best in show

I just successfully sat through most of the dog and pony show that is the Oscars (hosted by Billy Crystal for the 1,563,894th time) and still came away feeling so impassioned about my best dressed picks that I feel compelled to write about them even at 11:15pm. First up, Michelle Williams slays me (yet again) with her layers of frothy organza and peplum top. I believe it's an Yves Saint Laurent dress. She was also wearing this adorable diamond bow pin on one side that you can't see in the picture above. The entire look was pure Art.

Next up, this Rooney Mara chick has all but usurped Leigh Lezark as my favorite wood nymph/vampire style icon. Her Givenchy Couture dress and naked neck, wrists, and lobes just feels so now.

Finally, Natalie Portman, just because she looks so pretty and she's wearing polka dots. Vintage Dior polka dots. The best kind.

Bravo Hollywood, you didn't suck tonight.

the cautionary tale

wearing Zara waxed jeans, Mossimo turtleneck, D&G leopard print top, Acne jacket, vintage bag, Chanel shoes, DIY manicure with Martha Stewart glitter

I was somehow able to cram the highest number of designer labels into this look as possible given their scarcity in my closet. But here they are, working together. I can't remember if I've ever actually shown these shoes before, but I rarely wear them because they're soooooo speshul. And perhaps, if you look closely, slightly too small, but who's looking closely?!

And I have to share the sad tale of the Barney's intern. On Tuesday morning, I woke up, checked my Facebook, and saw the following status update in my newsfeed from the official Barney's NY account:

Poor girl flunked an accounting test and may have lost her (highly coveted) internship in the same day. While some of the later comments said something to the effect of, "This is why you don't get an intern to run your social media," anyone who works in social media knows this is an easy mistake to make, especially from a mobile device. If you're the admin of a fan page on Facebook, it's not like you sign out of your account and sign in to the fan page--you simply write updates on the fan page while signed in to your own account. I know people who have done something similar, including a friend who accidentally tweeted the sex of his unborn child from a company account. I guess this is the price we pay for blurring of the personal/professional line. And for the fact that writing on Facebook is like, a real job now.

Either way, I will be pouring one out for Barney's girl this weekend. I don't like to witness human tragedy, especially when it falls so close to home.

happy gras

There's a lot more to Mardi Gras than boobs, drunken college sluts, and hand grenades. No, really. The daytime parades are totally fun and family-friendly. One of the crowd favorites is the Krewe of Barkus, founded in 1992, which consists entirely of--you guessed it--dogs! The story of how it got started is pretty cute: Thomas Wood brought his dog Jo Jo McWood (only people in New Orleans would name their dog Jo Jo McWood) to a local fan club meeting at a bar. Apparently, other patrons started complaining because the dog was being neurotic or something, so to get back at them, Thomas Wood proclaimed that he'd make Jo Jo McWood queen of her own parade and captain for life. And so he did. Adorableness ensued:


all photos via Barkus Online

Now, if that ain't some proper doggie style porn, I don't know what is!! (oh lord, I have a feeling this post is going to get a lot of accidental hits with that sentence.) And we all know I cosign dogs wearing costumes.

double duty cords

top outfit: James Jeans cords, LL Bean striped breton shirt, thrifted denim jacket, Topshop fur gilet, Madewell scarf, vintage ring, Timex watch. Second outfit: James Jeans cords, J. Crew wool long-sleeved shirt, T by Alexander Wang sweater, scarf from India, UO booties

Or make that triple, quadruple duty. I just knew I had a skinny corduroy-shaped hole in my closet, and the recent acquisition of this pair (followed by wearing them for a week straight) really drove the point home. Found them on Gilt Groupe after exhausting myself in the search for cheaper possibilities. They have fake front pockets (yuck) but other than that are nearly perfect. And comfy as a pair of leggings, minus the camel toe.

Also, just had to share the perfect Valentine's day card from my boyfriend. If you know us, you know how apt this card is. If you don't, let me assure you, it is very apt.
 

V-day

all images via my Pinterest

Happy Valentines Day to you and your'n. I'll spend the holiday making pork chops and chocolate truffles. And no, that's not a double entendre. You sickos.

my weekend, instagrammed (predictably)

I've decided I'm going to devote myself full-time to becoming a flamboyant sculptural hat-wearing person. The hat I'm wearing above was originally created in Warner Brothers' costume department, and I like to think it may once have graced the famous noggin of Joan Crawford or some other silver screen legend. It comes from my absolute favorite vintage/consignment store in the world, What Poppy Wants in Larkspur, CA. I've written about the place before and have gotten more amazing pieces there than I can count. The owner, Valerie, didn't even want to sell this hat, so she'd set a price of $425...which she quickly reduced (drastically) because she knew I'd make it a good home. I heart her long time.

Nails are actually from a couple of weeks ago (but I never got around to posting them) and the candy is just one of the delightful offerings on display at Miette in Hayes Valley.

The magical forest-scape is from a hike I went on with my mom on Saturday in my nascent quest for a healthy lifestyle. Because let's be honest, I'm not going on another cleanse anytime soon.

And finally, I just had to show some of the beautiful little tchotchkes at Reliquary, which is a store whose aesthetic I'm absolutely obsessed with. They're all pocket knives, handmade in New Mexico.

So tell me lovelies, what pretty (or not-so-pretty) things did you do this weekend?

where is my mind?

wearing thrifted Ellen Tracy pencil skirt, thrifted silk top, Judith Leiber pumps, ASOS leather jacket, spikethepunch necklace

I accidentally went to work today looking like Valentine's day threw up all over me.

concentric circles

wearing vintage shirt, J Brand jeans, ASOS leather jacket, Belle by Sigerson Morrison flats, vintage necklace, Timex watch, Furla bag, Christian Dior sunglasses

It finally got warm enough to take one of my new flea market finds for a test drive. Actually, scratch that, I've worn the shirt once already over a turtleneck. I found it in LA at the Melrose Trading Post, and loved it so much I broke my own rule of never buying polyester. Oh, and the $12 price tag didn't hurt either.

Day 3: HOME STRETCH

In t-minus 12 hours, I'll be able to eat!!!!!
 

Day 3 is practically in the bag. I felt alert and well-rested today even though I got about an hour less sleep than I usually do. My clothes are also pleasingly loose on me, but like I said, I expect that to last all of a week. On the downside, I'm so completely nauseated by (and sick of) the taste of the juices, that I'm not going to be able to make myself finish the last 2. Instead, I had a small handful of walnuts, and when I start to get really hungry, I'm going to go to bed. Unconsciousness is always the best defense against discomfort.

Now, the important part: getting back to eating the foods that I love! I wish I could stuff my face with everything pictured above tomorrow, but in reality, I'll have to ease back into eating solid foods slowly, starting with the ugly stepchildren--cooked veggies and salad with grilled chicken. One thing I WILL be indulging in is a cappuccino, which I've been depriving myself of for the past week. I guess the one thing I've learned through this whole juice cleanse business is you have to pick your vices. Of all my vices (of which there are so many!) I pick:

coffee
alcohol (in moderation, of course)
cheese

And the vices I have to do my best to curb are:

bread, cereal, pasta (I'm a carb hound)
Red meat (ok, I'm not swearing off of it forever, but I'll try to cut back)
dairy

Ok, enough about all this. I've bored myself. I promise never to talk about food again unless it's delicious food that I'm eating. Amen and good night.

Day 2: evidence of things unseen

what I wish I was eating: chocolate covered potato chips via Because I'm Addicted

I've made it to the end of day 2, and I wish I could tell you I feel fan-fucking-tastic. To be honest, I do feel a lot better than yesterday. No headache, and I'm definitely not as fatigued, plus I managed to avoid the full-on ED (explosive diarrhea) that plagued me last night. But something has occurred to me, and that's that living without food isn't really living at all. I mean, no duh, but I don't think it really hits home how important the ritual of food is until you can't eat it.

Case in point: I was working from home today, so my mom said (without thinking) "oh, let me come meet you for lunch." While I'm sure she would have come out just to, you know, sit in a room and drink dandelion tea with me, it would have been so pointless. After eating, what else is there besides reading (a solitary activity) watching movies (goes better with popcorn) and shopping (which requires fuel to do properly)? NOTHING. Ergo, food is everything. And I can't wait to eat it again.

I suppose I should go into the positives while I'm at it. My jeans are definitely baggier on me today, but I'll bet you a million bucks they'll go back to fitting snugly as soon as I inhale the sweet odor of a hot dog (and then inhale said hot dog). I have to hope there are some invisible health benefits to doing this. And I'm not denying that it's good for me, but holy god it's not fun.

Oh, and because this is a style blog (not a whine about not eating blog) here's my favorite blog find of the day, Children With Swag:

YEP, MY OVARIES JUST EXPLODED.

Day 1: the hunger games

Since you're all dying to know how my CAN CAN juice cleanse is going (ok, I lied, only Angie is dying to know) I thought I'd give a quick update after day #1. In short, I'm still alive. But barely. Let's just say that however much you might imagine this sucks, it actually sucks 1,000 times more. Let's break it down.

For the next 3 days, I will be subsisting solely on eight 12-oz jars of juice per day:

Here's the "menu":

Lemon Ginger Juice 
Ingredients: lemon, ginger, cinnamon, cayenne, coriander, filtered water
What it tastes like: spicy water with lemon juice in it. Not sweet, and not particularly appetizing. This must be what those 2-week lemonade/maple syrup/cayenne pepper juice diets taste like. I'd rather pull out my eyelashes one by one than have to live off of this shit for 10 days.

Green Juice
Ingredients: celery, cucumber, green cabbage, broccoli, fennel, romaine, spinach, kale, parsley, ginger, apple, lemon
What it tastes like: Pretty much what you'd imagine--every vegetable in the grocery store put through a juicer. I drink this one 2x daily.

Dandelion Tea
Ingredients: dried dandelion leaves, filtered water
What it tastes like: regular herbal tea. It should be noted that I had to endure TWO of my co-workers eating delicious Philly cheese steak sandwiches today while I sipped on water with dried dandelion leaves in it. The world's cruelty knows no bounds.

Winter Orange Soup
Ingredients: Carrots, butternut squash, onion, garlic, celery, ginger, cayenne, cumin, curry, cinnamon, olive oil, coconut butter, sea salt, filtered water
What it tastes like: Delicious! This may be the one thing I have to look forward to in a lineup of beverages that are more healthy than they are tasty. It looks like baby food but tastes like an actual pureed soup, not some bastardized health food version of one.

Spiced Apple Juice
Ingredients: apple, fennel, cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, cloves, filtered water
What it tastes like: This one is actually not bad either. It tastes like a healthy version of apple cider. I don't hate it.

Mixed Nut Milk
Ingredients: raw almonds, hazelnuts, brazil nuts, cinnamon, dates, filtered water
What it tastes like: a creamy soy-based health drink. It's not bad, and although it's not sweetened the spices in it trick your mind into thinking it might be.

SO, the question is, how do I feel? Mostly like shit! I was ok until around lunchtime since I'm used to not eating breakfast (horrible I know). Then people started bringing food near me and smells started wafting in and I was pretty much ready to throw in the towel. And I've been TIRED as hell today, which I partially blame on a cold-turkey cutoff of caffeine. The pre-cleanse ritual involves slowly "cutting down or eliminating" caffeine, but up until today I was still drinking black tea, so today was technically my first 100% caffeine free day.

It should also be noted that when I got home from work, I broke down and "cheated" with 1/2 an avocado, which is an emergency measure that CAN CAN recommends if you feel like you're about to die. It was the best avocado I've ever had.

We'll see what tomorrow brings! I'm hoping it'll be somewhat easier, but you never know. I'm still waiting for that clear-headed come-to-Jesus moment when I realize that I never want to eat animal fat again and that processed foods are the bane of human civilization. So far nothing except a vague craving for Wendy's.

Oh, and the highlight of my day was definitely coming home to find these babies waiting for me:



Here's to a brighter, healthier tomorrow.