giveaway! - now open

great news! 

my amazing friend, melissa, asked me to do a giveaway on my blog for one of her wrap bracelets. this created by fortune bracelet is some serious eye candy so make sure you enter this giveaway (or head to her site and buy one for yourself!).

 the easiest way to enter:

* leave a comment on this post (with a valid email address)

for extra entries:

* like created by fortune on facebook

* follow created by fortune on twitter

* follow me on twitter

* tweet about this contest and tag created by fortune and yours truly to the tweet!

make sure you come back here to let me know if you liked, followed and tweeted!

contest ends on february 7th at midnight NY time and i will announce the winner on the 8th.

print

my mom complimented my outfit this morning, which means it was winning.

outfit details: shirt - thrifted/vintage, skirt - AA, boots - UO, earrings - present from the boo's mom

i have a giveaway for all of you 2 readers tomorrow so please check back! it'll be awesome. i promise.

"don't see me!"

when my nephew was little and he was pooping, he would say to us, "don't see me!" i feel like that all of the time when i need to take an outfit pic and i don't want the boo to watch me take pics. i know he checks out my blog (hi boo!) but it still feels weird for him to watch me take my outfit pics.

you're in for a treat today - two outfit posts! i wanted to take a pic of my outfit last night but time got away from me. so i just took two sets of pics today.

today's outfit:

 outfit details: sweater - old navy, skirt - from a swap, scarf - present from my mom (from UO), tights - hue, heels - UO, bracelet - gift for christmas from the boo's mom

yesterday's outfit:

 outfit details: sweater - old navy, vest - present from my mom (gap), skirt - target, tights - hue, boots - swirl.com, necklace - f21

that last set of pics is so silly...i can't stand it.

happy hump day!!

monday, monday

what an awesome weekend.

highlights:

* a great cry followed by amazing advice from my sister

* seeing "relatively speaking" with the boo

* my first burger from five guys!

* spiked shakes from mel's burger

* lenny kravitz live in concert at radio city

* quality time with the boo

* karaoke until 2am with friends

* brunch in brooklyn at the pillow cafe

* being completely pleasantly surprised by a 180 some people make

today, i wore this dress (which i've actually posted on the blog before) because it's comfy and was easy to throw on this AM.

outfit details: dress and turtleneck - h&m, boots - swirl.com (i miss this website!!), tights - hue, rings (from left to right) - street vendor, h&m, present from the boo, present from my parents, present from my grandmother (it's amber from the dominican republic)

i'm reallyyyyy into the multiple ring look. makes me feel like a gypsy.

sunday funday, DIYday

if you saw a pic similar to this the other day:

then you know a DIY is coming.

i glitterized those shoes using the same technique that other bloggers are using these days to glitter shoes. but i wanted to put a little spin on it so i wanted them to look a bit like the universe.

materials

shoes you want to glitter (i paid $30 for these)

big jar of white glitter

blue glitter (i didn't use nearly as much of this as i thought i would)

packs of glitter dust in colors you want

tacky glue

glitter glue tubes

bowls

paintbrush

 because you can get a DIY shoe glitter tutorial anywhere, i'll spare you those details. what i will tell you to do is divide up the white glitter into 4 or more bowls and mix in the glitter dust packets. i mixed a few similar colors together with the white glitter for that space-y feel.

then go to town glittering in sections. i would paint an area with glue and then pour the glitter on top. after the whole shoe was glittered, i then used my glitter glues as an adhesive on top. now, don't get me wrong - there was glitter EVERYWHERE after i wore these, but i have a feeling there would have been way more had i not used the glitter glue on top.

this was also a 2 day process for me so you have to be patient. i threw on some ny ink episodes and went to town.

business in the front...

i've been meaning to post my outerwear since i get so many great compliments on it all of the time. so before checking out my outfit, here's my outerwear:

 business in the front...

 ...party in the back!!!!

then i got distracted by project runway. whoops.

outfit details: coat - ny&co, scarf - DIY, backpack - UO (present from my mom), rainboots - nine west (present from P), sweater and turtleneck - h&m, skirt - barney's warehouse sale, tights - hue, shoes - UO from P (they're my new favs), alligator ring - present, black rhinestone ring - h&m, necklace - f21, bracelet - present, earrings - street(?)

phewwwwww...that was a lot.

the stripes on the skirt + the all black make me think of some kind of character from a tim burton movie. which makes me think that i should be more deliberate about my tim burton-like look. *brainstorming*

jeggings, oh jeggings

i'm going to post about my sis twice today. get over it, we're close.

having an awesome sis means that she puts you on to some real stuff early. maybe she found it on some blog but whatever, at least she was thinking about you enough to make you buy them too. and that's how i ended up with these jeggings. 

outfit details: jeggins - levi's (you can get a cheaper pair here), skull shirt - h&m, sweater - f21 from long ago, necklace - f21, rings - assorted (some i've had, some i got at h&m, some i got on fab.com), and do you see my double watches? hollerrrrr

the other thing you need to understand is that my sis is incredibly hilarious. after she got and wore her jeggings, she sent me this email:

"i wore the jeggings today. i have some notes for you:

1. put them on like pantyhouse. if you drive your foot in, as 1 normally does for jeans, they won't go thru the ankle. the ankle hole is TIGHT. so bunch them up like pantyhouse and help your foot get thru the ankle hole.

2. do everything you possibly can to pull them up. you will think that they don't fit and you will curse my name. but they do fit. i promise. just get maceo, mom, dunkin, the will of god to pull them up to your waist. once you button them, you will see that they do indeed fit.

3. walk around, bend over, bend down, jump around. see? they fit!

4. the waist and booty WILL stretch out over the course of the day. if you won't want to have to shimmy around and pull them up all day, put on a belt. if you don't mind shimmying, forget the belt.

5. prepare to receive compliments:
a. everyone was asking me why i wasn't wearing jeans today, since it was casual day. and these are the dark blue ones! so i am DEFINITELY wearing the black ones to work
b. everyone loved the waist and no one believed me that they are jeggings.
c. everyone told me my booty looked cute in them

BOOM!"

no joke. she sent me that. and i literally put on my jeggings using all of the advice she gave me. and you know what? she was right. after getting them on, i did some lunges and felt good. and look at my booty! it's looking good in that pic.

and just because it's friday and my hair is looking flyyyyyyyyyy, here's 1 more pic:

big sis advice

"just remember -- you are awesome. your time is limited. your energy is limited. surround yourself with people who appreciate, support and want to enhance your awesomeness. anyone who offers less than that is just draining to your time and energy."

she always knows how to make me feel better.

favorite work dress

this is my absolute FAVORITE work dress. if i could wear it everyday, i would.

outfit details: dress - f21, turtleneck - h&m, boots - swirl.com (which no longer exists...ugh!!!), necklace - present from P

this is what i look like at the end of the day so please excuse the crazy hair. 

while i wait...

...for my ipad to update, i thought i would snap some quick pics of my outfit.

outfit details: dress & eagle necklace - f21, sweater - mandee's, watch necklace - street fair

i didn't snap a full body pic since i already took off my shoes for the night. but, take my word for it, i wore my very cute black boots with my outfit. 

the boo's bday

saturday was the boo's birthday and here's a simpler version of what i was wearing:

the most important part of this pic?

MY SHOES!

which i diy'd myself. diy coming soon.

the most important part of that first sentence?

the boo's bday! happy birthday, boo! <3

i'm back...with an outfit post!

i don't even know why i bought a new camera...i spend more time using photobooth on my computer and my phone's camera than my actual camera. i actually went to use my camera today but...battery was dead. crap. so it's back to photobooth.

outfit details: dress - modcloth (from the fashion week swap that the swapaholics did in the fall), blazer - h&m, tights - duane reade, shoes - UO (from my sis!)

hopefully this means i'm back...?

366

not to be cliche and have crazy large dreams of things i want to do in 2012, but i do. i decided, after reading this article, that it would be really awesome to take 366 portraits this year to define each day.

i started by trying to take a self portrait everyday but i wasn't feeling that too much. i realized that i'm not always the most interesting subject to take pics of. instead, i decided to switch it up and make sure that i take a pic everyday.

here's a sampling of the pics i've taken so far:

...if you're interested in following my daily pics or seeing the ones from the past week, you can check it out here.

empathy

lately, i've been really interested in the idea of empathy. it started bubbling into my brain when i thought about OWS, the differences in generations, greediness, and society. i had a long discussion over margaritas with my buddies that reminded me of how important it is that we teach people empathy.

 and then i saw this on pinterest with the words "empathy goes a long way" written with it. 

and so i'm back to thinking about empathy.

2012

source

i've been thinking long and hard about my resolutions for 2012, especially since i keep falling off of the blogging bandwagon. what goals do i have for myself in the new year? 

update my look. in 2012, i will be turning 30 and i think it's about time to start dressing as an adult. ok, i don't entirely mean that. i kinda sorta want to look a little more like an adult. but i would really love to mix the stuff i like with more classic pieces for a fun, more updated look. i love old lady style but i don't want to be an old lady yet.

make art/crafts. and i mean that literally. i just want to make. i would love love love to keep a daily art journal, but that seems way more ambitious than i am ready for. but i guess the benefits of doing that daily would be that i can get rid of all of the crappy stuff floating around in my head and finally get to the good stuff. so for now, i'll settle for making art/crafts daily. 

stay inspired. i want to make sure every day is so inspiring that i just HAVE to make something. i guess this resolution and the one above it go hand in hand.

lose 10 pounds by my 30th bday. i have 6 months. i can do this. (and i don't want to hear the - "you're so skinny, why do you need to lose 10 pounds?!?" questions. i would like to be at a healthier weight for my height. BOOM!)

take more pictures. i have a new camera, i should be playing around with the settings and documenting my life. plus, i want to go back to using my old manual camera as well. lots to take pics of.

blog. because, i really want to blog. i just find that "i have no time" or my internet is so damn slow. but blogging has been great for me to see my progression and so i would like to be better at keeping it up.

stop being so damn shy about what i do / who i am / what i know / how wonderful i am. that's pretty self explanatory.

now i'm off to play some board games, listen to music and have some drinks with my buddies before the ball drops. enjoy your NYE and have a wonderful 2012!!