One of Pulse’s favorite bloggers, J from J’s Everyday Fashion, is hosting a Girls Night Shopping Soiree this Thursday, December 1!

If you’re a fan of champagne, cupcakes and Stella & Dot jewelry, this is an event not-to-be-missed!

The event will be held at Baldwin Park’s newest salon, In Style Hair Salon between 5 and 8 p.m. and is open to everyone, but if you plan to attend, RSVP here!

Maybe we’ll see you there!

For ages, I’ve seen the Benefit Brow Bar at other cities around the country and wondered why Orlando hadn’t been lucky enough to have one of their own.

Good news. Now, we have two.  And, strangely, they’re almost next door to each other.

I spotted one in the brand-new Ulta near Mall at Millenia and one in Macy’s inside The Mall at Millenia.  I stopped into Ulta’s brow bar yesterday to check it out.  For $20, you can get Benefit’s signature brow wax among other services. What’s better than that? You can call ahead to make an appointment, or you can do what I did and simply walk in … pretty damn convenient if you ask me.

Oh, and if you happen to check out Ulta, you might notice that they’ve added a new Men’s beauty section, too.

J’s Everyday Fashion has come a long way since we first featured her in our People Pulse section this time last year. She’s amassed more than 12,000 fans (!!!) on her Facebook page, driven thousands of clicks to her blog, and most importantly, helped those same women look fabulous … all while not breaking the bank!

Now, J is teaming up with IzonOrlando.com to produce a real-life version of the fashion advice she gives online every day … and they need your help!  ”J’s Everyday Fashion” will be doing makeovers on 12 lucky women in the Orlando area who are searching for fashion advice.

Check out the Pilot Episode of J’s Everyday Fashion featuring Colleen!

To be considered:

- Videos should be :30 to 2 minutes long and uploaded to YouTube here.

- The style seeker doesn’t need a super-dramatic story. This show is for real, everyday women who may or may not be stylish, they just have fashion questions and would like free style advice.

- The style seeker must live within 30 miles of Downtown Orlando & be willing to let us shoot video in their home.

- The style seeker will receive free fashion advice, closet consultation and personal shopping. They do not receive clothes, but they also are not required to buy anything.

(Click here for complete details.)

You know we’re big supporters of Yelp here in Central Florida, so we thought this would be something you all would be interested in hearing about:

On Wednesday, 11/17, Yelp, the site that connects locals with the best in their neighborhoods, released 50 city-specific holiday shopping guides worldwide.

Yelp recently polled nearly 2k consumers and found that a whopping 90% of respondents feel it’s important to support locally owned merchants this holiday season (and we totally agree!). Plus, nearly half of shoppers surveyed are looking to spend an affordable $20-40 a person on holiday gifts.

If you’re a business or consumer and would like to find out more, our friend Colleen Burns, Community Manager and Editor of Yelp Orlando’s Holiday Shopping Guide is available for interviews and can comment topics such as:

• Unique businesses to shop local and save money here in Orlando.
• Stumped on what to get? Gift guides for every budget and person on your list.
• How to use your mobile device to find great local deals – especially since 60% of shoppers polled plan on leveraging their mobile device to help them make a spending decision while holiday shopping.

This is a guest post from our friend Veronique Conus, continued from “Part I”.

Similar to Dechoes is Etoile, a cute vintage boutique on the outskirts of downtown O-town. They are a bit pricey, as well, and more of a resell shop than a thrift shop, but they do have some great finds if you’ve got the moolah. Best of all, they have an Etsy shop set up, so you can snag stuff online withing having to make the trip, like this darling 60′s glasses case for $15. But I mean, come on, you might as well get down there and see all the cool stuff they have, or at least keep up with new items via their blog! Etoile (which means ‘star’ in French) is located here: 2424 E Robinson St.

There’s also Orlando Vintage, on Fairbanks in Winter Park. They are DEFINITELY the priciest place I’ve seen. However, I have found some excellent quality vintage mens shirts for like $15. They are also a rental place, so if you want to get some retro outfits for one night, you can rent them here! They have an online store, too. Fun fact: Orlando Vintage is actually one of the stores used to furnish the outfits on Bravo’s hit TV series MadMen. Seriously!

Oh, also check out Other People’s Property, a vintage clothing shop on Orange (3222 North Orange Avenue). They are too rich for my wallet, but their Etsy shop gives you a glimpse of their awesome items.

Enough about clothes. There’s more to life than clothes! I buy a lot of boardgames and furniture and always end up finding what I want in one of 2 places: Thriftko (Semoran/Howell Branch plaza, but moved to Mills), or the Community Thrift store on Edgewater Drive, beyond College Park.

Got that 50′s kitchen, stepstool for $5 at Flo’s! The handmixer was $3, the glass sundae cups were .69 cents and the records were $1 each at Deja Vu on Orange Avenue.

Pssst! Want to see a couple of my latest thrift shopping adventures and scores? Click here and here!

This is a guest post from our friend Veronique Conus. That’s her in that little picture over to the left. Cute, right?!

Orlando is a lot of things. Cultural hub, it is not (we’re trying to get there). Close to the beach, it is not (but still somewhat convenient for a day trip). However, land of thrifting stores? It is!

That is definitely one of my favorite things about this town: the abundance of thrift stores. And, it’s very cool, too, because there are all kinds of thrifty avenues you can explore: thrift stores, consignment shops, resell stores, and of course the ever present yard/garage/estate sales. You have to remember that Florida is not a native state. What I mean by that is that by and large, Florida is a state that is mostly comprised of people who have moved from abroad, or settled in from out of state. So there are people constantly looking to move out and move in and they all have one thing in common: getting rid of stuff!

It also has a high concentration of elderly and retired people. Now, let me tell you, going to a yard sale or estate sale here in Orlando is a major cha-ching! Old people take great care of their things and you’re bound to find some very awesome vintage treasures- from records to boardgames, flatwear, furniture, pictures frames and retro-packaged household items (like old band-aid tins!).

I got the above teal chair at a local antique and thrift furniture store called…Antique Furniture?..Hmm.. I don’t recall! Anyway, it’s in the big plaza on Semoran and Howell Branch Road, the one with the Big Lots in it. The ship painting was a $5 steal at a yard sale.

We’ve got the big names like Goodwill and the Salvation Army (which is annoyingly closed on Sundays and makes me go into a rant that can only be calmed by Chik-Fil-A…WHICH IS ALSO CLOSED ON SUNDAYS!). Err- anyway, Orlando also has its own chains, like Community Thrift Store. Community Thrift stores are part of the AMVETS program, so proceeds benefit our veterans. And, if you read my latest Veterans’ Day post, you’ll know how important that is for me!

Other chains of of thrift awesomeness are Dechoes (a more vintage, retro clothing store), Plato’s Closet (a resale shop of trendy, current wear) and Habit for Humanity ReStore (which is awesome for home-type stuff).

Habitat Stores located here. Go there and click on the $5 of $20 coupon!! The Habitat store is awesome for things like sofas, sinks, light fixtures, dressers and armoires. You can even stalk their Facebook page for current items up for grabs!

Dechoes can be pricey, but they are really careful about what they sell. Everything is in great shape and worth what you pay. They are even social media savvy and have a Facebook. Like! Like! Like!

Like what you’re heard so far? More to come! Stay tuned for Part II of this post….

Seems like new deal sites are popping up daily and with 54 days left until Christmas (Yikes!), we thought we’d share a few we know about. Do you know of others? We’d love to hear from you!

Here are a few that are specific to O-Town.

Groupon Orlando – Not an Orlando-only site, but serves Orlando with local and national deals.

Living Social – Awesome deal site that offers incentives for sharing the deal with friends.

ODeals Daily – Orlando-specific deals at bargain prices.

The Orlando Sentinel Deals & Bargain Page – This page features a roundup of offers.

Scott Joseph Deals – Everyone’s favorite restaurant critic offers exceptional savings.

Half Off Depot – The name says it all!

Ashley & I had the opportunity to attend The Mall at Millenia‘s Fashion Show yesterday and I have to admit, it was a really cool event. You may have your own opinions about what a “mall” fashion show would be like, but I think this event really exceeded expectations. The music was great, the vibe was great, and we thought the show’s host, Giuliana Rancic, did a fantastic job.

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For the complete photo set, check out our Flickr page.   And, check out the interview between Jeanette from J’s Everyday Fashion Blog and Giulina Rancic.

This is too exciting not to share! Not only is The Mall at Millenia bringing the lovely and talented Giuliana Rancic to Fashion Week, but in October Tim Gunn will be here to show women how to “make it work!”

Looks like there are more details to come, but there will be a chance for a Meet & Greet with the “Project Runway” host and fashion guru.

When: October 23

Where: The Mall at Millenia