Wednesday, December 23, 2015

The Perfect Holiday Dress

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The perfect holiday dress... it's not plaid, it's not red and green. That just isn't my jam. Give me a vintage-inspired print and a skirt that twirls just right. A button-up back, and a silhouette that pairs perfectly with a leather jacket. That's the one. Add a massive necklace from Moorea Seal to finish things off... and some gloves, because it's freaking freezing out. Happy holidays, friends.

Get the look: Free People Dress, Moorea Seal 'Tappan' Necklace, Madewell Boots (similar on sale), Heyoka Leather Choker, Schott 'Ex-Boyfriend' Leather Jacket

Monday, December 21, 2015

Unique Last-Minute Christmas Gifts

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I'm kinda sorta done with my Christmas shopping? Honestly, I lost count. I have no idea. I'm resolving that I probably am, and if I'm not well... I've give cookies. If you're still on the hunt, I have a few ideas for you. Or, you could just shower yourself with gifts of face oil and nail polish, as I did this week.

Moorea Seal is offering free two day shipping... just in time. Check out my picks above - Orchid Facial Oil, 'Tappan' necklace, Herbivore beard tonic

You can never go wrong with vintage - this embroidered peasant dress would be perfect for someone special (or yourself)

You can't go wrong with cute enamel pins - love these, always.

For the smoked meat lover in your life (hey, there's always one), a monthly subscription box for artisan meats and cheeses.

Calvins are always a good idea - save 25% off Calvin Klein intimates

Have a tea or coffee fanatic? Grab them a gorgeous handmade ceramic mug and some fancy coffee or tea and wrap it up together.

Jewelry is always a good idea - try this gorgeous crescent moon necklace

For someone spectacular, this handmade leather bag would be forever cherished

Really accurate wine glasses for your best friend

Thursday, December 17, 2015

Vintage Leather Dress

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Oh this dress, one of my all time favorite vintage finds. This jacket too, if we're being honest. Two pieces that seem to go with everything, every mood. It's funny, neither could really be considered "basics" but in my world, they absolutely are. Switch out a different top, or layer a different jacket beneath, and both transform into something completely different. Worn together on an unseasonably warm December day they felt perfectly cinematic set against the grey sky and grey buildings of South Philly.

Unrelated to anything... but just so you know, ShopBop is having a sale on sale with an extra 25% off sale items (and today's the last day)!

Get the look: Vintage dress (similar options here and here) // Free People lace top // Madewell boots (similar here and here) // Vintage overcoat (similar here, vintage options here) // Vintage greek fisherman's cap (similar) // Moorea Seal sunglasses

Sunday, December 13, 2015

Here & There 12.13

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Happy Sunday night, friends. What are you up to? I spent my morning with Chris, picking up supplies for the remainder of our holiday gifts and the afternoon making ornaments and dying fabric and I've just finished up watching Bridget Jones, which was as silly as ever and therefore perfect. In all, this was a great weekend, something I desperately needed.

The perfect vintage holiday dress

Um.. have you heard of Carnivore Club? It's a meat subscription box! The perfect gift for a dude (or yourself). I got Chris a box and I've secretly been hoarding it.

Still looking for a holiday dress or something to wear for New Year's Eve? Four gorgeous options: This pretty velvet mini dress, this gorgeous beaded shift, this Gatsby-inspired dress, and this red hot little number.

Oh my gosh - have you seen 'Instagram Husband' yet? So funny

How amazing is this Clark Griswold Christmas sweater?

New phone, new case - I've been looking for the perfect iPhone 6 plus case and am loving these options. Might be time for some new headphones, too.

These gorgeous photos make me miss the Cape in summer

Picked up this candle this weekend and I'm obsessed! Even Chris thinks it smells good. I'm curious about this one too.

Yooo... how incredible are these handmade moon earrings? Love this necklace too.

If you watch anything this week - watch this inspiring video. Seriously.

These boots are pretty much the most gorgeous things ever

I just started using this all natural cleanser and I'm in love - the serum is amazing too

17 badass women you may have not heard about in 2015

Thursday, December 10, 2015

Vintage Suede Fringe Jacket + Flares

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Get the look: Vintage jacket (similar high / low / vintage) // Free People top // Free People jeans // Bali ELF 'Santa Fe' bag

She will demure and insist otherwise, but my mother has pretty excellent taste when it comes to clothes (and pretty much everything else). Case in point: this vintage suede jacket, which she gave to me as a Christmas gift last year. It's always a special piece to pull out, but one that requires very specific weather. I wore it this past weekend for a walk through Center City with Chris. Paired with one of my favorite tops, gigantic flares, and a commute-saving leather fringed bag (because there's never enough fringe in my life), it kept me almost warm enough for the warm-ish December weather we've been having.

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

My Hair Story + How to Style Hair Extensions Two Ways

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I think it's fairly obvious with a sub header like 'Big Hair, Small Wallet', but my hair has long been intrinsically tied to my identity. When I was a child, it was long, blonde, with blunt bangs until I got a pixie cut in 3rd grade. It was cute! There's a photo of me dressed as a pilgrim, wearing a coffee filter as a bonnet where it looks quite nice... Then it was long again, for a long time. Until I got what was arguably the worst haircut of my life in high school. I remember sitting in the stylists chair, a copy of InStyle magazine with Clare Danes on the cover -- my inspiration (here it is!) -- clutched in my fists -as the stylist roughly and ineptly yanked pieces of my hair through a highlighting cap (PSA: if your stylist ever comes at you with a highlighting cap, RUN. Run fast, run hard, and don't look back). Three hours later and 10 inches of hair lighter, I came out of that garage salon (another red flag), looking like... well... definitely not like Claire Danes. I cried for the first time ever over my hair, something so insignificant in the grand scheme of things, but so tied to my identity that it felt like I'd suddenly become someone else.

Between then and now, other looks included a bleach blonde puffball that straddled somewhere between 'anime heroine' and 'Sid Vicious', a jet black chelsea with jet black baby bangs, Bride of Frankenstein white streaks at my temples, and another set of bangs, this time with a center point so sharp, it rivaled that of Elvira. I've always had a flare for the dramatic, even when my hair was just long. When it was long, it was really fucking long. So, you could say my last cut, a lob, has been the most tame look to date despite it being quite a dramatic change from the waist-length hair I'd become known for -- both to myself and by others.

Despite it being so tied to who I am, I've always sort of hated being known for a feature that's so fleeting and innocuous. I mean, it's just hair, right? At least that's what everyone says. Which is why in the spring of 2014 I decided it was time for a chop. Change was on the horizon, I'd been interviewing for my current job for a few months and a new city loomed large in our future. It was time, I thought. I, or rather my very skilled stylist friend in Pittsburgh, cut about 5 inches off, then a few more, then before I knew it, it was above my shoulders. How did I get here? I was expecting to feel emotion, yes, but what I wasn't expecting was the roller coaster of EMOTIONS I ended up on. I mean, in college I used to just cut it, dye it, shave it when I wanted a change, but somehow between then and now I'd settled into myself. I stopped searching for the person I was going to be, instead I became her. And in that, while I gained a newfound sense of self, I believe I lost a bit of... well, ballsyness, for lack of a better term. I loved the cut I got in Pittsburgh until our lives were thrown into that expected upheaval of new job, new city, new friends, new everything and everything else changed, along with my head of hair. It was like my equilibrium was thrown off, my center knocked out of bounds. Without a curtain of hair to hide behind, I was forced to confront my own insecurities with being unable to hide in this new place I found myself in.

Despite the discomfort, I was unsure until recently whether or not I wanted to grow it back out. But I've decided to, for the ease of styling it and for knowing how I truly feel comfortable. As you can imagine, it's been a slow process, one made slower by my own impatience staring at it in the mirror and fretting over the sheer bluntness of my current cut (I like it, but sometimes it just feels so... solid? My hair is extremely thick, so even though it's not that short, it can be hard to work with), so when Irresistible Me reached out offering to send some extensions my way, I jumped on it. I've seen them all over Pinterest (I'm guessing you have too), and I figured at the very least they'd be fun to play around with, maybe make some braided hairstyles a little more do-able in my current state. I went on the website and after a great deal of deliberation, chose a color (Royal Ash Blonde) that looked close enough to the color on my ends (I honestly have no idea what actual color my hair is). While it was tempting to go the full 24 inches -- the length my hair used to be -- I kept it conservative at 22 (ha). After receiving them, I realized I likely could have gone a shade darker, but knowing I'm more comfortable with lighter hair and usually have it highlighted (I've been holding off on processing while it grows) I think this shade works.

A few weeks later, a big box of hair showed up at my doorstep. And it was a lot of hair... definitely no skimping here. If you've had experience with extensions in the past, these will be fairly simple to use, but if not, I recommend employing a friend or watching the videos available on the IM website to help you get the hang of it. I knew going into it that my thick, blunt cut was never going to blend with these hair extensions, but I was excited to test out a couple of braided styles, as I've really missed being able to braid my hair, especially on lazy days when I don't want to battle my styling wand.
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This is what my hair looks like on a regular day. Generally undone, maybe a couple of curls in the front to keep it out of my face and not looking too much like 'The Rachel':
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I recommend styling clip-in hair extensions on a day when your hair is a little dirty. This will help give the clips hold and keep them from slipping out. You can also use a teasing comb or brush to tease a section of hair before clipping them in, definitely recommended if your hair is fine or thin.

After clipping them in, my hair looked... well, like I'd clipped in a bunch of extensions, which was expected. It was only after I started braiding that the magic happened:
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First up, fishtail braids. I don't know why I never did this on my real long hair, but the fishtail is something I didn't actually learn until my hair was shorter. I loved how the ash blonde blended with my hair for this style, giving a subtle ombre look without the chemical process.
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Then, with a simple flip and a few bobby pins (ok, a lot of bobby pins) my two fishtail braids transformed into my all time favorite style: Milkmaid braids. I can't get enough of these huge braids flipped up onto my head. Like a giant, majestic hair halo.
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The extra hair was definitely heavy, but since it comes in sections, you can choose how much to clip in. A few days after these photos were taken, I used a couple of smaller sections to quickly braid up may hair for Thanksgiving, and it wasn't nearly as heavy. When the day was done, removing them was far easier than expected, though it did take some careful brushing to remove a few snags. 

I think one of the most obnoxious parts of having shorter hair has been not being able to turn towards my tried and true styles for when I don't want to bother wearing my hair down, and those styles were always braids. While there's a part of me that looks back on those days of constant reinvention with a bit of envy towards my younger self, I'm thankful to know now what makes me truly comfortable . Until my hair grows a bit longer, I'm an extension convert when it comes to trying out different styles -- hey, maybe this is my 2016 version of impulsively shaving a chelsea and dying it jet black.

Photos by Jana Kirn

Sunday, December 6, 2015

Here & There 12.6

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Happy Sunday night, friends. How was your weekend? Mine was... restful, productive... pretty much exactly what I needed after a rough start to the month. I've been struggling a bit this past week with a bout of homesickness, city-sickness, otherwise-feeling-glum-ness, feelings that have a tendency to grace me with their presence at the start of the holidays, when I wish I could be closer to family, closer to the woods. In an effort to break myself out of it I've been baking like a banshee, making ornaments, and working out -- which always, always makes me feel so much better. I'm currently on week 8 of Kayla Itsine's workout and I love it. I was skeptical going in -- especially of something with the name 'Bikini Body Guide' -- but the progress I feel is amazing. I can do burpees now! Not that burpees are fun... but hey, the feeling of accomplishment and progression is worth it.

How have you been? Have your holiday shopping done? I definitely don't...

This pretty vintage silk dress would be a nice alternative holiday dress

But if you're looking for something more glitzy - save 30% off party dresses at Asos! Love this red party dress

SO funny - I love when SNL skits devolve into laughter (and Ryan Gosling is pretty cute, too)

Extremely cute and stylish stocking stuffers - definitely have some cute socks on my list

How to fake a clean house... topical!

How gorgeous are these crystal-infused healing oils?

A feminist holiday cookbook - perfection

Love this pretty fringed bag (because I obviously need more fringe)

Extremely cozy pieces for Christmas morning

How beautiful is this sweet potato pie? Definitely making this! How cute are these sweet cat socks? Love this mixing bowl set, too.

This crescent moon necklace is so lovely!

Holy shit - this recipe sounds amazing... two cups grass-fed butter?!

Would love to hang this pretty calendar in our kitchen

Funniest internet cat thing I've seen in a very long while

30% off holiday favorites from ModCloth!

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Black Motorcycle Jacket + A Classic Peacoat

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When winter rolls around again and you break out the same old peacoat for yet another season -- the same peacoat that, last season, began literally falling apart at the seams -- a little layering goes a long, long way. I love this coat. You know this, I know this. I've been wearing the damn thing since 2011, and it's honestly probably on it's last leg. It's wrinkled from sitting, unattended to, in my dry cleaning pile. There's at least a train fare's worth of change rattling around in the seams from slipping through the holes in the pockets, the lining is torn, and the buttons have been sewed on more than once. Simply, this thing has been loved. A good thing is a good thing, but when you crave just a bit of newness without, you know, actually spending money on something new, try layering one old standby with another. 

A classic moto jacket layered under an equally classic peacoat adds warmth and makes even the most basic monochrome look feel just a little more creative. Even better, give yourself a challenge and mix together two seemingly opposing colors like black and brown, black and blue, silver with gold, or some other unexpected combination. Revolutionary! Ha!

PS - Happy December... can you believe it's December?

Get the look: J.Crew coat (similar) // Schott 'Ex Boyfriend' jacket (similar high or low) // J.Brand high rise 'Alana' jeans // Loeffler Randall boots (similar options) // Charter Club cashmere sweater // Ax + Apple knife necklace // Vintage concho belt (similar) // Self made crystal necklace