Love at First Site: "Made by Girl"

Here's another one to add to the "How Did I Not Know About This..." file. While browsing online this morning, I came across the Made by Girl website that features colorful posters and cards printed with cheeky sayings, many of which were designed by the site's owner, Jennifer Ramos.

Having one of these posters framed would make a wonderful gift (hint, hint...)

Truer words have never been printed...

Sometimes being succinct can be substantially more effective and memorable - don't you think?

You can peruse more of Jennifer's work here on her site. While you're browsing the goods, make sure to check out her equally amazing blog about interior design, art, food and fashion.

Enjoy!

xxKP

Ode to Starbucks & KPFJ Update

It's taken a solid week for me to recover/catch up from our successful workation earlier this month. I'm pretty sure that my blog was thisclose to filing a Missing Persons last week. Happily, this self-imposed seclusion hasn't been for naught! With the aid of copious amounts of Starbucks, my trusty sidekick, CP, and lots of moral support from family & friends we have some pretty exciting updates to share with you!

image via The Sartorialist

1) You may have read here that on Thursday, May 6th we're having a KPFJ trunk show at Benefit Cosmetics in New Canaan, CT. If you're in the area, stop by on the 6th - we'll be there from 10am - 6pm with lots of sparkly jewels in 18K yellow gold. We'll also be debuting our new Silver collection just in time for Mother's Day!

2) We're BEYOND excited to share that we've just confirmed a 3-day trunk show at Henri Bendel from Thursday, July 8th - Saturday, July 10th!!!!

We'll be sharing more details about the Henri Bendel event (and how we got this amazing opportunity!) as we approach the trunk show dates. For now mark your calendars and share this info with your friends, por favor.

3) We've been working on the details of this last event for the past few months. So without further ado, we're happy to be able to announce that on Tuesday, May 25th we will be having a Kristin Pasternak Fine Jewelry launch party sponsored by Piper-Heidsieck Champagne and hosted at Peter Tunney Gallery on Fifth Avenue and 52nd Street!

Launch party invites are being sent out this week with the help of Paperless Post, so check your inboxes (and your spam filters!) We'll be blogging and tweeting about the launch party in the days leading up to the event...consider yourself forewarned. :) Oh, and check out our link on Guest of a Guest.

CP and I have a few other things up our sleeve in the upcoming months that we hope to share with you soon.

In the meantime, why don't you head over to the Kristin Pasternak Fine Jewelry Facebook page and put that new "like" button to good use because once we get 200 Facebook fans OR May 25th arrives (the date of our Launch Party) we're doing a pretty fabulous jewelry giveaway - and who doesn't LOVE free jewelry?

As always, many thanks to our family & friends for their unwavering support and guidance.

xxKP

CP Guest Blog: Laptops and Lounge Chairs

Hi dolls!

KP's and my workation is well underway and so far it's been très magnifique!

After a bit of a hold up at baggage check...

Chloe, the baggage check beagle.

...some mayjah delays at the airport and several blog posts - (during which, a fellow JetBlue traveler, impressed by our work ethic, said he wasn't sure whether to give me or the girl sitting next to me (KP!) the hardest working prize!) - we were on our way to sunny FL!

It's been a week full of multi-tasking, to say the least - laptops by the pool are de rigueur in FL - if only we could cut down on that glare!

On Friday, KP and I enjoyed a lovely excursion to Key Biscayne and Bal Harbour.

Me and KP at the Ritz Carlton in Key Biscayne...we had a meeting there...really!

While in BH we made our way down Collins Avenue for a requisite trip to the Bal Harbour shops... who doesn't love a little Bottega Veneta, Yves Saint Laurent, Hermès, Cartier & Ralph Lauren in the middle of the day???

While the shopping was fabuleux, my personal fave was the koi pond!

Walking the plank? Not the first to encounter credit card stress at the Bal Harbour shops...

This poor little guy looks like he's about to jump ship!

Ta ta for now - bisous!

xx CP

Greetings from the Gulf Coast!

photo by Blasius Erlinger

Wish you were here!

xxKP

Ginnifer Goodwin at the Metropolitan Opera Gala

How insanely amazing does Ginnifer Goodwin look in this YSL Edition Soir 2010 bustier and tuxedo pants, which she wore to last night's Metropolitan Opera Gala Premiere of Armida sponsored by Yves Saint Laurent?

I'm absolutely loving the splash of color from purplish-blue the YSL clutch and strappy platform sandals and the accents of gold from her statement earrings and stack of bangles. I'm even digging her chic pixie haircut! Simply divine.

Check out Style.com's recap of the event here. Who made your Best Dressed List last night?

xxKP

KPFJ Trunk Show - May 6th, 2010!!!

We are very excited to announce a KRISTIN PASTERNAK FINE JEWELRY trunk show on Thursday, May 6th from 10am - 6pm, hosted at BENEFIT COSMETICS in New Canaan, CT.

A portion of the proceeds from this trunk show will be donated to the WAVENY CARE NETWORK in New Canaan, which is a non-profit organization that "provides a comprehensive continuum of healthcare to serve the growing needs of adults in New Canaan and the surrounding communities."

We are thrilled to be partnering with Benefit Cosmetics and the Waveny Care Network on this event and we would like to cordially invite you to a private cocktail party from 6pm - 8pm. Additionally, with a $50 Benefit purchase between 6-8pm, enjoy a complementary eye brow wax at the famous Benefit Brow Bar.

Stop by anytime between 10am - 6pm on May 6th and say hello! If you would like to attend the private cocktail party, répondez s'il vous plaît to info@kristinpasternak.com and we'll send over an invite asap!

We would also like to extend a HUGE thank you to two fabulous NC ladies, Kristin Seelert and Kate McCarthy, for helping to organize this event!

xxKP & CP

She's Got a Ticket to Ride

And we're off! CP (a.k.a. Carrie, my multi-talented and multi-tasking sister/Communications Manager at KPFJ) and I are en route to the airport and are looking forward to arriving in Florida later this evening.

Rise and Shine editorial featuring Hana Soukupova and shot by Miles Aldridge from March 2007 issue of Vogue (image via Miles Aldridge's website)

Follow us as on Facebook and Twitter as we live tweet during our trip! And maybe, if we ask nicely, CP will do a guest blog or two from the Sunshine State...

xxKP & CP

The Carry-On Conundrum

With our workation (a.k.a. our work-slash-vacation) less than a week away it seems appropriate to begin mulling over which clothes, accessories and cosmetics will make the dreaded Carry-On cut (ie: how many dresses, cardis, shoes and hair straightening supplies CP and I can shove in our bag before our Hamptons weekender tote overfloweth.) Checking luggage has become increasingly bothersome and time-consuming (wasting time in the baggage claim area is so 1987) that in our humble opinion, Carry-On is the only way to go.

80's flashback scene on the set of Sex and the City 2 (image via celebritydis.com)

So with packing space at a premium, wardrobe selection becomes a tad more calculated by necessity. Fortunately, one solution to this Carry-On conundrum of how to chose the perfect double-duty workation wardrobe happens to be one of my not-so-hidden talents: shopping.

Consequently, I've compiled a Spring wardrobe "wishlist" for a bit of shopping/packing inspiration. For our purposes, let's call this "wishlist" Gucci Resort 2010 because I literally want every look from this collection to magically appear in my closet.

Let the drooling commence...

A handful of my favorite looks from Gucci's Resort 2010 collection.

Insta-chic dresses along with sartorial staples like chambray shirts, tailored blazers and trenches are plentiful in Gucci's Resort 2010 collection and pair back perfectly with khaki shorts or white jeans.

A stop at J. Crew's Collection Store on Madison Avenue and 79th Street is definitely on the pre-packing To Do List for stocking up on button down shirts, khaki shorts and utilitarian/military-inspired jackets and outerwear. Here are some versatile options from J. Crew's Spring/Summer offering:

Available on JCrew.com

A multi-purpose jacket, two printed dresses, two pairs of shorts, a couple chambray shirts, white jeans, a cardi or two and some V-neck t-shirts et voilà - the Carry-On packing list is complete! Err, almost complete...don't forget to leave room for the shoes!

xxKP

Leaving On a Jet Plane...

Next week Kristin Pasternak Fine Jewelry will be blogging and tweeting live from sunny Florida! We'll be on the road visiting retailers from Miami to Palm Beach and everywhere in between. Since we're strong believers in the "work hard, play hard" mantra here at KPFJ, we'll be sure to schedule a bit of much needed R & R and perhaps a game or two of tennis to balance out the itinerary.

She's Got Game editorial featuring model Caroline Trentini shot by Miles Aldridge for June 2006 issue of Vogue (images via Miles Aldridge's website and Fashion Gone Rogue)

What? Don't you accessorizes for your tennis matches like this?

xxKP

To Whom It May Concern: It Is Springtime. It Is Late Afternoon.

I just love that quote - it's the first few lines from Kurt Vonnegut's Slapstick or Lonesome No More! : A Novel. The simple statements conjure up a plethora of memories of Spring afternoons spent outside with my family and friends. If you live in the NYC area, hopefully you're taking advantage of the gorgeous Spring weather we've had the last couple of days (after about a week of rainy days!)

Beautiful, fragrant flowers in a flower box on the Upper East Side

Spring is probably my favorite season in New York - I love watching the city wake from a (very) long Winter slumber. Yesterday, throngs of people were frolicking in Central Park, dining au frais in true Parisian cafe-style and taking their best little four legged friends on walks.

Heading up Park Avenue in the 70's to the 79th Street entrance of Central Park - not bad for an iPhone pic!

As a much needed afternoon work break, I took my beagle pup, Chloe, out for a long walk up Park Avenue and then over to Central Park for some great people watching. (Ok, Chloe is not a puppy. She's 5 years old, but she still looks - and acts - like a pup!) I snapped a couple of pictures during our walk to the Park, but the sensory overload of street dancers, rollerbladers and silent iPod ravers (yes, that's a real thing...read about it here) upon arrival was a little distracting for both of us, so we only were able to get a few Park pics this time!

The Lake in Central Park near Loeb Boat House

Bethesda Terrace in the heart of Central Park

The Mall lined by hearty American Elms. (No, not that kind of mall. Think a grand promenade.)

Chloe was pretty tuckered out and napped for most of the afternoon, although she did get a little printing/paperwork done before the end of the work day.

Chloe napping/overseeing the print jobs.

Make sure you get outside today even if it's only for a few minutes during your lunch break - fresh air can make such a difference in the quality of your day!

xxKP