Alison

O heyyy - first snow storm of the year on leap year- which is a small reminder that I still live in New England.  A fun fact about today, if it didn't snow today, we would have made history as the least amount of snow in February since 1880.  That is a little bit of a wahh wahh were wahhh type moment if you ask me- maybe next year we can make the ole history books.  I definitely got some serious use out of my North Face boots on the walk to work today, and on my walk home, the rain came in nice and strong.  I wanted to put up some pictures of my lovely friend, Alison, who is currently in med school and our busy schedules make it hard to meet up.  When we do, we definitely make up for the time we don't get to see each other- as I do with all of my friends!  She is one of the best inspirations for keeping on a FUNctional, proFASHIONable, budget type gig, being in med school.  She finds the best stuff from a bunch of different places across the Worcester horizon.  This is one of my favorite outfits below:

She picked up both the top and the skirt at TJMaxx I believe and this was perfect for a night out with the girls.  As we can see below, she has flats on, which any girl in  nine inch heels covets after waiting in a line for a bar (which is why I bring my folding flats almost everywhere I go).  

You can't go wrong with a basic mini-skirt and what I like to call a power top.  This shirt pops with a clean, silky white and a pop of lace on the shoulders to give it that wow moment.  Well this was the perfect outfit for going out with the girls.  We grabbed some thai food to start and made our way over to what else, but gypsy bar.  When I found out that even VIP members had to wait in line outside, we made a quick U-turn back towards a relatively new bar, The Brahmin.  It is really fun and I highly recommends bringing your co-profashionals there for some weekend fun.

To finish the fun look, below is a bit of a foggy version of her sick earrings that remind me to sea shells from Forever 21 and I love them!  They have such a vintage vibe to them, how can you go wrong? 

Polka Dots

I have been weirdly addicted to that show The Voice and I never get into those American Idol type shows, but I pretty much keep intensively you tubing the performances that I liked and play them over and over when I am working- sometimes certain songs I can seriously listen to non-stop.  My current favorite is here. I don't want to get started on the time I played Florence and the Machine- Dog Days- all days and Jim had to cut me off-  I have similar addictions to Adele, but judging by all of those grammys, who isn't addicted?  Similar to my music, I sometimes go on these streaks of liking a certain color or design and for now, I haven't been able to get enough polka dots in my closet.  I keep finding things that I love and collecting them here and there and I wanted to just put a couple of things that I have found that I think are fun for spring:


I need to say that I rarely go into Forever 21, just because it is a lot of effort to stay focused, because I am like a fish and get distracted by shiny things. Forever 21 has a lot going on, but I find going there at night before close during the week is the way to go- sometimes they have really cute things!  Here are a couple things I picked up there:

This ring is so much fun and obviously I couldn't say no to $2.50 worth of dots on an over sized bow.  This ring comes in a bunch of different colors and is just fun to pop on with an outfit.  It is very Kate Spade-esque and it is nice to have fun, cheap jewelry that you can travel with and not worry about!

This is an over sized wooden cuff and it is really lightweight also from Forever 21.  I love love, love it, and it is definitely a statement piece that is neutral enough to go with everything.  This was like $3.50 and I had to snatch it up because it had so many dots on it!


Below is one of my new favorite scarves that I bought at Marshall's a couple months ago.  It was just hanging around a mannequin and I decided I wanted to try it on- I didn't know if it was just on display, but it had a price ticket- so sorry madame mannequin- I won this time. Later, I get home and go to rip off the tags, and it says An Oscar De La Renta Company.  Again, I seriously don't know anything about fashion or anything, which is why this makes it fun, because we can learn from each other what works and what doesn't....but anyway- I am all like that can't be right- for $14.99 I got an Oscar De La Renta Scarf?  Now, I am thinking there has to be something similar to the Jason Wu for Target for Oscard De La Renta.  Anyways regardless the brand and the price, I love this scarf because of the polka dots and Marshall's has really cute things right now for spring, so keep your eyes peeled- and have no shame in your game the next time you de-robe a mannequin on display-if it means getting what you want:

The best part about this picture, is I was snapping a photo of the hat I was trying on at Target, and realized this was a perfect one because of the black scarf with While dots and the White phone with black dots.  
Side note- I like the spring hats at Target- check em out if you are into Fedorable type pieces.


I am not sure if we remember, the co-profashional piece on my friend Brendan(the mann uggs- yeah... how could you forget!), but below is definitely his better half (I am kidding only when Brendan reads this) wearing an amazing spring jacket gifted for Valentine's Day.  I recieved this photo in a text from Brendan saying, "Beth- real men don't give flowers".  I am in love with the jacket and the fact that I can't wait for New Years to celebrate their wedding day!  Adrienne is a babe and I am loving this trench and it is inspiring me to veer away from my basic khaki or black coat that I wear on a regular basis:

As we know, polka dots are virtually timeless, and they look great on any and all ages.  We had a summer party when we found out Jim passed the bar a couple of summers ago and I showed up wearing the same exact design as Jim's neighbor- the cute little peanut on the right, Paige:

Do you have anything with polka dots that you love?

Mixed Prints

A couple of weeks ago, me and the girls met up in the North End for some pizza and apps.   Thank goodness for gluten free pizza- I don't know if the Italian in my could handle giving that up!  My friend Christine and I wandered in a bit early to check out some of the small consignment shops and boutiques.  The locals down there are absolutely amazing- they hang out in front of their apartment or just sipping coffee on Hanover street just to observe.  The amount of people that go down there just for a pastry provides enough people watching.  Christine and I stopped by LIT- a really funky boutique that is also on Newbury st.  She picked up some amazing pieces for some great deals.


We decided to walk down from the back bay- so I had to find shoes that could stand a mile or so walk down there.  In theory, I always liked the idea of mixed prints, but really, in practice, I had trouble figuring out how to wear them with things in my wardrobe.  I decided to start off  with the same colors and mixed prints, and I found this worked for me more than the mixed prints/mixed colors look.
Christine and I snapped some shots of our adventure pre-lunch and I will have her send those to me soon!


Below some stripes on the shirt with animal print on the bottom:

Top: Express($19), Skirt: Tibi($50), Necklace: Flea Market($5)

The boots were a gift for Christmas last year from my parents.  They are Joan and David, and I love them.  They are started to get a little too big around the calf.  If anyone has any ideas on how to "shrink them a bit" let me know!

My head band that I wore for half the day....

Red-iculous

Work has been busy and I am just getting in past 10 tonight, but I thought it would be nice to post before I hit the pillow for the night. This past weekend, I got to meet up with a great family friend, Arlene.  I grew up with her son Jared.  My brother, Jared and I would get into all types of fun/trouble and it was sad to find out as a kid that one of your best friends are moving away from you.  Over the years we have all manage to meet up for lunch here and there and it is great when you can keep in touch with the people you love- even through those crazy schedules.   


It is even more fun to meet up with Arlene as an adult and have some serious girl time!  She is one of the coolest people I have met- she is so laid back and could get along with a piece of paper-seriously.  My Mom and I met Arlene in Portsmouth, NH and went to a little place downtown- the Friendly Toast- so funky!  Here are some pics from the day of my Mom and Arlene- they are seriously the cutest!

I really wish we had more time to hang out, because we had so much more to talk about-but she is planning to come into the city soon, so we will have more time then.  That is when you know you have a great friendship- when no time- is enough time....

     Portsmouth is a really cute town, with a lot of shops, that I didn't get to explore- but maybe some other time, right??  It is sooo close to Kittery- and I got to sneak a couple hours at JCrew with Mom- always a plus!  The best part about the shopping trip is my Mom and I were trying on clothes, and BAM the power just went out- out of nowhere- no reason-it was gorgeous out with no reason for a lack of power! So JCrew went into lock-down mode and we had to get our items and purchase them or just guess what would look good on (which I can never just pick something out without trying it on).  Anyways we got to stay in the fitting room, and the generators went on to keep the registers open- it was so weird, but I got to snag a fun pair of flats below.

Here are some pictures of the restaurant:

Massive figures next to our table

Our sugar bowl

Every table, fixture, detail was completely different, and it really made for a relaxed, interesting place! 

 Below is what I decided to wear to work today to spice it up with color.  Sometimes I get way too focused on blacks and neutrals and wearing some color can be fun every now and then.  I was also on my way out the door, so you can catch my leg warmers from H&M to keep me warm for the 15 min or so walk.
All this stuff I have had for a while, but the new shoes added the extra fun flair!  

Top: Ann Taylor Loft ($19), Skirt: French Connection, Filene's Basement ($12), Legwarmers: H&M ($9), Shoes: JCrew Outlet ($40), Necklace: Consignment shop ($16) Pashmina: mall stand ($6)

 The skirt, I snagged, where else but Filenes Basement for $12 last winter, and I wear it year round.  This skirt is great, because it pulls so many different types of colors, I love it- sometimes I feel like I should be in some type of tropical place with it on, but ahhh well- it is nice to have some color up here in Boston.

 There is something about finding the perfect fitting shoe, and I found it at JCrew (without sounding too much like Dr. Sous).  Finding comfortable shoes comes far and few for me lately-even when I wear flats.  I found the same pair in red, that I already have in pink and I had to get them.  I don't usually buy the same shoe in different colors, because sometimes that is the whole fun of a new shoe is that it is a different style- but these are the one exception to my made up rules Having these to slip into at the end of the day or on my walk to work is amazing and looking down at bright shoes when you are working late, is almost like a sip of late night caffeine.

For fun, I found a picture of us on Arlene's fridge and I had to snap a quick pic of it on my phone. 

My friend Jared (Arlene's son), My brother, Matt, and Me playing in my parents cabinets growing up-

Until next time!

Back to Black

This weekend my parents and I went to CT to visit my brother and grab some lunch.  It is always nice to get the band back together if you know what I mean- we went out to Chilis and I am finding that restaurants are more gluten friendly than I thought and had a fabulous meal with everyone.  I had to disappear earlier than I wanted but for another fun thing- babysitting!  I hung out with the kids all night- drank way too much crane-apple juice with them and watched Dolphin Tale with them.  The girls painted nails with me and tried on my ridiculously high platform steven maddens, and could surprisingly walk around the kitchen without tripping.  I had them packed in my bag:

They are a little outrageous, but I love them and they remind me of Jeffrey Campbells, (here) but just over a 100 cheaper because I got them at Marshalls.

    So overall it was a great, relaxing Saturday.  Trying to figure out what to throw on from grabbing a bite to eat with the fam to hanging out with kids really puts out the Function over Fashion type atmosphere right out in the open.  I have collected/hoarder a bunch of oversized sweaters over the years to throw over leggings for this very occasion and due to the fact that I am so short, they fit a little longer than a tunic type style.  Below is what I threw together:

Sweater: Marshalls($19), Leggings: Gap($19), Bracelets: from top to bottom: ralph lauren, Ann Taylor, Stella and Dot and Target,  Belt: Ann Taylor (Free with a purchase a couple of years ago) Necklace ($20 DC Flea Market)

 The best part is when you put your arms up its is like some kind of bat woman costume- yea someone might have called me a warlock in a similar shirt before- haha needless to say, it hasn't stopped me from wearing it.

Boots: Joan and David

White and Black and Red all Over

Sometimes, it is nice to keep things basic except for a couple of pops of craziness.  I threw this together the other morning and thought to myself "Self, why not make things look a bit victorian with the tight/shoe combo?"  This was a good Tuesday outfit and this is my favorite deal skirt; I found it at Goodwill in Davis Square for $4.  

This is a cashmere skirt from Ann Taylor.  You really never know what you will find when you go to consignment shops.  I tend to look like I am on Supermarket Sweep with my friends (Christine and I joke) - we run around the store like someone is timing us - the ultimate goal is to acquire as many steals and deals as we can, time permitting.  

I'm not really sure why, the excitement of what we will find in the sea of reds, purples or orange.  JCrew, Ann Taylor and more great finds for work and fun.  The best part about Good Will, is it is separated by color, which makes it fun to really sift through the colors that look good with your skin tone or matches other things in your closet.  The craziest part of the store is that it is not separated by size- so shopper beware, this will take a lot of patience and work.  

Shirt: Forever 21 ($11), Cardigan: Express: $19, Skirt: $4 (Good Will, Davis), Tights: Ann Taylor Lofot Outlet: $5

When it was a bit colder at my desk, I buttoned up the cardigan for a slightly different look.  The best part about this skirt is, of course, the aMAHzing deal I got on it! Some girl (I forget who. It may have been in a dream, seriously.) told me that Goodwill gives 50% off if you show your student ID.  When I got this skirt, it was in October and I asked the cashier if she gave 50% off with a student ID.  She replied, " School starts in September right??" I, of course said yes.... she snipped back "WELL WE ALREADY WELCOMED YOU BACK LAST MONTH- now that will be $4.50.....well I just wanted to make sure I couldn't get even more money off- but it was funny when the price of the skirt was under $5.  

My wedges from the Marc by Marc Jacobs super sale: 

My mom let me borrow her vintage earrings- they are so basic, but the small indents and oversized circle added a bit of bling to my otherwise neutral outfit.

Frozen Fenway

     A few weeks ago, a couple of friends and I went to the Frozen Fenway to watch Northeastern play Boston College.  It was sooo cold and obviously all outside at FENWAY, which made it so fun to watch.  But young profashionals beware- dress accordingly for weather like this!  I thought it would be fun to show some pictures from the game too. 
     I had no idea where to start on what to wear- something practical to wear to the game and be somewhat okay to wear out if we decided to go out for dinner or a drink.  I'm all like should I just bring a spare outfit?  Then realized, no- I am going to a hockey game and similar to the goalie I didn't need peeps yelling Siv (What is a Siv? 1. Siv. a goalie in hockey who lets in a lot of goals.  You basically chant Siv to have them leave the game because they're awful!!) at me for being too much of a diva.  So after thinking about it, I decided a sweatshirt dress would be the way to go and if I could have fit my leg warmers under my boots I would have (as we know good ole' captain hindsight is 20/20 and I should have just put them over my boots and allowed the look to be ridiculous- second thought more ridiculous).

Dress: Marc by Marc Jacobs: $35, Leggings: Express: $19, Boots: $160 (Cuio), Pashmina: $5, Watch: Skagean

So I definitely decided to layer and wear warm comfortable clothes (and shoes of course because we all know it is colder when you sit in bleacher type seating).  For some reason, I feel like leggings are warmer than jeans/jeggings, but that could all be in my head- but I wore some thick leggings that I had and tall boots to try to keep warm- really warm north face socks- and Nuge and Christine came through with hand and feet warmers- hullow prepared!  I decided to wear a scarf that I got for $5 when Jim and I ventured into Chinatown in NYC.  I threw on my favorite sweatshirt dresses that I got on a mega sale at bloomingdales last year.  It is super comfortable and it is really warm.  Below is the actual color of the dress and a closer look of the print.  Bright colors look better with my fair skin tone and the print is crazy, but isn't overwhelming when you wear plain things everywhere else:

Nail Polish: Essie- Devil's Advocate and gold craft glitter

 This messenger was a gift from Jim in my stocking.  It is perfect for shopping on the weekends, or going for a walk along the charles because it is really light and goes with basically anything.  It was perfect to throw under the seat, and I didn't have to worry about making sure it didn't get dirty, because its so easy to clean.  It's nice to have a bag that you can bring around that you know if you get caught in a rainstorm you don't have to question will this waterproof spray pull through?:

 Here is my massive puffer that I know looks absolutely outrageous, but this is where I definitely believe that function over fashion is the way to go for the freezing days in Boston.  I have a 15 minute walk to and from work and if it is below 20 degrees, I couldn't handle walking without it.  I also like it because sometimes layers can be annoying, especially if you are grabbing a bite after the game or going to meet up with co-workers.  I just had the dress and then this, but it keeps you so warm! 

I threw on my go-to faux fur headband grabbed some underarmour gloves and tried not to overheat in my apt before leaving to the freezing cold that day.  Yea, I basically looked like Randy from a Christmas Story when he was so bundled up he couldn't move his arms, but hey- this is what its all about- rolling with the punches- at least when you look over and see someone wearing flats and skinnies and just a north face fleece- know that she is absolutely miserable:

The tickets that we had:

 Our view from the seats, couldn't see the puck, which is where the big screen came in handy:

 Watching the game on the big screen:

 Here is Lauren, Erin and myself attempting to warm up with hot cocoa but by the end of the second period  it was beyond hope. Love Lauren's Hood and Erin's hat!:

 Me and the girls:  Look at the fun pops of color on Nuge- with her awesome purple coat and Christine with her coral cords...it is the bright pops that sometimes get us through these unbearable days- even though we have been blessed so far to have a fairly warmer winter overall.