From our team here at PurseBlog, we wish you and your families a wonderful and magical Christmas and hope you enjoy this time with your loved ones.

So what did Santa drop off his sleigh for you this year?

The fashion world’s calendar confuses me. We are bundling up for all the cold weather and we haven’t even passed Thanksgiving, yet resort collections are slowly trickling into the stores. This only makes sense if you live in a tropical climate and I am certain that NYC does not qualify as that. However, while I may be confused, I still love seeing the bright colors and new arrivals hit Net-A-Porter.com.

New arrivals this Monday include inviting yellow bags from Burberry and Marc Jacobs along with a green Reed Krakoff bag that I adore.

Shop new arrivals at Net-A-Porter.com now!

Every single year, I anxiously await the unveiling of the Neiman Marcus Christmas Book. For as long as I can remember, I stare at the catalog and dream of being able to “win” each out-of-this world package that the store has put together. Some years have wowed me more than others, and while the overall offerings this year are not my favorite to date, I would be totally smitten with the Dream Folly Fantasy Gift.

Blame it on the extravagant engagement party we witnessed for Pandora on this week’s Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, but who doesn’t want an 18-foot-diameter yurt filled with the most luxurious and inviting linens?

Never mind the fact that I don’t have a place to put this yurt… I just want it. I want a massively large yard that has this serene place hidden in the back corner for me when I need a little break. I would love this. I would adore it. And this Wednesday, I totally want it.

Via Neiman Marcus for $75,000.

That being said, I put on my best maxi dress and headed to watch the QuickSilver Pro New York surf competition on Long Island with some friends this past weekend, because who can turn down a trip to the beach on the last weekend of summer? Of all outdoor places, the beach has always been my favorite. But since I’m not much of a weekend warrior, my preparations for a day outside were…insufficient. For the next six months, everyone’s going to be able to tell what kind of handbag I carried this weekend.

I could have sworn I bought a bottle of sunscreen at the beginning of summer. If I did, I have no idea what I did with it, but I couldn’t find it on Sunday morning when I was scrambling to make it to Penn Station on time. (Mornings, like the outdoors, are another thing to which I’m ill-suited.) “That’s fine,” I thought. “New York is full of drug stores! I’ll go to the Duane Reade next to my subway stop.” Except, naturally, that’s the only Duane Reade I’ve ever encountered that’s not open 24 hours. I went into the K-Mart at Penn Station, but inexplicably, it only sold clothes. It’s been a minute since I’ve been inside a K-Mart, but most of them sell toiletries, right?

And so that’s how I ended up on Long Beach with no sunscreen, a strapless maxi dress and a crossbody purse. I managed to stay inside or shaded most of the day, but my skin is very fair and total coverage is impossible at the beach. Surveying the damage the day after, one thing is very apparent: Don’t wear a crossbody bag when you’re going to be outside all day. Perhaps those of you who are more acquainted with such activities learned this long ago, but I now have a stripe of pale skin running diagonally across my sunburnt chest.

So ladies, take note. It might be too late in the season to prevent your own crossbody-related problems, but it’s never too early to prepare for next summer. A backpack, a tote bag, one of those big things made out of woven hard plastic that has to be carried be hand – almost any bag you can think of will lead to less sunburn embarrassment than a crossbody at the beach. Learn from my mistakes, because my tans fade slowly and I’ll have my stripe for six months. Although I suppose that if anyone were to be semi-permanently marked by her handbags, it’s appropriate that it was me. As far as I can tell, my problem can only be solved by wearing that same bag every day to fill the gap, but luckily, I have it in two colors.

To be perfectly honest with you, I never thought this day would come. Megs and I have been obsessing over nail polish for months (seriously, I’ve amassed about 200 polishes since spring), and we’ve been trying to find a good way to somehow connect it back to handbags so that we could share our obsession with you guys. Thanks to Essie, we’ve finally found a link!

Essie’s Fall 2011 nail polish collection is called Carry On, and all six shades are based on the color palette commonly found in midcentury handbag design. It’s a little Mad Men, a little contemporary, and a whole lot of fun.

I grabbed three of these colors as soon as I saw them for sale: “Power Clutch,” which is a dark grey that’s much darker in person than in this press photo; “Carry On,” a deep red-undertoned purple-wine color; and “Very Structured,” which is kind of a rusty orange-tan. I’ve tried the first two and they’re both absolutely beautiful; I’d recommend the grey in particular.

As far as the handbag connection goes, I think Essie did an excellent job choosing colors that fit the accessories of the era. In fact, I’d be thrilled to death if more companies would make grey and aubergine bags, they’re two of my favorite cold-weather fashion shades.

So, since it’s Friday and it’s the end of summer and we’re probably all feeling a little loose and distracted right now, let’s talk about this: Have you caught the nail bug lately?

You can buy the polishes at your local Ulta. Or if you’re NYC, Ricky’s has their displays out for the collection!

Colorblocking. Every fashion magazine and fashion lover has been both talking about and sporting this trend for the last few months. Funny thing is, we have all done it with many of our outfits before, yet right now the focus is on extreme lines and colors paired together in an eye-catching way. Many designers in the handbag world have taken a stab and many have failed (remember the Chloe mess we shared earlier this week?). If you are looking for a handbag designer to turn to for the perfectly colorblocked bag, Meredith Wendell is your girl.

I’ve had this bag saved in my tabs list for over a month now meaning to share it with you. I adore the school boy coloring and design of the Meredith Wendell Bucket Leather and Canvas Shoulder Bag.

In fact, when I first saw this bag I felt a pang of nostalgia. While growing up, I had a watch that featured the exact same color family. That watch was my pride and joy, I wore it everywhere and was certain it was THE.COOLEST.WATCH. anyone in my school possessed.

Part of my love comes from that and part comes from the sheer awesomeness of this bag. How often have you seen colors this bright and vivid paired together in a handbag? And if you have seen them, I bet that more likely than not, they looked like a hot mess. But not on Meredith Wendell’s creation. On her bag, the colors are beautiful, playful and utterly chic. On top of it all, the triple-pocket interior structure is totally functional. This indigo, blue and red pairing is exclusive to Net-A-Porter for $795.

Happy 235th Birthday America!! We are celebrating the 4th of July by eating anything red, white, and blue and spending time with friends. Also, I have spent most of the day watching solider homecoming videos which inevitably leads to never-ending tears of happiness (watch this video and tell me it doesn’t make you sob).

Both Amanda and I have turned nail polish obsessed and I have been looking forward to my 4th of July manicure for a few weeks now. Here is how I am wearing red, white, and blue today alongside my white Hermes Kelly Longue. How are you wearing America’s colors and spending your 4th?

Not even going to lie, I am not emotionally involved in this Super Bowl XLV game at all. So of course it is the commercials that I look forward to. Otherwise, the only thing I can bring up is team colors. We have the Pittsburgh Steelers, whose colors are black and gold, versus the Green Bay Packers, whose colors are green and gold.

And team colors brings me to handbags that could work for either team you are rooting for. Here are my six picks for Super Bowl XLV.

If you are rooting for the Green Bay Packers, I love both of these green bags:

Yves Saint Laurent Oversized Muse | $1,650 via Net-A-Porter
Proenza Schouler Medium Green PS1 | $1,595 via Net-A-Porter

If you are neutral or just want a bright yellow bags, go with either of these bags:

Fendi Forever Mama Leather Flap Bag | $1,400 via Nordstrom
Nancy Gonzalez Chain-Strap Shoulder Bag | $2,950 via Neiman Marcus

And if you are rooting for the Pittsburgh Steelers, I love both of these black bags:

Olivia Harris Fur Round Satchel | $595 via Neiman Marcus
Chloe Marcie Small Leather Cross-body Bag | $680 via Net-A-Porter

Thousands of PurseBlog readers submitted their votes and now the results are in!

Balenciaga and Coach take the crown as our readers’ favorites for 2010. Honorable mentions are Chanel and Bottega Veneta, as well as Treesje and Alexander Wang, who took 4th and 5th in the premier and contemporary designer categories respectively.

Thanks to everyone who voted, we are looking forward to next year’s awards and will be following the upcoming designs of this year closely!

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