Please Stop Lying About "The 20s"...Wait - is this a quarter-life crisis?

I'm getting a little tired of all these articles about not wasting your 20s, about throwing caution to the wind and doing all the things you always wished because with age comes responsibilities, blah blah..bills now anyone? I'm tired of everyone asking me about my job, my graduate school plans, my relationship, my future. I'm tired of going into trendy stores, grabbing what I think is my size and needing Crisco to get the ill-fitting garment off of my no longer pre-pubescent body. I'm tired of probing rhetorical questions that send me off into an abyss of my own mind as if I don't do that on my own enough.

It's in few sobering moments that your 30+ friends will really admit to you that the early 20s actually kind of sucked. That what they thought was the time of their lives galavanting from bar to bar, hooking up with randos secretly wishing that each new toad would be their frog prince, sitting in jobs they hated because student loans and credit card bills from those same bars and boozy brunches in the City wouldn't pay themselves was really just a rite of passage. Don't get me wrong, those bar crawls and eye-canoodling with a new sexy stranger each weekend have their places in your life and the 20s are it. But let's quit not acknowledging that each of us is really searching and wishing to find all the answers about ourselves, to truly know what makes us happy and what we want out of life so we can stop falling on our faces chasing what we've been conditioned to want. Wait, I think...Is this a quarter-life crisis happening?

I've been conditioned, some way some how, to go to an ivy-league college, go to a top 5 professional graduate school, pursue a career as an executive of some sort, meet and marry a peer along the way, climb the corporate ladder until I decide to take maternity leave, which may or may not be 3 months or 6 years until "the kids" are in school, then to pursue my true passion of writing, with the cushion that my stint in the professional world or my equally/more successful husband's wealth will provide, since they don't call them starving artists for no reason... Oh and all of this is to be done by 35. o_O...That ish cray.

The reality is that there's no room along that type of path for the stumbles that will inevitably occur to teach you the life's lessons that you are unable to teach yourself for lack of experience. I'm not really sure if I want to be a professional, not even positive I want to have kids I just think as a woman I should experience the miracle of carrying life inside me even though that's a really creepy thought, and marriage - when I sit down and really think about it...it scares the crap out of me. Weddings and marriage are NOT the same thing, every girl wants the bling and to plan the party of a lifetime where she's the belle of the ball, but realize that after it, you've joined your eat, sleep, breathe, poop, every single day moments with another human being. HUGE DEAL...HUGE!!!

LOTD: Red Lips & Polka Dots aren't just for Minnie Mouse

When I woke up this morning and checked the weather I realized that Fall was attempting to make it's presence known, and in this attempt just confusing the heck out of everyone trying to get dressed this morning. With a high of 77 and a low of 61 and a 60% precipitation rate, I didn't know if I would swelter in my raincoat or be sad and cold that I didn't have one at some point in the day.

Either way when I start with my raincoat, then my color scheme is kind of set - black, white, red, tan. Can you guess what my raincoat looks like? :) Lol. I tried flexi rods for the 3rd time and was substantially more successful than the first two resulting in these pretty loose waves. And I even had a little time to play in my makeup, yes I'm embracing my Russian Red.

I scanned through my newly refreshed with fall staples closet and nabbed this super cute polka dot blouse. While I would have loved to pair this top with the red skinnies I also found over the weekend, I instead remembered where I was going and kept it simple with this black pencil skirt and black pump.

What's Your Design Style?? Take the Quiz!

So I was poking around on Apartment Therapy like I do almost every other day, and I stumbled upon this fun post about online design quizzes. Of course I took all 3 (don't worry they each took between 2-5 mins). I thought two were pretty spot on, the third not so much.

According to HomeGoods' Stylescope, I'm "Sassy" with a touch of "Urban Funk" which looks like...

To style my home they suggested starting with a crisp fresh white room - which I have and often refer to as my 'blank canvas' - and add bright colors and bold patterns. Besides the bright pink sheets and standing bunch of sunflowers on my window sill, I haven't yet added much color. I originally thought I wanted to do the whole "Spa Serenity Chic" thing, but at this point it feels boring and gets visibly dirty too quickly. Meh.

Over at Sproost, my style was decidedly a mix of "Hollywood Couture" (60%), "French Eclectic" (20%) and Modern Elegance (20%) based on a flurry of rooms I rated on a 5 point, love it to hate it, scale. Hollywood Couture, taking the lead, also seemed more aligned with the look I've been going for with my new place.

Wedding Weekend Wears

Ah! So if you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, you already know how crazy (in a good way) the past two weeks have been. Ever since Labor Day & Made in America, it's been a sprint to the finish line, which in this case was two really good friends' wedding this past weekend. We hit the road on Friday afternoon and booked it a good 4.5 hours to Albany, NY. We made it just in the nick of time to join the first course at the rehearsal dinner.

Thanks to pre-planned and packed outfits in my suitcase, I was able to freshen up quickly and pull this entire ensemble out of my suitcase in the 15 minutes I was given to get ready.

Dress: H&M | Shoes: Zara | Necklace: ILY Couture

I decided to take advantage of one of the last summer nights and had a little color blocking moment with three of my favorite summer purchases. It was comfy, chic, yet family friendly - three crucial things when sitting for hours dining to celebrate someone else's big day amongst their family and friends. While I was bright as a highlighter and showed a little leg, but I reserved the bling and the glowing skin for the bride, and of course made sure my dress was roomy enough for my potential post dessert bulge. 

For the actual wedding the next day, I took advantage of their evening wedding to don a floor length pink silk gown. Like seriously, how often in our post-prom and fraternity-formal lives to we get to wear evening dresses, right?

Dress: Jill Stuart (pictured here) | Ring: F21

Week(end) Roundup: Red Lips, Boozy Brunches & MadeInAmerica

I think I'm just now at this very moment recovering from a whirlwind of the past week basically. Labor Day weekend truly took on a mind of it's own, prep starting Friday, festivities Sat - Mon, and back to work on Tuesday?? Asking way too much of me. Nonetheless, I'll share a few highlights...

On Friday, I was feeling a bit patriotic and having finally reached my six empty container quota for the M.A.C. recycling program, I was excited to pick out a new lip shade. To my surprise, my choice was not just between lipstick shades, but lip glosses and eyeshadow were part of the deal as well. And thank the Lord for that. After trying on many a shade of red lipstick that all looked like I'd been eating red chalk - no like seriously, matte lipstick on me drains the moisture from my nose to chin Tyrone Biggums style, so not cute...I switched gears and moved to glosses. First pick was "Ruby Red" and I was sold.

Much to my surprise, I loved it. She did warn me that it wouldn't last as long as lipstick, which I thought I was totally fine with, until I got some yogurt from Scoop Deville (aka sweets heaven on earth) and it was all over my spoon. Had a moment, but such is life. Loved my red lip so much went and got my nails painted in this orangey-red color by O.P.I. called "Ole' Caliente" 

LOTD: Little Miss Sunshine - Lunch Date Attire

Top: Urban Outfitters | Skirt: F21 | Shoes: Dolce & Gabanna

Necklace: Henri Bendel | Ring: Vintage | Arm Candy: Michele, David Yurman

Call me dorky if you'd like, but whenever I have a set date with my boo piece, I get excited and dolled up as if he's never met me before. Idk there's just something about being asked to go somewhere at a set date and time, doesn't matter where, but it's a date. Nonetheless, when I woke up this morning, it was all dreary and rainy, and I have this thing when it's gross outside I decide to brighten up the day with my attire. Strange, I know. But it brightens moods, I tell ya!

I've wanted to play with the trend of mixing prints and monochromatic looks for a while, and this stripes and pleats yellow look gives me a tad of both worlds. Whenever I wear yellow I always pine over silver or gold accessories, but today rose gold and brushed silver took the lead, so I thought I'd show off my baubles. The grey patent slingbacks I nabbed from Mommy's closet perfectly complimented my grey stripes and the rain :).

I hoped to brighten the gloomy day when he saw me, but the Sun wasn't having my competition and came out just in time for our lunch date in Chinatown. Great food and greater company.

Happy Tuesday! 

xox

Cooking The Way to Your Own Heart (Recipes Included!)

Years ago, women sat their daughters in the kitchen and told them things like "The way to a man's heart is through his stomach." That little tidbit of advice was enough to have young girls watching wistfully in the wings, taking mental notes of the secret recipes Mommy and Gram never wrote down. The promise of possessing a culinary prowess that no man could deny and all desired such a characteristic of his wife-to-be was tantalizing. But somewhere along the way, maybe with less of such a focus on "love and marriage" and an overt presence of ready-made meals, the power of such a skill lost its luster to many, but not all.

I'd be lying to say that the thought of being able to cook well, keep a nice home, and embodying the hostess with mostess might make me a stand out amid the swarm of other girls that don't know how to turn the oven on, serve meats atop paper plates and without cutlery at that, hadn't crossed my mind. But even more prevelant than that, I was simply bred with the taste for fresh and finely prepared foods. Some call it spoiled, I call it exposed, but it's unlikely you'll know the correct pronunciation of filet mignon without it being announced and served nearby, or on a screen these days, I guess.

Nonetheless, not sure my parents meant to, but all their fine dining, reared a foodie. A foodie who went to college in and decided to make one of the best food cities in the US her semi-permanent home. And what does a foodie on a recent grad budget have to do? Learn to make the masterpieces herself. 3 times the meal, for a 1/3 of the menu price, that's quite the deal. Say yes to leftovers!