Snow days aren't as exciting when you're not in school. . .

I'm back in the midwest now to spend the holidays at home, and a few days ago, I was dying for some snow. Now, seven inches later, I'm sort of regretting the wish. What's a girl to do when there's nothing to do? My house doesn't exactly provide a myriad of activities, and while Christmas money is burning a hole in my pocket, I'm not in the mood to get into a car crash today, so that leaves me with few options.

"But Principessa," you're certainly saying at this point, "have you forgotten about your favorite online boutiques? Surely you haven't browsed the whole sale section of shopbop.com? And the same must go for net-a-porter. . ." Well, actually I have seen a lot of what's on sale at net-a-porter, and that's the problem: without the benefit of trying things on, I can't make up my mind about what to buy.

I'm crazy about this Stella McCartney dress, but at $334, if I get it, it's the only thing I'll get.

This Marc Jacobs dress is a better buy, but as a college student, where would I wear it? It's a touch formal for keggers.

This Diane Von Furstenburg dress is perfectly practical and perfectly cute, and I'm pretty sure that I would wear it enough to make it worth the $178 price tag, but that's almost the problem; it's so practical that it's just not much fun.

The perfect medium seems to be this Paul & Joe sister dress. It's casual but daring, but it might be just a little too much so. I have to reign myself in a little, because London is just a little more fashionably daring than my school is. What's cute in London is sometimes avant garde to the extreme over here.

Then again, maybe I won't bother with toning it down. Because, like the black dress or a dull snow day, where's the fun in that?

Silk and satin--mmmmm...

For a New Year's outfit this year, there are two words on my mind: juicy and shiny. The runways have provided pieces to fit those words this year, so options abound, and what better way to ring in '07 than with S/S '07's looks? I can't wait to put something together. For those of you who aren't quite as sure what 'juicy and shiny' means but are intriguied nonetheless, read on for examples.

A good example of both would be this (Prada--but you folks at home might want to skip the headwrap):

Or this (Lanvin):

You can get a cheaper option at Bebe:

Or, if you'd rather do a smaller punch of saturated satin, an accessory is a good choice (Lanvin):

Hell, as long as we're on the topic of 'juicy,' why not try this? (Lancome):

But definitely steer clear of this:

And, for all you happy folks back in the UK, top it all off with a pair of Topshop's patent flats. Man, I'm glad I snagged a pair before I left.

Whaaaaat?

This is what happens when you move out of the US for three and a half months--you don't hear that the Sex in the City movie is, in fact, on its way until promotional shots are already littering the internet. Personally, I think that New York Magazine's Predictions are spot on.

Actually, I heard that the reason that the movie wasn't going to happen originally was that Kim Cattrall insisted that they all get paid as much as SJP (not an entirely unfair suggestion), and wouldn't do the movie on any other terms. So, either everyone's getting paid a star salary, or Kim and company will be rather sulky. One way or another, we might be seeing some real tension in an otherwise very fake movie.

Marc Jacobs

. . . is a pigeon.