Philly Chilling on the 4th of July

Hey, this is pretty good considering my track record! After a holiday, it usually takes me about a month to get my pictures up, but I'm trying to be on top of my game this time! Check us out- we're chilling in Philly (for some reason I get a kick out of all those l's)! =)

One of my besties and his brother

Sunday brunch- look at that spread!

These girls know how to entertain- cooking and mixing delicious things!

Oh yeahhh, grilled corn!!

This past weekend was pretty awesome. First we went to Jersey because one of my good friends from college was having a graduation party for herself and for her brother, who just graduated from high school. It was like a mini-reunion- most of my closest friends from school were there! Then Saturday night, we all drove down to Philly and spent the rest of the weekend there at a different friend's house. It was all very relaxing- we walked around the city a bit and saw the Liberty Bell, had delicious (and cheap!) food/drinks at Zocalo, and stayed up all night talking :) On the 4th, we had a traditional BBQ at my friend's house with lots of tasty food. After recovering from our food comas, my friends headed to the awesome free concert. I had to miss it because I had to be on a bus back to NYC since I had work the next day. I found out later that John Legend surprise-performed at the concert and I was heartbroken because he is my absolute favorite artist and I would love the chance to see him live-- maybe someday! Regardless, I had an awesome time and I can't wait until we do it again!

I hope you guys have a fantastic weekend! Any special plans?? Also, let me just tell you that if all goes as planned, when you come back to the blog next week things will be very different! I won't say what exactly is happening, but I wouldn't miss it if I were you! ;)

On Nnenna's Needles #22

Hey everyone! I hope you all had a great 4th of July weekend!  The holiday decorations reminded me a bit of this knitting project that I did last year:

Stars in the Night

You all know how much I love stars, right? :D Well, I wanted a little something to spice up my dorm room, so I charted out the design in the second picture.  Then, when I was knitting, all the shaded boxes in my chart were done in a different color and voilà, my picture pops out!  The cool thing is that you could sketch (and then knit) almost anything you want to.  I could have even gotten all fancy and used multiple colors if I wanted to!  I'm thinking next time I'll try it on an even bigger scale!

P.S. Remember how I keep hinting at some changes around here?? T- approx one week until the reveal! ;)

The Evolution of an Outfit

I thought I would do something a little different today and take you guys through my process of choosing an outfit! As I mentioned earlier in the week, dressing for work has been quite the challenge for me and I'm trying really hard to take the clothes I have and make them work-appropriate.

Exhibit A:



This pink sundress shows a little bit too much cleavage, plus the back is pretty low. Simple fix? Throw this cute striped tee on top for coverage!

Exhibit B:



Since this sundress has a full skirt, the tee looked lumpy just laying over the top of the dress, so I knotted it to give myself a little waist definition (and I love the way a knotted tee looks!). I always take a cardigan to the office because it's like Antarctica there, so I grabbed this gray ruffly one. However, I just wasn't feeling the look, in case you are wondering what my facial expression means!

Exhibit C:

Forever 21 Cardigans, Target Striped Tee, Old Dress, Forever 21 Flats

I took off the gray cardigan- ahhh, much better! Then I added this open black cardigan and tied it in front to finish off the look. Ta-da! An outfit I can comfortably and safely (no revealing any naughty bits!) wear to work! Do you guys go through a similar process when getting dressed for work?

Yay for the long weekend! Tomorrow I plan to attend a friend's graduation party, then a bunch of friends and I are making our way down to Philly to celebrate the 4th of July weekend there. It's going to be fun getting the gang together and I'm looking forward to the good ole'-fashioned BBQ that my friend has planned! What are your plans for this weekend?

On Nnenna's Needles #21: Ombre-Like

Here's a sneak peek of my latest knitting project, something I'm making for my new home. I've held back from decorating the place that I'm staying at currently because I know it's only mine for the summer, but I'm already very excited about having my own place in the fall. I'll have free license to decorate it however I want to and hopefully this project I'm working on will make the new apartment feel a little bit more like home.



Also, just wanted to tell you guys that I've got some exciting things for the blog coming up in July! I've been working really hard on this stuff behind the scenes and there's only a couple more weeks until I can reveal it all to you, so stay tuned! =)

P.S. Ten points for anyone who can guess what this is going to be! :D

I Just Can't Get Enough

Old Dress, Target Wedges, H&M Sunglasses

I love the summer and looking back at these pictures taken when I was home a few weeks ago reminds me of that. I love feeling the sun on my face and the wind in my hair. My favorite things to wear are dresses and skirts and summer weather is perfect for that. I don't know what it is about summer, but I simply feel light and carefree. There are just so many good things that happen in the summer. Does anyone else love summer as much as I do?

Ross Cardigan

In other news, I survived my first week of work! On Friday, because of a lovely concept called 'summer hours,' I even got out of work early! I'm slowly getting into the routine of waking up earlier and going to bed earlier than I used to. Believe me, it is a struggle because I am the kind of person that likes to go to bed at 3am and wake up at 12pm, haha! Anyways, the people seem nice and hopefully I'll make friends soon :) Another challenge I'm having is figuring out what to wear to work! My office is pretty casual, but I took stock of my closet and realized that most of it is inappropriate to wear to work (usually the item is too short for the office). So, I've been trying to take advantage of the summer sales to buy some things that are appropriate. Do you guys have any tips to help me with this little problem or have you run into this problem yourself?

Also, over the weekend I created a tumblr! I'm hoping to post images that I've taken with my new camera and just generally share pictures that I find inspiring. I'm obviously very new to this, so if you're on tumblr and there's anything I should know, please do share! And leave me your links so I can browse your tumblrs too! :D

FBFF: Since I Started Blogging...

It's been a while since my last FBFF post! This week, the questions are all about personal changes you've noticed since you started blogging:



1. Since you began blogging do you notice a change in the types of things you gravitate towards while shopping? Hmm, I guess my answer is yes to this question in a variety of ways! For example, before I started blogging I would never have mixed prints like I did in the outfit above. It just wouldn't have occurred to me! So now, when I'm shopping for new clothes, I'm trying to envision all the different ways that I can wear it with the things I already have. Also, I'll see a certain item and it will remind me of a blogger. I'll think something along the lines of, "I could totally see this on insert blogger's name here!" I would like to think that my style eye is expanding and I know I'm wearing outfit combinations that I wouldn't have worn a year ago.

2. Do you find, as a fashion blogger, that you dress differently from your family and friends? Do they comment on that? Well, I started this blog while I was in college and I have to say my group of friends are quite the fashionable bunch, so the way I dress doesn't stand out from them as "dressed up" or anything like that. I definitely have a different style than say, my sister for example. Actually, she used to rag on me all the time for being a shop-a-holic and such because she was still in a phase where she didn't care about her appearance too much. However, as soon as she was able to drive herself places, you better believe that she started shopping just as much as I did, haha! Now I tease her for being a hypocrite! :P

3. What’s the weirdest fashion that you secretly like, even if you aren’t bold enough to wear it? I don't know if I have a good answer to this question! There are certain fashions that I love on other people but wouldn't be caught dead in; for example, flatforms. I do like the way that they look on other people and I know that they're really trendy right now. But...I probably would never wear them because I've got large feet and I have a sinking feeling they would not do anything good for my feet (Confession and Disclaimer: I'm 5'3" and wear a size 9 or 10- pretty big feet, I know! Also, I have not tried on a pair of flatforms IRL, so who knows- I might try on a pair and fall in love with them and be wearing them next week on the blog, so don't yell at me because I'm calling my own self out! ;)

source

4. Looking at current trends – what would you like to try but need to build up the courage to do? I know I am way late to the game on this one, but I would really to try out the crop top! I just love how easy breezy the outfit is above and I now think it totally fits my personality and might be something I could pull off. I used to think that only the super tall and thin could wear this trend, but now I know that it looks fantastic on many different body types and all I need to do is try! Let's mark that as a goal for this summer, shall we? An outfit with a crop top! :)

source

5. Toot someone’s horn – what fashion blogger out there inspires you with her bold fashion choices? I have to say I absolutely love Julie's (of Orchid Grey) style! I feel like she's one of those bloggers that everything she wears, I would absolutely wear too. She definitely inspires me with the way she remixes pieces and combines them to form so many different looks! Also, her outfits aren't always flashy, but to me, they're never boring and I really admire that!

As usual, I'd love to hear your answers to any and all of these questions in the comments! :)

Fashion Beauty Friend Friday was created by Katy Rose of Modly Chic. Become a member at the Fashion Beauty Friend Friday Google Group to join in the discussion!

On Nnenna's Needles #20

Summer Lovin' Vest
Handmade Vest, TJ Maxx Tank, Forever 21 Shorts

A while back, I mentioned I wanted to make a more summery version of this vest. I envisioned something lighter and airyer and eventually I found the pattern that I was looking for. I love the off-white color because it has summer written all over it. Actually, this vest is made of a combination of two different yarns, one of which has a little bit of a shine to it, which you can see when you're closer. Here I just threw it on over a sheer top with cute birdies all over and added some dark wash denim shorts for a casual summer look, but I can picture wearing it so many other ways- over a strapless dress on breezy day...with a skirt for a walk through the park....there are so many possibilities! =)