Has anyone seen the cute shoes Old Navy has on their site now? They have debuted some adorable styles available only online and a brand new leather collection. See below for some of their cute finds.

Leather Peep-Toe Pumps … $39.50

Leather Peep-Toe Kitten Heels … $39.50

Patent Leather Wedges … $19.99

Patent Leather Ballet Flats … $19.50

Women’s Slingback Wedges … $29.50

 
Don’t forget to enter Juicefairy’s contest for a free Acquarella manicure kit. 

Here is to my ladies out there that love free stuff!  Acquarella has been kind enough to treat one lucky reader of my blog to a free manicure kit.  The kit includes a bottle of their non-toxic, odor free nail polish, conditioner, remover, a buffing pad and a nail file.   Just leave a comment at my review before July 30th to enter to win.  Good luck girls!

I recently stumbled across new Acquarella nail polish in a magazine a few months ago and had to try it. I couldn’t wait to tell everyone that there is a polish, comparable to our favorite brands, but lacking the harmful ingredients that make nail polish a nuisance. Acquarella polish is non-toxic and odor free …. finally someone has heard our complaints! So those of you who are sensitive to that sickening smell of polish and remover don’t have to worry anymore. You could paint your nails in the passenger seat of your car with the windows rolled up and you wouldn’t smell a thing. It’s water based, so unlike standard polishes it helps your nails to breathe and hydrate. Which means no more yellowing nails from polish! It also dries quick and is an all-in-one polish so there is no need for a top coat.The instructions suggest you use their conditioner, a clear nail polish that helps to hydrate and strengthen your nails. I followed their instructions, and I found it a bit tedious I was amazed how shiny clean and healthy my nails felt. They felt softer and less brittle after one application.

The remover is also safe and water based – kind of like watered down hand soap. So no more fumes or being afraid of ruining your furniture if you spill it. Did I also mention that since the polish is water based it if you spill it, and it doesn’t dry it is 100% removable? Genius.

I tried the color demure, which is a pretty pink with a shimmer. It at first reminded me of the pearly white polish my grandma used to wear but I liked it after a day or two . If I had one complaint it would be that don’t think that it lasted any longer without chipping than the average nail polish. That would have been nice. And you have to be careful with certain sunblocks and lotions you wear ruining your polish. Because it is a water based formula, my sunblock one day made my nails a little sticky on top. I didn’t find this with all of my skin products though, so you would have to test your stuff out for compatibility (it would be nice if Acquarella told you what ingredients in lotions will react badly with the polish).

While the polish itself is a little more expensive than your average bottle at $18 a pop, it does save you on all of the top coats polishes, base coats, strengtheners and thinners. Since it is water based it also lasts longer than your average polish. I realize my zeal about this polish may sound like a paid advertisement, but I assure you cynics out there that I am not being paid by Acquarella to endorse their product. I just like it

• Momofuku the name of David Chang’s noodle shop in New York means “lucky peach” … in what language the menu didn’t reveal.
• NYC was cracking down hard on the vendors of fake bags. I headed to Canal St. to get myself a little Luis V. for a souvenir and we saw not one, but two guys in stalls get arrested. I was only offered bags twice on the street which is not much … and the guys that usually lay out their bags throughout the city were not to be seen.
• I did pick up a really cute over-sized white D&G fake on Canal St. but it will never pass for the real thing. It is just a cute cheap bag.
• I saw my grandparents’ wedding album for the first time when I visited. It was beautiful. My grandmother also showed me her huge engagement ring, which I had never seen before and it wasn’t even in a safe! She had it in a box held with a rubber band! She is crazy. Luckily I convinced her to lock it up in their safe.

• My celebrity siting this vacation was in NYC on the subway. While I was on the train I saw Jon Hein from the Howard Stern Show walking around on the platform. I yelped and pointed out the window and scared the pants off Mr. J (a.k.a Mr. Juicefairy). He said I shouldn’t scream and make large gestures on the subway. Whatever!
• If you didn’t know, Jon Hein is widely known on the show for starting the website jumptheshark.com. He sold Jump The Shark, Inc., to Gemstar (owners of TV Guide) over $1 million”. Some Stern staff have speculated that the site sold closer to $5-$10 million.

Well, it is bittersweet being back from my long vacation. While my bed is more comfortable than those I have been borrowing in the last week and a half, the food is not as memorable. God the food I ate was great!

I did get to hit up a few of the places I mentioned last week.  Pinkberry’s yogurt was awesome. Their signature flavor is slightly reminiscent of sour cream and grapefruit which sounds disgusting but was pretty refreshing. It was a real treat and made me feel a little less guilty about eating dessert on top of all of the rich food I ate all week. I also didn’t anticipate the handful of uncommon toppings you can choose from, like Captain Crunch and Fruity Pebbles. While I didn’t try them on my yogurt I can guess that it is a treat.

Momofuku was as delicious as I anticipated. I opted for the ginger and scallion vegetarian noodles and they were perfection. A little more oily than I expected, if you can believe that, but it didn’t bother me too much because the flavor was great. The pork buns were awesome too.

We ate dinner one night at Mesa Grill, one of Bobby Flay’s restaurants. It was an excellent meal.  I had the Chile Relleno — a chili almost the size of my forearm stuffed with eggplant and cheese, dredged in corn meal and deep fried. It is making me salivate four days later just thinking about it.

I didn’t get to stop at Magnolia Bakery but I did stop at her sister store, Buttercup Bakery. God, that was good! I had the best red velvet cupcake ever. The icing was what made it good. It was buy far the lightest and fluffiest cream cheese icing I have ever had, which is pretty hard with something like cream cheese. The cupcake was well worth the exorbitant $2 I paid for it.

A side note: I have seen the recipe for Magnolia’s vanilla cupcake online and can’t wait to try it.  I have heard if you are patient and follow it exactly you will never be disappointed.  I can’t wait to try.