Oh You Tease.

51 degrees and sunny! It makes me think that Spring isn't far off!

And then I remember that it's January.





Thrifted Banana Republic dress. H&M scarf. Wet Seal shoes. Necklace from Macy's.

These shoes were bought with the other brown booties from Wet Seal (buy one get one for a penny! score!)

You saw this dress before here, but I guess you're still not seeing the top of it, you will one day!

I bought this scarf last fall and I don't wear it super often but when I do I always feel like it elevates an outfit. Today when I draped it over my shoulder and tied it it made me feel like a Spanish princess. And I tried to go for Gold accessories because I feel like Spanish princesses wear gold. This is the necklace I'm wearing:



I bought it to wear to boyfriend's prom last june, because I was wearing a black and ivory strapless column dress and I wanted to wear delicate gold jewelry that still had an estate feel. That's why I wore it with this outfit, it felt rich and princessy to me. I'm also wearing rose gold posts, but you can't really see them. I'm clearly a princess with subtle tastes. Duh.

BLAHHHHHH!

I'm having an ohmygod moment.

Okay story. Last year my cousin Jeanne recommended that I view the film "Legend". She insisted that it was deliciously bad but made miraculously beautiful by Tim Curry's portrayal of this horned devil beast thing. So I rented it, and watched it. And Tim Curry is indeed magical. And so was Tom Cruise's chain mail mini dress.


Picture from this website

Unfortunately, this is the best picture I could get. Yes, that is the "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" girl. There you see Tim Curry all evil-ed up. Yes! Tom Cruise's hair is long and sort of straggly but also sort of amazing! Because he's like a forest boy! He has forest boy hair! I don't know. You don't get to see his pre dental procedure snaggle tooth either. But you can see the beginning of the chain mail.

Do not be deceived, this is not paired with manly pants. The thing comes across as a short spangly chain mail mini dress. AND I LOVE IT. I can tell you that I immediately told my best friends that I wanted one just like it, I was so in love. Trust me, they will corroborate my story.

Now for the important part. I FOUND ONE!


Picture via forever21.com.

Okay. It's navy blue. But aside from that IT'S PERFECT! It's from forever 21! It's on sale!

...It only comes in size extra small.

Alas, such is life. Maybe I'll go watch Fern Gully so some Tim Curry can warm my heart. And because I just love Fern Gully.

Saturday Night's Alright.

First Saturday of a new semester? Everyone knows what that means. Getting gussied up and dancing your booty off at your frat of choice. That is, if you're me or my friends, or any of the other people we saw last night.

As Ray J says, I'm going to keep it "one hun'ed" with you, and tell you that last night was not my favorite night ever. I wasn't feeling the vibe, I was sleepy, I'm feeling a bit of separation anxiety.

But I think my outfit was pretty killer.





H&M tunic. Baker's sequined leggings. Hot Kiss booties.

Sorry for the poor quality of the pictures. I didn't want to take pictures outside in the cold, so inside was the only option, and it's less than beautiful. I think the air guitar/broom shot is golden though, if only for my facial expression. I have no idea what I was going for. I do not looking like I am shredding hard.

I initially had quite the struggle finding a top to pair with the glorious sequined-ness that is these leggings. This top was finally decided on because the separation between the sequins made it not entirely overwhelming. And if the people on the dance floor found me too intimidatingly shiny, I believe that is their own problem.

Another problem with last night, "Body Language" and "3" were not played. I'm always hoping for some Britney goodness and I just like that random Jesse McCartney song, don't judge.

I'm going to go search for my rainy Sunday motivation. Woo lots of reading for Methods!

Limbo

Hedi Slimane is one of my favorite photographers and the second to last photograph is my absolute favorite. These are beautiful but stark, no?

The tattoo in the last photo reads "And miles to go before I sleep And miles to go before I sleep". It's from the only Robert Frost poem I like, and I often find myself coming back to that stanza which often expresses how I feel about my life.

"The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep"

All photos via hedisliman.com/diary

Casual Friday

This is the first friday of the semester, but it doesn't really feel like Friday since it's my second day of classes. It happens to be a lovely 44 degrees outside that will climb to 48, which normally means skirts and dresses for me, but I only have one class. And then I'm going to the gym. I thought it would be wasted.




Zara jeans. Forever 21 button down. Norma Kamali for Wal Mart sweater vest. Fossil watch. Gifted bracelet. Joyce Leslie Belt. Hot Kiss booties. Necklace from random mall shop that I can't remember.

Same shoes as yesterday. I have a habit of constantly wearing shoes day after day when I begin with a successful outfit that they're incorporated in. Somehow my brain decides that no other shoes will do for my next outfit but those particular shoes. Whatever, at least these are adorable. And to be fair, when Ma hemmed these jeans for me (I have rather disproportionally short legs but I can't buy the jeans that come in "short" because they never work, so my flares and boot cut jeans normally need hemming) we used these shoes to decide how short to hem them. So these jeans and shoes are a perfect match.

I love this grandpa vest, and I couldn't believe that I found it at Wal Mart of all places. I love a designer label if I can get one (which, let's be honest, isn't that often) but if I like the way something looks and wears and it doesn't come off as cheap, I'm certainly not a snob about where I buy it from.

Alright lovelies, off to lunch and Medieval Drama. Ta!

Closet Case

Fact: I am constantly trying to reorganize my closet at home so it is efficient and so I don't end up throwing my clothes all around my room (like I inevitably do). More important fact: I always fail.

I have an issue with my closet. This is what it looks like.




Crowded, poor visibility...lots of bad things. It's actually wider than it appears because if you're looking at it, the right side of the closet extends well past it's door. Unfortunately, the wall is in the way, and this doesn't make my closet any better. The plastic bins I have stuck in there serve to hold other clothing, unseasonable, forgotten, etc. I've been going through an extended clothing purge since losing weight, but then I always buy more, so it's two steps forward and one back. I'm thinking of taking out the bins and asking my dear father to install a second lower bar this summer. We'll see.

My closet at school is far worse.




There are no words. It just makes me heave great sighs. I don't even know how they expect this to be functional. There are two of the exact same armoire thingers to the left and right of mine, Christine's and Erin's.

Ideally, my closet would look like this:


picture via Californiaclosets.com.

But we can't always get what we want can we?

What do you guys do to make less than desirable closet space more workable?

Do Great Work

Ah, SO sorry my posts have been sporadic the past few days, Monday I worked and packed and spent quality tv time with boyfriend, Tuesday boyfriend and I went into the city to see the Colbert Report (I KNOW RIGHT! Post on that soon), and yesterday I drove four hours back to school (after breakfast with boyfriend) and had 50 million things to do. But for now we're good.

Back in Gettysburg it's always about 10 degrees warmer than north Jersey, which is awesome, and for the first day of classes it decided to be 40 degrees and sunny, which is also awesome. I begin Thursday classes at 830 in the morning, which is not awesome. But friend Kirsten in that class? Totally awesome. I'll stop using that word now.

Went for cute today so my new classmates don't think I'm a slob. Or at least that's the hope. P.S. new photographer Erin as opposed to boyfriend, Kim, Ma, and brother who have already served as photogs extraordinaire.





American Eagle Outfitters skinny cords. Victoria's Secret Soft and Sexy Wrap. Target tank top. Lucky Brand Necklace. Hot Kiss Shoes. Scarf - gift from Ma. Fossil watch. Bracelet - gift from boyfriend. Polish color - Yoga -ta get this blue! by OPI.

I decided I wanted the soft and sexy wrap in this color back in the fall when they introduced it, so I told my mother about it immediately and received it for Christmas! Hooray!

I bought these boots when Halloween costume shopping with Maddi at the Gettysburg outlets. They were 60 percent off and I couldn't resist. They're also pretty comfortable and walkable and I've worn them for full days without feeling like my feet would die. The Lucky necklace was also a find on the 5 dollar table at Macy's during some massive sale. I never see the Lucky jewelry on sale so I was quite excited.

I love this scarf because of the the shimmery animal print. I am really not a huge fan of the animal print, but I seem to be taken by it when it's done with shiny thread. I love it on this, and I like how it's a bit subtle on the scarf, made even more so by the shiny threads overlapping it. As we say in Gettysburg, you do great work Ma.

What I Want, You Got

The other day, I quarantined my money because it's necessary for me to be much more frugal this coming semester. I'm applying to go to England for the upcoming fall semester, and I'm going to need plenty of cash money for food, traveling, etc. However, when you can't spend your money, and you tell yourself NO YOU CANNOT DO THIS NO IFS, ANDS, OR BUTS, then of course, you want to break your rules.

When I went to Zara the other day they were having a great sale and all I could do was groan that I had completely moved my money so I couldn't even use my card without overdrafting. Today I browsed the site, basically just adding salt to a wound. And as per usual, what I desired all had a theme.

I went to New York City with my boyfriend the next day, so I assume I was channeling some sort of upper east side chic.



Love the tie waist without any other buttons or fastening, and the taupe but rich color. I see a chic new yorker throwing it on over her outfit that includes sleek knee high black boots while she runs around doing winter errands. In my head, that woman is me.



To be honest, I generally detest the white blouse. The starchiness, the plainness, the genericness. Until I saw this. The sleeves are absolutely incredible and give the otherwise simple white button down tons of personality. I'd wear it with my purple pencil skirt and some nude stiletto heels and kill it at a job interview. ...If I had job interviews.



The only reason this is on here is because I saw this t shirt in the store in white, with the square design in matte bronze sequins. I liked it a lot better than this version, but I have yet to find it on the website. I just feel that it's kind of unusual and would be cute under a jacket of some time, perhaps a boyfriend blazer.



Another white shirt, though I said I hated white blouses. I don't know if I could wear this with the proper ease, but shirts like this always say "summer in the Hamptons" to me. And honestly, who in their right mind hates the idea of summer in the Hamptons?

All pictures courtesy of Zara.com

Postscript: Sorry about the weird pictures, just click to see them bigger. They were a pain in the butt to get and this is the best I could do.

Girl, You Speaking My Body Language: A Soapbox Moment

You've heard it a million times, here in America we have loads of problems with self esteem and body image. We blame it on the media, the celebrity craze, bad mothers and fathers...the list goes on. I'm in college, I know lots and lots of beautiful girls who think that they're ugly because they don't fit a cookie cutter mold. It kills me that the image of beauty has become so confined, because there is so much beauty in so much of what we see and do every day.

No, this is not necessarily a "fashion" post, but since so much about expressing your personal style has to do with being confident in your ability to pull off whatever you want, I think it's entirely applicable.

Let me allow myself to be a walking, talking example. After spending high school and the first semester and a half of my first year of college hoping I could hide myself from piercing eyes of the world (despite lofty aspirations ingrained in me since birth), I made some personal changes in my life that helped me turn things around. And one of the first things I noticed, was that it's totally okay to love yourself and the way you look. When you do, you smile more, you walk more like the beautiful woman you are, and people notice, and it makes them smile too.

Since October of last year I have lost about 30 pounds, and am three sizes smaller than I used to be, and still, sometimes I can't see my new body. Shopping for jeans the other day, I picked up a pair in Zara that was my size and held them up, saying to my mother "They look so tiny, I'll never fit into them". Turns out, they fit perfectly, and now I own them, and occasionally put them on to trot about my house when no one's around. It's hard to see yourself as a new person when you change, be it physically or emotionally.

I'm still shocked at some of the things I'm confident enough to do now. This past summer I wore my first bikini ever, at 18, and I felt so fantastic. I am not trying to sell you my "success story", what I'm trying to tell you is this. All the things you think people think, they don't think. Everyone is wrapped up in their own lives and their own insecurities. It is absolutely liberating to say "You know what, I don't want to be part of the self-deprecating crowd" and start liking yourself. Maybe you have the prettiest eyes you've ever seen, the cutest little feet, a smile that dazzles, the best laugh, a fantastic bootylicious bottom...love it. Start loving that part of you you just can't help but look at in the mirror, and pretty soon I think you'll start loving other things you just couldn't look at before, your beautiful legs, your breasts, your arms, your face.

I say we stop blaming the media, the media will do what it wants to do. I say we take responsibility and say "Forget you, I LOVE myself, and I LOVE fluorescent orange, so I'm going to wear it, and people SHOULD look at me, because I'm awesome."

Black and White and Blonde all over!

Charlotte Russe top and necklace. American Eagle Outfitters Jeans. Jessica Simpson Boots.

Family day! My family's really close and since I'm going back to Gettysburg on Wednesday, we decided to spend the day together. We went to the Willowbrook mall, with side stops at Costco and Target for stuff I needed at school, and then went to the Macaroni Grill for dinner, a collective favorite in the world of chain restaurants.

Due to the walking around I kept it low key with my favorite black boots that you keep seeing, and some skinny jeans.

I really love the contrast of black and white. I think it's interesting that in the scientific realm, black is the absence of color and white is all the colors, whereas when you're dealing with it in an artistic way, white is like the blank canvas, void of color, and you get a browny-black color when you mix every color you can get together. A contradiction, just like the shades themselves. Because they aren't really colors are they? Just shades.

P.S. That adorable little bundle of love giving me some sugar is Rocky. I constantly tell him that he's my favorite boy, but I think he gets suspicious when he sees boyfriend and I cuddling.