Under My Umbrella-ella-ella

Even though the weather hasn't been bad for too long, I feel like its been weeks since the last time I felt warm sun on my skin and enjoyed blue skies all day long. It's been raining here since Sunday and it's weeks like this when it pays off to have cute rain gear.

My friend (who asked that his name not be mentioned), and I always joke that we have "seasonal depression" meaning that when then weather is down, so are we. I mean, I can almost guarantee there is some sort of study out there that links mood to weather. But anyway, invest in one of these fabulous umbrellas and then you'll have something to look forward to on the next rainy day.

I fell in love with this when I found it on umbreallas.net ....clever name right? I could just see myself in a pair of black hunter boots and a nude colored Burberry trench paired with this umbrella.

When I saw this on the same website, I couldn't help but this how French this seemed. I cold just see an all black outfit paired with this, and a lilac colored Burberry trench and to give the outfit a pop of color and contrast the black. The detail and ruffles in this umbrella are really something to admire.

Or of course you could be like me last year when I bought Burberry rain boots and then it didn't rain for a month. Classic.....But nevertheless, just because the weather is down doesn't mean your fashion sense needs to be too.

Milly vs. Forever 21 Challenge

The Challenge: Create a look similar, but of course not identical to (that would be a dream) a $425 Milly dress seen on the runway.

The Rules: Pick one store, and one small budget of $60 or less to create the look!

I loved this Milly look when I saw it on the runway, so I thought I would create the entire look for a fraction of the price of what the dress alone would cost. I decided to turn to Forever 21 as the one store where I would have the best chances of finding a dress, headband, and jewelry for an amazing price. Of course not everything can be identical to the Milly runway look, but I must say I was impressed with how the two looks emulated each other. Here's what I found....

For $24.80....

I was actually really surprised with how close this dress was to the Milly one. Except for the belt of course, (which I actually thought gave a bit of interest to the dress) it has the same structured feel to it as the runway look. Unlike the Milly dress, I thought the belt gave it a nice separation between the top and bottom and would accent your waist making you look extra tiny which is always is plus.

For $11.80 and $10.80 respectively.....

Although this necklace is slightly different from the embellishments on the dress, I thought it added something to have the black lace and the pearls. Can't go wrong with that duo, right? It was similar to the flair on the dress, but I thought I'd add my own spin on the look. Each necklace gives a pulled together feel, but they each have their own identity.

For $4.80.....

The outfit wouldn't be complete without the finishing touch of the headband. Although it's a bit over the top in the runway shot, I think for this look, my headband choice was a realistic risk. I thought about perhaps toning down the size and "poof factor" of the headband, but I decided to stick to the challenge of recreating the look and play by the my own rules.

The Result:

The total of the outfit came to $52.20. However, what's equally important to the low cost factor is that the quality and overall feel of the outfit has been maintained and not recreated in a cheap or cheesy way. This challenge proves that with a little time and a little money (who's complaining about that), you can create a classy, elegant look without the elegant price tag to match.

Sleep Like a Lady

This past week I've been on an Audrey Hepburn frenzy. Between watching Roman Holiday and Breakfast at Tiffany's, and practically living in a black dress and flats with my hair in a half clip half pony tail, I feel my inner Audrey shining through. Although my small dorm room is without the comfort of "Cat," or a wonderful white couch with pink and purple cushions like Holly's, I've discovered I can now even feel like Holly when I go to bed.

The other day, my friend was telling me about the website fredflare.com, which is a fabulous and fun site for little quirky gifts. After looking through pages and pages of the different things on the website, I stumbled across the Holly Golightly eye mask Audrey Hepburn wears in Breakfast at Tiffany's.

Now all I need are the matching ear plugs...

Future Forecast

Recently, a good friend of mine asked me if I was afraid of the future and where we were headed in life. I though about the question and responded to him with the following: "what do you think I think about on the tredmill?! Although I meant this to be only half serious, I do often think about where our time in the present is going to lead us in the future. Going through a rough first year being away at school myself, I have been doing more thinking than anyone should at my age about how I want my future to look. It's a scary thing to think about how yes, we do have some say in controlling where we end up in life, and what we choose to subject ourselves to, but it also seems to be that more often that not that there is always some hindrance blocking us from our dreams. Whether they be the goals of our immediate or long term future, it hurts when the things we see ourself doing don't go as planned.

Long before he was my boyfriend, Daniel was always a firm believer in the John D. Rockefeller quote, "I always try to turn every disaster into an opportunity." When I first read that when I was 14, it really didn't pertain to my life at all. Even looking at it now, I don't literally take the word "disaster" Rockefeller uses literally, but more as a means of expressing lost hope and broken dreams. I know not only myself, but many (and most) of my friends are going through a time when we all are beginning to shape our futures, but are going to have a hard time getting there. With jobs being harder to obtain, and internships being nearly impossible for anyone my age to get in the magazine industry, it all seems unfair when things build up at once and good news seems like it will never come.

After all, everyone just wants to succeed...right?

Story Swap

I have to admit, back in high school I was always a follower of The Hills, and even got into The City a little bit. For one reason: Whitney Port. She always reminded me of myself in some ways; just a hard-working, private girl who liked to stay under-stated and under the radar. Whitney started to lose her appeal to me after she took on The City and exposed her life for all of the world to see. Something about the hype of "reality star" seems to always take the potential success stories down. Even Lauren Conrad, whose line could have had potential, is now over-priced, failing and heading to a Marshall's near you. Shame, shame.

Nymag.com released a blurb on their blog "The Cut" (which I read avidly), that Whitney is in trouble for apparently not giving credit to the co-designer of her line! For those of you who watch The City, it's no secret that Whitney has had help from her mentor, (and now very well known colleague), Kelly Cutrone. However, Whitney's supposed co-designer Adrienne Baravetto is suing Port saying that he isn't getting credit for the work he has contributed to the Whitney Eve line.

And to think I follow innocent Whitney on Twitter and thought she was an honest, hardworking girl. Hmm, I guess I STILL haven't learned my lesson. The moral of this story: always listen to BOTH sides of the story. The media can allow you to portray yourself in any way you desire, but the truth always comes out eventually.

Mad Mac

It was hard to wake up on this dreary, gray morning and picture myself in my Easter dress in less than two weeks. With almost no motivation to even go run (I did anyway), or do anything worthwhile at all, I had an urge to bake. Well, my 3rd floor lounge kitchen wasn't quite going to cut it, and I have nothing to bake with anyway, so that probably wasn't the best idea.

However, when I got the following e-mail from my mom I finally began to perk up. It read, "I'm going to order these to arrive for when your home for Easter break," and had an attached link. Curiously, I clicked the link to be brought to a picture of a decadent looking macaron.

Everyone knows that macarons are quickly becoming the new cookie. However, it seems only a matter of time until the once delicate, airy French treat becomes a mass-produced and tired fad. At least that is what real macaron lovers fear. Recently, McDonalds started selling macarons as a dessert to customers. Yes, I'm talking about the same McDonalds that also sells McFlurries. Well, they are now providing french pastries. Some may look at this as McDonalds attempting to go "upscale," but others (like myself), see it as the sad downfall of a posh dessert.

With companies such as Mad Mac attempting to keep macarons the lovely French classic that they really are, there may not be too much to worry about. I'm so excited for the macarons to arrive when I'm home, and I'll be eager to try the different types. The classic tray of 12, (starting at $18), holds 4 different flavors including lemon, chocolate, pistachio and raspberry.

http://www.madmacnyc.com/macarons

Add a little touch of French to your Easter Sunday with some macarons. I know I'll be displaying mine of some pretty Shelley or Wedgewood to add an elegant tea party feel.

Cupcake Couture

Last week when I was in south Florida, my family and I decided to head to Delray beach one evening for dinner. For those of you who have never been to Delray before I really recommend going if you happen to be nearby. It had a wonderful little main street in the town that I was told by my uncle has a very South Beach (as in Miami), feel to it. The nightlife was bustling and young people were scattered about on the street everywhere.

But of course, that really didn't catch my attention too much. But what did was the words "Cupcake Couture" posted on a sign at a shop across the street from where I was standing and observing everything going on. I took off running across the street and stood outside the shop awe-struck. Peering in through the large windows I saw lots of pink, beautifully decorated counters featuring fun gum-ball designs, girly light fixtures, and pink and green mock ovens on either side of the store entrance that were actually flat screen tv's. Walking into the store I think I nearly scared the owner with my excitement. She was a lovely woman who told me that the shop had just opened that week. She proceeded to tell me a little more about the store and that they would feature candy, exotic lollipops, cupcakes and custom made cakes. Cupcake couture had the perfect mix of old-fashioned flair with the fun black and white checked tiled floors, and various soft drinks in classic looking glass bottles. The names for the different types of cupcake were creative and made me want to try every one. "Limey Pulitzer" and "Berry Wang" are just a few of the adorable names amongst the various cupcakes the store makes. My favorite part is that they each have a fun spin off a designers name. The owner was even gracious enough to give me a sample wrapped in adorable pink packaging...(let's just say the cupcake didn't last too long).

Even though they won't need it, best of luck to the owners of Cupcake Couture!