Tuesday, March 23, 2010

copycat: taupe + gray

i love that you can mix different tones of certain colors now, and it's not considered clashy.


dress: goodwill
cardigan: walmart
scarf: self-made
tights: tokyo


i've been meaning to try this color combination, and wanted to go ahead and do it before the weather warms up too much!

Sunday, March 21, 2010

estate sale finds

i haven't posted anything in a few days because i've been so dead tired. it was supposed to be my spring break, but i ended up working for my aunt's estate sale business..... and boy is that hard work. this sale in particular was really maniacal. BUT, i did find some really awesome things:

pretty, right? i'm totally in love with anything that's 1) green, and 2) floral. someday at my estate sale, they're gonna talk about the crazy old lady with all the green floral things. which is fine by me. 

i also found this super cute japanese tea set (a set in japan is 5, by the way, not 4 or 6) that i also love:

it even comes with matching spoons! kyaaaaaa~ (that's how you scream excitement in japanese, by the way. haha. kind of like "yaaaay" or "woohoo~!" now you know).

i don't really have a collection of tea cups (not yet, anyway), but i really love them. my mom has always collected tea cups, and i think there's something so fun about an assortment of random, mismatched ones. 

now coffee cups, i do have. and yes, they're all green and/or floral. maybe i'll show some pics of those tomorrow.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

outfit post: chambray dress

dress: walmart
belt: goodwill (little boys' section!)
oxfords: steve madden via ross
earrings: charlotte russe

love this dress! the styling options are endless.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

operation make sister-in-law jealous: day 2

this is what i chose to wear to my husband's great-great-uncle's visitation yesterday.... i know i'm not supposed to be worried about impressing someone at such an occasion, but i knew i was going to see a bunch of my husband's family members who i haven't met before, and i wanted to feel confident. i also knew i couldn't wear anything too crazy. this is what i finally settled on:

houndstooth jacket: tokyo (my super fashionable mom bought it for me!)
pants: gap circa 2003.... again
shoes: goodwill
black shirt (below): hand-me-up from my 15-year-old sister
turquoise necklace (below): gift from my mom
silver key necklace (below): christmas gift from my husband via walmart


i added a tiny turquoise necklace because i really don't like wearing all black. my outfit needed a little bit of optimism.


Monday, March 15, 2010

color crush: cobalt and red

recently i'm really into pairing cobalt blue with a bright red. i decided to start small, so the other day i wore a neutral outfit with a cobalt skinny belt, cobalt shoes, and red lipstick. will go bolder next time!


Saturday, March 13, 2010

inspiration: trekker style

this is a trend that ran in this month's issue of instyle. when i was chowing down on macarons and cinnamon dolce lattes at the bookstore the other day, i flipped through several magazines, and this "spread" totally jumped out at me. i say "spread" because it was only like 1 page. but oh well, i really like the concept.

without further ado...

~the trekker trend~


from instyle:

WHY WE LOVE IT
This fascinating yet daunting amalgam of safari, global, hobo, ethnic, eco and military elements incorporates homages to Japan, Peru, Morocco and India, as well as trends like softness and exotic prints. The result is a highly individualized riff on casual clothing.

MAKE IT WORK FOR YOU
Like the image it projects, the trekker look revels in a sense of adventure and risk. We see it as weekend/vacation wear (although bright beads or a patterned bag could enliven a suit or work separates). If you’re more intrigued than committed to joining the caravan, use khaki tones or camouflage prints as a base and add one or two hot shots of sun-drenched color.
  
i like to think of this as an updated hippie-bohemian style. like a cross between boho and a sophisticated world-traveler. it's no shock that i would like this, because i'm a huge fan of mary-kate and ashley's style from a few years ago. here are some other pics that i think fit right in:

all pics above: kenzo spring 2011

i love how kenzo added menswear-inspired hats and blazers to up the chic factor a little bit.

boy by band out outsiders 

jane from seaofshoes

hermes ad

teen vogue

what do you think? tired by the boho trend? i, for one, love it. makes me want to wander around some little towns and see what i can discover.

Friday, March 12, 2010

new acquisition: medium blue dress!

soooo excited! i've been looking for the perfect medium blue dress for a while now. my criteria:

1. medium blue- in between navy and light blue. more like a subdued cobalt.
2. has sleeves! spaghetti straps are too impractical for me. when would i wear it? to the beach? tennessee is land-locked!
3. pretty close to knee length.
4. affordable!

here it is, in all its medium marvelousness:


great, right? and guess how much.... no really, just guess. $12.99!! at ross! wow, i love that store. that's 2 awesome finds in one month.

bingo.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

success!


i did it! i sooo wasn't expecting them to turn out well at all, and although they're not perfect, they're not that bad either! not to mention tasty:

~MACARONS!~

took my "lovely" macarons to the book shop with me today to read tons of magazines. they go great with this cinnamon dolce latte.... mmmm.
 

so proud of myself, i can hardly stand it. after doing some reading on the internet (after my first attempt totally failed), i discovered some tricks. first, you have to use fresh eggs. second, the temperature of the eggs is very important. it needs to be cold when you're separated the whites from the yolk, then let it sit until the egg whites are room temperature to whip them into a meringue. it totally helped! oh yeah, and i filled them with my own caramel frosting.

ok, i know they're oddly shaped, but that i will work on next time. also, i totally ODed on the sugar, but that just gives me more incentive to try baking them again. i'm convinced that next time they'll turn out even better. 

what a great day yesterday. it was my first official lazy day of spring break. so to celebrate, i watched 3 so-cheesy-they're-hilarious mary-kate & ashley movies, taking breaks to work on my macarons, and invented the most delicious pasta dish for supper. i'm really enjoying this lazy college student thing, and i'll miss it after i graduate and become a real adult.... sigh.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

operation make sister-in-law jealous: day 1

i knew i was going to see my sister-in-law at school on monday for a special conference we were holding, and i needed to feel confident. you see, she's one of those one-uppers. you know what i mean. the other day she found out i got the lead part in the musical and she said, "oh, i think i've had the main part in every play i've ever been in too. in 1st grade, i was minnie mouse." what the heck am i supposed to say to ridiculousness like that? i have no idea. she either doesn't think before she talks, or she's completely threatened by me. i haven't decided yet.

so what are you supposed to do around someone who's always trying to compete with you and recently got a very short haircut? why, rock the long hair, of course! oh, and wear a pretty dress.
 
dress- ? from tokyo
skirt- forever21 a couple of months ago
purple snakeskin shoes- ? from goodwill

i don't know if i succeeded or not, but i at least liked the way it turned out. the dress, as you can see, is actually a short dress over a skirt. like i said, my clothes have to be at least knee-length. but together i think it ended up looking awesome and vintage.

i know, i know. gotta lay off of the layering skirts thing. but it's just so convenient.

Monday, March 8, 2010

outfit post: black ditsy floral dress

i bought this great dress at goodwill last summer, and have only worn it a few times. mainly because it's a little too short for my liking. plus all of my dresses and skirts at college have to come at least down to my knee. this is just what i'm used to. so to get around this, i often layer this dress over other items.

what i wore to class on friday:

 

this is the pattern up close:


and the shoes i wore it with:

 

and the outfit i wore to church (it was ridiculously warm on sunday):

 

this outfit is definitely my favorite of the two. i like how the polka-dot skirt makes it look like the dress is all one piece. here are my shoes:

 
black floral dress: vintage via goodwill
plum dress: mossimo (target) via goodwill
gray ankle boots: danita k via ebay
polka-dot skirt: vintage via... ??
tan cut-out heels: vintage via goodwill
cognac belt: goodwill

Sunday, March 7, 2010

indian sari meets american blue jean

 
photo: ralph lauren spring 2010

just wanted to post a quick little inspirational post. isn't this great? i never thought that you could make denim look ethereal. love. yeah i know, again with the medium blue. i can't help it- it's like once i became obsessed with it, i see it everywhere! i know that doesn't only happen to me....

well, it's been a good weekend. i finished all of my program notes for my senior voice recital, which really takes a load off. my husband and i had fun watching several back-to-back episodes of "twin peaks", and he also introduced me to this bbc sitcom called "keeping up appearances." how have i never heard of this before?? it's hysterical. the series is about this pretentious middle-aged british lady who's completely full of herself and says the most ridiculous things to people. i have to laugh because i know a couple of people like this in real life (except for the british and middle-aged thing). except there's no laugh track in real life, and condescension definitely isn't funny, especially when it's directed towards you.

netflix is awesome, by the way.


Friday, March 5, 2010

reflections of a first-time macaron taster!

last night was date night with my husband. i picked this week, and of course i picked a macaron taste-fest! we went to provence breads and bakery in hillsboro village (nashville). i was sooo excited from the reviews i'd read online. unfortunately, we got there about 5 min. before they were closing! eep. who closes at 7?? oh well. so we got 1 of each 5 flavors of macarons that they had to go. i was a little bummed, because the ambiance looked so nice, and we had to take our macarons and scoot... but oh well. daniel said we can go back this weekend maybe. but back to the macarons....

 
  
aren't they beautiful? of course i was drawn to the green one.... if i ever write a memoir someday (about what, i don't know), it would be called, "i want the green one." ha. well we took our lovely box of macarons (hidden in my purse!) across the street to a different coffee shop, and stealthily ate them there. i had mine with a hot white chocolate drink, which was perfect.

let me just say that the staff at provence was so nice, even though we happened to be those annoying customers who sashay in right before closing time. the cashier even said he liked my hat. i said, "hey thanks, it was my grandma's!" and he said (in an awesome accent, no less), "see, that's why! i just love old things." me too, mr. provence cashier, me too.

  
  
p.s. my grandma really liked birds and butterflies! i'm also named after her (katherine, even though i go by katie). kinda cool.

hat: vintage, passed down from my grandma
green shirt: gap, again circa 2002 (can you tell i went through a gap phase in my early teens??)
crochet top: cheap shop in tokyo- 2006
jeans: d jeans via goodwill ($7, yo!)
shoes: steve madden via ross

so, i know you guys are getting sick of macarons by now, but i really loved them! they tasted just like i thought they would (and seriously, that rarely happens). they were crispy on the outside, and chewy on the inside. my favorites were the green one (big surprise) and the lighter pink one. daniel thinks it was cherry flavored, and i think it was raspberry. what we do know is that it was amazing. the filling tasted like yummy pie filling. i love it! the green one just tasted like sugar and almonds, which is ok by me. the dark red one- surprisingly really spicy! i think it was the cinnamon. daniel hated it, but i kinda liked it.

a couple of things i've learned about macarons- the shell doesn't really have that much flavor. it's the filling that makes it taste interesting. the other thing- they go awesome with coffee! mmmmm......

i really thought this date night would get macarons out of my system, but now i just want them even more. i think with the rest of my money this month, i'm gonna buy this book:
 
i <3 macarons- $14.95 at urban outfitters  


Thursday, March 4, 2010

awesome find: the $15 store!

umm, i just stumbled across this website like half an hour ago.... it's seriously great. everything is $15! and it's not they're only worth $15, they've been marked down from much higher prices to only $15. here are my favorites:

 
  
  
  
 
 
  


these are only my favorites that were in my size. love! i have to warn you, though, it's a little bit like thrift shopping, in that instead of digging through piles of clothes to find your size, you have to dig through internet pictures. but i would say it's worth it. also, they may not list that there are different colors (like that beautiful beige one above!), so you just have to check each individual item. but again, worth it! i'm seriously contemplating buying that beige floral dress.... so pretty.