Last week, American fashionistas rejoiced as the ever-popular British chain, Top Shop, crossed the pond and opened it’s first U.S. outlet in the SoHo neighborhood of NYC.  Known for it’s trendy but affordable styles and featuring lines by designers like Jonathan Saunders and Kate Moss, Top Shop has been a go-to for Europeans and visitors alike.  And now we Americans can grab up these fantastic styles without having to book a Trans-Atlantic flight. (Don’t worry if you don’t live in NY – you can order this shiz in the American dollar online!)

Can I get a cha-ching?!

In honor of this exciting news, I decided to base this week’s Night Styler on Top Shop style.  It’s a little more expensive than many of my NS looks are, but if you love clothes as much as I do, you’ll agree that they’re worth it.

Go with this spring’s leopard print trend (it’s especially popular in different colors, so either of these shirts do the trick!) with a wild top.  I love the twisted straps and looseness of the first shirt, and I am totally feelin’ the mix of neon colors of the second one.

One can never go wrong with a pair of indigo tinted skinny jeans, especially this pair. These have some elastine in them, so they’re stretchy and more forgiving on those “fat days” and hug your body perfectly every other day of the week.

Grey heels are a sexy way to bring in a neutral hue other than black, and the cutouts on these give them a funky, rocker edge. Plus, that heel with those skinnies? H-O-T.

When going with strong, bold prints, simplicity is key when it comes to accessorizing. You can give it some oomph with some size (like big earrings and a cuff bracelet), but keep ‘em in basic silver or gold so they accent your ensemble rather than overpowering it.  I found these pieces at Forever 21, still the best place to go for inexpensive, and a-dorable accessories.

There are plenty of other pieces to check out on Top Shop’s new site or at their store, so get your stylin’ self there pronto to see what goodies you can score. For now, though, you can look like the queen of the sexy jungle. Rawr.

Ok, tonight’s episode of The City was….good. Really good. Chock full of the drama that I have come to expect from the MTV not-so-reality shows. It was so good, in fact, that it actually made me excited to watch next week. And if you’ve been following my recaps you will know that is saying a lot.

What made it so good? Well, for one, JR. He’s not so cute when he smiles, but he does seem to be the only real person on the show. And by “real” I mean “someone who leaves SoHo/Grammercy once in awhile and has a real job.” He’s totally smitten with Erin and her I-totally-just-smoked-a-ton-of-pot vibe and wines and dines her in attempts to woo her back.

Meanwhile Erin is telling anyone who will listen (even in the middle of a concert) that she is falling for him and even goes as far as telling the girl with the nose (Samantha?) that she just can’t make the whole long distance thing with her Canadian lover work.

Um, what? Isn’t long distance the only way to like it? Isn’t that the only type of relationship you’ve ever had? Make up your mind, Erin. You can’t change your mind every time it suits you! If that were the case then I’d be living in the Caribbean with a hot island boyfriend…but only until something better came along back here.Not that it matters anyway, because 5 seconds later the girl is changing her mind…again; she breaks JR’s little heart and ruins his break from work by crying and telling him she can’t see him anymore.  Poor guy can’t catch a break. Although, if he’s reading this, he can totes call me. I don’t smoke pot or “soul search” but I think I’m pretty awesome. I can even get you references!

Sorry – just trying to get me a Valentine before Saturday.

While we were not following the lust-life of Erin, the rest of the episode was devoted to Jay’s fun little band. Isn’t it great that we saw more of his performance than Whitney did? Good thing we don’t have some princessy little friend who needs to swap her one DVF jacket for the other and make us late for the show! Although that is probably more exciting than our leftover takeout after the gym, which is pretty much every Monday night around here.

After the first Jay show, Whitney thinks that Olivia felt bad for making her late and that’s why she got Jay the second gig, at the snooty party. Us smart (or more realistic) folks know, however, that Ms. Palermo is a real-life Blair Waldorf who always has a motive….Or MTV told her to get Jay the gig.

She and Nevan (who Jay keeps calling Bevan for some reason…) end up spending the night bad mouthing the band and then get all huffy when Whitney and Jay leave without saying goodbye.

Her reasoning? They didn’t dress up for the event.

Now, I’d just like to say that I see a lot of myself in Olivia and Nevan. Not so much the “I’m better than everyone” BS, but the fact that we all seem to be the type of people that are just divine to those who are on our good sides, but you wouldn’t want to be on the other side. That being said, I would like to do some horrible, awful things to Olivia Palermo.

After Olivia asks Whitney what she thought of the event, to which Whitney defended herself, Olivia holds up her anorexic hand and shoves Whit back into her place.

“We should just keep our work lives and personal lives separate.” [Evil glare.]

Seriously, if I had the money to get to NY, I would take that Louboutin stiletto of hers and shove it where it hurts… Or just rub it in Butler’s crap and wipe it across her pristine white couch. How’s that for drama, MTV? Huh?

Great episode. Great drama. Great pudding and chocolate chip cookies I noshed on during the ep. Can’t wait for next week and I can’t believe I’m saying that.

As far as eating out goes, I’ll have to tighten my belt a little; I’ve already eaten in a few great places, but I’m keeping my eye on cheap places. Here are a few tips I’ve learned so far about living affordably in ANY city for the summer:

• Always look for a student rate at museums. The Met and other major museums will always have student rates, so bring your college ID; you’ll be able to enjoy a taste of culture at about half price.

• Cook for yourself. It’s great to try new places to eat, but you can’t eat out every day. Restaurants will be a serious blow to your finances, so if you have access to a kitchen, use it! Find your closest grocery store and stock up on easy-to-prepare foods like pasta. Liven up your meals by getting a recipe book and stocking up on fresh vegetables. A friend of mine and I made a fabulous meal just by throwing a few vegetables in a saucepan with garlic and olive oil and putting the concoction on top of some pasta. Magnifique, and it made enough to last us for multiple meals.

• Avoid tourist spots. Sure, Times Square is exciting, but if you’re living in the city for the summer, this is your opportunity to explore the lesser-known spots. If you’re in New York, try exploring Chinatown, the village, or SoHo; everything is more affordable, and you’ll feel great for discovering something a little off the beaten track.

• Get a Netflix account. If you’ve ever tried seeing a movie in Times Square, you’ve probably experienced the coronary-inducing price of movie tickets there. Movie tickets are another big drain on finances for college students, so if you have a permanent mailing address, consider getting a very affordable Netflix account to enjoy your movies. For $8 a month, you can see unlimited movies; compare that to a $12 Times Square movie ticket for just one flick.

Walking around Soho on a Saturday afternoon is generally a trying experience. As I struggled my way through thousands of shoppers and tourists heading down towards Canal Street, I looked up to see the newest billboard for Svedka vodka and stopped dead in my tracks. “90% of New York socialites prefer Svedka over eating.” Pan to my jaw dropping.

The ads use a female robot promoting what life and drinking might be like in the year 2033. The robot is, not surprisingly, large breasted and big assed. Using the female form to sell alcohol is not a new concept. According to Svedka however “The Future of Adult Entertainment” seems to also involve stereotyping homosexuals, and encouraging starvation. The taglines bring a new low to the world of booze peddling. The advertising agents have gone so far as to say “people are intrigued because we all secretly want to have sex with a robot.” Really? Robot sex is never something that titillated me, but who knows what I’ll be into in 10 years.

As much as I find most of these ads totally deplorable, there is one billboard that makes me smile every time. It says, “18 Billion Scientologists can’t be wrong.” Making fun of scientologists is always funny.

I guess Svedka really needed this campaign. It certainly has received a lot of attention, and the buzz surrounding the campaign has at least caused most of us to forget the Lindsay Lohan birthday debacle.

Despite all of Svedka’s sexy smoke and mirrors, there is no disguising the cheap brownpaper sack aftertaste of this extremely unpleasant vodka.