Spring into Happiness

Okay, so this drizzly, grizzly spring weather has been getting me down. I don’t really get this whole April showers = May flowers equation, since it generally seems stray closer to April showers = May killer allergies here in Virginia. Not to mention I'm buried under a back-breaking, mind-bending, soul-crushing amount of work. But! Because I, like the other darling girls that blog here, am a creature of habit, the obvious solution was to start buying more pretty, bright, sparkily things to replace the actual solar entity.

In prepping for the return of Gossip Girl on the 21st (!!!), I’ve been rewatching some of the old episodes. I really don’t think I’m the only one who watches the show for the whole purpose of investigating what breathtaking combination of impossibly expensive designer clothes Blair is wearing.

I spotted these little gems:


Woven leather chain headbands from Pulse, which run at about $22.50 on sale. It looks like they only have turquoise left, but don’t worry, because you can find one just like it made by Goody at your local Target store for about $8. Unfortunately, the Target.com website is completely a pain in the ass to navigate. I swear it’s there! I got it in black! It is Coco Chanel Classy! (I think part of the appeal, to me at least, is that the leather/ribbon woven into the golden chain reminds me of the handbags, and my vintage Chanel handbag is the crown jewel, nay, the holy grail of my entire wardrobe. When I have a bad day, I unwrap it from its little bag, lay down on my bed and clutch it, and suddenly the world is not such a dark place because Coco is with me.)

One of the interesting trends that I think might catch on (or at least I like—or would like better, were it not for my lovely little winter tummy pudge), is the excessively high-waisted skirts that Lauren Conrad has been sporting lately. Interlock High-Waisted skirt has a cotton/spandex waist and an A-line skirt that flows away from your body. TAKE THAT, TUMMY PUDGE!! It seems like it would be a fun choice for summer because they have so many colors to play with, and you can add a punch of color by changing the tank/shirt you wear it with. They run at $34.00. (Also, on a side note, I have no idea what’s going on with the models on that site—they sort of look like they just rolled out of a crack den and the bright lights are still dancing like little fairies in front of their eyes.)



Finally, you’ll need some tunes to dance to when the sun does, in fact, return to bless us with its presence. May I suggest Vampire Weekend? I know it seems like I’m jumping on the bandwagon, but I’ve been playing this CD non-stop for two months now. The really strange thing is, I had to listen to most of the songs twice before I went fangirl. This is the product description on Amazon, since I can’t even begin to describe what they sound like to you:

This NY four-piece draw on their diverse backgrounds and interests, experimenting with African guitar music, the Western classical canon, hazy memories of Cape Cod summers, winters in upper Manhattan, and reggaeton. "Equal parts shruggy New York indie strumming and groovy Afro-pop, Vampire Weekend's organ-and-drum runs highlight narratives about relationships, punctuation, and sometimes both" - Spin. Named "Hot New Kids" in Rolling Stone's "Hot" issue.

I’m not even sure if that description is proper English, but I do thing it is reminiscent of a summer on the cape and winters in Manhattan (since, you know, I frequent both so often). If you want to listen to a few tracks before buying the entire thing I would recommend: A-Punk, Oxford Comma, and M79.

And with that I return to the land of revisions, where there is no happiness and pretty, sparkily things. Only bright computer screens and the roar of the cleaning lady’s vacuum.

Target Love

They say that Manhattan has everything you could ever possibly want or need, but this is a lie. Manhattan does not have a Target. Really, if forced to name the top thing I would change about Manhattan, it would be the lack of Target. Sure, the one in Brooklyn is pretty easy to get to and is totally huge, but it's a very rare day when I have enough gumption to go to another borough for shopping.

But there are Targets all over my hometown, and before every school break I obsessively troll Target.com in search of things I want to buy. When I got back from Europe in December, I was at Target within 12 hours of my plane landing.

My goal for today's trip to Target was to find some cute Mary-jane shoes, which are my new shoe obsession. I especially the Red Chris Mary Jane Pump by Isaac Mizrahi, $29.99, but they only had it in black and half a size too big. But how hot are those skinny double straps? And I think the 3 inch heel is a good height; you get a little bit taller but aren't going to topple over at a moment's notice.


That's my problem with the Francesca Cone Heel shoe, $20.99, also by Isaac Mizrahi. Cute, but just not quite tall enough. I'm a big fan of the gunmetal grey, though, and they also come in a great maroon called "oxblood."

You know what really bothers me about Target.com? How one product will be listed separately for each of the different colors it comes in. It's very annoying, because I like to be able to click the little "show product in white" button so I can compare the different colors directly before deciding what to get.


Here's a very straight-forward Mary Jane Skyler pump in patent leather. They look a little cheap, but they're $19.99 so... they are cheap.




But don't these Olive Mary Jane Pumps, $20.99, not look cheap at all? I love the contrast trim and button. It's very retro classy.


I also hoped to check out the Jovovich-Hawk collection (yes, that's the same Mila Jovovich who was in The Sixth Element), but almost everything was gone. I find the Go International collections to be kind of spotty, though. I mean, I love it in theory, and I have a great blue coat from the Libertine collection, but when I see most of the clothing in person and try it on, I'm usually not impressed.

I did like the Converse One Star line, however. Very casual but still cute and wearable. I'm particularly in love with this Baseball tankini, $16.99 for the top and $16.99 for the bottom (which seems wrong--aren't bikini bottoms supposed to be cheaper?). The top is so cute I'd be tempted to wear it as a shirt to a spring training game.


So those were all the things I didn't buy. But here's what I did.

In this photo the Merona Print Trench Coat, $39.99, looks horrifically busy. And I can't deny it; it is a whole lot of print. And I almost never wear anything with a print because I think it looks overwhelming. And I'm still not totally sure about this coat-- do you guys think the print is too reminiscent of a sofa? Or is it just fun and whimsical enough to be perfect for spring? I wish the belt (which you can barely see in the photo) was a solid color instead of the same fabric as the rest of the coat; I think it would help break up the print into more halves that would be manageable for the eye to handle. But I'm a huge fan of belts on long coats, so I won't complain too much.

The other thing I got was an Xhilartion head scarf, $7.99. It's the same style as this one, except mine is white with big, navy blue polka dots. It's kind of like the scarf I'm embarassed to admit I want from Lauren Conrad's collection of overpriced, under-designed clothes. It's cute, right? But I did not want to pay $25 for a piece of cotton that probably cost 6 cents to make, so good thing I went to Target.

Update on Slips

So I bought some stuff from Urban Outfitters online, and I'm going to tell you about it.

The bulk of my purchase was slips, some of which I posted about previously.

My favorite, by far, is the most impractical. The Lulu in Hollywood slip, $14.99, has these ridiculous accordian pleats on the bottom that will make it really tough to wear underneath anything. But it's so fun to wear on its own that I had to keep it. I do have a dark grey dress that's super low-cut, and I'm thinking that the yellow lace will look great peaking out at the neckline, and the fabric might be heavy enough to hide the pleats.

I was apparently smoking crack when I bought this other Damsel strappy gold slip, because why in the world would I need two yellow slips? It was $11.99, but I was sensible and returned it. I kept the royal blue one I bought in the same style, though. This style of slip runs a little longer than I like, and if it wasn't slightly see-through I could wear it as a regular dress in the summer. Maybe, when it warms up, I'll get creative with layering and figure it out.

This Alchimie slip, $28, doesn't look very cute on the model, but in person it's everything you want in a slip (except maybe a little too long, also). The satin is super smooth, like a second skin, and the lace details at the top and bottom are subtly sexy (they should call this the alliteration slip). I've been having some static cling issues, though, so I'm going to have to google how to fix that before I wear it.

I was so excited to wear the Lace Trim Tie Front Slip, $19.99, but this one was a total bust. The main problem was the cups, which not only were on the small size, but also seemed to be pointed out, away from each other. Since I don't have little girl boobs that are underneath my arms, the cups were all bunched weirdly and I just looked uncomfortable. Should have been so cute, but wasn't cute at all. Returned it.

I also got the Carved Leaf Headband, $12.00, which is a little bit uncomfortable behind my ears but makes me feel like one of the non-humans in A Midsummer's Night Dream (were they nymphs? fairies? I can't remember). I've worn it once and already gotten a compliment, from a boy, no less. Thanks for validating my self-worth, Yeison!

I've wanted this Little Birch Jewelry Stand, $26, for ages. It was on my Christmas list, but my parents didn't love me enough to buy it. After Christmas it was backordered and I wanted to wait until it went on sale, but when I decided to buy this other stuff I decided to throw in the jewelry tree too, and it arrived just a few days after everything else. I immediately untangled all my earrings and necklace that were in a heaping mess in a drawer, and artfully placed them on the stand. I'm hoping that being able to see my jewlery, having it on my desk in plain view, will encourage me to mix it up a little. The one thing I don't like about it is that most of the branches are too thick to hang my daintier earrings on, but otherwise it's fabulous.