my silly little sister. who is now 15.

desert boots.

I've secretly been wanting desert boots for a few weeks now, but it wasn't until last week when one of my friends agreed that desert boots can be cute for girls too that I knew I wanted desert boots. I thought I'd be searching for awhile, but I found a pair on Black Friday! They aren't Clarks, but that's ok because I wanted either a navy or army green color, and Clarks only come in various shades of brown for women. I'm so excited to wear them this week!

musings about fashion with Arden.

I've always prided myself in my love of color, but I had a realization that isn't really profound because I think I'm the last person in New York to realize it, but, black really is the color of choice. It's slimming, effortlessly chic and it really does go with everything.
This afternoon over lunch, I was talking about fashion with my friend from high school, Arden—a New Yorker, currently residing in the suburbs of Michigan. She was telling me how the dress code at our high school (I graduated two years ago and she's a junior) has gotten stricter since I graduated, but the ever changing dress code still doesn't stop the female population from wearing leggings and uggs all day, every day. Then we discussed dressing for yourself, something that's hard to do when you go to a private school that has a pretty strict dress code.

I love clothes and I love dressing up, but I know I still don't fully 'dress for myself.' I think I've become more comfortable with wearing what I want and not caring what others think, but I'm not quite as fearless as I'd like to be. This fall, I've noticed myself wearing a darker color palette—navys, greys, blacks, etc. Maybe this is a sign that I'm starting to become a New Yorker (whatever that means)?

black skinny jeans, black wool cape, cashmere scarf, canvas tool bag.

oh what a wonderful day!

Today, I spent the best Saturday I've had in a while with my good friend Justine. Our plan was to go to the Murray Guy Gallery for my class assignment then go to Chelsea Market. Well, today also happened to be the launch of the Lanvin x H&M collection, and after seeing my roommate's goodies, Justine and I knew we had to see the collection for ourselves.
First we went to the gallery and saw an interesting, but somewhat creepy exhibit, and then we headed over to Chelsea Market. We each got two brownies from Fat Witch (pumpkin and turtle witches for me!) and then Justine got some breakfast treats from Amy's Bread. While we were searching for the gallery, we found that there's an Artichoke sit down restaurant at 17th and 10th ave! We shared the Artichoke and the Crab pizza.
Finally, we went to the Herald Square and 34th st H&M to see the Lanvin stuff. Sadly, all the accessories were sold out! But we each snatched up a dress. literally! The collection is easily completely sold out in Manhattan. too bad. I really wanted that pink necklace!

this year's birthday party dress perhaps?

museums.

This semester for my art history class, we're required to go to museums every other week, which I love! But, I realized something this week while I was at the Met: I don't actually like being in a museum. Allow me to explain. First, I prefer to go to a museum by myself, that way I can spend as little or as much time in an exhibit. Also, because museums are institutions of high culture, I like to dress the part and project the image of a chic young woman. Obviously I enjoy the art, so what part of museums do I not like? It's the other people. Museums are tourist attractions (especially the Met) and they tend to be really, really crowded on Tuesdays (which is when I go to museums) because who else has time to go to a museum on a Tuesday afternoon? Tourists! that's who. I realize this is a hypocritical complaint, because I go to museums when I'm a tourist, but it really hit me at the Met because there were SO many people.
On a sidenote: I actually got lost in the Met the other day. I saw the John Baldessari exhibit which is what I needed to see for class, then I thought, hey, I'm up here. I may as well look at the other exhibits! So I did. First, I looked at the Khubilai Khan, then made my way to the French impressionist room, then that's when I got lost. I honestly had no idea where I was in the museum and I didn't want to ask one of the guards what the quickest exit was...because that seemed silly. After 45 minutes (ish) I somehow found the exit, but it was actually a happy 45 minutes! I realized that I definitely want to go back to the Met one or more times before I leave in December.

the steps of the Met

I love color, so I was in awe when I saw this!

really cool installation art

talented art student.

sisters.

Earlier this week I found an incredible flickr account. It's this photographer who lives in southern California with his family, and he started this blog when his mother got sick, so she wouldn't be able to see her grandchildren as often. The subject of most of the pictures is relevant to childhood and growing up (birthdays, losing your first tooth, etc.), but he has Kristin and Kayla pose in very creative fashions! My friend David and I are literally obsessed with these girls. Here's one of my favorites:

flickr.com/jwlphotography

that weird time period between fall and winter.

ok, I couldn't come up with anything clever, but I think the title is pretty self explanatory. In New York, we've definitely reached that period (temperature wise) where it's pretty chilly to just wear my fall coat, but not quite cold enough to wear my winter coat. I was telling my mom about this sometime last week, and she suggested I start layering one of my fur vests underneath my coat. One word: genius. I don't care how ridiculous I may look, I'm sooo warm. At first, I was a bit self conscious about having this giant furry collar-esque thing peeking out of my coat, but now I love it! I love the way the "grandma fur" peeks out and contrasts with my military jacket. so cute.

Uniqlo +J shirtdress, Nordstrom faux fur vest, H&M military jacket