Democracy and Lily Dress by Fiveloaves Twofish

I finished MISTRESS SHAKESPEARE by Karen Harper a few weeks ago. It is a great summer read. If you are going on vacation or plan to sit at the beach for hours at end have this novel along with you. You will love this book if you loved the movie SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE. The novel tells the story of young shakespeare dreaming of being an actor in Stratford upon Avon and his rise to fame as a playwright in London. It is based on his life long love affair with Anne Whateley, the other Anne. Many believe that his sonnets and perhaps Romeo and Juliet are based on her. It is a wonderful novel, giving glimpses of life in Elizabethan London and life as a playwright. What I found very interesting was the notion that plays were written as a way to teach the population their history. Many of Shakespeare’s plays were historical and gave the british people such pride in their heritage.
At the heart of the novel is the world’s most famous writer and his secret marriage to the other Anne. It is told through her voice and demonstrates her scarifices for loving him, but also her triumphs as an independent woman in Elizabeth’s world. It is a novel that recognizes the strength it took to be independent in this time and the example Elizabeth gave to young women.

It is a fun book, especially if you have a soft spot for Shakespeare. It is an easy and fast read and perfect for a “mental escape.” This book is a treat to read. Enjoy!!

We are very proud of our Fall Collection that we have rightly named the “GILDED CAGE” it celebrates the young princesses of europe, such as Marie Antoinette, Anastasia Romanov, Katherine of Aragon, and Lady Jane Gray, and reveals the cages in which they lived their lives.  It is a collection of deep color contrasted with frosted tones, glimmering jewels, simple beauty, and rich textiles.

We are posting a movie we made for ENK we hope you enjoy it!

Earnshaws February 2011 Issue “Silver Spoon” Fashion Shoot Featuring fiveloaves twofish “Oh Marie” sweater coat and “Duchess Tee” for Fall 2011

We are thrilled that pieces from our Fall Collection were used in the fashion spread for Earnshaw’s FALL Preview.  Our “Oh Marie” Sweater Coat and our “Duchess” Tee are must haves for the fall.

Our only comfort comes from a small little food stand in the food court. Where a very passionate man makes fresh omelets on sight; it is not only the only decent food. It is a pleasantly healthy and fresh and served by a man who loves his omelets like we love our clothes. But two days of omelets is enough….PLEASE let us get of NY TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

With the unfortuante news understood we decide to try and find a hotel, by now the decent ones around the airport are all booked.  We start going down the list end up at Red Roof Inn in Queen’s Chinatown.  It actually was  clean bed and clean bathroom so it was fine.  We walked through the snow and found a family owned japanese restaurant that actually was great.  We thought at least we had a yummy dinner!  The owner of the inn even drove us to the airport this morning, We actually would recommend that place if you get stuck at the airport.

So here we are at the airport for our second day.  The guy at the deli knows me by name and the coffee girl has Katie’s order down.  We will for sure get on our flight unless it starts snowing again.   We really miss sunny San Diego and cannot wait to get off this coast!

Holiday shopping in Columbus, Ohio

© AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato

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Move over New York. When it comes to shopping, everything’s bigger in Texas. Forbes’ first-ever ranking of the best U.S. cities for shopping takes a look at the real numbers behind what makes retail sparkle in the biggest cities in America. One look at the top 10 shows that NYC, long thought to be the best city for style, sophistication and putting your pocketbook to work, is nowhere to be found.

What? Why? How? The truth is, in deciding what makes a city “best,” it all depends on what you’re looking for.

America’s Top 10 Cities for Shopping

1. Houston, TX

2. Dallas, TX

3. Baltimore, MD

4. Columbus, OH

5. Indianapolis, IN

6. Philadelphia, PA

7. Phoenix, AZ

8. San Antonio, TX

9. Jacksonville, FL

10. San Diego, CA

See the full list of America’s 25 Best Shopping Cities

When it comes to shopping, everyone has their own style. Some of us are in-and-out. We know what we want, we know where to find it and we’d like to be on our way, thank-you-very-much. Others are in heaven strolling through well-lit retail centers, window shopping to our heart’s delight, even if there’s nothing we “need.” And some of us are on the hunt for a bargain—if it isn’t on sale, it’s not on our list.

In compiling our list of America’s best cities for shopping, we took the interests of all types to heart to find the urban centers with the best combination of options, ease and affordability.

Of the 525 major shopping centers in the country’s biggest cities, there are nearly 257 million square feet of gross leasable retail area, according to data provided by Esri, a geographic information systems firm that tracks the leasable area of major U.S. shopping centers of more than 225,000 square feet. Of that, nearly a quarter of the retail space (87,879,057 square feet) is in the Lone Star state, more than explaining how three Texan cities landed in our top ten cities for shopping. Like their football and BBQ, Texans take their shopping seriously.

Houston comes in at No. 1 one the list. “Houston might be a big city, and sure you can spend days buying up the shopping malls, but for me the best thing has always been the boutiques that are somehow both 100% Southern and completely chic,” says stylist Kate Barash, a Houston native now living in Los Angeles.

Barash, who describes her own fashion sense as “date night feisty,” shares her two favorite Houston stops for shopping: 310 Rosemont (1965 W. Gray Ave.), where she stocks up jeans from trendy 1921 and Seven For All Mankind. She also scores pieces from Milly and James Perse; and Lot 8 (6127 Kirby Drive), where she finds “the best L.A. designers without the Los Angeles inflated prices.”

If one-stop shopping is more your style than hunting for boutiques in humid Houston, take a drive to Texas’s biggest mall, the Galleria, which boasts 2.5 million square feet of retail pleasure.

Dallas, No. 2 is dwarfed by its southern cousin in shopping malls at only 28 locations according to Esri, but its over 16,000 retail stores in the city more than compensate. Like Houston, a Galleria mall is the epicenter of retail in the city, but Barash describes Dallas as “more urban” and its shopping style follows suit. Dallas (200.227) also has a higher price index than Houston (195.165), knocking it down a few rungs from the top position.

The rest of the top 10 is filled out with surprises like Baltimore, San Antonio, San Diego, Columbus and Jacksonville, and a few towns who’ve long been proud to make retail a tourist draw: Philadelphia’s outlet center Franklin Mills, for example, houses over 1.5 million square feet of retail and even has hotels on-site to lodge bargain shoppers, and Castleton Square Mall in Indianapolis, Ind., is the biggest in the state.

Another surprise, Phoenix, Ariz., at #8. It may be another steamy city for shopping, but its large number of shopping centers and retail stores (over 11,000 according to the BLS) make it an ideal location for a shopper looking for options. Don’t get stuck on its desert location. Phoenix boasts retail choices that range from Gucci to Cartier at its upscale Biltmore Fashion Park to a surprising six Walmarts within city limits, (second only to San Antonio and Charlotte, with seven each) A 2010 increase in sales tax keeps the city out of the top five contenders for most wallet-friendly, but the presence of so many Walmarts speaks volumes for its thrift. For a city of just over 1.5 million, that’s a whole lot of Walmart.

But I have a solution for all of this–Shop Local and shop fiveloaves twofish.  We have plenty of parking, so that won’t be a problem, we have wonderful coffees at Chi Chocolate, and of course our sales girls are thrilled to see you and the fellow shoppers are relaxed and happy in the very inspiring atmosphere.

We will be open mon & tues 20-21 and will close for christmas on the 24th -Jan 2nd.

Buy her a truly unique holiday gift and support your local designers shop fiveloaves twofish

Are you ready for December?  It is the month of non-stop eating, gift wrapping, decorating, and of course the all-encompassing shopping!  Some of you are really organized and are probably sipping some wine celebrating the fact the you only have one more gift to go, some of you feel pretty confident because you started a week or so ago and got a lot done today-”Cyber Monday”   And then there are those of you who have yet to begin (that’s me by the way!)  Do not stress, start with the girls, come down to fiveloaves this week, where there is plenty of parking, the gifts she really wants with out the grumpy sales girls or shoppers, gift wrap included,  and of course the best lattes in town at Chi Chocolate.  Give yourself permission to have fun shopping this Holiday–Shop fiveloaves!!–

Friday Dec. 3rd from 5-8 is our Friday night Liberty and this friday we are accepting coupons–can you believe it!  Anyway print out our email bring it in and get that fashionista off your list!  We have headband gift sets that will surely make your gift the favorite, skirt and top sets, and of course the very sought after “sari skirts”

Other Holiday Events to put on your calender are:

Dec. 3rd Holiday Night

Dec. 11th Holiday Fashion Show at Liberty station’s “Christmas Holiday” approx time is 4-4:30  come and see all of our holiday looks and what  she wants under the tree.

We are open Weds-Sun and remember we have plenty of parking and the best lattes in town!!