snapshots of a snow day

during the very un-north carolina-like weather we had last week, i spent a lot of time inside. in my pajamas.
it was really fantastic, until around tuesday afternoon when i decided i desperately needed to get out of the house. here are a few little snapshots i grabbed of my two blissfully quiet and cozy snow days at home...

runway for the ballet

what are you doing on february 5th?
if you live in or around charlotte, you should definitely check out runway for the ballet - a fabulous fashion show benefitting the north carolina dance theatre. the theme this year is a mid-winter night's dream, and will feature spring looks so you can start getting excited for warmer temperatures and bluer skies. i've been working hard on the planning committee for this event since about august, and i'm really excited how everything is coming together! i'm handling day-of event logistics, so i'll be the one running around like a crazy person on the 5th. if my presence and the details i've already mentioned haven't sold you, here are a few more awesome details:

1. all 36 runway looks provided by neiman marcus
2. all 12 models are ncdt 1st and 2nd company dancers
3. three dance pieces in between runway sets from ncdt's innovative works performance, including tree hugger - a piece choreographed by ncdt's own sasha janes (yum). two men and one woman perform this piece in which the female dancer's feet never touch the ground. it's awesome.
4. delicious treats provided by dean and deluca and pinkberry. here are a few menu listings to get your mouth watering: truffle macaroni and cheese; mediterranean chicken, fig and tomato skewers; petite lobster pot pies, five varieties of american-style sushi, pink champagne cupcakes, dark chocolate strawberries. hungry yet?
5. two words: open. bar. (with several very cool signature cocktails)

there are two shows: an afternoon matinee, which is going to be geared a little more toward families, and an evening show, which is going to be more of a fancy evening out.  you can purchase tickets online here! hope to see you at the show!

images: 1.notoriousfashion.blogspot 2.northcarolinadancetheatre

anthro spring fever

i love how the retail world embraces each new season so enthusiastically and so exceptionally early. it gives us consumers stuck in the dry-skin-dry-hair-dry-fashion-spell dead of winter something to look forward to. and you know what else i look forward to? the onset of each season brings anthro designers new inspiration and each store is ripe with gorgeously clever why-didn't-i-think-of-that? window and store displays. and anthropologie spring 2011 windows are no exception. i personally love the way their designers consistently repurpose everyday items in to something beautiful. how very creative and how very green of them. it's a good way to look at life - finding beauty in the simplest things. here's what anthro has to say about their spring looks:

"inspired by the most commonplace household items, our visual teams nimbly stitched, draped, cut and dyed every inch of these abstract fashion panoramas. made of clothespins, hangers and construction materials, each avant-garde silhouette and woody blossom explores the spaces between art, craft, design and fashion."

georgetown, dc store (see image at the top of post as well) - quite possibly the best and most creative anthro store i've ever visited. this looks very queen victoria to me. and i bet if you told queen victoria that she would look cool in clothespins, she would have had you beheaded. 

in charlotte, zippers can be cool, too, apparently.

i think i may steal this idea and get crafty with a zipper to make a big pin. we'll see how that goes...

in marleton, nj, they've really got the hang of things. get it? i crack myself up. 

my future children (maybe?) will never wear anthropologie clothing because i refuse to let them drool and spill kool-aid on them. (or whatever you're supposed to feed kids?) however, the tiny little clothes - like that little tiered skirt - are really sweet to look at. 

more clothespins in skokie, il. this reminds me of the scene in cinderella when the birds and mice make her ball gown. there's a part when the birds fly around and lift up all the layers of skirt fabric and it looks just like this. 

it's like a rainbow. except the gold at the end is very very stylish and expensive. 

all images via anthropologie

snow day!

while it can sometimes be inconvenient, i love the way the world slows down on snow days. everything is abnormally silent, peaceful, beautiful and more relaxed. it's like a little vacation from the real world.

images: 1.gatekeeper.tumblr 2.designcrushblog.com 3.runeguneriussen.no 4.tumblr 5.batixa.tumblr

(not so) happy friday!

it's been a very disappointing, i-want-to-eat-cheetos-and-stay-in-my-sweatpants-forever kind of day. instead of wallowing this weekend (which i've been doing pretty much all day), i'm going to work on carrying out the immortal advice of barney stinson:

"whenever i get sad, i stop being sad and be awesome."

so enjoy the sunny, happy photograph (summer in paris sounds great right about now, no?) and join me this weekend in being awesome. see you next week!

image via tumblr

juicy fruit

one of my favorite stocking-stuffer presents from christmas is this little yellow ball of awesome from my friend sarah. until now, i've been a very committed burt's bees user, but this 95% organic, 100% natural lip balm smells like lemon sherbet and reminds me of sunshine, summer and why i used to love having 18 different flavors of lip smacker clipped to my backpack in middle school. i have really chapped lips this time of year, and while i don't think this balm is any more effective than burt's bees at making my lips soft and smooth, i have noticed that it seems to last much longer, which is a good thing. the lemon drop flavor also has spf 15, and if you've ever had sunburned lips, you'll understand why this is awesome, too. basically, if you haven't already figured it out, i get happy every time i dig it out of my purse.

you can buy these little balls at pretty much anywhere they sell cover girl and tylenol and they cost about the same as burt's bees. there appears to be more delicious flavors besides just lemon drop, too, including summer fruit, honeysuckle honeydew, medicated tangerine, and sweet mint. i will take one of each, thanks.

winter white

it's funny how in early january, once i've managed to wrestle down christmas, the organizational spring-cleaning bug hits me and i want to clean out every drawer, cupboard, and closet in my house to make room for the new christmas goodies and get rid of every i-haven't-worn-it-since-i-bought it/shrunk it/spilled olive oil on it sweater. this weekend will probably consist of some serious re-organizing including my craft boxes, kitchen cupboards, and desk drawers. these fresh, neutral (mostly) white interiors make me want to purge nearly all of my belongings and live a clutter-free house forever. i'm fairly certain at 600 square feet and one closet, that's impossible, but i can dream.

i'm not really a bath person. maybe it's because i've never had a tub that looks like this.

i really want a cool mounted animal in a weird color/print. like this pink deer. so fun. 

this feather screen might be the coolest thing ever. 

this lady has a turret in her san fran home. jealous much?

grey is the coziest color out there. my next bedroom will be grey if i can help it. 

images 1.carmoebel 2.countryliving 3.interior-design-decorations-ideas.blogspot 4.79ideas.blogspot 5.carmoebel 6.andreawyner for countryliving 7.domino 8.andreawyner for countryliving 9.dcdesignhouse 10.livingetc. 11.alife'sdesign.blogspot 12.lucasallen for countryliving

join the club

not that i can generally afford any of their pieces, but i'm pretty in love with club monaco. their clothes are always simple, classic, and feminine. spring 2011 looks are no exception. i love all the gorgeous draping and muted colors...

i love the look of a long sweater with a ruffle peeking out. i think i need re-create this look stat. 

and my favorite favorite thing ever?...

this blue jumpsuit. i need you.

see the rest of the spring 2011 lookbook here. i guarantee you you'll want to go shopping.

one more thing...

i promise i'll move on from new year's resolutions after this post. in fact, i rarely get excited about making resolutions. i think the not-having-a-job thing is inspiring me to take the time to do things that i sometimes didn't even think about after spending most of the day/evening at the office.

that said, my pastor shared jonathan edwards' new year's resolutions with us yesterday at church. edwards was a colonial theologian and minister who wrote numerous resolutions, the majority of which were penned before his 20th birthday. he reviewed them every week to ensure his focus and goals remained the same. you can read them all here, but here are just a few of my favorites. his prose is beautiful and his resolutions even more so:

"resolved, that i will do whatsoever I think to be most to God's glory, and my own good, profit and pleasure, in the whole of my duration, without any consideration of the time, whether now, or never so many myriad's of ages hence. resolved to do whatever i think to be my duty and most for the good and advantage of mankind in general. resolved to do this, whatever difficulties i meet with, how many and how great soever."

"resolved, to examine carefully, and constantly, what that one thing in me is, which causes me in the least to doubt of the love of God; and to direct all my forces against it."

"resolved, to improve every opportunity, when i am in the best and happiest frame of mind, to cast and venture my soul on the Lord Jesus Christ, to trust and confide in Him, and consecrate myself wholly to Him; that from this i may have assurance of my safety, knowing that i confide in my Redeemer."

image via tumblr

hello, 2011

a new year and a new look for the blog!

2010 had its ups and downs, but ultimately (aside from my best friend's wedding), was not all that memorable. it snowed more than usual. i went to two fashion shows. i discovered gin and tonics. i turned a-quarter-of-a-century. i voted in the mid-term election. i spent an unacceptable amount of time working late. i went on three dates (yes, lame). that pretty much sums it up.

that said, 2011, you're going to need to step it up. i'm ready for an awesome new job, possibly a move, and, let's face it, a date for new year's 2012. think you can make that happen? okay, good. while we're at it, here are a few things i'll be doing this year:

1. turn up the heat in the kitchen: i love to cook. i love to eat. and yet, i get lazy quite often and eat eggs, soup from a can, or turkey sandwiches. i save lots of recipes and have an entire shelf of awesome cookbooks. it's time for me to stop being cheap and lazy and start making meals i'm actually excited to eat. starting with lots of soup this winter.

2. wear my closet: i have a huge closet full of clothes. like many, though, i have fallen in to a rut of wearing certain pieces in slightly-varied combinations and not challenging myself to be creative. a lot of my clothes, despite the fact that i love them, stay on their hangers for one reason or another, which is unfortunate. i tend to get lazy in this area as well, and i want to change that. jessica at what i wore inspires me to be less afraid i'll look crazy and embrace my affinity for mismatching, layers, and vintage girly looks.

3. blog like i love it (because i do): i really do love to blog, but if you're a consistent reader (hi, mom) you know that's not always the case. i have loved working on my blog's new look over the past few days and want to continue to make an effort to maintain it.

4. less internet, more creativity: aside from taking the time to read my favorite blogs and blog myself, it's time to nix looking at albums on facebook and aimlessly wandering around etsy. as great as it is, i could make some pretty awesome things myself if i were intentional about doing so. crafting is fun, i always complain that i don't have time, but i do. first-up: painting. i loved it in college and my box of acrylics and oils in the closet hasn't seen the light of day in a while.

5. budget the dolla-bills: i still haven't quite swallowed the fact that i'll be living off unemployment until i find a job. i'd like to keep my house and have food to eat. i'm going to have to be super disciplined about my spending, which isn't something i've had to do in the past. i mean, i'm a horribly cheap person, but still. it's going to be a challenge, but probably a good one.

there you are - my five resolutions for 2011. i'm actually quite excited about them. i plan on holding up my end of the bargain, so 2011, please do the same? i'll be waiting and while i'm at it, cooking, crafting, dressing-up, blogging and budgeting. happy new year!

images 1.emptyskyline.tumblr 2.victorias-vintage.blogspot

...3...2...1...

"for last year's words belong to last year's language, and next year's words await another voice." - t.s. eliot

looking forward to a celebration this evening full of champagne and good friends and a new year full of new beginnings! happy 2011!

images: 1.thecasting.tumblr 2.quintessenceblog.com 3.yourphotographyx.tumblr