bunnyshop shopping fashion blog

Jocasi Update On This Very Chill Holiday Week - Plus Sale of the Day

Okay! So our Jocasi contest, despite a few procedural hiccups, is moving along swiftly. We were just looking for something fun to do with our regular audience - apparently the deal in summer is that people are like, Fuck the Internet, I'm going outside, except for a few places that they already visit - so we thought this would be a fun way to chat about random things and give a super nice bag to a regular reader. We have three questions up, and again, the winner will be determined not, like usual around here, at random, but by the highest number of comments under the post. We'll be Digging them and everything and passing them around - there's only a few comments separating the leaders, so rallying a couple friends could make the difference!

Promotion. We are so not promoters. But we try to share the love. The entrants, thus far:

If you had your dream body what you would you buy immediately to wear and why do you think you can’t wear it now?

What are your top three beauty "sins"?

If you could pick just one, what would be your all time favorite article of clothing or accessory ... and do you still have it?

We beg you to ignore Nicky Hilton above and focus on the poorly photographed dress, which is great. Karta dress, was $225, now $150

Jocasi Giveaway Fabulousness!

The Jocasi reader mail contest continues. In brief: You email us a question (with the word "Jocasi" in the subject for easy sorting, perhaps), we run it here, and the best question—measured in this one instance by the number of comments it receives—wins a fabulous Jocasi bag. (Not exactly this one pictured.)

Today's question:

If you had your dream body what you would you buy immediately to wear and why do you think you can’t wear it now?

J.

We will answer that we would buy knee socks. We may just go buy them anyway, right this minute! This is a very complicated question, we're thinking. Answer! And let's get J. on her way to the Jocasi bag.

Above: the Jersey bag, was about $220, now about $110

Our Amazing New Contest - Sponsored by Jocasi!

Oh goodness! Here it is, the contest we've been waiting to debut for ages. The amazing folks at Jocasi are sponsoring it—which means they gave us one of their gorgeous bags to give away. We love Jocasi so much we have no fewer than five in the BS HQ—they could hardly be more awesome. We would likely be capable of more effusion if the washing machine in the apartment we're staying in this weekend hadn't been cycling for literally six hours, but here we are.

Anyway, it'll work like this. There are only going to be ten entries. You get an entry by sending us a Reader Mail question. The bag will go to the person whose question gets the most responses in the comments section. (We'll be making sure that there's only one comment per person, not that we think any member of the Bunnyshop community would consider doing that.) We hope this isn't as confusing \ convoluted as our contests usually are.

Today, we begin with this question, from LA:

 

If you could pick just one, what would be your all time favorite article of clothing or accessory ... and do you still have it?
 
  Thanks!
  LA
 
  (mine is a silver cuff bracelet, that I received as a gift over 10 years ago, and I still wear it all the time. I think it is timeless ... and it makes me feel like Wonder Woman.)

LA is now entered for the contest. We'll be running a new Reader Mail question each day, and then we'll give this gorgeous bag to the reader who came up with the best question—"best" in this case measured by the number of comments. Send us your questions—and definitely let us know your answer to LA's question, below. Very important last thing: Definitely put "Jocasi" in your subject line—otherwise we'll think they're garden-variety reader mail.

Above: the Jocasi Montana, about $170

The Winner of Our Recipe \ Cape Madras Contest - and the Next Amazing One!

Chosen at random... it's the haloumi cheese salad from Sara!

Once more:

3-4 tomatoes, chopped
2 spring onions, chopped
1-2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 chili, sliced
1 cup orzo/risoni pasta, boiled OR 6-7 small fresh summer potatoes
one bag of rucket
1 can of beans (red or borlotti)
1 cucumber
1/4 cup lightly roasted pine nuts
1/2 cup kalamata olives (or any type of olives you like)
1 haloumi cheese, sliced and fried until golden in olive oil
Lemon juice from one lemon, to squeeze over the salad
3-4 tablespoons of olive oil
sea salt and pepper

Mix and add the lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. ENJOY!

We're guessing the "rucket" is "rocket," which is (as far as we can tell) British for arugula. We will get Sara to clarify.

Now, the new contest. All we will say at this point is that it is SPONSORED BY JOCASI which is A-number one exciting! To get to the contest, we need the best reader mail question of all time—a question that everyone can answer (what's your favorite color, etc., but better). Send us a question here and it'll count as your entry.

More Eco Ideas

We got so many awesome responses to our eco contest that we've decided to post as many as we can. We can't post every response from every reader, but we did try to post at least a part of every response from everyone. We're really encouraged by what our readers are doing, and we figured that if we learned new things while reading them, we should POST them so everyone can learn! Does that make any sense? We just ate so much fruit cup that we are having trouble with basic sentences. Anyhoo.

In no particular order:

I am saving and reusing the glass spaghetti sauce jars as candle holders – as seen for about $20 in crate & barrel.

Not buying water in plastic bottles, instead making my own lemon and mint
and tap water mixture in a mason jar. [can we just say we are so trying this when we go home?]

Instead of buying plastic jars for storage I've been saving glass jam
jars.

Trying to bring an extra tote with me shopping or not getting an
unnecessary bag.

My next goal is to stop buying things with tons of plastic packaging.

I'm becoming more eco-friendly by doing as much food shopping as I can at my weekly local green market.

Replacing my lightbulbs w/ CFLs and LEDs.

Use canvas bags for all shopping

Reuseable cloths for cleaning or washing dishes (take that, sponges)

Biking everywhere

Reuseable containers for lunch, etc

Composting!

We're not having children. No diapers  or big wheels going to landfill but, more importantly, we're not adding  extra people to use resources and leave carbon footprints.

Keeping reusable shopping bags in my home, office, and purse so I'm never without one when I need it. I try to avoid plastic & paper shopping bags as much as I possibly can.

I've moved to cleaning my entire house exclusively with vinegar, coarse salt, baking soda, and dr. bronner's sal suds. they work great and i don't miss the chemicals at all. I'm trying to keep my roommates on board with this as well.

Buying lots of my food items in bulk, and reusing the containers for them

Shopping for most of my produce at local farmers' markets

Nagging everyone about recycling

Washing dishes with as little water as possible

Using Freecycle or Craigslist instead of throwing things out. I've found that there's almost always someone who can use even the weirdest things.

I bought a sigg, compost, take back bottles, use canvas shopping bags,
and read magazines at the library instead of subscribing.

I rehomed the bike that was too tall for me to ride comfortably
and which i never rode and rescued another old bike from my friend's
dusty garage, cleaned it up and now use it as my primary mode of
transportation instead of my car. This year, I've filled up my gas tank 4 times. FOUR!

I fixed my motorcycle. now, on the occasions when I can't use the
PATH train to get into manhattan (line being closed, or I'm crunched
for time), I can ride my motorcycle instead of taking my car.

I am a runner and am very fitness-minded. I was very close to
joining a gym this past fall. ultimately, I opted out -- not so much
due to the expense (my health insurance helps out with gym fees) but
because I realized that running on a treadmill is a) unnecessary and
b) therefore wastes energy.

I've modified my diet to be much greener.

  Iquit using the driers at the laundromat to completely dry all my
clothes. I wash with cold water, then do one 8-minute drier cycle.
then I lug everything home and hang it up to line-dry on the line I
strung up all zig-zaggy across my fire-escape.

I've been using a diva cup (reusable menstrual cup) for 5 years
now. see ya, pads!

I am becoming more ecofriendly by only driving to and from work and biking everywhere else i need to go!

Picking garbage with friends in park (self organized)

Double side print everything

I’m re-using (bonus points?) my mom’s old road bike from the 70’s to commute to work.

I live in

New York

so I live in a very small studio (about 250 sq feet) which requires less electricity to keep the lights on and heat the place.

We keep whatever our curbside recycling doesn't pick up and my
husband takes it to the university where he teaches and recycles it at
their facility.

We had rain sensors installed in our irrigation system, so it won't
water our yard if it has recently rained or is currently raining (I am
baffled by this whenever I see it, especially when it's at a
city-owned property).

I don't use drive-throughs anymore.

Even though we live in

Florida

, we leave our thermostat at 78 or
higher to save energy.

 I use old-fashioned cloth dish towels (the kind that you hem) in lieu of paper towels

I use the disposable bamboo plates sold by Greenfeet and thrift-store-gathered cutlery instead of plastic for picnics – the bamboo plates are always a major hit and have now caught on with other families and friends

I do not purchase food or drinks in single-serving-sizes and otherwise try not to patronize companies that use egregiously excessive packaging

I read my favorite publications in online format only, if available, and otherwise patronize the library

Started recycling at parties - when I'd ask for the recycling location, I got told to just throw my can or bottle away. That didn't sit well, so I just created a recycling bin at parties I'd go to, or family gatherings!

Trying to be conscientious about buying local and in season.

See? We told you guys you were amazing. Keep it up!

-LB

We Have A Winner!

Holy COW. We were absolutely floored by how many responses we got for our Baggu/going green contest - and by how amazing the answers were. It reminded us that no matter how much we may think we're doing, we can always do more. Here's an excerpt from the winning email:

Well, while being green is nothing new to me and my
mom (she's been doing it as long as I can remember) we
recently started an organic garden company. It is a
natural alternative to chemlawn type businesses and
uses microbes to enrich and neutralize your soil.
We've been touring the grrenfests lately selling our
products and offering our services.
In our own home we do the normal things - engery
saving bulbs, all recycled paper, homemade food for
the dog and cats, and no beauty products with
synthetics - but we've also recently converted most of
the electricity we use from wind or solar power (which
has been pretty neat) and built an organic rooftop
vegetable garden that is almost completely
self-sufficient. It doesn't need fertilizer because of
the restored microbial life and my uncle built a
system that stores excess rainwater for later use.
I've really never had more delicious strawberries ever.
EVER.

Congrats to Kate from Chicago for blowing our mind! Send us your mailing address here and we'll send it to the folks at Baggu! We loved the responses we got, and we're totally inspired. We learned you guys are recycling old bikes from your parents, shaping the minds of kids, breaking up with significant others who aren't green minded, not using treadmills, using as many reusable bags as you can possibly carry, taking mass transit, and even not having kids - all with the environment in mind. So, so completely awesome and inspiring.

You've inspired us so much we're going to go buy more Baggu bags right now - remember, enter BUNNY at the coupon section (after you add 6 bags and a storage sack to your cart), and get free standard shipping!

Thanks to everyone who entered! You made us very, very proud and inspired!

-LB

Last Day of our Baggu Contest!

Enter by telling us how you're becoming more eco-friendly. Doesn't matter how minor you think it is, send it in! Send it here! We'll announce the winner this afternoon (3pm EST is what we're aiming for), and Baggu will send you things! And if you want to start/increase/do more green things, go to Baggu, buy 6 bags, a storage sack, and then enter Bunny in the coupon field and huzzah! Free standard shipping!

-LB

Green Contest!

Don't forget to enter our green contest that Baggu  has been kind enough to sponsor (they're also offering a special reader discount - buy 6 bags, and a storage sack, then enter Bunny in the coupon field! Instant free standard shipping!)! Send us how you've become more eco-friendly and we'll enter you into our contest. Winner will be announced on Friday, and Baggu will send them a prize! We love prizes!

-LB

Last Call for the Cape Madras Contest

We just want to be sure you've sent in your favorite summer recipe, because (a) we are starving and (b) it is the only way—at least as far as we know—to win this adorable mini skirt from Cape Madras. We swear, this is the last time we're asking. Send it here!

Above: the mini mini skirt from Cape Madras, $88

We Just Want To Be Sure

- Have you seen the Great iTunes Playlist Spectacular—and even better, sent us yours?

- And have you, we hope and pray, sent us your favorite summer recipe—because if you have, you could win this adorable madras mini-skirt from Cape Madras!

A New Contest With Cape Madras!

Yay! A new contest! The lovely people at Cape Madras have generously provided us with one of their awesome mini mini skirts to give to some lucky person in the BS community. To enter, all you need to do is email us your favorite summer recipe. (We will be sharing all of them, obvs.) Winner chosen at random. Send them in! We are dying to know what they are. Perfect summer skirt, perfect summer meal, etc.

Above: the mini mini skirt from Cape Madras, $88

The Great Summer Mini-Skirt \ Recipe Extravaganza: An Orange Smoothie

The last recipe for the day! From M.:

I hope you're thirsty. Instead of sodas, in addition to lemonade, we drink this orange smoothie lots.

1 cup milk
1 cup ice water
6 oz can of frozen OJ
buncha ice cubes (8-12)
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 cup sugar

pour into blender and blend for 2 minutes

yum. yum. yum.

That's it for now! Don't miss part one or two, if you're so inclined.

And finally: the cropped pants, $92

The Great Summer Mini-Skirt \ Recipe Extravaganza: Orange & Cucumber Salad

This recipe is from A.—or see the next one, here.

This is the most refreshing, lovely summer salad. We've served it at two dinner parties, and everybody raved about it. It's from Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan. Oh, and it's about the easiest thing to make.

Orange & Cucumber Salad
1 cucumber
3 oranges
6 small red radishes
Fresh mint leaves
Salt
Extra virgin olive oil
Freshly squeezed juice of one lemon

1. If the cucumber is waxed or has a thick skin, peel it. If not, scrub under cold running water. Slice the cucumber into very thin disks and put them on a serving platter.
2. Peel the oranges, removing the pith as well as the skin. Cut the oranges into thin slices, pick out any seeds, and add to the platter with the cucumbers.
3. Cut off and discard leafy tops from the radishes, and wash the radishes in cold water. Without peeling, slice into thin disks and add to the platter.
4. Wash half a dozen small mint leaves, tear into 2 or 3 pieces each, and sprinkle over the oranges, cucumbers, and radishes.
5. Add salt, olive oil, and lemon juice. Toss thoroughly to coat well, and serve at once.

The next post is here—and above, bermuda shorts, $90

The Great Summer Mini-Skirt \ Recipe Extravaganza: Haloumi Cheese Salad

This recipe is from S.—or see the next one.

Hi, this is my favourite summer recipe: haloumi cheese salad.

3-4 tomatoes, chopped
2 spring onions, chopped
1-2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 chili, sliced
1 cup orzo/risoni pasta, boiled OR 6-7 small fresh summer potatoes
one bag of rucket
1 can of beans (red or borlotti)
1 cucumber
1/4 cup lightly roasted pine nuts
1/2 cup kalamata olives (or any type of olives you like)
1 haloumi cheese, sliced and fried until golden in olive oil
Lemon juice from one lemon, to squeeze over the salad
3-4 tablespoons of olive oil
sea salt and pepper

Mix and add the lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. ENJOY!

Can we say we recently had fried haloumi cheese for the first time, and it is maybe the most delicious thing we have tasted in our entire life. Seriously. We cannot say enough about it.

The next recipe is here—and above, the Twenty One skirt, $88

The Great Summer Mini-Skirt \ Recipe Extravaganza: Beetastic Summer Salad!

This recipe is from D.—or see the next one.

I'm really bad at measurements, so I hope listing the ingredients in order of their abundance is good enough.

salad recipe (listed in order of abundance):
watercress
sliced cucumber
boiled beets, sliced
sliced fennel root
hearts of romaine
chèvre (crumble on top)
cilantro

dressing (in order of abundance):
olive oil (you probably want a 2/3 ratio of vinegar to oil)
rice wine vinegar (you can substitute with another vinegar if you prefer one that's not as sweet)
lemon juice
sesame oil
pepper
oregano
marjoram
paprika
ground mustard seed
salt

I put all of the ingredients into a mason jar and shake shake shake shake it.

Honestly, this looks delicious. The next recipe is here. And above, short-shorts, $88

The Great Summer Mini-Skirt \ Recipe Extravaganza: Spinach Dip

This recipe is from L.—or see the next one.

I’m sure there are better recipes out there that have less fat and sound less disgusting than this one, but trust me, my spinach dip is great. I’ve gotten good reviews. Also, because it’s summer, things should be easy, so all of my ingredients are approximations. You can add more or less if you need to and feel like a real chef.

1 package frozen chopped spinach
1 to 1.5 cups mayo (I use miracle whip!)
2 packages (or so) shredded cheese (I use the ones that have a mixture of Colby, Monterey jack and Cheddar
Optional: chopped, drained artichoke hearts. I used to make the recipe with them, but then forgot them one day and left them out. Recipe is still good.

Pre-heat oven to 350.
Defrost the spinach.
Mix the spinach with the mayo and 1.5 bags of shredded cheese. (With artichoke hearts, if you want to.)
Spread the mixture into a casserole bowl.
Sprinkle the remainder of the cheese on top of the mixture.
Melt the cheese and ingredients in the oven for about 20 minutes.

Voila! Dip! Serve with chips, crackers, pita bread, whatever. Easy.

We are very excited about this one. For the next recipe, click here, and above, the fun skirt, $88 

The Great Summer Mini-Skirt \ Recipe Extravaganza: Beverage

Our next recipe—a brief one, from M.:

1/3 fresh squeezed lemonade
2/3 sparkling water.
chilled.
super chilled.

sip.

For the next recipe, click here. And above: Pearl's dress, $126

The Winner of the American Style Icon Contest!

We hope you got to take a look through the American Style Icon Contest! We actually had a sponsor for this one, and a celebrity judge: Amanda Charlwood, the face, as they say, of the fragrance:

Ralph Wild fragrance, $45

And now for the winner—and can we say, we think Amanda's pick was an excellent one. Click here!

Your Top 25 Playlists!

We've been getting loads of these, but we admit, we want more: Send us a screenshot of your top 25 iTunes playlist (as suggested by the brilliant Melissa). We'll show all of them next week (include any disclaimers, as below) and pick at random someone to get copies of all our favorite albums at the moment—Lupe Fiasco, Miranda Lampert, Dashboard Confessional, and a bunch more. We're celebrating spring, music, and the fact that our CD burner is working again.

Above: our top 25. It is totally aggravating us that our iPod's play counts are making the cut here, because we stopped using iTunes about a year ago—ergo all that Modest Mouse. (So summer of 2005!)

Anyway—send us yours!

The American Style Icon Contest

Just wondering if you've had a chance to check out our mammoth portfolio of American style icon contenders, sponsored by Ralph Lauren and their lovely new Ralph Wild fragrance?

They're all here.

The American Style Icon Contest

We just want to be sure you've seen our portfolio of finalists for the Bunnyshop American style icon contest, sponsored by Ralph Lauren and their lovely new Ralph Wild fragrance. Can you believe we have sponsors? Us, neither.

Anyhoo: Here it is.

The American Style Icon Contest Portfolio!

And so! We have our finalists for the American style icon contest: Last week (and the week before) everybody voted for their favorite American style icon—with the best suggestion winning the suggester the new Ralph Wild fragrance! We had an outside party cull to ten, and now we're showcasing them—with the winner to be chosen by Amanda Charlwood, the official face of the fragrance, will choose her favorite! Many layers here.

Without further ado, this begins our little showcase of finalists.

We open with our favorite, though we're not choosing the winner, so a big whatev to that:

From CR:

I vote for Lee Miller. Model, surrealist muse, photojournalist. Always looked gorgeous—on the cover of Vogue, in Man Ray's nudes, and in fatigues covering the liberation of Dachau and Buchenwald.

Don't miss, as CR suggested, this slideshow of Miller at work.

The next entry!

The Last Day to Enter the American Style Icon Contest and Win!

So yes! Today is the last day of the American style icon contest. Tell us yours, win a bottle of the super new and super excellent Ralph Wild fragrance! We're picking the best tomorrow, and the winner will be decided by a celebrity guest, hurrah!

And we say: Audrey Hepburn carried a British passport. Bizarre-oh!

Last Day for Contest Entries!

Did you pick? We're not nagging; we're just wondering. In short: tell us (by commenting) about your favorite American style icon, and the winner—selected by a celebrity judge!—will win one fabulous new bottle of Ralph Wild, the ultra-summery new fragrance from Ralph Lauren. Easy, peasy!

We add here that we loved this Elle cover with our current pick, Chloe Sevigny.

OMG!

We may have a celebrity judge for our Ralph Wild \\ American icon contest! In short: tell us all about your favorite American style icon, and whoever makes the most convincing case will win a brand-new bottle of the equally brand-new fragrance. We are very excited!

There have been some super-excellent entries already. We originally said our choice was Grace Kelly, but we may be segueing to Chloe Sevigny. Er, we are not eligible to win, so whatev on that, but: enter by commenting, and we'll have a winner soon!

If you would prefer to just bypass the entire contest thing: above, Ralph Wild fragrance, $59.50

Our Ralph Wild \ American Style Icon Contest Continues!

We are just wondering if you had a chance to enter our American style icon contest? Tell us your fave—good God, we can't believe we've started to use that word—and the winner gets one fabulous sample of the new Ralph Wild fragrance. Also! Go here, they're telling us, and you can enter to win a new Vespa. It's contest madness! But it all ends on Sunday, so hop to it, if you'll excuse the late-in-the-season Easter reference.

Ralph Wild Contest and Reader Mail!

Ooh, we are so mad that stupid Typepad just erased our post. Anyway, in today's Reader Mail:

Dear BS:

I need a new spring style icon. Who's yours?

XO
O.

Well. We held on to this question until it was and actually, until we had a suitable springtime-y contest—which we do! We have one extremely fabulous bottle of Ralph Wild to give away, and we're going to give it to the person who comments the best American style icon—Ralph Lauren, American style icon, you see the connection. We actually sort of love their website because the video footage has images of Route 27 signs, which was our way to the Hamptons before we decided to drop out of society and go to art school. (Oh! Hamptons goodness!) It has "wild strawberries and watermelon," which we're thinking should make it super appropriate for summer, the best of all possible seasons.

To play: Just comment your favorite American style icon by Sunday. Anyone who says Mischa Barton or similar will be disqualified. And of course, there are only so many, so we'll be choosing our winner based on whatever you can say about why you think X should be the official American Bunnyshop Style Icon.

And! Speaking of contests, Facebook people can go here to enter Ralph Wild's contest for a new Vespa.

For now: our vote goes to Grace Kelly. This is totally our look of the summer.

Fred Flare's Next Big Thing and Good On Paper

We are so entering Fred Flare's Next Big Thing contest—the ultra-exciting design contest formerly entered by Jay McCarroll and Amy Sedaris.

From their site:

What is THE NEXT BIG THING?
The NEXT BIG THING is an annual design competition at fredflare.com where we invite our customers to present their creations for possible sale on our website. This year we’re selecting 27 of our favorite items to be featured in an exclusive online boutique that will also include designer bios.

Entries are due May 2. We are just putting the word out. But we will add here that one of the past winners is one of our super favorite designers: Lisa Wong of Good on Paper.

There are loads of things to buy \ love but this is, at the moment, our fave. Bunny notecards, $16 for six

The Most Fashionable Film Winner!

So this was an incredibly close contest—5 to 4 to 3, if we can trust the counting-up we just did on our fingers—but the winner is: Sabrina! It earned our vote as well. This is actually far from the most fashionable moment, but we love it. We totally want to go to this egg-cracking school, by the way.

The Most Fashionable Film Contest!