Playing Dress-Up: Winter Wonderland

Even nannies get a snow day every now and then!

Normally snow days would mean extra hours at work, but today I scored a bonus afternoon off when the snow caused plumbing to freeze at one of my employers’ offices. Having left the kids in the care of their parents, I’m looking forward to a productive afternoon of the very grown-up sort: paying bills, re-organizing various spaces in my bedroom, reading my new French poetry book (thanks, Micah!), and maybe even working on a DIY project.

On a brief fashion note, would you believe I found this amazing silver and turquoise pendant in the trash in Bordeaux?! Best cheap jewelry find ever. Also, this sweet little top has woodland creatures on it, which feels especially cute and perfect on a magical snowy day like today.

Stay cozy!

Top, Anthropologie; cardigan, Free People via Gabriel Brothers; necklace, secondhand; earrings, Forever 21; jeans, Gap.

Do It Yourself: Make A Statement Necklace

I was perusing online shops last month in search of something new and pretty to buy myself for my birthday. Depressed by my expensive taste, I decided instead to take a necklace I bought from a yard sale over the summer but didn’t adore, and rework it until it was something I

Inspired by the basic idea of this necklace, which looks like a beautiful chandelier except for your neck, I rummaged through my jewelry box to find a couple of pairs of broken earrings, some glass beads, and a bit of ribbon. I should have taken a “before” photo, but you can see the base necklace: It’s the silver, diamond-studded part in the middle.

It didn’t take me but half an hour to make this, and it didn’t cost $250 but still looks quite pretty, I think, which goes to show that you can save yourself a small fortune if you’re creative and can stand to settle a little. Anthropologie is a great place to look for inspiration because a lot of their merchandise already has a do-it-yourself vibe.

Playing Dress-Up: Cozy Day At Work

This post is way overdue, especially considering how many adorable outfits I put together over the holidays but failed to photograph. One of my favorites, worn to a family holiday party, was a remix of today’s outfit, with the same black jumper and tights, but paired with a wool blazer and brown suede booties.

This little black cotton jumper, which I thrifted with Jessica last fall, is a perfect example of a really versatile piece that will survive the great wardrobe clean-up. For the Christmas party in December, I dressed it up a lot, but today it feels really comfy for this snowy day. It’s best features are its Madeline-esque bell shape and pockets, which are perfect for keeping my hands toasty, or for storing bobby pins of tiny things the kids hand me throughout the day, like gum wrappers and Playmobile pistols.

Black jumper, American Eagle via Plato’s Closet; sweater, Anthropologie; beret, United Colors of Benetton; scarf, TJ Maxx via Mama’s closet; tights, Express via Gabriel Brothers; black booties, Texto.

Playing Dress-Up: Paring Down

One of my less advertised New Year’s resolutions is to pare down my wardrobe to the nicest pieces that I love and wear the most. As a result, I’ve been doing some really critical closet cleaning and have quite a collection of clothes, shoes and accessories I’d like to be rid of. Most of them are still lovely and in really good condition (those that aren’t will find their way to Goodwill), so I’m setting up shop on eBay. You can visit my online shop here if you’re interested and if you happen to live close by, we can probably play around with shipping costs a bit. I’ll be adding new items weekly at the very least, so check back if you don’t find something you love right away!

Every Real Grown-Up Should Have…

… enough humility to realize that there are always at least a few ways they could improve themselves, and that New Year’s is a convenient excuse to write them down.

Happy New Year, my lovely readers (though I’m sure my neglect has decreased your numbers)! It’s 2010 and I’m back with a new motivation to pick up the ball I’ve recently dropped (all New Year’s puns fully intended) with regards to this blog.

Since I last posted, I’ve had a birthday! I’m 22, which in many ways feels like more of a milestone than 21. I’ll graduate college this year, and probably start a new life in a new city with a new job. I’m not sure yet what this will mean for me, but I’m excited to document my journey to discovering my place in the world.

This past week I took a vacation to visit my boyfriend, Colin, and to celebrate our third anniversary as a couple! (Clicking on Colin’s name will take you to his blog, where he’s posted a few pictures of our visit.) It was so nice to be able to spend more than just a weekend with him and his parents. A real treat, even. But tomorrow is my first day back to work, back to my daily routine but with the benefit of all of my New Year’s aspirations. For the sake of accountability, I’d better share them with you:

1. Develop a budget. Map out what I earn and how I spend it. Limit personal spending and focus on saving money for when my student loan payments come due.

2. Prepare to run a half marathon in the fall for a good cause.

3. Find a job with benefits (I’ve recently lost my healthcare) that I like and from which I can learn something about food and/or wine. Make at least $30,000 per year so I can live comfortably and also pay down student loans. Move into a cozy new home in a place that makes me happy.

4. Create more frequent and higher quality blog content.

Gosh, don’t you find that you can name hundreds of resolutions? I’m going to stick to these four because they’re rather daunting (especially #3) and incredibly important to me.

What do you hope to accomplish in 2010?

Every Real Grown-Up Should Have…

… the good sense to know when they need to slow down, which is the excuse I’m using for my lack of posts recently.

I’ve been sick ever since I finished my final exams this weekend, but my illness really hit me today, like a club to the head. I usually like to let my body fight illness on its own, but with Christmas and my birthday only days away, I made the trip to urgent care today and came home with three prescriptions! Hopefully I’ll be on the mend soon and back to the blogosphere with posts about holiday cooking, outfits, and everything I’m learning this year about being a grown-up-like person. In the meantime, I hope you’re enjoying the season’s best!

Playing Dress-Up: A New Haircut For Finals Week

The end of finals week is always a good incentive for me to pull myself together by putting a little bit of thought into my outfit. It seems silly, but it really is amazing what good clothes and a bit of lipstick can do for my motivation and confidence level, which are usually rock-bottom by this time each semester. Also, somehow I’m finding time to write this post between studying. Staying on top of my blog gives me a sense that I’ve not completely lost my marbles.

There was a really penetrating cold in my bedroom last night, and when I woke up this morning I was in the mood for bright colors and florals to chase away the winter chill. I also bought some velvet leggings recently, which are too fun and add a sort of specialness to the quotidian.

I got my hair cut this morning! What do you think? It always looks funny right after it’s been cut, and it’s styled super straight today, which isn’t usually something I love. Still, I hardly lost any length but got some really amazing layers, which stop me feeling like a fourth grader. And just in case my new layers don’t make me feel grown-up enough, my stylist agreed that I have more gray hairs than I did eight weeks ago!

Top and leggings, Forever 21; skirt, The Limited; gold bangle, Kismet; boots, handed down.

Photo credit: Hannah Brown

Every Real Grown-Up Should Have…

… the right to hole up in a candlelit bathroom for an hour, with a bit of music and privacy to boot.

I’ve been in a bit (okay, more than a bit) of a funk lately due to end-of-the-semester stress, exams, etc., and at the end of my work day today I felt truly awful and sick to my stomach and like I was at the edge of a nervous breakdown. After eating a mediocre spinach salad and sitting around doing other mediocre-type things, I decided, “To hell with mediocrity!” and started filling the tub.

I still have hours of homework to do tonight, and I’ll be pushing tonight’s midnight deadline on a couple of assignments, but it was totally worth it. Mama used to do this for me when school or life made me hysterical; she’d fill the tub with really hot water and a bit of lavender oil, light some candles, and shut me up in the bathroom until I was good and calm.

It still works: My bath was anything but mediocre. Our bathroom is also basically a shrine to relaxation, and I had to take a picture because it looked so pretty and inviting after I lit all the candles.

All I want for Christmas is…

Because I spent last year in France, where I heard nary a carol leading up to the big day, I’ve recently had my radio station set not to the normal NPR, but to a station that plays Christmas music twenty-four hours a day. I keep waiting to tire of it, but the child in me secretly loves it, so it remains. As I result, I’m pretty sure I’ve finally succeeded in hearing most every Christmas song ever written, and I’ve noticed that there are an awful lot of songs written about wishes for peace and goodwill, for eternal love, for the ever elusive “you,” and other similarly intangible things. Oh my goodness! My life is already pretty great, but I’ve completely ignored all of the completely unrealistic things I could ask for this year! I’ve been focusing on tangible gifts. Maybe, in defiance of the growing commercialism of Christmas, I should dream big and think about what I really want!

If I were to make a list…

I’d ask for MM for a roommate. She lives in Boston, which is, if we’re going to be totally honest, about eight hundred miles too far away. She is absolutely the best person to ask, “How does this look?” because she’ll give a totally honest (and, if called for, brutal) answer, and every self-proclaimed lover of fashion needs that. Not to mention the fact that I just like being around her in general.

I’d have a fully stocked kitchen at all times, and every night would be occasion enough for me to whip up something totally gourmet and fabulous. (When Mama reads this, she’ll say, “But you do! And you can!” I guess I’d have to ask for a few extra fours in the day, too, then.)

I’d ask for unlimited money. C’mon, wouldn’t you? It would just eliminate so much stress, and I could pay off all my student loans. (And buy whatever I wanted!)

I’d be able to snap my fingers and be wherever I want to be, whenever I want. Lately I’ve been dreaming about Paris, and feeling like I need to spend some time living there. Which would be so much easier if I could just snap my fingers to visit my friends and family, and so I could keep my job as Kai and Amélie’s nanny, which is probably the only way I could earn enough money to pay my outrageous Paris rent.

I would have perfect skin. I’ll stop myself short of listing all of my (numerous) imperfections, both physical and otherwise. Like many girls, there are a slew of superficial things I would choose change about my body, but it’s silly to imagine really, because I have a wonderful boyfriend who loves me just the way I am. And so many beautiful friends who are never, ever ashamed to be seen with me, even when I have a giant zit in the middle of my face, like I do today. It would probably be easier to ask for a world where confidence equals beauty. Oh, that’s already the case, you say? Amazing.

And, of course, world peace wouldn’t be awful, either.

Playing Dress-Up: Flannel and a Mink Collar

I’m wearing leggings as pants again because I can’t be bothered, and also because I figure that if I’m going to take my exams from the comfort of my bedroom, I may as well take full advantage and dress as much like I’m in my pajamas as possible.

Yet today’s outfit should serve as a lesson that even though I’m all grown-up now, wearing something ridiculously fancy is still the ultimate form of self-indulgence, and the best way to cheer myself up on a gray and lonely day during finals week. The only difference is that, while as a little girl I opted for my sparkly white leotard-and-tu-tu-in-one, now I choose this vintage mink-collared coat, which is almost just as good. I mean, I dare you to find any coat that can make a plaid button-down and a ponytail feel this glamorous.

Coat, ebay; shirt, thrifted; leggings, American Apparel; boots, secondhand.