GIVEAWAY And Designer Spotlight: $100 to SHOPBOP GIVEAWAY and Rachel Roy

I am so excited to present my readers with the biggest giveaway I have been able to feature yet:
$100 to Shopbop!!

ShopBop carries so many amazing products and designers.
It is one of my favorite places to hit up all my favorite designers.
Some of my favorite designers include
Rachel Roy:

Rag and Bone:

and
Les Chiffonier:

They also always have a fabulous selection of
on sale items at Shopbop.com.

What will you spend the $100 on?

To enter:

Please leave comment in this post about:

What you would spend the $100 Gift card to Shopbop on?

One commenter will be chosen at random.

This giveaway is open to USA* and International Readers.
*Closed to Pennsylvania readers
(No, not because the Giants are about to play the Phillies, unfortunately that is what was required by the Sponsor)

For additional entries you may:

1. Follow my blog via blogger, Google Reader, Feedburner or bloglovin and leave a message that you became a follower of Ambersnotebook (if you already a follower please leave an additional comment stating this).

2. Tweet about @Ambersnotebook's $100 Shopbop giveaway
*Please be sure to include @Ambersnotebook (so I count your tweet as a entry) and the giveaway link

3.Become a fan of Amber's Notebook on Facebook and leave a comment stating this.

4.Mention this giveaway on your blog with the corresponding giveaway link, then leave a comment in this thread with the link to your blog post.

*Please leave additional comments for any of the additional ways to enter.

You have until Thursday October 21st at Midnight PST to enter.
Good luck!!

THANK YOU AND GOOD LUCK!

Things I love: Rainbow Bright

So as positive as I have been while being sick I have to tell you there is a seed of bitterness planted in my thoughts. You see this weekend should be my birthday weekend. And I was planning on making it one of the Giants vs A's game this weekend, bbqing it up while watching the World Cup and having blog themed birthday get together in order to celebrate. I was even in talks with DC productions to help plan my night but let's just say after all that transgressed the all party plans got put on hold. I was particularly excited to to celebrate my Birthday because last year I was overseas in Beijing for my birthday and the year before that, Casey was in Iraq during my birthday. So this year I was looking forward to celebrating at home with my family and loved ones.

Clearly whatever I do for my birthday will now be low key. And throw in the possible cancellation of my Europe trip and my sprouting seeds of bitterness are hard to squash at times. During one of these down moments I turned to my loyal old friend to pick me right back up and remind me of all the things I have to be grateful and thankful for.

Good old Shopbop, you never let me down. Since I was down I needed something bright and cheerful to pick me up and I may or may not have purchased this pick me up dress that reminded me of a grown up Rainbow Brite dress. I am almost certain if we revisited Rainbow Brite as an adult she would be rocking a more subtle version of her Rainbow colored frock and would be partial to Alice and Olivia dresses like this or this dress. Any dress that reminds me of my childhood is a must buy in my book. And this Rainbow Brite plush doll and this awesome Rainbow Brite house/case were some of my favorite toys, you know when I wasn't playing with my Barbies.

My First Rainbow Brite dress, a Halloween costume made by Mom, that was worn much more often then just on Halloween.

24 years later I am waiting on the grown up version to arrive.

Yay for the 80's, Dresses the make me smile and writing blog posts that turn my mood around.

How I shop: Always on The Hunt

I know a lot of readers liked My We the Free Ebb and FLow cardigan when I wore it so I have been keeping my eye out for it to pop back up. I adore this cardigan, it is one of those pieces you can easily throw on and still look put together. The ruffles are perfect, the back has a nice taper almost a peplum to it and it is very figure friendly. So when I saw it was back I wanted to alert you all. Nordstrom, Bloomingdales and ShopBop have it in a striped version, while Singer 22 has a black non stripe version.

I may have to snag this grey version for myself. This color is is available at ShopBop.

Singer 22 has it in black, as seen on Ashley Tisdale.

And on me:
Let me know if you end up getting one =)

How I shop: I Need a Winn-Dixie bag Full of Money Right Now

Before I shop I like to compile wish lists. I search around and save items I like. Making a list reminds me of what things I like, helps focus me and also sometimes it stops me from making impulse purchases. I am trying to hold off from spring shopping as long as I can because I want to stick to pieces I can wear now or absolutely have to have. In the past I have shopped seasons too early and I either don't wear some of the items, or sometimes they go on sale before I even wear them, uggh!Compiling a wish list also allows me to look for alternative pieces at a lower price points. Those items give the same effect that I am looking for but allow me to spend more in other areas.. Here is a peak into my spring wish list. I plan on sharing more items I have to have weekly, in a Wants of the Week section, an idea J (from the Look 4 Less ) suggested!

2010 Spring Wish List

A perfect tunic.
A hot party dress.
An easy to wear floral blouse.
A fun spring dress. LOVE this one!
A versatile crochet top.
A cardigan that isn't boring or typical.
Statement jewelry pieces, that make a plain white tee look great.
And a go to bag, no fuss here.
Wedges that I can rock with many outfits.

All Images are from shopbop.com, and you can click the pictures to be linked to the items.

And a few of my articles on up coming trends and my pick for each trend assymetric dress, bright colors and the new look for ponchos.

How I Shop: Shop Bop's Ultimate closet

ShopBop.com is not only one of my favorite online boutiques but it is also a wonderful place for style inspiration. One of my favorite features they have is their ShopBop ultimate closet, where they take 14 pieces and make 12 amazing outfits out of them. I ALWAYS love them! I find myself saving the outfit pictures and often purchasing some of the featured items. Unfortunately their ultimate closet will run you close to $4000, quite a steep price. But they do have some great pieces and clearly I am not alone as to loving this season's ultimate closet which was released yesterday and three pieces have already sold out. Here is how I tackle ShopBop's ultimate closet.

Step 1: I check out the collection, they have GREAT stylist over there.

Image From Shopbop.com
Step 2: I check out the pieces and think of what pieces I have in my closet already which could serve as similar pieces.Step 3:Then I go and look for look for similar items at lower price points. I'm sure The Look For Less, Chloe or Kara could have found much better pieces then me but I tried!
I purchased this Vest from urban outfitters on sale for $19.99. I figure I can dye it black if I am not a fan of the color but I preferred this material to fake leather and for Twenty bucks I figured it was a steal. Image From urbanoutfitters.com
And I also purchased this dress from urban to replaces ShopBop's sold out striped dress. I have this dress in black and I love it!Image From urbanoutfitters.com
I couldn't find great scarf replacement for the sold out Twelfth Street By Cynthia Vincent scarf but I was looking into possibly combining these two scarfs for a similar look. Probably not, but I want something bold with fringe like their scarf. Image from Nordstrom.comImage from Forever21.com
Or this Tolani Cape that my friend Brittany has could serve as replacement scarf.
Step 4: I purchase pieces that I find versatile enough to purchase. So now the pieces I think I am going to spring for are the following:
Both pieces are ones that I can see interchanging in a variety of outfits, which too me makes it great pieces to purchase.
Image From Shopbop.com
And some of the looks I love and hope to recreate! Image From Shopbop.com
Image From Shopbop.com
Image From Shopbop.com
Image From Shopbop.com