Crippled Queens

Perhaps you've seen on the news that NYC got a blizzard dumped on it the day after Christmas.  These storms happen every so often and it's fun to be cozy inside while you watch the silent city get a glistening coating of snow out your window.  Then when you venture out to dig out your car or get your groceries, things are pretty functional within a day.  For this storm, something mysterious happened and nobody plowed the streets! 

It's the craziest thing I've ever seen!  This is the city that never sleeps, right?  Cars and city buses were just abandoned in the streets.  We took our 4 wheel drive vehicle to Queens and found ourselves in a mell of a hess (as my Grandfather used to say).  This street was completely unplowed and a good place to document the shenanigans since we were blocked in by stranded cars from all angles. 

You should never leave Queens without putting some food in your face, it would be the biggest wasted opportunity of all time.  We looked up the closest hand pulled noodle place and headed over.  On the way to deliciousness, we discovered we were on Ithaca Street!  Upstate NY likes to follow us wherever we go.

I've never appreciated 4 wheel drive as much as I have over the last few days!  You press on the gas and actually go forward!  Thanks Xterra, for making this day possible.  I was freezing my pom poms off to take these shots, but I guess that's what playing in the snow is all about.  Next time I leave home in the winter, I'll try not to forget my gloves, scarves and hats.  You'd be surprised how many times I do that!

Sweater: ASOS from Santa

Pants: via TJ Maxx

Boots: Frye

Ear Muffs: NYC Street Vendor

Home for the Holidays

Merry Christmas!  This is the card I designed this year.  We took this photo on Pratt's campus on graduation day.  I loved having a love statue to walk past every day.  Not gonna lie- laid this out in my mind 3 years ago.

I love New York during Christmas.  Matt & I go on an annual date to see the tree and all the store windows.  We often have dinner overlooking the Rockefeller ice skating rink, but this year we tried a new place, Brasserie Ruhlmann just steps away from all the madness.  The charcuterie was an especially delightful treat.

The windows at anthro were adorable (they had little reindeer with legwarmers and earmuffs!), but Bergdorf's took the cake as usual.  I didn't pose with them, as the wind was whipping around too much, but I've posted some photos of them here.

Footwear around this time of year gets a little repetitive for me.  The Frye boots I've been rocking for 16 years tend to get a daily wearing in the winter no matter the corresponding outfit.  They're already getting noticeably beaten up.  It's a trade off to being comfortable and warm.  They're also kind of my signature at this point.  Yippie, it's Christmas!

Coat: Nicole Miller, gift from Matt

Dress: thrifted

Leggings: H&M

Boots: Frye

Scarf: Borrowed from Dad

Apthorp Adventures

My trusty assistant and I nearly lost a toe to frostbite taking these photos.  It was a cold day in NYC with wind that was just plain rude.  That's partially the reason my posts have fallen off.  The other is the lack of daylight- so far I'm not dedicated enough to get up early to take photos. 

We're visiting the fam for the holidays and I geniusly forgot to pack any hats, gloves or scarves.  So as I made my way downtown, I popped into every applicable store in search of fuzzy ear muffs.  No luck.  You can see the blue tint to my lips in this closeup.

I just found this coat at the j.crew outlet.  It was marked down and on sale on top of that.  There was only one left and it was my size.  A sign to me to have a brighter outlook on winter.

Coat: J.Crew Outlet

Sweater: BCBG 100 years ago

Shirt: J.Crew Outlet

Jeans: H&M

Boots: Via Spiga via Loehmann's

Le Weekend: Winter Formal

This weekend I went with Matt to his winter semi formal.  It was my first "college" dance.  I put college in quotes since it's business school, but I did take a thermos full of wine, so that makes it college.  I was a little too cool for school when I was an undergrad so I didn't really attend much on campus, plus my school was in NYC, so it wasn't your typical college experience.

Why is there only one lonely ornament on this tree?  Anyway, I didn't take pictures thinking about putting them on the blog, so I just picked the one that showed my dress the best.  I got it about 3 years ago for another holiday party.  It has treated me well!  My shoes are a result of having Achilles tendinitis for the past year.  I'm not supposed to wear heels (yeah, I said a year) so I figure if I just wear 2" and under, it's a decent compromise. 

My bestie gave me Bumpits for my birthday, so I decided to bump it for the dance.  I'm not a big fan of teasing my hair- it seems so damaging.  Plus, I've spent my whole life trying to make my hair smaller, so it's just unnatural for me to make it bigger.  Hence, Bumpits.  Like I said, I wasn't really taking blog photos, so most of them are of this nature:

Hope you're having a festive start to your holiday season!

Dress: Theory via Loehmann's

Earrings: Simply Vera, Vera Wang for Kohl's

Bracelet: Marc Jacobs

Bracelet: Laundry

Shoes: Jeffrey Campbell

Now and Forever...

That's the forecast for snow in my area.  It's literally going to snow every day from now until April.  So far, I'm loving it.  Matt & I went out to dinner with fluffy flakes accompanying us. 

Today was the first day I actually wore a coat which, judging from people's reactions when I show up places without a coat, is pretty strange.   I've had this one for a few years, and many times when I wear it people ask me if I'm warm enough.  I guess it doesn't look too substantial, but it's a good one to start the season.  Since I'm driving everywhere now, I often don't see the point of putting one on.  I don't like to drive in a coat (I feel restricted, probably because I have broad shoulders) and then when I get to my indoor destination, I don't want to be overheated.  So I've made it to December without wearing a coat.  I decided today was an appropriate day to break this cycle.  The first Friday art gallery walk was tonight, and I was certainly going to need to dress appropriately for that.  The best find I made was an antique store (not part of the gallery walk, but I couldn't resist) that has a nice selection of vintage jewelry for extremely reasonable prices (like $3).  I'm going to return with more time to spare tomorrow.  Happy le weekend!

Coat: via Loehmann's

Hat: vintage my mom

Jeans: H&M

Boots: Frye

Scarf: J.Crew

Vintage Nashville

I scored some amazing finds at Thrift Smart when I was in Nashville.  It's rare for me to have to make selections among things I like, normally I rule out most of what I pick in the dressing room.  I like going to new stores for fresh meat that I haven't already picked over.  There was a vintage record store in the same strip mall, so I posed with Dolly.

There were camera issues, which ruined most of the pictures, but it did give a few of them a cool effect.  Here's my favorite fierce effed up shot.

I'm all eyeballs and fingernails!

Wrap: Sweater: via Marshall's

Shirt: Forever 21

Jeans: via TJ Maxx

Flats: Wanted via Daffy's

Necklace: Urban Outfitters

All my troubles seemed so far away...

Isn't this a beautiful day!  I'm talking about these shots taken yesterday of course.  Today's pretty gloomy and making me hope the temperatures will drop soon to make this rain turn into snow.  Isn't that the upstate NY experience I was promised?

My house is pretty overheated at the moment thanks to the landlord's lock box over the thermostat, so it makes it hard to dress too warmly.  My office however is pretty chilly, so I often have outfit regrets.  My concession today was to pair this thin cardigan with gloves.  It was somewhat of a success.  I adore these impractical gloves and am happy that they are the debut of my outerwear in this blog.  Way to represent, gloves!  I was about to donate this dress but thought I'd wear it one more time just to make sure.  It's not doing anything for me.  Bye, bye.

Dress:  Max Studio

Cardigan: Urban Outfitters

Boots: Bandolino via Marshall's

Gloves: Urban Outfitters

Necklace: Chanel

Thanksgiving, y'all!

I spent the holiday in Nashville with Matt's family.  Many servings of stuffing and pie were consumed but we managed to sneak away for a moment to document my flowy food baby concealing top. 

This is the site where Matt used to go for colonial day at school to churn butter and dip wax candles with his adorable little bowl haircut.  Last time we visited there was a portable gun range in the parking lot.  For those of you not accustomed to such things, it's a trailer that you go inside to practice target shooting.  Total Southern awesomeness, I know.  I thought it would make an appropriate backdrop, but alas, it wasn't there.  This tractor (or whatever) was fun to climb on in the wind though.

Top: Free People via Loehmann's

Jeans: via TJ Maxx

Booties: Seychelles via Gilt

Pin: Thrift Smart, Nashville

Bracelet: Kate Spade

Le Weekend: Hart's Brook Preserve

Matt had to go to NYC on Friday, so I tagged along for the weekend.  We caught up with friends and fashion, and had a relaxing weekend staying with my parents.  Hart's Prook Preserve was private property the whole time I was growing up, but a few years ago it was left to the town and opened to the public.  I don't know anything about this sculpture on its grounds, other than it looks great at the magic hour.

Matt was the art director of this shoot, which explains why my poses took a tiger, devil turn.

Sweater: Banana Republic men's, thrifted

Tank: J.Crew

Jeans: via TJ Maxx

Flats: Steve Madden via TJ Maxx

Belt: Forever 21

Tomorrow I'm getting up bright and early, putting on something stretchy and hopping a flight to Nashville.  It's going to be 70 degrees there tomorrow.  I'll have to think back to warmer days for inspiration as I pack tonight.  Hope you have a delicious turkey/tofurkey!

Dancing Between Drops

By the time I got to the park to take these photos it was legitimately raining, which doesn't show up so much in the pics, but it did make me feel quite silly twirling about.

I've had this dress for a while now, and the print was what attracted me to it.  It's so fun and whimsical, I just wish the fabric were more substantial.  I'm really looking forward to Thanksgiving.  We're going to Nashville this year to be with Matt's family.  I'm ignoring the airport logistics and focusing on the quality time with family and friends.  And that's what I'm thankful for... that and pies.

Dress: Anthropologie

Cardigan: Kenneth Cole circa 1999

Leggings: circa 1994

Boots: Frye
Belt: Forever 21

Necklace: Banana Republic

Last Call for Pumpkins

Fall will unofficially turn into winter next week after Thanksgiving, so I'm soaking in all the last bits of it.  This outfit is the Fallest thing I could think to wear.  The skirt is a recent thrift store find that didn't need any altering.  I like the way it wraps and changes shape as I move.  I feel like this is something my mom would have worn in the 80s.

There's a new nail place in Ithaca- Miracle on route 13.  They have great grand opening specials that enticed me.  $25 for a mani pedi!  Sold!  I picked a Fall shade, of course.  We'll Always Have Paris, O.P.I.

Shirt: I.N.C.

Skirt: Thrifted

Boots: Bandolino via Marshall's

Earrings: via Loehmann's

You Make My Heart Sing

Isn't this the sweetest mural?  Not sure why there's a Where the Wild Things Are mural on the side of a jewelry shop, but I'm glad it's there.  You almost got photos of a lighthouse, but I can't figure out how to get to it.  I can see it from Cass Park, but that's definitely not how you get there.  I'll tromp around another time with different footwear to figure it out.  These princesses have never encountered moisture, and I'd like it to stay that way.

I heart New York.  My friend Julie has detailed the reasons she's ready to move away.  One reason is that in the city, you're anonymous.  That's one of the things I miss the most- especially when it comes to taking pictures for my blog.  I try to pick secluded locations, but this mural was too good to pass up.  The woman who lives next door was watching me out her window a la Norman Bates' mother the entire time, and a guy drove up and asked me if I wanted him to take my picture for me.  Uh, did you miss my 5' tripod?  If I were in NYC I could set myself on fire and nobody would care.  Best friggin city ever!

Sweater: Express

Shirt: DKNY mens

Jeans: H&M

Boots: Coach via Loehmann's

Necklace: Truche's etsy shop

Go Away!

That's right rain, I'm talkin' to you!  Tonight's outfit documentation was a bit ridiculous.  As I was driving home from work chasing the light, it started to rain.  I decided the best way to protect my camera was to put it on the passenger seat of the car and open the door.  This limited the scenery quite a bit, but at least I got an end spot in the parking lot.  Then the camera battery died.  Just one of those days.

I've had this outfit for five years or so.  It's my go to outfit for when I would have rather just stayed in bed.  Today was one of those days.  It's also great for overeating.  I wore it for Thanksgiving one year and it was perfection. 

Sweater: H&M

Leggings: H&M

Belt: Forever 21

Boots: Frye