It’s time for another long weekend — I know, isn’t it awesome? — so there will be no updates until Tuesday, July 22. (Maybe Monday, if I feel industrious.)  This time I’m off to Palm Springs, where the weather will be … exactly like it is in Phoenix, actually, but the atmosphere is a lot more fun.

In the interim, there’s this news: When we switched blog hosts, we lost a lot of our coding, paragraph returns, photos. Today I have finally finished recoding and adding photos to all of the What’s In Store features here on sammit.  So please feel free to browse through past editions — there’s a “Categories” box over to the lower right that lets you go back as far as I’ve been writing them.  Enjoy!

Bravo’s going green this season, and recycling past seasons — tonight’s episode features a rehash of the grocery store challenge from Season 1, even bringing back that challenge winner as guest judge. Perhaps remembering the woes of wilted produce, not many designers opt for using food as a design element, which earns them scorn from Tim Gunn. And I’ve already decided who I hate most.

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I guess I’m looking forward to tonight’s season premiere of “Project Runway” … sort of.

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I’m baaaack! My flights were OK, and I was able to snap this photo of a girl wearing one of those dreaded velour track suits at Sky Harbor, on my flight out. (Although, truthfully, I did it because I thought they made a cute support system – her lap is his pillow, while his stomach is hers.)

And while I was perusing the airline’s magazine (note to self: next time remember pen for crossword puzzles), I found this week’s Shoe Hot or Not contender!

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This morning I’ll drag myself out of bed to be at the airport by 6:15 a.m. and catch a flight home to Montana for four days. I’m writing this at 11:30 p.m. the night before as I’m packing everything into a duffel bag — the last time I tried to take my carry-on onto a puddle jumper, I discovered the bag was too big to fit in the overhead compartment of that size plane. (Have they been shrinking those bins? Why do they make carry-ons if they don’t fit the bins?)

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Splashadello
Tempe Marketplace, 2000 E. Rio Salado Parkway, Suite 1070
Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday
Information: (480) 966-9184 or www.splashadello.com
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The Brass Heart boutique in Mesa will begin a clearance sale July 11 that puts all stock at least 50 percent off the original price. That means those William Rast jeans you eyed are now $110 instead of $220 … and as the sale continues through July 20, discounts on remaining stock will get even larger.

The store in Dana Park shopping center, 3426 E. Baseline Road, is open 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Discounts also apply to purchases at the store’s website, too.

ammit

WHAT SAM WORE: 7/8/08
The shirt: Four-button cotton short-sleeved pullover (American Apparel)
The pants: “Hipster” cut khakis (Gap)
The shoes: Oxblood loafers by Rockport (Last Chance)
The scent: Visit eau de toilette by Azzaro
Listening to: “Let Me Think About It” by Ida Corr vs. Fedde Le Grand (Watch YouTube video here / buy single on iTunes here)

sammit

Clean body, clean conscience: Lather, the bath and body care store at Kierland Commons shopping center, will help collect supplies for homeless children with an effort that begins Monday, July 14, and continues for the rest of the month.

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No, not while drunk. (But awhile back some friends who work at Scottsdale Fashion Square stunned me when they told me how often shoppers return clothing they bought when they were liquored up but regretted the next day. Looks like those happy hours at Kona Grill can hurt your pocketbook in more ways than one!) I’m referring to going shopping with a friend who’s more adventurous than you are.

I know what it’s like to try to convince someone to change up their look — when I was writing about style full-time, I helped a few women pick out new wardrobes and sometimes they were hesitant to try something outside their comfort zone. But I’m happy to report they were, to a one, delighted with the result.

But shopping with a friend is different — they’re not necessarily objective, they know how to push your buttons, and eventually you might relent … like I did on a recent trip to Denver.

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Bettye Muller, your $495 pumps (at Neiman Marcus) have torn me asunder. Asunder, I say! You see, one part of me loves this Bonham flannel pump — did you call it that after Helena Bonham Carter and her period free-spirited yet restricted would-be wench characters, whom I can see tottering around on Italian cobblestone streets “on holiday,” waiting to fall into the arms of that dashing yet slightly socially taboo rake? — and its covered platform, even the heel wrapped in sturdy gray wool fabric.

The other part of me — the polar opposite side, so far away when they sit next to each other in the car, they shrink against their respective windows so they don’t have to touch — thinks it looks like a Minnie Mouse shoe. Not literally one she wears, but with that giant disc up front, it turns into the cartoonish version of something a gum-smacking dame reporter would wear with a pencil skirt in a 1940s movie.

I hate that disc, basically.

What do you think? Is this shoe Hot, or Not? Cast your vote in the interactive poll below by clicking your choice. (And if you’ve got a different take, feel free to create a new option.) You can vote once — but there’s no time limit. (Yes, I go back and check to see how each contender is faring, even months later.)

Plus, if you’ve got the time and opinion, leave a comment at the bottom – everyone who does so by Saturday, July 26, will be entered into a drawing to win a bottle of Barrels of Root Beer shampoo/shower gel/bubble bath from Philosophy. Good luck!  UPDATE: Congratulations to BBx, whose comment was chosen as the winner.

ammit

ammit

WHAT SAM WORE: 7/8/08
The shirt: Long-sleeved cotton button-down (J Crew)
The pants: Distressed khakis by Chip & Pepper (Last Chance)
The shoes: Chukka boots by R.J. Cole (Last Chance)
The scent: None.
Listening to: “Go to Hell” by David Ford — still. (YouTube video at link)

sammi