My Christmas was very, very mellow. No family in town other than me and my parents, so we hung out and ate. We had kind of agreed on light-on-the-gifts this year – I dunno, it just seems like none of the adults I know actually need anything. I did send gifts to my young nephews, but for each of the adults I purchased a flock of chicks from Heifer International.

(Photo courtesy of www.heifer.org)

If you’ve never heard of them, please go to their website and check out what they do. They’re an amazing organization through which you can purchase an array of animals and resources from $20 to $1000 that are given to people in need. They can then use these animals and resources to supplement their own nutritional needs, but also can sell the surplus and continue to develop their resources to become self-sustaining.

(Photo courtesy of www.heifer.org)

I’ve donated to them for many years, and will continue to do so. This is the first year I’ve done so as gifts for other people, and I was afraid people would think I was being chintzy, but they all seemed to appreciate it and I was surprised that none of them had heard of the organization before. Anyway, their slogan is “Pass on the gift” and that’s what I’m doing in mentioning them here!

Well, of course my parents were too good to me, gift-wise, although they did stick to practical stuff that I’ve been wanting….namely, a steam mop! LOL, it cracks me up that this was my big wishlist item this year (I’ve gotten so domesticated) but it really was, and they found me a great one! About a year and half ago I renovated my house and replaced all the carpet with bamboo flooring. I hated carpet – seemed so dirty – but have found that wood floors can require a lot of work to keep clean as well. A lot of sweeping, vacuuming, and dry-mopping with a spray bottle of Bona wood protectant in hand. This fall, I found a vacuum that works a lot better for hard floors than the one I have, the Bissell Versus, and that eliminated a lot of the sweeping, but dry-mopping was still a chore and I never felt that it left the floors very clean. So today I fired up my new Eureka Enviro Steamer and I love it! Super easy to use, the cleaning pad is BLACK from all the dirt I picked up, and the floors are gleaming. I’m ridiculously excited.

In non-Christmas-floor-cleaning news, I did get to Target to check out the Rodarte collection. If I was 20 years old and skinny as a boy, I would have purchased a lot – very cute and up-to-the-minute stuff, but too bodycon and trendy for my age and size. I did get one skirt that I may or may not keep…

(Photo from target.com)

I’ve always loved navy and black together.

That’s a lot of boring stuff, sorry…but I’m done for tonight. Thanks for reading…some of you still are!

(Oh no, I didn’t just quote Mariah Carey…did I?)

I’m sorry I’ve been gone for SO long! Final projects for school kicked me mightily in the ass, and then I needed a little time to recoup and clean the house. But I’m back!

And, are you kidding me – Rodarte for Target premieres NOW?!? When I’m broke from buying gifts, etc?!? But, oh yes, I’ll be there. Will report back.

Let’s see, what do I have to report in all of my time away from blogging? I do have food pictures.

Thanksgiving – YUM!

I made a really good chicken enchilada casserole recently with a new recipe that I found here. It’s Weight Watchers friendly but I made it with fat free half & half instead of milk. Came out so yummy!

Right after I pulled it out of the oven and took a piece

That piece that I took

All mushed up so you can see the yummy-ness

And some little gorgeous things…

From Maison de Peanut Leigh on etsy

Very DIY-able Moschino-inspired lace gloves with safety pins

And equally DIY-able, a studded beret

God, I want to DIY these amazing studded ballet flats from Net-A-Porter but I imagine they’d be out of style before I finished

And OMG if I had $500, I would SO buy these amazing earrings from Free People and would probably wear them every day for the rest of my life…

I guess that’s all I have tonight. For those who have kept reading even as I disappear, thank you.

And they even got crazy tonight and had Ella make out with another girl! In the old MP, they ended up cutting a proposed kissing scene between two openly gay guys because they decided people would freak out. It’s so annoying how people don’t mind two girls making out (typical guy response in my experience when this topic comes up: “ooh, can I watch??”) but two guys even having a kiss makes people freak out.

Okay, enough about Melrose Place. I don’t have any new original photos to offer (although I did find my camera!) because I’ve been so busy and wearing boring clothes, but I have some inspiration from other sites.

This is probably a bad idea for a permanent tattoo, but I think these are gorgeous pearl-and-chain fake tattoos from Chanel Spring/Summer 2010

From hey crazy

I don’t know, I’ve been wanting another tattoo for years and although I wouldn’t put permanent free advertising for Chanel on my body, I might take the idea of the chains, pearls, and birds somewhere. Filed away in my imagination.

I want this girl’s hair so much. I mean, I’d take her body and face, too, but I think the hair actually might be attainable, it’s similar to mine in many ways. I’d just have to take a little time to actually style mine. Filed in my little brain under Spend-More-Than-Five-Minutes-On-Your-Hair.

From le flassh

Everyone in the fashion blogosphere (can’t believe I just used that word) is going nuts over these Louise Goldin shoes for Topshop, and I guess I’m no exception…



From nitro:licious

And if I was gorgeous like Katie Shillingford, I’d totally do my hair like she has

From jak & jil

Finally, one last gorgeous thing: Kate Moss in this photo from Topshop

The girl has still got it.

I still haven’t been taking photos. I’ve been ridiculously busy with school.

So, I have fun photos of things I would love to own…most of which are not fashion or beauty related.

I want this SO MUCH – you can sync this wristwatch to your Blackberry using bluetooth and then check emails and the like from your watch…

I really want someday to have a Tumbleweed Tiny House. I’ve always felt that my 880 sq. ft. house is more than ample for me and could happily live in less, and I love these wee houses. I love that you can put them on wheels and therefore they are not required to have permits, so you can drive them all over the United States and park them on any RV lot…

How great are these Converse rain boots??

And I adore this collection of stationary from 16Sparrows

I love this bike, too, but at $700…eek!

I should have more updates soon. In the meantime, keep your fingers crossed for me that things go the way I want them to! I appreciate you all reading.

I give you instead some inspiration pics. We will start with the amazing Kate Lanphear, Style Director at U.S. Vogue, who is so gorgeous and stylish to me.

from the satorialist

from 4purse

from fashion grunge

from trendy crew

from The Sartorialist

from fashion chat

Holy amazing, I just love her androgynous and clean style. If my hair wasn’t unruly wavy, I would cut it like hers.

I think that’s all for tonight. I’m up to my ears in schoolwork and studying. Thanks for reading!

So I’ll post some pics of recent acquisitions and inspirations in the meantime. Remember my quest for a faux fur vest? Well the one I ordered from JC Penney arrived. It’s actually very pretty and very soft – but too big. It only comes in 2 sizes and I ordered the larger one because sometimes my, ahem, boobs get in the way of smaller sizes. So I went back to the website to order the smaller size…and the lighter colored one that I had wanted was sold out. Ordered the black instead, and it arrived today. It’s solid black, very soft and pretty, and the smaller fit looks a whole lot better.

Lesson learned, and keep this in mind for those who are looking for a faux fur vest this season: This is one item that cannot be oversized. In the too-large one, I looked like some fur-trapper from the 1700s. The fitted one is much better. I also like the black better than the lighter color – again, less fur-trapper in a canoe, more chic. Oddly, the website said it was open front but it has a few hook-and-eye closures, which is nice also.

Found some fun stuff on theFred Flare website recently. Finally, a pair of sequined leggings that are affordable and in stock!

And I couldn’t resist a calculator watch…so 1980s computer nerd. I think I secretly wanted one of these in high school but ridiculed them on nerds to fit in. Well, no more!

Should come in handy when I get into my accounting and biostatistics classes, too, haha.

Things-I-want-and-can-afford: This sequined t-shirt

And these acid-washed (ZOMG I can’t believe I’m wanting acid-wash) skinny jeans

Both from Alloy.

Okay, some gorgeous-things-I-can’t-afford: Isabel Marant boots via jak and jil

And these photos were posted for the Chloe Sevigny shoes, but I’m in love with the studded leggings

Via jak and jil

Holy amazing.

I’ll post again soon – thanks for reading, those who do.

Long-sleeved t-shirt with rhinestone buttons (thrifted), old-as-dirt skinny jeans from TJ Maxx, thrifted men’s vest, and these boots from forever21 last Spring

I liked it. Stopped by work to talk to my manager and a co-worker said “you look very rock & roll today” haha.

That’s all.

And a nice bowl of soup for lunch…

Outfit from yesterday

Sweater vest I got at Walmart last spring and hadn’t worn yet. Grey corduroy trousers also from last spring Walmart. White long-sleeved t-shirt, probably thrifted.

BTW, those horrendously ugly black leather clogs that are always lurking in the background of my photos? Work shoes. Waitressing requires shoes that have non-slip soles and are comfy. But I do not wear them In Real Life.

Anyway, also wore this knuckle ring

These chandelier earrings

And these grey shoes that I got from Newport News a few years ago

…shoes that are cute, but entirely too tall to be tromping around campus as much as I did yesterday in them.

When I was browsing the JC Penney website the other night for my faux fur vest, I found a surprising number of cute, on-trend, well-priced items. Didn’t buy any, but thought I’d share a few pictures that appealed to me.

Those last leggings are available in three patterns and I kind of love them all:

And I liked aspects of both of these outfits from their “lookbook”

May have to head over to the actual store and check out the quality!

Guess that’s it for today – thanks for reading.

Rachel Zoe presented her collection of accessories on QVC today and I DVR-ed it. Watching now – pretty sure she’s wearing the LV tribute pumps but they could be Louboutin. God knows I have never seen either IRL, just on fashion blogs. Regardless, her shoes are gorgeous and I think she’s gorgeous and adorable. Her collection of accessories is nice, too – cute stuff at good prices. Unfortunately, everything I wanted is already sold out – I was at work today when the show aired.

I had my hair cut and colored this week and my stylist and I were talking about Rachel Zoe’s show and how much we love it. I said, “I LOVE her hair and need to figure out how to make mine look like that” and he was like, “oh, you can have it: extensions.” Haha. I said, “I suspect that’s far too high-maintenance for someone like me who only comes in to the salon every four months” and he was like, “WAY too high-maintenance for you.” Anyway, I got ballsy and had him cut me some long bangs (haven’t had any bangs in years and years) and I love the way they look. They irritated me the first few days but I think I’m getting used to them now.

So this Rachel Zoe thing on QVC reminded me that I want a faux fur vest. They did a preview of her collection about a month ago and showed her faux fur vest then – I had been thinking that I wanted black but then I saw her faux red fox one and it got me thinking. Of course, it sold out before I could decide. It looks like it sold out again today, but this is it:

I started thinking that a lighter color might be nice to wear with all of my black clothing and have some contrast, but I wasn’t sure if it would look good with light hair. Then Jane of Sea of Shoes posted some pics of herself in a blonde mink with her light hair and it looked so gorgeous (of course she is so gorgeous, too, but still)…

…and that sold me on the lighter color.

So I started looking around online tonight and just ordered this one, which looks lovely on this light-haired model…

From JC Penney, of all places. It’s back-ordered until November, so I will have to report later about whether it’s nice or not, but I like the way it looks on the site. My favorite riding boots are from JC Penney and are great quality, so hopefully this will not disappoint.

Things I wore this week:

My fav corduroy trousers from Walmart last year, a really old mock-turtleneck sleeveless top under a cute fringed-hem jacket that I got at Target last fall and had not worn yet – I love it. Close-up of the fringey/collar bit

Another day I wore my newish plaid tunic from Urban Outfitters with ancient skinny jeans and some slouchy boots that I got from I-have-no-idea-where. It was super comfy and I thought I looked kind of cute but then later in the day decided maybe not so cute. Regardless, for your entertainment, here is a picture

Hmmm.

Cat is keeping on keeping on, weather has turned so doors and windows can be open again, I have my health and all of my needs met – all is right with the world. Thanks for reading.

Speaking of litter sf, look at this amazing ish they’ve come up with…

Gorgeous.

Some fun stuff I’ve acquired lately…I already gloated about the silver sequined jacket but here’s a daytime pic

Other things thrifted that day…this brown velvet vest. It has a lot of buttons and I didn’t feel like doing them all up for the photo – it’s double-breasted

I love the very long satin sash that ties in the back into a big bow

Also found a cute long-sleeved henley t-shirt that has shiny things for buttons and metallic trim…it didn’t photograph well

And I found an interesting dress at Walmart a few days ago – it has lots of layers, is linen, and was $9! I plan to wear it as a jumper of sorts, over a long-sleeved black t-shirt, because my arms are fat. Anyway, here it is wrinkled and on the hanger…front

…and back

Ok, gorgeous-things-I-can-afford for once

from lulus

from Queens Wardrobe

I guess that’s it for tonight – I’m up to my ears in schoolwork.