Countdown to Paycheck

I just started a new job (yay!), but it is going to be a looooong two weeks until I get my first paycheck.  So while in real life I may be struggling to turn a can of chickpeas I bought six months ago into a satisfying and filling lunch, in my fantasy life I've already got my hard-earned cash already spent. Thank god I don't have a credit card, because I would on a steep, slippery slide into debt.

That's why I have this blog--I get almost as much satisfaction of writing about pretty things as I do about buying them, and writing is free!  Here's what's making me want to freeze my wallet in a block of ice:

Sanctuary English Boyfriend Blazer, $158. I've been obsessed with this blazer since I saw it in InStyle Makeovers; it took about a month, though, for it to show up online, and it quickly sold out at Piperlime (where it was a few bucks cheaper, I believe). But ShopRobertson.com has it, so now I can make my sexy-professor dreams come true. I'm especially in love with the elbow patches, which I think are out-of-control charming on women's blazers.  On men's blazers, they're insufferably twee and/or pretentious, unless you look like Christopher Gorham and are legitimately both brilliant and absent minded.

I have to give Sanctuary props for taking a stock costume, such as the professor's tweed jacket, and girling it up; they do the same thing for the boy's prep school blazer. 

 

The Military Schoolboy Blazer, $148, would make me feel like I'm in some sort of teen comedy that's a cross between The Dead Poet's Society, Just One of the Boys, and The Disreputable History of Frankie Landeau-Banks. Yeah, this is definitely the sort of thing you want to be wearing while coming of age, confronting gender stereotypes, and pissing off your parents.

The temperature has been falling very quickly here in New York, and I'm trying to be prepared by pulling out my jackets from under my bed and buying new buttons for my staple wool coat. I could also get ready for freezing cold mornings with this Knit Sweater Hood from Land's End Canvas, $39.50.

How freaking cozy is this? And a hood is much less danger than a hat to your carefully-styled hair, and on harried mornings I'd be able to grab this, instead of untangling a scarf from my coat rack and finding a matching hat.  I'm tempted to search for a similar knitting pattern, so I could make this instead of buying it, but first I need to make the Olympic hat I vowed to knit last winter.

Yes, it is undeniable that I shouldn't buy any more jewelry until I start wearing the stuff I already have; I tend to wear the same one necklace and watch every day, and maybe on Friday night I'll throw on a pair of dangley earrings. I'd love to be the sort of woman who is constantly playing with her accessories, and maybe if I had better toys I would--let's pretend that's logical. Available at Piperlime, the Hive and Honey gold and peach drop necklace, $28, is the sort of statement necklace that is eye-catching but not distracting. In fact, I bet it'd look great with this Banana Republic dress:

I've extolled the virtues of the grey work dress before, but they haven't gotten any less essential to one's office wardrobe. And yet, I don't have one! BR must have sensed this and came up with the perfect version in order to tempt me. The wool fabric is clutch in a winter dress, and the girly details (cap sleeves, v-ncck, defined waistline) will definitely get you hit on by guys in blue striped button-downs at Tuesday night Happy Hour. The winter wool v-neck dress is $150.

I'm also eager to make some upgrades in my apartment.  Let's start with my crappy Ikea couch, whose beige cover has gotten many mysterious food stains over the course of the last year.  Yes, I need to take the cover off and just wash it, but would it be easier to throw it out and get a fun, brightly colored cover?  I like this vivid blue, $49 (PS to Ikea: it's totally bullshit that the bleh beige cover is $19 and the colored ones are thirty bucks cheaper. Dye cannot possibly cost that much!):

 

A big upgrade would be getting a sparkly new Tivo Premiere. My current Tivo is almost five years old, and it can't even record two things at once! It makes our lovely hi-def TV look like an old home video, and forget about accessing Netflix Instant or YouTube. But my current Tivo has a lifetime subscription, which isn't transferable to another machine, so that makes a big purchase even bigger.  I know it'll be worth it (especially so I can record Community while my roommate is watching Bones), I just need to save for a few more months before I go for it.

Blazers for Spring

I'm dying to have a navy blue cropped blazer with oversized gold buttons--I think it'll be the perfect addition to my growing work wardrobe, but I also want it to be frivolous enough to look cute with spring dresses. I haven't found the right one yet, but here are a few that come close.

From Urban Outfitters, the byCorpus (what's with the capitalization? Who do you think you are, bell hooks?) Harlow Blazer is a steal at $39.99-- although it's only available in size large. I love the black trim, and the adorable schoolboy cut. I'm all about the blazers that look like they could be part of the Gossip Girl costumes. If only it had big gold buttons, instead of one tiny black button.




On the other hand, this Delias Camilla Cropped Jacket, $24.99 (but also only available in size L and XL), has some great buttons but isn't a blazer-- I think I'd look pretty silly wearing a peacoat inside, so this won't quite work. The faux-millitary details on the side are cute, though, and I dig the mid-length sleeves.


This is pretty much my dream blazer, and not just because it was featured in Lucky: from Ralph Lauren (who does better blazers? I mean, if it's good enough for Olympic athletes, it's good enough for me), the Tirana Crested Blazer, $99.99, is preppy perfection. The RL crest on the front is so classic I could weep--I'd love to wear this and pretend that I spend the weekends riding a horse named Hayden at my parent's country estate.

If I can't get a navy blazer, I'll settle for a white one. This American Eagle Boyfriend Blazer, $59.50, is nicely crisp and fresh. It's the sort of jacket that inspires you to impulsively run through sprinklers. The lining inside is pinstripes, too-- very classy.