Race to the Lace

It has been far too long since I last reflected and rejected fashion trends and there is so much to celebrate! Fashion is wrapping up 2009 with a bang of sparkle, fringe, lace, sequins, ruffles, and exposed zippers. Holiday frocks are form fitting and strapless, but you can thank your lucky stars for Spanx tummy-tuckers so that you don’t have to skimp on Grandma’s baking. As you scour your favorite shops this month for that perfect Christmas party dress or disco-rific New Year’s frock keep in mind that sparkle is where it is at. Who needs a disco ball when you can be the real-life version of one? Seriously, the blingier the better and the lacy-er the racy-er (this does not mean Christian Audigier style smack, ew). If you are in the 30 zone like yours truly, look for the details in a more subtle way. We have dresses at Blonde with subtle peek-a-boo hits of lace, animal print, and bra friendly options! Customer favorites are dresses rich with ruffles in electric blue, smoldering grey, and bad-ass black. Top off your Christmas show-stopping dress with a faux-leather jacket, we are always bringing in more as the demand is insatiable. Winter outfit perfection is achieved with the infinity loop scarf, rubber-finish leggings from American Apparel, and fabulous camel boots. The girls at Blonde are buzzing hard about the new nail trend by Minx (minxnails.com) where you can rock a cheetah pattern manicure for a few weeks, it looks better than jewelry! I would like to take this opportunity to express how I have developed a profound respect for Kelowna girls who are fearlessly exploring and expressing themselves in fashion forward style. You guys are keeping my job of buying super-fun and challenging. Many of you have become my secret muses and it is ridiculously satisfying to hear your bubbling commentary on my ever-changing boutique. I am excited to announce that Blonde was picked as Finalist for Young Entrepreneur of the Year by the Chamber of Commerce in October, photos from the event are located at the Staff link on this site. Last week we had our second sale in six years and it was described as a “female tsunami.” Thank you to all who helped, volunteered, and shopped at this successful event. We have raised loads of moula for the SPCA with our shop CD’s available by donation and will continue fundraising for the kitties and doggies all year.

It has been months since my last fashion rant but I have been actively soaking up hot trends in to Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Hawaii. Ever since my trip to Vegas in November there has been an insatiable need to sparkle up the streets. That is bar-none the blingy-est place on earth save for the galaxy. Best to pair sequins drenched dress with zip up hoodies, laid-back superchic. We have officially gone mad for plaid. The day that our checkered tops and dresses hit the sales floor they are gone-baby-gone. For the girl who is a weekend warrior at Big White, lumberjack chic is where it’s at. With warmer weather on the horizon prepare for a micro mini dress meltown. Is it a shirt or is it a dress?? Nine out of ten times it’s a dress....scandalous!!! Wear it with confidence over opaque black or patterned leggings. Lululemon makes thick tights that don’t bag out at the knee and naturally tuck in tummies, perfection. I am not sure about the shorts over the leggings trend yet, but I am open-minded and will most likely be part of the shorty squad in no time flat. Strap down your unruly long tresses with heads bands like Mischa, Nicole, and the Olson twins. Top of the disheveled bohemian goddess look with rockstar mirrored aviator shades even when it’s gray outside. Hide bad hair day with hats from Nobis (www.nobis.ca) from Montreal, artwork for your nogen. Mmmmm…motorcycle jackets, we favor the fake leather versions at blonde to save the animals and wallets. Take last summer’s dresses to the seamstress and get them tapered in. Spring silhouettes call for fitted and flattering…FINALLY! No more preggo looks in our future, sorry expectant mama’s!! Don’t forget to watch MTV’s new Hills spin-off The City is sinfully dumb-delicious-decadence. Whitney is holed up at superstar-designer Diane Von Furstenburg headquarters and essentially walking on stilt-height stilettos daily. Happy January lovelies!!!

Breezing Into Indian Summer

These fierce valley winds are bringing the change of seasons with ferocious authority. As back-to-school boxes stream out of the UPS trucks, fashion addicts get the giddy-up to start layering in new fall fashions. Most boutiques have summer on the sale rack and fall in the front. Alberta tourism has put Okanagan businesses in the fast-lane from real estate to retail. Indian Summer calls for colorful and patterned ethnic dresses paired with leggings and gladiator sandals. Tights will also give your summer-y frocks extended longevity and plenty of va-va-voom. Storm the racks for billowy bohemian blouses, high-waisted skirts, and boy-ish cardigans. Light cotton shirtdresses are perfectly innocent for the inner Lolita in you. Overpriced denim obsession appears to have subsided from the all-out ridiculous as shoppers are opting for denim-look or shiny Olivia Newton John leggings from the movie Grease. The perfect look to go for is approachable rockstar in a whirlwind of delicate and dirty. The blustery weather brings us bland colors like cream, grey, and black. Brighten up your outfit with turquoise Raybans and an oversized canary yellow “sleep-over” satchel. Outfit strength lies in the details this fall with braided headbands, skinny waist belts, and goofy shades. Hide your wind swept locks under a cream fedora, and loop a patterned scarf around your neck. Trends like ruffle dresses with motorcycle bombers and micro-mini tunics are steady breezing from one season to the next. That means that the styles that we are just getting used to are going to stick around for a bit longer. Short boots, tall boots, scrunch-able boots, everything goes with boots boots!!! Nothing like a new boyfriend to take with you into the chillier fall months. Mine accessorizes more than I do with patterned neckerchiefs, hair bandanas, and chunky necklaces. The only problem with a super-stylin’ man is that he gets checked out more than I do (by both parties) and so the style duel is on. Talk about rousing peacock feathers. Beyond the competition, I am excited that I get to borrow his sweet vintage threads, and bring in a few man friendly hats, sunglasses, and scarves into my store for him to promote!!! Hot labels to watch like a hawk before they get swept away this season are Insight for modern girl rebel and Free People’s perfect bohemian rhapsody. Brilliant last words: don’t spit in the wind!

My Girl’s Gonna Play in the Big Leagues!

Summer is a whole new ball game, it is the easiest time to knock it out of the fashion ballpark because there are simply just fewer choices. Shall you wear the short dress, the long dress, or the striped dress, and with what flip-flops? Here are the top hits for a fashion home-run guaranteed to slide you into more than just first base this month. Get in the game with a simple and perfect black halter style bikini, you will be voted MVP right off the bat! Halters flatter all body types and stay safely in-place when an impromptu wake-surf session erupts and the Strongbow’s you have been sipping give you the courage to step into the wave. Trust that I know from experience and am striving to prevent and swing-and-a-miss on the blooper reel, my whoopsy also involved a tutu. Now that you have halter tan lines you might as well batter-up in the same style of dress. By day you can always make it a little less plunging and more interesting with a colored bandeau bra or lightweight scarf. As Okanagan weather is famously unpredictable, keep your bases loaded with leggings, a long sleeved wrap-around, and a hat to hide your messy surf coif. Simple street-savvy essentials like the aforementioned are now available at the freshly open American Apparel chain store in downtown Kelowna. With so many chic grand slam events to attend during these long hot summer nights, opt to be the player and not the spectator in colorful mini frocks and sky-high stilettos. TV’s Gossip Girl has their troupe in heavily belted floral fluffy layers or scene-stealing micro metallic dresses all laid-back with vintage jean jackets. Spend less time on your pretty feet and more time rolling on your beach cruiser with your heels on, but always keep flip flops in your basket as you may need to steal in some impromptu dancing later. The craze curveball is wearing leggings as pants, hopefully that trend will be going…going…gone as fast as it came. No one wants to see the definitive curve of your gluteus maximus, save it for the perv's at the beach. Have fun outdoors in the big leagues, and remember, fashion is more than just a game, it is a way of life.

Frock ‘Til You Drop

As we shift gears into the summer months the closet gets a little more trollopy. Just so we are clear, my definition of trollop is a flirty fun innocent girl who accidentally gets everyone’s attention while she parties all night, think Cameron Diaz in Charlie’s Angels.
This season’s dresses are summed up best by Muhammad Ali’s famous quote: “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.” The layer cake dress is the most feminine silhouette of the summer, and my fave. This modern version of the flapper has lots of billowy fabric to shimmy on the dance floor, with four to six levels of layered chiffon it looks like a yummy wedding cake. Give it a rock’n’roll injection with a motorcycle jacket and sparkly Tibetan prayer scarf. Most dresses are itty-bitty-teeny-weenie-minis, so if you are lacking leg confidence then add leggings or skinny jeans into the mix. Fortunately opposites attract because floor-dusting dresses are also blazingly trendy. Recently my own closet has accumulated a few spectacular designer frocks that seem un-strutt-able in this small town enviro. Ignore the rules and jump into those fetching dresses at every chance you get. Girls get to have dress-up party’s everyday whereas boys have to have weekend theme bashes to get away with it. Scissor away half of that prom pouf or bridesmaid dress and wear it to the Fathers Day Show & Shine on June 15th in Downtown Kelowna and give those muscle-y Mustangs some healthy competition. Drumroll please…the Sex and the City movie drops now. I can feel the electricity and excitement in the air while my girlfriends huddle around my laptop to watch and re-watch the previews, with goosebumps! Thirty-somethin’ women worldwide are getting ready to be “Carrie-ed” away, this is our Star Wars baby! Hollywood is finally giving us a damn good reason to kick up our high heels, put on a dress, and drink cosmopolitans. The SATC movie night is sure to be the perfect staff meeting-slash-partay sharing our passion for fashion, I can not think of a better write-off! This fashionista is going to obsess over what designer and stylist Patricia Field dares to come up with for the female actors. Sexandthecitymovie.com gives you a sneak peek at Patricia’s wardrobe Mecca at the “Back in Fashion” link, or go to “Meet Your Man” for the hilarious quiz that matched me with Smith, schwing! Now I have to go change my phone message to something more Carrie-esque: “I'm not home, but my shoes are. Leave them a message.”

The Origin of Outfits By Means of Natural Selection

If fashion is your story then what is your genre? Are you a fairy tale princess, a triple x thriller, or an indie chick? Better yet, are you a page-turner, a coffee table book, or a bedside sleeping aid? Everyday when we get dressed we put on our character and write our fashion narrative. You are your own biographer, how do you define yourself and what main points are you trying to get across? Are you the main character or just an insignificant bystander? Whether we like it or not we judge the book by its cover. I am a novella, a small work of fiction that rhymes with bella, and nutella. My wardrobe reflects a vibrant mélange of hippy meets rockstar and elopes, but then annuls the whole crazy shenanigan and runs away with a cowboy. Fantasy femme fatales are not afraid to add shocking hits of ultra violet or aquamarine to their black tresses. Their silver studded dark outfits are complete with belts and straps for various video-game maneuvers. Trendsetters are our bestsellers, hot off the rack and ready for mass market approval. They are usually easy to recognize and even easier to forget. A power suit gets authority and is the costume of commerce. Its weightiness reveals the struggle between confidence and insecurity all beautifully cut and sewn together as one big last word. It is a love/hate relationship with a suit because it could be the Groom, the Government, or the Godfather. Romantics are damsels in a dress with high heels clicking around trying to find a man’s strong arms to fall into. Athletes and adventurers are non-fiction because even though they dress in the predictable outdoor brands, they usually have a few mind-boggling incidents under their belt where they sacrificed one or two of their nine lives. All of us have experienced positive and negative feedback on our outfit choices at some time or another. If only my closet came with an editor to provide me with a little polyester proofreading. My recycle bin would be emptied far more frequently, and my basics would get backed-up. How often do you bring your honest mother or best friend on shopping excursions? They are your spell check! Sometimes simplicity is nice, but you do not always want to be the Coles Notes of your epic, try on a comedy sometime and laugh until your Buddha hurts!

007 License to Thrill

Would Espionage Anonymous start like this: “my name is Raegan and I am snoop?” The problem is that I am not ready to beat this addiction. I thrive on checking out the motives of individual style through costume, car, and closet! This double agent is after more than just conversation, I aim to get to know the inner you by checking out your outer you. Curiosity has not killed this cat, so I continue to scope out how people choose to dress and surround themselves with. My super sonic spy techniques are insatiable as humans constantly surprise and fascinate. Being a clothing creeper is part of our culture, and most people do it subconsciously, so it is easy to get away with. Handbags are the easiest personality profiling providers, and best if you get a peaky probe inside for additional clues on your suspect. Big slouchy shoulder bags means she carries a lot of stuff, commonly referred to as “baggage.” This is a telltale sign that she is a high maintenance mama, or that she is an undercover agent with a change of outfit and a flame thrower. Oversized bags often come equipped with a well-stocked make-up counter, a mitt-full of receipts (aka shopoholic evidence), and more than one pair of glamorously gigantic sunglasses to conceal a bat-of-the-eyelashes-sucker-punch combo. A subject fitted with a backpack is usually a student of the world, be it school or globe-trotting. This girl dislikes dry-clean-only labels and probably totes around sunscreen. Small handbags indicate that your suspect travels light and with the bare essentials such as lip-smack and a cellular homing device. Everyone likes a small bag toting heroine, until she demands your hoody and asks you to pick up the bills as her wallet wouldn’t fit! More hetero men should embrace the “murse” = man purse to carry around their odds and ends. Research has proven that a wallet stuffed in the back pocket displaces vertebrae, don’t mess with science. While I Sherlock Holmes my way around a foreign house I score loads of clues on the victims personality, are they classy, sassy, or nasty? What sort of fashion tricks are up their sleeves? There is usually more than a monster in the closet, take a gander at organization, color coding, and scent. Before you rev it up full tilt boogie on the friendship fastlane, evade danger and give’em a thorough probe, the proof is in the profile. Remember, in a world of ordinary mortals, you are a wonder woman. – Wonder Woman

These boots were made for walkin’…

If something is not fitting right than maybe it’s your boyfriend. I recently pronounced my relationship D.O.A and symptoms of style developed. There is nothing like rebounding into mini dresses, worn-in cowboy’s kicks, and the cheeky glow of an independent woman. I guess that it is part of getting back in the game, like a peacock shaking out his tail feather for a little attention! The only cure for Manthrax is wardrobe resuscitation and a hairdresser! How many times have you witnessed girls undergo a major hair style make-over after a nasty dumping? When relationships get comfy, so do the outfits. Maybe if you had kept the comfies in the drawer and the spicy ensembles in the mix then the flame would still be ablaze? Break-ups are bad for the heart but good for the economy. Boutiques are places of fantasy, they are happy little escapes from reality. While my brother was saving sharks in Neptune’s navy, I was having trouble justifying my boutique until I discovered that I was a certifiable retail therapist. The Dr. credentials will be on my next round of business cards. Girls are coming into my intensive care unit for pick-me-up’s after break-ups, study procrastination, or P.M.S!!! With the help of a perky sales person, a metamorphosis can occur from trauma to treatment, or from self-conscious to kick-ass. You will score a few compliments, and positive encouragement is just what this fashion doctor prescribes for a broken heart. You may or may not find something that is you, but you can try on different personas in the change-rooms. Your condition will get better with time, and with a few new pairs of strappy shoes. Break-up’s even inspire fashion with T-shirt slogans like: Luv Sux, Friends Don’t Let Friends Dial Drunk, or the classic: Heartbreaker. Spending money is like shedding pounds, and you especially want to spend money if you have shed pounds. Dating disintegration often brings the waistline in a size or two, after the initial Haagen-Dazs session has subsided. My recent credit card bill shook me into sobriety, retail therapy now needs to be replaced with another less expensive addiction. “It's really hard to walk in a single woman's shoes -- that's why you sometimes need really special shoes” – Carrie Bradshaw

Dare’s and Don’ts for 2008

This New Year calls for beauty redesign on the inside AND out. While you take care of the diet and exercise quota of the promises, I will assist you with fashion resolutions.
First and foremost, remove all facial piercings. Honestly, they are just gross, I have never met a lip ring I like. As for the piercings that are hidden, if you like that kind of painful sensation on those parts it is your insane prerogative. Toss any and all gear emblazoned with skull graphics. They represent dead people, and we are so over being reminded that we all die, it’s just negative! Contrary to popular belief trashy does not equal sexy. My Papa was positively aghast by the cleavage circus at Shine the other night. How about leaving something to the imagination Mademoiselles? Flash a shoulder or a hint of upper back for once, don’t look like a one night stand. And on that note, take that cash you were saving for the breast augmentation and go to university. La Senza’s ITEC bra has you lifted and gifted for the bargain price of fifty dolla. Way hotter to be the Gold-maker than the Gold-digga! With gold in mind, resist the force of unhealthy fake’n’bake and opt for a bottled self tan, they have come a long way baby. As we dip into 2008 designers are leading us to a feminine silhouette, with shapeless and drapey silks in wild colors and patterns. I urge you to give in to one iffy trend, be it high-waisted pants or skinny denim with boots. When boot shopping ensure that they have treads of some sort as there is nothing like a face-plant before morning class. Triple-dog-dare yourself to put together an unlikely top and bottom combination once in awhile.
Try not to overshadow your beauty with too much eye powder, high maintenance mama’s are so 2007. Instead of buying a fashion magazine with yesterday’s news, put that five dollars towards a hot tasty beverage downtown and people-watch for street style. Last but not least, embark on a shopping adventure to explore and experience new and unique boutiques in your city. Boutiques offer a lovelier environment with more personal customer service. Often you can call these small shops and arrange for private appointments, that means free stylists at your beck and call! Feliz Año Nuevo!

Grandma says “GET HELP NOW!”

Admittedly I am a far cry from a domesticated homemaker, seeing as though I order my meals and succumb to regular shopping so often that my clothes don’t even have a chance to get worn out. But in a pinch I can spin a pizza that would make Italians scream amore and hem a pair of jeans like Rumpelstilzken spins gold. Call me well rounded or crafty, but c’mon ladies AND gents, where are your basic skills? Why do you think there is a mandatory Home-Economics class in high school? Besides Math and a healthy dose of Sex-Ed, sewing and cooking are basic survival skills necessary to navigate your way through civilization as we know it. Routinely I am shocked at how many helpless girls bring me busted buttons, loose hems, and faulty straps to repair. The fix pile is really starting to hurt my head. With Mother Nature regularly reminding us who is boss our generation should learn some fundamental skills for elementary existence? A sewing machine should be on the wedding registry next to that dreamy Starbucks Barista or BBQ! Grandma would love to schedule a date with you for some practical mending lessons, no doubt she’d be keen on bossing you around for an evening. Watch who you tell about your seam proficiency as friends will materialize at your door for tailoring needs! They will take advantage no matter what, and that promised six-pack will remain fiction. September‘s winning fashion accessory is the SCRAM, an alcohol-monitoring anklet that Lindsay and Paris are sporting with their bikinis and micro-mini’s. Or was Paris’s a house-arrest anklet, either way: HOT. Second place goes to non-stop cigarette smoking like Sienna Miller in Factory Girl. Third place goes to mug-shots, who needs paparazzi when the police are so apt at catching you at your best, so to speak. Honorable mentions go to anorexia like Angelina, and self inflicted wrist cutting like Lindsay(again). Maybe next fall we can look forward to sexy styles like surgically adding tails or pee-stained denim! - Raegan Hall

Survival tips for a Camping Cutie

I assume that most of us Okanaganites have forgone hectic city life for sunshine, laid back attitudes, and nature. After summer’s all day wake-surf sessions and back yard barbeque bash’s we enter into the grey area before our other favorite season: snow riding! Instead of over-stuffing yourself at weekend brunch and embracing your inner mallrat, go camping! This Fashionatrix has donated her heels to the Sally-Ann and is getting back to the basics this fall! Campgrounds are still open and have off-season rates, or pull your boat onshore and name your secret spot. Packing can be quite the conundrum, especially if you are going with your man-friend. You do not want to show up with a truck load and demand a Sherpa, but you do not want to under pack and pay for it with goose bumps later. One thing is for sure, a bathing suit will not be required, that frees up space for bonus sockies. Make him jealous with your action packed Ogio bag (ogio.com), they are very Sporty Spice. Include disposable make-up wipes in your toiletry bag like Garnier’s, available at drugstores Valley wide. Omit the smelly lotions and perfumes as they will only attract the wild-thangs like bears, mosquitoes, and the boogieman. Almost as important as toothpaste is headwear. Mother Nature has no outlets for the straightener so a ball cap for day and a toque for night are essential. Fingerless gloves are a fab idea because you are dexterous, cute, and cozy. Montreal label Dex has a delicious twist on the classic Cowichan sweater this season, it fits like a big hug. Pack a pair of your once loved jeans, and a sweat suit of the lululemon variety is sure to get him in the tent faster when darkness falls. Pack your puffy vest, puffy pillow and puffy sleeping bag, and don’t forget sunglasses to hide puffy campfire eyes…ahh white rabbits! Just because you are embracing the camp goddess within does not mean you have to leave all designer artillery at home! If you are going to “Ugg it out” then pick up the animal cruelty-free version at alternativeoutfitters.com for the amazing steal of $48. Instead of fighting over the TV remote you will be snaking the fire poker from one another. Have you own little firework show with a pack of sparklers! Jody’s Fireside Recipe: Camp cooker (available at Canadian Tire), loaf of white bread, butter, can of apple pie filling. Make a little apple sandwich as though it was a grilled cheese. Cook over the fire and presto: backwoods apple pie! - Raegan Hall

I’m still Jenny from the block

Faking jet-setter is something I like to dip into at least once a year. As usual, my destination of choice was Los Angeles for a dose of sun, sand, and struttin. After two days of slogging my way through racks of affordable clothes in sketchy Melrose, I craved other options. I wanted Rodeo Drive (pronounced "Ro-day-o”). The infamous three block shopping district has both frightened and tickled my fashion fancy since Pretty Girl’s “Viv” got famously snubbed at one of its many flagship boutiques. Named the most famous and expensive avenue of shops in the world, it features the usual suspects like Gucci, Chanel, and Dior. The bitchy boulevard had a fair share of blacked out stretch limos rolling by, but there was no doubt that the sidewalks were owned by fanny-packed tourists. Every store stocked size 0-4 on the racks, but if I managed to score some staff attention they would begrudgingly fetch me another size in “the back.” After purposefully making me feel like an ogre for requesting a larger size and ignoring my catwalking, they had the nerve to make me wait at the sales desk flapping my credit card. Cherry on the cake! The poop on the street was that “Juicy Couture,” Rodeo’s newest addition, is most unwelcome as the brand’s bubble pink personality and affordability was not a proper fit to the historical hoity hood. There was one storefront that skipped the signage and opted for a modernist concrete slab. Curiosity begged me to find out what label on this name-infested block would have the nerve to remain weirdly anonymous, it was Prada. Once inside it was a Disney-esque retail experience, but is there really a market for men’s fun-fur suits? Hopefully the stars do shop this classic neighborhood because no one in their right mind can afford to spend that kind of loot on fabric. Elsewhere in Hollywood the girls were wearing short muumuu dresses with tights and Ugg boots. The fedora rules the roost but gets mixed reviews because it has been Britney’s choice lid as of late. Mama-bear had to restrain me from dropping $160 on Goorin’s limited Cassel edition made of refined straw, recipe for airplane squish disaster! “Welcome to Hollywood! What's your dream? Everybody comes here – this is Hollywood, land of dreams. Some dreams come true, some don't; but keep on dreamin' – this is Hollywood.” – Limo driver in Pretty Woman - Raegan Hall

Transforming Christian Louboutin’s into a Chaise-Lounge

With every edition of Domino magazine the editors present a fashion model in a fabulous outfit and then interpret that ensemble into a room. It truly is the part of the magazine that I look forward to most! Using her dress as drape inspiration, hairstyle as flower arrangement, or her swingy earrings as guide to chandelier pick, a room is created! How someone chooses to outfit themself is remarkably parallel to how they choose to arrange their living space. My own personal space is like a big culture curry of ethnic fabrics and spicy wall colors. I inhabit an ultra modern space that could easily be intimidating and cold, but warming up the living room with unexpected bolts of turquoise and green grass shag has made the place shangrila. Akin to my dwelling, I am tall, pointy and a bit snobby looking. Once you get to know me you realize that I often dress as whacky as a recipe of Sherperd’s pie, “yep, there is quite a bit goin’ on there,” to quote my girl Tay. My artist colleagues nonchalantly lean big canvases up against the walls and decorate with Thrift Stores gems. Artiste’s outfits usually consist of black and mismatched Sally-Ann finds, quelle surprise? My boyfriend has short hair, short shrubs, leather boots, leather couches, dirty hands, and dirty dishes! Take a good look at everything you love in your closet and search for the patterns, colors and textures that define you. Are you classic like Victoria Beckham with stark white walls and a black fur sectional? Maybe you are more Boho like Kate Hudson with purple velvet walls and a hookah? For a bohemian look put together layers of different fabrics and clashing patterns. Opt for more organic colors in rich jewel tones. Pluck colors from your beaded necklaces for accent walls! When you can’t part with your favorite worn-out tee’s with those cuter-than-cute sayings then stretch’em and frame’em and mount’em on your mantel. Translating your personal style into your home décor is a perfect solution to those decorating doldrums. Sometimes you step out into something a little daring, but you can always change, or paint over that “Copper Feel” wall in the living room! A sense of humor goes a long way in fashion and interior design, don’t let mom thrown away that smurf necklace or your tattered bebe blankie, unless YOU are ready! - Raegan Hall