Pampered in Style: Holiday Specials at Nectar Skin Bar

I think it's fairly clear to any semi-regular reader that I don't plug products, stores, or companies unless I love them. Which brings me to today's post.

I. Adore. Nectar Skin Bar.

And while publishing this puts my addiction at risk by exposing my appointments to more poachers, they just shared their holiday specials. Personal favorites so far? Adrian, because he's smart enough to tell me to grow my brows out. And to stop before giving me a peel that, while he suggested it originally, he didn't feel my skin could handle after the "regular" facial. And Noemi. Because if someone can give me a manicure that lasts more than 2.5 minutes on a busy mama (going on 6 days and barely chipped!), well, she wins. Totally.

So if you're still looking for gifts for your most stylish friends - or for yourself - get thee to Nectar. Now.

You did check my Style To-Do List and My Christmas List, right? On both.

My Christmas - no Birthday - no Just My I'd-Really-Like-to-Have List

When I first posted this, it was my "Things I Want for Christmas." It was the first time in a Very Long Time that I've made one. Now, as I said before, it's really just a list of Cool Style Things I spot along the way. And yes, it started with one item.

(No capital letters were harmed in the writing of this post.)

Bumped to the top of the list because, well, #bestchristmasgiftevereverever 1 year of Vogue Archives. 1892-today
H bought me "just 'cause!" Bill Cunningham's New York DVD
A fancy gold watch - chunky
A fancy gold watch - dainty and ladylike (preferably like one of the ones my mother is splitting between BabySis and me When That Day Comes)
A standing appointment for something - anything - at Nectar Skin Bar
Multiple Vogue subscriptions (see My Style To-Do List)
H got me a Nook for Christmas. I think I want an iPad
Books. Because I need more of them to sit on my nightstand and not read. Amazon.com wish list, thankyouverymuch
Echo Design Center Point Echo Touch Gloves. In pewter. Because they're techie gloves. And I'm addicted to my phone. (Thanks, Alison, of Chain Strap Purse, for the find!)
Chanel 3-book set (Liz, this is all your fault)
Atelier Cologne Orange Sanguine Petite Cologne Absolue showed up in birchbox last month, and I've used it exactly as they've advertised it - for a mental pick-me-up on those days that just seem impossibly long. And you do feel like you're on an orange-blossom filled patio in the Med.
Daphne Guinness, by Valerie Steele and Guinness herself, which is the Museum at FIT publication accompanying the once-in-a-lifetime-so-I-took-The-Bean exhibit straight out of Guinness' closet and iconic (though she protests the label) mind
Reversible Diamond Earrings from Gioielli by Nikki Baker. Yup. I'm reaching here. Really reaching. But they're goooooooorgeous (and Hu's will have them shortly!)
Guerlain Terra Azzurra products - any of them, quite frankly, for all the reasons I cite here.

My Style To-Do List

Instead of reading a Government draft RFP or preparing something horrendous like a compliance matrix like a responsible adult - or even instead of sleeping, which my body desperately needed to do - I used the 2 flights here to Lawton, OK, to read the entire October issue of American Vogue. Cover to cover. I devoured both the inane (Hamish Bowles does X Factor) and the intelligent (Hamish Bowles does X Factor), marked pages, and then borrowed a pen from a nice gentlemen across the aisle and scribbled a list of everything that had popped into my head while reading.

• Does it count that I "followed" Vogue Germany and British Vogue on twitter? Order multiple Vogue subscriptions
• design and order calling cards
• buy very-nice-but-ok-to-lose pens
• get new, impossibly hip glasses and/or
• get lasik appointment
• change all future vacation references to "holiday"
• figure out how to collaborate on a style post about warheads (Scott, if you've read this far, I'm sure I can find a prize for you of some kind)
• Listen to Robin Givhan NPR archive broadcast (thanks, Wardrobe Oxygen!)
• Check! Headed up August 3-5! Plan trip with Mommy & The Bean (the 2 Elsas) to see Schiaparelli/Prada exhibit at the Met
• Gonna cross this one off, given that I just found some lovely eyes at Bobbi Brown!
• Check! Finally!, a whole year later, I found TWO (Bobbi Brown Old Hollywood and Hollywood Red)find a red lipstick
• Check! started on pinterest - Style Tomes and Style Reading List.
• Uncheck! Never happened. find nail salon in Lawton
• She did it on her own, and did beautifully! Bad friend. plan Old Town Boutique District vintage scour for friend who wants a vintage-y party dress for weddings this fall
• Check! start a Christmas list (for the first time in, oh, 25 years)
• It's just not worth it. Too many good, cheaper things out there. look into La Mer
• Check! On it's way! With the new bug repellent! order Skincando Miracle Cream
• Check! #healthyme is in full swing! Sort-of check. I did it once. Skipped DRESSED viewing Thursday for yoga class - do yoga and/or calissthenics tomorrow (each day will be a new resolution for the next)
• Check! Classic Crane's at The Dandelion Patch - buy new letter-writing (as opposed to card-writing) stationery
• Check! It was part of me "get ready for cool new job" stuff. buy new not-to-lose pen
• Check! Addicted. get pinning - seriously
• Check! December 2-4, with The Bean in tow! plan NYC trip (including Daphne Guinness exhibit)
• Check! Had an amazing weekend just the two of us down tha shore in March. plan girl time with childhood BFF
• Check! Nope. Happy with my Nook (Christmas gift from H) and laptop (PC, people, PC). figure out if i want an iPad
• Check! Russel + Hazel "chicklets" (love, love, love the name!), of course, bought at The Container Store. Now, I have to use them. find pretty little post-it notes for marking up magazines and maybe books
• Check! 678 Colorful Skinny Jean on order from The Limited. investigate skinny jeans
• Check! See above. investigate colored jeans
• Check! Going for my second appointment today! brows with Adrian at Nectar Skin Bar
• Silly me - no massages (hint, hint, add them!) massage at Nectar Skin Bar
• Check! Adrian is a brow and skin god. Put yourself in his hands. anything at Nectar Skin Bar
order Vogue subscription (in multiple languages?)Really, it's sitting in my car in the box. Take it to the store already! return Michael (Kors) turtleneck ponchoRosa and I never made it - visit Michael Reinhardt at Neiman Marcus Chevy Chase to buy new La Metier de Beaute eyesmake list of fahion/style/art books to read