Wednesday, September 18, 2013

best internet friends

phillip lim for target large tote, the limited exact stretch skinny pants, j.crew factory sylvia wedge 
Necklace: borrowed from Bri
Sweater: Forever 21 [similar]
Pants: The Limited [exact]
Shoes: J.Crew Factory [exact]
Bag: Phillip Lim for Target [copycat | original]
Belt: H&M

Are you guys sick of hearing about how much Bri and I like each other? Okay good, me either.

To stay in touch and really incorporate that friendship into the thing that brought us together in the first place, we decided that every month we're going to send each other something from our closets for the other to wear. Our first exchange was necklaces - Bri sent me this beautiful vintage necklace she received from a childhood friend, while I did not send her something nearly as special (looks like I'll have to make up for it next time!). The necklace is truly stunning, and I've never seen anything like it. I already told Bri I'm going to wear it as many times as I can before I have to send it back.

I'm also looking for suggestions from you guys - I'm looking for a pair of pants that are black, are NOT jeans, are to be worn with boots, don't get too saggy but are stretchy, and are actually pants, not leggings [kind of like this]. Any suggestions?

linking up with the pleated poppy
phillip lim for target large tote, the limited exact stretch skinny pants, j.crew factory sylvia wedge

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

how she wore it: sole society whitney heels

First things first: one of my absolute favorite bloggers, a medical student at Harvard (!), just gave birth to her beautiful baby girl and asked me to guest post for her. Go here to read about how Laura helped me prepare for this crazy medical school journey!

liz claiborne button back tee, the limited pencil pants, sole society whitney

And now, shoes. A few weeks ago, I purchased these shoes while shopping with my girlfriends. I've wanted some mary-janes for so long, and these were a beautiful maroon, ~comfortable, and in my price range. Needless to say, I fell in love with them immediately. I'm not a big shoe person, I generally wear the same five pairs all the time, but sometimes it's fun to buy something that you wouldn't usually spend money on. When Miranda told me she bought them too, we decided to show two different ways of wearing them. While our styles are similar, she dresses a little bit more girly than I do so I knew this would be fun. I wore mine with my favorite pants (I told you that you would see them all the time) and my new striped shirt. This was the one I found a few weeks ago on the JCPenneys website - I found a coupon code for another 10% off, and if you order $25+, you can free shipping to your nearest store. I order the shirt in three sizes, found that it runs fairly large, and immediately returned the other two. I've worn it three time since I received it last week, and I'm so happy to finally have what I was looking for, and for $14.



Sole Society Whitney Pump
Shirt: JC Penneys [exact]
Pants: The Limited [exact]
Shoes: Sole Society [exact]


and for a few other fun options:

Monday, September 16, 2013

giveaway: color by amber

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Today I am working with Leanna from Color By Amber to give one of you $25 towards jewelry from her shop! Color By Amber by is a jewelry company that believes in not only sustainable jewelry, but also helping others. The jewelry is created with 40% recycled eco-resin, while their Full Circle program employes women all over Africa to create the design elements within the jewelry itself. I fell in love with this gold bracelet immediately, and was thrilled with Leanna sent me it along with a few of the bangles from the mohair collection. I received so many compliments when I wore it last week - I can't wait to wear it all winter long when metal bracelets are impossible to wear. 

Thank you so much to Leanna and the Color by Amber team for providing me with these beautiful bracelets. Leanna is giving away $25 worth of jewelry from her shop to one of you as well- all you have to do is enter the rafflecopter below! Also, if you order $40 worth of jewelry from Leanna, she will include a free skinny bracelet of your choice! All you have to do is mention my name!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

P.S. There are only a few more days to vote for me in the OnlineShoes.com contest - I would really appreciate your support! All it takes is a click, and then you can also enter to win a pair of your own!

Sunday, September 15, 2013

3.1 Phillip Lim x Target thoughts + shopping adventures

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Jacket: from Germany [save | splurge]
Tee: c/o Everlane - review coming soon!
Jeans: Madewell [exact]
Shoes: Tory Burch [exact]
Bag: Coach via Etsy [current version]
Belt: Espirit, thrifted
Scarf: DIY

This weekend about 20 people from my class drove up to Buffalo to go see the Body Worlds exhibit. I've always wanted to go to one of these, and going while we're in the middle of our anatomy course made the whole experience almost a bit surreal. We are elbows deep in cadavers at least three days a week, looking for tiny arteries, ducts, and nerves. Many of the people who so selflessly donated their bodies for our education were lucky to live a long life that unfortunately for many ended in cancer. Cancer, and the surgeries involved with disease, make it difficult for us to see what a "normal" body looks like. We piece together parts based on which bodies weren't torn apart by disease, but sometimes it's really hard to get the full picture. Seeing the bodies at Body World really gave us a new perspective. We got to see everything perfectly laid out - where each nerve courses, what each artery supplies, how the organs lie in the body. What we thought would just be a cool thing to see actually turned out to be a really valuable learning tool. Granted, we all sounded like a huge freaking group of nerds going around with our netters flashcards talking about lympathic drainage and which leg muscle is which - as a collective, our class's favorite muscle is the sartorius because we say it like this. So it was all slightly embarrassing, but also kind of fun. How the position the bodies, and specifically the muscles, is so beautiful - this one was my favorite.

Afterwards we stopped by the mall. I've really been itching for a few new tops because I've been a bit bored with me. I looked back over my purchases from the last few months and I haven't really purchased a lot of shirts recently. Our first stop was Gap, but their sale section was disappointing small and since they weren't having an overall store sale I passed on everything (although I was tempted to buy this french horn shirt as a mellophone tribute).


Then we went to Forever 21, which I haven't been in in months and months. This one was large, and had a whole section of Love 21, which the one in Madison doesn't have. I really wanted to find this top because I saw it on Shanna and fell in love with it, but I couldn't find it, and they don't have my size online anymore. I did find this light peach top which looks and feels a lot more expensive than it is. I tried on this top but it was too sheer for school. I also got the cardigan above - it's an open, kimono sleeved...thing. I belted it with the belt I was wearing in my pants so it looks a little strange, but I promise it's cute - a real snuggle up in cardigan that I think will look great with my maroon pants. Like I said, this was my first Love 21 experience but I was very pleasantly surprised by not only the quality and fit of the pieces, but also how many work/school appropriate items they have. I know that's the point of that whole line, but it makes me excited to explore the line a bit more. I wish I had seen this top in the store! I'm weary to order items online because you can only return for store credit or else I would buy it online. We plan on going back to this mall in 6 weeks (the weekend after we are officially done with anatomy!) so maybe I'll get lucky and it'll still be there. As a side note, a few people asked about my geographic leggings in this post, and I found a really similar pair in the normal section of the store for around $10!

Next we went to H&M which I also haven't been in for months. I really liked this lace top, and now really regret not buying it - it was only $12, and it would have made for a great casual going out top. The shirt on the right is the poor mans version of the J.Crew blouse from last season, but I passed because the fabric was a bit too shiny for my taste and the beading looked really cheap (...because it is really cheap). I did really really like the blue tuxedo shirt in the middle and walked it immediately to the counter.
This morning I got up early to make a trip to Target specifically to look at the Phillip Lim x Target pieces. I've never been a big Target collaboration person - I generally don't like the clothes on me because they aren't cut to flatter my own body, and usually everything is a little bit to "fashion-y" for my current lifestyle. This collaboration was really different for me though. I've been a long time admirer of the Pashli satchels because although they are a huge fashion blogger cliche, I think they are so beautiful. I could never afford one in my current financial situation, so this was an opportunity to get the look for less. I was thinking about what all of this meant - am I masquerading around as a fashion blogger with this knock-off of the original? Do I like this because of blogging or do I like this because of life? I came to the conclusion that I spend 95% of my day living the life of a medical student, and 5% of a blogger. I wanted this bag for the 95% of my life, and that it fits into the aesthetic of what is currently popular on real fashion blogs is just a nice coincidence. I'm trying to build my wardrobe to fit the 95% of my life, and document it during the other 5%. So, in conclusion...I really like my new bag. Did you go fight the masses this morning for your chance at one of these babies, stay up all night to get the online exclusives, or slept in because you aren't a crazy person?

Friday, September 13, 2013

über- prep

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Shirt: Banana Republic [similar]
Skirt: Banana Republic c/o Chippmunk [exact on sale]
Cardigan: NY & Co. 
Shoes: Sam Edelman [exact]

The last time I wore this skirt, my girl Tierney, my go-to gal for everything preppy, told me I should wear it with a polka dot shirt and a navy cardigan.  I really love this skirt so I'll take any excuse to wear it again, even if I don't own a navy cardigan- the ponte knit is just so dang comfortable and while a little more literally prep than I usually go for, I kind of love that about it. It is currently on sale, plus an additional 35% off (online only with code BRSHOP35) which makes it just over $30. Run, don't walk. Also, if you are looking to send me presents, I also really love this skirt because it reminds me of Bri's famous black skirt, this amazing heels, and definitely these boots.

 joking of course...but it IS my birthday next week ;)

Thursday, September 12, 2013

fall // mustard // psl

J.Crew Factory Sylvia, Hobo Morena Bag, Everlane Silk Blouse 
So this past weekend, the weather cooled down and it was amazing. I slept with the windows open and woke up all snuggled under the covers - the best feeling (besides waking up cuddling next to someone but ya know...LDR). I wore jeans and a scarf while outside! And while I didn't drink a PSL because as much as I love pumpkin everything else, I'm not a fan of them in coffee, but everyone else was achatter about them so...yay PSL season! 

I love fall (because I am a blogger and a walking cliche). Maroon is my favorite color to wear, and even though for the first 24 years of my life I never ever wore mustard (because I'm a blondie and I thought it clashed), I am now just a little bit obsessed. I was just looking to see what other mustard cardigans are out there when I found this one. While I don't know how practical a short sleeved cardigan is...something about the style is saying "Buy me Fran! Spend your fall budget on me! Think how cute I'll be with your new striped shirt!"...so...thoughts? Mustard, grey, walk away slowly? 

Also, it is now back up to 90 degrees here so...that's not so awesome. 

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Cardigan: thrifted
Blouse: Everlane
Skirt: thrifted
Shoes: J.Crew Factory [exact]
Bag: c/o Hobo Bags [exact]
Watch: Target [similar]
Bracelet: c/o Apple of My Eye

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

help me! ahnu shoes contest with onlineshoes.com

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A few months ago, OnlineShoes.com approached me to participate in a contest to style a pair of shoes. I was super excited about the opportunity, but there were a few more months until it was all going to go down, so I kind of put it on the back burner. This summer when I was in Seattle, I was having drinks with Bri and Katrina and we started talking about blogging (obviously) and being approached by companies. I mentioned that I was approached to participate in this contest, and how it should be pretty interesting. Turns out, of the thousands of bloggers out there, one of the four contestants is Katrina! And she's fierce competition, because just look at her. 

So I we all received the same pair of Ahnu boots - the Himalaya style, each in a different color. I decided to stick with a neutral palate (with my newest and possibly favorite cardigan), cognac, and denim. Hansi even made an appearance to show his approval. If you also approve, I would really appreciate it if you could go here and vote for me - all it takes is a click! And then if you are interested, you can enter to win a pair of Ahnu shoes too (I think the Karma shoes are so cute). Thank you so much for your support :)

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Shoes: c/o OnlineShoes.com [exact]
Shirt: J.Crew Factory [exact]
Cardigan: Gap [exact]
Jeans: Gap 
Belt: H&M Mens
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