On Wednesday, I spent the evening with a similarly fashion-oriented coworker at Shecky’s Girls’ Night Out. The two of us arrived about a half hour after it opened and the lines to pick up the tickets for goodie bags and to get your wristband were very long!

Luckily, we snuck right in there due to having VIP tickets. OK, well, I had to wait right behind FOX news. But I guess I’ll live with that. Thanks a lot, Shecky’s!!

The vendors were selling mostly accessories and beauty products or services. My compatriot was looking for a dress but the selection of dresses was fairly limited. It was fun to see a few girls go to a little striped tent and try some things on. There were LOTS of big, sparkly bangles and necklaces, and it was very exciting to see some “green” accessory folks there. Using reclaimed potato chip bags to make purses makes for a definite conversation piece, but there were also bangles made out of bamboo and other renewables that caught my eye, as well as a couple of fair trade vendors.

I did find a top that I liked – it was a corset top made from several different strips of differing fabrics. It would have been fab for going out or pairing with a pair of suit pants, but unfortunately it broke my bank at $580. It looked like a lot of work went into it (which is why I liked it), so I didn’t want to insult the artist by bargaining down to where I was more comfortable. But it was stunning!

And maybe today I’m a bit upset at myself for not trying to bargain. Maybe.

Even though Shecky’s has moved on, you can check out d’marie for their frozen wine. I already own a bag or two for parties so I didn’t buy any, but I love their food and would have bought it if it didn’t already live in my pantry. I’ve seen them at other shows like the One of A Kind Show at the Merchandise Mart in December. Love, love, love.

I did buy some bath fizzies at Bath By Riley. Yay, Etsy! If you are not familiar with Etsy, sort of an eBay for homemade items, definitely wander over there. (Pretty much anything you can think of, and some things you couldn’t, someone’s made it.)

The only downside seemed to be that the vendors lacked energy. This lethargy was also commented on by my companion, so I know I wasn’t imagining it. They didn’t seem happy to be there – not even the bartenders. Come on…unhappy bartenders? I can get that at the corner pub when their nicotine level is low.

I don’t know if the economy has the vendors down, in which case I feel terrible for them, or there was something else going on. I’ve sold in booths before. Usually you start off with some energy on day one, and then rapidly become cynical by the last day, and start hating puppies and kittens and fantasize about tripping people when they walk by and pretend you don’t exist.

So I expected, going on the first day, that there would be some enthusiasm. The only real enthusiasm came from a woman telling me that perhaps I was too fat for my own good and that this product helped her lose 25 pounds. OK, she was selling a weight loss product. But still. Accosting people and implying they need to lose weight…not a good strategy.

I guess I shouldn’t feel too bad because my coworker got accosted by the laser surgery lady. So being “fat", I suppose, is better than feeling like perhaps you need a layer of your skin fried off to look better.

Otherwise it was worth the trip and fun. Having worked retail, I feel kind of bad saying this, but if you are looking for interesting and unique jewelry and/or purses, this is your place – they’ll most likely bargain and you’ll get a good deal.

A Polish colleague once told the Czarina of a New Year’s cultural superstition that has driven us to frenetically find sparkly things to do every New Year’s Eve for the past four years.

This co-worker, during a discussion about parties, innocently said, “We believe that how you spend your New Year’s is how your year will be.”

Right after she reported this interesting fact, the Czarina felt cold – she envisioned 365 days of watching reruns of VH1s “I Love The 90s, Part Deux” and crying for the Lost DotCom Boom while eating stale Nutty Bars in dirty sweatpants and listening to the Small Palace Dog goad the Large Palace Dog into chasing him by biting her ankles.

No, no, no. That will never do. I’m now a hamster on the NYE bling treadmill and I can’t get off. The only way I can feel better about being stuck adhering to a superstition that doesn’t even belong to me is to pass it on to you. Don’t say your monarch never does anything for you!

To get your hamster-life started, I’ve summed up some of the most fun-looking events going on in Chicagoland for NYE. The Czarina’s experience has been that it is essential to make reservations now for the best selection! Feel free to submit your own if you know of any goings-on that meet the foodie/bling/oenophile/fab criteria.

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The Czarina first met Caroline DeVillo when she was looking for an evening gown for the Czar’s Major Birthday. Caroline is passionate about what she does and is “committed to helping brides find the perfect dress.” Those of us who have planned a wedding are used to hearing that kind of dreck to market everything from Waterford to Wellies. However, those of us who have actually met Caroline know that, for at least one bridal dressmaker, it’s true.

Caroline’s studio in Bucktown is cozy. All of her dresses are made locally. One of the best things about working with Caroline is that she can mix and match aspects from her designs to suit the bride’s particular taste and body. There is a dressing area, and directly behind that dressing area is Caroline’s work space. She told the Czarina with due pride that she was expanding the salon and she was going to add evening wear to her collection after previously focusing on bridal alone. Caroline and her assistant were working diligently on an evening collection and three new bridal styles to be shown at Chicago’s Red Hot during Fashion Week on October 11th, 2007. Right now, Caroline has the best sort of challenge for an entrepreneur: she is so busy making dresses she had to hire more help and outsource more of the work so that she could effectively run her business.

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Ah, yes, fancy party planning. Coordinating your very own special event can be fascinating and exciting, or it can be completely miserable. The key to making the experience the former is to be organized, and prepared to ask many, many questions.

When the Czar and Czarina got married, the first thing they did was to sit down and create a list of questions to ask the special event manager at the chosen venue. This list was originally compiled from many different sources, and was later modified from our own experiences as we interviewed over 10 potential sites. We used this checklist not only for our self-coordinated wedding, but also for the Czar’s recent major birthday milestone held here in Chicago at a luxury hotel. Download this free tool (you will need Adobe Reader to view it) and use it as you seek the perfect venue for your perfect special event. There are a few blank lines included so that you can customize the sheet for any other questions relevant to your specific party. Read on for a few extra tips and tricks based on the Czar’s and Czarina’s experiences.

Stylefool Special Event Checklist - download here

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I love Bridal Bargains. The authors, Denise and Alan Fields, make no secret about the fact that they are staunch consumer advocates. They have researched the ins and outs of the bridal industry for over 17 years(!), and their ultimate goal is to enable brides to have the wedding of their dreams while saving money in the process. From page one the authors begin debunking common misperceptions about the Bridal Industrial Complex, including the idea that bridal shops and their ilk are staffed by nice, Belgain lace doily-infatuated, elderly ladies who just want people to be happy and in wuv.

The parts I personally found most helpful while planning my own wedding were the sections about bridal dresses and getting quality invitations for less. In the dress section, the authors grade the designers on the quality of the product and the service associated with that product’s delivery. Other tips are especially helpful in avoiding the Shadow Side of wedding planning. After all, who really expects that their bridal salon will go bankrupt?

Saving on your invitations is wise, because, no matter how much a bride doesn’t want it to be true, invitations to someone else’s wedding wind up in the trash with coffee grounds dumped on top of them. Tossing will happen whether the invitations are engraved or “merely” thermographed. Only your mom keeps them. Really.

A bonus: there is no advertising in Bridal Bargains, and the authors and the publishers make money solely through book purchases. The Czarina wholeheartedly supports such endeavors.