First Juicy and now Kate Spade...Liz Claiborne is taking over the world.

I don't know about you but I'm not spending $200 for Liz Claiborne sweats (not that I would have paid that for Juicy when it was just P & G) nor am I spending $400 for a Liz Claiborne handbag.

I know its for the greater good when these companies are acquired by larger entities. I mean, they get more money for marketing and new store openings and entry into better doors and all that. But, I'm sorry, its just not the same.

Well, at least Kate & Andy are doing it for the family. That's a cause I can get behind. Then again, they're such super creative people, they'll totally do something else later in life. I can't wait to see that.

Kick 'em while they're down

One very important lesson I learned not only from stupid bullies in junior high but also from very high-priced lawyers later in life:

Once you're down, you're going to beat on even harder.

Lawsuits and indictments and sex clubs, oh my!

Who is Erin Fetherston?

Ok, so I like to think that I'm all hip to fashion in my D&G daisy jeans and Miu Miu shoes and Normal Kamali for Everlast shrug (the first collection, not the freaky stuff she's doing right now) and all that today. Then, I'm poking around the fashion blogs seeing who's next up for Go International for Target. In case you forgot, I had a small fit over Libertine. But then I found Erin Fetherston.

OMG, I'm in love. What's Libertine? Skulls and whales? What? No, hearts, always hearts, love me my hearts. Erin Fetherston has a bit of a Alice in Wonderland aesthetic and now for Target prices. I'm screwed. Pretty much anything that looks like doll's clothes are like crack for me. And here we have a whole line of that sort of thing with freakin' HEARTS. Oh, I'm just ordering online...forget trying to source it from the stores.

And for those of you who don't think this will sell well outside of NYC, that the MN kids won't get it? You obviously didn't try to find any of the pieces of Paul & Joe at the Minneapolis stores. Gone. Toast. All bought at full price. Trust me. I had spies there when I missed them here and yes, I tried the website and they were gone, not that I'm still bitter or scarred or anything.

The strong pieces of this collection will sell...the hearts, the coats, the dresses and jumpers. Some of the more cutesy pieces with bows and stuff are a bit more of a gamble as they didn't all sell very well with the previous Go International lines. I don't know about you, but I'm not too sure about formal shorts in winter no matter who's designing.

The key pieces will match the Paul & Joe fervor and just fly. Just stay away from my size.

Someone had to do it

I just wish it wasn't me.

Background: Back in November I was going to Hawaii. As I'm talking to Elizabeth about all things necessary for the trip the unavoidable topic of bathing suits and such what not came up. And when I say such what not, I mean waxing.

I can't even type the word without flinching. I mean, you put hot wax on and then in a ripping motion, remove the wax with any hair it grabs along with it. And you do this on sensitive parts of your body.

*Shudder*

In the spirit of being perfectly honest, I believe in the must-suffer-for-beauty ideology so I enlisted. I was headed to Maui with the man and meeting Elizabeth and her friend Jo. The last thing I wanted to think about was shaving every other minute. Seriously, we had to deal with important issues like international cell phones and snorkeling and luaus. I only have so much brain space on vacation.

Its been almost a year now and I've been to a few different places. Though the idea of having hair ripped from my body still makes me twitch, I have to admit that it is so much better than shaving everyday. If you get stupid dry skin, seriously give waxing a thought. I had no idea that my dry skin was caused by shaving. (Whatever, I never said I was that bright.) I used all the moisturising stuff a chick is supposed to so I thought I just had stupid dry itchy legs. Nope, it was the shaving.

Stark

I heart Daily Candy and that's how I found the courage to even try waxing. I mean, Daily Candy has given me sample sales and fabulous (albeit super spendy) hairdressers as well as a daily dose of fashion and just random stuff. So, they said to try so try I did.

Stark is a great place to start on the great waxing adventure. They're super nice, they don't get annoyed when you ask stupid questions and their prices are totally fair. However, they have two things going against them in my book. One, they're just so gosh darn far from me. Two, although my initial experience was fantastic, the second experience was super easy, just not as super friendly. So, going back to One, it just didn't make the drive worthwhile. But, if you live nearby, you really should go there.

Magic Touch

Obviously I wanted something closer and I figured that chicks in Beverly Hills must do this. So I found Magic Touch. These guys really do fit all waxing salon stereotypes. (Its the equivalent to all nail salons being owned and run by Vietnamese families.) I didn't mind that the place was dimly lit or had horrible partitions between "rooms" and all that. I really liked the first person who helped me there but its not that sort of place. You sort of get who's available. And that leads to what I didn't like about the place. One, so I had the same person twice and a new person the third time. The different lady felt I was "wrong" in what I wanted done and proceeded to, ahem, do what she felt was correct. OK, I'm sorry but really, we're dealing with hot wax in sensitive areas and you should respect some one's boundaries. I'm having flashbacks so I'll change the subject and go to two. Two, when I tried to get the last appointment of the day, I was scoffed. Ok, if you're only open until 6pm, you should be willing to take a 5:15pm appointment.

Get Waxed

So in the August issue of Lucky Magazine they were doing a thing for different salons and spas in the L.A. area that are "green." I think that's nice but I'm a bad person and that doesn't really factor into my decision making for my personal upkeep. However, they said super nice things about the place, it was on the westside and when I did a bit of poking around on the google I found nothing but good. Although her prices are a smidge spendier than I would normally do, its totally worth it. The place is super cute and comfortable, they totally respect boundaries, and I guess, most importantly, they know what they're doing. I went for the first time last week and I'm definitely going back.

Well, since you've read this far, I'll give you my pointers on waxing.

1. Yes, it is going to hurt. But, I swear its just for a second and really isn't a big deal. And, honestly, Get Waxed hurt less than the other two places...huge plus. And, the hurt increases by the, ahem, sensitivity of the area.

2. Yes, you're going to look like an idiot that last week before going. The stupid hair has to grow out. But, its totally less obvious, annoying and abundant the more you wax. Sadly, you're still going to be made fun of that last week. Just plan pants for that last bit at the end.

3. Yes, you have to be comfortable with yourself to do this. I mean, even if you're just doing your underarms or legs, you're still going to have to lose clothing. Not to worry, the girls are super sweet and really, they've seen it. Get over yourself, they're not judging or caring. Despite the initial embarrassment you might feel (personally I don't care, but that's just me), how fabulous you'll feel knowing no hairs are poking out of that bathing suit or no icky bumps making you itch the day after you shave are more than worth it.

4. Yes, it changed my life not to have to shave everyday. I think that change in routine affected Jane as she chewed up my Intuition razor. And no, pet lovers reading at home, I didn't leave it out for her. It was in the shower where it has lived for, oh, YEARS.

5. No, I wouldn't do this at your local nail salon. Although I love the place I go to get my nails done, they added waxing YEARS after they opened so its not something they do all the time. Anytime I'm in there on a weekend, they have clients doing that sort of thing. But, personally, I want someone who's holding hot wax to really know what they're doing with it.

6. Yes, you get what you pay for. I don't know about you, but I want the best wax you can get. Years of having my lip waxed has taught me that it really makes a difference. Do you want to walk out of the salon and go buy a cupcake or do you want to walk out of a salon with everyone staring at the bright splotch on your face where hot wax was applied, removed and irritated your once soft skin?

E Baldi Birthday

Last night I ventured into Beverly Hills for a birthday dinner at E Baldi. Now, I'm not one for the Malibu scene so I didn't know or care that this place is owned by the same family that has Georgio Baldi in Malibu. But, the waiter will point this out to you on several occasions to impress upon you that yes, they do know what they're doing. Which leads to the question, why do you need to let me know that you know what you're doing? Surely your Cannon Drive location and the prices on the menu allude that you know how to prepare food.

Ambiance.

Sparse. That's OK...minimalism works for me. However, the tables are very small and having a party of more than 4 is dinner suicide. We had 11.

Now, I didn't realise that our large party was a bad idea until we were hours into the meal. Here we are chatting and eating and what not and there are all these people gathered at the hostess station waiting for their table glaring at us. Nothing is better than having an agent and his team of minions glare at you for taking up a good portion of the restaurant. I just gave my best look to say "Hey buddy, I'm not in your business...your glare means nothing to me." So, that was amusing.

What wasn't amusing was their putting a party of 3 next to us that no longer allowed any movement from one side of the table to the other. We had to go around the ENTIRE restaurant any time we wanted to talk to someone at the opposite end of the table. Yeah, they crammed that many tables into that small room.

And I haven't even started on the noise.

Holy crap was it loud in there. I mean, we lost the father of the birthday honoree as well as the brother, sister-in-law and niece due to the noise. Thank doG this is L.A. and everyone, even those that live together, took separate cars, otherwise, this would have been a taxi-heavy evening.

It was loud.

Really loud.

Chiniose on Main loud.

Don't eat dinner there loud.

OK, so we've covered that its loud. Lets move onto the service.

OK, if I'm paying that much for my dinner, I want brilliance. I want stellar service and I want amazing food. I didn't get either. There was no follow-up on the drinks (wine glasses were left painfully empty), no bus boys to clear in a timely manner, no attention to detail, nothing. Yes, our waiter was charming with his Northern Italian accent and knowledge of the preparation of the food. But, for me, that's really not enough.

Food.

Now I understand why agents and actors love this place. The food is fine. Its expensive and tasty but you're not going to break your size 0 diet by insisting on your own appetizer and licking your plate after your entree. You're happy to split something and the portions are fair to small so you're really not breaking any rules here. Now granted, I'm tough to please on Italian food based on my background (Southern Italian from mom, Northern Italian from dad) but it is possible to do. Give me fresh ingredients and chef who knows what they're doing and I'm a happy pasta-eating camper. Give me food that's been sitting and chef who feels rushed and I'm not overly amused. Now, several people loved their food. And that's nice. I'm happy for them. Was it great? Nope.

So why is it becoming the new darling of Beverly Hills where restaurants die on a daily basis?

Heck if I know. I can tell you there were more agents and industry people in that one small restaurant than I've ever seen in one spot before. And remember, until recently I worked next to CAA's new Deathstar. So, that's really saying something. At one table, we had an actress politely waiting for not one, not two, but three agents for dinner. Now that I'm looking at IMDB I think my first identification of her was wrong. The others I'm quite sure of. We had a very pregnant wedding crasher with her exceedingly attractive girlfriends as well a Jack with a female friend.

So, if you need to industry gawk, here are the details:

E Baldi
375 N Canon Dr
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
(310) 248-2633

Drunken Pirate Shopping

Yes, July is the month for sales, as evidenced by my credit cards. (BTW, today is the last day for Neimans in case any of you needed to get out there and spend money on pretty things. I'm not going to Cusp to check out their last day. Really. Nope. Complete self-control. Absolute. Self...lets talk about something else...) July is also the month of Libertine.

I've talked about Go International before. (Vaguely rambling and unintellegible, but talked nonetheless.) Some fashionable genius at Target came up with the brilliant idea of collaborating with different designers ever 2 - 3 months. I adore this line and look forward to each new installment.

Go International is genius because:

1. We get top designers at bottom prices;
2. There is no shopping fatigue because they're constantly rotating stock;
3. You're getting different people and styles into the store; and
4. The markdowns on the preceeding designer are *amazing* (And I'm not just saying that because I got the cutest little Patrick Robinson dress for $5. Nope! Not me. Nothing to see here.)

Sunday launched Libertine. (The clouds parted, angels sang and there were rainbows for all to behold.) Really, any line that features whales and skulls & crossbones is so on my list. And it fits! doG bless you for not just designing for women with the bodies of 13 year old boys. Some of the other designers, and I'm not naming names here, made their designs so upmarket and tiny that really only Victoria Beckham would have fit into them. This was evidenced by the sale racks even I didn't touch. But I digress. Libertine is fantastic. The pieces I've worn so far have gotten rave reviews and I can't see what's next on the delivery schedule.

I heart Arturo

One minute you're walking along looking fabulous, the next you're flat on your face, new shoes and favorite jeans ripped.

Oh the horror!

No, that's not the story line for the season opener of "One Tree Hill" that was my life Friday the 13th. And really, when else would that happen? And where else besides freakin' Wilshire Blvd. Yeah, that was me.

No, I didn't cry over ripped shoes for I have Arturo. Now my cousin fancies himself the best shoe repair person ever. But, without ever seeing Dan's work, I'm going to have to vote for Arturo. As any worthy westsider knows, Arturo is the go to guy for any shoe related issue.

Now, be warned, genius isn't cheap. But, if you're dealing with your favorite cannot-be-replaced shoes or even brand new fuchsia silk Betsey Johnson heels fresh out of the box, really, Arturo is your only stop.

Arturo Shoe Fix
9643 Santa Monica Blvd
Beverly Hills, CA
90210-4401
(2 blocks west of Rodeo in case you were wondering.)

Harry Potter and the Order of a Whole lotta Whining

That's how I think of HP5. 800 glorous pages of Harry whining about how horrible his life is. It wasn't one of my favorite books.

Short review:
If you've read the books, go see the movie. Its fabulous. They really edit down the whining. If you haven't read the books, go see the movie and bring someone with you who has read the books 'cause you'll need a guide through the new characters.

Long review:
I really have to hand it to David Yates. Its his first time out directing this series and he did one heck of a job. I don't really know the *exact* role of a director but from the differences in these five movies, he/she seems to hold and control the vision of the movie. I think Columbus is a fabulous director and an even more fabulous father for walking away from the series to participate in his own family life. Since we can't have Columbus, Yates did a stand up job bringing us more of a timeless vision of the series, something I feel was lacking with Mike Newell and most obviously with Alfonso Cuaron.

The "kids" in the HP series just get better and better. Obviously Daniel Radcliffe is fantastic and I'm sure his turn in Equus holds most of the credit for his leap in ability. Emma Watson and Rupert Grint are also growing literally and figuratively. Most notable is how they share the movie with the new characters. True, they aren't the focus as they have been, but they did great both holding their own and not becoming over-bearing in their scenes with others.

Although, I do have to say that Evanna Lynch is brilliant as Luna Lovegood. Urban Legend holds that she walked into her audition confident that despite the other thousands of hopefuls, she knew the role would be hers. Yeah, if that is true, she has reason for that confidence. I can't wait to see more of her.

Tsujino Hana

Its been years since I've been to Tsujino Hana. Back in the dot.com days, it was a regular haunt for us. First dot.coms went boom and then k8 and mrk moved and then s.ly moved and then we really had no reason to go. I mean, its in this little strip mall in the Marina and unless you live in Marina Del Rey or Venice, it is truly traffic suicide to get there.

HOLY CRAP is it worth death by traffic.

Its like having o.k. pizza and then having REALLY GOOD pizza and you remember why you don't waste the carbs and the calories to eat pizza until you know its going to be REALLY GOOD. Or, maybe that's just me.

But anyways, I overheard the following words last week in the office:

"Yeah, lets go to California Roll. The sushi is really good."

Ok, I haven't had sushi in a few months and I was cringing at that statement because: a) its a chain; b) I've been to that West L.A. location (as well as the Downtown location); c) its fine; and d) its not really very good. If someone in the office had the nerve to say that within earshot of me now that I've been reminded of the happy goodness of Tsujino Hana, I'd cry. Or, maybe I'd grab them by the shoulders and shake them. Neither would be good for my career but if I talked them into truly fabulous sushi, it would be worth it.

Tsujino Hana
4714 Lincoln Blvd., D3
Marina Del Rey, CA 90292
310.827.1433

P.S.-Happy Birfday s.ly!

Holy Guilty Plea, Batman

For those of us in, out or vaguely related to the class action world, this is huge.

For my 4 readers who might not know what the firm does, here's the common woman's background synopsis of a securities class action case (and this is just my simplified way of doing it and bears no resemblance to the firm and how they actually do business.) :

Company X announces that they have the BEST do-dad EVER. They are going to make a BAZILLION dollars on it. So, you read about the company, how well they're doing and this great new product so you buy stock. A few days, weeks or months later, Company X announces that they have to restate earnings or something of that effect because the gizmo isn't working and won't hit the stores until 2010 or whatever. "Oops," they say. "Our bad." Ok, that sucked, you just lost your money 'cause these clowns made promises they didn't keep.

On top of this, there's a little thing called a Form 4 that insiders in a company have to file when they sell stock in their company. So, if the insiders sell stock AFTER the FABULOUS announcement and before the gee-we-suck announcement, that's available for all of us to see.

Company X can now be sued for lying to shareholders to drive up the price of the stocks so the insiders can make money and then harming the stockholders.

Bad Company X. BAD, BAD Company X.

That's how I like to explain securities class actions. I'm not saying its right or wrong. I'm not saying that these companies do it on purpose or by accident in the normal course of business. I'm not here making any judgements. (I'd never do that in writing.)

The reason I say all this...

This investigation has been going on since Bush II took office. For it to finally result in a plea, holy wow. (And, BTW, for the four reading this who really don't care, I can only imagine the hundreds of millions that have been spent over the years to result in one plea of one attorney.)

ONE PLEA. This didn't stop the securities class action business. If you look at the numbers of cases filed by Milberg or Lerach, I'm sure that they've dropped. But, I'm sure if you looked at the number of cases filed in general, that hasn't fallen much. Now, instead of the 800lb gorilla, or even the two 400lb gorillas (after Milberg split), you're looking at armies of wee gorillas. (I'm sure the attorneys with their smaller firms are loving being called wee gorillas, but I digress.) All I'm saying is that the attorneys are still out there, as are the class actions. Sorry current administration, you didn't conquer the class action nation, which is what I think they were trying to do.

So, Jenna, what did all that money and investigation really accomplish?

A damn fine question and one I hope much more knowledgeable writers on this subject cover.

The next question, for the kids playing along at home, will they dismiss the case against the firm? I mean, c'mon, who sues an entire FIRM. That's just rude.

And then, if you really want to play guessing games, you can ask yourself if this is going to result in anything good or bad for Partner A or Partner B.

Inquiring minds want to know.

(Don't worry, we'll soon get back to knitting, eating, spending money like a drunken sailor and general revelry.)

All he needs is a little red wagon

Ok, the whole Scooter Libby thing.

First of all, the name Scooter is just funny. When you ditch the diapers, you really should ditch the name Scooter. That's the first reason I've paid any attention to this story. If he had stuck with Lewis, I probably wouldn't have even cared.

Second of all, he was convicted of perjury, obstruction of justice and lying to federal agents investigating the 2003 exposure of former CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson (according to CNN.com) and yet Paris Hilton did more time. Freakin' fabulous!

Third of all (which doesn't roll off the keyboard nearly as nicely as first of all or second of all), Scooter went and bought a money order to cover his $250,000 fine. I don't know about you, but my first thought trying to imagine him going to the Kwik-E-Mart for a money order. I mean, when I think of money orders, I think of convenience stores and those check cashing places. Obviously, as The Smoking Gun shows us, Scooter popped over to B of A. But still, I prefer the image in my head of the clerk standing on the other side of the bullet-proof glass and saying: "You need a money order for how much?"

Why I Love L.A., Reason #1262

Text message I sent last night:

just saw transformers...michael bay was at our screening

That's just cool. We get the movie a day early AND the director sits in on our screening to see how we'd react. I love this town. I am securely smug in the knowledge that my town is better than your town for many reasons, and now, seeing Transformers a day early, is one of them.

Short review:

The movie is fun.

Long review:

Transformers is not going to change the world or make any sort of statement, and really, I'm good with that. Senior Bay knows his action and how to make it pop, and pop it did. I had a few stop that moments where I just wanted them to cheese down the dialogue (apparently his years at Crossroads were awkward if he was trying that hard for our hero to be that much of a bumbling geek.) But, the boys and girls were HOT, the characters were fun, the action was off the charts and I'm ready for more. When was the last time you saw a movie and thought to yourself, boy, I could have watched another 30 minutes!

Go see Transformers...you won't be disappointed.