Sole Mates.

Winter always signals a huge switch in footwear. Boots, pumps that are versatile with tights and shooties are on my radar this season. I just got an unreal pair of mauve tights and these shoes would be the perfect ying to their yang. The closed toe allows them to look great under dress pants for work but the modern structure of the heel adds an unexpected twist when shown off with dresses and skinny jeans.

Dolce Vita Suede 'April' Pumps.

Berry Beautiful.

One of my favorites, Natalie Portman, was seen rocking a beautifully rich fruit inspired lip at her Love and Other Impossible Pursuits premiere in Toronto. Your skin tone will ultimately choose the depth of your berry shade, but most of the colors work on everyone! If you're unsure, can start out with a light raspberry shade and gradually progress to more of a blackberry. The exact color Miss Portman is rocking is Forbidden Burgundy #12 Rouge Volupte from YSL, and it looks like the perfect extra to add to your winter makeup routine.

Other great shades:
Lancome L'Absolu Rogue Lip color in Berry Noir
Clinique Almost Lipstick in Black Honey
Revlon Superlustrous Lipstick in Black Cherry

*Photo from Life.com

Bumble Ball.

I'm constantly losing hair ties or stretching them out and having to throw them away. This ingenious band-ball from Bumble and Bumble put a cute and creative spin on the rubber band ball and keeps all your hair ties in one place. Another positive, the bands are the perfect mixture of stretchy and tight (an oxy-moron, I know) and are great for throwing your hair up anytime, anywhere.

Mixed Reviews.

I am Italian. My family is from New Jersey. Naturally I heard all the hype about MTV's newest 'reality' show Jersey Shore and I had to check it out. Before the show aired, there was tons of controversy surrounding the show. The Italian American community, more specifically the group UNICO, thought the show perpetuated negative stereotypes and glorified the word "Guido" which is considered by many to be a negative term. Politics aside, I go to Jersey at least once or twice a year and those stereotypes exist for a reason.....Jersey is pretty much everything you expect it to be, but with better food. So of course I watched the show.....it walks a very thin line between hilarious and douchey, so obviously I loved it. Jersey Shore has some very important ingredients that help it to be trashy reality TV at it's finest....these include copious amounts of hair gel, people so tan they look dirty, tons and tons of booze, blaring techno, raging hormones, and fist pumping to the max. This will totally give me and my friends something to laugh about during the break from Real Housewives (OC doesn't count, they are the WORST). Case in point: the pilot had perhaps one of the dumbest girls I have ever seen say one of the dumbest things I have ever heard...."I'm a bartender, I do like GREAT things"...says the girl who showed up with her stuff in garbage bags. Check out this train wreck for yourselves and try not to laugh at Snookie who they all call Snickers. Jersey Shore airs at 9pm Central time on MTV.

*If you and the show are like totally vibing, you might want to check out this Jersey Glossary to understand what the hell any of them are saying.

Wrap It Up.

No, not like that....get your mind out of the gutter. I'm talking about the most essential winter accessory....the pashmina. Some people collect shot glasses or weird little spoons but I on the other hand, am a pseudo-pashmina collector. After living in Italy, my compulsion reached a peak when I bought no less than 10 in 5 months. They go with everything, add pizazz to your dreary winter layers and keep you warm....it's a truly functional purchase. Only problem here is that all of my pash's are solid colors. I never really jumped on the printed scarf bandwagon....until I spotted this gem from Yarnz. I love the black and pink colors, the pretty paisley print and the length. This is definitely going on my Christmas wish list.

Literary Ladies.

My girlfriends and I took a page out of Oprah's book, literally, and started a book club. After many times of 'paying it forward' with different books we enjoyed, we finally developed the genius idea to read the same book at the same time. Our first selection was 'Her Fearful Symmetry' by Audrey Niffenegger (also wrote The Time Traveler's Wife). So after a month of reading we met at a local coffeehouse and got our discussion on...... no seriously, we actually had discussion questions printed out (Nerd alert I know). For anyone who reads, I absolutely recommend forming a book club or just reading a book simultaneously with someone you know. It keeps you motivated to read and the book takes on a whole new level once you hear the way others viewed the story. Even though we dipped into our loser side, we all had a really good time. The book however, was kind of creepy. I enjoyed it, but didn't LOVE it. But that's the point of book club, to help you step outside of your literary box. If your into death, ghosts and cemeteries, you're kind of a Debbie Downer, but Her Fearful Symmetry is perfect for you....buy it here.

Mad Menswear.

Menswear shoes have really peaked my interest lately. I love the dapper, old school feel oxfords and loafers exude, and now girls have tons of fabulous options to decorate their feet with. I particularly love Repetto's 'Jackson" patent leather loafers. Kate Moss really pulled off the trend (naturally) with an all black ensemble and black skinny pants which really let the shoes shine. This is a really fun and edgy trend but beware....you could end up inadvertently looking like this.