all babies want to get borned

apologies for non-posting lameness....my brother had a baby today! i'm an auntie : )
Drew Michael, 7 lbs 9oz. born at 12:22

*this is not the baby, but it's a very adorable photo. thanks to someone named amanda's flickr

baby bomber

dress: thrifted
belt and tights: xhilaration for target
granny boots: thrifted via ebay
bomber jacket: h&m

scarf: thrifted
gray tank: target
skirt: for the republic (got it at a marshall's)
tights: no clue
boots: my most favorite coveted recent ebay aquisition
feathers: uo
bomber jacket: h&m

i've kind of been living in this bomber jacket lately, and i kind of am a little in love with it in general. the spring has crept right up on me, and so warmer weather warrants lighter apparel. so this jacket is just the ticket. it's so light-weight, its a barely there kind of cover-up and as a reaction to the warmer weather, i've been riding the ole bike to work everyday (yes, inappropriately in skirts and dresses! not so inconspicuously either)...so it's nice to have just a little something (to break the wind if you will), but not so much that i arrive to the office with pit stains. annnnd, it's got cropped sleeves so it's a not so jackety kind of jacket. plus, i really love the color. it's so matchable and quite seemingly goes with just about everything!

p.s. though i adore the warm spring sun on my shoulders...lord knows i've been waiting, i just can't seem to let go of my tights. i'm just not there yet.

jen corace..how i love thee

i've been noticing a lot lately that readers of blogs alike, everyone seems to love a bit of beautiful photography here and a dash of fine art there in addition to all the wonderful fashion musings we see most of the time. one of my commenters asked me recently about my profile picture which is indeed a jen corace illustration (by far, my fave illustrator). it resides as my computer wallpaper and many of her other illustrations and painting are plastered all over my bedroom walls. i just can't get enough! her adorable drawing style makes me ache. i believe it's something with the faces she puts on all the impossibly cute girls she paints, it's so whimsical. i can just get lost in their playful simplicity. she's done some illustrations for Bust before, and if i could, i would give her every illustration, but unfortunately i have to give other lovely illustrators work too...and her style doesn't necessarily work for every assignment i have, but for me...she is perfection.

au revoir beautiful shoes

i'm sad to say that i must say goodbye to these, the most beautiful shoes i have ever seen. in hopes of prolonging the time before i will inevidently need to have foot surgery for wearing shoes that aren't comfortable on my feet, i've made the very sad and difficult decision to sell these. i've worn them exactly twice. they are just a wee too small for my feet and thus reek all kinds of havoc on my poor littles tootsies. but i know someone with just a teeny bit smaller foot than I will cherish them forever. and in that same selling light, i should mention that i've made like rhiannon and opened an ebay store! so find these beauties among other lovely items and shop shop shop!

are those my legs?

first day of the year sans legwear of any kind...eep!

dress: h&m
vest: vintage
necklaces: thrifted
shoes: uo

p.s. today's outfit is inspired by miss siri and her crazy and quirky infatuation with vests : )

who you be

who knows who this lovely gal is? i got this from somebody's blog and tagged it for inspiration but now i can't remember where i got it. she is just precious. help!

the biker jacket heard 'round the world

photos taken from Bettyjack, Sally Jane Vintage, Fashion Fillers

everybody's been totally smitten with biker jackets lately. and i must admit, i've caught the bug myself. i was a little put off at first, in that i don't really like much reminiscent of of the '80s (a lot of really aweful trends came out of that era), think neon spandex and scrunchies! but thanks to all the lovely ladies bloggers and wardrobe_remixers who pair it with cute floral dresses and high-waisted shorts...it's become the quintesential item this spring. and i must say..i kind of dig it.

dress: monteau
jacket: h&m
boots: thrifted via ebay
bag: vintage

i <3 whitney

i'm not ashamed to say that i devour Mtv's The Hills every monday. it's totally terrible television, but i'm addicted, what can i say? and of the ladies on the show, Whitney is most definitely my fave one. If for not other reason than her incredible style sense (and she seems more real than the others). anyway, this post is not necessarily about The Hills. It's about my obsession with this cardigan that she's wearing here. i...must...have....it. so i'm sending out the question into cyberspace...if anyone knows where it's from or where i could find it...please please please enlighten me. its probably vintage. and i'm already plotting in my head how i could craft something up to resemble it if i can't get my hands on the real thing!

feeling stumpy (and grumpy)

dress: delia's via buffalo exchange
scarf: street vendor
jacket: h&m
socks: f21
granny boots: vintage

can i first start off by saying...i hate that i look so gosh darn stumpy! ok there. i got it out. but really, couldn't i be just a few inches taller? i so envy all the lovely bloggers who are tall. secondly, i came home late from work (deadline is killer!) to find a strange chewing/rattling noise coming from under my sewing station. i've been battling mice in my apt for some time now, so i assumed it was that, but when the noise continued for 20 more minutes, my gut told me that whatever it was, it was causing a lot of damage to whatever it had gotten into so i preceded to move things around under there until i found the source. low and behold! it was a tiny little mouse...with a mouse trap stuck to it. and i say stuck to it, not stuck in it, because the trap had been on the opposite side of the room so that only meant that that little sucker dragged that thing all the way across the room, managed to squeeze behind a bunch of stuff and was trying to wiggle out of it by chewing and gnawing at everything in sight. i'm really a humane person and i'm not one for animal cruelty, but that was the saddest little display and the most infuriating thing to come home to. and to top it off, my roommate is watching ratatouille in the other room, and it's just too darn ironic.

ebay stole my soul

ya know the people that sit on ebay and stalk their auctions until the very last second and keep hitting refresh until they've stolen the auction with just moments to spare? i really hate those people. i mean, not just a little, but a lot. mostly because i have a life, and it keeps me busy. and it frustrates me that people have so little life to live that they can just sit there like that, a slave to ebay. but i'm a litte bit more understanding a wee bit more compassionate having done it myself recently in order to win these...the most beautiful specimen of shoes i have ever seen. the all out battle i had with competing bidders was epic. but totally worth it. and i'd do it again if i had to....maybe that makes me a hypocrite. but i'm a hypocrite in love. with these beautiful shoes.

my absence + the parental unit

first off, let me apologize for being absent from the blogosphere for a few days. a) i'm on deadline at work and totally crazed and b) the parental unit came to visit this weekend and stayed an extra day yesterday so i was out of commission temporarily, partly due to the fact that i was busy having fun with them and also, that my mom has become addicted to re-doing her living room furniture and was on my laptop every spare minute shopping online at Ikea. Who can blame her? I'm a sucker for cheap, swedish furniture myself. anyway, i'm back in action.
today was an unusual day in that the weather had me all confused. i wanted to dress light because the sun was out and sneakily had me convinced it was warm. but it wasn't. it was only something like 55 degrees or so. so i wanted to layer up, but my lack of cute spring jackets had me kind of in a tizzy (which of course led to a strong, uncontrollable urge to scour h&m afterwork for some)! but i think i went a little too far with the layering, because my office is a sauna and i sweat all day. but it was nice, at the very least, to see the sunshine. and according to weather.com, we're in for a very lovely week.

jumper: monteau
long-sleeve tee and scarf: h&m
leggings: f21
boots: thrifted via ebay
necklaces: thrifted

holy black bettyjack!

i first discoverd the ultra-femme, ultra hip, Bettyjack on Spandex Pony (which apparently she stole from Wardrobe_Remix) and was immediately gaga. i've never come across another person who i can honestly say without a doubt, i would wear each and everything thing they own. i swear this girl thinks of me when she gets dressed in the morning. she's casual but pulled together, but wears unique items and doesn't take it over the top. if the gap opened a vintage store--she would be their poster child. and she's a looker to boot! the girl can't take a bad photo to save her life, and i especially adore the pics of her in the garden with her black dog wandering in and out of the background. precious! if i had a wall i could plaster with web photos, i would cover it with pictures of her and look at them everyday. i'm totally smitten. and i tried to channel her today with this outfit.

tanktop: wet seal
shorts: h&m
belt: vintage (from my grandma)
leggings: f21
cowboy boots: vintage
feathers: uo

spring has most certainly sprung!

hark! i can no longer say that its notquitespringyet weather, because, though i retardedly rolled out of my house today in a wool coat and scarf, it was 70 degrees in ny! (yes, kids it's true.) i can hardly believe it myself, but i can't begin to express how good it felt to feel warm sun on my shoulders. a woman who rents some space in the back of our office, walked across the brooklyn bridge and got effing scorched with sun burn, crispy i tell you! it was ridic. anywho, those flower blossoms have for certain..blossomed and for that, i have found a new wonderous picture snapping environment to explore. hooray for that! and while i'm at it, hooray for such a dope (yes, i said dope) roof terrace with a pretty splash of nature for which a neighbor so nicely provides us with. i'm getting hungry right now just thinking about bbq season! but looking at it now, i (quite guiltfully) realize that this entire outfit is from forever 21, save for the boots, which are Bronx. Yikes! i'm an addict. But who can blame a girl for devouring really cheap, chic, ripoff clothing? Those who have never bought a single item there, and walked away with that happy yellow bag, feeling great about how little money you just spent can cast the first stone. I thought the blouse had great, unique details and though i don't often wear jeans, i had been wanting a pair of great high-waisted ones and these have a little stretch in them, so they fit me perfectly (after cutting and hemming about 1 foot off the bottom of course), and they're so comfortable. although, they don't seem as high-waisted as they actually are in this picture.

here is a church and here is a steeple

today was another notquitespringyet day in ny....sigh. but i went out to grab lunch without a coat on and i lived! hooray for that! and while i was out, i discovered this old church and thought it had great character. what is it about old peeling paint that is so endearing?
top: h&m
dress: f21
necklaces: thrifted
pants: bdg
shoes: jeffrey campbell
bag: vintage

in the trees

today was cold again in ny (when will spring come?) but i'm trying not to let it get to me. i wandered around a different park for good locations to shoot in, no squirrels this time, but i turned my flash off and just let the street lights do their thing. i must admit, i kind of like the aesthetic, even if its a litte fuzzy..
anyway, this outfit is kind of a collection of places i've been. at least i like to look at it that way. i decided that i haven't been wearing a lot of scarfs lately (maybe i'm subconsciously willing the warm weather to come?) but i got this one at a thrift store in berkley, ca. the red skirt i got for $5 on clearance at a Marshall's store in Philadelphia. the tee is from american apparel and the belt is a vintage find from Austin, TX.

has spring sprung?

most definitely not. have you ever seen trees more bleak looking? i tried to explore madison sq. park to dig up some natural beauty, but to no avail. it was freezing today in new york, and far from spring like. but i love love love this new bag that i found at a super-duper awesome vintage store i discovered in Brooklyn, Stella Dallas. and i think i can say without doubt that it's my favorite new item! that tassle is so unique. i also got this belt there a few weeks ago and couldn't figure out the right outfit to wear it with, but i love that it reminds me of my grandmas couch (in a good way). i wish i could shed a few pounds so it didn't squeeze me so tightly...a girl can wish right?

dress: american apparel
long-sleeve tee: next level
belt: vintage
boots: vintage



on another and slightly sillier note..while i was in the park, i came across these very playful (and apparently horny) squirrels that had me totally fascinated. and funny enough, as i was snapping these pictures another park-goer caught me and said, "they're trying to have a private moment." haha. i guess it's mating season. ow ow!

cherry blossom season

i feel almost ridiculous reposting these pictures because something about the cherry blossom girl has everyone totally smitten. me included. and i'm positive anyone reading this has already seen them. but i just couldn't help myself. not because she's totally adorable and totally inspirational, but it was the environment she's in that had me at hello. i mean, gosh, leave it to her to put me in my place. but it's really motivating me to step up my picture-taking game (if you will) and start thinking more creatively about what's around me when i'm snapping photos. the boring white walls of my bedroom just don't cut it when you compare them to this. she could be wearing a black plastic bag tied with shoelaces and this picture would still be enchanting! (not that she would!) although, it is a little bit of a pipe dream either way, because we just don't have this kind of beauty in brooklyn. sigh.

Store Restock!

I fiiiiiiinally got my act together and added some new summery items (like this adorable gathered waist summer skirt) to my store, as well as a new vintage section! I demand you go there...now! (if you want)

in your pants

i've been struggling with pants lately. i think there's some universal truth to the fact that tights and cute heels are just cuter than pants a lot of the time. damn! cause sometimes i just don't feel like putting on tights. so i took to the street style sites on a hunt for fashionista's who make pants work in hopes that i may find some inspiration. it was harder than i thought : /

but these gals do it nicely methinks.

photo's taken from Hoy Fashion, Wardrobe_Remix, Shebet Tone

a little bit of this, and a touch of that..

today, i was told i looked a little bit lolita and a little bit like madelline (yes, from the children's books)!

...either way, i'm fine with it : )

cardigan: h&m
dress and socks: f21
shoes: ebay

Cheap Date

we get plenty of great (and not so great) books across our desks at Bust, but among the lot was this: The Cheap Date Guide to Style. And it really tickled my fancy in so many ways. Amongst the impossibly stylish and effortlessly chic icons who grace it's pages are Chloe Sevigny, Mischa Barton, Karl Lagerfeld, and Anna Piaggi who share their thoughts on celebrity style, the trends to forget about, classic pieces that everyone should have in their wardrobe, and what it takes to be a style icon. I won't dish too much so that you may devour every page for yourself (for more juicy deets, be sure to check out the piece written by the lovely Siri in the June/July issue of Bust!). But one thing that really got me thinking was page 14, which asked: What makes someone stylish? The responses explored a range of answers to the question..but one thing remained pretty consistent..the idea that self decoration is an expression of self and that those who don't follow the mainstream and march to the beat of their own drummer, are those who generally are branded stylish. I think, being stylish means confidence. Confidence to put on anything and own it. No matter what that be.

So i am curious what others think...what makes someone stylish?

i <3 Jeffrey Campbell

a few days ago, i was at liebemarlene's impossibly chic blog and saw this. it was the shoes i was most drawn to, though, i have to admit i considered buying the same marc jacobs knock-off dress at forevs 21! in reading some of the comments she got, one girl mentioned her love for Jeffrey Campbell (drool!) and i couldn't agree more. I think i can say for certain that he's my favorite shoe designer by far for 3 reasons:
1) his shoes are really well-made, you can tell buy looking at them (and the price proves it).
2) i was reading a bio about him and his company is totally family owned and operated, even his brother and 2 daughters are in on it!
3) i'm a sucker for heels and his are surprisingly comfortable and not too high, which for me is huge, since i spend many a hour counting out the days until i will inevitably have to have foot surgery for not listening to the foot doctor who's told me over and over to wear good shoes and put orthotic insoles in them (yeah right!)

JC doesn't have a website yet (apparently is slated to launch in june), but until then, i recommend david z for a large selection of this brand. and for those unfortunate soles who don't have the luxury of just walking into one in nyc, you're in luck. they do have a website!