06.28.2011
Boot Camp H20 from Gilt City LA

I’ve always been a water sports girl. Lately I’ve been totally obsessed with all of the sale sites (Gilt, Living Social, Daily Candy, Sugar, etc.) but this week, this amazing deal caught my eye from Gilt City LA. Sure, I’ll have to drive all the way to the Pacific Palisades but I’m sorry…still totally worth it. There’s an eight package class that’s a unique cross-training program of swimming, aquatic plyometrics and water polo (yes!). This intenese cross-training regimen is the brainchild of two experts in matters aquatic: Igor Porciuncula, a Brazilian physical therapist, swim instructor and Red Cross lifeguard and Lana Shapiro, a USA Swimming-certified swim coach, swim instructor and Red Cross lifeguard. But yeah…I’m not kidding myself, this class is going to be ridic hard.

06.28.2011
Barney’s New York and NARS Pre-Fall Celebration at Soho House West Hollywood

I will never say no to a party at Soho House. Plain and simple. Add in one of the most decadent stores ever (Barney’s New York) and one of the best makeup brands of all time (NARS) and there’s not even any room for negotiation. Barney’s and NARS partnered to celebrate the pre-Fall collections and guests were treated to an amazing Q&A with Francois Nars himself and Barney’s Fashion Director, Amanda Brooks.

The event was held in one of Soho House’s private rooms and we got to listen to Francois discuss his vision for the brand as well as hear Amanda discuss Fall 2011 fashion trends like rich burgundy’s, greens, teals, lady-like details and unconventional hemlines. And hint, pointy toe heels are definintely back. I’m also loving the NARS pre-Fall makeup collection (pictured above) because how amazing and rich are those colors? The blue eyeshadow is seriously intense, in a good way.

Not the best photo but NARS makeup artists where available for touch-ups and I attempted what I like to call “the starter bold lip” using NARS “Manhunt” lipstick, which I’m now obsessed with.

06.21.2011
Hair Extensions Update: The Finale

Nadine, Jamie C., Sydne, me at a friend’s surprise birthday BBQ

It was time. I laughed, I cried, I get my Hair Dreams hair extensions taken out. You might remember my last update back in March, where I got “touched up” a bit and was told that I could keep my extensions in for another two(ish) months…I was elated. Well it came to a point where they were way grown out and sadly, it was that time. I never thought that I would’ve grown so attached to someone else’s hair but ladies, I did. I can’t reccomend them enough and a big part of that was also my experience at The Doves Studio, who was amazing at matching the exact shade of blonde that I wanted, helping me with my questions and just having overall amazing customer service. (Make sure to ask for Chris Rosario!)

But I digress, it was time for them to come out and yeah, I was definitely nervous about how my natural hair was gonna look after five months of having the extensions in. The result? Well it was certainly a shock to see how my natural hair didn’t look or feel the way it had with the extensions IN…but overall, my natural hair stayed extremely healthy with almost no breakage! I immediately needed my highlights touched up and The Doves Studio was nice enough to give me a slightly darker blonde shade for summer (in the above photo). I thought it might be fun to go slightly darker during the summer months and my colorist actually lightened my entire base color before putting the highlights in, making maintenance a bit easier. What do you guys think?

06.16.2011
Ideal Woman Collection by Allie Pohl

When my friend Katie tells me that I need to meet someone, I listen. Allie Pohl, a very talented artist and jewelry designer, just moved to LA from Denver and we planned a little girl date at Shutters by the beach in Santa Monica so we could discuss LA and her collection, Ideal Woman, over cocktails.

Now, I wasn’t exactly sure what kind of “art” Allie was into exactly, since when I asked Katie about it she said “she designs vaginas,” in true Katie fashion. Allie filled me in on the actual story, vaginas included. Allie created a series of sculptures using Barbie and Chia Pets to explore the cultural trend of women not wanting any body hair, which is what led to her Ideal Woman collection. “I was captivated by the shape of the midsection and started to explore different ways to appropriate the shape,” she told ELLE.com. “Creating a jewelry line was a way to bring my mesage into pop culture and simultaneously be a part of pop culture.”

Personally, I’m obsessed with the mirror version and what’s really cool about these necklaces is that most people would never guess what it actually is, until you explain it and they go “OMG, that’s awesome,” which is what I get every time I wear mine. As a bonus, Allie is an all-around awesome girl and I’m sure we’ll be enjoying many more beach cocktails together.

06.14.2011
BECKLEY blogger styling competion!

Tonight was definitely a fun night. I was invited by the super chic BECKLEY Boutique in West Hollywood to style a mannequin that will be displayed in their store for a few weeks(!) for customers to vote on their favorite look!

Naturally, I was elated and honored. It was a tough decision but I ended up going with the look to the left – a Camilla and Marc bow and arrow dress topped with a brown studded suede jacket and gold chain link bib necklace (both not available online). This is a very “Jamie” outfit; you’ve got a cute dress (that shows the cleavage), studs and a statement necklace, all of which I totally love.

I have to admit, the other bloggers who are participating in the contest are definitely some tough competition so please vote for me, if you like my look 🙂

Make sure to “like” BECKLEY on Facebook, follow them on Twitter (and vote for me!)

06.06.2011
CoverGirl Beauty Bar for the MTV Movie Awards

I’ll never say no to an event lounge…and I’ll especially never say no when the lounge is hosted by one of my favorite brands, like CoverGirl. The MTV Movie Awards were a slight blip on my radar this year, but not really that important since it’s pretty much guaranteed that the awards will be overtaken by Twilight and Harry Potter (and after watching, I was obviously right) so yeah, I was excited to check out what the CoverGirl Beauty Bar, hosted at NINE ZERO ONE salon in West Hollywood, had to offer.

Luckily, my friend Kelsi was working her social media thing in the HPNOTIQ Harmonie lounge, which just might have been the cutest lounge I’ve ever seen. Seriously, I’m not even really into the whole girlie girl decor thing but everything was purple and sparkly and there were cupcakes and candy everywhere – as someone on a very strict diet at the moment, I had a very hard time controling myself and yes, I did indulge in this ridiculous oreo cheesecake pop that Kelsi said was “truly amazing.”

Annnyway, there was also a CoverGirl makeup area (with the fabulous Amy Nadine!), a FakeBake spray tan room and WELLA hair care was there (another personal favorite!) on top of random celeb spottings like Rumer Willis, Karina Smirnoff, Stephanie Pratt, Demi Lovato, and the the cute cheerleader from The Hard Times of RJ Berger!