mood.lifter

Hi everyone! I know its been about a week since I last wrote but I think that this gross winter has made me a little lazy. How am I trying to fight the winter blues? By planning fun things to look forward to. In about a month I am going on vacation which will be a great mood lifter!

If you don't have a vacation planned to break up the dull winter routine then I suggest these fun things to remind you that there is life underneath the snow:

1: Make fun plans with a girlfriend to either try a great new restaurant, go get drinks, maybe see a movie - having a fun reason to get dressed up always makes me feel better
2: Make plans for a getaway weekend that is cheap and inexpensive! Maybe you have a friend or relative that has a cute house you can borrow for a weekend with either friends or your significant other. Even packing a bag to get away for the weekend can perk you right up!
3: Do something fun for yourself. Sometimes I just need a little pick-me-up to make me feel like I'm doing something for myself but it doesn't cost a fortune. My favorite pick-me-up is buying a cute new addition to my wardrobe or getting a manicure - easy, cheap and brightens me right up!

For some wardrobe inspiration start thinking about what you might want to wear for your upcoming girls night out or date night! Buy yourself a cute top or dress for that instant mood lifter!


If you're stuck indoors due to all the fun snow we've been getting then I would check out www.polyvore.com for some fun inspiration!

Polyvore.com is this great website where you can go online and pick an item of clothing, accessory, make-up, or maybe an awesome piece of furniture and design an inspiration board or wallpaper of all things you love. I did the one above which is currently serving as my wallpaper for my new iPad! I love this website because it allows you to be as creative as you want. And of course what else adds to the fun of this website? The item you click on has an embedded link that will take you to a website where you can buy the piece you fell in love with - even better!


I hope you enjoyed my mood lifter tips and fun indoor activities!


Happy Styling :)

snow.day

I know it's Tuesday, and not my usual Monday post, but due to this past ski weekend with my girl friends, my whole mind is a little delayed!

After all the snow, recent ice storm, and skiing, my mind is definitely on winter and staying warm. This past weekend my best friends from college and I went on our second annual ski trip to Upstate NY. Always an amazing time, I knew that I probably wouldn't need more then ski gear and comfy clothing for the whole weekend, but being someone who loves clothing I obviously could not just bring sweatpants and a sweatshirt.

I found that one of the necessary items for this past weekend was my big, cowl neck Vince sweater, leggings, jeggings, a comfy sweatshirt, cozy boots and the necessary ski gear. For great ski gear my suggestion is to check out Paragon.
   - Paragon Sports (www.paragonsports.com): The go to for anything athletic in the city, they have very expensive items or more affordable pieces. My roommate and I picked up amazing wicking socks that kept my feet so warm when I was skiing, I wanted to wear them all weekend. We also got great wicking shirts which kept me equally as warm on top.

For cute and cozy winter clothing a big sweater is always the key. To top it off add cute jeggings or skinny jeans, warm socks and cute snow boots. Here are some of my go to designers and places to shop:

1: Vince (www.vince.com): One of my favorite lines, they have one of the best sweater collections around. They have a classic, yet trendy style, and they never fail to look nice and make you feel put together
2: Urban Outfitters (www.urbanoutfitters.com): Sometimes Urban can be a little over priced but I like Urban because when I'm in the mood for a quick wardrobe update, I can usually find something that won't break the bank and hits the spot.
2: Shopbop (www.shopbop.com): Shopbop is by far my favorite shopping website. Unfortunately it isn't the least expensive website, but it's great to check out for outfit inspiration. I like to look at it regularly for new ideas and ways to switch up, and update, my wardrobe.

I hope you're somewhere comfy reading this right now thinking about what cozy and cute outfit you're going to wear tomorrow! Stay Warm and Happy Styling :)

website.wednesday

Happy Wednesday everyone! If you're anywhere in the Northeast you have either trekked it to work or are enjoying a nice little snow day. I hope it's the latter! For today's "website.wednesday" I thought I would feature a website I was recently introduced to, and also add some more fun tips for today!

Singer22: I was recently told about this website and it's pretty great! It's a clothing website but it basically allows you to search anything you want in any way. If you love a certain celebrity and their style you can find them on this website. Click on the celebrity of your choice, and then you are able to purchase different items that they are wearing or something similar. You can also shop by designer, trend, and category and they offer all sorts of price points. Currently they have lots of great things on sale and I am eyeing this one item - a cute, bright blue romper. Although a romper might not seem like a smart buy right now I think that it is actually quite versatile. You can wear it now with tights and a great cozy boyfriend sweater, and then carry this item into your Spring/Summer wardrobe by not wearing any tights with it and trading in the sweater for a lightweight blazer -
Blue Romper (click here to check it out).

Now for some food & wine tips!

Since we've had so much snow recently, there is more time indoors, which definitely makes me want to curl up on the couch with yummy food and a glass of red wine. One of my favorite things to do for dinner sometime, or even for a snack, is to make a nice cheese & meat plate for everyone to share. You can make a small plate for just two or three of you, or obviously you can make a plate as a big as you want! I say the more cheese the better, but that's just me :) Here are some of my go to cheeses & meats:

1: Sharp Gouda
2: Sharp Cheddar (there's a theme here haha)
3: Gorgonzola
4: Brie/Camembert
5: Soppressata
6: Proscuitto (sorry Mom haha)
7: Bresaola

Then I usually like to buy a nice baguette and slice up the bread. If you want to get really creative you can slice up some apple, put the apple slice on top of the sliced baguette, layer a slice of cheese on top, and then warm it up/toast it for a few minutes. The cheese gets nice and melted, and the bread has a nice little crunch to it. My friend Meghan did this one time when she was visiting and I still love it (thanks Meg)! Below is an image of food I did for a party we had recently - take a look!

Now for wine my go to is almost always Red - most people know this about me because about half a glass of wine in my teeth show it (very annoying)! We recently tried a really nice new bottle of wine and I thought I would share it with you:

Tamarack Cellars: We tried this wine at an amazing restaurant in Upstate NY. Tamarack is a winery in Washington State and I think I might have to make a trip there soon! We had the Cabernet Sauvignon and I definitely recommend it.

I hope you enjoyed my tips for the day!

Stay Warm & Happy Styling :)

funday.monday

Happy Monday everyone! Today as I sat in Jury Duty, (not exactly what "funday.monday" means), I thought about things I have been paying attention to style-wise in the last few weeks, and came up with some fun tips for you guys this week :)

Along with most of the world, I have been thinking a lot about the "life resolutions" I have made for 2011 (I am calling them life resolutions because I plan on incorporating them into my life, not just for this year). One of them is to be healthier and that means focusing on adding more exercise to my life and making some smarter food choices. With this recent decision in my life that meant that I, of course, needed to add cute work-out clothing to my wardrobe! Since I'm short I knew that I would want legging type work-out pants for the cold weather. Also, I tend to wear baggier t-shirts because I am not exactly comfortable in a skin-tight bodysuit at the gym, so I thought I might spice up my t-shirt collection. Here are some tips on where I looked and purchased!

1: Target - Target has the C9 Champion line which is really cute and totally affordable. I bought great legging work-out pants for $24.99 and some cute, baggier, brightly colored t-shirts
2: Macy's - Now I don't frequent Macy's very often but I was given a gift certificate and they were having some major sales - they were practically giving the clothes away. They had adorable Puma and Nike workout clothing with shirts priced at $9 and even cute work-out pants priced anywhere from $10 - $15
3: DSW - As I have said before my ever pracitical BF loves showing me that I can find cute shoes at DSW. The other day I was online and saw that they are selling great sneakers for $80 and below! They carry everything from Asics to Nike to Adidas. If you need a new pair of work-out sneakers, but don't want to spend a ton of money, I recommend checking out your nearest DSW store or check them out online at www.dsw.com.
4: Gap Body - The last place I love to check out for cute work-out clothing and anything cozy is Gap Body. They have really cute yoga clothing, along with great sports bras and sweatshirts, and it's Gap so it doesn't break the bank. I think to get myself even more motivated I might have to purchase this adorable gym bag:

I hope you found my gym styling tips motivating, and not just by helping you get off the couch, but being excited about looking cute while workin' it!

Happy Styling :)

website.wednesday

Happy Wednesday Everyone :)

I thought it would be fun to fill you in on a favorite website or blog I love to follow for amazing styling tips and ideas! I'm going to call it "Website Wednesday" so look forward to weekly website and blog recommendations.

For this week's website I thought I would feature a site I check daily for great tips, and amazing fashion finds and insights:

WhoWhatWear (www.whowhatwear.com): This website is amazing! I get daily emails from them and they do all sorts of fun things. Usually they feature an up and coming style icon or fashionista, or a fashionable celebrity. Then they frequently break down what people are wearing and where to find it, along with stylish equivalents at less expensive price points. My favorite tips they send are their monthly "Must Haves" where they'll tell you about an awesome new nail polish that just came out or funky new shoes to buy. I find the girls of "WhoWhatWear" to be filled with lots of fun fashion knowledge that is completely relatable and inspiring.

Be sure to check this site out if you aren't already an avid follower!

Happy Styling :)

happy 2011! back.to.work

Hope everyone had a Happy New Years!

After a great night, and much relaxing and detoxing, it's time to go back to work! Now, I know I'm having a hard time getting my mind back in the work mode, and I'm sure I'm not the only one, but I think that the best way to start 2011 off is by wearing a fun outfit to work. By being excited about what I'm going to wear to work it makes me look forward to getting dressed and facing the day! And, I think it's easier to ease back into a work week, after a nice little vaca, if I am wearing something a little more laid back but still work appropriate and fun!

One thing I try to do with my wardrobe is to not focus so much on specific work clothing vs. every day clothing but instead owning items of clothing that are dynamic and can be worn both to work and outside of work. By doing this you open up your wardrobe and make it more accessible and available for your daily needs. Now, I understand not everyone has the same freedom with their work wardrobe that some of us might, but work clothes can still be fun even with a specific dress code.

After much debate about what to wear for my first day back I landed on cute JBrand Velvet black skinny jeans, a loose fitting black Theory top, a nice grey long cardigan from JCrew and cute new oxford heels I bought last week that I was very excited to wear! Then I added some fun earrings, my usual mix & match stacked bracelets, and my Michael Kors men's watch. Some tips for fun work wardrobe additions are:

1: Great heels - obviously (hence the blog title) I love shoes especially an amazing pair of heels. They can really dress up a nice, well put together work outfit, while still allowing some of your personality to shine through
2: Great earrings - I tend to do fun earrings on a regular basis because I think they really brighten up my face and add a little something to a neutral outfit, without seeming too over done
3: A nice manicure - Sometimes, all you need to feel more polished and put together is a new manicure! I try to keep a regular manicure (of course this is not always possible) but sometimes, when I'm feeling like I need a pick me up, a mani is just the trick, I almost instantly like my look/outfit better, and it doesn't break the bank

For some great places to shop for nice work accessories (and even great shoes) I would try these places:
1: JCrew
2: Bloomingdales (or almost any department store)
3: Ann Taylor/Ann Taylor Loft - I know this might seem old ladyish but with the new designers they have recently hired they have really brought in a lot of cute things (and they're pretty affordable)
4: Banana Republic

I hope my tips have helped you put a fun spin on the way you think about getting dressed for work. Happy styling and good luck in the first week back!