RevolveClothing.com: Purple Perfection

How are you staying cool?  Heat wave after heat wave...I'm looking for ways to avoid heat stroke.  The humidity is not helping either.  Light-weight cotton, silk and linen dresses/tops are necessities!  These two fab purple silk sale items from RevolveClothing.com are purple perfections to help you stay dry at best and glow slightly at worst:

• Yana K Turk Dress ($197) in dark purple:

• Geren Ford Cross Strap Tunic ($135) in purple:

[Images Courtesy of RevolveClothing]

CoutureCandy.com: $50 Off $150+ Purchase!!

CoutureCandy.com is offering a Mid-Summer Sale!  Yes...it's now mid-summer.  Can you believe it?  I hardly can.  Use code "MIDSUMMER" to take $50 off a $150+ purchase (expires 07/18/10, sun).  Certain exclusions apply.  When there's a minimum threshold (in this case, $150) to be met for a set discount amount (in this case, $50) to be applicable, I try to find items that will either aggregate to that threshold or are individually close to that threshold (to get the best percentage discount possible).  But after seeing this casual chic romper by 7 For All Mankind in grey for $189, I'm thinking that sometimes, it's okay to go more than a little over that threshold:

[Images Courtesy of CoutureCandy]

Fire Island: Great One-Day Beach Trip!!

About 2 weeks ago, Sunshine and I did a day trip to Ocean Beach at Fire Island.  I wanted a quiet, relaxing day at the beach, so I chose Fire Island.  No cars, clean beaches, a choice of restaurants and a casual atmosphere. Ocean Beach sounded like the right town for us.

LIRR offers Beach Getaway packages to the Fire Island.  You pick the town you want to visit for the day and purchase the package for that town.  The Ocean Beach package was $30 per person from Penn Station.  It includes (1) the train ticket to get to Bay Shore Station (you must transfer at Babylon Station; don't worry, the transfer involves simply walking across the platform - it's the 1st stop after the transfer), (2) the David Brothers Taxi shuttle ticket to get to Fire Island Ferries, and (3) the ferry ticket to get to Ocean Beach...and all the tickets you need to get back to Penn Station.

We caught the 10:10 am train.  I won't lie.  It was a hike.  It took us about 2 hours to get there.  But it's worth it!!  We were ready for lunch rather than the beach by the time we got to Ocean Beach.  Since Ocean Beach is super strict about it's "No Food/Drinks" policy on the beach (except for water bottles), we ate lunch first and then hit the beach.  We were pleasantly surprised to find that the police continuously patrolled the beach for food/drink violators.

As a result, the beaches are pretty much pristine!

I'm all about packing light for the beach.  The last thing I want is to lug around a bag filled with sandy personal belongings and other bulky beach items.  Sunshine, however, wanted to bring chairs and an umbrella.  Thankfully, I convinced him that all we needed were beach blankets.  You can rent beach umbrellas from the lifeguards for $10 (or is it $15?) for the day.  It's first come first serve; so if you want an umbrella, stop by the lifeguard station first.

Here is the walk to the beach.  No cars are allowed on Fire Island so people get around by using golf carts and bicycles.  They transport items via little red wagons.  It's both weird and cute at the same time.

Here's another view of the beach:

Here's a view going back to the town center:

It takes all of 5 minutes (at most) to walk from the town center to the beach.  I think it took us a little longer because I kept on getting distracted by the cutes cottages and houses.

The prices of the restaurants were reasonable (and the seafood is fresh and a little cheaper than what you'd find in the city).  Maguire's make a really great pitcher of sangria.  The special for that day was a very generous lobster roll.  It was only $15!  Needless to say, we had a great lunch.  (Note: Per LIRR's website, we were supposed to get 10% off our lunch entrees with our LIRR coupon, but the restaurant waitstaff/manager seemed unaware of this promotion.)

For dinner, we went to a restaurant (I forget its name) that had a 4:00 pm - 7:00 pm (Weekend Happy Hour?) oyster, clam and beer special.  I gorged on oysters and pina coladas while Sunshine gorged on clams and beer.  We caught the 8:05 pm ferry back.  It was a much-better-than-expected beach day...we'll be going back soon!

Regressing...Feeling The Teen Angst

I have my skincare routine down to a science.  Unfortunately, I'm not the best scientist.  I don't keep the best tabs on the lab supplies.  I've run out of BenzaClin and my dermatologist can't (or won't?) write me a prescription to tie me over until my appointment at the end of the month.

In my defense, it's hard to tell how much BenzaClin you have left in its opaque pump jar.  You have only about a 3-pump warning before the jar becomes empty.  And since it's impossible to get a dermatologist appointment the same week you call or even the week after, I'm left with 3 weeks of no BenzaClin.  What to do?

I felt myself regressing and (re-)experiencing teen angst over potential pimples.  My response to this regression?  I went to Target and purchased up&up's Maximum Strength Acne Medication (benzoyl peroxide gel).  LOL!!  Say it with me: regression!

It's been a VERY long time since I've purchased straight old benzoyl peroxide from Clearasil or Clean & Clear.  (Do you remember the tinted version of Clearasil?  I do.)  Apparently, fear of acne is a huge motivating factor to try anything that might help in the prevention or the clearing of acne.  No wonder ProActiv is a huge success.

I'll keep you posted on how well (or dismal) this switch to benzoyl peroxide gel goes.  I'm hoping that it won't over-dry my face (I still remember the flaking issue) and that it will prevent pimples (I still remember a time when I had no control over my acne).  I'm keeping my fingers crossed...because flaking + acne = teen angst.

Tobi.com: Sale Times Two!

Tobi.com is having a sale on top of its sale!!  Take 20% off all sale items with code "EXTRA20" (expires 7/18/10).  Happily, I found great prices on two very terrific Olivia Harris bags:

• Knot Satchel ($314.40) in black:  I have the Knot Satchel in vintage grey and let me just say that this bag has become my go-to bag.  It's taking a beating beautifully.  This is not a bag you baby.  This is a bag you use.  (For my video review, click here: Video Review: Olivia Harris' Washed Leather Knot Satchel.)

• Knot Flap Brushed Calf Crossbody Bag ($254.40) in grey:  This is a soft but structured crossbody bag.  It would make a very chic bag for sightseeing...big enough for your essentials (and a little more) but small enough so that you're not tempted to carry everything.

[Images Courtesy of Tobi]

Borders.com: Free "Julia's Kitchen Wisdom" eBook!!

I don't cook much but that hasn't stopped me from wanting a Julia Child's cookbook.  I wrote "wanting" and not "purchasing" because I'm not sure if I would actually spend money on a cookbook when Epicurious.com is filled with great recipes and...is free! 

However, how could I pass up a free ebook version of Julia Child's "Julia's Kitchen Wisdom: Essential Techniques and Recipes from a Lifetime of Cooking"?  I could not.  Just how did I obtain this little cooking gem?

Here are the steps:

• Go to Borders.com and download the Border eReader App (BUT if you already have Adobe Digital Editions, you don't need to download the Border eReader App);
• Sign in to your Borders.com account (or if you don't have one, create one);
• Search for "Julia's Kitchen Wisdom";
• Click on "Add to Library" (rather than "Add to Cart");
• Click on "go to My eBook Library" link;
• You have 2 choices at "My eBook Library" page:  If you're using
• Borders eReader App, click on "open eBook"; or
• Adobe Digital Editions, click on "download epub".

Note:  This offer expires 07/14/10!!!  You will have to input your CC and address info  But don't worry, you can opt out of the Quick Checkout.  Just make sure you uncheck the box that saves your billing info.

Bon Appetit!  (I wonder what I'm going to cook...this has inspired me!)

Barnes & Nobles: Free Starbucks Coffee...

Get a free Tall-sized cup of Starbucks coffee at Barnes & Nobles when you show the cashier the following:

• B&N eReader App on your mobile device; and
• An ebook on you B&N eReader App

No, you don't have to buy an ebook.  There are lots of FREE ebooks for you to download...most notably, classics from Jane Austen.  And no, I am not sure how the B&N eReader App differs from the Nook App.  But I'm pretty sure that they are different apps.  

Downloading the B&N eReader App and then an ebook only takes about a minute.  If you're already chilling at Barnes & Nobles with your laptop, iPad/iTouch, and/or Blackberry, what's a minute for a free cup of coffee? That sounds good to me!

Note: This promotion expires 7/15/10.  For more info: Free Starbucks Coffee @ Barnes & Nobles.