Inspiration Board? More Like Inspiration Book

Ever since I was a little girl, collecting leftover Sassy and Seventeen magazines from around the house, I have been tearing out "looks" that I love. Over the years I've collected these images and when I came across a leftover art journal I knew that those fashion tears had found their home.

While I've been really good about continuing to tear images that inspire me, I've been a bit lax about organizing them. But recently I've been struggling with my closet and, in an effort to edit down my wardrobe and reveal my style, I have revisited these images.

Watching design shows you see design boards and that's great for one look, but when it comes to a wardrobe I need more room to work -- and so the rebirth of the inspiration book. Out came the images, out went the ones I'm already over and on went the rubber cement to secure the keepers. It's my hope that my style progresses along with the book and, when I'm having a fashion meltdown, it will serve as a place to go for answers.

Originally I wanted this to be a style blog, but I'm so sick of the standard style blogs; put-together women in their 30's being photographed by their significant others in whimsical poses and whatever setting mimics a soft filter on their SLR camera (which they probably received as an out-of-the-box wedding gift from their equally hip friends/family).

Like so many women my age, I don't quite have it all together. I'm getting there, but I'm not going to post phony photos that make others envious of my Brooklyn loft and my impeccably groomed puppy. I'm 29, I live on Long Island, I work in a small office and see the same handful of people every day; so my day-to-day attire simply does not call for high fashion. The problem is I'm also tired of the jeans/tee/hoodie combo, not to mention that I'm terrified of Stacy London and Clinton Kelly ambushing me for the new season of "What Not to Wear," and I think it's high time that I figure out how to adapt my dreams of everyday dressing to fit my reality. Yes, I escape to the city and the Hamptons as frequently as possible and when I do I use that as an excuse to wear the clothes I dream of, but it's still not my reality.

So this isn't an established style blog in the traditional sense, it's a finding-my-style blog. Let the editing down begin.

Well, That's the Last of It

My Trouve "Sabrina" distressed leather ankle boots came in the mail today and they are a perfect fit! So happy that I can stop the search for the perfect combat boot. No side zipper installed like they are in mainstream styles for those not willing to commit to the style. No extra room that requires me to wear bulky socks, instead I can wear regular socks or even tights and be comfortable. Yay!

In addition to my final shopping item before starting the freeze again, after I got home from my run, I also chose to clean out my closet tonight. I was re-reading part of this great book that reminded me that I should get rid of any items I wouldn't want people to see me in. So, with the perfect soundtrack playing in the background, out went the shirts with the frayed hems, out went anything with a pit stain or a stain of any kind really, out went the oddly-fitting or stretched out items, or anything else I'm hanging onto just because of an emotional attachment.

I'm cleaning house and it's helping.

MOH - OMG!!!

I was recently awarded the illustrious role of Maid of Honor in my cousin's wedding.

In addition to the fact that my cousin is one of my favorite people in the world, as a wedding enthusiast and a person who loves planning in general, it is not a role that I take lightly. I look forward to any which way I am able to aid in the planning process.

While my natural proclivity is towards the bachelorette (party) arts, I look forward to honing the rest of my bridal skill set if need be; Dresses, bridals showers, flowers, even seating arrangements, I'm ready, willing, and able to assist.

To put it a bit more informally: I'm going to be the best MOH there ever was ;)

Pro-active... To a Fault?

We have 2 computers in my office; the one in the inner office, which has Quickbooks installed on it that we don't download anything onto for fear that we'll get a virus and lose everything, and the one in the outer office that we use for the Internet, Microsoft office, and other general purposes.

Since the outer office computer is like an electronic junk drawer, it's been running slower than normal lately. In an effort to remedy this, I though I'd remove some of the superfluous files and programs from the C: drive.

As I highlighted and deleted old pictures and Word documents, accidental downloads and unnecessary shortcuts to programs whose icons were already on the desktop, I felt good. With each deletion it felt as though the computer was responding that much more quickly.

Finally I hit up the Add/Remove section and got rid of a few music players and other such programs we "never" use, according to the Add/Remove task manager, and I felt like a true techie. I restarted the computer with the confidence that once it had rebooted it would fly through the Internet with the greatest of ease... and then I tried to open Firefox.

"Internet connection not detected."

Surely this was incorrect. After several attempts at quick fixes (including an additional reboot, hey, you never know), I admitted that I needed help and called tech support.

Apparently I had uninstalled a program called "D-Link" which supported my wireless router. Awesome. Over the next half hour I located the antennae and determined that the Internet card was internal, removed the side panel to find a solid centimeter or dust, cleaned the machine, had several sneezing fits, determined the type of card I had an downloaded the proper driver on my netbook (thankfully I didn't take out the Internet for the whole office, just the main pass-the-time-machine).

Unfortunately I don't have a CD burner on my netbook, nor do I have any burnable CD's at work, so I'll have to bring in a flash drive to transfer the driver from my netbook to the computer tomorrow. Thankfully I had said netbook and so I'm not totally disconnected for the rest of the day (heaven forbid I read my New York Magazines which are quickly piling up).

So the lesson learned?

When trying to free up space by removing programs from your computer, don't uninstall something just because a program says that it is used "rarely" and hasn't been run since 2006 because you may need that.

Perhaps I'll stick to clearing the browsing history and cookies on my Internet browser from now on when I'm feeling the need to cleanse.

The Bed-Makers

The world is comprised of two types of people: those who make their beds in the morning and those who do not. I fall into the former category to the point of compulsion.

It sets the tone for the day, my mother would tell me growing up. And she was totally right. You start off organized and when you come home you return to order.

As a kid, rather than technically making my bed each day, I found a loophole. Instead of getting under the sheets each night I kept an extra comforter folded up in the 2ft space between my bed and the wall and each night I would sleep on top of my made-up bed and in the morning I would just fold up the extra comforter and head off to school. In hindsight, this probably was not the best thing for the regular or my "show" comforter as it were, but I digress.

Knowing that my bed is unmade, even if I'm not in the house, irks me. A feeling of sloth just pervades my day. So I don't do it.

And I'm not even envious of those who can; I want to change them, to convince them that my way is the right way and their days and lives will be better once they're on board. It's the control freak in me.

It's not to the point where I can't associate with you if you don't make your bed or anything like that, just don't ask me to come over when it's not. Or, like my mother said, just close your door so I don't have to see it.

Thanks,

A Bed-Maker