Blend Minerals Cosmetics Sale - HauteLook

One of my favorite websites turned addictive iPhone app, HauteLook, is having a seriously amazing sale on Blend Minerals Cosmetics.  Get approximately 80% of eye shadow, blush, eyeliner, mascara, lipstick, bronzer, face primer, eye cream, facial peels, moisturizers, and makeup brushes.  Plus shipping is free on purchases over $100!  However, you have to act quickly because the sale ends this Wednesday, October 16 at 8am Pacific Time.  Proceed to the online sale here.  My purchases from the sale are shown below.  Happy Blending!

Face Perfecting Primer $129.95 $21.00 84% off

Natural Eyes Set $97.70 $15.50 84% off

Starter Kit - Light $154.85 $29.00 81% off

Eye Cream $169.95 $24.50 86% off

Yes Please!

Last week was one of those weeks that really wore me out.  Four midterm exams, eight meetings, very little sleep, and barely any time for exercise or down time.  So this weekend was a wonderful opportunity to spend time with old and new friends, catch up on some pleasure reading, go to a ballet I've been dying to see for months, and enjoy the perfect weather outdoors.

{ Vegetarian sushi, delivered of course }

{ The sweetest Shakespeare quote }

{ A Streetcar Named Desire performed by the Scottish Ballet }

{ No more Friday classes calls for early morning Pilates at my favorite studio }

{ The most exquisite white rose }

{ Seasonal sweets }

#instagram

Hot Tea and Haute Couture has finally joined the trendiest social networking medium! Follow @thehautesttea on Instagram for daily doses of delight. #alliteration (in honor of everyone's favorite social tagging tool)

Finally Fall

Well, it sure has been a while!  The beginning of new every school year is wonderful, exciting, challenging...and so incredibly busy.  I have been brainstorming major changes to my blog, and hopefully I will be implementing some soon.  As for now, enjoy the perfect crisp fall in the air, drink a celebratory pumpkin spice latte, and dig out your favorite pair of riding boots from the back of your closet.  Happy October!

{ in my world, October means pumpkin spice everything and deep burgundy manicures }

{ the best mornings involve my coziest socks and coffee in bed }

{ there is nothing better than SEC game nights that end in a home team victory - go gators! }

{ the September issue of Vogue makes me reminisce about walking these hallowed halls }

{ Thanksgiving, come sooner!  photo: Boston Yacht Club, a few vacations back }

 

{ cheers to pretty popsicles and stress free summer days, but here's to an even better fall! }

On My Playlist Today

My favorite swingin' Sinatra tune has always been The Days of Wine and Roses (listen here).  It's short and leaves a seriously bittersweet taste in your mouth.  My parents saw the Chairman of the Board / Ol' Blue Eyes / Swoonatra (insert Sinatra nickname here) in concert, and I will be eternally jealous.  So what if my grandmother and I have the same taste in music?

This weekend I saw the 1962 film of the same name for which the song The Days of Wine and Roses was written, and it is a tear-jerker.  The story line follows Joe Clay and Kirsten Arnesen (played by Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick) as they fall in love and then descend into alcoholism. The producers used the tagline "This, in its own terrifying way, is a love story" to advertise the film.  There are certainly tender moments which give the film a sweeter side, but Joe and Kirsten's path of destruction is heart-wrenching.  The film became one of director Blake Edwards' best-regarded films and was praised by both critics and audiences.

"The days of wine and roses laugh and run away like a child at play

Through a meadow land toward a closing door

A door marked "nevermore" that wasn't there before

The lonely night discloses just a passing breeze filled with memories

Of the golden smile that introduced me to

The days of wine and roses and you"

Very Vintage

I found this amazing vintage top today and could not resist its old glamour charm.  I love the high neckline, unique shape, and intricate beading detail.  Paired with black skinnies and sleek pumps, it will be the perfect look for a night out.  I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

The Sweetest Summer Love

This morning I stumbled across an amazing story of a summer love forgotten and remembered 35 years later.  Gay Cioffi and Mark Obenhaus had a three week fling in the summer of 1978, the kind right out of a Nicholas Sparks movie. 

"There were unparalleled sunsets at Gibson Beach and rides in her Fiat, soundtrack provided by Steely Dan. Mr. Obenhaus had one of those new Polaroid SX-70 cameras, a bit of modern magic then, and it provided countless hours of entertainment." (nytimes.com)  

They lived near Nora Ephron during the summer of 1978, and her death in 2012 reminded them of one another.  Despite two previous marriages in Ms. Cioffi's past and the death of Mr. Obenhaus' wife, fond memories and Facebook brought the star-crossed lovers back together.  For all of us hopeless romantics out there, we can breathe a sigh of relief that the cosmos were aligned in their favor. They married on August 3, 2013 in East Hampton, proving life, death, and love are sometimes intertwined in ways we can never imagine, plan for, or expect.  Read the NY Times article entitled A Love Embraced, Some 35 Years Later here.

"I say to her, 'I'm falling in love with you,'" he said.  

"And I say, 'Well I've loved you my whole life,'" she said.

"I offer you not the summer of my life but the autumn, brisk and vibrant."

-The beginning of Gay and Mark's wedding vows