love forever

Hair of the Season

photos from Refinery29 and Style.com

I just got home from working the Alexandria Anthro store opening (hence my extended lack of posting- sorry!) and my roommate Lauren had the coolest hair ever. She does these awesome architectural twists and rolls every day. Our room resembled a hair salon, with irons and curlers and product everywhere. I mean, here we are working 12 hour days for nine days straight and her hair is perfect. Meanwhile, I was lucky if I showered.
Anyway, I'm back home and have a bit more morning time to do my hair. I'm still digging braids and top-knots but I love, love, love these hairstyles (maybe not with the eyeshadow though- too much?) from Rodarte's Spring show. It's sort of a modern, undone '40s thing right?

Girl's Night In: Nailed It.

The nails in their splendor. Note the chevron rug below...

Remember that episode of Sex and the City where the girls talk about their Secret Single Behavior, the weird purely-for-them stuff they do when their partners aren't home?
The Mr. was in NYC for a few days and I decided to engage in my own favorite SSB: I got take-out, watched a movie (Midnight in Paris) and attempted a new home manicure: the chevron nail!
Two hours later, the movie was over but my nails were only half finished. One episode of vintage: Law and Order and they were perfecto! Well, not perfect but I am pretty proud of them. I followed this tutorial but used painter's tape instead of scotch. And I did two different colors for the chevrons. Next up, the holy grail of DIY nail art: the marbelized nail. I might need to do this one over the course of a weekend. It looks brutal!

What's your favorite night in activity?

A (Giant) Necklace a Day

Jewelry should either whisper or scream (medium-sized baubles are for suckers) and today I’m all about making it loud. The bigger statement, the better. I’ll take one for every day of the week.

Sunday

 

 

Monday

Tuesday

 

Wednesday

 

Thursday

Friday

 

Saturday

 

Loving {Forever}: New Year's Glitz and Glam

I don't know what it is this year but getting dressed up is more fun than ever. There are few fun aspects of the aging process but one of them is that I care less and less about what other people think of my get-ups. Now the going out part: that's getting to be a little less fun, but who cares? Even if you're just hanging out with a couple of friends on New Year's Eve, give yourself a crazy manicure and stick a feather in your cap. It's a new year and this is not the time to play it safe.

So, why don't you...

...don a wild hat and some serious party lips. My two favorites are Funny Face and Schiap by Nars.

...wear a party dress with bedazzled kicks. Or make your own.


...tease your hair, pile on the sequins.
(image from Numero #129 by Sebastian Kim)

...throw some ballons in the air (or under your skirt).
(image by Sølve Sundsbø for Vogue China)

...be the hit of the party with the most ridiculously awesome cake ever.

...cover yourself in glitter from head to toe. I'm going to do my nails with this magical Holographic polish.


...bust out some Sophia minis. And drink them in the can! They're cuter that way.

...party like it's 1958.
(image from the Time Life archives)

...make your own confetti and streamers. Throw them everywhere!

And don't forget to kiss someone at midnight!

Masq-peration

Every year the company I work for has a big, knock-out, over-the-top holiday party and every year the visual team is out of town prototyping. But not this year- this Cinderella actually gets to go to the ball for once! The theme is Masquerade and I am making up for lost parties by going all out on my costume. It's a bit Alexander McQueen, a bit Isabella Blow, a lot Philip Treacy (who designed pretty much every one of these hat/masks) and a dash of Lady Gaga.

I promise I will post photos of the get-up when it's done but for now some inspiration...

Isabella Blow in a Philip Treacy creation via

Philip Treacy for Valentino Haute Couture via / Alexander McQueen

Alexander McQueen Spring/Summer 2012 via

Lady Gaga mask by Philip Treacy via /Valentino Haute Couture photographed for Vogue Italia via

Layer Cake Necklace- Chen Chen and Kai Williams

Oh my goodness, this necklace is like a slice of pure amazing craziness. I hate to covet objects but could we just make one little exception here?

These necklaces are made from scraps in artist Chen Chen and Kai William's  studio, soaked in urethane and then wrapped around wood to make a big awesome log of colorful wonderfulness. Then they cut the log into slices and coat in resin. Available in the Sight Unseen shop.

Miep Jukkema: Photographer

This week I am loving the feminine frippery, the over-the-top sticky sweet girliness of these photos of these photos by Miep Jukkema.

In my world, everyone has cotton candy hair.

Kenzo fashion show finale

So, I am taking this online life coaching class called the Declaration of You (run by these two super-duper ladies), which is fantabulous and making me think like a mile a minute about my life and my future. I highly recommend it to anyone feeling like they need a good kick in the pants on the “realizing life goals” front. This week, our topic was “Success”; the first part of the exercise, we were asked to meditate/daydream in our own fantasyland, just getting lost in your perfect place. Of course, the only things I found frustrating about this exercise was giving myself five minutes alone to think.

But once I did, it was amazing: I let my mind completely wander and here's what I found in my fantasyland...
the city is painted a riot of different colors and patterns. People just sort of float around right above the ground and their hair is colorful like cotton candy. My job is to constantly reinvent what the city looks like, repainting and wallpapering buildings and streets (hey, that's a little bit like my job right now!).

Then you take this fantasy and start translating it into reality and find your definition of success.
I determined that I feel successful when I am wildly creative and free to play, when I am collaborating with others and when my job is able to make me and others more happy and fulfilled. 

In honor of my fantasy-land, a few candy colored inspirations...

 
Editorial from Dazed and Confused

Jonathan Zawada


Three photos by Tim Walker

Biscuits in a line by Joel Penkman

Lush Bella photograph. via Nest Pretty Things

via.

Will Cotton painting

pom pom factory. via oh joy.

What do you think your fantasy land would be like?

 

Again with the nails.

Lately, my favorite weekend activity is making a big cup of tea, putting on a good movie and doing my nails. I know, riveving, right? Honestly, it is the most relaxing thing on earth. And look at the nails! This is a variation on the last DIY mani I did a few weeks ago, which was a variation of this tutorial. Instead of using the binder reinforcement stickers at the bottoms of the nails to mimic a french manicure, I placed them on my nails randomly. You could do this with a million color variations too-imagine the possibilities!

 

Daughters of Simone: Vintage Wedding Dresses

I don't talk about weddings very much because I was not a traditional bride. I wore a champagne colored cocktail dress, purchased for $75 at a thrift shop in Connecticut.



I can totally see why a lady might want a big poofy white dress but I definitely didn't. That's why I got excited when I saw Daughters of Simone's well-curated shop of totally affordable, drop dead gorgeous vintage wedding dresses and accessories. The two ladies behind Daughters of Simone, Brittany and Christy, "envisioned their woman as a rare bird, someone who would breathe new life into “the dress” and feel that it represented the entirety of her essence." In other words, the dress doesn't wear you, you make the dress awesome.

And the hipster-goddess-frolicking-through-the-woods styling of the photos doesn't hurt either. Who wouldn't want to look this pretty on their wedding day?