outfit ideas from the 90's??

watching 100 greatest song of the 90's on vh1...Lisa Loeb's "Stay" just came on. um...LOVE her outfit in it. (here's a screenshot of it...sorry for the horrible quality)

oh and i forgot how awesome "Stay" is. such a sweet song. and i love how awkward and cute lisa is.

"Haven't Met You Yet" by Michael Bublé

is it weird that this song is now on my getting ready playlist? such a feel good tune. not gonna lie, i had it on repeat after i heard it the first time

just downloaded the CD....it's alrightttt haha. i like maybe two other songs.

but anywhooo this video is soo cute! (so much better than jm's new one..oye don't even get me started.) you go michael bublé!!

ps-going home tomorrow! wooooo

yay for october and shopping again!

woooo so my first purchase at no shop september was a very fun (and much needed) bandage skirt from urban.

(ok, so the skirt's not on the urban website but this is basically what it looks like. mine's a little shorter tho)

..only $48! and def a good investment. it can be worn under oversized preppy shirts (which will be hard for me to find..) to wear to classes or with fun blouses tucked in to go out. SO PUMPED

some inspirations --

found this on fabsugar today. love love love its chic yet has that oh-i-just-threw-this-on vibe. oh and loving Lo's hair and make up too.

she's just wearing an oversized tee with the skirt...yet she looks sooo put together and awesome. since my skirt's a bit shorter, i think i'd go for an even baggier top to make it less HELLO.

(and oh how amazing booties would look with this skirt...just saying)

...still searching for the perfect bootie

these. in leather. and less than $150.

(these are stuarts selling for 355 btdubbs)

subconjunctival hemorrhage

aka a popped blood vessel in my eye. i'd post a pic but it's pretty gross. this all happened after rubbing my eyes in the shower. according to google, it'll take about 2 weeks to go away. ughhhhhh

getting back into shape! woohooo

:)

"This is Me" by Demi Lovato

kind of obsessed with this song. yeah, i'm cool...

eating healthy at u of i --

sooo i've decided that I need to eat healthier. i'm spending a lot of money on gross food and i should try to be in better shape. soo here are some new food guidelines for moi. LIST TIMEEEEEE --

(these are some foods i've made so far...i'll post up recipes later!)

1. LESS EATING OUT. kinda hard when i keep doing so well with food friendzy, haha. but there have been soo many times i've just bought food because it was easier and quicker than making my own. i'll only limit my eating out to merry anne's brunch and the occasional plans. oh and i know late night i will, but i'm gonna try not to haha
   
2. PLAN MEALS IN ADVANCE. it'll make cooking at home easier, make me more excited about my meals, and distract me from fb stalking (yeahh...)
   
3. MORE LOCAL FOODS. i should take advantage of being in a very agriculture-centric area. i'm gonna shop less at schnucks and meijer and go to common grounds and farmers markets instead :) it's better for the environment, community, and meeeee

..wuddup.

Current Obsession [october '09]

1. aioli of all kinds
2. cooking
3. my new george foreman
4. trying to figure out my culinary POV/thinking about my FN audition (winkey face...)
5. drinking beer with meals
6. luke-warm water
7. lemons
8. hair products
9. the voltaggio brothers
   

anticipating the end of no-shop september..

NO-SHOP SEMPTEMBER IS ALMOST OVER!!!
this past month, i've tried to become more creative with the clothes i have. i started looking at style.com a lot to get ideas of how to wear the clothes i already had. a few weeks ago it was fashion week at nyc and added like 50+ pics to my account. here are some pics of some of my favs from new york fashion week (be prepared to see lots of embelishments, fun silhouettes, and preppiness to the max) you best believe i'll be keeping these in mind when i can shop again.

marc by marc jacobs --i guess the ones i picked all have the same silhouette. haha looooving the humongo hair bows and fun colors fo sho

Boy by Band of Outsiders -- they actually have a line with sperry topsiders..although the line's only for boys, haha. still gotta love them, right?! I really like how the looks are all preppy but still sexayy using interesting bottoms and relaxed tops. so cool. so awesome.

OBSESSED WITH MILLY-- if only i was making bank... i'd totes buy everything. i legit added all of their looks. these are just SOME of my faves. i love the soft silhouettes with strong, jackets on the first row. and they show how the addition of interesting jewelery and off-beat shoes to simple outits can make the overall looks awesomee. and can we all just notice -- SOCKS WITH DRESS SHOES. i'm really considering buying a few pairs come october. a little bit of edge, girliness, and old grandma..i'm def gonna try to use these looks as inspiration for great new ways to wear my large collection of grandma cardigans haha

other random looks i wanna try to copy:
(L-R) matthew williamson, lacoste, tory burch

probs not practical, but OMGEEZ --
jason wu, burberry, fendi


Things I will keep in mind when I can shop again:

1. Fun, statement jewelery. Probs will look for cheap ones at forever
2. dressy shorts and a bandage skirt (mayybe)
   
3. bold belts
4. socks to wear with dress shoes???
5. intense platform shoes.
   
6. i'm checking out the boy's section for tops and jackets...

only two more days till october! woooot

"La La Land" by Demi Lovato

I've officially listened to this song 100 times...

Roasted Baby Carrots and Broccoli

(i actually took this pic!)

Soo yesterday I roasted some fingerling potatoes I bought from the farmer's market (....three weeks ago aka i had to use them ASAP) they were delish and that inspired me to roast some some more veggies I had to use up quickly.

Today--a bag of baby carrots. I actually am not a fan of raw carrots and only like them cooked. I only eat raw ones with hummus and that's only only because they are healthier than pita chips. And the hummus : carrot ratio is very high so i can't taste the gross carrot. Aaanyway, i honestly dont' remember when i bought these carrots. They weren't moldy so that made them legit. (i hope..)

I also had some broccoli i had blanched the other day and decided to add them. I mean, why not?

To the baby carrots/broccoli i added four cloves of garlic, EVOO, half of an onion (cut into large chunks) salt and pepper. (it was a pretty large bag of carrots btdubbs). I roasted these at 375 for about 20 mins and then decided to add some balsamic thinking it'd add some sweetness and acidity. I let this go in the oven for another 10 mins.

Verdit --

the broccoli was SOO GOOD. because they were already cooked, they roasted beautifully. the outside crisped up and had a really nice texture (i'm all abot texture with my food, if u didn't know). Also, the florets soaked up the garlic/balsamic/onion flavor really well.

the carrots were not as good. I mean, they were just a bit bland. They def didn't have the depth of flavor that the broccoli had and I'm pretty sure it's because I threw them into the oven still raw. Or maybe I should have cooked them longer? Next time -- i'll par-cook the carrots beforehand. And, I think i'll add some more garlic and onions because the carrots are more dense and can't take in the flavors as well as the broccoli.

but overall, delish! roasting's def a healthy and easy way to use up veggies that are left in your fridge. and the balsamic added an extra bit of oomph to it :)

PS- i used your pan laura...sorriez.

burgers i wouldn't feel [as] weird dressing up for

justin and i both had internships in northfield this past summer. while his was a bit more legit than mine, we still had to be in business attire. in any case, whenever we did lunch, we clearly were not going to dish out money at fancy places. instead, we had our important "Business Power Lunches" at burger joints (we either went to Michael's or Meatheads)...holler.

About two weeks ago on gchat, jmalina2 and swong729 reminisced over those awesome lunches. there really isn't a more interesting experience than being in stuffy clothes while enjoying the messy greasiness of burgers and fries. oh and smelling like that for the rest of the day. i def had missed that.

coincidentally, i had just read a post on champaign taste about Farren's, where she claimed she had the best burger in the CU.

hot damn. sooo justin and i decided we had to go there duhhh.

that weekend all of the jews had to go home for the yom so our very businessy and professional dinner of burger and fries would have to wait for the following weekend.

being the nice ppl we are, we allowed others (MJos, Jake, Sturt and Dan Cohen) to come with us. And we didn't dress up..i know, sad

We went to Farren's last friday and it was packed by the time we arrived. The small place (it maybe holds 20 tables, max) has its kitchen basically behind the bar with three people cooking. You walk in and automatically smell the goodies they're grilling. Oh, and you see the amaaazing beer selection they have. (booo with the not having an ID).

We ended up waiting 20 minutes to get a table (obvs a great idea having a party of 6) and another 15 to get our food. I ordered a Cheddarburger, medium rare.

OH MY GOD. so so sooo worth the long wait. My burger's on the bottom left (the one with cheddar and a tonnn of black pepper on it, of course) check it outt. The burger was perfectly charred - enough to give extra texture and some good flavor but not so much for it to taste like burnt grossness. It was a perfect medium rare; nice, pink, and juicy. (i would say moist but i absolutely hate that word). And according to Farren's website, they grind their meat 3 times a day - you def can taste that freshness. Also, I've never seen cheese melted so beautifully on a burger (i know how weird that sounds but it's completely true). Sometimes cheese can be cooked too long and get dry or not enough to reach its gooeyness potential. my only complaint was that the bun wasn't toasted. But they were nice and soft and didn't overpower the meat, so yay for that.

the boys all agreed. We downed those things like it was ain't no thang. Mjos said how he didn't even put his burger down once cuz he couldn't stop eating it. Later that evening the boys even made two different toasts to the burgers and all of their deliciousness.

fucking amazing. I'll go back anytime. definitely one of the best burgers I've ever had. Better than some burgers at high end restaurants costing 20+ (yes, i've shelled out money for those...)

I'd say they're worth dressing up for even if you're not having Justin or my "Business Power Lunches". They're that good.

PS- don't listen to Dan Cohen. Homie had a chicken sandwich and NOT a burger. his opinions clearly do not count. oh, and he liked the tucker max movie.

IMG00017-20090920-1844.jpg

I was bored. So I curled my hair. And look extremely azn

KATE GOESLIN. NOOOOO

getting closer...

so we all know i'm trying to search for a perfect booties. Well, here are Loeffler Randall/Costello Tagliapietra colabo'ed booties for $625. At least it's better than the $1100 Louboutins I found before..haha

"Hey Jealousy" - Gin Blossoms

Forgot how good this song is. Love his voice.

denim leggings

I remember s.goldstein got a pair when we went to LA two summers ago. I kinda want a pair. this way i can wear leggings without looking too much like a bum. Also, they'd be have more of a streamline look than skinnies. (and they're like $28!!) I mean, these might be necessary for football games..aka I won't be breaking no shop september!

thoughts??

just sayin'..

my sperries make my feet smell like soy sauce.

SO CUTE

oh jeebus...is this me?!

yes, another article.

this one is about people who are chronic "people pleasers".

it's a bit depressing...but makes me wonder if i'm one of these people.

PLEASE READ THIS AND TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK.

being short = not awesome :(

sooo apparently short people have it bad. check out the article here.

According to this article,

"Overall, taller individuals judged their lives more favourably and were more likely to report positive emotions such as enjoyment and happiness."

they give some reasons as to why this might be. One of them is that tall people tend to make more money??? i'm a bit depressed...but i guess that was expected.

one bad thing about being in the middle of nowhere...

there isn't any place near chambana showing The September Issue!!! The wide release for this movie is Friday. If you can, check it out and tell me how it is :(

I found out about Anna Wintour after watching the Devil Wears Prada, which is aparently and based on her. I legit wanna be like Ms. Wintour when i grow up -- stylish, powerful, business saavy, and connected to a crazy assortment of ppl. Homegirl was born in England, has lived in NYC (ew..ish) forever, and has dated everyone from Bob Marley to British royalty. she's legit had the life.

blahhh i was really excited to see this movie. BRING IT TO THE 217. AREL;KFWEHFLKWJEGWE

on sale at gilt today...

bahahaha

thinking about a haircut

(yes, this is selena gomez.)

pros:

1. it's fun and easy to maintain
2. it'll make me look older :)

cons:

1. i won't have my long hair :(
2. what if it goes wrong??
3. my face may look too wide

thoughts???

i know it's no-shop september...

but look at some of these beauties from the foley + corinna fall lookbook--
this bag has a fun mix of structure and edginess.


such a fun shape!


pretty colors...although i still love mine :)

OMG.

New Things I Like [Sept 09 edition]

i refuse to accept that i'm an upperclassman. welll with how i'm going i might just end up staying in school for a bit longer...haha. but anyways it just scares me more how one of the biggest times of my lifes going by so quickly. i want to document the next two years some more.

so i thought it'd be cute to list new things i become obsessed with. (rachel zoe styled, minus the craziness) I think it'd be nice to be able to look back and see what my interest were at various times. maybe i'll do one at the beginning of each month or something.

i wonder how long i'll actually keep this up. aannywho here it goes...

The list for this month:

1. Whiskey.
2. Pellegrino
   
3. Ice -- i actually like my drinks to be really cold now!
4. Jazz
5. The Universe series on the history channel
6. Cotton/Linen blend pajama shorts --i'm not talking about soffees here.
   

listening to new jm > doing homework

I've spent about an hour on youtube checking out vids of john mayer performing his new stuff. love it all.

here are a few videos if ur curious --






his new cd comes out november 17th. can't wait.

an informative message from net-a-porter.

...thanks. i would if i could :(

watching center stage!

i'm loving the movies HBO has on! there's been Definitely, Maybe and now Center Stage, which i'm watching right now. i didn't realize how raunchy this movie was.... damn how was i allowed to watch this as a 10 year old!? i def missed a looooot of the stuff here (thankfully). anywho Charlie is such a cutie. throughout the movie he's the one chasing after jody, who's obsessed with bigshot cooper nielsen.

(a total hunk, tight spandex and all)

the movie was pretty lame but i still liked it. haha

EDIT: it was being played on HBO family!??!!??! ok--there are like 2 sex scenes and tons of talk about getting it on. WTF

COPY OF MY DRESS WTF.

those who follow my blog may recall a previous post about a free people dress i wanted. andddd how it looked like a dress I already had. i would post a picture of me wearing it, but oh wait...someone by the name of lisa malvin has yet to post her 2nd semester pictures.

the one on the left is by ali ro (similar to the one i own). the other's by white house black market.

i love my ali ro dress. fuck you white house black market. you're like a year late. and the material's shitty. it's like stretchy cotton that just makes the dress look cheap in-person. and there isn't a a cool racerback. annd you're still charging like $100 for that piece of copied crap.

wtf.

jcrew fall catalog

soooo i was checking out the j.crew catalog today. loooove the new stuff and the way they styled things.

Things i'm taking from the August '09 catalog:

1. tights CAN be worn in warm weather (yay!)
   
2. I should really get on the whole buying-dressy-shorts thing (and pair them with tights when it gets colder!!)
3. a little bit of mismatching can be totes fab

But something i'm still on the fence about--dressy shoes worn with socks. The only time i wear socks are with either gym shoes or boots. But maybe socks can be worn more often??

examples:

i'm liking the booties with the socks. it adds some extra oomph to the shoes and i'm sure it makes small ankles look less awkard in them. But idk about the others; they're a bit strange. think drivers look best w/ bare feet. I think with heels it makes it a bit too casual, which i guess might be alright for going out? but for work no wayys. and oxfords...well they're impossible to pull off so i guess if you can might as well go all out and wear hot pink socks.

thoughts??