Fashion + Food = No brainer Mother’s Day gift

Do you ever spend time cooking and toiling in the kitchen, and wonder, “What would Isaac Mizrahi do in this scenario?” Me too.

Well, wonder no more.  Assouline’s new book, “American Fashion Cookbook” is filled with 100s of designers’ recipes and illustrations, like Carolina Herrera’s Pommes Toupinel and Derek Lam’s Yellowtail Crudo.

You can make your Mom feel like a Fashionista Chef extraordinaire and sit front row, with sunglasses on, and a bitchy look on your face, when she prances her luxe dishes down the dining room table runway. Food and fashion are the way to any woman’s heart, and with designers leading the way, your dinner party just turned in to Bryant Park.

Get this for your mom, tell her to whip out the Louboutins to cook in, and she’ll be the hippest woman at any dinner party, knowing exactly how Isaac Mizrahi would rock a  Mushroom Truffle Spaghetti. Tres chic! Bon Appetite Ladies!

Thrifting is wear it’s at…

I hate to sound like a cheater, but I also have another blog in which I sing the praises of Council Thrift’s steals and deals. It doesn’t take away form my love of sharing gift ideas, but they’ve shown me that thrifting is awesome; I had to write about it. I will forever feel bad buying something full price, as I’ve found many items in Council that I paid full price for at Council for a fraction of the price. They have amazing, unique fashion finds and for prices that sit well with my recessionista budget. So embrace thrifting and my new blog if you may: http://councilcouturette.tumblr.com/

All the cool kids are doing it.

Oh, this print is from cool Portland kid Ashley G (a girl from my hometown always has my heart). Her art will fill your home with a cool, retro feel and she even provides custom portraits on request. I say get in on this up and coming artist while you can. Then, save your money by thrifting and you’ll be a millionaire this time next year. You’re welcome.

Perfect Baby Shower Gift

Fact: Baby shoes are cute.

Fact: Babies never keep them on their feet.

So, Trumpette came up with a perfect solution. The make adorable socks for boys and girls that look like cute, hip baby shoes, but won’t be flung off your baby every second. I’ve given them several times as baby shower gifts and every mommy to be loves them.

Music Appreciation

Get ’em while they’re young and before their friends start teaching them about Miley Cyrus.

The Ritmo Prenatal Music System ($100) makes a great shower gift for music-loving, parents-to-be, allowing them to hook up their personal MP3 players and get that baby loving their musical tastes from the get go .

Link to this to order, find out more and have a few laughs.

Sharp and Stylish

Every woman appreciates a new bag as a gift. That’s a no brainer. But between Goyard, Prada, Dior and Lanvin (just to name a few), it’s impossible to decide on the perfect bag for the perfect girl.

Now the new Ai bag is adding one more to the perfect purse pot. Swiss fashion house Akris has long been hailed as a provider of staple items for socialites around the world. It’s now expanding its line to include handbags. While I love its sleek structure, I was shocked to find out that the material behind the architectured look is horsehair. Apparently, that’s how high society roles, so I’m willing to give it a whirl. Weeelll, except the one small issue of price: $4,000. Apparently horsehair doesn’t come cheap. And I’m just hoping it doesn’t shed. But the bag is fabulous and unique and just gives me more handbags to lust after. Thank you Bag God!!

The world through Vogue’s eyes

So, this is what it’s like to be the eyes behind Anna’s gigantic dark glasses…

Just like the Ice Queen’s famous shades, the coffee table book will be so large that your actual coffee table might not be seen underneath it, but if Anna has taught us anything, it’s bigger is always better (except when it comes to waist sizes of course).

The 300 photos show off Vogue’s famed moments over the past 40 years, as well as fabulous celebrities, models and of course, chic fashion.  The below shot of Jackie O is enough to sell me. And if you’ll note, she’s rocking the large glasses. Fabulous.

Green Fashion

Saving the world is tres chic and as you approach a new year, you (or your eco-friendly friends) might need some new re-usable bags. Alphabet bags offers a bunch of cute ones and you can also customize your own with letters and numbers. Easy as a-b-c..

Just in time for Halloween

Gifts of carmel apples…yum. And apparently, these are so giant that each weighs up to 3 lbs. That’s a whole lotta yum.

Party in a Box

When you can’t make it to a party, just mail a party to your far away birthday friend.

Boxed up Birthday includes all kinds of goodies for the perfect party:  pin the tail on the donkey, a huge balloon, party blowers, a one month supply of gumballs, handmade party hats, smarties, and tootsie rolls. It’s only $30 and did I mention you can MAIL IT?

Blazing new trails

This gift idea is in honor of my dear friend, Gemma, who just gave birth yesterday to an adorable baby boy. She works for Guess, the label behind this very cute blazer available now at Bloomies. Love love this look.