AAC Art of Giving

Allied Arts is starting it's annual "Art of Giving" sale this Sunday from 2-4 p.m. More than 40 artists have contributed to this sale, and you're bound to find something unique and original for Christmas giving. Or giving to yourself, which I seem to be really good at.
There are framed photographs, watercolors, fabric art, fused glass plates and jewelry, decorated Christmas cards, beautiful lavender-scented velvet scarves, hand-painted wine glasses, tree ornaments, SO much stuff! All of it original and fun, plus you're supporting our talented local artists with every purchase.
The sale goes on through December, but if you go on opening day you get live music, cider, and goodies to eat.
So stop by, it's at 5000 W. Lincoln (same building as the Warehouse Theater.)

Tony's

Several people have commented that they'd like to hear about more than just style in NQPS--like things to do? Places to eat? Well my number one love after dressing up is EATING. And nothing beats getting dressed up to go eat.

Wednesday night my cozy little Shoe Club (aka my tap-dancing class) donned our finest footwear and met at Tony's Steakhouse on 3rd & Yakima Aves. For those of you who haven't noticed the beautiful new front, this is the building that used to house Sakie International. Dr. Tony Ha, a steak lover himself, has opened Tony's and the offerings are meat, meat, and lots of meat.

Ok, so here's what we thought of Tony's:

Food: excellent

Service: needs unkinking

The food was delicious--even the crabcakes, the chowder, the spinach salads, the steak Diane. We had a few problems with service (where did those forks go?) but were given a huge apology at the end of dinner and presented with three delicious desserts as peace offerings. Believe me, a creamy chocolate mousse can make a girl forget a lot of missteps.

We ate dinner in the bar, which is lighted so brightly we almost broke into a tap routine under the spots, but one might have better luck with the service in the dining room.

The menu is broad and includes every type of steak but also salmon, an ahi appetizer, and some pasta dishes.

So go on down to Tony's--just give them lots of time and understanding to work out those kinks. Or wait a couple months.

And as for shoe club, um, well, we got a little caught up in coversation and martinis and never got around to footographing, but as I was leaving I decided these were the winners:

Ok they were mine, big deal. Who says I can't vote for myself? The UPS man brought them for me just that afternoon. He seems to always know when I need a new pair of shoes.

Blog Around the World

I started my NQPS blog after reading Pike/Pine, a blog about street style in Seattle. If you kinda like looking at blogs, try these assorted blogs of street style around the world. Some of them will make you want to hop on a plane to visit the place and see for yourself, or at least order up some of the styles. And some will just make you go "HUH?" They all make for some fun viewing, though--even if you can't read foreign language captions.

Copenhagen: copenhagenstreetstyle.dk
Tokyo: style-arena.jp
London: glamcanyon.blogspot.com
Paris: garancedore.fr
Tel Aviv: thestreetswalker.blogspot.com
Buenos Aires: onthecornerstreetstyle.blogspot.com
Manila: mnlstyl.blogspot.com
Australia: facehunter.blogspot.com

Michelle's Mis-Dressed, Distressed

Yay Obama!!!! No one was happier than I (save perhaps Oprah herself) to see Barack win the election. I broke out champagne, cried happy tears, e-mailed all my friends; I'm still celebrating! But Michelle: What were you thinking? As you can see, the Narciso Rodrigues dress (found on-line and e-mailed to me by an Alert Blog-Reader) looks fabulous on the pubescent 90-pound, 6'2" model, but on a normal-sized woman with actual hips? We're talking human lava lamp. Or giant red-sand hourglass. Oh Michelle, Michelle, after all the sweet dresses you wore throughout this endless campaign, why would you choose this for one of the most important nights of your life? So sad. Put Narciso back in the closet and leave him there. Euwww.