I saw the Colgate Wisp on a point of purchase display (by the checkout counter) at Walgreens.  It was $2.49 for a four-pack, which isn’t too expensive for an impulse purchase.

The Colgate Wisp is a tiny toothbrush you can use, while you’re out, without having to use water.

I love it.

1. It’s portable. Each brush costs about $0.60 including tax.
2. Sometimes, after a meal, it’s just better to do a quick brush versus chewing gum or sucking on a mint.
3. The non-brush end has this flexible toothpick that’s so much better than any traditional toothpick or tooth floss.
4. The “toothpaste” is basically one of those liquid mint things.  So nothing in this new product is “new.”  It’s just repackaged very nicely.
5. The bristles, handle, and ends are pliable, comfortable to hold and use, and look pretty futuristic.

The one thing I don’t like about the Wisp is the packaging. The package I bought (look below) comes in a set of four.  I  don’t need to take four with me any time I go out.  In fact, if I’m going clubbing, my purse will likely be tiny.  It’s hard enough to pack a camera and my iphone.  I don’t have room in my purse to carry another package almost the size of a deck of cards.

Instead, the Wisp should be packaged separately, so I can take them out one at a time.

To be honest, I probably would buy this in the future.  I’m not planning on using it every time I go out, probably only the times when I eat something super garlicky or have a date.  So $2.49 every 3 months or so is a pretty good investment.

I’ve been experimenting with makeup lately (see my last two posts), and I’ve been getting a lot of inspiration from Makeup Geek.  So here’s one of her awesome videos on how to apply makeup.  I’ll be working on some of my own looks and posting them here and on Facebook.

Along with Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg,  Evan Williams, Twitter Co-Founder and CEO, and Greg Harper, co-founder of Gadgetoff, showed off gadgets from fuel cells to a Star Wars Wii controllers (with LEDs that light up the laser end of the light saber).  Here’s a quick and dirty look of my favorites:

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This is the Flip Mino HD.  Not only is it smaller than the gen 1 Flip, but it also records in full HD.  As usual, the minimalist design and buttons on the back make operating tres easy, as does the pop out USB connector up top.  Retail: about $229.

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When a friend from Portola Valley, home of many a well-to-do/VC types, invited me over for dinner and discussed such a portable projector, I quickly dismissed it as totally impossible.  A projector this small?  Will it actually work or explode into a burning mess?

So I was ridiculously wrong (like that hasn’t happened before).  This little guy is not much bigger than an iPod, as you can see, and from the demonstration that Greg gave, the projection looks amazingly clear with pretty good color precision.  Retail: $300-500.

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There’s also the phone projector.  I couldn’t find the exactly image of the one that Greg showed, but this is pretty close.  It’s shaped exactly like the iPhone, except longer and even has the same interface.  My guess that it’s from China- looser copyright laws.  No idea on the price, and to be honest, I’d probably skip gen one.  If the product works well and with MS Office, you’ll never had to carry a laptop and projector to a presentation again.  A carry case that comes with a laptop connector (for troubleshooting) and a laser pointer, would make this a top sell for all the corporate types.

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This is the much talked about Blackberry Storm.  For those with Verizon (and not stuck with *cough cough* AT&T), the Storm is supposed to be an iPhone killer.  From what Walt showed us on Tuesday night… not so much.  What’s with Blackberry’s need to use that weird non-QWERTY keypad?  And why would you include the numeric keypad for typing text?  Silliness.  It does have international SIM card slot and GMS but doesn’t work in the US (a.k.a. doesn’t work with other mobile services).  Retail: $249 with a $50 rebate, which puts it at the same range as the iPhone.

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Unlike the Blackberry, because it’s less useful but so much cooler, is Plantsense.  This doo-hickie has a pronged fork at the bottom that you stick into the ground.  It detects the soil PH, moisture, etc., while the green flower up top takes measurements from the air, like light and moisture.  Then (of course), it snaps open to reveal a USB stick, which plugs into your computer and gives you a detail analysis of the flora conditions and what plants would best suit the conditions around you.

This is perfect for me.  My last two plants have sadly died and I’m not sure what to grow anymore.  The window next to my office gets blazing sun from morning until noon and shade for the rest of the day.  I think my last plants, local wild flower varieties, died from sun poisoning.  They were growing fine one day and limp and dark green the next.  Retail: $59.95.

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The femtocell, made by Samsung for Sprint, extends the cell network anywhere you go.  Just plug it in, and it acts like a cell tower, giving you full bars with a radius of 1, 500 feet.  Greg mentioned that other cell carriers have a similar product, and he loves it when he’s in the middle of New York State and needs some bars in hicksville.  I don’t think I’ll be getting one soon, but if you’re like my ex, who lives in a stone house, please consider it on your Santa list.  Retail: a couple hundred plus any subscriber fees, $15-30/month for Sprint customers.

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I started with one of my favorite (the high quality, useful & inexpensive Flip cam), so I’ll end with one too.  This is the Panasonic SDR-SW20.  I’m not 100% sure what that means, except this: it’s a waterproof camcorder that takes pictures too.  And not waterproof, i.e. you can splash water on it.  It will actually go into the swimming pool with you!…!!!  I know!

This lightweight little contraption also comes with wi-fi, which means that you can automatically back up the videos and images on your computer inside the house, while you’re playing underwater (or if you’re my friend in her apartment’s pool, giving a back story to the bandaid floating near the bottom of the pool).  I haven’t hear much feedback on how well the camcorder works in salt water, i.e. on a scuba dive in the Caribbean, but will report back during an unboxing party. Retail: about $282.

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Those were some of the highlights of the evening.  Others like the singing Elvis, which already made a debut on the Late Show with Letterman, and a tiny camera on a stick like those you see in the proctologist’s office, weren’t as exciting.  I can’t wait to see some of these products on market.  With the marketplace in a coma, this is a great time to buy cool gadgets with deep price discounts.  w00t!

During my last trip, we managed to get all the furniture in order.  About half the furnishings will come from the old house and the rest, we bought to fill up the new one (which is about 3 times bigger).  Our goals for this trip were to:

• finish buying all the bathroom accessories (they can get so expensive!)
• pick up random accents
• look at couches and pick a style for the living room
• figure out the entertainment situation

Accessories & Random Accents

The first was pretty easy.  I wanted my room to have a muted, slightly feminine look.  I’m not usually a huge fan of purple, but after I saw those Nicole Miller shower curtains, I absolutely had to have them!  They were on sale when I first saw them in June, but by the time my parents go around to buying them, they were only $19.99 at Bed, Bath & Beyond (major WIN!).  During my last trip back, I had also picked out matching DNKY toothbrush holders, soap dishes and trash cans.  My bedroom ‘suite’ is actually two rooms with two sinks/vanity areas and a shared toiled/bathtub.  So after a quick hunt at Macy’s, the three of us (parents + me) picked an also matching bed set a la Style & Co.  Here’s how they came out:

Nicole Miller shower curtain.  You can kind of make out the metallic sheen.

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The matching DKNY bathroom accessories and how it looks on the granite I picked out over a year ago.  The stylist looked at me like I was nuts for wanting black granite in the bathroom, but I think they turned out really well.  Especially because it pulls everything in the room towards it.

We were going to get a trash can as well, but I’m leaving my kitteh with my parents from Thanksgiving until Christmas (it’s $125 each way for the cat, so I’m saving $250 just by not bringing her back from Thanksgiving and then there again for Christmas), and we didn’t want her to knock over the creamic trash can and break it.  She might get hurt, and the trash can’s $40 plus tax.

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The matching pillows.  The small one is from Style & Co., a set with the sheets, but the larger ones are actually from TJ Max.  They’re identical in color to the original Style & Co. large decorative pillows, except the TJ Max twin was $16 vs. $40.  (win!)  I don’t have a picture of the sheets, since they were still in packaging when I left.

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For my parents room, my mom wanted something that was brown and gold to match the curtains, for which they’d paid an assload.  Not everything matches exactly, but I guess if you have a bathroom the size of most 1 bedroom apartments in New York, they don’t have to look exactly the same shade.  From far away, lotion dispenser and toothbrush holders look amazing, but they’re just cheap plastic.  Whoo Steinmart.

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These curtains are ridiculous.  A little elaborate for my taste but so rich.  It makes the whole room look majestic, especially with my parents’ bed frame.

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I didn’t actually help with picking the curtains (my parents just hired someone and said, “Here’s money.  Make it pretty.”), but I just love how the dining room turned out.  At first, I thought the table was too shiny and plastic looking.  The curtains and chandelier do wonders in softening the look.

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Living room & Entertaining

As with most standard houses, the living room is huge and two stories tall.  The goal was to put an entertainment system in the rather large alcove between the dining room and the living room, and leave the living room for a huge couch set up and some nice rugs.

My dad had this crazy idea of buying two 46″ Sony Bravia W series because they don’t really sell LCDs or plasma over 60″ (or something like that).  In the end, we ended up getting a 46″ for the master bedroom too.  My mom had gotten used to falling asleep watching TV, so it was hard for her not to.  We still have the old 53″ DLP, but that’s going into the entertainment room upstairs.  It’s silly to have two entertainment systems in the house, but turning down the thermostat upstairs (usually set to 83 degrees to save electricity) just to watch TV seems sillier.

We also went to what seemed like 100 different furniture places to look for an appropriate couch set.  Most of the stores had very traditional leather styles, which seemed too blah for my parents.  But the European stores had tiny tiny furniture, which would look so wrong in such a huge space.  I really dig this one.  It’s 1) made from cloth, so no sticky leather in the summer; 2) a really pretty color; 3) actually big enough to fill up the living room and 4) not that expensive (about $4,000).

… Sadly, my mom hates it.

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Here are some gratuitous pictures of bao zi that my mom and I made.  They’re sooo gooood.  We tried making them super small this time, so each one is about the length of your knuckle (except… you know… round).

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Okay this post has gone on for way too long… cheerio!

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Saboo from MOBAN

I looks intriguing and amazing. There’s a place for your tiki drink, magazine, cell phone, etc. It rotates to your desired angle. AND if you’re on the fluffier side, there will be more picture posted of your meek lil pet hovering under your lounge chair on the internets. What I would love to see is 1) plugs for the ipod/speakers, laptop, etc. and 2) an auto-rotator that automatically turns to allow you maximum sun exposure (great for skin cancer and you ).

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“Tea Shirt” by Meryl Smith

This is a lovely art piece, but I can totally see this being useful as a tea-bath soak… It’ll exfoliate and rejuvenate your pores, etc. If you add some milk and bubble tea… there’s a snack!! Sorry, I’ll stop.

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Anke Salomon

Nice design. Reminds me of the fat people on Wall-E… I can so see us now and also the Southpark episode where Mr. Garrison invents a car substitute that operates by working rods with your ass and mouth (I think that’s the most succinct way I can explain it).

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Beijing 2008 Olympics Lenovo Flash Drive

Decorated USB drives are the ‘new’ thing. I’m not really a huge fan, but I love love love the torch design. Itj just looks so damn sleek and sexy. It’s hard thinking of places to put it in a house or finding another function that won’t look like a cheesy souvenir. But if the torches were made to look woody, it would be a great accent for wall lights or even torch lights on a patio with the Survivor, tropical garden theme. Think faded red on birch.

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Change the Thought came up with their first set of posters, available for purchase for $18 per. I’ve always loved concept of having small picture frames with my favorite pieces. If you look in my house, I’m very much about expression and space, and less about pictures of friends and family. It’s not that I’m not personable; design just says more about me, and I want my apartment/house/home to evocative of a sanctuary and of me. Art scattered on an empty hallway wall or maybe even in a walk in closet.

In fact, I have a framed photo of laundry hanging off lines in a little Italian village nailed into my walk-in closet right now. “Bras for lovers” would work equally as well. *cross fingers* Maybe one day, when I have a bigger closet.

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1. Wall decals are talked about way too effing much, but more than a fad, it’s a new way to look at a previous unused space. The 70s probably shocked us into painting our walls a solid, non-seizure inducing color. Now, every thing’s on it’s way back. The one above is so dynamic with multiple patterns and actions beyond just using a few decals for accents. Decals aren’t just used to frame anymore; they’ve becoming the central focus of a wall (yay!).

2. I love those pillows. They’re two of my favorite colors- that rich, ‘ethnic’ vibrancy. Also, they look mad comfy.

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I’ve been focusing a lot of furniture pieces recently. Most of the pieces are good… this is amazing. The texture of the door, crystal clear handle and the round, stoutness of the table sitting on those pointy, delicate legs. It’s just beautiful. I can’t believe it came from this.

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How fucking awesome is this arc mouse?  I know that my ergonomics consultant or whatever told me that I really need a mouse that scrolls with  my thumb instead of my middle finger, but I need more practice with my middle finger anyways.  hahaha…. point is… this is s revolution in design, and one that’s actually useful and worth the increase in cost.

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Felt Plate Protectors

Silly… but so worth it. I’d rather spend the extra money in felt to protect my IKEA plates than the extra $4 per plate to buy from Bed, Bath & Beyond or whatever.

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That’s it for August.  There’s seriously so much to blog about, but I want to keep it short enough that people aren’t bored.

Thanks for tuning in. This is Jany blogging from her friend’s awesome 30″ screen in SOMA (in a beautiful apartment that I would die to live in).

Muah!

Me.

Summer is a time for dinner parties… FUN dinner parties. Outside, inside, themed, etc. So for your next dinner party, make it a tie dinner party.

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… and where better on a cheery summer day than outside with a full service shed/bar. Raining? Not a problem, just close the barn-like doors and snuggle up to the cutest person in the room.

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On first glance, I almost thought it was a bathroom, in which case I would have jumped right out of my chair to go get one. In fact, it’s a table. I haven’t decided if I could live with something quite so futuristic in my house. I mean what would it look like without the lovely, old wood floors? Hmm… this is going to be a yes for office furniture, i.e. welcome area, and a no for home. Thoughts?

Click here to read about the lovely wallpaper. What I’m really paying attention to is the bathtub, which looks so comfy. But the whale wallpaper really adds the quirky touch that makes the bathroom. I wonder if failwhale would be interested in creating failpaper.

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This is so easy to match with anything. I definitely want to grab me one!

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This is a futuristic lawn chair that allows for all these things:

via here … but I didn’t really notice…

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So far the kitteh (I still have yet to name her… maybe “mon petit coeur”) hasn’t really messed with all my books/photos on the floor.  But at some point, I should probably move them all onto a bookshelf.  This one looks particularly appetizing, since it adds dimension to my currently barren living room and gives the kitteh lots of surfaces to scratch.  More details here

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That’s so beautiful.  I’m so glad we’re finally making good use of our wallpaper/wall, and giving it some nice dimension.  Hanna is amazing.

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In an effort to not turn Sh*t I like into Furniture Sh*t I like, here are some non furnishing, I really wish I had the money/space to haves:

I feel like this is highly useful, especially with all the natural disasters happening all around us/if I accidentally/on-purpose ever kill anyone.

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I seriously need to invest in a multimedia system.  My computer’s weak speakers suck for parties, and my tiny 27″ doesn’t quite do it for the living room.  Although instead of the projection screen, I’d probably just use the while wall and temporarily take down Ty’s painting.

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One day, I want to live in an apartment/condo with a long balconey, and lots of French doors.  I want lots of these to hang outside alongside flower pots, places to put your current book/lemonade/laptop, surround sound and two rocking chairs.  A cool drink and some hot summer air.  Hmmmmm… (weird of me to run away from Houston and want heat, but it’s so frigid in SF).

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BTW, thank you KY for the lovely samples you passed out at BlogHer.  There’s nothing quite like a moment of bonding with you client, as the volunteer introduces the new him/her line… really… nice touch.

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Things I learned this morning:

• Even the teeny AT&T store by my house in Oakland was packed this morning.
• AT&T stores only carried about 100 units.
• AT&T servers crashed this morning.  *Good job!*
• Jobs somehow managed to artificially boost demand again.
• Video is fun… but it just doesn’t make up for the fact that I wasn’t that guy standing in front, knowing he’s getting one. (I r not happy)

http://nickpapageorgia.blogspot.com/2008/06/puur-design-studio.html

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http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/9/view/3045/dubai-opera-house-by-zaha-hadid.html

You can’t really ‘buy’ the Opera House in Dubai, unless by buy, you mean get tickets to a show. However, Dubai has been and is becoming more and more the gem of the Middle East. The city, situated in UAE (United Arab Emirates), plans to build the biggest suspension bridge, the tallest skyscrapers and has already finished the map of the word resorts, a mini world in a luxurious resort. I’m certainly dying to visit, especially with all the shopping!

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I happen to have a mod little 60s number that would perfectly match that chair. Now all I need to get is the $2,500 to match the price tag (plus tax). Darn.

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This is just lovely. Elegant and very minimalist. I’m just afraid that it might not fit into the design of my ideal house (or that the previous statement just scared off whoever was actually interesting in making that house with me). BUT this Belgian designer has offered schematics to a possible DIY version.

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Dude! BMW built a concept vehicle using fabric to cover the metal frame, so that people can ‘shape shift’ the vehicle. Here’s the vid:

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I’m so into these chairs. They’re “stackable” and look comfy. One minor change for my personal preference is to increase the curvature at the bottom, so they can become mini-rocking chairs.\

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Concept:

1. Write a message.
2. Stick in the bread.
3. Bread comes out with your message.

Now that’s awesome.

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The “Stewie,” or for those still relishing the 90s, the “Pinky the Brain,” chair is perfect for those craving world domination. The website just calls it the Villain Chair, which apparently retails for $7200. (What the fudge?)

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*Insert stereotypes about how all Chinese people are punctual*… well, here’s July’s edition in June.

Borrowing a theme from B’s awesome casacaudill blog, I’m helping the parents pick out furniture and trinkets for their new (ginormous) house, so there will be a number of style/product entries coming out in July. If you like it, please comment and let me know what you think. If not, tell me, and I’ll try not to piss you off so much.

Cute typography and branding. I have no idea how the drink tastes or how much it costs, but as a sucker for packaging, I’d definitely try it.

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This is very Escher and highly useful, especially for someone like me, who has an abundance of lil trinkets and jewelry with absolutely no place to put it.

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This “floating staircase” was designed by Jordi Vayreda of Jordivayreda Projectteam (Spain). I’d my scared that my 400lb baby mantinee body will cause structural damage, especially to whoever is sitting at the desk below. But apparently the guard-rails are made of the same invisible material as the risers and it’s metal parts are stuck deep into the wall.

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Great for me, since im obsessed with poo not the actually thing… the word. Besides, it’s high time someone redesigned that ugly tape dispenser.

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This sofa looks so comfortable and like the perfect center piece for a hang out spot in the living room. I’d get it for my bed @ my parent’s new house, but definitely not in purple. To be daring, maybe I’ll try it in a metallic bronze or something.

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A grass bed. It actually looks really comfortable, except maybe more cushion and less grass… and less… odd…

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Not to sound like a complete alcoholic, but vodka is great… Vodka that could be kept neatly and in line is just effing amazing. I hope they have mini “flask” versions too! … okay, now I’m starting to sound like an alcoholic.

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When I first read about it on Gizmodo earlier, I thought this was the dumbest thing ever. I mean seriously, a GPS for your kid? Are you that busy/distracted that you can’t freakin’ hold his/her hand? Why don’t you just get him a leash (yes, they have kid leashes) and call it a day? However, this watch is pretty useful, if you’re going to a carnival or fair or want to keep track of errant boyfriends. (teeehehehehe)

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I just saw this yesterday. It’s so very much too edgy for me; as much as I’m a modernist, I still have a traditional vein running through my body (it’s from the parents; I try to disassociate as much as possible). BUT I’d love to buy this for a friend or just enjoy it at a tea party. My favorite are the plates. They seem so nonsensical, yet functional.

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Zat is eet for now. I will keep digging up cute lil design treasures for the July post! Chau!

And I’ve decided to celebrate my promotion to senior marketing specialist by purchasing my 101st pair of shoes. But which one…?

by Christian Lacroix

Retail: $674

by Sergio Rossi

Retail: $464

by Roberto Cavalli

Retail: $1099 *gulp*

by Missoni

Retail: $463

by Giorgio Armani

Retail: $650

by Christian Louboutin

Retail: $1510 … yeah…

by Christian Louboutin

Retail: $770

by Chloe

Retail: $620