Sunglasses and Advil

Asos dress
Marc by Marc Jacobs Pumps
Stella & Dot "Bahari" Necklace and "Chantilly" Cuff

Shame is a really powerful motivator. Like unbelievably powerful. I was pretty much set on spending Sunday at bedside baptist before wolfing down some hangover burgers and watching television for the rest of the day. I hadn't planned on receiving a call from one of the lovely ladies at our church to offer us a lift. I didn't have the heart to tell her I felt like acting like an ungrateful heathen that day (I mean after all I just went on and on about how great 25 was and how fabulous my birthday was!). I was so ashamed of myself, I pulled myself out of bed and went to church. I'm glad I did because it was a wonderful service.

In addition to giving thanks for another year, I thanked God for concealer and advil because that's the only way I made it to church without looking and feeling like a zombie. I put on this cute little chiffon Asos dress with a statement necklace and heeled saddle shoes to make it through service fabulously. I forgot how much I love these shoes. When I was a little Mercedes, I loved my saddle shoes, so when I found a pair with a heel I had to have them. A little nostalgia is good for the soul.

For the record, I did get my hangover food. A bland burrito from a mexican place I was hoping would be like Chipotle...it wasn't. Bummer.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Saturday was my 26th (gasp!) birthday!

Yes, this is the dress I wore to Watch the Throne!
Stella & Dot "Stevie" necklace
Topshop Heels

This time last year, you couldn't convince me that 25 wasn't the rapture. I had a severe quarter life crisis. What am I going to do with my life? I'm old now! I wasn't really OLD, but I was in that awkward transition stage. I'm talking about the stage where 22 year olds no longer really seem like your peers because they're basically still in college mode, but you still get no respect from older folks still writing you off as a dumb 20-something. Maybe it's just a terrible side effect of being a Type A overly ambitious over achiever, but I was really beginning to doubt I would become the amazing person I had in my head. What had I accomplished by 25? Hardly anything! Despite my delightfully pessimistic attitude, 25 turned out to be an incredible and life changing year.

8 of my 25th year highlights:

1. Week long birthday vacation with my beau to Palm Springs. Instead of answering emails on my birthday, I shopped, laid out by the pool, drank too may mojitos, and went horseback riding in the mountains.
2. Surprise birthday party by my parents. Everyone wore white. I wore 3 of my favorite things: hot pink, leopard print, and Diane von Furstenberg.
3. Got engaged!
4. Told my boss to SUCK IT I was resigning to move to London
5. Told my Chicago slumlord to SUCK IT aka Broke my lease penalty free due to a fire in the building a week before I was set to move out
6. MOVED TO LONDON
7. Started building my Stella & Dot business
8. Landed a job assisting a celebrity stylist

Despite stints in both sales and investment banking, I always wanted to break into fashion. I'm finally doing it. I think 26 is going to be a fabulous year, and I can't wait to see what it has in store! 

I spent my birthday with my hunny (obvi). We had brunch at Ottolenghi then spent a few hours walking through Borough Market and then around the South Bank. I had a really fabulous time just spending "us" time together. Saturday night we had dinner at Marco Pierre White Steakhouse. I don't eat a ton of beef, but I will always cave for a nice piece of filet mignon. We ended the night dancing at Apartment 58 before taking it home. After splitting a bottle of wine then throwing back a few shots of tequila at Apartment 58 it was definitely time to get to bed! 

Here are some pictures from my birthday!

Stella & Dot Arm Party!

Love birds

Hanging in the park

MAC "Quick Sizzle" matte lipstick

I got my blazer!

H&M Tee
Open shawl purchased in Paris a few years ago
American Apparel Leggings
Diane von Furstenberg sandals

Stella & Dot "Bianca" Tassel Necklace

This is what happens when you go from drinking wine to tequila and then decide to take outfit pictures on your iPhone because your camera died...you're welcome.

 

More Pose Features

I've talked about Pose, the fashion photo sharing website/application before on this blog. I often browse for inspiration for new outfits or just to see what people around the world fancy. I don't post as often as I'd like, but I have been able to snag 3 features since joining earlier this year. Two of my arm parties have been featured. The latest one was yesterday's. I spent most of the day running errands in leggings, a white tee and leather jacket. I tried to dress myself up with some fab accessories. I got a bunch of samples in yesterday from Stella & Dot, so I experimented with some layering. Check out my arm party and let me know your thoughts!

Funny Face

I loooove makeup, so I don't know why I don't blog more beauty posts. I don't have any loyalty to a particular brand, but I do use more Nars and Mac than anything else. I love their vibrant colors. Anyway, yesterday I had almost a full face of Nars on, so here it is. I purchased some new shadow duos and velvet matte lip pencils which I played around with yesterday. I get a lot of compliments on my makeup so here's a list of the products I wear daily.

Good makeup starts with good skin, so I included my skincare regimen as well.

1. CeraVe hydrating cleanser

2. Simple hydrating toner 

3. CeraVe AM moisturizer 

4. Laura Mercier oil-free foundation

5. Bobbi Brown under eye corrector and concealer

Here is what I wore yesterday: 

6. Nars Brousse shadow duo

7. Bobbi Brown black gel liner 

8. Nars Exhibit A blush

9. Nars velvet matte lip pencil and Wonder gloss

I love a bold lip, and I switch up my lip colors pretty frequently. I typically wear a neutral palette on my eyes when I'm wearing a really bold lip color, and I really like this one a lot. I am also obsessed with this lip. The red orange shade gives my love affair with red a nice summer kick!

    

Sunshine and Lariats

People here looooove to ask me what I do all day.

 It's such a point of confusion for them. If you don't have a conventional 9 to 5 then what could you possibly do all day long? I always laugh it off, but I never give an answer because I don't owe you an explanation. Quite frankly, it's nobody's damn business how I spend my days. Now I know there are some people saying I'm being defensive, but let's be honest. If your boss walked to your desk and asked you what you do all day, you would be falling all over yourself trying to defend the work you do and justify your job. It's natural to be defensive when someone is basically asking you for your purpose in life. I think a much better question would be "how are you finding being home?" or "what's going on in your life?" If that's what you really want to know then let's talk about it. Don't ask me what I do all day. It's insulting. It's funny to me because no one asked me what I did all day when I was working, and if they had the answers would have been much more entertaining. I can't even tell you how many work days I started with the best of intentions, but ended surfing Facebook, gchatting my boyfriend, and scoring online purchases on Gilt. The funny thing is that I spend less time on gchat now then I did when I was bs'ing working.  

I just really needed to get that off my chest. Moving on...yesterday I had a really lovely day. I worked out, ran some errands, spent some time shopping in Liberty and people watched outside at Starbucks. It was pretty nice out so I wanted to spend as much time outside as possible. I can also now count my people watching and latte drinking time as prospecting time since I now use that opportunity to approach people about my jewelry business. 

I wanted to show some skin (yay vitamin D!) so I opted for a stretch pencil skirt and doberman top. I belted my top to make it a kimono top! I felt so cool lol. Naturally I wore my Stella & Dot jewelry. I wore a lariat necklace which is new for me. I loved everything together though. It just flowed so nicely.. At least I thought so! I tried some new cosmetics yesterday as well, so stay tuned for a beauty post on my face full of Nars product.

Whistles top
American Apparel skirt
H&M belt
Topshop ballet flats

Zoe Lariat necklace

Arm Party

Neon and Animal Prints

H&M jeans and top
Topshop flats
Jimmy Choo sunglasses
Stella & Dot necklace
Louis Vuitton bag

Summer has been kind of a drag here in London. Most of the sunshine is in the form of my neon polishes these days. Whenever there is sunshine, I'm almost skipping with joy as I soak up the vitamin D. This weekend was a mix between sun, clouds and light rain. Imagine switching from sunglasses to an umbrella and back 4 times in a 60 minute period. Ridiculous!


Anyway, as compelled as I am to wear black on these grey days, there are way too many fun summer pieces to be wearing fall fashions. I found these neon jeans at H&M last week, and I couldn't wait to break them out. Naturally I wore a leopard print top (love leopard) and carried my leather jacket for the ever changing weather. I spent most of the day walking around Mayfair and west London, so I wore ballet flats for comfort. (Relative comfort...no support still meant sore feet at the end of the day. Bummer.)

Saturday started with Brunch in Mayfair. We went to Tiger Green where we had a LivingSocial voucher. Our deal included two complimentary glasses of champagne. They didn't mention it was going to be cheap as hell. Yuck! I added orange juice to make it a mimosa, but my hunny got a huge kick out of my big stink on cheap champagne. I just can't drink it. It's like drinking tree bark. This is how I felt about it:

Ranting about cheap champagne

New Gigs

I am no longer a Real Housewife of London! I am officially selling Stella & Dot jewelry in the UK, and I couldn't be more thrilled! I own a couple of pieces which I've worn and showcased here quite a few times in the past, so this is the perfect fit for me. I fell in love with the line when I attended a trunk show last year, so I'm more than happy that it's finally available in the UK!

You can expect to see a lot more Stella & Dot pieces in my future posts. They make such wonderful statement pieces! I don't wear a lot of understated jewelry, but perhaps I'll force myself to now that I'll be modeling my own product.

Now when people ask me what I do all day, I hand them my card and tell them to buy some jewelry or mind their business. (Only kidding...maybe)

Here's a link to my website. Please let me know your thoughts on the line!

Eye of the Tiger

Whistles Top
Vince Leggings
Guess Sandals

A casual fit for a casual afternoon! I love this top I found at Whistles a couple of weeks ago. It's soft and stretchy like a sweatshirt, but I think it can be dressed up with maybe some skinny black pants and heels. I wore flats and leggings since I was just heading to the movies, but I can't wait to see what this would look like over a pencil skirt or something. I added red lips and and a gold chain necklace and headed out the door!

I went to see Prometheus which was really entertaining. I probably should have watched at least one of the Alien movies beforehand, since Prometheus is the prequel, but oh well.

Date Night

Saks Fifth Avenue Jumpsuit
Betsey Johnson Belt
Manolo Blahnik flats
Hobo International clutch
Stella and Dot necklace

I looove a good jumpsuit. I picked this one up at Off Fifth a while ago, and every time I wear it, I fall in love all over again. I wish it were a little longer so I could wear some killer heels with it, but a pointy toe flat does the job just fine. I love the wide legs and deep v-neck. It definitely makes wearing a one piece a little sexier. Have to look sexy for date night!!

My hunny and I had a nice little date night on Saturday. We went for some drinks at Adventure Bar in Covent Garden before heading to Apartment 58 to meet up with some friends. I had a really lovely time just spending some one on one time with my love. I didn't quite make it to the point where I was dancing with my eyes closed, but after a few long islands I was feeling pretty fearless!

Date night pictures:

Date night!

Headed out

Long Islands

Adventure Bar 

Getting loose!

Tube after dark...Drunks sliding down the escalator with their cracks out!