Celebrity Icing Features Favorite Looks for the Winter Olympics

Of course, all of the 1200 torchbearers are celebrities for at least a few minutes, while they participate in the relay. Many of them are already famous in Canada as well, if not the whole world. Everyone knows Wayne Gretzky, but not everyone will be familiar with Sam Sullivan – Vancouver’s former mayor.

Vancouver, British Columbia, is often referred to as ‘Hollywood North’ so it sort of makes sense that they’ve invited 15 international celebrities to carry the Olympic torch during the relay. These celebrities include everyone from the Hollywood governator Arnold Schwarzenegger to Bollywood superstar Akshay Tumar.

Carrot Tops Arnold Schwarzenegger Turn at the Torch Relay

In what could have been a serious international incident, a man dressed up as an organic carrot swooped in and stole the torch away from Schwarzenegger during the relay.

What you didn’t see that on the news? Just kidding, it’s just a funny spoof. He did get mobbed by fans however and it raised some concerns about security…

Shania Twain Fireside Singalong

Canadian singer Shania Twain ran through her home town of Timmins, Ontario with the torch. Here’s Shania singing cover songs by the fire during her visit back home to Canada.

Fashion Inspired By The Olympics

Make your own fashion statement inspired by the torchbearers and put on a white leisure suit, a knitted cap (‘toque’ in Canadian), and red mittens. This must have been super fun for the participants who ran their part of the relay during the summer!

Or, just buy some red mittens – (hurry, they are going fast) – $10 at Hudson Bay Company, Zellers, and Home Outfitters, but they don’t seem to be selling the mittens online.  They are the most popular clothing item from the games by far, and the money goes straight to Canadian athletes. If you’re not in Vancouver, people are selling them at Amazon.com for $50. I’ve also found a website called buyredmittenscanada.ca that sells to US and International shoppers – and it looks like you can bid on the them. Note: These sellers are not affiliated with the Olympics and Celebrity Icing is not in any way endorsing or guaranteeing their legitimacy – please check them out for yourself!

You can choose from a wide variety of souvenirs online at hbc.com (Hudson Bay Company), like this cute charm bracelet ($185).

Or, you can let the style inspire you and buy yourself a similar sterling silver bracelet for half the price ($90).

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We all know that A list celebrities can afford the very best of the best. We also know that most of them are following strict diets to maintain their famous figures.

What if you have a sweet tooth and a fat bank account but you’re on a calorie budget?

It’s all about quality not quantity…

Featured in our very first Celebrity Icing article, Jessica Simpson might want to sweeten up with some of these tasty treats  now that her and Tony Romo’s relationship has gone sour. (See “Jessica Simpson Covered in Icing“, September 2008.) The couple got together in 2007 and there were rumors in 2008 of engagement ring shopping, which Jessica denied. Rumors of an impending wedding surfaced again as recently as January 2009 (USmagazine.com).

I never met a chocolate I didn’t like. (Deanna Troi in Star Trek: The Next Generation)

The Best Chocolate in the World (and most expensive chocolate)

Amedei Porcelana

The Chuao bar from Amedei has received Chocopaedia’s highest rating so far (9.3 out of 10). It shares this rating with four other bars – you can see the entire list at Chocopaedia – they describe themselves as an “encyclopaedia of fine chocolate, with lists and information about fine chocolate makers and reviews of the chocolate bars they produce.”

Chuao, Baby!

“The often-quoted price of this chocolate is $90 a pound” (wikipedia). The cocoa beans used to make this chocolate are very rare so that only limited quantities of the chocolate can be made each  year, contributing to the high price.

While Amedei Porcelana has often been called the world’s most expensive chocolate, the truffle pictured  below is $250. For. Just. One.

La Madeline au Truffe, by Knipschildt Chocolatier

Knipschildt Chocolate

According to their website, Knipschildt Chocolatier was “voted as one of the top 3 chocolates in the world by Gourmet Magazine” (knipschildt.com). Not all of their chocolates are priced so high – you can get their Giant Chocolate Box for $25.00. Warning – it only contains 9 chocolates (the term ‘giant’ refers to the fact that each chocolate is slightly larger than the regular size).

“All I really need is love, but a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt!” (Lucy Van Pelt, Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz)

Not Rich and Famous, But Still Want a Taste the Sweet Life?

Pralus

In contrast, the ‘Le 100%’ bar from Pralus is ranked equally with the Amedei bar mentioned above – and you can buy a 3.5oz bar online for $7.75 .

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Controversial court cases, gossip, and plastic surgery aside – certain adjectives come to mind when I think of Michael Jackson.

Sparkly

Those glittery socks, the glove  and the shiny red jacket with all those zippers. Michael Jackson definitely knew how to catch our eye.

You wouldn’t know it from watching his performances, but he actually DID have more than one glove…

According to luxist.com, the glove from his Victory tour will go up for auction in early October and is estimated at a value up to $80,000 (somehow that seems low to me, but I guess we’ll see). The glove was designed by Ted Shell and is covered with beads, Austrian crystals and 50 tiny lights (a 9 volt battery in his cuff powered them).

The ‘Billie Jean’ glove was different – shiny all over with jewels and sequins and worn during almost every performance of the song and during many other public appearances. Samanthamo.com claims to offer the closest replica on the market – the glove is custom tailored to your hand size and the jewels are sewn on by hand for around $200.00 US.

Costumed

Just like a little boy who never quite grew up – Michael Jackson also seemed to find a lot of pleasure in playing ‘dress up’. Remember his military style phase? The jacket below, along with many other possessions were to be put up for auction in April but then Michael Jackson had a change of heart and cancelled.

Influential design house Balmain offered a similar jacket for its Spring 2009 collection which means that there are plenty of Balmain-inspired coats on the racks of the more price-accessible stores if you’d like to wear one as a farewell salute to MJ.

The King

Elvis was the King until he came along – thanks to Elizabeth Taylor, Elvis has been relegated to ‘The King of Rock N Roll’ and Michael Jackson is ‘The King of Pop’. Elvis has Graceland, Michael has Neverland. I wonder if they will sell all sorts of monogrammed and portraited bling at his gift shop? And,  instead of Elvis glasses, they will probably sell gloves?

In the meantime, you can buy this matching set from Etsy seller PopBangles so you can be a little bit pop and a little bit rock n roll…

Too Much? Instead you can just wear a ring as a reminder of his passing, perhaps one like this that recalls a quote from one of his songs – that it ‘doesn’t matter if you are black or white‘…

Loyal Friend

It’s kind of unclear whether Michael Jackson was a loyal friend or whether he just inspired loyalty from those around  him, but he definitely had several long-lasting friendships that survived the different struggles and transformations he faced along the way. Elizabeth Taylor, Liza Minelli, Diana Ross are some famous examples I can think of at the moment…

Many of us grew up with him, and feel a loyalty and special nostalgia for his earlier days… It’s been said over and over that his passing is one of those remarkable days where everyone will remember exactly where they were when they heard the news.

You may not have danced outside the Apollo Theatre and you may not have tickets to the Memorial today.  Perhaps like me, you pulled  a bunch of old Jackson 5 videos up on YouTube and had a dance party in your living room as you introduced the songs to your children… Or perhaps you just spent some time feeling grateful for your own family, your good health, and your ability to walk around this world freely and enjoy the sunshine.

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Apparently, this is what works for Tori Spelling and her husband Dean McDermott. McDermott reset the anniversary gift bar, by deciding to start a tradition of his very own… presenting his wife with a new diamond anniversary ring each year. This year, she was double-diamonded, with a ring duet, composed of one brilliant yellow diamond set alongside a dazzling white diamond. The couple has decided that each year’s ring become part of an heirloom collection to be eventually passed on their children.

One would think that with this year’s selection , she would be set … (at least until Christmas!) But no way! Tori continued to tap into this newfound jewelry bonanza; as Mother’s Day arrived a mere three days afterwards, and she was given a gold necklace and pendant. The pendant, engraved with the letters “L” and “S”, which represented the initials of their two small children, will no doubt eventually become part of the overall collection in the years to come.

Those who are inspired by this, should take note: While this high dosage of diamonds may be a difficult pill to swallow for the average person; the sentiment is one that, on a smaller scale, can be easily be kept. A quality diamond jewelry piece, such as a diamond journey necklace or a diamond anniversary band, given in recognition of a milestone year, will be just as much appreciated by a beloved one; perhaps even more so.

Also, the gift of a diamond necklace or bracelet does not have to be limited to anniversaries only. Never mind the frequency. Dare to be different! In so doing, one will find that an unexpected surprise can be a truly delightful experience for any recipient. Why not just try it for yourself…and see!

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This week Celebrity Icing has some icy words for the cold hearted folks at the networks who are punishing me by canceling shows I like and forcing me to spend lots of money on pay per view movies because there is nothing on…

Once again a whole slew of great shows has been cancelled and I have to wonder why? It seems like the only choices most nights are reality shows full of fake people and a whole bunch of shows that include lots of corpses, autopsies, incest, and all sorts of other horrors. So today, I am going to honor some of the most frustrating FAILs on the part of whoever makes these decisions at the networks.

Dirty, Sexy Money

I loved this show. It has some great talent, including Donald Sutherland, and was a full hour of surprises. It was like Gossip Girl for grown ups. But where did it go? Not down the tubes like a lot of the stuff still on TV- it went right OFF the tube. You can honor their memory by wearing as many diamonds as possible – like the ones in this beautiful diamond bracelet.

Samantha Who? More like, Why, Samantha, Why?

This show had strong female characters and talented female actors like Christina Applegate. Yet, I hear it is going away as well. I hope she gets another show fast and gets back on TV – or better yet, finally gets a good movie role! I guess we women would all rather watch another sitcom where a beautiful and smart woman is married to a goofy guy with a beer belly. How many examples of this can I think of? According to Jim, Still Standing, King of Queens – oh I’m sure there’s more… the Honeymooners and the Flintstones did this half a century ago so maybe we should move on, already!

My Name Is Mystified

How does My Name Is Earl get cancelled? This is truly one of the funniest shows on the air – it’s like Trailer Park Boys meets Touched By An Angel. If the actor who plays Joy is anything like her in real life, I sure wouldn’t want to be on her bad side!

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Outside the voting station in her hometown Wasilla, Alaska this morning, Sarah Palin spoke of “the historic import of a campaign that will end with the election of the first black president or the first woman vice president.” (wcsh6.com)

Whether you voted for the winner or not, there is no denying that this is an important page in the history of the United States of America.

Let’s put it into perspective:

In a 2005 testimony at the United States Commission on Civil Rights, Harry J. Holzer reported that “the earnings of black men are 20-25% lower than those of white men.”

Meanwhile, data from a 2005 United Nations Human Development Report showed that a woman’s annual income was 37% lower than a man’s.

No matter what your gender or color, this is a day to remember. This is a country whose reputation has suffered internationally. Now, the people who make up this country are suffering financially. But here is something that everyone can take pride in.

You can commemorate this historical moment with an heirloom that you can pass down to generations. Some ideas:

For the Republicans…

For the Democrats…

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Just when it seemed like the uber-thin, clean cut Jenny on Gossip Girl would be better off moving to another zip code (um, that would be 90210, duh…), our little Jenny seems to have grown up all of a sudden.

For a minute or two I was wondering if they had changed Taylor Momsen out for another actor to play the role of Jenny Humphrey.

Still blonde, still skinny, but different.

Last season, we all rooted for sweet little Brooklyn Jenny as she tried to fit in with the mean girls at her upper East Side private school. She started to show promise towards the end of the season when she had the upper hand. 

Season two started with Jenny as the outcast at school, bullied now that her frenemies were actually enemies. I was looking forward to her conniving and clawing her way to the top again and then I watched in dismay as she left school to pursue her dreams in the fashion world; my only comfort was that in Gossip Girl, nothing lasts… 

Do you like the new Jenny?

She went from California Cute to Kohl-Eyed and Kinky (dancing around in her bra with another girl in front of a photographer? What the heck?). One thing remains the same, she is still trying to fit in to a crowd – this time it’s models and artists instead of privileged preppies… 

 

 

 

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Maybe Diamonds are EVERYONE’s best friend? 

According to an article published on Health.InfoNIAC.com today, “The researchers at Northwestern University developed a patch made of nanodiamonds, tiny bits of diamonds consisting of few groups of carbon atoms that will be used to deliver chemotherapy drugs more effectively.” These miniscule diamond pieces help to release the drugs “slowly and evenly”.

Celebrity Icing wants to know, will only the rich and famous be able to afford this treatment? 

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If you are engaged or married – do you wear your ring all the time?

I was surprised to find out that men have only started wearing wedding bands recently. In the old days, only women wore wedding rings. My perspective is that if you don’t want to wear your wedding band all the time then you don’t want to be married all the time either.

Last year a fan stole Tim McGraw’s wedding ring right off his finger during a concert but then later returned it. If I was Faith Hill I would understand if he wanted to take it off before work, but other than that I can’t really think of a good excuse a husband could give for not wearing his wedding ring.

Celebrities often don’t wear their rings in public because they are trying to keep their marriages private. Beyonce Knowles and Jay-Z were apparently married on April 4,2008 but still have not publicly denied or confirmed their marriage to this day, as far as I can see. In this month’s issue of Vibe Magazine, Jay-Z says that it’s a part of his life that he wants to keep to himself. Married or not, the couple do have matching finger tattoos which might just be their answer to a  wedding band that you can never take off!

Sometimes, keeping marriages secret can have unromantic side effects. Ellen Pompeo (Grey’s Anatomy) and Chris Ivery wanted to keep their marriage out of the news so Ellen sent her manager to Cartier to buy rings for them. Unfortunately they didn’t fit and they both took them off right after the ceremony.

When do you take your ring off? Does your spouse wear his or her ring all the time?

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