Skyscraper Stilettos

I happened to be watching ABC's weekend show this morning when I fell in love:

6" Yves Saint Laurent Skyscraper Stilettos!

Everyone who knows me knows I LOOOOVE high heels. If they have a platform on them, then I love them even more. (Wanna know what's really weird? Wearing flats actually hurts my feet!)

The price tag on these designer ones is sure to be quite high. I will wait until they trickle down to a more reasonable price point.

Ooh, I would love to wear these with a pantsuit. Find me a pair in leopard :)

If I'm going to break my ankle (s), I may as well do it in super sexy shoes!!!

A Launch in the Works

I am absolutely delighted to tell you a secret! And no, it’s not the name of my book!! I am so excited about this brand new project we are working on! I was hopped up on caffeine a few nights ago and bought a domain at 2am.

This will be a new content-based, national website that is dedicated to my target market. It will be the natural and logical progression of my brand after my book comes out.

The usual suspects will be writing for it, of course. Me on professional image and personal style, Wendy the Makeup Junkie on skin care and makeup, Miss Kel on fashion trends, and Coach Joelle with all the marvelous stuff she does. There is no description for Joelle’s magic. And that is exactly what it is - magic.

Adding to that most awesome lineup will be Professor LisaMarie Luccioni - my girl who I am so proud of!! Speaking at the AICI conference in Minneapolis this past week and rocking the house!! Lisa is a fabulous communications and etiquette expert who I love to death.

And for now, last but not least, I am hoping to bring the lovely and talented Chris Brondel onboard for career advice.

The site will touch on what young women need to know. I would also like to bring a relationships expert, a fitness and nutrition guru, and a personal finance expert into the mix. I have some people in mind, but I will announce them after they agree.

I am just so excited to embark on this most excellent adventure that we are planning to launch in the fall :)

Now, I just have to get this book finished.

Joelle, wave your magic wand, please!!!

Indulging Your Inner KK

Lesson 1: Buying Gifts
I've known this for a long time, but have only shared it with the world through my blog and some of the articles I've written:

I have a slightly askew way of looking at the world.
For those who know me, you're probably like, "NO KIDDING!".

Due to the quirkiness and slight absurdity that is inherent in my DNA, I have decided to create a guide to being like me - yes, that is what everyone wants, correct? To be a goofy, rather self-indulgent (but awfully generous!), and somewhat overly intelligent girly girl.

Are you ready to accept the challenge??

I ran out today to buy a Mother's Day gift for my grandma (a.k.a. "Gram"). Took care of my mom earlier this week, but since I am book-braindead, I forgot about Gram. The safest gift to give her are earrings. Really small earrings.

So I grabbed my magnifying glass and started out on a quest for really small earrings for Gram. Then I realized I was doing exactly what I do EVERYTIME I shop for gifts. I was shopping for myself. Ah yes, the tested and trusted KK philosophy of "one for them, one or two (or more) for K" was again rearing its ugly head. I cannot shop for someone else without also shopping - and buying - for me. It's especially bad when I am buying Christmas presents and am buying for multiple people. I am thus allowed to buy exponentially more stuff pour moi.

In fact, it's pretty much de rigeur that I buy a bunch of stuff for myself every time I go out. (See, my 6 years of high school and college French are finally paying off!)

It's weird because when I am shopping with someone else or with a client, I am able to take on their fashion personality and focus solely on them. No problem there.

But when I am out, alone, buying a gift for someone else, I am only shopping for one person: ME

And that's OK. I did buy Gram a beautiful pair of really small earrings - green and a little sparkly - and I got a pair too - although mine are about 120% bigger than hers - and MINE were on clearance!

The lesson here? Be generous and buy people nice gifts, but when you indulge your inner KK, the big winner is YOU!

Very Random Thoughts on a Saturday

I've been writing and watching Shear Genius all day today on Bravo. I was inspired to trim my bangs. I cut them a little short, but they look ok. Did a sort of a 70's inspired 'do.

Wearing my new black track suit with white trim. Underneath is a powder blue tank that has been in with my workout clothes but I never wore before. It has skulls and crossbones with little bows. I've had it for about 4 years. Way before the skull and crossbones fad we're seeing. See? I've wanted to be a girly pirate for years now.

Drinking my new favorite beverage - caffeine free Diet Coke with Torani sugar-free coconut syrup from World Market. It's like drinking coconut rum & Coke, but without the eventual impairment. I can't drink and write. The two just don't go together.

Which reminds me, I'm very annoyed with Ty Pennington. No, I do not know the guy, although he did work on my mom's hairstylist's inlaws' house with Trading Spaces years ago. Now, not only is he overexposed and of questionable talent, he had that arrest for DUI last week. Last evening I saw the premiere issue of his magazine on the newsstand. And I got really mad. Never really noticed anything the guy did before, but last night I was truly mad! Why? I think it's because now that he is a brand - the Ty Pennington BRAND - there are a lot of people with faith in him (although I personally don't understand his allure - the goofy hair?) and more importantly there is a ton of money behind him.

One who is in the public eye should be on his/her best behavior at all times anyway (unless attempting to gain attention through bad behavior), but when so much is riding on one to build a brand, don't mess it up. Use your brain a little, Ty.

Martha has had to fight to rebuild her brand after her very public missteps, and Ty is only in the infancy of his brand. So he better be good from now on....

As Austin Powers would say,

KK's Top Secret Book (Slightly) Revealed!

Everytime someone hears that I am writing a book, I am asked the title and what it's about. It's not that I don't want to tell anyone, it's that I am still at the point where it can't be released publicly.

So I have come up with a solution. I say:

"My book is a combination of
'Sex & the City'
and
'Dress for Success'."

So chew on that, people!

Ooh, so many fascinating possibilities there!

Wait a few months and you'll find out the rest of the details!

I will be in full-out hyper-promotion mode soon!!

Paris Goes to Jail

If anyone doubts the power of color psychology, here's a great example:
Paris was in court yesterday to find out that she's going to serve 45 days in jail.
One thing you can say about the girl is that she's not afraid of exuberant use of color.

However, when she needed to dress in a somber way, she did get it right.This might be the only positive lesson she has to teach us. Wear more color! Stop it with the black and bland neutrals already, ladies! So many of us dress every day like we are facing time in the slammer!!

(btw, I said "SOMBER" above, not "SOBER")

The Bridge is History

I can't believe how many people emailed me to let me know that the bridge demolition finally happened yesterday. Yes, I know :) It occurred when I was in spin class last evening.

Here's a link to the video. Listen to how happy the people are! Sounds like I wasn't the only one rooting for the bridge to finally go!

Above: Looks like a war zone after the partial demolition Saturday. Glad it's gone!

Random Thoughts on May Day

I just opened the envelope Coach Joelle gave me yesterday, which was supposed to contain a parking permit for Friday's can't-wait-for-it meeting downtown. I was pleasantly surprised at the card and little KK-specific inspirational messages inside. Thanks, Joelle! You made my day! I especially loved:

Lead me not into temptation;
I can find the way myself.

(oh yes, there was also a parking permit in there)

I changed the desktop on my laptop on Saturday from spaz hot pink to Kermit the Frog and a green background. It's amazing how it has changed my mood and intention - already. Whenever my eyes are strained or my book project gets overwhelming, I flip to my desktop, which is all green and in the center is my friend Kermie:This is a subject for a different blog, but it's my opinion that Kermit is the perfect symbol for all that is good and right and optimistic in the world. When I see him (and I suspect this is the same for a lot of people out there, whether they realize it or not), I feel very centered. He's a very pure character.

Maybe I'm crazy. But I've always had an affection for Kermit.

I am - still - just a huge fan of the Muppets. In addition to my green friend, I especially love the grumpy characters (as I always do) Statler and Waldorf - and Oscar, although technically not a Muppet -

he's still a Henson character.

I was eagerly paying attention to the NFL draft on Saturday and to a lesser extent on Sunday. I don't pay as much attention to other sports as I do to football. I was hopefully looking at some future clients! The Browns were the talk of the sports world. They had an unfathomably good draft. How exciting to think about the seasons down the road. That's all we keep hearing about around here (well, that and the darn Fulton Road Bridge still standing - blow up already!) and it's really exciting.

I remember in about 1985 seeing a bumper sticker that cracked me up. It said

GO BROWNS
and take the Indians with you

We have a tragic sports history here in Cleveland. Heartbreaking. But now with the Cavaliers being awesome (sweeping the first round of the playoffs) and the Browns' draft day coup, things are definitely looking up!

I miss LisaMarie. Although, I suspect that if we lived in the same town, neither of us would get anything accomplished because we'd always be hanging out together!! It's better for us to keep a safe distance! Cincy to Cleveland - too far but just far enough!!