#119 Off to the West Coast!

via 

It's raining.  It's really really raining!! New York weather might make me go crazy.  First, it's a million degrees and feels like you are inside a dryer when the hot breeze hits you.  Then, it decides to hail, rain, thunder and lighting like we're in Hurricane Irene again!  Not cool.  Thankfully, I'm off to San Francisco tomorrow!  High of 65 degrees and sunny all weekend.  Sounds pretty perfect in comparison!  I can't wait, it will be my first visit to SF and lots of friend reunions!  I've got my bags packed!

via coco+kelley

#118 Black & White Lookalike

I've adored this black & white floral fabric from Schumacher Pyne Hollyhock in Charcoal ever since I saw it in the office space featured in the May/June 2011 issue of Lonny Mag.  But the price tag is steep- $130 a yard, steep.  This type of luxury is so far outside of my price range I could only afford a swatch which doesn't do the pattern justice.  I've been on the lookout for lookalikes...

via Schumacher & Lonny

Saw this lovely print, but who knows where it originates. This can be the downside to pinterest- you see something so lovely, but you can never get to the source.

via Pinterest

Then low and behold, in a Facebook Ikea post, there it is.  It has the same feel of the Schumacher pattern! And at $30 for almost 5 yards of super wide (86") fabric, you can't get a better deal. I got a little excited and immediately imagined ripping the seams out of that duvet and turning it into curtains.

Alvine Kvist duvet

Ikea also carries another similar grayscale floral.

Rosmarie

I've got an Ikea trip in the works already, time to reserve the zipcar!

#117 Heat Wave & Anna Faye

Photographe by Richard Rutledge, 1947

The heat has been dizzying in the past week in New York.  I've been a bit irrational and was tempted to buy more dishes and the Dude had to stop me and threatened to put a moratorium on buying any more kitchenware until a larger kitchen came into being.  At that moment I realized I'm turning into my Grandmother, Anna Faye. She loves dishes. She has more than anyone in their right mind would ever need. She could probably start a service renting out vintage dish sets that serve 20+ guests.   Now that she's getting older she has started pawning off her collection on me, which is kind of awesome! I have no idea when I will ever need a milkglass luncheonette set that serves 18, but if I accidentally break one, it's no biggie.

The dishes in question were at Target and were extra cute striped melamine plates that would go perfectly with this set of flatware feature in this month's Rue! You should get them if you are in the market for summer dishware and I will come over and help you mind the BBQ.

via Target

via Rue June 2012

This weekend I'm going to do some exciting furniture rearranging and try to get rid of things around the apartment I no longer need. If anyone out there need a printer/scanner that has been hanging around since 2004 that only works with Microsoft XP or later, it's yours. 

Stay cool!

#116 Lavender Summer

Lavender seems to be popping up everywhere. Maybe it's the start of the summer bringing along lovely colors with it. This shade feels modern, but not so in your face like some other colors I have a penchant for (hello, neon yellow!). It's a perfect alternative to brights for your  outfit, nails or wall.  I'm sooo tempted to paint a lavender wall now.  I have a sickness and it revolves around wanting to paint everything, all the time.  


I hope everyone has a sweet summery weekend! 

via stylecaster

 via topshop & essie

via tales of endearment

shades of lavender you can find at Home Depot

lovely streetscape via princess michelle

#115 Tackling!!

I kind of love spring cleaning & decluttering.  Everything feels so fresh afterwards! I hate it while I'm in the midst of it though, but I know the reward will be worth it.  This spring I decided my wardrobe really needed a cleanse.  I have a tiny closet and I feel like I'm always saying I need to get rid of some clothes.  I find it gets harder and harder to do this as you get older, though.  After a little soul-searching, these are the reasons that directly relate to why the size of my wardrobe has  gotten out of control:

• My current sense of fashion lends itself more towards classics(realllly hard to get rid of)... but I like trendy stuff too!
• I've been approximately the same size for the past ten years.  
• I tend to wear more separates than suits or dresses (anyone else a blouse + jeans or t-shirt + skirt girl?)
• I'm very sentimental.
• I hate doing laundry.
• I love shopping.

Please tell me someone else out there has these problems too.  Because of these tendencies, I have approximately 50 tees that are all similar styles but in every shade of the rainbow (this goes for tanks, collared shirts, long sleeve tees and sweaters as well), way too many cute blousy tops that can be casual and dressy at the same time, lots of shorts & skirts (these tend to fall in the 'trendy' category), and I don't even want to talk about the shoe situation...

I started my purge by reading every closet organization article I could find.  The classic "if you haven't worn it in a year" rule was just not cutting it anymore.  I needed something more compelling to battle my sentimentality.  Here are the top 4 sources I found that go beyond the basics of decluttering:

• Oprah knows best- Decluttering My Life & What to Keep & What to Toss
• Inspired Everyday Living- How to Clear Clutter
• Makeunder My Life's Closet Makeunder series- Step 1, Step 2, Step 3, Step 4
• Kendi Everyday- Working Closet Series

The ideas from all of these posts that helped me the most were to judge if the piece really supports the life I want to have right now & to pretend like you are shopping your closet- would you buy that item again and be excited about it? The other thing that helped was trying things on.  I had some really nice shirts in my closet I hadn't worn in a while, but I wasn't sure why. I found out as soon as I put them on- they just fit weird--bye bye! And others that I thought fit weird were actually really cute when I tried them on!  I dreaded this part of the process the most, though.  I would stare at my self in the mirror trying to figure out if I should keep the shirt then get distracted and think, "Why did I eat cookie dough for dinner??! I need to go to the gym." But it was worth it.

All done!

Outcome: I ended up with quite a few bags of clothes to donate!! 

Conundrum: My closet is still pretty packed.  Where were all those clothes I'm donating hiding?? Not in my closet obviously. 

Realization: I had lots of stashes of ill-fitting, out-dated, or worn out clothes around my apartment. Shoes hiding in the hall closet, t-shirts and jeans in a box in the top of the closet, nicer items like skirts & dresses in another closet & more boxes under the bed.  It was crazy!  Everyday clothing lives in one place now (special occasion dresses are in another closet).

It took me more than an afternoon to attack everything, and clothes were strewn from one end of the apartment to the other, but I purged many items that don't fit my life anymore.  I know they will find a second home that will treat them right.  

Need a little piece of encouragement? When you purge everything that's dragging you down you feel a million times better and your closet will be awesome :)  And let me know if you need help! I'm a nerd and love organization projects. 

perfect rainbow wardrobe 

via design darling here 

{For more closet inspiration check out my Pinterest board!}

#114 Stormy Weather

Spring has been a long time coming in New York this year.  The showers have finally arrived and my trusty trench coat has become my go to fashion statement. Though I'm dreaming of spending all morning in bed and then snuggling on the couch next to a small fire to fight off the chill and reading books, lots of books, while the Dude noodles on the guitar.  Wow that sounds amazing...but I had a nutella crepe for dessert at lunch today which I guess is pretty amazing, too.  Sometimes you just have to treat yourself when the weather decides not to cooperate. 

image via look mom

image via gitter guide

#113 Springy Dreamy

Spring is the promise of summer that is to come. Each day gets a little warmer. A little closer to being shorts weather. And then you get a sweet taste of the most perfectly warm weather only to have it be 45 degrees and rainy the next day. I have to tell myself that it's ok and be sure to layer up while still celebrating spring with lovely pastels and pops of neon.

The only thing better than spring getting here is the return of the Dude from a month of travelling in Europe, passing ridiculously hard exams & homemade mocha frappuccinos.

Happy Spring!! Here's some of my favorite spring picks that you can wear right into summer.

citizens of humanity floral jeans via anthro / summer straw hat in papaya via j.crew / phospho necklace via bauble bar / mint candy apple polish via essie / ivory glam drops via bauble bar / rebecca minkoff sandals via shopbop