What I'm Reading...

Since I haven't done any book reviews or recommendations recently. I thought it might be nice to tell you what I'm reading/read this past week. I'd love to hear what you're reading as well since I am always on the hunt for a good book.

1. My Name is Memory, Ann Brashares - This was really good. Surprising me actually because I read her last adult fiction book and thought it was barely ok. Apparently this is the first in a line of three books and I cannot wait to find out what happens next.

2. Sh*t My Dad Says, Justin Halpern - Laugh out loud funny. Probably the funniest thing I've read since Are You There Vodka? It's Me Chelsea. Super quick read - you can finish this in a night and still have time for The Real Housewives...

3. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Betty Smith - Somehow I missed this in high school and book club has ignited a passion in me to read a bunch of classic books "you should read". I wasn't a huge fan at the beginning - it just sort of dragged along - but I'm over halfway through and hooked. I read Angela's Ashes a long time ago and this reminds me of that (although I guess it's the other way round since this came first). Same premise - poor family growing up in NY trying to make ends meet.

4. The Life and Opinions of Maf the Dog and of his Friend Marilyn Monroe, Andrew O'Hagan - Ok I had heard a ton of good things about this but I got close to halfway through and just wasn't loving it. I couldn't get into it at all. The dog has somewhat interesting stories but spends half his time spouting off philosophy... I ended up returning it unfinished.

So that's my list so far. I'll try to keep you updated.

All That Glitters...

I have been obsessed with glitter and sequins this season. So shiny and sparkly and fun! The thing is if it's hard to find capes... it's even harder to find glitter and sequins done right. Everything I found looked too young, too dance costume, or too expensive... What's a girl to do?

And magazines aren't helping my obsession (see below for proof - sorry the images are so darn blurry - but camera phone and trying to take a quick photo at lunch -- obviously doesn't make a good blog post!).

How cute are those heels? I want a pair of sparkly shoes so badly!

Well I did finally nab an awesome Loft cardigan with a sequin trim. Love! And I have an old pink Express cardigan with sequins on it - I mean the thing is circa 2004 and still looks amazing. It pays to take care of your clothes people! But that was the extent of shimmery entering my wardrobe.

I figured I'd try to find a perfect nail polish instead. Cheap. Easy to change if I don't love it. And I love nail polish colors. I will try anything at least once (which is crazy funny because in high school when it's perfectly acceptable to wear randomness on your fingers all I wanted was baby pink)... anyway I digress...

I looked high and low for glitter nail polish. But didn't love anything I found. Either they didn't have a color I liked or it wasn't enough shimmer... But this weekend I solved my dilemma. I found China Glaze Fairy Dust. It's basically clear polish with glitter in it so you can turn any of your polishes into a glitter polish with an easy top coat of this stuff. I tried it Friday and maybe a royal mess of my nails (too rushed trying to go out and get the perfect mani)... but I tried again and although not perfect (as evident by the photo below) it looks pretty darn good. I layered Fairy Dust over China Glaze in Avalanche for a cool grey with sparkles - perfect for all this cold winter weather. I'm in love! Let me know what you think!



Avalanche is the left and Fairy Dust is on the right.

I can't wait to try Fairy Dust over all my fav colors to see the results! And now I'm a happy camper until I can find some awesome glitter shoes...
Just a word to the wise before I sign off - the girl at the beauty store talked me into a base coat... ok unless you have more patience than I do - totally not worth it. I think that's why my nails didn't work out Friday. It took forever to dry with three coats (base, grey, glitter)... augh. I don't keep polish on long enough to worry about it. It worked perfectly fine with a nice solid coat of grey and a light coat of Fairy Dust on top. Happy Painting!

Little Red Riding Hood... aka I Love Capes

I am in absolute love with capes this season. I keep hoping and praying one will turn up at Loft, Limited or Old Navy (surprisingly or not ON is a great place to find trendy winter coats) but no such luck. So I'm stuck lusting after this one... that's crazy out of my price range and green...

I stopped watching Gossip Girl this year. I just couldn't keep up and I need the extra night of no TV to do other things. But I still heart Blair and her chic updated Audrey Hepburn looks. This green cape and yellow shoes are simply delish. source: www.thelovecollage.com.

Do you know how hard it is to find pictures of capes? Apparently the only places that remotely sell them are stores that charge more than my mortgage payment for one. And when I do a Google search - all I get is crazy things like Halloween costumes, examination bibs for doctor's offices and other non-relevant information.

So would you wear this trend or not?

Yay! New Britney Single!

Did I mention that Britney Spears is only my most favorite singer. So excited for March!

It's all about the shoes

I feel like fashion this fall has just been ok. I've only bought one thing that I was craving - this cute little sweater jacket from The Limited. But while fashion disappoints - shoes almost never do... These are ones on my Christmas wish list. All shoes from http://www.ninewest.com/.



I really want grey ankle boots. I'm not sure why but they're just soo cute. These aren't the exact pair I saw at DSW but close enough.



I saw a girl at a wedding wearing similar shoes... I think hers were from Nina (I've seen them before). But these are on sale and still super cute. They scream garden party.



I have enough solid black shoes for now so I'm gradually adding fun shoes to my wardrobe. Fun includes anything multi-colored (which is surprisingly wearable!). I'm also drooling over a pair of bright blue Steve Madden's (will post another day).




Falling safely in the who needs practical shoes category these are on my wish list. I want them so badly the only thing stopping me from driving to Macy's right now is that they're closed. There's something so little girl fabulous about all the sparkles. And I think the shoe could be surprisingly day wearable if you pair it with toned down black pants and top. I would wear these to work and dare anyone to say anything about them. Sooo cute!



My Favorite Thing: Fall Fashion

I hate to see summer end. Sure it's about a hundred degrees in the shade but summer is by far my favorite season. The beach, more things to do, the bright colors, the white manis, sandals, flip flops, white pants, easy make-up... My second favorite season though would be when the seasons change. There's just something so great about all these fabulous new clothes hitting the stores. I pour over the quarterly fashion mags to see what's "in" for Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer... you name it. So with fall teasing us with cool mornings my favorite thing of the moment is all this fab fall fashion hitting the stores.

Here are a few of my favorites - let me know what you think.

Can I talk about how much I love this cardi/jacket? It's so Jackie O/Chanel/Audrey... I tried it on probably three times before I just gave up and bought it. And that's huge for me because my rule is don't buy it full price when you can wait for a fab sale. And of course it's from where else but The Limited.

Super cute tweed skirt from The Limited. I haven't bought it yet but don't think I haven't been eyeing this up as the perfect companion to the jacket above.

I love this lace skirt from The Limited. I'm trying to be good and wait for it to go on sale but every ounce of self control I have is forcing me not to run out to the store right this second and snatch it right up.

I've really gotten more into Ann Taylor Loft recently. I've snapped up a few good purchases at the end of summer sales and spent some time scoping out what I want when the sales start to hit. Here are a few finds...

This outfit is so super cute. I love the hat. The skirt, the jacket, everything. I want it.

How cute is this whole look? I'm loving her hat, the skinny jeans and the tweed jacket. The boots - not so much but you can't win them all. Target had a similar hat to both of these in a commercial for probably half the costs so I make snap that up just in case I find I'm not much of a hat girl.

One thing I'm loving about Ann Taylor and Loft is they carry petites which is huge if you're like me and barely 5'4. I hate having to get clothes hemmed. It costs even more money and is just a huge pain in the neck. If I can buy pants that are the perfect fit - amazing! (I will say my only problem is there are times when it's close - I'm not quite a regular but not quite a petite - nothing screams lame like high water pants that aren't intentional).

Ok this is it for now - I think I hear a netflix and glass of wine calling my name. I'll try to post more later of some more favs for fall - Ann Taylor (Loft's more expensive older sister) has some fab skirts and dresses and of course my jean favorite Old Navy has some really great skinny jeans for cheap. What are you shopping for this season?

I have a secret...

I started a new blog. I'm officially cheating on this blog.

The thing is - I read this story on CNN a few months ago that basically said you couldn't have a blog about everything. It just wouldn't work. (That was a bit of a downer). So I got it into my head - I could have a new blog. A blog about growing up or maybe it's just getting older...

So here it is: http://secretsofarealgirl.blogspot.com/

Check it out - follow if you like - and let me know what you think. I'm still going to post to this one because now I can officially have my cake and eat it too....