Tony's Redux

More on Tony's Steakhouse: since our first foray into Tony's I've been back two more times and I must say the service has been impeccable and the food is always delicious. Last week about 22 (OMG, I know) of us went in for lunch and the service was great. Our waiter was so patient with all of us, remembered what everyone ordered, and split our checks up for us with zero complaint. He even took pics of us on the staircase, it was hilarious!!! I hope everyone tipped him well, because he was a gem.
I've also heard good things about the 2nd Street Grill--that the food is good and the place looks really great--gone are Pete's famous dancing cages, boo hoo. I wish they took reservations, I hate waiting. But we'll try it one of these nights.
Please keep patronizing these places after the big holiday food rush is over--January and February are such tough months in restaurantville just as they are in retail. We need to go out and eat if these new places are to survive!
What are your New Year's Eve plans? Or are you staying home and hibernating? Leave me a comment & let me know. Or take your camera and report back when you see some NQPS style. Contributors welcome!

Coming soon: I leave for Maui on Jan. 7 so I'll send pix of sundresses and bikinis just to remind everyone that it's not winter everywhere.
And I can't wait to see what Michelle will wear for the inauguration!!!!

Happy Holidays!

Hope everyone had a fun Christmas! Soon to come--New Year's Eve photos! So wear your most fabulous dresses--you never know where I'll be.....

Hodgey-Podgey

Time to wrap up 2008 so here are some random photos I've gotten recently:

The perfect boots for the crappy weather we've had through Christmas: Cindi got these in Portland & they look great with the big buckle and the toe and heel detail PLUS they have rubber soles and nice chunky heels. So they are the footwear version of 4-wheel drive with snow tires. Or at least they'll get you from the parking lot to the door, and what else do you really need?

Donna wore this candy-cane striped shirt to a ladies' Christmas lunch at Tony's--it was crisp, colorful, chic, and fit perfectly. She told me last summer that she had found a tailor in Seattle to make her shirts as she could never find off-the-rack ones that fit right. So she has ordered about 799 of these bespoke styles and has one in every color. This one was perfect for Christmas revelry. And boy did we revel.

Women have their goofy holiday sweaters, who says men shouldn't own at least one Christmas shirt? This is a black silk by Tori Richards, depicting a jolly old Santa being pulled across the horizon by his reindeer. Mike wore this shirt to several different holiday parties. (Those who know my husband will probably recognize that nose.)

Prez Ball

Omg, where have I been??? I know, several alert blog readers are wondering why I haven't been posting lately and my only answer is: I told ya there'd be some long hot dry spots in Not Quite Palm Springs and I guess we hit one. Seemed like every place I went, I hunted and hunted for style and came up with nothing exciting. So for those of you who were worried about this inevitable lacuna, we're back and we're posting.

Saturday night was the long-awaited annual President's Ball at YCC, which is really just a big ol' Christmas party with fabulous food (5 courses) and wine (lots) and dancing (those Country Clubbers can get down when they have to). Last year at the Prez Ball I took off my shoes at the end of the evening and ended up with a broken toe. That was not happening again. I wore steel-toe combat boots. With rhinestones, of course.
There was no shortage of style so here are a few of the highlights:

This is Mandy in an elegant black Grecian-style column dress with offset straps. Fabulous earrings, hair swept back, she looks beautiful and just happy to be there.

And here's the best part, check out her bejeweled sandals and her snowflakey toe! That's attention to detail, Babe.

Mary Jo caused quite a few heads to turn with this backless sequined-all-over number which she confessed she bought on the Home Shopping Network. And I thought all they sold was Hummel figurines and acne control cream. Hmmm. Loved it! She's obviously been doing the lat pulls too.Plus, at Gasperetti's Cabaret on Thursday night MJ wore the most fabulous black stilettos with feathers that sort of grew up her ankles. Wish I had a picture of those. Mary Jo, if you're reading this, send me a pic of those feather shoes! Wicked! Wild!

Susan stood out in a sea of black with this Christmas-red sheath with beaded long sleeves and tulip hem. Sparkly! Love it!

Leslie in her zebra-striped knit mini with sequined neckline. Bold choice! Wild animals, grrrr! And wish you could see the black knee-high boots. She looked spectacular. And that guy with her looked pretty good himself.
Andrea at the Prezball Prefunc in a full-length gown in of smoky pewter: shutter pleats to the floor and an elegant V-neckline. Her hair was up in a loose French knot with white flowers--yummy! And Brian--so happy to be dressed up in a tux. He's a trooper.

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