Friday, July 31, 2009

Weekend Slouch-Fest...

Hat: Burton ($?)
Tee: F21 (5.00)
Shorts: AE (30.00)
Sandal: J.Crew (6.00)
As I mentioned last night, I have today off. Hence, my particularly slouchy outfit. Today I plan to listen to Maine Public Radio on ITunes (a little addiction of mine that I couldn't kick when I moved out of the state), organize my files, read the latest issue of BUST (yay!), and do some planning on a gallery show I will be co-hosting in August (more info to come!). I love days where there is no pressure to do anything special! The weather for this weekend looks like it will be pleasant, perfect for bike riding and swimming!
How about you, any weekend plans?
Cheers!

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Today has been no good...

I apologize for the lame post, I've just had one of those days. 
Nothing seemed to go in the right direction today.
Even this post has taken way too long to configure.
But enough complaining, Tonight I give you this:

These two make everything better, 
like a Latin electro-pop band aid for the cut that was my day.

I have tomorrow off, thank goodness!
Bonne Nuit

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Daily Style...

Top: H&M (24.90)
Shorts: J.Crew outlet (15.00)
Flats: TJMaxx
Bracelet: Girt from a neighbor 
Specs: UO
It was incredibly humid today and I really couldn't imagine wearing anything but shorts to my office. As much as I've been dreaming of fall styles, I do like being able to throw on a couple of pieces and just be able to go- no worrying about being warm enough! I spent all afternoon reviewing portfolios (a hint at what I do full time) so this outfit proved super comfortable too!
Oh!
The trailer for Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland is out!
And it looks fantastic in all it's tripped out glory!

I'm off to have sushi with Chris, bonne nuit!

Coveting...

" Purple Bootie" (29.99) www.charlotterusse.com
"Zaar" (28.80) www.forever21.com
"Chelsea" (238.00) www.urbanoutfitters.com

Because of this unseasonably cool weather we've had all Summer, Autumn has been looming large in my mind, and with cooler weather comes the chance to wear cooler shoes. I think it's the 85 degree heat that turns me off from wearing heels in the summer, it just seems like so much work! Ugh, I get tired just thinking about it! The three pairs above are just a few I've been obsessing over, I can't wait to pair these with some of the dresses I've been hiding away in my Winter storage! Of course, only two of these three will actually make the cut for closet space. Can you guess who's going to be left out? Those Frye booties are beautiful, but unfortunately $238 is miles out of my price range. Whatever, a girl can drool I mean dream can't she?

What are you looking forward to rocking
when the cool Autumn air makes it's debut?

Monday, July 27, 2009

Daily Style...

Today is one of those days where you can tell at 7AM it's going to be a million degrees outside. Ladies and gentlemen, summer has finally made an appearance...
Dress: Thakoon for Target (24.99)
Flats: Thrifted (2.00)
I love days where you can get up and just throw on a dress. It makes life so much easier. Today will be a perfect day for swimming, I love living close to the ocean! it's too bad this summer has been so rainy, there has been a serious lack of sunshine and swimming in my life.
In other news...
I received the message yesterday that I have been nominated for my first award!
The lovely Krystal who writes the fantastic blog This Time Tomorrow has passed on the "Kreativ Blogger" award and now I am to tell you seven things about myself that you may (or may not) be interested to know! So, without further ado, get ready for knowledge!

1) I have loved fashion since I was a child (my mother still talks about my idea for shrink wrap clothing), but was a huge tomboy in high school and up until Junior year in college my uniform consisted of baggy pants, hoodies, clunky sneakers- the works. I have been told that I dressed like one of the members of Blink-182.
2) I am an avid snowboarder- I even worked in a shop for a number of years and was on a team in HS.
3) I hold a Bachelors Of Fine Arts in Photography and my ultimate goal is to be a fashion photographer or set stylist.
4) I love tattoos and have three of them- and have my next three already planned- they're incredibly addicting.
5) I love to bake, specifically pie, and I also make my own juice.
6) I collect vintage bicycles and my friend's art. I am also in the process of refurbishing a vintage Suzuki scooter. It's going pretty slowly.
7) I have travelled to Japan, Germany, Ireland, and all around Canada and the United States. My ultimate dream is to take three months to travel cross-country and take photographs.

Whew! That was tougher than I expected! Now I just need to nominate seven (7!) fantastic bloggers who I feel we should all learn more about, without further ado:
Thank you Krystal for this great award!

Over the Weekend / Daily Style...

After a long hiatus, I visited the Salvation Army this weekend. I was not disappointed! I only came away with three things, but all three are so good, I can't wait to wear them this week! Today I wore my new-to-me suede skirt: 
Necklace: Candace Ang for UO (9.99)
Lace Vest (worn backwards): Thrifted (20.00)
Skirt: Thrifted (1.99) <---- do you see that? 1.99!
Shoes: UO (28.00)
It turned out to be a little too hot for leather, but I just cranked my office AC!

Over The Weekend
Well, my weekend went in a number of unexpected directions! Saturday, my friend Emily and I travelled to Western Massachusetts to visit our dear friend Adria. On the way back we were stranded on the Mass Pike for about an hour. I got out to stretch my legs and hung out for a bit on the other side of the highway...I know, you're in awe of my adventurousness. Someone else had the same idea:
Sunday was spent at the Beverly Skate Park at an event co-sponsored by the company Chris works for. It was nice to hang out and see people I rarely get to see:
Later on, we all headed to Woodman's in Essex, which is famous for it's fried clams. Apparently they are responsible for inventing fried clams in the first place. The weather was beautiful and perfect for outdoor eating. Woodman's looks over salt marshes, which I think are so beautiful and remind me of life in Maine (where I grew up):
Me, with the salt marsh in the distance:
Our group (there are about 15 extra people not in this picture):
After stuffing ourselves with fried things, we all headed back to Chris and my apartment for beers on the porch. I love spontaneous weekends, I really wasn't expecting to do much this weekend but it turned out to be so nice!

Friday, July 24, 2009

Rainy Day-ly Style...

Holy tropical storm Batman!
Umbrella: Target (16.99)
Trench: J.Crew Outlet (24.99)
Oxford Shirt: GAP Thrifted (2.00)
Sweater: H&M (16.99)
Belt: J.Crew (8.00)
Jeans: H&M (39.90)
Boots: Hunter via Ebay (60.00)
The weather actually looks pretty calm in this pic, I assure you it isn't. I woke up to a very wet house this morning, as the wind must have changed last night and blew water in every window. One thing I'm thankful for though is my decision to finally bite the bullet and get myself some rain boots. A few weeks ago I posted some rainy day style which featured Hunter Original rain boots, I love how they look: perfect height, great colors, and excellent quality. Specifically, I've been lusting after the aubergine color- the most perfect purple/blue. I would never be able to spend $115 on a pair of shoes so when I found factory seconds on Ebay, I jumped. The only difference between my Hunter boots and the ones you buy for full price is a little scuffing and $55 bucks!
C and I watched Freaks & Geeks last night on DVD, I'd forgotten how much I liked that show. I have to say too, I've got a little bit of a crush on Jason Segal's character. Maybe I'm just feeling nostalgic because the group above represents pretty much every boy I ever crushed on in high school (including C)! Did you have a specific 'type' when you were younger?

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Daily Style...

The woman at the coffee shop this morning told me she
loved my "Sculptural Hair Do's", frankly I think she was a little scared of my bun...
Blazer: Thrifted from the boy's section (2.99)
T-Shirt: UO sale (4.99)
Necklace: H&M (9.90)
Jeans: H&M (39.90)
Shoes: UO last year
I love the blazer trend this year, but I'm not about to drop any serious dough on something that I can easily find at the Salvation Army (I feel the same way about florals, rompers, and "high waisted" Levi's cut off's). This blazer cost 2.99 and had never been worn- it still had the tags! It's a boys Van Heusen with gold buttons (love gold) and power shoulders. I was a little unsure of the strong shoulder at first, but now I love it! Especially with sculptural hair and lots of gold!

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Coveting...

This weeks Coveting... post isn't very creative. However, it's forcing me to admit something rather embarrassing: I wear the same black flats almost everyday. When Emily from Cupcakes and Cashmere first posted these on her blog, I thought they were brilliant! Than I realized I could easily make them, and they got even better!
Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you:
The most radical studded ballet slippers ever!
(I want both colors)

Found on the awesome website www.BonaDrag.com
Go HERE to find the actual shoe
Cheers!

Daily Style...

I'm running late for work! Shoot!
Oxford Shirt: F21 (12.00)
Python Leggings: AA (40.00)
Shoes: TJMaxx (I swear I own other shoes!) 
Necklace: Super Candy by Candace Ang for UO (9.99)
A close up of my rad rad rad new necklace!

Cheers!
P.S.- Urban Outfitters.com  is having a mega sale right now

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Art Notes...

So, I realized that I never wrote about the exhibitions I saw while in D.C. last weekend. Having the flu really screwed up last weeks posts, huh? Well, back to business! Aside from visiting my good friend Sophia, one of the things I was most excited about doing on our road-trip was seeing three specific gallery shows: Paint Made Flesh at the Phillips Collection, and the William Eggleston retrospective William Eggleston: Democratic Camera, Photographs and Video, 19612008, and Maya Lin: Systematic Landscapes both at the Corcoran Gallery of Art. Now, I know I wrote a bit about these shows already, but I wanted to write a bit more! Paint Made Flesh was amazing, it had such a fantastic assortment of artists that spanned the decades after WWII. Two artists I was most excited to see were John Currin and Jenny Saville.
Advisory: Some (most) of Currin's work is explicit in nature.
Google Image search at your own risk. You've been warned.
This is art, people.
" The Hobo" By John Currin

What Draws me to Currin's work is his use of the female figure. His lighting and colors are soft, yet his subject matter is often pornographic. He's taken the traditional renaissance style of painting- which has been so revered in the art world- and flipped it on it's head. How can you not love a man who painted a topless portrait of Bea Arthur?
"Hyphen" by Jenny Saville
Next we have Jenny Saville. Saville paints on the large scale, her paintings can be measured in feet and meters, rather than inches. She pushes her subject matter in the viewers face and forces them to look at her- often deformed- subjects straight on. She uses large swabs of oil paint on her canvasses, making her figures look as if they are covered in butter or frosting.
Now, on to the Corcoran Gallery of Art!
I love William Eggleston. I love color photography. William Eggleston is the father of fine-art color photography. Seeing a retrospective of his work was like my holy grail. I left this show so inspired to create more work and experiment with my processes!
"2x4 Landscape" by Maya Lin
And finally Sculptor and Architect, Maya Lin. Growing up with a mother who is a land surveyor, I was constantly exposed to different kinds of maps- including topographic- and soil composites. I think this is what drew me to Lin's work. I am able to connect to her landscape inspired work through the knowledge that my mother instilled in my uninterested child's brain. Fun Fact: Maya Lin also designed the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in D.C.

One of the most important things I took with me from art college was that it is imperative that you as an artist expose yourself to as many different kinds of art as possible. See what other artists are creating, and explore how you as an artist can employ those methods with your own work. This year one of my main resolutions was to do more of that, go to more gallery shows, and more museum exhibitions.

Cheers!

Ohhh!

Who's on the front page of Weardrobe today?
Weardrobe is awesome, and you should all go there and sign up...that is, if you haven't already.
ok, go about your business!

Daily Style...

Umbrella: Target (16.99)
Shirt: H&M (5.90)
Skirt: reconstructed thrift (3.00)
Tights: Target (5.00)
Shoes: TJMaxx 
Specs: UO
This skirt is one of my most successful reconstructs. When I bought it, it was a long skirt with the pattern on the bottom and the waist fit perfectly. I cut out the middle and moved the waistband down, and now it's perfect! I love the Native-American inspired pattern, and the pink color gives it some pop! Skirts are one of the hardest things for me to find in stores, they have to have the right rise or else they look funny on me. I find it's a lot easier to thrift them and either hem them or bring down the band. In other news, this weather really doesn't make me want to go to work!
Cheers!

Monday, July 20, 2009

Over the Weekend...

How was everyones weekend? Mine was fantastic, but not at all productive. That's how all the best kinds of weekends seem to start, right? New England is finally getting the Summer weather that makes living in negative degree Winters worthwhile. Chris and I work very different schedules, but one thing that is a constant is that we try and spend every Sunday together. Yesterday we had planned to visit Halibut Point State Park in Rockport, MA for some hiking and picnicking, unfortunately it seems everyone else in the state of Massachusetts had the same idea! By the time we got there, they weren't letting anyone in. Not to be deterred from having a great day, we turned the car around and headed to our trusty secret beach, where we met up with friends and had our picnic.
Beach biking essentials:
Tomato-Basel-Mozzarella salad is not very beach friendly:
Me:
Later in the evening we headed to a barbecue and then off to Lynch Park where they were screening "The Princess Bride"! It was so nice to sit in the open air and eat ice-cream and watch a movie with friends under the stars!

We biked to the park:
(I know I shouldn't think that smoking is cute, but Chris was smoking while riding his bike...which I think is cute)
The crowd at Lynch Park:
The sun set and the movie began!
I think the movie at the park is going to be a Summer Sunday tradition for us, it was such a nice way to end a busy day!

Cheers!

Daily Style...


Dress: Forever 21
Belt: from another F21 dress
Shoes: TJMaxx
Ring: Forever 21 (3.50)
I'm trying out a new photo location, I've grown really tired of my ugly steps and have ventured outside! We'll see how it goes. I'm feeling pretty sleepy after an extremely busy weekend, which I'll post about a bit later! 
***Edit!***
Literally, I edited my whole outfit about halfway through the day. The first way looked good, but I think my hair looks a lot better and the black belt is more interesting. I don't know.
Also a close-up of my ring, which was requested:


Friday, July 17, 2009

Daily Style...


Specs: UO (4.99)
Dress: Vintage from Modern Millies Salem, MA (20.00)
Belt: Thrifted (1.00)
Shoes: Target (20.00)

The neighbors had a party last night so my picture steps were in pret-ty rough shape this morning! Today actually felt like summer, which is nice, but is also making my outfit picking-out much more difficult. It's tough wearing polyester in 80 degree weather!
Chris and I went to see Harry Potter last night, has anyone else seen it yet? I thought it was pretty alright, but I always felt like The Half-Blood Prince was a little less exciting than the other books. 
Opinions?
The movie theatre was packed though! 

I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend, 
we're planning on a hike and a picnic!

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Daily Style...


Shirt: TJMaxx (12.00)
Shorts: J.Crew Outlet (15.00)
Necklace: H&M (9.90)
Shoes: TJMaxx (7.00)

I'm sorry if my posts have been a bit wonky lately, I've been knocked down by the flu for the past three days. I don't think I've been this sick since I was much younger. Today is my first day back at work after being out for the first half of the week, I'm still not feeling that great, and I think you can tell. I'm trying these shorts out for work today, I wasn't sure if they were too short for an office setting, but figured I would throw on a cardigan when I got inside anyway. I think my necklace dresses it up.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

I've been watching trailers...

Has Anyone else seen the trailer for "Coco Before Chanel"?
I can't wait for it to come out!
What movies do you watch for fashion inspiration?
(I love Cry Baby & Amelie)

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Feeling ill...

Today I am not feeling well at all.
Posts will resume as usual tomorrow.
I am being taken care of by Chris and our kitty, Zebediah, who seems to know when I'm feeling blue.
He's Sweet.

Over the Weekend/ Daily Style...

After a very long car ride, I'm back from D.C. ! My friend Bea and I left Friday afternoon to visit our long lost friend Sophia, who moved there last year. We miss her dearly, but it's nice to have an excuse to visit another city. I haven't visited D.C. since I was a kid, and it was nice to be somewhere new!
Friday Travel Outfit:
Top: UO (?)
Belt: J.Crew Outlet (10.00)
Jeans: AE (39.00)
Shoes: UO (28.00)
Saturday (@ WWII Memorial):
Shirt: H&M (28.00)
Shorts: J.Crew Outlet (15.00)
Sandals: some mall store
Sunnies: UO (4.99)
Bag: New York Strand Bookstore (12.00)
(above)
I am officially addicted to real frozen yogurt. We visited Mr. Yogato more than once, 
this is "tangy" (plain) and "Chazel" (choco-hazelnut) swirled with strawberries and coconut.
I'm sad I had to leave this place behind. Boston, get with the program!
Sophia and Bea like it too. 
(please don't be mad I posted this!)
Sunday evening we took a picnic to the Lincoln Memorial, turns out you can't have food on the steps, so we took it to the lawn. The weekend was filled with incredibly hot days (yay!), wine, and dancing. 

More on some D.C. galleries tomorrow!

Friday, July 10, 2009

Daily Style...

I leave in just a few hours for Washington DC!
Shirt: Urban Outfitters (old- gift from Mum)
Belt: Thrifted (.50)
Skirt: Thrifted (2.00)
Shoes: Target (20.00)
Ring: Forever 21 (3.99)
A close-up of my belt buckle- it's two owls!

It's such a beautiful day out today, perfect for the beach! I think that summer has finally arrived!
A couple more pictures of the arcade yesterday, did I mention that they have pin-ball? I love pin-ball!
You can see Chris in the background playing Knock Out!

I hope you all have a great weekend!

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Daily Style...


Blouse: H&M (29.00)
Necklace: H&M (18.00)
Jeans: H&M (39.00)
Flats: Urban Outfitters (28.99)
Zephyr is my guest model again today.

Zephyr and I did a photo shoot this morning, I really think he likes having his picture taken! I take way too many pictures of my cats, but they are so funny sometimes.
Chris and I went to the Salem Willows this afternoon, this cheesy little arcade area on the shore 10 minutes from our house. They have the usual things there: ice cream, arcade games, kiddie rides; but they also have a traditional photo booth! We have been taking pictures together there for the past five years, and have quite the collection going, over 50 strips!
It's finally sunny!