What to wear: Turquoise and apple green
What to hair: Up with sticks
What to make-up: Anything Chanel
What to listen to: Mixed up tracks via your computer
What to see: Insomnia
What to rent: Lantana
What to TV: Sacramento Kings vs. L.A. Lakers
What to drink: Vitamin Water
What to make: Brownies with nuts
What to buy: Big sunglasses

Become a Splendora VIP member today ($75) and we'll throw in the best brow way you've ever had ($25 value) by Lana Kessel, one of the best aestheticians in San Francisco. Or buy a membership for you and a friend and both receive a brow wax and mini facial ($50 value). We only have a few of these gift certificates left so hit reply to this email ASAP to check if this offer is still valid.

Become a VIP Member!

Tsk...tsk...tsk Tara! Hasn't anyone with taste told you that Macrame is only suitable for plant holders and Mariah Carey? Tara's running tab of fashion flubs is perching her high atop the Splendora worst dressed list. The dress is not a total disaster, but paired with those shoes it's beyond trash-ay. But the crowning jewel of this outfit is the ill-matched purse...can you say dowdy?

Fashion Victims

SAN FRANCISCO

Timeless Treasures
The always fantastic Timeless Treasures is having a Memorial Day/Weekend sale! Shabby chic seekers will receive 20-50% off goodies like furniture, lighting, mirrors, quilts, and vintage cashmere sweaters. And don't forget, Splendora Members always receive 15% off all non-sale items at Timeless Treasures! Holiday hours are: Friday-Saturday: 11-6, Sunday: 1-6, Monday: 11-6

LOS ANGELES

Barneys New York
Run, don't walk for some big savings at this always chic "un-department" store. Look for breaks on clothing by Marc by Marc Jacobs, Development, and others. Miu Miu handbags are also on sale. Call (310) 276-4400 for more info.

NEW YORK

Henri Bendel
Henri Bendel is holding its annual sale on their signature brown-and-white cosmetics bags. Various kits and pouches will be up to 30 percent off ($19.60 to $44). Sale lasts through Saturday, June 1.

More Splendora Events

When I was a little girl, back when most of my friends spent their extracurricular time re-enacting syndicated re-runs of 'Charlies Angels' and fighting over who got to play Farah, my sister Lily and I played a little game we liked to call "New York." This game wasn't played in a few hours or in the span of a mere afternoon. This game was a state of mind. A way of life. A game that would last from the time we were in elementary school until May 24, 2002 and counting. So far, Lily is in the lead but I'll get to that later.

I don't know whether my love for New York stemmed from Woody Allen movies or from the first time I flipped through a Vogue magazine. Either way, once I caught my first glimpse of the Big Apple I became totally obsessed. I loved the haughty, aristocratic way New Yorkers hailed cabs. I loved the miles of skyscrapers and yellow taxis reaching in every direction. But most of all I loved the way New York women carried themselves. To me, a wide-eyed West Coast bumpkin from the suburbs, Manhattanettes oozed the intelligence, confidence, sophistication, and urbane charm that I longed for (yes, even as a Fifth grader).

So instead of plastering our walls with heart throbs or hanging colorful name plaques on our door, I convinced Lily to help me turn our bedroom into a tasteful studio apartment complete with apartment number, keyed lock, bookshelf jammed with classics, and a two-person dining room table. Our supportive mother, who was sweet enough to indulge our crazy ideas [and still does to this day as Splendora's in-house accountant], allowed us to take dinner in our "apartment" like civilized city girls. We played "New York" for so long that it became ingrained in our psyche. And thanks to a very chic friend of my mother's who understood our cosmopolitan cravings, Lily and I both had the likes of Balmain, YSL, and Pucci in our wardrobe before we even hit highschool. Thus, we became New Yorkers without ever stepping foot in the Big Apple. We certainly didn't buy the whole "If I Can Make it There ..." mumbo jumbo. In fact, we were sure of the exact opposite: the *only* place we could make it was New York City (or basically anywhere other than our prosaic little 'hood).

Unfortunately I never made it to New York, not as a full-time citizen anyway; however, my sister Lily moved out East for design school and has been there since. After living there for over a decade, she can finally call herself a New Yorker. Though her life is not exactly the stuff that 'Sex and the City' episodes are made of she has been lucky enough to live out her girlhood dreams of being a single city girl in the fashion industry. To my utter surprise, I have chosen my birthplace to set down my roots which goes against my whole New York theory. It turns out New York was not the only place that I could make it and that coming back home provided the comfort I needed to blossom creatively. Now I'm trying to convince my sister, who is now frustrated with the whole NY fashion scene, to play "San Francisco" with me. So far she's not buying it but I'm hoping if I bug her enough she'll move home. This journal entry marks my first move in the game. Your move Lily.