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January 2nd, 2009
We gave our trusty old Magic 8 Ball a shake and asked the question: Will 2009 be as life-changing as 2008? Our wise old Ball (which we’ve had since our junior-high days) has never let us down, especially when we asked if our skater-boy crush would ever love us as much as we loved him. Indeed, our boy crush did ask us on a date (albeit 10 years later); he even stalked us for a brief period! So would our 8 Ball prediction for 2009 be as gloom and doom as the latest media reports about the recession and unemployment? We gave our old friend a few hard shakes, imagining a few scenarios. Would this be the year for baby number two? Would we change job positions yet again? Would we finally begin writing our trashy novel? We finally stopped shaking and turned over our ball to reveal 2009’s forecast. So how did our 8 Ball respond to our request? ...“Who Knows?” was all it could say. |
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| Phoenix Picks: | |||
| 1 | Wine Me, Dine Me We recently celebrated the big three-five. A milestone birthday. One that meant a new box to check. A less-cool demographic. Not to mention a future of eye creams, skin serums, and every revitalizing potion under the sun. Though we aren’t necessarily fans of getting older, we are fans of getting wiser. So while we’re sad we had to turn in our ingenue card, we can’t help but embrace this new worldly phase that awaits us. And to celebrate, a fabulous grown-up dinner—preferably one with a lot of wine—was in order. Luckily for us, there’s NOCA. Don’t let the fact that it’s in a NOCA |
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| 2 | That Old Black Magic There are certain things make us really happy, like wearing cheap costume jewelry with leather footless tights and the lover’s old button-downs, and unleashing some serious dance moves (including the Running Man) as Jimmy from M.I.A. blasts from our iPod. Spending an afternoon at The French Bee also sets our animal spirit free. After a hectic long week with deadlines and passive/aggressive bosses, spiriting off to the French Bee and picking up a little doodad for the home or trying to figure out how we can replace our bedroom fans with chandeliers excites us ever so much. The French Bee is a sliver of paradise on Indian School The French Bee |
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| 3 | Pamprin? Pshaw. Give Us the Real Stuff We’ll be the first to admit that we can be a tad sassy when Aunt Flo rears her ugly face. But, as women, we feel that it’s our privilege and justification, if we may, to behave in any manner that we so choose. Sure, sometimes we even surprise ourselves at the beasts we turn into and the poor victims that we meet along the way. After 30-something years of looking for alternative methods, With a selection of more than 100 wines, tons of chocolate |
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| Chick Picks: | |||
| 1 | Japanese Gadgets, Please We’re turning Japanese, we’re turning Japanese, we really think so. Not just because we’ve gotten into tea and swords lately, but also because of a brand new website launching just in time for those post-holiday gifts for ourselves. Gizmine.com is the world’s largest Japanese gadgets and lifestyle shop, with the weirdest, kookiest, best gifts we’ve |
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| 2 | Blast from the Past We were total Madonna wanna-bes in junior high. We piled our wrists with black rubber bracelets we bought in L.A. and followed that with a Swatch addiction in high school. But despite the goofy trends we adopted, we’re still digging kitschy watches. So we flipped for these cuties by Too Late. They’re adorable, waterproof, come in tons of fun colors, and at $29.99 each we’re getting a bunch to stack, a la Madonna. It’s never too late to embrace neon. |
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| 3 | Are You Haute Enough? If you’re penny-pinching but still collecting this season’s must-have trends, and have exhausted the 75-percent off racks at Target, we recommend signing up at HauteLook.com. Join us in our daily virtual-bargain-bin shopping sprees, which offer up some primo goods for all bargainistas. Just this week we picked up a few pieces from Jovovich-Hawk and scored some big name designer dresses for under $50. We’re starting to dig shopping on our slim budget, and we’re sure you’ll love this amazing find too! |
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Hip Happenings: |
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| 1 | Glitter and Glow It’s not quite “Glitter,” as in the best movie ever made that stars Mariah Carey, but it comes pretty close. It’s your last chance to view 1.5 million lights along with dozens of hot air balloons. Enjoy an extra hour of entertainment, food and beverages during the After Glow from 10–11 p.m. What: Glitter and Glow Block Party |
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| 2 | Every Day is a Parade We wish we could raid Cher’s closet and parade around in her elaborate outfits. Unfortunately, that will never happen, but at least one of the Valley’s time-honored traditions will add a little sparkle to our lives. Park yourself on the side of the two-mile parade and enjoy the display of colorful floats, magnificent helium balloons, marching bands and horses. What: Fiesta Bowl Parade |
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| 3 | Best Little Dinner and Show Confession: We know all the words to “Hard Candy Christmas” by Dolly Parton, and “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” was one of our favorite movies growing up… (what was up with that, Mom?) We already have tickets to Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre’s rendition of this old favorite... and we’re pairing it with Texas Chili Pasta for dinner… Yum! What: “Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” Dinner and Musical |
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Thank you for your love and support of Phoenix Picks! We send big wishes for you in the New Year. Though we can’t predict what will happen next week, we do think big things like the return of faux-fur vests, sequins on denim, all things magical and cosmic, hippie princesses, leather hot pants and pirate patches, and boys in elephant bell bottoms will be the rage in 2009! You heard it here first! |
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