I haven't posted in a few weeks now, and that means that I'm a bit behind on sharing some of my favorite recent manicures! I especially liked the butterflies, I might even try that one again. I think the reason those ended up being at the top of my list is that they reminded me of two childhood toys.
I don't know if anyone had either of these but I remember being obsessed. I begged for the first one when I was little, and those nails immediately brought me back.
Also nail related, I've been thinking about starting a nail blog. I don't know exactly how I'd go about it, but I'm keeping it in mind. I already spend far too much time perusing other peoples' nail blogs.
It is hard to believe that I've been going to school in Manhattan for just over a month and so much has already happened. I haven't done my best at keeping up with sharing all that excitement with you, which means that although I'm sure each exciting thing that has happened deserves its own post, I'm going to attempt a little bit of condensing.
I had barely been in New York when Fashion's Night Out came around. I had been envious in years prior when I was stuck back home with no fashion events to speak of during FNO, which made me all the more excited to be able to participate this year. I tried to make my night worth it, squeezing in a trip to Bloomingdales to meet Rachel Zoe, a stop at Tiffany's to see Leighton Meester perform, and a quick stop at Coach to meet Seth Meyers. I am still seeing pictures on facebook from events I wish I could have made it to, but I think I made the most of the night. Just in September I have met more celebrities than I have in all of my life.
After kicking off fashion week with FNO, I was ready to get in on all the fashion week volunteer opportunities made available by FIT. I believe I ended up standing in lines for a total of four hours in order to sign up (two of which were done in the rain) but it was all worth it. There is really nothing like seeing your first real fashion show. I was able to volunteer for two Elle Style360 fashion shows, Abbey Dawn and Samantha Black. I got to watch all of the Abbey Dawn show and although the collection wasn't my style, the atmosphere was great. Old school Avril Lavigne songs were blasting and everyone was happy to be there, especially when they realized they were in the same room as Kim and Kourtney Kardashian and Brody Jenner sine Kylie Jenner was walking in the show. Next I was able to go backstage and help with a show, which was another great opportunity. Nik from America's Next Top Model and Angela Simmons were both walking in the show which resulted in a lot of very excited volunteers. There was a lot of chaos backstage, but getting to be a dresser for a fashion show is an excellent experience.
Not everyday gets to be quite as exciting as fashion week, but another way I have found a lot of cool opportunities is through the merchandising society at FIT. Each week the club meets and has a guest speaker. So far I've had the opportunity to see/hear people from both Burlington Coat Factory and Macy's. The club also had each of its memebers work an hour each week in their student run store. Not only is this going to be a great job to put on my resume, but I also have a feeling it is going to really enhance my jewelry collection. So far I'm at one hour worked, and one purchase made.
One of my more recent bits of excitement was going to an event for Tyra Banks' new book, Modelland. I heard Tyra would be at Barnes and Noble the morning of the event and decided I couldn't miss out on the opportunity. I got there extra early and was able to get a seat right near the front after picking up a signed copy of the book. Before Tyra came out and spoke I also was able to meet Coco Rocha. I, of course, love Coco and could not have been any more excited when she sat in my row during the event. Seeing Tyra was great too, she talked about the book and answered a lot of audience questions. I guess I am becoming a bit celebrity obsessed because I even made a second trip last week to the New York Public Library for a different Tyra appearance. It was definitely worth going twice as soon as I hear Tyra sing "Be a Star" from the film she was in with Lindsay Lohan, Lifesize.
I'm glad I've finally shared a few of my favorite exciting moments from my time in New York. What was the most exciting thing that happened to you this month?
I guess despite the constant inspiration of living in New York and going to fashion school I still managed to let the past two weeks escape me in terms of blogging.
Getting back into the routine of blogging, I thought I'd share a particular piece of inspiration I picked up on in one of my fashion courses.
"Fashion must be the intoxicating release from the banality of the world."
I was happy to learn about a fashion quote I wasn't familiar with, and especially one I found so relatable. This Diana Vreeland quote perfectly describes fashion to me. Fashion is a means of escape when life is boring. When I read Vreeland's words for the first time I immediately imagined myself, in high school, always overdressed. The fashions you choose to wear don't have to suit the state of your world, rather they can alter your world. The perfect outfit can just add that little bit of necessary excitement to your day, and that is part of the magic of fashion.
I'd love to hear a quote you are enjoying at the moment!
If you are wondering why I'm starting today's post with a random shot of my bulletin board, the answer is that it's the home to my letter stating that I was a runner up in the Teen Vogue/CND nail art contest. I entered the contest back in the summer and didn't give it much thought after that. The first prize was going to fashion week, but at the time of the contest I was having a nail art related mental block and ended up just submitting something from the beginning of summer. I wasn't expected to hear anything back from Teen Vogue or CND, but around a week and a half this letter and twelve CND polishes showed up at my house!
I received 6 colors (Raspberry Plunge, Flashpoint, Electric Orange, Bicycle Yellow, Asphalt, and Oilslick) and 6 effects (Raspberry Sparkle, Copper Pearl, Sapphire Sparkle, Violet Shimmer, Gold Pearl, and Gold Shimmer), which can be layered over any other nail polish for a different result.
So far I've played around with most of the polishes and I love them. They are great quality, you can get a perfect opaque look in just one or two coats, and all the effects add so many different options. I haven't had the chance to do any crazy nail art with these just yet, but since this is a nail post, I thought I'd include a few of my recent favorites at the end!
That's it for now, hope your week is off to a great state!
My first week at college was definitely eventful. There were a few too many orientation events, an earthquake, a lot of Pinkberry, and a hurricane.
I am supposed to start my classes tomorrow (after the first day of school had to be pushed back for Irene.) I feel like I'm starting to settle in (although I still need to get on the wall decorating) and I'm even en route to signing up for volunteering for fashion week. There is a lot of other excitement coming up, like Labor Day in New York and Fashion's Night Out.
I'm hoping to post pictures of my dorm soon but I still need to buy a rug and start hanging things on the walls. I don't know what to expect my work load to be like just yet, but I'm hoping to keep my posts regular especially because I know I already have a lot of new blogging material to work with.
Happy Monday! Hope you weathered the hurricane well. I'm off to prepare for a floor meeting, learn to do laundry, and hopefully fit in time to do my nails again.
I decided I should try to squeeze in one last post from home amidst all my rushed packing. (I've never been very good with not procrastinating!) Tonight I'm driving up to just outside of New York and then on Sunday morning I'll be moving into my dorm.
I can't believe I'm about to start college. I haven't had much time to think about it because I've spent my last few days trying to finish up a bunch of different things. I've done more shopping this week than I have in the longest time.
Yesterday I dedicated a good five hours of my day to getting my hair done before moving in. I had a keratin smoothing treatment done, and so far I love it. I'll definitely be posting about that more very soon.
That is all for now because every time I look up there seems to be a new person at my door offering something else I can't forget to do in the next few hours! I'll be blogging again in the next few days, but from a brand new location.
Jeans have always been one thing I definitely don't enjoy shopping for (and I love to shop.) This mostly stems from the fact that I have a lot of trouble finding jeans that fit me right. I usually have to dedicate a long shopping trip or two to finding new jeans, involving trying on many pairs that don't fit right or are just freakishly long on me. After these trips are finished I often still find myself with jeans that still only fit "just okay", or sometimes worse.
So when I found myself in need of new jeans again, I decided to cut out all the struggle of trying to locate affordable and well fitting jeans by heading straight to Nordstrom. And it was as simple as that! I went into Nordstrom, asked the sales girl for suggestions on dark wash straight leg jeans that aren't too low of a rise. She immediately grabbed a pair of Citizens of Humanity Ava jeans. I tried on a few different sizes and found a pair that fit perfectly. They do alterations for free there so I didn't have to even take the length issue into consideration.
I debated about getting two pairs of the same style of jeans, but ended up deciding on a bootcut pair too in order to mix it up a little and better suit an outfit with heels. The salesperson told me that not many jeans have just a slight bootcut right now, most of them are a more dramatic flare, but once they would hem them for my height the flare would mostly be gone. She pulled a pair of Paige Premium Denim Skyline jeans and sure enough they were the perfect choice again.
In the end my two new pairs of jeans cost me a lot more than I'm used to, but I'm at peace with that since the higher cost was in exchange for less stress, better customer service, and most importantly a great fit and the right length.
Do you usually splurge on jeans or have you managed to find the perfect pair for a jealousy inducing price?
