dorm chic - grad school style // bed & bath

in three months i'm headed off to grad school!!  ah campus life.  okay so i'm not exactly living in a dorm... more like a spacious studio with a dishwasher (i live in downtown Manhattan...to me, a dishwasher is like...really a luxury).  but nonetheless, i've been thinking about how to spruce up my new space and make it feel happy and cozy.  first things first... a girl must have a chic bathroom and nice bedding!

and yes, this is shocking, but i'm doing it all on a budget.  yes, me of the Proenza Schouler & Alexander Wang. hey...chic doesn't always mean expensive!

so bathroom first... i think i want to do a blue situation.

i love ombre. and i'm assuming i'll be seeing this in the reflection of my mirror when i get ready, and my dark brown hair will really pop against this as my back-drop (important things to consider). $19.99 target.com

bath mat... in navy blue obviously.  navy blue is my absolute all time favorite color in the history of all colors. it's SO chic. and i like the texture of these.  $24.95 cb2.com

ok bedroom next.  it's a studio so technically it's not a bedroom, but you know what i mean.

i think it's really important to have two bed situations.  so this is #1. i love stripes, this look so easy-Saturday-morning comfy chic.  with either beige sheets or dark brown sheets (both of which i already have). perf.  duvet, $99.99, target.com

for bed look #2, i love these sheets with a khaki duvet (which i already have). it's a happy sheet print and then a solid comforter... perfect opposite of #1.  i'm all about options.  sheets, $148, anthropologie.com

apartments are so fun!  i LOVE to decorate.  the living/dining space is up next.

oh and my saturday afternoon jams?  Jack White's album.  if you're not listening to it...you better start right now!

style file: this week's highlights, what i wore

i'm still riding the high of getting in to grad school!  it's not even bothering me that the weather lately has been atrocious.  it's almost May, you guys, and it's like 55 degrees outside.  NOT CUTE.  but i don't care!  ever since finding out last Thursday, life has been at full speed... getting an apartment down at Purdue... organizing life in general, getting my affairs in order.  it's so exciting!

also, summer is almost here, and bikini season is fast approaching.  sooo there's that.  i'm pale as ghost right now, and while i'm 85% happy with how i look in a bathing suit...there's room for improvement.  also, as you'll see below, crop tops are happening this season so...there's a lot of ab work to be done!

we had a 70-degree day last weekend, so this was wildly appropriate.  dress, Moulinette Soeurs.  nude pumps, Steve Madden. 

LIVING for a crop top.  for real.  skort, American Eagle. bralette, American Eagle. abs, yoga.

cold out. so i went with super bright colors!  cafe capri, J.Crew. striped rugby top, J.Crew. oxfords, uhm..stolen from a photoshoot i attended about a year ago...soo..shhh.

what i've been listening to...

• Freedom at 21 - Jack White (his new album dropped this week, Blunderbluss, and it's SICK).
• Judith - A Perfect Circle
• Seven Devils - Florence + the Machine
• Kashmir - Loch Lomond
• Beautiful Sinner - Nicki Minaj
• Britney Spears Megamix - Britney Spears mixed by Chris Cox (JUDGE ME)
• Toy Soldier - Britney Spears (one of my fav britney songs ever)
• Jump - Madonna

okay so about this crop top thing.  so i'm a huge dork and when i need exercise motivation, i turn to youtube.  every time.  i love to watch Nike commercials...i think they're so good, and when it's bikini season....i turn to the same video every year....

her abs, her booty, her abs... omg.  Britney, about 11 years ago, had the SICKEST BODY EVER.  and this iconic performance on the VMAs is the best inspiration you'll ever find to get your ass up and go to the gym!  watch Britney shake it (particularly around 3:20...) and bow down to Britney and her abs.  bow down. this is everything.

it's almost May! omg right?!  my sister will be graduating from Harvard Business School (really major), and then summer fridays start (favorite!)... it's all very exciting.  most exciting - summer clothes!!
xx

what i wore + a very major announcement

i must again apologize for my absence.  in the craziness of my health problems and in a flurry of travel, i've been a busy bee. but this post comes with the biggest smile in the history of all posts.  but we'll save that for later.  clothes first!

i've wanted this dress for some time and now it's MINE!!  isn't it the best?  it's a great heavy jersey material so it falls just beautifully.  dress, Marc by Marc Jacobs. heels, Miu Miu.

jumpsuits, forever and ever.  channeling Bianca Jagger.  i totally love this.  jumpsuit, Eight-Sixty. heels, Burberry.

in my travels, playing with my puppy.  he was lovin' on me.  i love him more than life itself.

okay so on to the very major announcement..... I'VE BEEN ACCEPTED TO GRAD SCHOOL!!!!!!!!!!

eeekkk!!! right?!  so if you all remember, on January 1st (or the 2nd or something), i mentioned in my New Years Resolutions that i was pursuing this ballsy, major change route this year.  well i am happy to report that after 4 months of pretty intense dedication to the goal, it's accomplished!  not only did i get accepted, but i've been accepted to my #1 choice - a Masters student (with thesis - to continue on to Ph.D) in Industrial Engineering at Purdue University (concentration in air transportation systems/human factors).  AHH!!!  it's the most perfect program for me, with the most perfect faculty, and the most perfect research opportunities.  i am BEYOND stoked.  i found out yesterday at work, and i freaked out and jumped up out of my desk and hugged my manager.  i think it was awkward for him, but i just was beside myself.  oh well.

so that's my big announcement.  on to really big things, you know?  and at the end of July i'll be closing the book (for now) on my 3 year New York City journey.  which is sad and weird, but also exciting.  as Madonna tells us....there's only so much you can learn in one place....are you ready to jump?

what i've been listening to...

• Beez on the Track - Nicki Minaj
• My Lady's House - Iron & Wine
• California - Delta Spirit
• Whispering - Alex Clare
• She Sells Sanctuary - The Cult
• Mercy - Kanye West 
• Judith - A Perfect Circle
• Country Song for City Girls - Pat McKillen
• Bright Lights - Gary Clark Jr

so a lot of changes coming up.  all of which i'm very excited about!  oh but most importantly...i need to decide which bag i'll be carrying my MacBook around in.  and how can i score those Givenchy boots?  can you imagine strolling into my controls class in 5 inch wedge-sheath-heeled Givenchy boots?!  

i want to make it happen.

these boots were made for walkin' all over you

yeah yeah yeah Spring just started, i know.  my mind is already on Fall boots.  so sue me.

last Fall was the glittery Miu Miu heels.  we all kvelled, we all bought them, we all still love them but only wear them once in awhile now because they're totally overplayed. whatever.  this season people are freaking out over those pastel LV heels and the flame-throwing Prada wedges.  but okay - Fall is about boots, you know?  every girl loves her boots for fall/winter.  i love my Frye motorcross boots, and i love my Kors riding boots.

but omg i am FREAKING OUT over the seriously aggressive boots that are coming our way, via Proenza and Givenchy.

Givenchy

Givenchy

Proenza Schouler

Proenza Schouler

Proenza Schouler

RIGHT?!  this is a new style of Fall boot to lust after.  these aren't the sleek, chic riding boots of the past, favored by sorority girls and New York women on the weekends alike.  these are the kind of boots for women who will eat you all for breakfast.  aggressive, tough, hardcore, thick soled (Proenza) or sheath covered (Givenchy), these are the boots of the Woman Who Takes No Shit.  and i am totally dyingggg for them.  i LOVE the aggressiveness and the clunkiness, with leather jodhpurs jammed into them, or worn with an architectural skirt or dress of equal aggression (or maybe even with a delicate piece.  Givenchy showed their boots with tough leather looks..and then with really delicate chiffon and silk spaghetti strap dresses..so either way works).

lust list. for real.  Fall dreamin' already....

(photos via vogue.com)  

boys on film : The Masters, 2012

Happy Easter and Happy Passover to all!!!  after a particularly brutal week for me, i feel like i'm back among the living!  the medicine that Dr. McDreamy prescribed me after my horrific anaphylaxis did the trick...my eye is no longer swollen and no longer look like an extra from Deliverance.  however, the medicine had an odd effect on me and i spent my entire week in a haze.  i was confused, foggy, and in general had no concept of what was going on around me.  i barely remember what i did all week.  true story.

but now i'm better. and once i exited my haze, i remember..OMG THE MASTERS IS THIS WEEKEND.  i admit that i actually love golf.  i even own a set of clubs!  they're pink and they're FIERCE.  i am also a wicked mini-golfer and will beat everyone that challenges me (ask my parents. i'm awesome.)  i took a golf class in college, i took a few golf lessons from the cute golf pro, and i'm like...an okay golfer.  like i can hang.  but MOST IMPORTANTLY...oh my god. the outfits.

so i was watching The Masters yesterday at beautiful Augusta National, and i was like...damn, Phil Mickelson is working. it. out. with his white belt.  and then a friend suggested that i do a post about Masters Fashion.  and yeah, Fashion with a capital F.  the men of the PGA Tour .....bring the Fashion.  not in the Givenchy sense.  but more in the way that your 6 year old niece looks when she dresses herself.  like..A+ for effort, but you can't help but laugh.

so without further ado...i give you....Masters Fashion.

first up...the grand master of Augusta Chic yesterday...Phil Mickelson (my fav!)

oh Phil.  he loves to FIST PUMP!  he was BRINGING IT yesterday in black pinstripe pants, white shoes, a white Barclays polo, A VISOR (oh yeah!), and A WHITE BELT.  Phil was crushing it yesterday, he was totally on fire all afternoon, and his outfit, which also nicely accentuated his tan, was surely the catalyst for his beautiful putting on the greens.  however, today Phil is rocking some kind of monochromatic khaki outfit and he currently just double bogeyed the 4th hole after literally shooting into the trees.  his success, i feel, is directly related to his outfits.

here is Hunter Mahan in a baby blue polo and some very interesting white and blue plaid pants.  i think plaid pants are just awful.  plaid is the kind of thing best left to Catholic school girls' skirts and MAYBE madras shorts.  MAYBE.  but alas...Hunter is a pop of color on the greens of Augusta.  his hat...is also...a look.  to say the least.

here's Rory McIlroy, also working a plaid pant look.  this is working better for me, maybe dark plaid pants are better than light ones, and i think Rory has potential to be hot.  like if they did a PGA Calander, he'd make it.  he's one of the better looking guys on the tour.  i applaud his effort here, but he's also wearing a white belt, and it's just not nearly has ferosh as Phil's.  good try, Rory, but you're just not Phil Mickelson.  you just don't bring the sexy like he does.  

here is Webb Simpson.  i don't know who Webb Simpson is...but apparently he feels that a flood is imminent.  girl needs to take a look at his inseam.  however, i DIG the rest of this look.  orange pants, low slung waist (WORK, GIRL), the preppy blue striped belt? he was not going to go quietly, no sir!  he is also wearing a Ralph polo, so he gets bonus points for sneaking a designer label into his look, as well as the stripes on his polo matching his belt.  i love this!  he's fierce.

this is a spectator, working a really intense pair of golf ball sunglasses.  best dressed.

another sad story of plaid pants.  Aaron Baddeley looks like he combined Rory's outfit and Hunter Mahan's look and got this.  again with the white belt.  when Phil walked out of the clubhouse, they had to all feel like idiots.  like here's Phil...looking SUPER SEXY in his outfit with a really major white belt and then here i am..trying to also pull off a white belt...and failing.  right?!  

oh Tiger...how far you've fallen.  no one even cares about you anymore.  and no one cares about your nondescript striped Nike polo either.  at least when you had 54 hookers on call, you were GOOD AT GOLF.  beep. next.

and finally, we have Lee Westwood.  blue stripes, UPS logo BLAZING on his chest, striking a major pose, and what looks to be some kind of ornate butterfly(?) belt buckle on his white belt.  he may not be CRUSHING the white belt look like Phil...but his butterfly-esque belt buckle just brings something extra that i'm on board with.

so Phil WAS in second place, poised for his 4th green jacket, but now it's anyone's game after his double bogey and his monochromatic khaki outfit.  someone with a crazy last name is leading right now, but it's early!  

i love golf.

(photos via newsobserver.com)

gym get-up - a lesson in why your running look should be chic!

we've all heard the saying of like..never leave the house without clean underwear on, right?  or your mom telling you that you absolutely cannot leave the house in your pajamas.  because you never know what will happen or what if you got pulled over or you got into an accident and then you were in gross underwear?  well, i can one up this.

i have a somewhat rare condition known as "exercise induced anaphylaxis" - which is where, for reasons unknown, undetectable, and unpredictable, i occasionally go into anaphylactic shock when i'm exercising.  it's happened to me twice now...once two years ago, and once last night.  two years ago, it was mild..some swelling, itchy skin, etc.  last night was severe.  i was running on the treadmill at Equinox, crushing 8 minute miles, and my palms and eyes started to itch.  i was like...damn, i better stop.  i gathered my things, left the gym, headed for the hospital, and in the span of 10 minutes, i went from looking normal to looking like this...

horrific, right?  but more to the point, i was in my gym clothes.sweaty, and in my gym clothes. okay so hang with me here....  so i got to Bellevue Hospital ER, they took me right in (obviously.  you see a chick walk in looking like i did, you take her in instantly), and the little team of ER doctors ascended on me.  first up, a shot of epinephrine.  common for all serious allergic reactions.  i've never had this before, my first attack was no where near this serious, and its an experience i hope to never repeat again.  within 10 seconds of the injection, my heart rate almost tripled, and i went from calm concern about my condition to shaking, almost throwing up, and just in general totally freaking out.  again, this is normal...epinephrine is liquid adrenaline, made to immediately reduce swelling.  but i thought my heart was going to explode.  and then the ER Attending Physcian came into my little area, the big guy in charge, to calm me.  you guys. we're talking George Clooney in ER level of hottness.

how good is my creepy, covert picture?  they were doing rounds, i'd be there for 6 hours, i needed some entertainment.  anyways. Dr. Goldberg. hellllooo.  so he comes in to calm me. tells me to lay back, focus on his eyes, and puts his hand on my shoulder, smooths my hair back, tells me i'm okay, to just breathe, and that he's right there.  and you know what i was thinking?  

"oh my god, he's really hot.  i'm REALLY glad i'm wearing a really cute workout outfit."

RIGHT?! so okay, not everyone gets that excited about their exercise attire.  sometimes, the gym situation is a bleak one.  sweats, baggy tshirts, pants with holes, etc.  and you're just like..hey, it's the gym, i'm here for me, who cares what i look like.  well, let me tell you what...you'll regret that ensemble choice when you end up in the hospital due to exercise induced anaphylaxis and Dr. McDreamy shows up at your bedside and tells you to focus on him.  i'd never been more grateful for my super cute Lululemon Tracker Short II and my Run Swiftly Racerback and flattering Push Your Limits bra.  because while my face looked like THAT and i was freaking out... the rest of me looked banging hot.  

a few suggestions (i tried to keep it somewhat moderate in price...tried.)

lululemon Run: Tracker Short II (the exact pair i was wearing last night!) buy here

lululemon Scoop Neck tank, very sexy but provides great support for the girls buy here

lululemon run: spirit tight II - major booty flattery going on here buy here

Athleta Equator Tank - cute, interesting back detail buy here

Stella McCartney for ADIDAS run performance short. great color, great cut buy here

adidas Supernova Racer Bra - love the crisscross back detail! buy here

lululemon Embrace Crop - these shape and contour your butt to unheard of levels. your milkshake will be bringing all of the doctors to your yard... buy here.

the great thing about all of these clothes...not only do they make you look super cute at the gym (and beyond!  all of this stuff transfers easily to brunch, running errands, or Emergency Room visits!), they are all SUPER functional.  nothing but the best for you guys, right?

so moral of the story: don't leave the house without clean underwear on, and do go to the gym looking frumpy. you never know when you'll end up in the arms of Dr. McDreamy.  for real.

**in all seriousness guys - exercise induced anaphylaxis is very serious and can be deadly.  if you are even running/exercising and feel a sudden onset of allergic reaction symptoms (itchy palms, itchy eyes, facial swelling, chest tightness, wheezing, difficulty breathing...etc) go see a doctor.  i make light of it here, but it is very serious and any kind of allergic reaction should be treated with utmost caution!!!  it's no use looking adorable if you're not with us anymore, you know?**