I'm backkk

... After a blog hiatus.

Seeking Wisdom?  Seek out this advice column.  Shared to me by one of my closest friends, Steph, to help put things into perspective on a rainy day.

A girls best friend

XO

PS- More on Steph later. She deserves a blog post of her own.

25 Cent Fashion

Never underestimate the often over looked fashion lords that are Salvation Army and Goodwill.  With a little bit of scouring and some luck, you can find that clutch oversized sweater or more abstract pieces that with some help of scissors, could become your closets'' newest addition.

I walked into Salvation Army two days ago with $10 to spend and a mission to find something new to wear. I was immediately drawn to the 25 cent rack as the Hawaiian shirts, christmas sweaters, and polyester pants were calling my name.  I came across peach capri pants that were probably well loved by some 85 year old grandmother (.RIP, unknown grandmother)  I loved the color and they were my size so I put them in my "yes" pile and continued my search.  

Pictured below are the before and after of my purchase...

Before:

  Looks great, right? As tempting as it was to wear out as is, my scissors were calling my name.

After:

New spring shorts!  It only took a good scour, 25 cents, a few minutes with scissors and needle and thread and voila! I loved sporting my own piece  (err, sorta mine. Is that unethical to take credit for these?) and they even fall in line with this seasons color pallet.

I left the the store with 7 items and spent $13 (so I can't stick to a ten dollar budget, sue me).  I'm already excited to go back to see what other good finds are waiting for me.

XO

"Lost Prophets: the Search for the Collective"

A couple of weekends ago, my good friend Jeremy invited me to a showing of the movie, "Lost Prophets: the Search for the Collective."  Check out the trailer here.  


Go ahead and add it to my favorite movie collection (a very selective list as I generally don't enjoy movies.  My one (of two) character flaws, I know).  It is absolutely brilliant.  Between the cinematography, the music and the message it sends, I fell in love.  Looking around at the fellow audience members, I could see and feel a palpable trance the film was casting on every viewer in the theater. 


I can't wait to add it to my whooping movie collection of four DVDs and hope that someday soon you can enjoy this film as much as I did.

Recently I sported:

A F21 dress paired with tights and a long sleeve tee underneath to help this dress become more practical for Bloomingtons' chilly weather.  To help make this outfit new, I "accessorized" with the brown short sleeve and cinched sweater along with gold flats.  Recently I've been having a lot of fun mixing lots of plain colors and pieces in an outfit to create a not-so-plain outfit.

 

XO

Love What Ya Got

I went into Great Clips with a coupon and a simple desire for a trim and some side swept bangs.  I left looking like a I got run over by a lawn mower.  No, this isn't me being dramatic, after sending a picture of my hair to a few high school friends they asked if I had cut them myself or if it had been a drunken mistake.  Nope, I payed money for those babies.


Curry and Julia told me to go to a salon, ASAP.  So luckily, Aveda's sister salon, Les Champs Elysees squeezed me into their booked schedule and helped to fix my seven dollar mistake. 

The final product?

A lot different from anything I've ever had and so much edgier than I've ever gone before but I'm learning how to play around with it.  Learning to love what I got.


More importantly though, 25 Things Every Woman Should Know
Absolutely brilliant.  My favorites are 11, 12, 15 and 21.

“I’m sorry…I’m so stunning.” 

XO

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week

So, I'm doing the usual creeping on all of the latest of M-BFW to scoop out the upcoming trends for Spring/Fall 2011.  I usually start with one of my all-time favorites- Coco Chanel, then on to Oscar de la Renta and onto Christian Dior before I stray onto some of the designers I'm less familiar with.

Christian Dior, MBFW- Spring 2011

My jaw was already on my desk as I salivated over their designs but I think it broke through my wood floor when I saw the up and coming designer, Wes Gordon.  Not only are his pieces incredibly fresh and innovative but the way he plays with some sharp angles in the hem of each garment is beautiful on it's own as well as does wonders to a woman's body.  (While incorporating sharp angles and cuts, Gordon manages to steer away from an Asian design in a perfect balance... much appreciated in this girls' book)  To a blazer with a drop "v" hem well below the waist, to the deep "v" cut of a dress, classily showing off a women's chest and hitting her sternum in just the perfect place.  Gordon is the next best thing, and he's only 23 years old.


My favorite part about Wes?  He is a fellow Lovett Alum ('05) and I was lucky enough to walk my high school halls with him.  When he was a senior, I was a mere freshman and I'm sure has no idea who I was (or am) but I knew exactly who he was.  In the sea of uniforms of navy blue collared shirts and khaki pants, Wes stood out.  I'm not sure if it's because of his always perfectly and wonderfully tousled hair (versus the rest of the Lovett male population sporting a  simple and unoriginal shag cut) or just the confidence he exuded in his swag walking through the Café.  While a quiet part of the Lovett community, my 14 year old self had a feeling he was going to break out of the Lovett box and do something absolutely beautiful... just out of his sheer rawness in his own being.  And he has.  


Make sure to check out more about Wes here!

XO

Anna, 2004. For a good laugh... my freshman year of high school.  

Happy Valentine's Day

I hope that you took some time out of your Hallmark generated day to send love out to others as well as yourself today.  Despite any argument I can pose against this holiday, I can at least appreciate it for putting aside one day a year to focus on enamoring each other.  How beautiful is that?  To remind us all slow down a bit... to make sure to love each other and even ourselves if we let ourselves do so.  

My flowers!  From the one man in my life... my Pops

Make sure to check out this PostSecret Video!  People send in anonymous postcards with their secrets and a few years ago someone put this wonderful Valentines video together.  If you like what you see, definitely check out PostSecret.com... the website is updated every Sunday with new secrets!  Definitely have it bookmarked for each weekly viewing. 

I hope we all make each other's days a little bit brighter each day, not just on  February 14th... but it's a good reminder to do so.  Because as humans, I believe its our duty to each other to love. And to those that found this day to be lonely, I ache for you because I know the worst loneliness in the world is to not be in love with yourself.

XO

Things that are Great

-This artist.
-These discoveries.
-Any excuse to wear this or this dress. (Invitations encouraged)
- This song
   - And this one.
      - Couldn't resist, this one too.


-Oh, and friends like these-

-And dogs like this-

Rosie, November 2010

-And thoughts like these-

XO