Digital CeeBee: Electro Dance

Check out this jam from LMFAO called "La La La" ... this is my latest dance-clubby song obsession. Every time I hear the chorus "I feel on top of the wooooorld, I wanna dance and party tonight", I want to stop whatever I am doing and dance! 


(Embarassingly, I first heard this song on the cheese-tastic show Kourtney and Khloe Take Miami) 

Mix masters Terror Dactel remixed this party tune, turning it into a dreamy, spacey, slithering monster of an electro remix. Seriously though, this track kills.

If you need an instant mood uplifter, check out this remixed dance track here!

Fashion Essentials: Holiday Bling!

Lately, I have been craving edgy yet sophisticated rocker glam jewelry. Pearls, mixed metals, thin chains and crystals all mixed together are my favorites ...  Here are some of my top picks I've spotted lately in stores and online. Give me some arm candy!

Ann Taylor Loft Mini Stretch Pearl Bracelet ($34.50)

Ann Taylor Pearl and Pavé Cluster Bracelet ($60)

Ann Taylor Pearl Cluster Bracelet ($50)

Ann Taylor Pavé Ball Stretch Bracelet in Gold ($65)

Express Braided Chain Bracelet ($34.50)




















Express Embellished Multichain Bracelet ($34.50)

Gap Mesh Chain Necklace ($39.50)

Banana Republic Twilight Braided Necklace ($52)

Banana Republic Knots & Chains Necklace ($52)


































Banana Republic Twisted Chain/Pearl Bracelet ($50)

Landver Woven Bracelet ($55)

Landver Braided Bracelet ($28)

Fashion Craving: Gold Shimmer Dress

How adorable is this gold shimmer ruffle dress from Ann Taylor Loft? I just received the December issue of Lucky in the mail and spotted a full page ad for it. I want!

Ruffle Shimmer Dress, $98 at Ann Taylor Loft.

Yelp All About It: Chicago Eats

Check out some of my latest reviews I've been Yelping about ...




Lan's Old Town ... excellent Chinese food and reasonably priced in Old Town


Stella's Diner ... friendly family-owned diner in Lakeview


Goddess and Grocer ... gourmet market / speciality food / coffee / desserts in the Gold Coast


Club Lucky ... Retro Italian in Bucktown


DAgostino's Pizza and Pub ... casual pizza and pub in River West


Adobo Grill ... traditional mexican fare in Old Town

Quick and Easy Beauty Solutions

I received a useful article from today's Oprah.com Style Newsletter. Get the trick to preventing nail polish from chipping, how to stop a shaving nick from bleeding and the pros' tip for covering a blemish.




The Easier Way To ...


PREVENT CHIPPED NAIL POLISH

Avoid soaps and lotions that contain hydrating ingredients, like vitamin E and aloe vera, before painting your nails. Traces of oily residue cause polish to separate from the surface of your nails and chip off, says Ji Baek, owner of the Rescue Beauty Lounges in New York City. Next time, wash your hands with a nonmoisturizing soap (like Dial Antibacterial Hand Soap), wipe each nail with polish remover, and then start painting.

STOP A SHAVING NICK FROM BLEEDING

The next time you draw blood as you whisk a razor around your ankle or knee, swipe a dot of antiperspirant onto your finger and hold it on the cut, says Jeffrey Benabio, MD, a clinical assistant professor of dermatology at the University of California San Diego. The aluminum chloride derivatives found in most antiperspirants, used to constrict sweat glands, can also shrink blood vessels, slowing blood flow and creating a clot.

GET NEAT, HEALTHY CUTICLES

Holding clippers at an awkward angle to cut your own cuticles (half the time with your weaker hand) isn't just difficult—it's dangerous. "If you slip and remove too much, you create an opening between the nail and skin where potential irritants and bacteria can enter, increasing the chance of inflammation or infection," says Diane Berson, MD, assistant professor of dermatology at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York. Here's a safer option: Every day, at the end of your shower when hands are soft from warm water, use a damp washcloth to gently push back each cuticle. The more often you do this, the easier it is: The cuticles don't have time to build up. After you've dried off, blend drop of cuticle oil into each nail.

UNDO A BLUSH OVERDOSE

Has a glance in the office mirror—yikes!—told you that you overdid it with the blush this morning? Here's a quick way to fix it, from Carmindy of TLC's What Not to Wear. If you need to cover up cream blush: Put a drop of foundation on a makeup sponge, then brush the sponge down your cheek in tiny strokes. If you overdid it with powder blush: Use a dry sponge to blend it, or cover with a light dusting of finishing powder.

LOOK MORE AWAKE

Although you might be inclined to load on the eye makeup when you look tired, your eyes will appear brighter and more lifted if you keep things minimal. Line your lids with a peach eyeliner pencil (which makes your eyes seem bigger and the whites of your eyes whiter), and then use the same pencil to conceal the shadows on sides of your nose near your eye sockets. Finish by curling lashes and applying one coat of black mascara.

REMOVE DARK POLISH

Just when we think we've seen it all, a beauty trick comes along to jolt us out of our jaded state. This time it was from Creative Nail Design manicurist Roxanne Valinoti, who told us how to remove even the darkest polish in one swipe. First, get (brilliant!) Graham Hands Down Ultra Nail and Cosmetic—cotton rounds that won't tear ($5 for 60; SallyBeauty.com). Apply cuticle oil around each nail bed (it will keep color from staining your fingertips), then saturate a pad with polish remover and hold it firmly over the nail for three seconds. "The acetone will penetrate the layers of color, and with a few small circular massaging motions, the polish will loosen," says Valinoti. "Then you can sweep it away in one movement—always toward the nail edge." Clean and simple.

CONCEAL A BLEMISH

Why is it so hard, anyway? For one thing, the consistency of the concealer has to be just right—soft but not too creamy. (The ones that come in a compact are usually best.) And you need to use a concealer brush because your finger will grab too much of the product and can push it off the blemish when you're trying to blend. Use the brush to pick up tiny amount of the concealer, dot it directly on the spot, and blend outward very lightly. Set by patting—not sweeping—on a pressed powder.

KEEP YOUR TEETH DAZZLING

Another reason to frequent the local farmers' market: Fresh vegetables are good for your smile. "The ones that really crunch when you bite into, like celery, carrots, and string beans, can literally help scrub stains from teeth," says Jeff Golub-Evans, DDS. They're most effective on recent discoloration, though. So chase a glass of red wine with a couple of carrot sticks, and you may save yourself the hassle of whitening strips later.

GROW OUT YOUR HAIR

It sounds counterintuitive, but it's best to cut your hair an eighth of an inch every six weeks, says New York City stylist and salon owner Ruth Roche. Here's her logic: If you let your hair grow for six months without getting a trim, when you finally do cut it, the stylist will have to lop off at least a couple of inches of split ends. If you get regular trims—always less than half an inch since hair grows only that much a month—you'll cut off less and your hair will continue to look healthy throughout the growing process.

TO DRY YOUR HAIR

We know, we know: patience, virtue, blah, blah, blah. But when we're standing at the bathroom sink in the morning, trying to blow some style into our hair, it regularly occurs to us that we could be doing something more productive or (especially in the warmer months)…cooler. So we asked David Dieguez, the creative director of Blow Styling Salon in New York City, how to speed up a blow-dry. "Using a round vent brush [like the Goody Style So Smooth round brush, $8, above] will cut your drying time," he said. When you wrap a section of your hair around the barrel of the vent brush and blast it with the dryer, the air currents travel through the brush's open grates, simultaneously drying both sides of the section. With a flat, unvented brush, you can't cover as much surface area at once. And while that tornado of hot air whirls inside the brush's barrel, the heat infuses more volume into your style.

CLEAN UP YOUR BROWS

Instead of tweezing with a hope and a prayer that somehow you'll reveal perfect arches (or at least two fairly symmetrical ones), begin with a pencil and a plan, suggests Arianne Damboise, brow expert and national makeup artist for Benefit Cosmetics. Using a white or pale beige eye pencil, draw on top of the hairs that you think you want to get rid of. Then look at what you haven't drawn over: Do you like the shape? If so, go ahead and tweeze everything within the pencil-covered area. When you're done, blend in the pencil with your fingertip—the pale shade will beautifully highlight your newly cleaned-up brow bone.

CLEAN UP SPILLED NAIL POLISH

When your favorite crimson pigment drips on the dining room table, what do you do? Sprint for the nail polish remover? Furiously wipe at it with a paper towel? "That's exactly what you shouldn't do—remover will damage the varnish on the table; rubbing it will spread the stain," says Ji Baek, author of Rescue Your Nailsand owner of Rescue Beauty Lounge in New York City. "Instead, walk away. When the polish is completely dry, gently flick it off." We tested Ji's advice on a countertop in our office and easily scraped off all the dried polish. (Whew!) Ji says her method works on shoes and handbags too. We'll take her word on that.

FIX EYELINER MISTAKES

You're rushing to make up for a party, the ringing phone startles you, and—damn!—you just flubbed your eyeliner. To fix unevenly applied liner in a pinch, try celebrity makeup artist Mally Roncal's trick: Dip a clean, pointed Q-tip into liquid makeup remover (Lancôme Effacil Gentle Eye Makeup Remover, $24, isn't too oily), then squeeze the soaked tip with a tissue until it's almost dry. Use it as an eraser to even out your less-than-perfect work.

The Hip Guy's Guide

I just came across this cool men's blog called Uncrate. Brought to you by the editors who also publish Outblush – one of my fave blogs! – this "buyer's guide for men" brings you the coolest, hippest picks in gear, style, rides, entertainment, culture, body and living. Be sure to mention Uncrate to your male friends, boyfriends, husbands, or a hip guy you may know who likes cool stuff!


Uncrate is a web magazine for guys who love stuff. Our team digs up the best gadgets, clothes, cars, DVDs and more. New items are posted daily.


Here's a sampling of some of the latest postings on Uncrate! (Click on the links to read more.)

Nike SB Eugene Backpack

   

The Beatles USB Apple Collection

           

Brook and Hunter Mo-Tool Axe

Beauty Trend: Green Nails

Remember when the Chanel Vamp nail polish was all the rage? Well, the latest highly coveted it-polish shade to sell out is the pale opaque Le Vernis Nail Color ($25) in Jade, a pale green that is taking celebrity hands by storm. 

Celeb fans below (like Rachel Bilson, Alexa Chung and Drew Barrymore) are sporting the trendy polish. 

To rock the same look for less, go for these picks here:

 OPI's "Hey! Get in Lime" ($7.50)

Essie's "Mint Candy Apple ($8)

While I like the refreshing burst of bright color, I'm still sticking to my favorite deep rich purples, violets, and eggplants. 

Here are some of my favorite purple polishes:

Essie Sexy Divide and Sole Mate and Bahama Mama

OPI Lincoln Park After Midnight

OPI Miami Beet

OPI Overexposed in South Beach

Crate & Barrel Invisible Magazine Rack

If you are like me, there are countless stacks of magazines under the coffee table, next to the bed and just about everywhere else. What better way to tidy up the clutter than with an optical illusion? 


Crate and Barrel's Invisible Magazine Rack ($50) allows your magazines to hover in mid-air which, yes, looks awesome, but also allows you to easily view and access your favorite magazines without having to sort through a pile. Smart and genuis!

Fashion Craving: Rachel Bilson's Studded Bag & Shearling Boots

The adorable Rachel Bilson was spotted out and about running errands in Burbank (November 5, 2009). Rachel was looking vintage-chic and definitely dressed for LA's semi-chilly fall weather, starting with a pair of shearling boots (loves it) that appear to be vintage, paired with Hudson Jeans' Emily Super Skinny Jean in Trigger and a black and gold Phillip Lim Studded Bow Bag. She chose an oatmeal colored cardigan under a black jacket. 


I love this look – cozy and chic!


Get a similar look here!


Monrow Slouch Jacket
Monrow Darted Demi Tank
Top Shop Long Knitted Cardigan
J Brand 10" Ankle Skinny Stretch Jean
Opening Ceremony Ankle Boots Shearling
Felix Ray Studded Bow Clutch

Nicky Hilton also sports the super cute 3.1 Phillip Lim Edie Bow Shoulder Bag