What A Girl Wants...Holiday Gift Picks

We know what you're saying...please spare us, not another gift guide! Oh yes, we just had to let you know about all of the fabulous gifts you should be getting that special fashionista in your life. So here goes...

For the trend setter shop for modern clothing and accessories - stand out items like this Boma Sodalite Necklace ($32.50) or a brightly colored handbag ($39):
Does your gal have an artsy, bohemian style? Try voluspa candles, art lessons or a whimsical printed top like the Skinny Minnie Morning Glory top ($32):Is her style urban and modern? How about a soft Rebecca Beeson Tank Top ($32) and pair of wide legged trousers ($29) or a cool graphic top like the Copper Key Super V from Heavy Tees (?
Do you have a cozy creature who prefers to stay wrapped in blankets and sweats all day? She'll appreciate a wrap jersey dress ($49) or soft pajamas ($46.80): Is your gal the sporty type who won't be caught dead in a dress? How about karate lessons, yoga wear, or a great graphic hoodie ($24)? Is she as green as green can be? For the earth conscience mama, check out global girlfriend, plant a tree in her name, or try these eco-friendly green cotton asian wrap jammies from Garnet Hill ($68).The vintage and thrifty chic is never hard to please and good finds abound. Check out The Olive Shop, try a vintage cocktail ring or evening bag , floaty skirt or a Metallic Thread Evening Coat($68) :

If the lady is classy and refined, there is no better gift than a cashmere cardigan sweater ($160) or strand of pearls ($119) - a gift that will stand the test of time:

Is your gal a new momma? How about a baby sling, a home cooked meal or a babysitting coupon for a night out . Or a pair of super comfy Beyond Yoga Pants ($72) that can be worn post-pregnancy:
For the girl who has everything there is always something unique and thoughtful to give - how about these handcrafted mignonette earrings of blue topaz and white gold $935 (hey, we can all dream can't we?):

If Lovin' You is Wrong...I Don't Want to be Right

When Lady Language first entered the world of blogging we had no idea what to expect. We assumed it was a good way to interact with our customers in a social setting and have some fun. As we celebrate our first year anniversary, we would like to thank all of our wonderful customers and fellow bloggers. We have found many inspirations and have met many great friends in the past year. We promise we will update our blog roll in the next few months to reflect this because so many of you deserve a shout out. But now, we would like to share just a few of our biggest inspirations over the last year:

Chic Chemise - Susan is a grad student who authors this blog about t-shirts. I can't recall how we stumbled upon her, but we liked the name and the look. She was one of the first to give us some linky love (before we really knew what it was). If you are in search of good tee finds, check it out. And thank you Susan for making us feel loved when we were first lost in the blogging world!

Painfully Hip - Amber and Eve introduced us to the hipper world of blogging by featuring some of our Summer 2007 dresses on their blog (they commented that our boutique name sounded like a lesbian romance novel - hence, a beautiful friendship was born). These gals are are the real deal, honest, hard working ladies who deserve your attention. Amber is a good friend and has done a lot of graphic work for us and she totally rocks (good thing we're friends, otherwise we would be stalking her).

(Speaking of stalking) lets talk about Daddy Likey - Winona be her name, fun and fashion be her game. She is simply divine and one of the few bloggers that make us curl up on the floor begging for mercy because we can't stop laughing. She had us at layering (unfortunately I can no longer find this blog post and am feeling as if it may have been a dream?).

The Bag Snob - is an insightful snob who dangles expensive luxury handbags in front of our computer strained eyes on an almost a daily basis. Look no further to learn all there is to know about the world of fashionable (and expensive) handbags - drooling optional.

Dosh Dosh - is the premier blog about making money online. Maki's fresh insight and wisdom have been a huge resource to our business . His star shines brighter than Mars in August. My current hero.

And so many other bloggers that blow our minds with their writing and worldly wisdom. We have found that blogging is like reading a great novel full of undiscovered experiences, opinions and unchartered territory. We are happy to be a part of it.

The party look for less...Much less

Shop Bop has fabulous wears, no doubt. But the prices always send me into sticker shock.

Check out my latest find.

Lady Language has a very similar Platinum Party dress for a fraction of the look-a-like Strappy Bow Dress at Shop Bop.

Celebrating Our First Year

I wanted to thank a fellow blogger, Don Simkovich, for taking the time to write about our store on his business blog. We are lucky enough to truly enjoy what we do and are celebrating our first year in the e-commerce world. Read more about how we got started in the e-commerce biz at Don's blog.

Holiday Sweepstakes Week 5

We hope everyone had a great holiday weekend! Our winner this week is Renata J. Thanks everyone for reading and signing up for our newsletter. This week, we are giving away a lovely necklace from Juliet Jewelry. The domed, circle necklace is handcrafted of sterling silver and made in Chicago by artist Julie Schmidt.

We will pick the winner right here next Sunday evening. Enter to win by commenting on any blog post or sign up for our newsletter. Good Luck!

Black Friday Sales Online

You won't see us waking at the crack of dawn to shop on Black Friday. In fact, we choose to stay inside and shop online at our leisure. So join us and take a look at some of the sales we have found today:

Saks - Today only online save up to 60%
Overstock - $20 of your order of $120 or more plus free shipping ends today
FamousFashionsFound - 25% off your entire order by using code HOLIDAY25 during checkout
Smartbargains - 30% off all handbags
Aneka Skin Care - 20-35% off
Revolve Clothing - 30-80% off
BlueFly - extra 20% off coats and jackets Today ONLY!
TrueJeans - 20% off with code SFGIFT07

And most recently, we checked out BagBorroworSteal and are perusing through their outlet of handbags at up to 70% off. This Prada pleated beauty would go nicely with our jacket! Ok, so it's still pricey at $845, but we can dream can't we?

Psst...Secret Sale

Is anyone shopping online today? Hopefully most of you are enjoying time with your family or working on that Thanksgiving feast. But we also know that many of you will be hopping online tonight to find some great shopping deals. So, get a jump on tomorrow's savings and head over to our store ladylanguage and use coupon code thanks25 (all lowercase) to take 25% off the entire order. Here are some of our favorites lately that are sure to please:

A Much Needed Break

For many of us, the extended Thanksgiving weekend marks the beginning of the holiday season. A time to share a good meal, spend time with your family, and shop till you drop. It is a time when we give thanks for the simple things - a healthy family, warm shelter, and a good meal. During this time, we often think of those that are less fortunate, families who have a child struggling with cancer, or those wondering where they will sleep for the night or from where their next meal will come. It is important to remember that each of us can make a difference during this season. Donate your time to a worthy charity and help serve meals at your local shelter. Or if your time is limited, donate money to causes like Second Harvest, or to children's organizations like Make a Wish or your local YMCA or community organization. The ideas are endless and every little bit counts. We can all benefit from being kind to one another and offering our helping hand during the holiday season. We are thankful for all of our readers and customers and wish you and your family a safe and happy Thanksgiving!

The Look For Less...Much Less

Check it out...Lady Language has a very comparable version of Anthropologie's Shoe String Cardigan.

Just as versatile, comfortable and perfect for your layering needs...the Holiday Swing Cardigan is half the price!

Holiday Sweepstakes Week 4

We enjoyed reading all of your comments and thank you for participating in our sweepstakes - it was really hard to randomly pick a winner. We wanted to give all of you a red party dress! So we picked two winners from our blog commenters only (congrats to Jessi and Sassy).

For the upcoming holiday week, we will be giving away a black sweater dress (pick a size from S, M, L). This is a great dress for the holiday season - wear it with tights and add some sparkling accessories or a great belt. We will pick the winner next Sunday evening and all you have to do is comment on any blog post or sign up for our newsletter. Good Luck and have a safe holiday!

Note to Self

Ugly shoes = Ugly dress. Seriously, your shoes can ruin the whole look of your outfit. I came across this lovely while browsing the Couture In The City blog. This dress was a winner from Project Runway, Rami Kashou. The shoes and the dress are both quite nice on their own, however, together the ensemble is a disaster. The chunky front strap and heel distract your attention away from the beautiful draping and also make the model look a bit planted. Maybe the stylist was going for the Grecian sandal look. I would have paired this goddess dress with a sleeker heel or at least one with a smaller strap. And, I would rock those heels with a mini. But then again, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Speaking of beauty - our weekly sweepstakes drawing is tomorrow for that fabulous red dress. Good luck to everyone (we are going to give away two this week!) and there is still time to comment and win!

To Vest or Not to Vest

We are seeing a lot of vests on the fashion landscape lately. My pal Amber seems to like them and most recently thrifted a blue beauty and layered it over a cowl neck tunic. I have seen them layered on top of one another, and I have also seen them worn over a skimpy tank top or with nothing at all. I must admit, the vest reminds me of 80s alternative rock bands, but I was unable to find a good picture, so check out this 80s cover band I came across for a really good laugh. Vests are popular again due to the strong menswear influence this season but don't invest (ha,ha) too much as this may be a passing trend. Here are some of my current vested inspirations:

I could work this - vest over big warm turtleneck sweater. I love the shoes and doesn't yinse resemble Hillary Duff here?

Little black shortie vest worn casually with a white tee, jeans and black pumps. So chic and pulled together by thoseshoes.aremine

Polished yet feminine - love the neutrality, the layers, a la The Coveted.

So how do you wear your vest? Or is this a trend that you will surely pass by?

Weekly Dose of...Spice

Need a little extra spice in your life? I certainly don’t, especially not after seeing the new Spice Girls video - friends forever or whatever it's called. Don’t get me wrong, I like each spice girl as an individual, but collectively, I can’t stomach them. My 4 year old daughter has more talent than these five put together. But seriously, the song is insipid and the video is bordering on lesbian-eroticism (not that I even know much about this subject). Of course, only the skinny girls get to bare it all, hugging the walls in their bra with that come hither look. In reality, it seems that these lovely thirty-something gals are feeling the aging effects the same as the rest of us (thank you make-up and lighting!). And where did Victoria get that bondage outfit from - surely Marc Jacobs would think twice about using her as his runway model if he saw this. And what does Mr. Beckham think about his wife portraying such a slut - she has three children for pete’s sake (now I sound like my Mother). I actually like Victoria Beckham - I don’t know her, but she seems like a nice English girl who is just trying to live life and get paid. I admittedly liked the other Spice Girl songs back in the 90s and they really could have left it at that. BTW, my laptop speakers stopped working right after I launched this video. Coincidence? I think not.

7 Weird and Random Facts About Me

I didn't realize that joining NaBloPoMo would put us on the spot, but I have been tagged by Nancy Waldman, a wonderful writer in the NaBloPoMo network.

So my apologies to Jessica and Stephanie - I won't drag my beautiful sisters down with me, so I will post the facts about myself - yowza!

1. I only have half of my thyroid gland (I thought this interesting because the gal who tagged me, Nancy, stated she didn’t have a thyroid gland) - weird connection.

2. I own a clothing store yet my favorite outfit is sweats (you won’t find me ransacking the stockroom).

3. I like to swing (on the playground, in a swing)

4. I had a miscarriage - my very first pregnancy.

5. Some say I look like Helen Hunt? I’ll take it as a compliment, she’s alright.

6. I can go days without a shower and rarely wear makeup or fuss with my hair.

7. I am a very shy and private person and don’t like to talk about myself so it has been difficult coming up with these random facts!

So what happens now? I have to use the mysterious randomizer to choose seven lucky NaBloPoMo participants and they must come to me. Once they arrive, check out their responsibility:

• Link to the person who tagged you, and post the rules on your blog.
• Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself.
• Tag 7 random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs. You have to use this randomizer, no, you can't choose your friends - go meet new ones!
• Let each person know that they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Whew! Thats a lot of work for some of us, so good luck to ya'll and I am sending some blogging love your way: Starland, FruComerci, City Mama, Maria, ljcfyi, Babblative and GummieSpazz

Holiday Sweepstakes Week 3

Thanks to all of you who posted again last week and signed up for our newsletter. I am still cracking up at some of the comments! So the winner of last week's sweepstakes is..drum roll please...Meghan T. And without further delay, the item up for grabs this week is our most beautiful Red Party Dress - you pick the size from S, M, L. This will rock your closet and make all of your little black dresses shrink into the distance. Looks good on any body type. So what are you waiting for? Submit a comment to any post in our blog or sign up for our newsletter and you'll be entered!

Holiday Sweepstake Help

Hello dear readers! We are getting extremely excited about our next holiday giveaway - we can barely wait until Monday to post the next item and announce the winner of our autumn jacket. I think we are going to pick a handbag or piece of jewelry (maybe even something that is not even listed on the site yet). So let us know what you would like to win from our store and maybe we will offer that up next! Just remember to post comments anywhere on our blog or sign up for the newsletter to win!

It Makes Me Uncomfortable

I like Brooke Shields and I have followed her career from the Blue Lagoon, to the modeling days with Calvin Klein to the postpartum depression and Tom Cruise fiasco. I think she is a beautiful actress and person so it pains me to ask why in the world would she put herself in such an awful dress? It makes me nervous and uncomfortable - the material seems so silky and light - I fear that if she sits down the whole middle will bunch up into three definitive rolls and she will be fidgeting all night trying to smooth them out (at least that is what I would be doing). You see, I have issues with clothing and material that bunches around the middle, especially on gals that should be trying to create the illusion of a smaller waist. She would have been much better off wearing a sleek sheath to show off her shoulders or a deep v-neck fitted number to define the waist.

Oh The Colors You'll See

I have been reading way too much Dr. Suess lately and I shouldn't be aloud to post late at night. I think the mini milky way bars that I have stolen from the kids' trick-or-treat bags are making me semi-delirious. Anyway, I had a few questions regarding the leggings we featured in the black sweater dress post. So where online do you find almost any style and color in an opaque tight or spandex legging? Here are our faves:

1. We Love Colors - has by far the most extensive selection in styles, colors and patterns. For example, if you really wanted to freak someone out and damage their vision - these vertical, jagged striped tights accomplish both (ouch, I feel those milky ways coming up).
2. Hue - is where we found those great multi-color striped sweater tights.
3. American Apparel - duh, they always have the basics you crave.

Happy tight hunting - it's getting cold out there!

Holiday Sweepstakes Give Away Rules

Hello readers! Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who has been commenting on our blog posts and signing up for our newsletter. These are the only ways to win one of our fabulous prizes each week. It doesn't really matter which post you comment on, we'll see all of them dated that for week and will randomly pick a name from those comments and our newsletter sign-up. Contact us here with any other questions.

Weekly Dose of...Spreading the Love

Here we are already, another holiday season is upon us! I love everything about the next couple months. The preparation, the entertaining, the excuse to see friends and family and eat way more than we should. I love the whole shopping and gift giving part of the holidays keeping it simple, affordable and low stress. That's the practical side of me.

I'm not gonna lie, we live on a tight budget. I have learned to get creative with the season in my decorating and gift giving. I have fun with it. A part of the holidays I would like to embrace a little more this year is the "giving" aspect. As a mother, I want to show my daughter through example how to give from the heart. I am thinking of more than just gifts. Finding a couple charities and donating more than just dollars...because to be honest, when it comes down to it, that is my hang up. I don't have the money to hand over but I do have the heart.

I have a couple ideas so far. I would like to take all of the many hotel toiletries my husband has collected on his work travels and donate them to a local women's shelter along with some clothes I am ready to part with (but still fashionably acceptable, of course). Also, our family has a bunch of unused coats that can be put to good use this winter.

I would love to call on all of our blog friends in this pre-holiday time to share with each other creative ways we can spread some love over the next couple months. I know I would appreciate some tips and suggestions of ways we can easily give to others, even if we don't necessarily have the extra funds.

Holiday Sweepstakes Week 2

Congratulations to Agnes N., our sweepstakes winner last week. This week, we are giving away the Autumn Jacket - pick your size (S, M, L). To win, just place a comment on any of our blog entries for the month of November or sign up for our Newsletter. We pick the winner every Sunday night and begin a new give away Monday morning. Good luck!

The Little Black Sweater Dress

Our new favorite, wear anywhere dress is a little black number from Necessary Objects. It's a soft, medium weight knit with 3/4 length bell sleeves and a ruched scoop neck. We love it because you can create so many looks from this roomy style. Here are some ideas:

1. Wear it loose with tights and high heels for those days when you are feeling a bit jiggly around the middle.
2. Belt it tight around the waist with a thick, bright colored (or animal print) belt to show off your hourglass curves.
4. Belted or not, add some leggings and ankle boots.
5. Get cozy and pair it with a light turtleneck, tights and knee high boots.
6. Wear a white, collared blouse underneath for an office ready look.
You get the idea, so use your imagination and the possibilities are endless. It is your fashion canvas upon which to create.

Flowers For The Bride

I have had years of experience in customer service of one type or another. I have worked in a couple local boutiques selling clothing and accessories and more recently I am at a dental office working with patients and insurance...boring!

I like to think I have a creative side and enjoy my time spent with Lady Language. I love helping people express their personal style, boost their confidence with a new look and match people up with a new favorite item. I am always on the lookout for a line that our customers would be excited for. My other creative outlet is helping a previous employer/friend at her floral and gift shop. Saturday mornings I help bring the special ingredients to brides and their weddings.

The special ingredients are the amazing flowers and accessories we use to personalize the wedding and reception sites. Some of these events are only a couple months in the making, most are a year or more. I love being a part of this because I get an insight to the bride and grooms personal tastes. And let me tell you, the bigger the budget does not always mean better. I have seen some fabulous events on a shoe string and lots of creativity.

After we pack everything up from the store the bride and attendants are usually our first stop. This is my favorite because I get a glimpse of the bride and her dress. The best part is handing her the bouquet. This is the centerpiece for the day and besides the dress, says the most about the brides style and personality. I find myself holding back tears as they fall in love with it. Recently, I presented a bride with her bouquet. The base was adorned with her late Nana's jewelery. That was a Kleenex moment. I was crushed a couple weeks ago when I arrived at the bridal suite with the bouquet I so carefully tended to on the drive over, the mother wouldn't let me in to give it to bride! It was then I realized how much I enjoyed that part of my service.

I am reflecting on this because yesterday I was asked to share a customer experience. At first I was sure I had nothing interesting to share, except whether you should get that dental work done this year or wait til your benefits renew in January. But I am happy to say I get to help women get in touch with their style...with clothes, accessories and flowers on their most special day.