get it. Back at home (during the wash cycle), I was flipping channels and caught the tail end of a Chinese New Year's dragon on some news story. So all day long I have been thinking it is Chinese New Year's today and have felt like a loser that I have no gumption (due to the snow) to go to Chinatown and celebrate. I mean, what have I become? Letting the weather stop me? I am old.

And then I looked up Chinese New Year on Google just now, and was relieved to find that it is actually on Monday, January 26. Hooray. Another chance to start the Chinese New Year right. I wonder what the Year of the Ox holds for a Rooster like me?

I became internet friends with NYC designer Sylvia Heisel a few years ago. She keeps me up to date on her collections, so I thought I would pass along the information to you. I think you will like her designs. Browse her site here. To learn about the inspiration behind the above collection, click here.

[image from the Curiosity Shoppe]

Here is the latest product from a design site I discovered last month called the Curiosity Shoppe. You know, the Potato Chip Necklace vendor? Yes, that's the one. This time, I found IT'S OK. A handcut wood sculpture by Sighn, available in bamboo, mahogany, or walnut. Limited edition of one million. Measures 2.5" x 3" x .375". The good news is: proceeds from the sales of these pieces go to the Arbor Day Foundation. Every piece plants one tree!

[image from phillyburbs.com]

Oh, I had one more thing to mention. What was with all the "no necklaces" at the Golden Globes this past Sunday? Was that really in honor of today's economic climate? Please. I guess their designer gowns and gigantic, expensive, dangly earrings were supposed to symbolize restraint. Or something.

Let's see what Deb is doing over at Your Destiny is Stone Golden, shall we? Yup, she is blogging, just as I thought. Hey, I saw that Marimekko dish towel this weekend in Williamsburg. Well, I'll be back tomorrow with a post or two. I think.

I want to get a bumper sticker that says, "My Other Blog is a (Jaguar equivalent of a blog)." Or a more catchy version of that sentence... As I think I might have mentioned, I write another blog, which is taking all of my good ideas lately.

There are so many things I want to talk about with you. New pizza places that have opened recently, new chocolate truffle stores hidden in banks, the cool tour we took of the New York Public Library, the new season of Flight of the Conchords, Eugene Mirman performing next week, a new cool design Website I found, the Stephen Sprouse Louis Vuitton joint venture that launches tonight. But it is all going to have to wait until I get my thoughts organized. Okay, I feel better now. At least I got it out in some form.

Why don't they make these for women? Or do they? I rather like these Lo Pop Art Sneakers by Puma. Very Roy Lichtenstein-ian.

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Wait a minute. There seems to be another version of these sneakers out there. I think I like these better. And correction, they are called, "Pop Art 917 Lo." I can't figure out, though, if Roy Lichtenstein had anything (actively) to do with this design. I'll keep looking.

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Found it. No, he didn't. They are by designer, Eba Akamatsu. See yet another version here.

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And the full story from Puma, and another version in red/black/white here.

Okay, I am officially back from my blog vacation, albeit one day late. I thought I would post some things yesterday, but I was busy blogging elsewhere. Yes it is true.

Hope you all had Happy Holidays and a good rest. I, for one, ate a lot of cookies that my Mom made. Now I am contemplating taking various exercise classes at the gym. You know, the usual. I made some other resolutions too. Like 'be more generous' and 'face my fears' although I think I might be too afraid to do the latter. What are yours? Feel free to share.