Perfect Details Indeed!

 

Sorrelli Evening Moon Pieces:

Rectangle Drop Necklace, Black Crystal Cocktail Ring, Jet Black Crystal Cuff, Tiara Crystal Cuff

Not long ago I was browsing for statement necklaces and came upon Perfect Details. I noticed that a lot of the stock felt reminiscent of that of Anthropologie's wedding-themed site, BHLDN. Although I haven't shopped BHLDN much, save for when the sale was on sale (cause it is otherwise too rich for my blood), I was surprised to see that this smaller boutique managed to have more competitive retail prices and a larger selection of jewelry than the bigger fish in the pond!

I decided to contact the proprietor of Perfect Details to talk about her business. Being wedding season, I've been thinking a lot about its surrounding e-commerce. The owner of Perfect Details, Lisa and I hit it off and I was floored when she generously offered to style my jewelry for the many weddings I am attending this summer. The first of these weddings was two Saturdays ago. I was thrilled to be sent from Perfect Details a slew of sparkly Sorrelli pieces from their Evening Moon collection. They paired wonderfully with my Nanette Lepore Ottoman dress (a favorite that I bought many years ago). I got many compliments on the Tiara Crystal Cuff bracelet and the Rectangle Drop Necklace in particular. Wearing them once makes me wish they were mine forever! Thank you so much, Perfect Details!

I'm so excited to see what Perfect Details sends me for the next wedding!

A Fall Jewelry Giveaway from Anjolee!

I am excited to announce a special fall giveaway from Anjolee! Fall has long been my favorite season. My mother as well as both of my siblings were born in fall. It is when I got married to Chris. It is also when I gave birth to Emilia.

I can't believe that I am coming up on her first birthday already! Time really flew. I've been amassing some jewelry pieces that feature her birthstone and am eager to give one away to a lucky reader. Anjolee was happy to help.

Anjolee specializes in fine diamond and gemstone jewelry. They have a wide selection of highly customizable pieces including many beautiful diamond pendants. To celebrate the color palette of changing leaves (and one of the birthstones of the season), Anjolee would like to give a reader of Consume or Consumed the chance to win a sterling silver necklace featuring a genuine citrine pendant, as pictured above.

There are many ways to enter. This giveaway is open only to US readers.

Edited to add: The giveaway has closed and for some reason I don't seem to have the option to display the winner drawn in the widget. The winner drawn was Julie who I have contacted and helped arrange for the retrieval of her prize. Thank you to everyone who entered. I will have another giveaway soon enough! 

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Half Day OOTD

The title of this entry is tongue in cheek because the day I wore the above ensemble was a 12+ hour one. I chose it because it was comfortable and because the elastic neckline of the dress made it super easy to pump in between meetings and teaching, especially when layered over one of my Rumina tanks. I'm thankful that on most days I out-produce what baby consumes when we're apart. She compensates for our separations by reverse cycling a bit. But my body doesn't seem to realize this. It's fine with me that I am overproducing because I've become something of a milk stockpiler. We're not at the point where I'm shopping for second freezers but my supply brings me comfort.

Speaking of stockpiling, at some point I want to write about the fact that I've begun couponing (i.e. I coupon now, as a verb). Although it's made me pretty blasé about brand loyalty I'd be lying if I said it wasn't kind of exhilarating. It's no surprise that my desire for deals translates into the most practical (and arguably least glamorous) of venues. I'm not quite "extreme" about it due to time and logistical constraints. The extreme ones probably dedicate the equivalent of a full time job on clipping, organizing, and errand running). I admire their dedication but that's not in the cards for me. When I share via instagram, I usually tag my own ventures as #leftofcentercouponing since I'm fairly moderate compared to those with lots of time. What I do takes very little time thanks to printable coupons, store loyalty cards, and coupon match up blogs that do the bulk of the grunt work for you.  I've dedicated a modest amount of time but have still saved nice chunks of cash on household necessities and baby products because of it. I'll share more at some point. But the above haul cost me about .65 cents out of pocket.

As I indicated in my previous post, I am busy busy busy. I'm still trying to strike a balance. It would be nice if there were more hours in the day or if I didn't actually need to sleep ever.

Outfit Details:
Nanette Lepore dress (old.. bday gift from Chris)
Rumina hangs free pump and nurse tank layered underneath (c/o)
J.Crew Factory cardigan
Spanx tights
Chie Mihara flats
Kors watch; David Yurman necklace (graduation gift from in-laws)

Birthday Jewelry Giveaway from Anjolee

I just celebrated a birthday. And the blog is celebrating one too. This year, for the first time I will also be celebrating Mother's Day as a mom as well as a daughter so I have been contemplating ideas for things I'd like to do as well as give. I've also been thinking about birth and birthstones. I was born in April with CZ/diamond/white topaz as my birthstones. My due date was in December so I anticipated that I'd be able to commemorate birth with a cool, blue-hued piece. Thankfully I didn't rush into purchases because Emilia arrived early and I'm eying the deeply warm yellow of November's citrine.

Anjolee specializes in fine diamond and gemstone jewelry. They have a wide selection of highly customizable pieces like bangle bracelets and diamond eternity bands. To celebrate my birthday, Anjolee would like to give a reader of Consume or Consumed a chance to win their own eternity band gemstone ring with CZs, set in sterling silver. It is just like the one above (except my piece is set with Emilia's birthstone! Review to come!). An eternity band would make a great costume ring, a nice sparkling gift, or if you have an April birthday like me, a birthstone piece!

There are many ways to enter. This giveaway is open only to US readers. A representative from Anjolee will be put into contact with the winner and send their prize directly

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Baubles that Benefit

Charm bracelet c/o CAROLEE

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of jewelry designer, CAROLEE released a line of commemorative pieces called the Legacy Collection. It includes numerous items such as the travel-themed charm bracelet pictured above. The sale of each Legacy Collection piece benefits the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. To mark the occasion, the brand also launched a Student Design Competition and scholarship. As an educator who came from a family of teachers, I was honored when CAROLEE contacted me about publicizing their efforts to present aspiring young designers with this wonderful opportunity.

Bracelets by Carolee
Necklaces by Carolee

Their university partner is the Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.). The competition spans 20 weeks (which exceeds the typical college semester) so it requires a great deal of dedication on behalf the participants. There will be four lucky winners whose designs will be launched for sale in department stores worldwide. The judges are executives from F.I.T. and CAROLEE. You can watch episodes of the competition on the CAROLEE Tumblr, Facebook or Youtube Channel. And you can purchase commemorative jewelry pieces from the Legacy Collection at Macys, Lord and Taylor, Bloomingdales, Dillards, and other department stores.

Redraven Studios Giveaway!

As a Pittsburgher and a lover of Anthropologie, I was so excited to meet up with Amy of Redraven Studios the other week to buy a bib necklace and speak with her about her inspirations. Her jewelry is carried by many boutiques around the country, including Pittsburgh's own Pavement as well as Anthropologie. The process of creating ceramic jewelry is kind of fascinating. And each piece is made right here in Pittsburgh! You can read my interview with Amy on Effortless Anthropologie by going here.

Amy offered a generous opportunity to readers of Consume or Consumed and I am happy to host it.  
Enter to win a $25 gift certificate to spend on the piece of handmade porcelain jewelry of your choice! 


Entering is easy! 

1. Visit Redravenshop to browse.
2. Leave a comment (with your first name/nickname and initial) on Consume or Consumed stating which piece you would like to own.

That's it! Nice and simple.

For additional entries leave a comment indicating that you:
Like Redraven Studios on Facebook
Like Consume or Consumed on Facebook
Subscribe to Consume or Consumed (via GFC, Google Reader, Bloglovin, RSS)
Tweeted the giveaway (please include @jesspgh so I can see your entry)
Blogged the giveaway (please leave a link to your blog entry in the comments)

The contest runs until March 8th, 2012 at 11:59pm, EST). I will announce the winner on my blog on Friday, March 9th, 2012. The winner will have 48 hours to contact me claiming their prize, after which I will redraw.

Recent outfit

See by Chloe dress

Spanx tights

Ferragamo Varina flats

Jewelry: gifts, mbmj, Linea Pelle, KJL

I wore this to campus for teaching on my long day. One of my courses meets once a week so everything is condensed. By the end of the day I am usually pretty spent. And I've learned that it makes sense to wear flats if I will be on my feet a lot. This was comfortable but I also felt pulled together enough.

I am pretty sure February will go down in history as my most busy month. Committee work, course prep from teaching two new ones this term, grant applications, and my own publication deadlines amount to very little sleep. But things are going well and it is a good learning experience.  Thanks for reading!

Quick snaps from my locavore Valentine's Day

Pretty flowers and cookies from Enrico Biscotti thanks to my valentine

Although I don't have an outfit photo uploaded yet, trust that as a schoolteacher's daughter I wore something festive. I'll show you as soon as I can. In the meanwhile, I wanted to share some other Valentine cheer. Chris and I don't really celebrate Valentine's Day. But he still had some flowers and sweets for me this morning. My favorite cookies in the city are the chocolate covered macaroons at Enrico's in the Strip District. One is plenty so four is ridiculous. But they'll find a good home I'm sure.  The flowers weren't local but a friend who does arranging at Whole Foods always makes the prettiest bouquets full of purple flowers (my favorite color).

I also wanted to share my most recent purchase. I bought this beautiful bib necklace directly from Amy, the designer and artist behind Redraven Studios (who's pieces are sold at Anthropologie as well as Pavement and other boutiques around the country). We met up at the Bloomfield Crazy Mocha so that we could talk about her work for an interview. I didn't realize we had already met through a mutual friend until she arrived. It was a good reminder that Pittsburgh can be such a small town in the best way! I was excited to buy a piece of jewelry directly from her. It was my self-present in honor of Galentine's Day.

Redraven Studios Candy Apple bib necklace

I am also eager to share what I learned from the interview once it is ready. In the meanwhile, I hope you had great Galentine's and Valentine's Days!

Oversized Wristwear

Michael Kors watch

I posted about my new watch but never displayed it in action. So although I snapped this photo for Instagram I wanted to share it here. It was a great sale find from Bloomingdales. After $ and % off coupons, I managed to get it for around 60% off (even after spending the dough to get it adjusted to my wrist).

I have a backlog of outfits that I hope to post this week. I also would like to get into Anthropologie to try on some of the more promising new arrivals. And I still need to make it back to the Saks Liquidation, where indeed an additional 10% off has been taken. Between committee work and some revise and resubmit manuscripts that are on my plate, I am unable to take a lot of time out to blog and comment. But hopefully things will settle down soon. I was thrilled to get positive feedback on my Fighting Diamonds article (developed from the conference paper I presented in Chicago last March). That's back in for review after revisions so I hope to hear soon. I have a book chapter for a reader on activism and Twitter due at the end of February. And I want to get my NCA paper (from New Orleans in November) in to another journal asap. So much work to do and only so many hours in the day...

Christmas came early

I was so excited to see a surprise package among my mail when I retrieved it from the post office this morning. Plenty of gratitude is due to my Fashionism Secret Santa Elf, Cece who did a fantastic job finding presents that suit my tastes.

She bought me a beautiful vintage initial necklace, a bluray copy of Fellini's glorious aesthetic masterpiece, 8 1/2 (Criterion Collection!), a pretty paisley print zip pouch, some chocolate covered pretzels from Dylan's Candy Bar, and some Cadbury chocolate ornaments. I feel truly spoiled and truly lucky!!

Now to share some holiday cheer, I have been enjoying a soulful Christmas music mix assembled by a friend and fell in love with this one by the great Solomon Burke.

Enjoy and Happy Holidays to you and yours! 

Wild about animal bracelets

Bracelets at Dillard's
Teen Girls' Clothes by American Eagle

When I was a teen, my mom and I would regularly take advantage of the rich antique and flea markets in Washington County and the greater Southwestern PA area. We would shop tables of estate sale wares whenever we got the chance. And until last week one of my favorite costume jewelry finds from this period was in my regular accessory rotation. It was a silver-toned animal bracelet in the shape of a leopard with black onyx spots. The bracelet closure cleverly doubled as the leopard swallowing its own tail. When I got a little older and came into contact with Kenneth Jay Lane pieces, I would smile because I had my own similar (and much much cheaper) costume piece. Sadly, last week the clasp on my beloved bracelet broke. I don't foresee any way to fix it. So I have been nostalgically (and obsessively) googling animal-themed bracelets to locate a proper replacement. I am in love with all of the above but the prices vary pretty widely. While it is possible that Kenneth Jay Lane is worth the relative splurge, I will probably end up with something a little more budget friendly (like one of the KJL for QVC pieces, which are fun too).

Faculty Event Outfit: Back to School

Babergh dress (Anthro 2010)

Marc Jacobs Stam Hobo

Chie Mihara t-strap pumps

Starfish cuff and bag detail shot

Every year the campus hosts an annual dinner to usher in the new semester. All the faculty and staff are invited and it is a great occasion for dressing up. I wanted to wear something special and something I hadn't recently worn so I pulled out my Babergh Dress from last year. It had just the right amount of sparkle mixed with an uncommonly figure-hugging silhouette. I was inspired by how I felt wearing a pencil shape the other week (blogged here). Branching out is fun! I gave and received many compliments that night. It was novel and great to see everyone wearing fancy clothes! We clean up well. I only wish I had some shots of me with my colleagues or Chris who was my very dapper date. Sadly I forgot to bring out my camera til the very end of the night after I got home.

End of summer jewelry buy

Rosa from Love at First Shop posted on Fashionism about these interesting starfish bracelets for sale at a website called Shop Suey. I was unfamiliar with the site. And the gold color I preferred was on backorder. Still I decided to make a request for one of each. Both the gold and silver arrived yesterday and I think they're pretty cool!

Rosa is wearing hers in today's outfit post. Because I just got mine I only managed to snap an iphone photo of how they look when layered together. Now I have to decide if I can I get away with wearing these after labor day.