A Flower Girl’s Dream doesn’t just tiptoe through the tulips

PHOTO by JEFF GOULD
It’s not uncommon to find Sheri Cervantes running around her store in a wetsuit, sopping wet with sand still dripping from her hair, rattling off plant facts while putting together the most perfect, colorful bouquet of flowers you’ve ever seen.
“This is the only [...]

Don’t keep it in. Say it with socks
I’m not one for expressing emotions. Telling the rest of the world what I’m feeling just doesn’t ever seem to make the top of my daily to-do list. That’s why I write. It’s much easier to put something down on paper than to speak up about an issue [...]

From pink slip to playful kitsch at Bungalow Marcasso

PHOTO by ROSHEILA ROBLES
Getting laid off blows, but when your severance check covers two years of unemployment with enough scratch left over to open a business (and be your own boss), the pink slip doesn’t sound so terrible. Just ask Mark Sutherland, owner of Bungalow Marcasso.
The 47-year-old [...]

Cosmetics for a dollar? It’s true
A few weeks ago, I received an e-mail from a friend that sounded too good to be true: a cosmetics company by the name of e.l.f. had recently been purchased by Nordstrom and was now unloading all products—blushes, foundations, eye liners, powders, etc.—for just one dollar. (Yes!!! $1.) The reason? [...]

Can $80 even buy you breakfast at Tiffany’s?
There are many things $80 won’t get you at Tiffany & Co.—a $1500 sterling silver and green jade Elsa Peretti Sevillana wrist cuff, for example, or the 18k gold Jean Schlumberger butterfly clip brooch with pink tourmalines, pear-shaped amethysts and round diamonds, which runs $30,000. But when the [...]

The Kids Are Alright: When you just can’t buy it for yourself

PHOTO by ROSHEILA ROBLES
Oh, this stupid, stupid recession. (Or is our economy still just taking a power nap?) I’ve listened to the experts. I’ve made budgets and learned to stick to them. No purchase is unconsidered, no penny left in the change bowl. And [...]

Nails by Christy: A hidden retreat for your hands and feet

PHOTO by ROSHEILA ROBLES
Who says that getting a manicure or pedicure can’t be as luxurious as going in for a facial or massage—that they can’t be just as comfortable, relaxing and refreshing? Like a lot of women, I used to find the mani/pedi experience to [...]

Heavenly Couture has you covered
Maybe you’re trying to clean up your act. Maybe you just got a job as a student teacher and have to look “respectable” by Monday. Or maybe there’s only 40 bucks in your pocket and you have to make it work. Try Heavenly Couture in Belmont Shore, offering designer jackets, shirts, [...]

Beware the Etsy addiction
Fans of Etsy.com—the online buy/sell community for crafters, artists and the like, pronounced “et-see”—know how terribly addicting the website can be: Once you sign up and start to shop, it’s nearly impossible to stop. (Especially for PayPal users; careful, or your credit card will transform into something like Monopoly money.) What’s worse, [...]

Fashionable finds for cheap at BJ Clothes

PHOTO by ROSHEILA ROBLES
Being fashion-forward isn’t as difficult as it looks, even on a tight budget. In fact, it’s rather simple: To appear like you’ve got much more going on for yourself than you really do, just prioritize your wardrobe by spending less money on items that don’t necessarily [...]