Now that we’re back to business as usual, the first thing on my list is to introduce you to our newest sponsor (the owner of which also happens to be a dear friend and an outstanding human being): Gemkitty. The site is pretty phenomenal, in fact – it’s like DIY jewelry-making that you get to delegate. Talk about the best of both worlds! No wonder Martha Stewart and Glamour magazine are such huge fans.

Gemkitty has come up with dozens of different styles, all of which are totally customizable with your choice of gems, color combos, metal preference – absolutely anything you can dream up. Your design is then made by hand, with love, and sent right to your door – all without your having to step foot into a bead store or learning to use those teeny tiny pliers.

For me, it’s a perfect solution, since I often have big dreams of creating something myself, but I lack any actual creativity (hence my recurrent jewelry plagiarism). This way, some genius artistic person (my friend Arrs, actually) has come up with the design, and all I have to do is pick the details I love.

I can’t help thinking it’s a perfect solution for that holiday dress you need to accessorize. It would also be a great way to wrap up your holiday shopping for a group of girlfriends – make them each their own pair of custom earrings!

Or just, you know, when you’re sitting around watching Martha Stewart and have a sudden itch to be a crafty girl – you’ll get your DIY fix with a bare minimum of effort. Genius!

Take a peek at Gemkitty’s site – trust me, you’ll get sucked into all the fun.

Well look, just look, at what the incomparable Kara Ackerman cooked up for you all:

I can’t tell you how much I love these bangles – I wear mine almost daily. Buy a handful, and you’ll instantly check off a stack of gifts on your holiday list (and, hopefully, a couple of extras for yourself). Or, make your significant other’s gifting significantly easier, and let him know these are up for grabs.

Hmm. Now that I think about it, I might need to add the lapis to my growing collection. And the turquoise. I’m sure Santa won’t mind a little help.

When I’m describing Moulé to friends that are visiting, I tend to call it a “baby Barneys” (but with much less scary price points). It has that cool, downtown vibe, but with a gift for picking special pieces that never fail to become the standout staples in my closet. Every single piece I find at Moulé (and believe me, I’ve found a few) ends up being a favorite. You’ll find brands you know like Joe’s Jeans and Majestic tees, but you’ll also find brand new names to love, like Liebenskind handbags and Les Petites knits. And don’t even get me started on the jewelry.

One thing Moulé has that (almost) no one else does: a full range of owner Rachel Mara‘s stylish designs. You might remember Rachel from some of my magazine work here in town – she’s a fashion icon for me in a big way. While her fall collection has sold out fast, you’ll want to keep an eye on the site for the first sign of resort. Rachel is famous for the most beautiful silk prints, and it’s easy to become an obsessed collector.

Didn’t I tell you? Head on over to Moulé and show them some SMC reader love, won’t you?

Grayling Jewelry just launched its fall collection – Northern Lights – and the pieces are maybe my favorite she’s ever done. Full of bold, faceted stones and rich, decadent chain, these are pieces that make a statement, but still manage to be incredibly wearable.

When I told Katy Kippen, the uber-talented designer behind Grayling, that I’d be writing up a little something on her line, she suggested that I pick one piece to feature. It’s like choosing one piece of candy in a store, friends…I’d never be able to choose between the cinnamon bears and the marshmallows. And so it is with Katy…but I’ve managed to narrow it down:

{Clockwise from top left: Tail Arc earring, $88; Magnetism necklace, $315;
Cassini bracelet, $145;  Pytheas necklace (it’s reversible!), $295.}

So many pretties! And one of my favorite things about Katy is that she’s always thinking about versatility – so many of her designs are reversible or variable in a few different ways. Which brings me to one of my top two pieces:

Yes, that’s one piece, friends. One long necklace you can wear dozens of different ways – in fact, it converts to a lariat-style drop pendant too. No wonder it’s called the Variability necklace.

Yep, I think that’s my favorite. Well, except for this:

How could I possibly choose? Sure, the Northern Lights can’t be rearranged in a thousand different configuations, but there’s something about those champagne-colored crystals and drapes of chain that I just know I’d want to wear every chance I got (as evidenced by the fact that, when I borrowed it for a photo shoot recently, I kept it much longer than was at all appropriate).

Go check out all of the stunning eye candy over at Grayling Jewelry and show them some SMC love, won’t you?

We don’t usually talk numbers here on the blog – major buzz kill, I know. But I did just want to mention that I’ve decided to run a big back-to-school sale on ads, partly because I miss caring about back-to-school things, and partly because, well, gotta keep the lights on.

Ads start at $50/month during the sale (that’s HALF off, friends!), and you can lock in your sale rate for as long as you’d like, even through the holiday season! Because I’m cool like that. The sale will run through the end of September. I’d so love to have a few fabulous new sponsors to add to our already-outstanding list.

So, if you own a business you know SMC readers will love, or if you have a friend that does, I hope you’ll send them my way. Just email editor @ shoppingsmycardio {dot} com for all the details, and we’ll find the best way for you to talk to all of my wonderful readers.

There, that wasn’t too painful, was it?

Today, I’m excited to show you the latest and greatest from Acanthus Jewelry. Her designs have such a beautiful, delicate aesthetic – I can imagine wearing any of her pieces my whole life long. The newest collection at Acanthus is just the tiniest bit edgier than some of her other pieces, but still has plenty of that femininity I adore. I’m a huge, huge fan.

That chevron locket just belongs on my neck – the longer length is so fresh and chic, I know I’d never take it off. Luckily, her pieces are incredibly affordable – most are under $100, in fact. Definitely worthy of giving yourself a little weekday treat, don’t you think?

Winner, Day 1 – Inhabit NY cashmere sweater: Lisa S.

Winner, Day 2 – Christine Mighion aquamarine earrings: Shirlene B.

Winner, Day 3 – Mabel & Zora dress by Tiffany Bean: Lauren

Winner, Day 4 – Hayden-Harnett clutch wallet: MJ Moore

Winner, Day 5 – Clarins summer skincare collection: Elle

Congratulations!!! I’ll be emailing each of the winners with details, so be on the lookout! And for the rest of you, well, you can shoot jealous dagger-eyes at these lucky ladies for a moment or two (they’re screaming too loudly to notice anyway), but after that, I hereby give you justification to go forth and buy yourself a little something from one of those amazing sponsors.

Thank you again so much, everyone, from the bottom of my designer-loving little heart. The fact that you choose to spend a few minutes of your day here makes me so embarrassingly happy, I can’t even tell you. When I meet one of you, or you email me to say hello or ask a style question, it quite literally makes my day. I’m so looking forward to the next five years!

And a special thanks to the staggeringly generous sponsors from our Birthday Bash: Inhabit NY, Christine Mighion, Mabel & Zora, Hayden-Harnett and Clarins. These are, quite possibly, my five favorite brands of all time, and I’m beyond honored that they wanted to be part of the party. Show them some love, won’t you, friends?

Welcome to Day Three of our big Birthday Bash here at Shopping’s My Cardio! Do we know how to party, or what? If you’re late to the fête, we’re celebrating the blog’s fifth birthday – sniff, it’s all grown up. Naturally, there had to be presents – five of them, to be precise (because I so love numerical symmetry). And trust me, these are presents you won’t be sneaking off to return.

I can personally attest to how lovely today’s giveaway is, because it’s currently hanging in my closet. I walked into Mabel and Zora two weeks ago, spied it, tried it on, and wouldn’t let it out of my clutches. Can you see why?

Now, this particular shop is always my first stop for a new dress – their selection is always flawless. So it was no surprise that I’d fall in love with something. But this particular pretty -the Belle dress – was actually designed by M&Z owner (and sweet sponsor of ShoppingsMyCardio) Tiffany Bean, and it’s one of the most flattering frocks I’ve found in ages. It’s a faux-wrap jersey dress, so it has all of the figure-enhancing appeal of a wrap, without the wardrobe malfunction potential (I think we’ve all been there). And I am so head over heels for the print, there are no words. It’s a beautiful Missoni-esque zigzag (and you know how I love a good zigzag), in the most beautiful combo of moss green, pink and vibrant turquoise. It’s a no-brainer for work, gorgeous for a date night…you just can’t miss.

It retails for $138, which feels like a serious bargain as it is. But free is so much nicer, don’t you agree? Tiffany knew I fell hard for this dress, so she sweetly offered to let me give one away for our Big Birthday Bash – how exciting! In the size of your choice, of course.

TO ENTER:

You can enter up to three times today, and each of those three entries qualifies you to win any of the five prizes announced all this week, not just today’s prize. Keep that up all week, and you could still score 9 entries this week! How to do it? Simple:

Entry 1. Comment on the post. Easy peasy.

Entry 2. Facebook: “Like” Shopping’s My Cardio (if you haven’t already), and repost the contest on Facebook, using those brand new, handy-dandy little buttons at the bottom of the post. Use your imagination, but something like this would work well:

I just entered to win this fab wrap dress from @Mabel and Zora in @Shopping’s My Cardio Birthday Bash! http://www.shoppingsmycardio.com

…then come back and leave a second comment telling me you did so.

Entry 3. Twitter: “Follow” @ShoppingsCardio, and tweet about the contest using those same fancy buttons. Just as a suggestion:

I just entered to win this fab wrap dress from @mabelzora in @shoppingscardio’s Birthday Bash! http://www.shoppingsmycardio.com

…then come back and leave a third comment letting me know you got that done.

For the rest of the rules and details, head over here.

Good luck, all!

Mabel & Zora is quite easily the cheeriest boutique in all of Portland, owned by some of the cheeriest people I know (hi, Tif and Corey!).  It’s essentially like a Doris Day movie exploded, and left this fabulous little boutique in its wake.  Which makes sense, since the owner is utterly obsessed with Doris and all of her happy, sunny goodness.

When you walk into the shop, the walls are painted a sunny yellow, the racks are filled with bright, color-drenched dresses from the likes of Trina Turk, Milly and Lily Pulitzer, and there’s an incredible selection of bold, happy jewelry that will make you feel it’s summer, no matter what the weather.

We Portlanders are lucky enough to shop in person, but the rest of you should know they also have a lovely online shop.  True, you’ll miss out on some of the locally-crafted jewels they have in-store, but nearly everything I love in their shop is available online.

While there are everyday selections from Ella Moss, Michael Stars, House of Harlow and Seven For All Mankind, this shop really shines when it comes to pieces you just won’t find elsewhere. Their dress selection is positively legendary…if you have a summer event coming up, I can promise that the perfect dress is here waiting for you.

From top: Beth Bowley English Garden dress, $265; Bailey 44 Fouled Out dress, $174 (and how much do I love that necklace?!); Veronica M strapless feather dress, $118; Tiffany Bean Doris dress, $228.

That last style was even designed by the shop owner, Tiffany Bean, who has just launched a collection of her own dresses.  Tif has impeccable style, and I’m in love with literally everything she’s come out with so far.

All of that spring loveliness aside, I can’t leave without mentioning their sale rack, which is simply not to be missed.  I’m talking Lily Pulitzer cashmere for $99 (my mom and I bought two when she was in town), and the sweetest cherry red Beth Bowley coat for half off.  If only I were a size 4!

A huge thank you to Mabel & Zora for becoming our latest sponsor…please, friends, show them a little SMC love and hospitality, won’t you?

hlaska has totally revamped their brand, and added to their flawless collection of leather goods with some seriously stylish menswear and accessories.  you can bet i’ll be revisiting this topic in a few weeks, when it’s time to talk about father’s day, but for now, i have to at least show you these new watches, because they’re amazing:

love!  i’m seriously considering buying one “for the hubs,” so that i can then shamelessly borrow it…

and i’m still a huge fan of hlaska’s briefcases and wallets, for men and women alike.  they’re beautifully made, and possibly the perfect mix of substance and style, especially for those of us who don’t like feminine frills on our work gear.

i am head over heels for that zip travel wallet, by the way.  just sayin’.  and that blue astronomy billfold?  those perforations are actually constellations!  yeah, i’m smitten.

with father’s day looming, this is a great time to show hlaska some love and appreciation for helping us keep the lights on here at SMC, don’t you think?