Kick Up Your Heels

There's a new wedge in town! Meet "Kick Up Your Heels" by Seychelles. The black sandal arrived on Wednesday and is already selling fast!

Truthfully, I'm not much of a high heel kinda gal. I feel clumsy wearing stilettos, and they aren't the most practical for navigating the Old Market's cobblestone streets. Because of both of those reasons, I love wedges! They provide the same height and leg-lengthening magic of thinner heels but are infinitely more comfortable. Plus, you can dress them up or dress them down. (I know people wear heels with shorts, but I think wedges look better.)

The new Seychelles wedge would look fantastic with a short summer dress. Right now I'm loving the combination of periwinkle blue and black. To complete the look, I'd accessorize with a black cross-body bag like the Rafe Carine, which is now on sale for $315, and some Kara by Kara Ross gold jewelry. All Kara by Kara Ross jewelry is now 20% off! To up the playfulness and add a bit of color to the outfit, I'd polish my nails with Frugalista by Rescue Beauty Lounge. And underneath it all... a pair of lacy Mary Green boy shorts!

The CWS is Coming to Town!

We're just days away from the first pitch of the 2010 College World Series! The sporting event gets underway on Saturday, June 19th for the final time at the legendary Rosenblatt Stadium, but the party starts on Friday with a opening ceremony featuring music and fireworks.

No matter who you are rooting for this year -- Arizona State, Clemson, Florida, Florida State, Oklahoma, South Carolina, TCU or UCLA -- Trocadero has a rainbow of accessories so you can color coordinate with your favorite team. Baseball caps and t-shirts are so passe. There's no reason why you can't be chic while watching the game! Show your Bruins pride in a pair of turquoise DV sandals. Rather than sweating in a giant foam finger, wave your red, blue or yellow patent Anya Hindmarch clutch in the air to cheer on your favorite players.

Here are some of our favorite accessories in this year's CWS teams' colors.

Maroon/Red: Anya Hindmarch patent clutch, Red Flower Blood Orange candle, Rescue Beauty Lounge nail polish in Chinoise, Matt Bernson Barracuda sandal, Harajuku tote, Kara by Kara Ross bangle and enamel ring, Crocodile Creek bib

Yellow/Gold: Anya Hindmarch loose pocket, Anya Hindmarch patent clutch

Royal Blue/Baby Blue: Anya Hindmarch loose pocket, Anya Hindmarch patent clutch, DV sandals, Marvis aquatic mint toothpaste, We Are Happy To Serve You ceramic deli cup, Flip and Tumble reusable bag

Purple: Marvis jasmin mint toothpaste, Rescue Beauty Lounge nail polish in Purple Haze, Seychelles sandals, Bond No. 9 Scent of Peace perfume, Kara by Kara Ross enamel ring

Orange: Bond No. 9 Little Italy perfume and candle, TDM tie-dye bamboo scarf (not shown)

In the three years I've lived in Omaha, I've yet to go to a CWS game. I think I need to experience at least one at Rosenblatt before it moves to TD Ameritrade Park Omaha next year. I'm not partial to any of the teams playing (go BU Terriers!), so I'll probably pick one based on their uniforms, which is what I did when I was a little girl. I do love purple and orange...

Turning your Passion into Profit!

Every year in May, Warren Buffett holds his annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholders' meeting in Omaha. It's really a three-day, three-ring circus of presentations, marketing, schmoozing, shopping...extreme capitalism at its best. Many people know about this annual meeting and Omaha is host to so many people representing many cities and countries.

What a lot of people don't know about is BIGOmaha, a three-day event with a focus on entrepreneurs making their dreams and passions come true. The list of speakers is astounding and the stories and presentations that they share with everyone are inspirational. We're truly lucky to have such an event exist in Omaha and to watch it grow into something even bigger.

This past year BIGOmaha had some really noteable speakers, one of whom was zappos.com CEO, Tony Hsieh. If you're a woman, you know about zappos. When I was an accessories editor, I knew a lot about zappos.com since a lot of our featured items were credited to them so that our readers could go and buy the shoes from the ease of their couch!

What a lot of people might not know is that Tony Hsieh became a multi-millionaire only a few years after graduating from college. Not from zappos but from another company called Link Exchange that he co-founded with a college buddy. At the age of 24, he sold Link Exchange for $265 million to Microsoft. Not bad for someone a couple years out of college.

At BIGOmaha, Tony not only gave a very moving presentation but in a true Oprah-like fashion, gave everyone in attendance a free advance copy of his new book, Delivering Happiness. He also created a blogger program that allowed people who had blogs to request an advance copy with the caveat that you had to write an honest review of the book sometime during the week of the launch. The blogger program also included a second copy for us bloggers to use as a give away promotion.

On June 7th, Delivering Happiness arrived at stores nationwide. Already, it's become #1 at Barnes and Noble and is on a slight back order on Amazon.com. But of course, if you want a FREE advance paperback edition, keep reading to find out how you can enter to win. The book is a true personal account of how he went from a elementary school kid with ambitious plans to make money to a grown up kid with ambitious plans to create something he was passionate about with the money he was fortunate to have.

Whether you're a woman who loves shopping from zappos.com, a woman who wants to climb the corporate ladder, a guy who wants to know how a 24 year old kid became a multi-millionaire or a guy who wants to know the meaning of life (ok, maybe that's a stretch), Delivering Happiness is a book that is an easy read and full of inspiring stories about how Tony Hsieh turned his passions into profits. (And I love the title; shoes make women extremely happy and therefore, you definitely can say that Tony delivers happiness everyday to men and women and children all over the world!)

I related on so many levels and laughed along with his very familiar stories. Tony writes about being the child of immigrants from Asia, the dreams that they had, the stereotypical strict upbringing (school, musical instruments). I loved reading about all his successful and failures in being a young entrepreneur and also loved that along the way, he picked up the game of poker and found the table talk and camaraderie in the Vegas rooms to be inspiring and fun. I know that in my own memoir that I am working on that the game of poker really helped shape me to become who I am today.

Delivering Happiness is written in a language that is conversational, as if Tony's sitting with you on your back porch, drinking some beers, telling you about his adventures in middle school and beyond. It's a fun, easy read and I definitely recommend it as a summer beach read that you'll want to pass along to friends. It's appearing to be sold out all over the place, but as a reader of PFO, you can enter to win a free advance paperback copy of the book by commenting below about what your passion is and how you would want to turn it into profit.

So tell us what your passion is in our comment box, we'll pick the winner and put it in the comment section of this post at a latter date.

A Burst of Blue

While channel surfing before bed last night, I stumbled upon Kate Hudson sitting in the guest chair on "The Late Show with David Letterman." In the segment, Letterman was whipping up a batch of waffles for the giggly actress. (I'm not sure what waffles had to do with Kate Hudson; I missed the opening of the interview.) My initial reaction was, "Wow, those waffles look delicious." My second? "Wow, Kate Hudson's eye shadow is gorgeous."

Check out Kate's eye-catching makeup below. (Sorry about the short commercial leading into the clip.)

I'm a big fan of brightly colored eye shadow, especially in the summer. Don't be afraid to play around with make-up! I change up the colors I use on my eyes every day depending on what mood I'm in and what I'm wearing. I don't have a standard "look." Lately I've been experimenting with sweeping bright green or marine blue shadow across my lids with a bit of mascara for a pop of color during the day. To make the look more dramatic for night, try lining your upper lids and inside your lower rim with a black liner like Kate.

If you're ready to be bold, try Mombasa, a teal-colored mineral-based powder eyeshadow by Glamo-Glitz. For a more subtle look, wet a skinny make-up brush and use Mombasa as a liner over a neutral shadow. That's the brilliant thing about Glamo-Glitz--you can wear it dry or wet. Check out our 14 favorite shades ($16 each), including Mombasa, at Trocadero.

FALL PREVIEW: Peep Toe Booties

When these LAMB "Jalonna" booties came in a few months ago, I knew they would be a trendsetting shoe. Sure enough, when the Fall 2010 shows popped up on style.com, peep-toe booties made a case for themselves as the statement of the season. Luckily we've got these in stock so you can get your pre-fall fashion fix without having to shell out four figures on the Givenchy, Christian Louboutin, or Alexander McQueen versions. 


The best feature of this trend is that peep-toe booties are seasonless; they provide enough ventilation to make them comfortable for the summer months, but give enough coverage to carry you through the fall and winter. Showcase their sex appeal in the summer time by pairing them with bare legs and a tan. I love the idea of dressing them down with a t-shirt, cut-off shorts, and a blazer. And instead of opting for a typically tight LBD, which could a bit too body-conscious for most, try it with a sweetly floral-printed romper, killer clutch, and a bold gold necklace. The Jalonnas also pair brilliantly with this season's military trend - a striped shirt, olive green skirt, and red nails make for an irresistibly chic combination.

fall preview: peep toe booties by shoptrocadero

If you're dying to be ahead of the fashion pack this fall, call us at the Troc and pick up a pair of these bold booties today (now on sale for $315!)

photo by djpremium

A Stroke of Sparkle

Every once in a while at the shop, I find myself staring down at the palate of Rescue Beauty Lounge nail polish colors wondering, "what color do I feel like for this week?" My most common answer is either Drifter, a lovely raspberry color that has been on my nails, in total, for about five months - or - Stormy, a medium grey hue that goes with pretty much everything. On any given day, I'll swipe on a few coats of either and call it good. If I'm feeling really fancy, I might add a touch of Frugalista (who doesn't like glitter?) as an overcoat.

But today, I wanted something different. I walked over to the tray of colors, so delicately sorted into darks, brights, and neutrals and chose a color I'd never even considered before. Grunge, a nude shade. Not being a fan of my hands or fingers, for odd personal reasons, I'd always imagined a neutral nail polish on my nails would look weird or too much like my skin. However, I was quite surprised upon dabbing on the second coat. I liked Grunge on my nails. I really liked it.

I then remembered a bottle of Frugalista I've been storing in my purse and decided to give it a whirl. Yet, this time, I glittered only the tips of my nails. And the outcome was fabulous:

Call me crazy, but this may be my favorite polish look I've ever created and you could have nails like this just as easily. The bottles run for $19 and come in shades like Orbis Non Sufficit, Chinoise, Squarepants, Purple Haze, and Film Noir (a very deep plum). If you fancy decorated nails or just want a unique shade for something different, these Rescue Beauty Lounge colors are the way to go.

Summer Style Featuring Seychelles Gypsy

To celebrate our 2nd anniversary last weekend, my husband and I went to a fancy dinner. Because it was a celebration, I wore a frilly black, white and purple dress reminiscent of a Theory frock from a couple of season ago. My hubby loved the look... except for the black wedge sandals I was wearing. To be honest, the sandals are more than a few years old, and he told me it was time to invest in a new pair of black shoes for summer.

I had a feeling I'd find what I was looking for when I returned to the Troc after Memorial Day weekend. Sure enough, we had just gotten a shipment of Seychelles Gyspy in black. We had already received them in Teal and will soon be getting them in Natural, as well. Wooden heels are a hot summer trend, and the Gypsy has a 3 3/4" stacked heel with a 3/4" platform. Don't be intimidated by the heel height, though. You can dress 'em up or dress 'em down. Try pairing them with a day dress for work, shorts and a tank on the weekend and a mini-dress for a night out.

For the evening look above, I paired a printed silk dress with stackable rings by Kara by Kara Ross ($65 each). Don't forget to spritz yourself with Bond No. 9 Union Square ($150 for a small, $225 for a large) before you walk out the door! On the weekend, stay comfy in cut-off denim shorts but paint your nails Chinoise by Rescue Beauty Lounge ($19) to up your glam factor. Alex and Ani assorted bangles ($78) complete the casual look. For work, throw a cardigan over a sundress and accessorize with a Kara by Kara Ross pink quartz X-cuff (20% off $295). Purple Haze nail polish by Rescue Beauty Lounge ($19) will have you staring at your hands as you type away on your computer.