I’ve been a fan of designer LaQuan Smith for a while now and find both his work and personality refreshing and colorful. I’m also on a major Robyn kick, thanks to Emily (whom I work with and depend on for basically all my music needs). Annnnnd so, watching LaQuan’s latest video for his Fall 2012 collection Robotic Dream set the Robyn’s song Fembot, basically made my day.

I’ve obsessed before and I’m obsessing again. Reed Krakoff just talks to me. And look! 2 stellar bags that I actually want for under $1000. Miracles do happen. Boxer in dark denim and black leather, $890 | Sandy mini shoulder bag, $525

And honestly, I thought it was kind of nice. Not so nice that I was willing to date him despite that the fact that he’s shorter than I am, balding, not in very good shape, and just not attractive to me on any level. But nice nonetheless and I sent him a note back saying, “Thanks for the kind note. Made me laugh. Hope you have a nice summer and good luck!”

Within 30 minutes I had a new message: “WOW!! I was just hoping for a smile, but am so happy that I made you laugh J You have a beautiful smile. Let me know if you’d ever like to meet for a drink.” And to this, I did not respond because you know, I don’t really want to have drinks with him.

And so, for the next couple of weeks, whenever I posted a new How About We date (think I posted about 4), he indicate that he was “intrigued” by it. I also received several other messages from him and ignored them as well. Finally he sent a longer message: “I don’t know what to do, but I can’t stop thinking about you. Your legs look so amazing and you seem to have the most amazing personality. I know that I could win your heart if you would give me the chance. We can go anywhere you want and do anything you want. Please give me a chance.”

AND… less than 30 minutes later he sent the following message, which is what caused me to block him from seeing my profile or contacting me anymore: “I don’t understand why you won’t write me back. You did once. Please. I can’t stop thinking about you. I just want to hear your voice.”

Ugh. Why did I ever respond to begin with?

Now we all know that I can be a little wedding crazy at times, but I’m shocked at how crazy people are becoming with the royal wedding. I’m looking forward to it passing so we can once again focus on the Real Housewives, Teen Moms and who will be crowned America’s Best Dance Crew.

For my son’s first spring break (yes, he’s in kindergarten), we left the city and headed to Cancun for some serious r&r. Happy to shed the coats New York won’t let us lose even in mid-April, we striped down to our suits and played in the pool and at la playa from 7am to 8pm.

We stayed at Azul Fives, which happens to be a super chill, super family-oriented, all-inclusive gourmet condo resort. While the beach toys and activities were not nearly as good as the ones at Barcelo Maya Palace (which I stayed at in November 2009 with Rob), the food, drinks, and pools were much better at Azul. I also thought the staff was a lot better as well.

Each day we ate breakfast at Flavours, which my son loved because – “you can just go into the kitchen and get whatever kind of food you want – even marshmallows!!” – it was a buffet. Next, we’d stop off for his morning smoothie before heading to the pool for swimming, playing football and then our first round of pina coladas, strawberry daiquiris, chips and guacamole. We’d generally eat lunch at the Lizards grille and then walk down to the beach to build sand castles and swim at the infinity pool down there. For dinner we tried all of the restaurants but decided that we liked Sea Olive the best (good appetizers, steak, desserts, drinks, etc.). Toward the end of the trip, I asked my son how much he loves Mexico and he said that he loves it as much as he loves me. Such a good vacation and so very much enjoyed. If you can leave the city and enjoy a little fun in the sun, I highly suggest it. Xx

Absolutely devastating. Click here for amazing, awful, heart-breaking pictures of the earthquake and tsunami damage in Japan.

I recently had the pleasure of being schooled by Katherine Kwei and her ever-chic Lulu bag. The video, which was shot in an old Catholic school in Williamsburg and then at various locations in Manhattan’s SoHo and NoHo areas (including our offices at StyledOn), also features Lani & Erin of Sugar Rock Catwalk), Sara Zucker, Claire Geist of Faboo Madness, and Bianca from SmallGirlsPR/BiancaRocksOut. Loved the girls and love love LOVE how the video came out.

Those of you that follow me on Twitter will know that I’m a huge fan of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (and New Jersey, and New York, and Atlanta). I love the show even if it is ridiculous and one of my favorite twitter friends, @Becky_DiStefano made and sent me a customized #RHOBH #Hautetags necklace. It’s super shiny, hits at just the right length, features Swarovski crystals, and made me laugh so hard when I opened it.

I really love it and it was such an appropriate, funny gift from a girl I’d been tweeting with all season. Some of you guys might not get it, but some of you will.

At the bottom of the stairs a train was waiting, but it wasn’t mine. I stood there, just waiting, wondering if I had enough time to go back and offer her whatever I could. But then I heard another train coming. It again wasn’t mine. I waited again and sure enough, the next train to pull up wasn’t mine as well. Finally ready to head up, my train pulled into the station. I got on and started to cry.

Why hadn’t I done anything to help? I could have and I had multiple opportunities to do so, but was so concerned with my own schedule. On the train, I looked at the other passengers and wondered if any of them even noticed her. Had we all just walked by? Probably. I thought about how sad she must feel for not being able to properly care for her son; how awful I would feel if that were me. How silly my job is, but how grateful I am to have it even if it really isn’t contributing to society in a real way. How ridiculous it is that I’m walking past her carrying a new handbag that was simply given to me by the designer when I could a) afford to buy it if I really wanted to and b) how I wish I had the money instead to give to this woman, which would at least help her out a little bit – even if it is just a temporary solution.

And even now, I’m really upset about the entire situation. Upset that she was sitting there with her child and feel that she has no other options; upset that no one was willing to help her; deeply upset that I didn’t do anything. And so I’ve decided that with this new project I’m working on, I will work in a way to give back. I’ve always been given help and support and I wish that everyone would get the same.

If any of you know of really amazing organizations that help out mothers and their children, or if you have a good idea on how we could all help out in someway, lets discuss in the comments of this post.

Painfully beautiful. Nothing is as romantic as powder covered branches. Ready to cuddle up with my book and drift away into a world far away.

Celine is having such a moment. With Phoebe Philo at the helm of the fashion house, it is once again setting the bar for what is sophisticated, but also cool. I’d die for the black-lined camel coat above (left), that sweet jumpsuit (although I feel I’d never end up wearing it), and the luxe croc shopper.

Oh Stella McCartney, you kill me every time. And if her pre-fall collection is any indication of a big fall trend (and it usually is), we’ll be seeing oversized, Yohji Yamamoto-esque outerwear at the upcoming Fall 2011 shows (yay!). Stella is always so good, so 30s, so chic, comfortable and confident. I’d take it all.

Burberry Prorsum does outerwear like nobody’s business. The blue fur coat seen above on the right is so, so gorgeous. And so is the black and yellow, black and yellow printed one. And the moss one, even though the fur shoulders look sort of thrown on. Oh, and look at that. OTK boots. Again.

I also love the collections Giambattista Valli turns out. Always ladylike, each piece plays with proportions in interesting ways. Lets talk about the cheetah patched fur style shall we? Actually, no. Let’s just look at it and pretend we own it…

Read about my current object of desire, Pouzet & Frety’s Nestrest, on StyledOn now… There’s just something so magical about the gently swinging escape pod. If I climb in, you’d have to come in and pull me out.

A slice of Saks, the tree at Rockefeller, and one of my favorite windows at Bergdorf Goodman. The city always looks so incredibly gorgeous during the holiday season… If you have a moment, try to appreciate it. Even if just during the moment as your cab whizzes by.

If you ever wanted to shop my closet, now is your chance! I am currently a featured Insider on the new consignment site, I-ELLA. I cleared out my closet and I-ELLA came, picked up, and photographed all of the items I was ready to part with and put up them up on the site along with a little editorial Q&A with me. It was the easiest thing to do and I was even able to price everything myself.

What makes this better than your standard consignment store? Well, the pick-up certainly helps, but they all give you 75% of the selling price (which is WAY more than everyone else will give you) and of the 25% that they keep, 10% is donated to the buyer’s choice of charity. Users are also able to borrow, swap, and sell/lend items to one another in addition to the standard sale practice.

You can shop my closet here, which includes the items above (Hello Abaeté, Gucci & Prada!) >
And be sure to enter code CASEY to join if you aren’t a member already. Happy shopping!!

Also be ready for crochet, longer sheer layers, feminine pleating, and then some crazy, loud bright colors – you’ll be seeing Equipment blouses (which I love) in the brightest bubble gum pink, sunflower yellow and (I think) a true kelly green. Lots of pretty textures and embellishments with shell, sequins, grosgrain ribbon.

The week after fashion week, I was invited to take a closer look at Oscar de la Renta’s Spring 2011 Collection, which was absolutely gorgeous. I went with photographer Rachel Scroggins (be sure to visit her photo-blog, The Greyest Ghost) to to a detailed photo diary for StyledOn, which is now live and can be seen here.

The entire collection was simply beautiful and gets more beautiful the closer you get to each piece. While I’d die to wear the little red leather sheath, the fur and feather pieces were especially lovely. See below for 3 of my favorite shots from the day…

All photos taken by Rachel Scroggins for StyledOn

The last couple of weeks have been rather hectic. My son started kindergarten (yay!) just as I went through another round of New York Fashion Week, worked on special (and exciting) styling projects with Temperley London and JNBY, hit up Coterie (a huge fashion industry trade show), and tried to squeeze in friends along the way – and I decided to jump-start this blog again. I’m also dying to get married to my boyfriend and have another baby, but that’s a whole different emotional can of worms. But anyway, just wanted to show you just a few of my favorites from Coterie before I forget…

I love Rebecca Minkoff bags (have 2 MABs already) and am especially excited for next season – along with perfect-for-day sequins (shown above), lovely gray and washed black leather handbags, and an entire wardrobe of want-to-wear-24/7 ready-to-wear, Rebecca has introduced a new line of footwear. There is a pair of nude and black perforated leather pumps that I’ll definitely need to add to my already overflowing closet.

And as much as I love Rebecca’s bags, her quality just doesn’t compare to what you’ll get with Ted Rossi (which, at this point, is all produced by hand in New York). I have one of his simple satchels in the softest tie-dyed leather and am dying for one of his new styles complete with the chic-est military detail around (detail shown above).

Another bag favorite? Botkier. Simply adore the Ava in keylime leather. The bag is so comfortable and the color is the best. I have a really big problem with buying practical bags (believe it or not, I actually don’t own a black one) and this bright one seems like the perfect bag for next spring.

For more of what I saw on Coterie, see my Coterie Report Spring 2011 on StyledOn here >

One of my favorite shows during New York Fashion Week was Mulberry‘s Spring 2011, held pool-side at the Soho House. Among other things (including my new favorite tote bag), guests received paper dolls that can be dressed up in the adorable runway collection.

Enter the new Aldo for Julian Louie ikat wedges. These wedges have a healthy dose of cool a la those Balenciaga Spring 2010 wedges, but without the $$$$ price tag.

Not sure exactly when they’ll be available at this time, but I’ll certainly let you know. Patchwork suede wedges will also be available. I’m definitely going to be snatching up a pair or two of the ikat ones and will probably wear them until they fall off my feet and I have to take them to Leather Spa.

PS I currently own two pairs of Aldo shoes: both are very comfortable and look stellar on. I’d certainly recommend Aldo to any one looking for a fantastic lower priced shoe. You just have to chose wisely.

Ports 1961 Sample Sale | 601 W. 26th Street, 8th floor | NYC | Today Only

The first piece of the series was done on Ise White. I’m not really sure why I like Ise’s work so much, but I do and so thought I might share it with you here. To be honest with you, I can’t wait to see how her career grows and the future editor stories she’s able to create – see the feature here.

Other stories I’ve recently written that you might enjoy or find interesting?

• Let’s Hear it for the BOYY – I am OBSESSED with these handbags
• Go Ahead, Show Some Leg – Because you all always want to know which tights to buy
• Wow! Wow! Kapow! – AMAZING neck pieces that I die for
• English Eclecticism, Now in SoHo – A look at the new Crosby Street Hotel
• Getting the Perfect Fitting OTK Boot with Leather Spa