Fascinator Fascination...and a Giveaway!!!

I didn't watch the Royal Wedding.

I know...gasp, right?!  I would have, but we don't have cable.  When you turn on the tv's in our house, you get this  ------->

We got rid of our satellite a couple of months ago when we realized that we were paying $80 per month to watch about an hour's worth of cartoons and some late night HGTV on any given day.  It's been a good thing for us, but missing the Royal Wedding was the first time I personally really started feeling the pain of the loss. 

So I did what everyone else who missed it has probably been doing...    I got online in search of pictures.  Loads of pictures!!!

And as I poured over the pictures of a beautiful bride and her handsome prince, the thing that I really kept noticing in all of the photographs were the amazing hats of all the guests.  So i dug a little deeper to find out more about this fascination with fancy hats...and much to my delight, it's not only a fascination, but it's actually called a Fascinator (even better?!)

Here were a few that jumped right off of the screen at me!

<---This cross between a bow gone wild and an octopus belongs to the frontally affixed fascinator of Princess Beatrice

<---the blue feathery buggy fascinator beside her is her sister Princess Eugenie

Heaven help the Brittish throne if the 5 people in line before these gals don't make it.  Or maybe in that unfortunate case, a stylist can in fact help the throne!

Here are a few more for your viewing pleasure that I thought were absolutely fabulous though!

I confess that I really want one! 

I have a fascination with fascinators!

So, to make this Fascinator Fascination more fun for everyone, I'm teaming up with the uber talented Joanne Castillo of Fascinate Me who creates the most gorgeous Fascinators!  We're giving away the fascinator of your choice from her Etsy store (valued up to $100!)

So here's how to enter:

Each entry must be submitted in a separate comment on the blog.  You will have 1 entry for each separate action that you take, for a grand total of 7 entries if you do them all!  Contest ends at midnight EST on Monday May 9th.

1. Go to Fascinate Me and choose the Fascinator that you want, then come back here and leave a comment with the name of the fascinator of your choice
2. Follow LifeforDessert on Google Friend Connect and comment here saying you did so
3. Subscribe to LifeforDessert in a reader or by email and comment here saying you did so
4. Follow LifeforDessert on Twitter and comment here saying you did so
5. Retweet this post to your Twitter followers and comment here to let me know
6. Like LifeforDessert on Facebook and comment here saying you did so
7. Like Fascinate Me on Facebook and comment here saying you did so

The Facinator Fascination winner will be announced on Tuesday May 10th here on LifeforDessert!  ***(addendum as of 5/5/11) Some people have had trouble with the blog allowing them to leave comments, so if you leave your entry comments on Life for Dessert on facebook I'll count those entries as well.  I think I'll throw in another way you can enter to win the Fascinator...for every one of your friends you get to do each of the entry steps, I'll credit you with that step entry as well...basically I just made your entry potential jump up big time!  The friend must comment either on here or the facebook page letting me know you are their reference person when they enter.

I'm pea green with envy for the lucky dog who wins this!  GOR-GE-OUS!!!!


 - Logan



 above pictures from WWD.com and Fascinate Me

Style or Vile?!...Weird Home Decor...

I'm playing some serious catch-up around my house today from things ignored while we planned and executed a party this weekend.  Don't you know the laundry was the first thing to get tossed on the back burner?!  I have washed 1 load, but re-fluffed and folded 4 loads.  All the laundry was clean, but not folded or put away, so it was Wrinkle City around here!  Got to love the de-wrinkle dryer cycle.  All to say, I'm busting it to be productive and get back on track today.  I'm going to do a post tonight about the Party, so you'll have to wait til then to catch up on that.

In the meantime, I have to quickly share with you a few hilarious things that I found while perusing my email last night.  I get daily emails from several of those discount websites like Zulily, OneKingsLane, Ruelala, and HauteLook and if something looks interesting to me then I'll click on over and check things out.  Last night I was looking around and had a few finds that made me laugh out loud...so you know I have to share.  Ridiculous stuff I found, almost a home decor version of my J. Crew posts.  Some of it I'll be honest has some cool factor, but the pricetags combined with the oddities made for some interesting mental room designs for me.  In the following, I'm about to say what you'd be thinking but might not say out loud....sorry if I offend.

<---A horse is a horse of course of course...

This screams "Mr Ed" to me.  All I could think about was reading a book beside this thing and having a horsey commentary going on over my shoulder.  For a mere $5800, I could probably buy a real horse and a lamp from Ikea for a similar effect.

 I think this chair is incredibly cool actually, and have seen similar versions in some magazines and online, but I cannot get past some level of arachnaphobia when I look at this.  All I can think is that this chair creates the perfect place for spiderwebs to accumulate...and where there are webs, there are spiders.  And now that I'm thinking about it, I'm sure I feel something crawling up my leg.  No thank you for $1700.

 <---So shoot me for being vulgar, but this chair looks to me like a giant beanbag penis...and I wouldn't even pick it up off the side of the road, much less pay the value sale price of $1100 for it.  Imagine the message of this chair beside the horse lamp though...it's too much...too much.

Moving on....

This $3700 gem on the right is called the Rag Chair.  It looks to me like someone raided an upholsterer's scrap pile and bound it up with zip ties.  This has Etsy idea written all over it.  I should also let you know that this item sold out the first day.  Someone or someones out there have too much money and not enough sense if you ask me.

 <---Am I the only person who thinks this lamp looks like a toilet scrubber?  It's really reasonable though at $1800.  This could also be a welcome addition to the above beanbag chair.  If you sprinkle when you tinkle....

Well, there you have it friends.  The makings of a really weird room for the small investment of around $15K. 

I am all about finding a cool piece and building a room around it, but honestly, these are not the ones to do it for me.

Happy day to you all!

Style or Vile?! J. Crew has done it again!!!

You may remember a post I did a few weeks ago with some smashing pictures out of a recent J. Crew catalogue.  If not, you really should check it out HERE. 

And I hoped with all my little heart that it was a mistake, a fluke.  That the J. Crew I've known and loved for years just had a "whoops" moment.

Alas, I fear not.

Dear J. Crew,
It's simple.
You. Are. Losing. Me!

Someone please enlighten me....What is with the socks?! 

 Orange socks with sandals last catalogue, now this?!

I'm sorry also because this whole Saggy Baggy Elephant look....it doesn't even flatter these toothpick models! ---->

<-----Ummm....not buying it!  Don't think this works even on 

S A T

U R D

A Y S.

<---- I imagine this guy saying something to the women on the right like "Excuse me Miss, I noticed your skirt seemed a bit loose.  Perhaps you'd like to cinch the waist a little tighter with my... necktie?!"

<---- "Ahh, just another lazy day at the beach.  Gonna bring out the cashmere cardi and tuck my shirt into my polka dot... 

bikini bottoms?!"

"And later I'm gonna run home, borrow my boyfriend's boxer shorts and tuck my silk blouse into those.  It's the new ghetto chic! *girly laugh and hair toss*  I'm totally SO down!" --->

<----And last but not least.  

I just thought this guy needed a button. So I gave him one.

And Yes....it does say...

Looks like this might be a very unfashionable season for me if this is what's in style.