Outfit Post: Shopping in NYC

There are some big doin's in my life right now which require some serious apparel purchases. My mom and I went into Manhattan to look for a certain white dress and I wanted to be comfortable, but look put-together at the same time. This is the outfit I came up with and as soon as the weather is crisp again it's going to be one of my favorites:

Flats are my new obsession - I can't believe it myself.

Blazer: Zara (it's navy with black leather trim, kind of hard to tell from the selfies) Sweater: J. Crew Tank: Vince Pants: J. Crew Flats: Chanel Scarf: Burberry Phone case: Kate Spade

Moving Right Along

When I first found my studio apartment I was overly romantic about it: it was my Paris garret (despite being on the first floor), it was Carrie Bradshaw’s apartment in Sex & the City. For a studio, it’s kind of huge; apart from the main L-shaped living space that serves as both bedroom and living room, there’s also a separate kitchen, a dressing room, and more closet space than I’d dreamed possible when I first started looking for places. My Aunt has said that any city realtor would refer to it as a Junior One, and she's right.

My studio is also the first place that I could really call my own. I’d lived at home, then in dorms, and shared an apartment with friends in Queens, but I never had a space where I was the sole occupant. For the first time in my life I would need to buy furniture (to this day I love my couch more than any pair of shoes I own), I would decorate a space other than my bedroom, I would be able serve as a true hostess.

The aforementioned couch

My first night in the studio I sat on the floor and ate seafood bisque from a plastic container that was perched on top of a cardboard box holding all of my DVD’s. I toasted myself on a job well done with sparkling wine and, since I didn’t have cable yet, I watched Sex & the City on DVD on my 21” television. It was a perfect evening.

So much has changed in the year and a half that I have lived there; Hurricane Sandy hit, my second niece and first nephew were born, new business opportunities have proved to be both inspiring and successful, and I met the love of my life. Our recent engagement gave the green light to cohabitation (what can I say? I’m old-fashioned at heart) and we are preparing to move into a one-bedroom apartment.

Our new place is in the same building as my old place, so it’s not like I’m going far, but I am leaving behind a moment in time that was 100% mine. So, as excited as I am for what lies ahead, I just wanted to take a moment to pay my respects to the one space that was totally mine and perfectly me.

Home Goods

Ever since I was a little girl I have loved decorating. Lots of girls played house, but my favorite make-believe scenarios were dorm, interior design firm, and figure skating agent (that last one was specific to the '94 Olympics, but that's a story for another time). When my mother would go to Home Depot or Benjamin Moore I would tag along and sneak as many paint samples into my bag as possible.

When I finally got a place of my own I was all too excited to decorate. My first big purchase was my couch which I love more than most of my shoes (and you know how much I love my shoes). Home decorating can get expensive, but there are plenty of bargains to be had if you know where to look. Enter my obsession with Home Goods. If you have never been to a Home Goods, it's like Marshalls or T.J. Maxx for, well, home goods (fun fact: TJX Companies is the parents company for all three of these retailers). They have items for every room of your house and they range from the essential to the ridiculous, the latter being the reason I'm writing this post.

Sometimes when I'm getting lost in the aisles at Home Goods I find a truly bizarre item that makes me think, "who the heck needs/has room for that?" They're often good for a laugh and so I decided to share them with you, dear reader. Feel free to tell me all about the crazy items you've seen in a Home Goods near you in the comments.

This horse had to be 10' tall - down, girl!

The little engine that could... could cost you $2G.

But at least your kids can play inside, right? #totallysafe

This made me think of the totally awesome 80's sitcom "My Two Dads."

Outfit Post: Birthday Happy Hour in NYC

As tired as I am of talking about the cold, I feel the need to point out that it's still frigid in the NYC area. Last Friday V and I braved the elements to celebrate the birthday of my fabulous best friend from College, Laura. Laura writes the awesome workout blog, werkitinnyc, you should check it out.

The temps have been in the 20's during the day and the teens at night, so warmth was an absolute priority. On our way in V and I actually entertained the idea of walking from the station to the venue (Bo's in the Flatiron district), but we quickly realized that that was just crazy talk. In the few minute we were waiting on the train platform the 4" space between where my boot ended and my skirt began were already showing the signs of frostbite.

All my life I've had a weakness for pleated skirts, especially plaid, kilt-style skirts, so when I saw this Burberry number at my local consignment I had to have it. Pairing over-the-knee boots with what some might deem a "Catholic Schoolgirl Skirt" can be tricky, but I covered up everywhere else and felt much more Andy Sachs/The Devil Wear Prada than Pretty Woman.

Still working on these poses...

...haven't quite got it yet #jazzhands

Another consignment score

Turtleneck: Lord & Taylor Skirt: Burberry Boots: Vince Tights: Hue Earings (not pictured): Alexis Bittar Glasses: Chanel

Outfit Post: Kinky Boots on Broadway

The cold weather is still in full force in the NY area forcing fashion fans everywhere to break out their best layered looks. Never one to shy away from a challenge I was determined to dress appropriately for both the weather and the event when we went in Manhattan last weekend to see an evening performance of Kinky Boots on Broadway.

Waiting to get in - so excited!

Given the show’s subject matter, I knew I had to break out my Vince ‘Julianne’ over the knee boots. Thankfully, they are as warm as they are stylish. I’d originally planned to wear them with my favorite Isabel Marant for H&M tank and my W118 by Walter Baker hot pink tuxedo jacket, but it was just too cold, so I convinced myself to save that outfit for warmer weather.

In the aisle next to our excellent Orchestra seats

Multi-strands make life easy

Instead I layered this high-low sweater over a black shirt-dress and added a BCBG statement necklace for some fun. The necklace was a bit more than I typically spend on costume jewelry, but I knew it would come in hand for moments like this.

 Sweater: Barney’s Co-op Dress: Wyatt Boots: Vince Bag: Gucci Necklace: BCBG Glasses: Chanel

V and I had a friend visiting from out of town who happens to be a big-time Broadway buff so we waited outside the stage door after the show to get autographs.

Here's the show's star Billy Porter signing my boot (yes, I took off my boot in freezing temps to have an actor sign the arch. See the show and you'll understand, he was that good).

So-So SoulCycle Session

Another week without shopping means another SoulCycle class. I spent most of my day super-psyched for Mark's 6:15 class at SoulCycle on Long Island. Sadly, it was just meh.

Let me start by saying that I think it was an off night; no one was really riding together or with the beat. Mark chose a lot of instrumental techno which is not my favorite (I have enough trouble staying on the beat and it helps to ride to songs I know the lyrics to) and then switched to AJR's "I'm Ready" for the post-arms hills which isn't a bad song, but it kind of came out of nowhere.

At the start of the class Mark told us that we were going to do a lot of Triceps and he was not kidding. This was only my third class back after quite the lapse from not only SoulCycle, but the gym in general and my tris were burning and I was only using 2lb weights! (This isn't a complaint, just an admission of my own shortcomings.)

While it was a physically demanding session (huge plus), it didn't seem very SoulCycle-y. The first time I took Mark's class he doled a lot more of that feel-good mumbo jumbo that SC-haters love to hate. This time he seemed to be on autopilot so I wasn't at all surprised when I heard him telling my classmates that he was off to Vegas for vacation when I was on my way out. Hopefully he'll come back refreshed and ready to rock it in SC style because I hate to pay $34 for a spin class I could've taken at my gym for free.

Other than that, it was my first time in the back row and the depth kept coming loose on my bike, so I was a bit distracted as well. On the plus side, everyone was really nice and there weren't that many "skinny bitches" as my friend Laura from werkitinnyc would say. The class also inspired me to try as many instructors as possible -- you never know who's going to help you find your Soul.

Unsubscribe All

In an effort to actually succeed with my current shopping ban, I have been mass-unsubscribing to retailer mailing lists. After Christmas I realized that I was receiving over 100 shopping-related emails per day; every store I shop at, every website I bought a gift from, even brands that I’ve never purchased, but didn’t want to forget about, they all send me emails. Knowing myself as well as I do I know that if I don’t see the deals, I’m much less likely to look for them and so my mission to unsubscribe began.

Some retailers took the ‘either you’re in or you’re out’ stance and so I opted out. Each time I would see some sort of “we’re sorry to see you go message,” which got me thinking, if they’re so sorry to see me go, then they should come up with more options for me to stay. For almost every brand that offered to consolidate their emails to weekly, bi-weekly or better yet monthly, I decided to stay on the mailing list. My personal favorite was Shop It To Me – a website that send you deals based on the sizes and the brand preferences you provide – which allowed me to put my daily email on hold for up to a year! Not that I got that crazy – this shopping ban is only supposed to last until my birthday in June, so I chose to defer for 6 months.)

I’m a brand-loyal type of gal; even if I’m not shopping I want to stay up to date with what’s going on with my favorite stores and I appreciate any brand that doesn’t need to bombard my inbox daily. I’m confident in our relationship, so the brand should be too. I guess what I’m saying to most brands is, I think I need some space because I’m just not that into you.