Thursday, March 11, 2010

I forgot to put in a title. Leopard and Red, oh great title. urg.

mebe

Someone had a meeting and had to go to work early so they couldn't take my picture. Then I forgot my tripod. I went with camera balanced on dictionary in cubicle. I kept seeing people coming. My camera fell twice. I liked this outfit though so after 36 pictures of me looking around I just decided to pretend it was a theme. (But I just gave it away now didn't I?)

Dress Target (2006)
Ring Marc Jacobs gift from inlaws Oh hey let me link them too. You can check out my inlaws here.
Shoes Marc Jacobs (2008)
Tight Target
Sweater NY and Co (2009)
Belt Target (2008)
Glasses that keep falling down they are so stretched out by my melon Chanel (2008)

mebe dis
inspiration
I want red ones, red red ones with a bow

Today my nails are painted red. It is Kennebunk Port by OPI. Last night my mom and I were talking on twitter. Hello modern technology! and we decided to both paint our nails the same color.

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My pop has a few "rules" in life:
Wash your face before dinner.
Put on some rouge before going out.
Keep your shoes shined.
Take off your hat indoors.
Dress for the occasion.
and young ladies don't wear red nail polish!

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Of course that always made me want to do it more. But I also like to be good in my pop's eye. He is 83 and grew up in a working class Irish neighborhood of South Boston. He is VERY proud of his heritage and always insisted my cousin and I be too and that we tell people and wear our shamrock necklaces. It makes us look trust worthy. ha. But now in my AHEM 30's I don't think pop would mind if I wore red polish.

Did you have any fashion rules growing up that you still catch yourself now and again thinking about?

and bonus question. Hey I have an audience why not use them!
I am looking for new ways to style my hair and I am open to suggestions. Please no hair cut suggestions. Just ways of styling. I am not going to cut it but the flat everyday is getting a bit boring.


Edited to add. My mom just posted her red nails on twitter so I totally ganked it so you could see.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

CoverGirl Smoky Shadow Blast REVIEW

I had wanted to try this eyeshadow duo since I first saw the ad of Drew Barrymore wearing it in a magazine a short while back. I picked it up at CVS yesterday and it was buy one get one 50% off.

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What it is is a double ended shadow stick with coordinating colors to create a instant and easy smoky eye. I picked it up in Silver Sky. One end is silver and one a dusky purple.

Picnik collage
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The directions say to rub Step 1 all over your eye to the brow bone and then put Step two in the crease and along the last line. Easy peasy. I didn't even blend it. It went on like a grease pencil or thick lipstick. It has a creamy consistency. I would put a eye shadow primer first because a few hours later I had definite creasing.

No makeup
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With shadow.
Opened
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Closed
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I have no other makeup in these photos. Just the shadow. I don't even have mascara on. I am pleased with it (minus the creasing) and it really is a very easy and fast smoky eye. I can see throwing this is my purse for an instant new look if I was going out after work or just apply one of the two sides midday if I need a makeup refresh.

Getting the word out... Basse Mode

Erin over at Work with what you've got clued me into Basse Mode which is a fashion magazine to be. They are looking for contributors and trying to get people interested. Check out their site here. I threw my name in the hat for consideration. Maybe you should too.

In their own words:

What is Basse Mode?

Basse Mode is, or will be, a real life hard copy magazine. One that you can buy in bookshops, or newsagents, one with beautiful images and thick paper.

Basse Mode is a magazine about what real women wear, feel and believe.

Basse Mode is a magazine built for normal everyday women. We know that the feeling of flicking through a glossy magazine can’t be beaten. However, all the magazines feature the same thing – unwearable looks, unaffordable clothes, and an emphasis on being and looking the same as one another. We want to condense all the brilliance that the fashion blogging world has to offer into something that we can put on the coffee table. That we can show off on the coffee table. A beautiful documentation of what real women wear, what real people think, and things that actually affect our lives. Nothing like this has ever been done before, but we think it could be brilliant.

Manifesto: What we are about?

First, let us start with what we aren’t.

We aren’t people who hate fashion, or who hate catwalks. In fact, we are quite the opposite – we believe catwalks are great for trend inspiration, and that catwalks can be the birthplace of some great ideas and great art. Oh, and great fashion.

We also aren’t those people who are anti-thin. We think girls come in all sizes from tiny to curvy, big to small, tall to short. We just care that you feel good about yourself and the way you look, and we want to share that with other girls who are at once just like you, and totally different.

Finally, we aren’t actually standing against all the current high-fashion glossy mags on the shelves. They have their place, and probably always will. We just got fed up with reading the same old same old, and wanted to offer an alternative, or something else to buy at the same time.

Now onto what we are.

We are three girls, three bloggers, who love reading the writing and looking at the pictures that fashion bloggers and non-fashion bloggers post on the web. We find more inspiration in the women around us both in real life and digitally than in the current magazines, because of the fact that they are imperfect and real.

We believe that low-fashion is becoming more important day by day. Low-fashion is real life fashion, achievable attainable and interpreted differently by every single person who wears clothes. The brilliance is in the creativity shown on lower budgets, with expensive signature pieces, or even just with reworking what you already have.

We want real girls to have a beautiful quality place to read about each other, because aside from blogs we have no tangible place to do this. Because we are brilliant, and we deserve it.

How can you get involved?

We are only three little bloggers in a very big world. We all have our contacts, but alone we have little or no power. We need you guys, all the people who have said the idea is brilliant, to support us all the way.

Firstly, we will need people to help write for us. To submit outfits, and opinions, and information on your life or career or aspirations. Whatever you have to say, we want to hear it. If you want to get involved, we would love to hear from you – so fill out the form here!

If you don’t fancy contributing then you could help by spreading the word. Please talk about Basse Mode on Twitter, post about us on Facebook. If you could write a blog post and say what you think about the topic that would be amazing! If you have any good contacts in fashion or publishing, it would be wonderful if you could put us in touch. However you share your information, why not share our campaign? If you are a fashion focused brand, retailer or magazine (or indeed a publishing house) who likes our ideas, please get in contact here.

Finally, the easiest thing to do is sign our petition by putting your details on the form below. This will allow us to build a list of names and prove just how much people like the idea of a magazine for and about real women, warts and all.

Stars shining right above you.

keep
Dress and sweatshirt Target (2008 and 2009)
Flower H&M (2007?)
Shoes Michael Kors 2010 from 6pm.com (they aren't on the site anymore)
Sweater tights Ann Taylor loft (2010)
Earrings gift

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Flowers and dress detail

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Makeup I think I look evil in the photo on the right

Picnik collage

Shoes

michael kors olive suede wood platforms 6pm

Last night my computer pooped itself. Technically I dropped it and it landed on the edge of the top of the screen. I knew before I picked it up that it was a goner. I felt it.

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So I sat there and freaked out for half and hour swearing up a storm waiting for Dave to get home. I only got it for Christmas last year. Yeah like 14 months ago. It is still "newish" Also this past weekend we dropped a ton of money at the vet. When Dave came home he was insanely cool about it. He immediately tried to get it to work. He got it hooked up to an old monitor and started copying over the harddrive to a removable drive just in case. An hour or so later I got this email.

Hello from FixxYur Computer Services Inc.
We here at FixxYur know how exciting technology is and how attached we can get to our computers and electronic devices. Unfortunately, accidents and incidents are a part of life with technology and it can be really traumatic when a computer that you know and love gets sick. But don't stress, there's hope!
Our technicians have been notified and they have already been able to identify the problem, order the necessary replacement parts, and locate repair instructions. The parts should arrive by the end of the week and we will work as hard as we can to get you up and running as soon as possible.
Feel free to contact us if you have any questions or if you need reassurance from our counseling department in the meantime.
Regards, FixxYur!
FixYa is an independent service provider focused on customer service and electronics repair. FixxYur will make every effort to repair your electronics in an efficient and cost effective manner, but sometimes situations arise that are beyond our control and this email is not to be construed as a guarantee of success and FixxYur can not be held liable for an inability to make successful repairs. Upon completion of said services you will be in debt to FixxYur Computer Services Inc. for a yet to be determined fee. Big time.

The worst part is the computer was a surprise gift from Dave. He had got a nice bonus that year and so he got me my very own pink sparkle computer (that's how I knew it was mine and he wouldn't take it) I still have my macbook but it is kinda old and it doesn't have photoshop on it. I was actually in the middle of editing photos I had taken for a review for the blog when I dropped it. I don't even know what happened. I was sitting on couch then it went ass over teacups. Dave is gonna crack it open and someone how teach himself how to replace the screen and hope that fixes it. Technically it is Dave's turn for a new computer his Dell we got when he started school crapped itself about a year ago and the macbook can't run Revit and he has done all his homework on a borrowed computer. (His cost a mighty chunk of cheddar because it has to run Revit. Mine is a interweb and potatoshop computer)

Have you ever broken a computer?
It is pretty unusal that I break my own device. I am klutzy and drop stuff all the time but never break it. Usually people break mine for me. The first week I had my sidekick (hello 2004!) Dave dropped a bowl on it and killed it. (broke the screen funnily) and then in 2008 Dave was plugging in my HTC phone the thing inside snapped out and the phone self combusted. (His broke the same week) we took that as a sign and got iphones. ha. My flat iron died recently too. I had a chi for 6 months and one day when I plugged it in NADA. Dave took that apart but he couldn't get it to work.


On a serious note I am VERY sad to hear about Corey Haim. I know he had fallen on hard times the past few years but I was a UBER fan since I was little. I have seen Dream a Little Dream over 150 times (I stopped counting eventually) It is mine and Dave's song too. If you or someone you know is suffering from a drug problem. Please get help. Hell email me if you just need to. Don't be too scared or shamed to admit you have a problem and seek outside help. Too many young, talented, amazing people are dying and we need to put a stop to this.


Edited to add. This was a joke email and just humorous and a fake company my husband was making up in an attempt at a joke. A company contacted me calling him fraud I changed the fake name to a faker name. I am tempted to post it because it was so silly. It was just a joke people!

Tuesday, March 09, 2010

You should still believe in an endless world and Konad nails 19

I have an excessive amount of photos today because I feel like it was hard to get everything.
Full body,
Shirt and skirt detail
Closed coat detail
Makeup detail
Side view of hairdo detail
Nails
Shoes
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Skirt New York and Co (2009)
Hoodie Marc Jacobs
Shirt H&M (2004)
Bangles H&M (2006)
Shabooties Nine West(2009)
Tights Hue super opaques
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nine west shabooties grey suede gray

I got this hoodie coat off Gilt last week. After the mishap TWICE with Gilt where the sizing on the Marc stuff was wacky I erred on the side of caution and got it up a size. Now it is too big. I don't think it looks bad too big. I think it works and it is 100% cotton so I might shrink it. Previously I had got a dress from them and for sizing it said "runs a little large" and I thought OH IT IS DESIGNER and still ordered up a size. It fit like it was 3 sizes too small. I normally wear a 8 in Marc stuff (and they said it was running largeish) so I thought 10 would be safe and I could possibly take it in. It literally fit like a very small 6. I kept it(long story. I didn't mean to) And I have yet to wear it. urg.

This is Konad nails attempt 19. I liked how this one came out. I had already had the putty colored nails for a few days so I did the slate blue which is Mount Royal by American Apparel over it. This is a second day photo. Sorry my hands are shredded. I am covered in little cuts and scrapes I think I have been paper pushing in my sleep.

I asked a very similar question about your neurosis a few weeks ago but I want to get more specific. Do you have any bad habits?

I pick food off Dave's plate. Sometimes I just take his plate and give him mine because I like the shape of his better. I leave wet towels on the bed. I put ice cube trays back empty. I don't say hi. I forget to ask how your day was. I take way too long showers. I play with my iphone an obscene amount.

Monday, March 08, 2010

St. Patrick's Day

This is a post I was asked to write for become.com. You can check it out here. Or just read below. :)


St. Patrick's Day is in under two weeks so you better start dying your beer green now. In Boston St. Patrick's day is a holiday of sorts and you wouldn't look out of place in full on Leprechaun regalia. But if you are in any other part of the country and want to celebrate a wee bit of Irish heritage and not look like you are looking for a pot of gold, well then I have a few suggestions for you. Here are three items you can wear the rest of the year as well.

If you just want a touch of green might I suggest some green Chuck Taylor's? They work well for men or women.

If you are feeling a bit more daring how about a lovely green cardigan.


This cardigan from Nordstrom would look good over a white shirt and jeans. You can also throw it on after work and instantly be dressed for the occasion. Any green cardigan would work equally as well.

and lastly if you are feeling very daring how about a cute Celtics vintage looking T.


It says festive for St. Patrick's Day but no one would think it was weird if you wore it any other day of the year. The would just think you are a fan! Partnered with the green sneakers and jeans this would be a perfect Irish pub outfit.

I don't know where the sun beams end and the star lights begins it's all a mystery

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Shirt Ann Taylor Loft $3
Hip Slung Trousers Gap $38 I will explain why below
Shoes Clarks Narita
Vest H&M
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Picnik collage
Gap is having a sale right now if you bring in an old pair of jeans, ANY BRAND you can get 30% off any new pair of jeans and they will recycle your old ones into home insulation! I jumped at the chance because I needed new wideleg trousers. These are a bit different than my other pairs. They need to be hemmed too. I think I will do that tonight because in the full length photos they completely cover my heels.
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I didn't tweak this photo because I didn't like it as an outfit one. I instead chose the nontraditional one above because I felt a bit more like myself in it.

For makeup today it is all MAC stuff. If you are interested in the specific colors I can look when I get home. I know the blush is Mocha and the lips Dazzleglass in Smile, the others I am drawing a blank on.

This weekend Dave had to survey a site for one of his classes so I went with him while he ran around Cleveland Circle in Brookline. It was a spectacular day out. It seriously was the best day all year weather wise. I kinda dug it there and possibly wouldn't mind living there. (I doubt it though because I am very anti-green line. It is the worst T line and I avoid it like the plague) Dave got a couple shots of me when I thought he was taking pics of other things.
Cleveland Circle 071
Cleveland Circle 074

Urg I need new glasses really something severe.

What did you do this weekend?


Dave and I took a giant 3 hour nap on Saturday which is worth mentioning because it doesn't happen often. Daisyboo went to the vet. (running total for those playing at home is $1,900 gag. urg. sniffle) we are waiting on the results to see what they think we should do now about her Diabetes. I didn't go and I am glad that I didn't. Dave thought I might of lost it when they did an ultrasound as they put the needle into her bladder to get a sample. My poor little girl!

We also had an Oscar party. By Oscar party I mean we ate a bunch of appetizers and drank soda and talked about the fashion.
Dave's commentary:
Charlize's dress looked like a frowning alien.
Amanada S' was cute but the top looked too severe for Lily. (yes he calls her Lily. Veronica Mars is probably one of his all time fave shows)
Zoe S' dress "it reminds me of those shirts at tjmaxx that were tiny and crinkly and you put it on and it's still ugly"
He asked me 3 times what Anna K was in that he has seen. Twilight hun. Twilight. We both agreed that her dress was amazing.
He also tried to find the show in HD because he was convinced Cameron Diaz did "something to her face she looks WEIRD!"


And the best sentence of the night.
"Waffle found ham in the trash should I let her eat it?"

Friday, March 05, 2010

Hilly phone home

I am wearing clothes today. I am even wearing clothes I like.

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Red track jacket with removable hood Forever 21
Striped Turtleneck Target
Cherry watch necklace Marc Jacobs
Ring Gift
Wideleg trousers Gap
Earrings QVC

But I feel like crap. My Elliot hoodie makes it a bit better.

What do you do for headaches and migraines?
pills, heaters, essential oils tell me what you do.

I am under a neurologists care and have been most my life but I am hoping one person will have that one thing that will work for me. I have taken every migraine rx out there. I have tried alternative therapies. I have taken epilepsy meds. I have taken herbal meds. I have tried avoiding foods. But I still get there so I am hoping one of you have that one thing I haven't tried. It is mostly for headaches. Migraines I have a medicine that works for most the time. Headaches well I just can't shake them no matter what I throw at them.

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Thursday, March 04, 2010

I need a reason, lets not be friends.


Sweater Limited Christmas 1997 from my dad
Shirt Old Navy a few years ago
Olive cord blazer Fall 09 H&M
Boots Clarks Jan 2008
Wideleg pleated jeans Summer 2008 H&M
Watch Kenneth Cole Easter 2008
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automatic watch kenneth cole
clark boots english saddle
Makeup look down
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Makeup looking up
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Dave said I looked like a HAHVAHD profesah to today. (That is exactly how he said it.) he would know too because he has been a guest lecturer at Harvard. I know I have told you that before but hey I can brag I am proud of him. I only have terrible photos from it. It was weird enough I was there I was scared the camera would draw more attention to how I wasn't in the class.
they came up after to talk to him!

I told him I was going for edumacated looking. I feel a bit of a hot mess with the two patterns. I am not a huge pattern person. It has to WOW me. I am certainly not into mixing patterns either. So I feel a bit off and uncomfortable to be honest. Eh it was clean. It is also snowing like mad outside but not accumulating.

Would you guys be interested in me writing up a post about my new color shampoo? It will probably make hair dressers cringe but these photos tell me it is working well! It really only works for people who dye their hair deposit darker. red, brown, purple etc.... It doesn't work on any "lifted" color (when you dye it lighter... lighter brown, red or blonde. Anything involving lightening)

A post in which I tease you.

Hello my little chickadees. Are you feeling spoiled yet? You should be. I have a big secret! I am going to be doing another giveaway! Not yet, but in a few days. I have to keep you coming back.
(I am evil I know! You will just have to stay tuned!)

I can't tell you what it is yet but I can tell what it isn't! (but I wish it was because I need/want these things myself!)

It isn't a set of new counter stools.


It isn't a new set of pans. (LOOK AT THAT COLOR!) Think of all the casseroles I could cook in those. Yes all a sudden I would be domestic! (oh so if you want to buy me those I will make you a casserole. PROMISE)


It isn't a new bathroom faucet that doesn't leak and looks like a bird!


OK so I am filling my apartment with the things that it is not. You will just have to come back and see what it is!