santa baby i love you...and a few of my favourite (digital) things.

love love love polyvore

Have you heard of Polyvore?  In the simplest terms as I can put it, it gives you a chance to be Anna Wintour herself and style your dreams.  You mix and match products from your favorite stores, and it has steadily grown to be the world's largest online fashion community.

Above that, so many people benefit from Polyvore.  Consumers love to create, lust, dream over and eventually buy the outfits and "sets" they and their peers create.  They can also find an array of styles and colours without scouring thousands of websites themselves.  Basically, I think Polyvore introduces fashion to fashionistas.

For bloggers, it's a dream come true.  You can embed sets on your blog, and the words, brands and trends you add tend to drive a ton of traffic to the post.

Not to mention brands benefit from Polyvore.  Your products can be styled by some pretty stellar and fashionable people, and more than that, introduced to an international audience who may have never discovered you otherwise.

Enough talk... These are a few of the things on my holiday DREAM list.

Two things you should take note of here, if you care to... The Burberry Prorsurm line has captured my heart and the obsession with buying these Louboutins has absorbed my soul.

santa baby i love you by whitneybenj featuring brass jewelry

Inspired and ready to lust?  Go build a set and comment me the link, I love seeing the taste of others.

glitter braids and haute geeks

inspired by the following

The other day my best friend cancelled our run together because she had to work late and she had to go to school later. She felt terrible for flaking. I felt terrible that she felt terrible. I told her, "life is not that serious for me to get upset for you being busy and living your life."

Every week there are a few/hundred things that catch my eye and wallet's lust, mini little escapes from reality.

Enjoy the pretty.   Enjoy the moments.  Busy happens, but don't get mad at someone because of it.  Here's what made me happy this week.

Haute geeks.

Romance expressed in fashion.

Glitter. Obviously. Anything that glitters I will probably buy.

Clean book shelves full of the imagination and dreams.

Fish tail braids.

Messy couture braids.

My princess puppy who needs a princess puppy bed.

mi familia.

(images via me and vogue italia)

alt + control + delete

the last legal vice

I use a Mac, so this command is not relevant anymore.  But sometimes I think we need a command that automatically forces us to quit a certain activity, refresh it, and start anew.  Meet my human form of "alt + control + delete".

waking up to this smell is heaven

It's not a massage, or a weekend getaway, it's an espresso stove-top moka that I brought back with me when I moved home from Italy.  I know coffee is bad for you, this won't help you de-stress, blah blah blah.  I don't care.  It's a piece of a place I gave my heart, and with every cup I'm reminded of la vita bella.

My best friend from Italia, Andrea, she introduced me to Carreras, I introduced her to the side braid.

Have no fear, I put a healthy twist into my espresso vice.  As some of you may know, coffee used to be my breakfast, but we broke up (for mornings that is), and I've moved on with protein.  So I've created a perfect way to wake up. Introducing the Iced Chocolate Coconut Milk hold the whip skinny non-latte extra Italian memories almond butter espresso protein shake.

venti doppio!  Mmm protein frappuccino de whitters

The name is a work in progress and I am open to ideas.  Basically, we need a name that encompasses the ingredients and the memories it provides me.  At the end of the day, I can't move back to Italia, I made no money, barely enough for food and my Carrera obsession.  But I can dream about the friends I made, the wine I tasted, and the morning cappuccinos Giovanni served me with chocolate drawn foam hearts.  That my friends is worth waking up for.

la ricetta:

1 Scoop Chocolate Designer Whey Protein Powder
1 Shot of Espresso (brewed on the stove makes it mo-bettah)
1 tbsp of almond butter
4 ounces or so of water (I prefer filtered because I am obviously a snob)
1/2 tsp. of cacao powder
6 or so ice cubes depending on if you want a frappuccino or an iced latte version
1 tbsp of coconut milk creamer

Throw it in a blender. Sip sip remember the good days.  P.S. Starbucks if you made a morning protein frappuccino that was actually healthy, you'd sell a lot.  Just sayin.

the life of a haute geek

I am lucky. I love my job. My job allows me to be creative and experiment everyday, kind of like how I did in Kindergarten. As a writer, social mediva, and remote worker, I have come to appreciate the little things that bring a smile to my day. Like I said, I am lucky, but there are some days working remotely = working lonely. Luckily, coffee shops are made for haute geeks like me.

(Babycakes in Hillcrest, San Diego)

Everyday I wake up and head to the office, which varies between Caffe Carpe Diem, Babycakes, and Starbucks (if and only if I am desperate). The baristas at all of the coffee shops know my name, and ordinarily my drink order (lately green tea, as I've given up my addiction to cappuccinos as I was having bouts of vertigo). Everyday they smile, everyday I smile back, and find my desk.

I personally prefer the corner office with a view, and an outlet to plug my computer in. It has happened more than once when I have walked into my favorite shops to find my desk taken by another. Mind you I am talking about a table at a cafe, however when you are a blogger, geek, social media guru, or a consultant who depends on coffee shops for a clean, comfortable space to work, this is unacceptable.

So I scramble to any desk that is available, and stretch my power cord over the bar counter to find an outlet, and dive into my day full of product reviews, co-tweet, blog posts,  wordpress, send/receiving my inbox, skype, and probably 2 glasses of green tea. I pour my heart and soul into my work, and most people out in the interwebs do not understand number one that I am a real living, breathing person on the other end, and number two a lot of love and time is devoted to all that I create. Throughout my day I have to remind myself of a wonderful phrase a fellow social mediva and great friend taught me, "It's not your job to teach anyone a lesson." I say this to myself, sip my green tea, inhale and exhale a few ujjayi breaths, and type my frustrations away.

I have to thank my favorite offices in San Diego for always taking care of me, and being understanding of my usage of their WiFi, and comforting space. Even more, I have to thank my mom who has become so savvy with the interwebs that she checks my Facebook page to see if I have checked in on Foursquare, just in case she might be in the area of Caffe Carpe Diem to stop by and grab a coffee. Can't help but love her, after all, she is often the only person I get to see and talk to in person throughout my workdays, so I welcome the "spontaneous" attention.

So next time you see one of us haute geeks in a cafe, be mindful of our desks when you return, approach us slowly if we are wearing our headphones, and smile at us. Most of the time, we'll respond and welcome the conversation.

At the end of the day, a few clicks in Polyvore, a bootcamp or yoga sesion, and all is balanced in my world again.  Can't wait to play with all of you in the interwebs again tomorrow.  Namaste.

blogger wish list by whitneybenj featuring Carrera sunglasses

Items in this set:
Sequined silk dress, $895
Miu Miu desert suede gladiator sandals, $430
Amazon.com: Tagliamonte - 14k Yellow Gold Red Venetian Cameo Ring,..., $390
Old Time Pocket Watch Necklace-Mod Retro Indie Clothing & Vintage..., $25
Carrera Ticky Wayfarer Sunglasses, $120

new media and people's revolution

Kelly Cutrone owner of People's Revolution

I have been on a true Kelly Cutrone kick the last week.  First the book, and now I find myself consuming anything and everything she touches. Which includes watching Dr. Phil, whom I am not a fan.

Tonight I finally watched Kell On Earth and was more than delighted to watch Kelly discuss the new wave of media, and how it applies to fashion, brands, and all companies.  "To me any company who's not on the internet, and not a part of the viral game, they're just not happening."  I concur.

DKNY Cozy from All Day Everyday on Vimeo.

They created an amazing video on the streets of New York for DKNY to be spread virally via the interwebs.  People's Revolution took a small budget, a product that needed promotion, pretty girls, and the streets and produced amazing content.  Not to mention it sold out, everywhere.  A true testament of how powerful new media is, with just a dash of creativity and the gull to take a risk.  Well done Kell.

The lesson: Have a dream, get a Flip, or my new favorite the Bloggie and create something.

Creativity + Fashion + New Media = Warms My Heart.

the best thing to hit my mornings since blackout shades and cookie crisp cereal.
Last week I finally stopped reading and constantly obsessing over healthy recipes, and started actually making them.  Love at first bite, while true and corny, doesn't cut it.  This little Jezebel has made my morning for the last 4 days in a row.  (I think it's getting serious, and we might need to talk about where this relationship is going.)

The "Breakfast Cookie"

Thank you from the bottom of my heart Tiffany for pointing out this really, really, ridiculously good looking Breakfast Cookie from one of my favorite lovelies, Fitnessista.  It is truthfully bomb.com.  I made just a couple tweaks by adding a little quinoa, and a dash of cacao powder, and honestly my mornings have been magically delicious.

halloween leftovers

One thing I've noticed since starting a revolution with myself in just this past week, is that my relationship with food has changed, literally over night.  Normally on holidays -- especially ones that involve chocolate, which to my chub-a-love desires is every holiday -- I prepare myself to gorge and detox shortly thereafter.

The Grave Yard of Pudding Coconut and Cookies

This weekend I enjoyed a couple Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, my drug of choice, sampled the graveyard and worms my momma and I made together, and did not feel an ounce of guilt.  Not because I am a changed woman ready to star on Lifetime, but because I did not overeat with the lingering thought that I'd never get to eat candy until the next holiday and I have to workout all week and try not to eat so I might as well chow down in worm town.  

Totally had warms.  They were dirty delicious.

my big fat swedish revelation

Eat, enjoy, workout, relax, talk to yourself nicely, tell your loved ones you're going to talk to yourself nicely, and somehow the chub-a-love desires melt away.  Put that in your pipe and smoke it gangsta boogies.  Peace out from Maverick and Sarah Sanderson.