Fringe Cardigan

Do you guys remember that scene in The Princess Diaries when Anne Hathaway’s character is changing in the back of the limo and her driver tells her they asked if he wanted the black pumps he bought her wrapped or if he wanted to wear them out the store? (Then he says one of my favorite lines: “I’ve never put on pantyhose, but it sounds dangerous.” This is true, even if you aren’t putting them on in the back seat of a car in hilly San Francisco.) I had never heard the phrase “wear them out the store” but after that, I was obsessed with wanting to purchase a pair of fancy shoes and walk out with them on, leaving my old shoes there, like a badass. That is hard to accomplish when you buy most of your shoes online or at Target. I finally got to experience my perfect wear-it-out-the-store moment when I bought a pink, fringe cardigan at H&M.

One summer day, I decided to wear a pink ribbed tank with a pair of denim shorts. I hate these kinds of tops, which are famously called wife beaters. They remind me of scenes from movies of extremely sweaty people, and not Hugh Jackman-cute sweaty. For some reason, that is what I wore. Later that day I went to the mall with my awesome friend Ana. Has anyone else noticed that people turn into zombies at the mall? It is seriously weird how slow and awkward people get. Anyway, I felt really uncomfortable and cold in my trashy outfit and needed something to cover up with. When I saw the cardigan at H&M I immediately knew I would buy it. I had it on while we continued to scan the racks then took it off to pay for it and wore it out the store. No bags, no tags, just my dream coming true. This was the only picture I could find of it online. 

Photo credit: Ahslee V from Lookbook.nu

I love anything fringe (expect the show Fringe). It is my dream to find a white leather jacket with fringe so I can dress up like Sloane Peterson from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off for Halloween or a themed movie watching party. So, naturally, I adored every aspect of the H&M cardigan—the long, delicate fringe, the kimono sleeves, and the subtle shimmer it produced when you danced around in it.

I would have worn it every day except most of my friends advised against it. They said it was best left for Coachella, which I had never heard of at the time so I wasn’t sure if it was an insult or a compliment to my free-spirited taste in clothing. Either way it sat in my wardrobe never seeing the Roman sun. 

I packed it with the rest of my belongings that were left there and no longer have it. I like to believe that a young Gypsy woman found it and was able to use its charming powers to get a job at Zara, allowing her to leave the panhandling lifestyle.

T-shirts

You know how sometimes T-shirts can feel tight or stiff? I can’t stand most shirts because they feel too tight around the collar; it makes me feel claustrophobic. It’s the same reason I don’t wear turtlenecks or hoodies.

Man, I cannot stand hoodies. The hood part gets balled up around your neck and you look like a turtle (turtle, turtle). The pocket does no good for holding things, the sleeves are incredibly baggy. Honestly, how can people like that? Going for a jog in the park is the only acceptable excuse for wearing a hoodie in public, which is why I get grossed out when people wear them to dinner.

Hoodies that have elbow holes will make you look homeless. With t-shirts, a worn-in look makes you look like a rock star. In fact, the more holes the better. But if you pull an Adam Levine and buy your shirts with existing holes I will make you put a dollar in the douchebag jar.

While most people collect pressed pennies from museums, I personally enjoy purchasing ridiculous items from the gift shop. It is like my way of supporting the museum until I can afford memberships. 

When I went to the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in D.C. I bought a souvenir shirt that was so soft it didn’t need breaking in. I would even say it was softer than kitten taint, which is a term Zach Braff coined to describe his Kickstarter shirts. I truly loved the shirt because of my experience there. I remember leaving the Air and Space Museum wanting to work for the Smithsonian one day, and not as a night guard. 

The garment doubled as a form of comfort-- I loved coming home after a long night of waiting tables and snuggling into it. 

The day after I arrived in Illinois from Rome, I nearly cried when I found out it wasn’t in my suitcase. After I decided not to go back, and was unable to get stuff sent to me, it was gone forever. 

I hope to find a new shirt worthy of providing comfort during finals week and Netflix marathons when I visit the St. Louis Art Museum next weekend. 

Headbands

One element Blair Waldorf and I share is our love of headbands. 

The closest I've come to owning a designer-priced headband was this lilac one I bought from Saks Fifth Avenue. Being my first time there I didn't know what to expect in terms of price. I thought it was like Banana Republic, but with better lighting. I only made it as far as the accessories when I realized I could not afford anything. But I saw the sparkly headband and lost it. I really wanted a new headband for my senior portrait so I bought it, for 23% off! And it was handmade! I thought was well worth the $27 until the ribbon started unraveling and I had to hot glue it back in place. 

At one point I owned about thirty headbands. I kept them neatly stacked on a mini-sized orange street cone I snagged from my school’s field house. It was brand new, I'm not going to take a dirty cone from the curb. How else will toys be able to cross busy streets?

As you might have guessed I no longer have thirty headbands, or the cone. Most of them broke or I let someone borrow one and never saw it again. I often wore them to work where I’d take them off and forget about them. The rest were left behind in Rome, including the lilac one from Saks. 

Now I’m into those knotted ones you see tutorials for on Pinterest. They don't make your head hurt so you can wear them for days. They never look this good on me, though! You can find cool designs for like $3.80 at Forever 21!  

Keep Calm

Like all normal people, I get pretty stressed when I lose things. However, I don't tend to lose important things like my phone or my keys or my house so the stress is never that bad I guess. If you happened to lose something in the midst of last night's festivities, keep calm! It will find its way back to you, like Luna Lovegood's shoes on the last day of Hogwarts. 

Happy birthday to everyone who believed the fireworks last night were really for them! I found this card just 4 U. It reminds me of something Caroline Channing from 2 Broke Girls would say in her best rapper voice.

Birthday Gifts Pt. 2

Happy 4th of July!!! 

My favorite birthday gift I lost was this silky, red scarf my best friend Karen gave me. It was from Italy and was the softest lace I have ever felt. It was absolutely gorgeous. But I consider it my favorite because of how she gave it to me. 

A bunch of my good friends met me at Cafe Brazil, the best place to have brunch in the Dallas area. They have like 30 different coffees to choose from and they have some pretty awesome carrot cake when it's fresh. All of their locations are decorated with local art that is for sell, which I love. Anyway, I got a lot of other really cool presents that year but I favor gifts that are themed. She handed me a small rustic trunk, like the kind you can buy from Hobby Lobby that are strategically placed in the center of the aisle on your way to check out. Inside was a disposable camera, a journal, some felt-tip pens, and that red scarf. It was travel themed!! She even wrapped the notebook in a map and threw in some Euros too. It was all too much, especially the scarf. It was super dressy and silky so I only wore it for dressy occasions. Ironically (or maybe just unfortunately), I left it in Italy. I asked a friend to ship it to me when she came home for break, but it has not arrived yet. And I don’t think it ever will. 

I hope you've had your filling of grilled meat and veggies, and see some sick firework shows later tonight!

Birthday Gifts

I remember the year my sister started waiting tables because that was the year she started buying me birthday presents. She would come home with her apron full of cash. Too young to have any real bills, she spent it like most teenagers did. On their younger sister, of course! I like to think initially she thought she could make up for wearing my clothes without permission by getting me really neat stuff. Or maybe it was just sisterly love. Whatever the reason, those were the things I always lost.

The first year she got me this clear, heart-shaped locket with charms that were related to my hobbies inside. The gift was very thoughtful, but I hardly wore it because I was always afraid it would pop open and all of the charms would spill out. Eventually, she noticed and I didn't want her to stop buying me stuff so I wore it to school. Big mistake, guys! I had to spend the entire afternoon searching the floors for a tiny softball and an itty-bitty painter's palette. I never found them so I just wore it empty after that. I think it still looked pretty. Sadly, I lost it along with a lot of other jewelry in Rome.

 The next year I received a set of Breakfast at Tiffany’s glasses. It was my favorite movie that year. I even went as Holly Golightly for Halloween. I took the glasses with me to Rome (I thought I was going to live there forever) and left them in my Ikea apartment. I use to drink blood orange juice out of one every morning. I hope they are in good hands now.

The last thing I remember getting from her was this Tootsie Roll clock. I seldom eat the chewy candies now, but still have it! Knowing my luck, I will lose it when we move next month.

 

If my sister doesn't know about my careless gift keeping she sure does now. 

Birthdays

Ew!

On Friday I turn 20. I have a weird relationship with birthdays. As a child, practically every birthday was shared with my younger sister whose birthday falls three days later. I never minded sharing so long as my mom bought carrot cake and not soggy tres leches cake every Mexican family insists on having for every single celebration. (One year my mom got me a cake filled with barbarian cream, you know that stuff that’s in donuts, and it rocked.) As I got into my teens my mom stopped doing the double cake thing. Instead, she would buy me one special thing from the mall, like a Napoleon Dynamite bed set from Hot Topic. It was the best, you guys. Napoleon knows what I'm talkin' about.

Now, though, I find myself not wanting anything, but maybe a good brunch and a night out dancing. But I can see that never happening because everyone is always tired and hung over from their 4^th of July festivities. Whatever. Table for one is easier than table for five at brunch anyway. 

I believe that after you turn 21 you should give up wanting special treatment on your birthday, except free drinks/desserts because those things are always over-priced so it’s cool. I honestly feel like birthdays are nothing to make a big hoot about and when girls who are 28 make a big hoot I feel sad for them. Don’t wear a stash that reads “Birthday Girl” all day long. Don’t delete everyone who didn’t post birthday wishes on your Facebook wall. Don't think it's okay to be a diva just because it's your birthday. Mindy Kaling also thinks birthdays are overrated:

Anybody can have a birthday. It requires nothing. Murderers have birthdays. It’s the opposite of anything that I believe in. And I don’t like at work where you stop everything to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to someone. I feel like that’s for children.

I am not saying to completely ignore the fact that you’ve made it another year, but don't make it a big shebang every time. 

This year, my cool boyfriend got me exactly what I wanted. I love accessories that are inspired by nature and when I saw this nest ring from Swell Caroline on Pinterest I had to have it. I was going to buy the ring as a reward for getting all A’s spring semester, but he insisted I wait and buy what I really needed (new Keds). It came early so I got to open it today. I absolutely adore it! It is lighter that I thought it would be and fits great. Swell Caroline is perfect if you're into monogrammed jewelry, and they occasionally have unique things like nest rings. 

Stay tuned for birthday gifts that I've lost.

www.swellcaroline.com

P.S. If you haven't read Mindy’s book, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?(And Other Concerns), you are sorely missing out. You can find it on Amazon!