Fashion Week for All!

A JSG always loves fashion! And here are a few of the things we're most excited about this NYC fashion week—all of which are available to the general public:


• Celeb spotting A plus side to the writers' strike is that the shows and parties are predicted to be teaming with celebs. Celebrity and fashion go hand in hand and the red carpet starved celebs are said to be anxious to lend a hand to Marc, Michael, Diane and more. Keep your eye out for Lindsey Lohan, Jessica Simpson and Demi Moore around NYC this week.

•Since we already fessed up that we’re Posh fans, you won’t be surprised to hear that we can’t wait for the new Victoria Beckham-Marc Jacobs T. The shirt which features Posh in the buff benefits the Interdisciplinary Melanoma Cooperative Group to help raise skin cancer awarness. We love that the perma-tanned Posh is supporting safe sunning--let's hope she only self tans. (OK, it doesn’t really have anything to do with fashion week, but Posh is still fab and we wanted an excuse to run a pick of David Beckham!)
The $35 tee is set to go on sale this week at Marc Jacobs’ boutiques.

• 50 Years of Italian Style This exhibit of photos from Italian Vogue promises to be over the top—just like the best Italian fashion should be. It’s at gallery Twelve 21, West 21st Street between 5th and 6th and is open February 2-4. Admission is free.

• The opening of the new Gucci store on Fifth Avenue on February 8. It promises to have great window shoppping, plus we adore the Gucci Loves NY website that highlights the creative director and CEO of Gucci's fave New York haunts. Try seeing how many you can guess from the artistically angled photos.

• Taking a ride in a K-Y Love car. Everyone’s favorite lube is offering free rides to stranded fashionistas anywhere in Manhattan. Look for the cars to be circling Bryant Park. Sample lbue is included!

• Drinking lots of Bawls—an energy drink and one of fashion week’s official sponsors. If just saying the name doesn’t make it reason enough to drink it, it’s also loaded with guarana, a natural source of caffeine. When we were in Brazil a few years ago, we lived on the Antarctica Guarana soda. This will be a must for fashionistas on the go—and it sure beats the South Beach Diet bars they had a few seasons back!

For Better or Worse

One of the best parts of being a JSG is all the great products we get to test (most often for free!). There are lots of them. This week took a turn for the worse for half of us. You see JSG tried on something that caused her lower lids to inflame like two caterpillars, then peel, and now look red and puffy and wrinkly. From all accounts, we'd say it looks like we've had a chemical peel. Saddest part, not sure which of the "miracle" products is responsible! There's a good chance it's a combination of more than one. Let's just say the eyes look bad enough that when JSG offered the significant other some Kiehl's hand creme (totally gentle, right?), he laughed and said he wouldn't use any of our products!

The moral of this story is follow directions, test out a new product on your inner wrist (also a sensitive skin area) before using it on your face, and don't combine cremes or treatments.

For the record, JSG thinks it was most likely a product containing salicylic acid: much too harsh to use close to your eyes. We'll see you in a few days, when we can come out of hiding!

Don't leave home without MILK!

No, we’re not talking about the benefits of vitamin D or a new hangover remedy. This handy little acronym is all you need before a big night out. Our friend and then college roommate, Jill, came up with it to remember everything she needed before a night out. It stands for:
Money
ID
Lipstick
Keys

To this day, we use say it to ourselves as we’re stuffing our cute cocktail bag on our walk out the door. What about your cell phone, you may ask? Well, she came up with this—ahem—in the days before cell phones were ubiquitous. MILCK, anyone?

Need something small enough to take out with the girls and big enough to carry your MILCK? JSG loves Lauren Merkin clutches, we've got a few between us that we share on our girls' trips- denim, brown leather and gold sequin. We couldn't resist this fuscia color for spring. Can you? Click here for details.

The Best Lip Balm Ever

We always love a good lip balm—anyone who has ever flown on a plane knows that it’s a must-have on a long, dry flight. During the height of the liquid restrictions, we even went so far as to sneak a sample size of Aquaphor through security in our pants pockets. (Hopefully, no one from TSA is reading this now.) Fortunately, you can bring liquids on board these days—but still only in limited amounts, so finding a product that does double and triple duty is still key.

When we were at the Bendel’s Beauty Breakfast last week, we were introduced to our new all time fave lip balm (drum roll, please): Beauty Rehab Rose Salve. It’s a very light liquid balm with rose oil and shea butter that goes on silky smooth. It’s also touted to be excellent at softening cuticles, soothing sore noses post a cold and even as a split end tamer (we’ll let you know once we test that one out). What we can tell you definitively is that it smells wonderful and makes our lips feel super soft. And—Posh and Becks are already fans. (We’re not ashamed to say we liked their reality show and love them!)

It’s from the folks who brought us Liparazzi (the lip gloss that lights up) and available online here and at NYC's Henri Bendel.

On Our Radar: Shape Up In Morocco!

We’re pretty sure calories ingested over 100 miles away from home don’t actually count, so here’s hoping a workout thousands of miles from home doesn’t actually feel like one. Either way, we can’t imagine a more exotic setting to get in bikini shape than at a Kasbah in Marrakech, Morocco. A few of our luckier friends have already signed up for the Escape To Shape program that runs March 20 to May 17 and are trying to convince us to join. Included in the week long program are belly dancing and yoga lessons, massages and facials and trips into the marketplace where you can buy everything from leather goods, to silver jewelry to hand-stitched rugs.

You don’t have to twist our arm—especially when you add that the resort is set in a scenic desert setting nestled in the side of the Atlas mountains, local cuisine, like hummus and couscous, and Berber tents where we can have mint tea or take afternoon naps. Sign us up! For more info, click here.

Our Pick: The Best Set Yet

Perfectly named, "The Best of Stila Set" is available this month from Ulta. JSG has purchased these products separately and was thrilled to see them gathered together in one place! The Kitten eye shadow is by far our fave color from any line: from your eyebrow to eyelashes, alone during the day or as a base for your vampy color at night. The Convertible Color in Peony is great to dab on cheeks and lips for that "I'm so healthy" touch of pink that totally takes away the drab days of winter. The Lip Glaze is just enough color and shine to go from day to night and has a great scent too. Finally, add the tinted moisturizer (at 1.7 oz. no prob getting that through security), the Convertible Eye Color (pencil, smudger, and shadow in one) for a dramatic night time look, and mascara to round it out. Throw this in your carry on with your bikini and your mags and you're ready for the beach!

Most Important Foot Note: The whole set is only $40 at Ulta and it's worth $120!

Make a Great Entrance

First impressions are always important, that logic isn't lost on fine hotels. The best lobbies are serving up more than registration. On our recent annual get together at the Hotel Palomar, in D.C.,, two girlfriends separately said the same thing about the lobby: How special and glam they felt walking into the chic and sophisticated two story entrance. In addition to marble floors and a cozy fireplace, The Palomar, like the Sagamore in Miami, showcases a revolving art collection, in the Palomar's case through its partnership with the Smithsonian and the Phillips Collection.

Another bonus to a fab lobby: many become lounges when the sun goes down, the Delano even had the red rope out last time we were in town. JSG often picks hotels based on the nightlife, and why not? It's the perfect spot to relax, have a cocktail, visit with friends, and people watch. Plus, no pesky cab rides home, just head upstairs--always a plus if one member of the group is more of an early bird than the others.

Hotel lobbies are also the perfect meeting spot even if you're not a guest. Hotels are easy to find on a busy street, their doors are open to the public, and there's plenty of comfy seating, when you need a breather. They're also the perfect pit stop if you're about town because their ladies rooms are so reliable.

The front desk may be first place you go upon check in, but stop and take a look around, your hotel may have much more to offer.

Let's pack for the Beach!

If we’re going on our fantasy trip to Jamaica we’re going to need a few more fantasy items:

We like this Calvin Klein bikini. Our guy practically drools when we put on an older red bikini and this one looks like it will cover our butt and give our girls a boost.


We like this coverup from Vix. It does the job and is still mighty sexy.




This Tory Burch beach bag helps tie the look all together and will look just as hot off the beach as on.

Now, we just need to find the diet to get a beach bod and our fantasy will be complete!

Let's Go to the Beach!

Even though we have a few ski trips planned, we can’t seem to get the image of a warm, sunny beach out of our mind (perhaps because winter weather has finally hit the East Coast). JSG was inspired to plan a last minute fantasy trip.

We started at Sidestep.com, which is a great place to find last minute deals to anywhere in the world. We punched in Caribbean vacation deals to the search engine and came up with several options from the Bahamas to Aruba to Puerto Rico, several cruises and the island we decided on: Jamaica. We opted for Jamaica because it’s one of the Caribbean islands with the most culture, has a kickin’ party vibe, good food, including lots of yummy fruits and who doesn’t love themselves a little reggae?

Sidestep turned up a few packages at a variety of hotels. To be on the safe side, we cross referenced our choice on TripAdvisor.com, which features reviews from regular folks who have actually stayed at the hotels. This helped narrow our choices down quickly: we looked for hotels that ranked high with “Young Singles” and “Girls’ Getaways” and low on the “Families With Young Children Front”.

Our pick (drum roll, please): Legends Beach Resort in Negril. It will cost us a grand total of $701.55 for airfare, 5 nights hotel, all meals and domestic booze! Some of the reviewers disliked the food and there seemed to be some problem going on with a lack of towels, but the plusses are it’s completely affordable, centrally located within walking distance to the bars, on a beautiful stretch of beach and it’s 83 warm degrees there today.

Who’s coming with us?

On Our Radar: Spice It Up!

With 27 Dresses opening today, it got our mind thinking about bachelorette parties. Not surprisingly, JSG has planned more than a few. If you’re headed out of town, all the normal rules follow about traveling with a good group and picking a swank hotel.
One key difference of a bachelorette party versus a regular girls’ trip is the emphasis on debauchery. For that, we always love a few flirty games or props, like a scavenger hunt or candy rings for the gang.
Too tame? Here’s a great opportunity for those of you who live in the LA area and have a bachelorette party coming up or are just looking to step it up a notch with your sweetie: Stop by the Love LA show on Sunday, January 29. It bills itself as the first ever “Sexual Health, Education and Entertainment Event”. Don’t let the name fool you, it has seminars whose names alone would make you blush, (Kick Start Your Kink is one of the more mild ones) and exhibitors from the Pleasure Chest to Zen By Design. If you go, write and tell us how it was!

Men are from Mars

Truth is we never read that book, figured we knew men do everything backwards, or, should we say--differently--than women. This certainly is the case when our significant other goes to book his boys' trips. JSG does it like this: pick a city, then search out the coolest, chicest, fanciest hotel within our budget. Our guy on the other hand goes straight to Vacation Rentals By Owner. This site boasts thousands of properties listed by owner for properties all over the world. According to the website, the advantages over a standard hotel room, are more space, less expense, kitchen facilities and flexibility in price and booking. Sounds pretty good...
On our guy's last ski trip to Park City, he rented a two bedroom house which slept 6-8, where they walked to the lift and to the town. Not a stand-out from the outside, it was completely redone and updated on the inside (gourmet kitchen, gas fireplace, and a big new bathroom with whirlpool tub): all for $300 per night. JSG can't personally endorse VRBO, however the S.O. has used the site three times now, and each was a great experience.

Maybe we can learn something from these guys after all? If you act really quickly maybe you can still rent a house for the Sundance film festival, in Park City today through January 27th.

Spas on the Go

One of the best parts about traveling and staying at a swank hotel, is that you’ll find a decadent spa a stone’s throw away from your room (Unless of course you’re in Vegas and that kick ass spa that’s in your hotel could still be a half a mile walk away from your room). And as much as we love spa-ing, we never do seem to book an appointment while we’re at home, aside from the basic mani and pedi, which is essentially maintenance.
Throughout our travels, we have been fortunate to have many a spa treatment from the truly pampering, like a 2-person massage at the Ritz Carlton in Laguna Niguel to the completely unnecessary, like the chakra balancing at the Phoenician in Phoenix.
Here’s a few things we’ve learned:
1. Seek out the energizing treatments. Scrubs that get your circulation going with scents like lemon, menthol and eucalyptus are immediately uplifting and energizing, says our friend Denise Vitello, Spa Director at NYC’s Mandarin Oriental.
2. Got a hangover? Detoxifying treatments like a mud wrap can help, says Dzeneta Arslanovic, Director of the Spa Avania at the Hyatt Regency Scottsdale at Gainey Ranch in Arizona (shown above). They drain your body of toxins (hello third margarita). BUT—major word of caution here—both Denise and Dzeneta agree, and we can tell you from experience, you won’t feel good after a detoxifying treatment. In fact, you may feel a little more queasy and tired than when you started. Add to it that you want to drink lots of water and do not want to add alcohol back in to your newly detoxified body, it’s best to save these treatments for the last day or when you get back home.
3. Ditto any treatment involving heat. They feel great while you’re having them, but they can wear you out. True story—we passed out at Ole Henriksen after a massage in a steam room from being over-heated. That put a serious damper on our night out in Los Angeles.
4. It’s virtually impossible to get out of a massage without getting oil in your hair, so if that's an issue, don't even bother. While at the Montage in Laguna Beach, our very nice therapist put a shower cap over our head and did her best to keep the oil out of our hair, but to no avail. But showing what a five-star property they are, she set us up with a free blowout. If you really must get a massage, seek out a Thai massage (lots of stretching) or reflexology—two relaxing treatments sans oil.

Happy spa-ing!

Speaking of Those Ruskies...

We got a kick out of this story that male strip clubs are proliferating all over Moscow! The Jet Set Girls are rather "Western" in our mentality and agree with the author that over here in the states, clubs like Chippendales and the Thunder from Down Under dancers come across as a cheesy. We still remember going to the Hanger Club outside of D.C. where the first dancer who came out danced around in his thong to "Hail to the Redskins!" and one half of JSG is still trying to recover from being flipped upside down and spanked by an at-home stripper at a friend's bachelorette party (thank goodness that tape got erased).

But maybe the Russians are on to something. Wouldn't it be fun to have a night out with the girls' in a classy establishment with half-naked guys? And we have always wanted to see the Kremlin...

That's a Wrap

On chilly nights, it’s a challenge to find a jacket that’s both warm and sexy enough to go with your outfit. Our apologies to the animal-lovers out there (you already know we’re not vegetarians) but our best solution to date has been a vintage fur stole. Please note that we said VINTAGE—we’re not advocating that you run out and spend thousands of dollars on a brand new mink. Mink stoles are a staple at secondhand stores and also abound on eBay. We bought ours in Brooklyn for about $20—a bargain even after we spent $50 to have it cleaned. Plus we’re giving second life to Rebecca Lowenthal’s stole (the name stitched into the satin lining on our own stole).

Now that we’ve defended our decision to wear secondhand fur, let us tell you it’s virtues: You’ll feel instantly glamorous the second you put it on. It goes beautifully with everything from slinky cocktail dresses to your favorite pair of jeans. It makes your hair look gorgeous—blondes and redheads will light up in mink, brunettes should try darker sable fur. It truly is THE warmest thing out there, plus it doesn’t weigh you down like wool or shearling does. (There’s a reason all those Russians love it!) Finally—you will have spent less than $100 on it, so if it does get stolen, you’re not out a lot of money.

Are You Blushing?

We were feeling a little perplexed about our blush as of late, especially on our big girls’ nights out—with too little we look washed out, but with too much, we get a little overly flushed thanks to our Irish genes. We decided to call in a pro, MAC Senior artist Romero Jennings. Sounds like our lesson came just in time, as Romero says, "Blush is our new found friend especially for this up coming season."

The most important part is to pick the right blush. Romero recommends a cream blush, like MAC’s Blushcreme, because it gives that coveted, instant glow. A word of caution from Romero, "Be careful to make sure that your nose forehead and chin are powdered when wearing crème blush or you might get a dated, retro, 70’s music video feeling. Don’t get me wrong there is nothing wrong with that image but if it happens then it should look as if it was arranged."

Word up—no Blondie Blush for us!

To pick the right color, Romero says to look for a color that looks as if the cheeks are just sun kissed. “You should feel as if the blush is making you look healthier,” he says.

And for evening, save your money—you can use the same blush as daytime. “Just add a bit more than you would normally apply for your every day adventures,” he says.

We tried Mac's Brit Wit over the weekend and loved it! It gave the hint of sheer color without ever making us look like we had a full on flush--even after 3 glasses of Cab Sav.


Note: The Jet Set Girls are psyched to announce we have joined the Total Beauty blogging community! (You'll find us on their "Blogs We Love" page.) It's a killer site with reviews of just about every known lipstick, moisturizer and hair spray in the universe. We'll be reviewing beauty products on our site and theirs. To read our full review of Mac's Creme Blush, click here. Anyone can join and start rating products they love --and hate. The more reviews, the better! Now we'll never have to waste our money on a over-hyped jar of moisturizer or wimpy mascara again!

Off Our Radar: Let Boys Be Boys

The other day we were at a local sports bar with our significant other. We were seated at the bar, and couldn’t help but notice that there was a long line of guys spread out down the bar, all avidly watching football on the five jumbo screens in front of them. Once JSG realized the Patriots were going to crush yet another team, our eyes started to wander. We spotted a table of two adorable 20-something women seated right in the middle of the room. Given that the odds were about 50:3 men to women you would think they would have their pick of the litter.
Not so. Despite the fact that they were very cute and obviously available, not one guy talked to them for the entire four hours we were there! What gives? Our own scrumptious boyfriend, put it this way: When guys are watching sports, first comes the game, second is beer, third is the chicken wings, women rank a distant fourth. Making matter worse, according to honey, after the game guys are too drunk and full to think about women.
So head to the sports bar to watch the big game (Hail to the Redskins! Go Yanks!) but know you won’t be going home a winner in the game of love.

Snow Bunny Pony

With a few ski trips coming up in our near future, we asked one of our favorite stylists, Sarah Rapport at NYC’s Bumble & Bumble for tips on how to work a pony on the slopes and at the bar, après-ski. Sarah's tips:

Spritz on Bumble & Bumble Does It All to create some texture and hold. Part hair from middle of brow diagonally back to crown. Smooth hair tightly around head and secure a tight low pony behind the ear. It's a good look with or without a hat for drinks by the fireplace a la Keri Russell at last year's 's Sundance.

Or, for a post-hat pony, lightly mist Tonic Spray all over head to bring listless strands back to life. Apply Surf Spray (or other salt spray) at root to get some texture and grip at root. Take one inch sections and start teasing hair all the way down to the root with a fine tooth comb to give it some volume and life. Lightly brush top layer to smooth and polish. Pull back into a pony.


Whichever way you go, secure your pony, go with a band that’s close to your hair color. Then take a piece from the bottom of your pony and wrap it around the band. This will make your pony look sexy and elegant as opposed to gym rat or kindergartener-y.


Right on, Sarah!

Want a hat like Keri's? We bought a couple of hats like hers this year. We love them, because they don't flatten your hair like most hats will. Boden has a knitted hat in bright purple- a great jewel tone accent for this season and it's on sale for $18!

Spanx A Lot!

At our friend’s wedding last spring, a friend called us into the bathroom and lifted her dress to show us she was wearing Spanx. We were more shocked to find out that even the skinniest girl at the wedding had them on! Well, while we can certainly use the help, they can be a bit restrictive and they definitely aren’t sexy, even if they were Gwyneth’s choice post-childbirth.
We’re sure there a lot of Spanx fans out there so we’ll go easy on ‘em and share our fave Spanx product: their reversible tights. They’re a godsend for all those shorter than short dresses we keep praying will go out of fashion and reversible which means not only can you wear them on the brown side but also the black side, they’re extra warm, won't take up a lot of room in your suitcase and because they’re Spanx, they still make your legs look slim and trim. Move over, Heidi Klum!

Buy them here.

Update: Even Jessica Alba says she wears Spanx in February’s In Style. Wonder if that was prepregnancy?

The Most Ridiculously Happy Playlist Ever!

In an effort to keep at least one of our resolutions, here's a brand new playlist for '08.

Maybe you over did it the night before and need a little something to get the girls all revved up or maybe you’ve got a touch of jet lag after a long flight.

Whatever the reason, the songs on this playlist will have you and your girls back in the groove in no time. (It’s also not bad if you’re going for a run.)

La Vie en Rose - Belinda Carlisle
Who knew our fave GoGo could speak French? She does a heck of a job singing en francais on this remake of the Edith Piaf classic. (BTW—if you haven’t rented the recent movie of the same name about Edith’s tragic life, put it on your Netflix list NOW)
Walking on Sunshine - Katrina and the Waves
An oldie but a goodie. It’s hard to argue with.
Candyman - Christina Aguilera
Pending motherhood must have changed our favorite Drrty Girl. This ditty will have you tapping your toes. Catch the video if you can where Christina sings as a blonde with a brunette and redhead version of herself (that’s some guy out there fantasy come true).
The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song - The Flaming Lips
We loved it before it was in Little Miss Sunshine, but the fact that it was is reason enough to add it to the list.
The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
We owe Drew Barrymore for this pick. We first heard it on her celeb playlist on iTunes—a fab place to hear new music and connect with your favorite star.
For Once in My Life - Stevie Wonder
The song that made Ari Gold happy on Entourage when he was fired at the end of season 2. If it could make cranky Ari dance at his low point, it can make us happy anytime.
Upside Down (remix) - Jack Johnson
A seriously uplifting song off the all-Jack Johnson Curious George soundtrack. We won’t say which one of us, but one member of the JSG team had a stuffed Curious George growing up (and still does).
New Shoes - Paolo Nutini
A 20-year old adorable Scottish boy singing about how his new shoes “Make everything all right”? Good Lord, we think we’re in love!
Love Generation - Bob Sinclair
A killer beat and lyrics about peace, love and rainbows makes us want to be part of the Love Generation, too. If only we could whistle.
Tonight I Have to Leave It - Shout Out Louds
We fell in love with this song at the Carolina Herrera Spring ’08 fashion show. WARNING: It will stick in your head!

A New Hangover Cure?

We read in W a few months back about EBoost, a Vitamin powder, that was rumored to be an excellent hangover cure. You know that caught our attention! It took us a while, but we finally saw it in a store--two to be exact in the same day. (We smell a trend.) We bought the stuff at one of our favorite travel accessories stores, Flight 001. We only got more excited when we saw their tagline was "Jet Set Without Jet Lag"!

Eboost comes packaged like Emergen-C. You pour it in a glass and add water. After girl's night on Saturday, we had a couple of good candidates (We're not naming names, but we'll just say, we're happy it wasn't us who booted this year.) However, our initial impressions left us a little dubious. While it has 4,667% of our daily needs of B12 to Emergen-C's 417%, the stuff smells and tastes truly terrible. It's much thicker than Emergen-C and comes off as medicinal, kinda like cough syrup light. To be fair, it calls for 8 oz. of water, which we didn't measure out. Halfway through we added more water to dilute it. It was still undrinkable with a disgusting aftertaste. In fact, the more we drank it, the less we liked it. We couldn't finish the glass and we really tried. Maybe with ice?

Still, the W Hotels sell it in their minibar and you know they have lots of hungover guests. Verdict: We're sticking with our proven remedies.

Update: We read the Eboost packet wrong: It actually has 41,667% of the RDA for B12!

On Our Radar: Our Annual Girls’ Get Together!

Every year, the weekend after New Year’s, we get together with our four best friends for our annual girls’ get together. This weekend is great because the holiday craziness is over and it's pretty quiet. We met pre-training bra, grew up together in Virginia, and use D.C. as our meeting spot. (That's our picture in the Hotel Rouge last year.) It started out four years ago as a brunch then morphed into an overnight stay at a hotel. The dynamics change depending on who is preggers and who has young kids, whether the Redskins are in the playoffs (they are again this year—WooHoo!) and if we hit the bars late night or stay in. We visit, exchange racy presents, drink copious amounts of wine (watch out, girls, we're bringing margaritas this year!), make fun of each other, eat dinner, and finally pass out from all that revelry. But of course, somethings never change at all—like how much fun we have when the 6 of us are all in one room. Shannon put it well when she said, "I really just love getting to see how the women I've known longest and best have grown, changed, and yet remained the same friends I've loved since childhood."
This year, we’re headed to the Hotel Palomar, another of the fabulous Kimpton hotels.

We encourage all of you to create your own tradition.

Worth Brown-Bagging Lunch for a Month

First off, our apologies if your resolution is to start saving more money. And don’t get us wrong—we love a bargain as much as the next girl. We proudly wear our Go International jackets and Banana Republic jewelry and will brag to anyone who will listen about how much we didn’t spend on them. But there are a few things that we have found that are truly worth the extra dough and sacrifice.We’re starting this column to introduce you to a few of them. (Just don’t go into debt for an item of clothing. That’s plain stupid.)

First up, Jimmy Choos. The other night at dinner, our friend Heidi said she didn’t think they were worth the money (Her husband, one of our most loyal readers, is going to be so pleased as punch when he sees this. Hey, Michael!) We, however, strongly disagreed.
Where to start? Jimmys are undeniably works of art. When you see one in a magazine or a store, they just make you smile. But that alone is not a reason to break out the peanut butter. What is? They are actually comfortable, even the 4” F**K Me Heels, because they’re well made and the leather is supple. That means it moves with your foot—Bye! Bye! Blisters.
The shoes make your feet look sexy and by extension your legs. When trying on a pair, be sure to catch a glimpse of your hot self from the back. The super-skinny heels make your calves look skinny. Take a pair of more stolid heels with you and you’ll see the difference. It’s like you take a 3-mile jog every morning! Even the classic pumps make our feet look sexy in an unbuttoned librarian kinda way. You can see just the right amount of toe cleavage. You just feel smokin’ hot when you wear them, even on a bad hair day.
Not sold yet? On a recent night outside NYC’s obnoxiously hot Beatrice Inn, while others we’re being told there was a private party inside, we shimmied up to the bouncer. He looked us up and down and down again. We both had on our Jimmy’s. Said bouncer welcomed us past the velvet ropes.
Note: It is possible to find Jimmy’s on sale. It’s towards the tale end, so sizes may be limited, but try Bergdorf Goodman and Net-a-Porter. You can thank us for it later.

Don't Get Gamed

We first read The Game a few years ago on the suggestion of our hedge fund manager friend, Bobby. For the uninitiated, it’s a book of pick up techniques for lovelorn- loser- nerdy boys. We’re all for confidence builders, but The Game focused heavily on how to trick girls into bed. It’s also what VH1 based its show, The Pick Up Artist on with Mystery, who always wore crazy hats like this furry, Mad Hatter-inspired one. (Hello! We know you're trying to hide your thinning hair!). Mystery, who features heavily in the book, teaches boys who either a) have really bad skin b) still live with their parents c) play way too much XBox or d) all of the above how to pick up chicks. In the shows defense—it did have a sweet element to it that the book lacked. All the boys inevitably cried when getting kicked off and thanked Mystery for showing them that they could talk to girls, have friends and aren’t destined to live in their parents basement forever.

Regardless, it has been a few years since the book came out and we thought the show would have blown the cover on all of the techniques. But at The Park in D.C. recently, we had a boy try to “game” us. We don’t want this to happen to you. Be on the lookout for flamboyantly- dressed guys who:


1. Ask if your friends are sisters or if you are best friends.

2. Ask you to describe a cube in a field or your ideal house or something similar that ends up revealing “deep psychological issues.”

3. The neg. This is where he’ll say something slightly negative to you, like you blink too much or your friend smiles more than you. This is supposed to mess with your mind and make you want to win him over.

Now, if you like the guy or are bored and just want to play along, by all means, do it. But if you find him overly aggressive or annoying, we find it best to go ahead and blow his cover, by telling him you know he’s “gaming” you. Word of caution: Move on quickly after that. The point of the strategies above is to keep you talking to him for longer, so it’s kind of a boomerang effect if by calling him on his scheming you end up spending more time with him. But we find that if you point it out, the guy will usually turn around with his tail between his legs.

Update: We love this hilarious spoof on The Game with alway adorable Paul Rudd.

Happy New Year!

Who says all resolutions need to be life changing? You're probably not going to keep them past January 15, so why not have a little fun when you set them, too? In that spirit, in 2008, JSG resolves to:

Never be hungover again! Not to mention no more flying drunk or shopping drunk.

Eat more orange food.

Visit more cities that have an A in them.

Always take the stairs.

Wear metallic whenever possible.

Worry a little less if our outfit matches (a la Sienna, NOT Britney).

Meet more bloggers.

Bring back better souvenirs for our friends and families. See ya, magnets!

Learn to be a better flirt.

Make some new playlists so we're not forever listening to the same songs on our iPod.

Experiment with makeup more. We'll look to our friends at Makeupbag.net and All About the Pretty for advice.

Delete e-mails after we read 'em. No more in-boxes that top 718 for us!

Use fewer napkins. We've been good about turning down plastic bags now for years, but still take a handful of napkins whenever we go to Starbucks or Pinkberry. Must save those trees!


Check back in and we'll let you know how we're doing!