Birthday Girl

So, my favorite ladies took me out last night for birthday drinks.  We went to Bar XII, a great little sports bar/lounge with super nice staff.  It's a really fun place to hang, I'll probably go back sometime soon.

Image courtesy www.womanaroundtown.com

Here's me with a Berry Cosmopolitan (my drink of the night):

Sash and tiara courtesy of my two good girlfriends, Jill and Mary.  You can't see it but the sash says "Birthday Girl".  Mary made it herself.  :)


Also, I'm wearing one of my new dresses and the gold shoes I bought the other day. 


Sorry for the super quick post but my pops is flying in tomorrow so I gotta get to cleaning up the apartment.  Mom flies in on the 24th.  They're in town for my graduation.  So exciting!  Haven't seen them since Christmas.

27 Dresses.. And a couple shoes.

No, not the movie.. My shopping spree today.


And not 27 dresses, but 9.  Still tho, I was like "Srsly, wtf?"  But I couldn't help it..


It's my birthday so it was a birthday present to myself.  That's ok, right?


Right?!


Anyway.  I stopped at TJ Maxx today on 6th Ave with the intention of finding a birthday dress for tomorrow night and a graduation dress for my grad ceremony at the end of the month.


By the time I went to the fitting room I had 17 dresses.  


17.

I'm pretty sure the fitting room lady wanted to beat me with a hanger.


Once I started trying on the dresses I have to say, I was really pleasantly surprised.  I'm trying to branch out and integrate new patterns into my wardrobe so amidst my clawing thru the racks like a madwoman perfectly sane shopper, I made sure to grab some things that I normally never would.


I'm happy to say that I found some things that I really liked.  Take a look:


(Please excuse the beheaded look, I had zero makeup on and my hair in a bun.  Also, my legs are see-thru.  I like to sport the "Yeah, I'm homeless" look while shopping.)


This is a dress that I normally wouldn't have tried and I ended up loving the silhouette.

This is a dress that I normally would grab.  I loved the pop of turquoise.

Again, another pattern that I normally would have avoided but really glad I gave it a try.  I would love to pair this with a big floppy straw sun hat and maybe a splash of coral.

Again with one that I'm instantly drawn to.  I am in LOVE with the shape of this dress.  I also like the barely noticeable pockets and the almost painted on look of the flowers.  I think this is the one that I'll wear for my graduation.

This dress is again one that I normally like.  I almost didn't get it because it was just a tad too small in the hips and bust.. until I realized that I had grabbed this dress twice without realizing it and the second one was the right size.  

 Here is one that I almost didn't even bother trying on but again, I ended up loving it.  It just had such a sexy quality to it and I love the sheer halter.

Another pattern I tend to steer clear of and I put it on thinking the folds would add pounds to my frame but instead they gave me a nice hourglass shape.  And I liked the cleavage that showed a little but not too much.  Definitely a drinks and dancing dress.

My usual style.  Black and white with a splash of color.  I really liked the pink piping that edged the black.  This was a nice, light airy dress that will be perfect for sidewalk cafe lunches.  :)

This is a shape I almost never even look at.  I worry the loose fit will make me look bigger then I am.  In this case tho, the cut of the dress hit just right.  The print makes me feel like I should be on a cruise somewhere.  Another straw hat dress, yes?

I almost bought this dress but at the last minute decided against it.  Perhaps it's because I already bought a pink, black and white dress or perhaps I got tired of florals.  I'm not actually sure.  I also can't promise I won't go back and get it.  Seriously, almost all these dresses were $19.99.  That's really hard to resist.

Really, really hard.


Because I had gone shopping in my flipflops I swung by the shoe department and grabbed a pair of black mesh open toe wedges.  


I believe if you're shopping for something that you will wear with heels, then you should try it on with heels.  The way you stand in heels changes your body and posture, so it's the best way to see how you'll look in the piece.


You can see the wedges best in the second pic.  I actually planned on buying them, but after dress number 17 they had started to rub the back of my heel wrong.  So I passed.


A couple other shoes I fell in love with but passed on:


These gorgeous Steve Madden Girl satin-y nude heels.  They had every size but 8.  I was pretty bummed, they were on clearance too.

Really adorable flats, right?

They actually weren't that hard to say no to.  C'mon, TJ.. This one pair of flats cost more than my entire haul.  And honestly, I'm sure these are probably a great deal for Dolce & Gabbana (my personal fave high end designer).. But I just can't imagine that the average TJ Maxx shopper is going to want to drop $300 on some flats.. 

I thought the pattern on these were just too cute but they were plastic.  You can't really see the shine of them in the pic, but it really took away from the overall look of the shoes.  If they had been fabric they woulda been in my overflowing cart in a New York second.

The shoe browsing wasn't a total waste tho.  I did pick up these two:


A cute pair of Skechers with a rhinestone toe.

And these glittered gold open toe heels.  I don't know what drew me to these exactly except they are just so fun.  They look silver in the pic but they're really a pale gold.  The heel is the same shiny material as the toe.

Fun, right?


Anyway, that was how I spent my day (and my money).  


Anyone have any gorgeous summer dresses they're dying to show off?

Easy Breezy Summer Goals

First off, what I'm about to say might seem a little.. icky, but... I love the garbage/recycle room in my apt building.


Gross, right?  Let me explain.


The garbage/recycle room is where everyone takes the opportunity to place all the things they no longer want, rather then taking it to the Goodwill or passing it on to a friend.  They do this because it's like a swapsie room down there.


You can find all kinds of stuff: books, office supplies, chairs, paintings and artwork, clothing, lamps, whatever.


It's kinda awesome.


Yesterday I found, in a bag and folded nicely, 4 pashminas.  


I LOVE me a pashmina.  


Take a looksie:

They're in pretty much perfect condition.  I found one snag on one of them, but it isn't noticeable.  And according to the tag that I found they're 75% cashmere.  Good enough for me.


Score.


Alright, down to business.  


Every time summer comes around I always say the same thing:  It's time for me to get to reading some of the classics.


Now, I'm a huge reader.  


Like, colossal.  Massive.  Sorta obsessed.


And there isn't any one genre that I stick to either.  I partake in almost all of them.  Except western.  Or romance.  Can't stand bodice rippers.


Ew.


But I rarely dive into the classics.  I mean, I love Jane Austen and have read her work.  I've also read Dracula by Bram Stoker.  And a few classics in middle school like Fahrenheit 451.


And each time summer makes an appearance I once again promise to pull out that 8th grade reading list that we all soundly ignored and get to it.  But of course, some new amazing fiction bestseller hits the shelves and that goal gets buried under Stieg Larsson or Jodi Picoult.


Not this time!  I can proudly say that last night I finished the first classic on my list:

I chose The Great Gatsby because 1) a girlfriend of mine told me how amazing it was and that she rereads it every couple of years and 2) because they are remaking the movie with Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan and Isla Fisher.


I can say that it was an amazing book and really wish I had read it back during my 8th grade summer rather then racking up some skin cancer by the pool. 


Live and learn.


Next up on my list is The Grapes of Wrath then I think I'm going to try Wuthering Heights.


If anyone out there has any suggestions of favorite classics, please let me know in the comments!  I'm definitely open to all.


So, what kinds of goals do you have for the summer?

“There is nothing wrong with change, if it is in the right direction” -- Winston Churchill

Sorry I've been MIA this week.  I've had so much going on it's hard to believe it's just been 7 days!  And there's lots of big changes coming on quick.  :)

First, I'm FINALLY done with school.  Finished.  Kaput.  Fini.  Donzo.


Forever.


It feels almost unreal.  Because my conservatory was a 2 year intensive, 4 years got shoved into 4 measly semesters.  And omg, was it overwhelming at times.


But thanks to good friends, supportive family and a loving B, I managed to pull thru.


But just barely.


Secondly, I got lumineers to fix my slightly crooked smile!  I love them.  I hated my smile before even tho it wasn't totally noticeable that it was crooked.. I just hated smiling.  And couldn't stop myself from picking apart photos where I could tell.


But no more!  Now I have a perfectly straight, even smile.  The whole procedure took about 45 minutes, no anesthesia and almost no pain.


I'm still getting used to the slightly different feel of my teeth but it's now almost like I've had them my whole life.


And third big news item:

No more renting for us.. We've decided to buy!


My fairly flighty nature slightly cringes at the thought of being so permanently tied to a place legally but.. It's time.


And I have a hard time imagining myself living in any other city than this one. I always told myself if and when I have children, this is the city that I want them raised in.


We've been putting our feelers out to see how the market is and what's available.  And luckily for us, the market is still pretty reasonable.  Now would be a great time to buy.


And honestly?  If we bought in the area that we live now, we'd be paying less than we do in rent.


Insane.


So far we're looking at 2 bedrooms or 1 bed convertible, updated kitchen, elevator, dog friendly (of course) and in Manhattan.  


I'll be keeping you all updated as we go along.  And you can be sure there will be plenty of posts filled with hair-tearing frustration.


As is the nature of NYC Real Estate, I'm sure.

Living Room Mock Up

Polyvore.com

So, I'm not exactly creative when it comes to decorating. My style tends toward simple.


Read: boooring!


But I am trying to change that. Lately I've been playing around on polyvore.com (hello, timewaster) and have become really interested in making different mock ups of hopefully future rooms.


This was my latest attempt. I'm not sure how it turned out other then it makes me feel comfy inside.


Who else likes to dream in decor?

Right after I published my last post my doorbell rang and it was the wonderful delivery man!


Don't you just love when stuff is delivered?  Even if you ordered it yourself it's still like getting a present.


Anyway, a week ago I looked thru my closet and discovered I was sorely lacking in any cute, new spring clothes.  Buuuuutt.. My budget likes to torture me by not allowing me to buy everything I desperately need want.


This makes living a few blocks from 5th Ave VERY depressing.


Thankfully, Charlotte Russe's online store came to the rescue.  If you've never heard of Charlotte Russe just think Wet Seal mixed with Forever 21.  Cheap, cute items that follow all the latest trends.  Definitely no staple items here, but I think all trend items should be bought on the cheap.


The only hard part about shopping in these stores is spending the time going thru all the clothes made for the tweenies and finding age appropriate items.  


Not that I'm a granny or anything but I still don't need my midriff hanging out for all to see.


Anyhoo.. They arrived today and I was so excited about the shoes and accessories that I had to take some pics.  I haven't yet tried on the clothes (about 6 tops and a pair of shorts), so it's just these pics so far.


Aren't they just adorable?  Sigh..

I've been looking for a great pair of nude heels for a couple months now.

Leaf ring..

And leaf inspired cuff bracelet.

Triple chain necklace with removable feather accessory.

I seriously love shopping.

Beautiful Photos

I often find photos all over the interwebs that I download.  Any ol' image that happens to catch my eye.  They very greatly in style, medium and subject.  I'm not sure what it is about these photos that I love so much.


Other than they're gorgeous, of course.

None of these images are mine and if I've taken any of your photos and you would like a link or for them to be removed please just message me.  I promise to start keeping better track in the future of where I come across these gorgeous images so that I might credit you all properly.