Have Prophylactics Become a Luxury Item?

Nouveau Knocked Up

Happy Nouveau Birthday To Me

The Nouveau present- thoughtful and useful, too.

Today, I’ve been thinking about Nouveau birthday presents. As my birthday approaches, I’ve fielded questions from several friends and family members about what I might like for a gift. Although I’ve assured them that a card would be more than enough to make me feel loved, there are those that are absolutely set on presents, and who am I to argue?

So, as I approach my first Nouveau Birthday in this new economy, I’ve asked my close friends to give me small gifts that I know I’ll really use.  Although a bejeweled picture frame or cosmetic kit is adorable, neither is something I need to live my daily life right now. Instead, I’ve asked that my friends choose items that will help in my recent pursuit of a new workout regime. This way, they can choose from workout clothes, ipod accessories, and useful gadgets to help me along that I might not buy for myself but that I’ll really enjoy. In the same spirit, my parents presented me with a contribution toward the gym fees at my amazing new boot camp.

An NP should always try to give a gift, but worry more that it’s from your heart and head than from your wallet.. the price tag isn’t nearly as important as the thought (and the ultimate usability of the gift).

Reuse, Re-purpose, Recycle

What new use can you find for something old?

Remember the good old days when there were great things to steal from cafe tables and hotels?  Well, I came across a stash of fabulous tiny ashtrays that my in-laws –or more accurately out-laws in this scenario– stole from some of the finest European haunts in their early travels. Being from a decidedly non-smoking family, none of us has use for an actual ashtray these days.

However, they do have a certain charm. As I perused the assemblage, I noted a that they all they presented a re-purposing opportunity.  Voila, they are now sitting on my kitchen counter next to the olive oil decanter to be used as individual dipping dishes.

The (very reasonable) Price I Paid For Fashion

Forever 21- Not just for middle school anymore

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I remember Forever 21 as the place to shop when I was in middle school.  It was where you would go to get the trashiest of trashy clothes to wear to the ironically under 21 clubs.  It was definitely a store I had not walked into for eight years so I was shocked when, on a recent trip to NYC, Samantha told me about her shopping trip there, and all the amazing styles she had found at great prices.

My response?  Shock, disbelief, and a bit of concern. Would I need to take Sammi to get her head checked? After surreptitiously scanning her for any visible signs of injury- and seeing some of these great finds firsthand- I decided to tag along on her next F21 adventure. Believe you me, it was an adventure indeed.

There were racks upon racks of clothes, all of which were nicely priced under $30.  After some time scouring the racks and pulling out everything and anything I thought had potential, we made our way to the fitting rooms.  I tried on several outfits, and I was pleasantly surprised that I had found some solid items that were in style and very affordable. Surprise! Forever 21 is no longer the trashy store we all remembered it to be.  It has updated its look, and carries many of the of-the-moment looks we’re all craving, for a very NP price.

One of the dresses I chose that day has an almost identical cut and style to a Marc Jacobs dress that I already owned, and in a pattern that looks like it walked off of his runway.  Trust me, when I’m being complimented on my miriad new looks, no one knows that I’ve cheated a little bit in the designer department. My Forever 21 dress only cost me $30, but I get the impact of one that was priced at ten times that, especially when I pair it with an Alice & Olivia belt (which came with a pencil skirt that I already owned- a very NP move, might I add), a Theory blazer, and Tory Burch flats.

-Kristie

“A Girl Should Be Two Things: Classy and Fabulous.” -Coco Chanel

Fabulous Woman.. Wise Words

Some mornings, it’s tough to get out of bed and get yourself going. I’m new to the world of offices, having been abruptly thrust into work when I moved across country, took a gap year, and then my school-fund ran out (more on that another time). Being a recent inductee to the club, I’m unused to the concept that on a dull day, I can’t just throw on sweatpants and roll into work with my Uggs on - yes, I know they’re out of style by virtue not only of the current year, but of the fact that they were never really in to begin with. Alas, the work environment requires just a little bit more effort.

On days like this, I’m tired, I didn’t sleep well, and it’s just about all I can do to get out of bed, never mind facing the application of makeup, a reasonably tidy hairstyle, and stylish garb fit to see me through the day.

Luckily for me, a while back, I came across this quote from the very wise Ms. Coco Chanel, who said:

“I don’t understand how a woman can leave the house without fixing herself up a little - if only out of politeness. And then, you never know, maybe that’s the day she has a date with destiny. And it’s best to be as pretty as possible for destiny.”

And really, after reading a thing like that, who can think anything otherwise. And so, my fellow NP’ers, I had no choice but to throw on a great chiffon blouse, my favorite pants by Genetic Denim (Shane Cigarette, Black), and some funky accessories, and head off for my date with destiny… or at least a better-looking day at the office!

Nouveau Poor is NOT Nouveau Cheap

*** 4 senses of “Cheap” (from synonym.com) ***

Sense 1:

Cheap (vs. expensive), inexpensive, bargain-priced, cut-rate, cut-price, catchpenny(prenominal), dirt cheap, low-budget, low-cost, low-priced, affordable, nickel-and-dime (prenominal), sixpenny, threepenny, twopenny, tuppeny, two-a-penny, twopenny-halfpenny

Sense 2:

Brassy, cheap, flash, flashy, garish, gaudy, gimcrack, loud, meretricious, tacky, tatty, tawdry, trashy,

tasteless (vs. tasteful)

Sense 3:

Bum, cheap, cheesy, chintzy, crummy, punk, sleazy, tinny, inferior (vs. superior)

Sense 4:

cheap, chinchy, chintzy, stingy (vs. generous), ungenerous

*** as I discovered this weekend, it’s not such a fine line between #1 and #2-4

Armed with a folder full of Corcoran printouts, color-coded maps and a sense of adventure, my boyfriend and I set out to the Hamptons Saturday morning to find the perfect summer rental.

Fast forward to Saturday evening.

Weary from a long day of house hunting, living-room comparing, budget tweaking, can-we-make-it-work?ing and price negotiating (more on this later – we call it the back-bid! back-bid! strategy), we make our way to the evening’s accommodations. Our pre-NP choice, the 4-star Maidstone Arms, was under renovation and while we are sure it is going to be beautiful post-reno, we feel abandoned and must improvise.

Enter the Wainscott Inn.

Our friendly Corcoran broker, Sarah, enthusiastically recommended the Wainscott Inn, touting its 3 C’s (“it’s so clean and convenient…and cheap!!!”).

Dusk descends.

Between the circa-1930s barrack construction, flickering light bulbs, no-flow showerhead, pre-war carpet, token cobwebs, and a high-school-science-experiment-worthy bedspread, fit to the stereotype was almost comical (or at least my bf thought so…although he also voluntarily watches horror movies). Oh – and the smell. Many stories behind that smell, I’m sure, but please don’t let me hear them.

Bottom line - our abode for the evening looked like the set for (your choice of):

1. Psycho

2. Vacancy

3. The Stand

4. Hostel

As it was getting late and we needed to primp before our reservation at Nick and Tony’s, we decided to deal. (Also the Wainscott runs a very NP $95/night). We drove back to the front desk to pick up 2 clean sheets (no, the Wainscott Inn does not offer room service) and completely swathed the bed so that we would not touch the filthy monstrosity.

We returned to the room/jail cell after about 4 bellinis and I was entirely convinced that we wouldn’t make it through the night. (Is that a blood stain on the blanket? Oh my god. Oh no – that’s just a shadow.) My bf clearly had other matters on his mind…ahem …NO, I will NOT get naked in that bed! I did put his arm to sleep by clinging to it for dear life throughout the night. (Did I mention the sounds this place made? He promised to sleep with one eye open but I was definitely writing my obituary as I lay awake in distress.)

We survived the night, thankfully, and laughed uncontrollably as we hightailed it out of there the next morning. Don’t they say a common struggle draws people closer?

NP Girls know there is a fine line between finding a bargain (see Sense 1) and being cheap in a negatively connoted way (see Senses 2-4). Had we done a little homework (a quick sampling of customer reviews on hotels.com and trip advisor would have revealed more than my old PA could have) we would have found something cheap, but not CHEAP.

The Best-Laid Plans..

Sometimes a bargain isn't really a bargain

It is almost always cool to be NP. We find the best deals on designer duds, spa services, travel arrangements, and restaurant rendezvous. With our skills and savvy, we keep up our NP lifestyle at the same standards as we always did, but with a lower price tag. HOWEVER, I myself have made the mistake of taking it just a little bit too far. My hairy tale begins in the aisle of my local Duane Reade, one boring weekday afternoon.

My hair is what we’d call an unfortunate Minnesota brown. It’s sort of an ashy blonde-brown-grey mixture that looks good on some varieties of house cat, but is not that flattering on any person I’ve yet met. As such, I have become a great friend of hair dye. Why, with dye, I can be blonde, brunette, gothically dark and striking like Snow White, or have a Lohan moment and rock the red/wine color sure to get attention.

Unfortunately for me, and my wallet, such fun with color does not come cheap. Any NP girl out there knows the cost of a salon visit, whether for highlights or all-over color. Dripping a small dose of glaze alone will run you upwards of a half-Benjamin! So, in the depths of my dispair (and after having viewed my Amex bill for the month of March) I took the fateful walk down the aisle - at Duane Reade, that is- and purchased *gasp* box dye, because I’m worth it too. And boy, was it a good deal. Even after buying two boxes, because I have long hair, I had spent less than $10 for what I was sure would be my best new look ever.

What. A. Mistake.

The process itself was easy, and even after the rinse-and-repeat, I was feeling confident and good to go (and go I did, I went out that night looking good and feeling great.) The truth didn’t set in until the next day. Ahh yes, though the hair had held up well under the pulsating strobes of the club I’d been to in the evening,  by the bright light of the sun, things were looking decidedly less pretty. The top half of my mid-back length hair was a lovely fiery red, wheras the bottom was a dark, murky chestnut brown, had it been through a forest fire. Not my best look. Nonetheless, I decided to bide my time until I could justify a quick trip to the stylist to even it out, and in the meantime wore a lot of ponytails. No one but me really noticed.

So, fast-forward one month (the amount of time I figured I should let my hair rest between treatments, and not coincidentally, the time at which my mother was coming to visit from out of town.. I knew she and her credit-card would know what to do!) I went to a lovely little salon, and before I could even sit down the owner ran up to me to express his condolences on my box-dye-job gone bad. And to yell at me, just a little. I had figured a 6:00 pm appointment would mean I’d be done well before their 8:00 pm closing time, but by 8:45, I realized that was not to be. As I sat and heard horror stories of the salon owner’s attempts to remove the awful, caustic, metallic dyes found in those drugstore boxes, I had to keep checking the mirror to make sure my hair hadn’t gone up in smoke. At 10:00, I got a little nervous that I’d have any hair left at all after the color-stripping, re-color, re-glaze because even that color didn’t stick properly, and three or four rinses. Thankfully, by 5 hours later at 11 pm, I made it out alive and intact, with a financial hit in the hundreds to fix my $10 experiment.

Next week, I have to go back for another glaze, condition, and $50 hit, just to get my hair back to the normal state it used to so happily exist in, BBD (Before Box Dye). Moral of the story? Scrimp, save, and budget, but NEVER cut back where it counts. The only benefit you’ll get from a hair-brained scheme like mine is all those extra points on your Amex from spending so much to save the day.

I Don’t Believe in the Recession

Puja D

(over dinner at John Dory on Saturday night)

“The recession is kind of like winter; it’s best to go out of town until it is over.  Some people go to the South of France, I am going to Asia: it’s less bad there”

NP girls agree that denial may be the best policy.  My FBF always says buy on fiction, sell on fact…denial is what makes the markets ladies!