#121 Friday Fancy Fest

It's Friday! And it feels like Summery-Spring finally! It's the perfect weather- 80 degrees & sunny. I'm looking forward to the weekend. I can't wait to see The Great Gatsby.  Hopefully it does not disappoint. Even if it's a total bomb, at least it inspired some super fabulous deco fashion and design.  I love deco jewelry and it's everywhere right now fits all budgets and occasions.  I did a quick search on Bauble Bar and found a ton of great stuff: Bauble Bar 'Deco' Search Results.  And J.Crew has some investment pieces that are to die for. The tassel necklace is so timeless! I actually found some cute deco jewelry at Kohl's, too, that I've been wearing. Last but not least, there's vintage,which is the best, so run to your local antique store or flea market and check out the displays of costume jewelry. 

Have a great weekend!

classic: Bauble Bar Onyx Shell Necklace,  J.Crew Tassel Necklace
colorful: JCrew Factory Flower Fringe Necklace,  Bauble Bar Melon Strand
fancy!: J.Crew Crystal Compilation Necklace,  Stella & Dot Virginia Bib

#120 Spring Revival!

This is my attempt to bring this blog back to life! Sometimes life gets in the way of blogging and you don't feel like you really have much to contribute to the internet already chock full of inspiration/information.  But then faraway friends are like, "What happened to your blog?! Is it dead? That's how I keep up with your current life happenings."  Well, here goes. A revival. Seems appropriate that it's happening now, at the beginning of spring.
I've been desperate for spring since February, but that's how it goes in nyc.  Everything seems to go on hold until spring finally arrives. Example: "I should start doing yoga, but I'll just wait until spring when it's not freezing cold walking back from the gym." Really anything that involves leaving the apartment gets put off because it's just too darn cold outside. So, I've been doing a lot of indoor activities- knitting, interneting, baking, netflixing, gold leafing, etc.

But now it's spring! And leaving the apartment doesn't feel so much like a chore. I've made a couple of goals for April that aren't necessarily outdoorsy, but are ways to feel refreshed in different areas of my life. Doesn't it seem like new year's resolutions should happen at the start of spring?

1 - spring clean 
2 - bring blog back to life 
3 - knit a sweater
4 - make art
5 - plan summer trips
6 - make goals

Making this list has really helped me to get focused and make progress.  1- I've made a good dent on spring cleaning and have driven a load of stuff to donate already, which feels awesome. This was also my first time driving a car in the city, with a very supportive Dude in the passenger seat helping out with directions. 2 - I've made the first step to bring the blog back to life right here!  3 - I just placed an order for the yarn to make the sweater in the photo above (it was very conveniently on sale). 4 - I pulled out my watercolors last night, inspired by my friends Heather and Susan who have been working on their watercolor skillz, and did some experimenting of my own.  5 - And some of my girlfriends from architecture school proposed a get together at the beginning of the summer which makes me pretty excited. 6 - I find "making goals" to be the hardest, but here's to dreaming big! Do you have any plans for spring?

#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

#112 Spring Sparkle

Early springs make me happy!  I hardly had to wear a sweater this winter, so I will really not need to buy too many new ones next year. I keep telling myself this in hopes that I can save money and closet space but i'm not sure I'm fooling anyone but myself...


It's a little cooler today than it has been, so I figured I better wear my sequined sweatshirt while I still can.  Here's to wearing more sparkles & sequins to celebrate spring!

via "keep calm and..."

 green sparkle purse by amanda pearl

 sparkle nails via pinterest

 best kind of closet ever...the sparkly kind! 
via pinterest

#111 Furniture Painting Daydreams

In my rebellious phase, I decided I was not going to be like my mother...I was going to paint!   At that time, my mother thought paint was the devil.  She refused to have any painted furniture or woodwork or walls in her house.  Only cherry wood & wallpaper was allowed.  What a funny teenager I was that this was the way I chose to rebel and since then I've become the one obsessed with wallpaper.  In those days, I daydreamed about painting & obsessively collected paint chips at the hardware store.  Then came the day I decided to paint an entire secondhand bedroom set.  It was the middle of the summer of '04 and I was armed with an orbital sander.  Lots of learning happened in those 4 pieces of furniture. 


Recently I've been dreaming about painting again.  Somewhere out there a piece of furniture was calling out to me for a makeover.  I found it in the basement of a pre-war building covered in dust & locked shut.  An early 1900's china cabinet... oh Craigslist, I love you.  I brought it home, picked the lock & cleaned it like crazy.  

oh so lovely looking grainy photo disguising all the dust & damage

lock-picking tools

After cleaning it, I sanded down all the nicked and rough areas & patched the fretwork.  Then I primed the whole thing & painted the inside a light grey to match the apartment walls.

damage repaired and getting ready for primer

primed...lots of fumes

Let me just warn you that I had to use some crazy primer (B-I-N primer- it works on any surface oil-based paint, stain, or latex) on this because I'm lazy and didn't want to do any more sanding or stripping.  The stuff smelled like I was swimming in a vat of alcohol fumes.  While in this vat of fumes I decided I wanted the color to be dramatic & I had some peachy-coral paint left over from another project.  When it was dry I realized I must have been high on some paint fumes. The color was Barbie Dream House pink.  Not quite the kind of drama I was going for...

pepto pink = not quite right

The great thing about paint-- I decided to paint over the pink. I chose a dark navy with polished nickel knobs.  Way classier, but still dramatic.  Perfection.

navy & knobs- all done!

#110 Secrets & Shopping

What's the secret to the perfect Fall wardrobe? Perfect boots? Perfectly cozy cardigan sweater? Cute hat & gloves? A new fall bag? I'm pretty sure it's a combination of all these and more (forgot to mention jackets, scarves & a pile of crunchy leaves!).  Something doesn't feel quite right with my current wardrobe though.  So, I've decided to do a wardrobe "make-under" (check it out at MakeunderMyLife.com).  It started last week.  I took everything out of my closet & put it all on the bed in my guest room. "Nice job!" I told myself.  The next day I get an email from a friend who's coming to visit.  Yay!  Friends!  Pile of clothes returned promptly to closet.  This week I'm going to start afresh.  No trying to get out of making decisions by just throwing clothes in the guest room.  No trying to keep everything and just rearranging it.  I'm going to be serious about only keeping things that fit my perfect wardrobe.

unrealistic dream of a wardrobe via pinterest

My other remedy to the wardrobe blahs has been to go shopping.  How come there are so many good deals?!  Here are my newest wardrobe additions to shake up the massive piles of t-shirts & jeans that have taken over my closet.  A leopard print coat (I'm not normally a leopard print kinda girl, but I'll try anything once), grey practical (i.e. "flat") loafers & a deep forest green a-line wool skirt (totally chic & goes with all those t-shirts).  I'm still dying for a new bag...

latest & greatest: Old Navy leopard print coat, Sole Society Capri loafers, J. Crew skirt

What's your secret to the perfect fall wardrobe?  And if you have any wardrobe make-over/under secrets, I'd take those too.

#109 Girls + Boys

The combination of girls & boys can go awry in a matter of moments.  Just bring up Titanic or The Big Lebowski and you'll see what I mean.  How do we somehow gain so much knowledge in areas they have no idea about whatsoever? Take nail polish.  Try to explain the technique of matte finish nails, or even just a French manicure.  If his eyes haven't glazed over yet, I can see the wheels turning in his brain and just not understanding what the heck I'm talking about.  Well, this is what I'm talking about: 

simple & sassy
via  pinterest

Then go to the opposite spectrum.  Try to do a crossword puzzle without having a general knowledge of athletes that all dudes seem to be born with.

Somehow, we are the same species. Magically, we can bring out the best parts of each other.

lovey dovey butterfly

via wish!

lovey dovey human beings

via pinterest

#108 Minus 4 = Today's Temperature (104!)

Today's high is a record breaking 104 degrees.  The last time it was this hot in New York City was 1957.  It's just too darn hot to think about much of anything right now except for swimming pools & popsicles...

Marilyn Monroe's 50's version of fun in the sun

via pinterest

Dior's 2011 version of summer style

via R29

yummmmmy!

via {this is glamorous}

#107 Stars Invisible

Another gem of a poem from my sister...Enjoy!

photo via pinterest

Light
by Brianna K.

Stars stay hidden
In fog of urban night,
Unused and unneeded
For city makes the light,

Lest they lose a moment
Hurrying people fret,
And yet, some are still,
Banking on lost bet,

The bustle continues
A sea that ebbs and flows,
No stars here either
Fluorescents hum and glow,

Mechanic voice informs
Before the muffled ding,
Screaming child
One more annoying thing,

Owl questions orbs
Staring from expanse,
This is where stars live
Thousands at a glance,

Old pick-up finds its way
Down a starlit path,
Traveler guided home
By light beyond his math.

#106 Oh My Shoes!

Anyone out there wear a size 8.5 or 9 and need some cute gently worn shoes?  Come to my place immediately!

This may not come as a surprise, but I have too many shoes.  Waaaaaay tooooo many.  There are so many that they've been mentioned in articles by my roommate in our college newspaper, been the test of boys I'm dating to see if they are freaked out by how many there are, the cause of injury when the door organizer has come crashing down, etc.  I have trouble getting rid of them because, heck, they are just too darn cute!  But currently I'm running in purge mode, and they must go.  I probably have at least 10 variations of black heels.  And let's be honest, with all the schlepping I do around the city, they've been in hibernation for a while and aren't likely to come out for a while.

If I had fewer pairs of shoes, I could organize them very cutely in a little ottoman with the extra cute ones having a special spot on a wall of honor!  And for my Southern friends--if we had known about this in college and sold them on campus we would have made a small fortune: the flip flop hanger.  

show off cute shoes!

via Martha

keep the pairs together!

via deliciously organized

...and a pair for the road

by ruthie davis

#105 Happy Weekend of Studying!

Most people's summer weekends do not involve studying for exams unless they are still in school.  But mine do!!  (I'm trying to sound positive and excited about this)  I'm going to become a licensed architect.  This requires seven exams.  Imagine taking your SATs 7 times, except all the information is about architecture.  The boring parts of architecture mostly.  Contracts, scheduling, programming, codes, utility easements, setbacks, and soil types--and that's only the first exam!  The most exciting part I think is the history portion.  It gives meaning to the way we have come to build today.  Ever wondered how surburbia started? Check out Howard's plan for the Garden City.   

Wish this is what my weekend involved:

photo via

But it will probably look like this except with a more hunched over back and coffee jitters:

photo via sophisticated simplicities

And I will be doodling drawings only half this witty to cope with the boring study material:

(p.s. the decorative one will always win in my opinion)

Check out this guy's awesome drawings!
photo via all the buildings in new york

#104 Changes To Live By

I had a lovely design conference via iphone with my friend Heather.  We discussed something that we both struggle with every now and again when we are itching for a change but feel bad leaving our old loves behind...old design loves, that is.  We get attached to designs or things we think represent what we like.  But they represent what were are like at a certain moment.  A year or three later we all have changed and things that were once amazing are just kinda eh or not that important anymore.  Here's to living life in the present, and that "Present" for my friend Heather include an adorable robin's egg blue table with red chairs.  Because the more I think about it, why not just go ahead and paint the chairs red!  Too much?  Maybe I'm getting carried away...  Some color inspiration:

 bathing beauty, the red sunglasses top it off

via anthropologie

monotone robin's egg blue kitchen 

 photo via martha

bright poppies

photo via citrus & orange

Even Degas knew a good color combo when he saw one

photo via {this is glamorous}