Mimosas, Black and Being in Love

Let's have a chat about what inspires me...well first off mimosas are very inspiring as well as drinks that come in fabulous fruit instead of cups but I like to think that alcohol is not the only thing that inspires me.  Ok, honestly, I am inspired by many and I mean many things but lately it has been a lot of romantic ideas that have been getting my creativity flowing.  Weird, I know because I am a soul-less ginger who believes everything is better in black but really I have this new romanticism thing going for me.  I have decided that even though I am completely broke, like living below the poverty line and using money that is not mine to pay my outrageous rent that I must, I absolutely must have real flowers on my coffee table.  Do you know how over priced flowers are, especially because the only decent flower shop I have found is in my best friend's really overpriced neighborhood! Along with flowers I have become accustomed to writing frilly notes to everyone I know because I was inspired by sappy romantic movies that didn't have texting to talk to people (if we are friends check your mail!).  I have found myself walking around Chicago on several occasions lately smitten...which means I'm the weirdo walking around with an unusually high bun and a stupid smile plastered on her face looking at the buildings like a tourist.  But it is a romantic idea that all my dreams can come true , I can fall in love and live happily ever after like all those stories tell me I can.  I mean this idea that I can have flowers, and a charming apartment, and a handsome lover is well, inspiring.  I won't lie I am slightly delusional in a Holly Golightly kind of way (minus the cat) but it is true that I have found myself on a bender of whimsy lately.  Somewhere between looking for a job, trying to be social, and studying for the LSAT I find myself in love with so many new things, and I am not the kind of person who loves anything except sky high heels and a cup of coffee.  Somehow 5 months in this city has melted my black heart and here I am romantic ideas coupled with black blazers and ball gowns is where I have found my life lately.  I may be slightly unemployed but, everything will work out as it should.
Whatever inspires you own it!

xxx
B

Misery Business

I learned something today, nothing in life is worth being miserable over.  If you aren't happy get the hell out of dodge.  No apologies needed just go and find your happiness.  Being 23 is weird enough, no idea where my life is going, let alone how I am going to pay my bills because I had to have those $300 shoes and I really did need to eat the most expensive thing on the menu last night.  This is my life and believe me I'm well aware that my decisions are reckless but those shoes are killer and my meal was delicious.  So why should I spend any of my time being miserable, well believe me I am so over it.  Nothing and I mean nothing is worth it.

This leads to an important life lesson, growing up is about being honest.  Honest about what I want, what I need, what I feel and who I am.

That being said so far I know that I want a job I like and a guy whom I love.  Also I have decided that I want to be a force to be reckoned with, the kinda girl who walks into a room and you know she has arrived, the girl who walks like murder, laughs like nothing you've ever heard, and is the kinda girl you can't get enough of.  I have this very romantic sense of how I want life to be and I am sure as hell going to make my little dream world a reality.  I have always dreamed of this life I could have, so why not start having it now?  I dare anyone to tell me no...

Sometimes life doesn't come up all roses, believe me but maybe if I start being honest, being you know me, things will get rosier on the horizon.  Since recently quitting the misery I am already 10x the person I was yesterday so I can't begin to imagine who I am going to be by tomorrow.

My advice get honest, real honest.

xxx
B

Becoming Elle Woods

Do you think she woke up one morning and said "I think today I'll go to Law School"?

Yes that is exactly what happened, sort of...

Anyone who knows me knows I love a good argument.  I will even try to make a bad argument a good one at times.  If you again find yourself in the small circle of people who know me you know that my degree is in fashion merchandising.  Now regardless of whether or not you know me you have put together the pieces that yes I am a living version of Elle Woods or at least I am hoping to be.  My whole life I have been told that I would make an incredible lawyer.  So why not see if what everyone thinks is true.  But don't get me wrong I love fashion, I do and if I can spend the rest of my life immersed in it and doing something fabulous I will die happy but I have learned the world is a big scary place and why not have education on your side and why not have a degree in something you are already really good at...

I mean "What? Like it's hard?"

Ok Elle got it wrong, its going to be absurdly hard!  And believe me I will probably be taking the LSAT in 4" heels and my study sessions will involve lots of Starbucks, the only thing missing is the sorority house to make my studying a team effort.  And with my visits to salon lately helping me get back to the blonde I once loved it seems fitting to take a Legally Blonde approach.  But since opening my first study guide I have quickly realized maybe I am not so good at this whole law school thing.  This realization has only fueled my desire to take the test though and score really fucking high because if I'm going to commit I'm going to really commit.  Which means there very well might be scented paper involved and a video essay involving a hot tub and sparkling bikini.

So let the studying begin, because when I score over a 160 I am going to have some big decisions to make and Ivy Leagues to impress.  Then I will be ready to change the world one case at a time all while killin it in Manolo's and Prada (not last seasons)

xxx
B

Carrie Bradshaw Moment

I like to play dress up and from day to day act as if I am Carrie Bradshaw living the fabulous life drinking champagne and wearing Manolos.  However most days you will find me in ripped jeans and a giant sweater that is more like a blanket with sleeves but anyways I like to play dress up.  Well last night was date night and because I lost a bet and finally got a reservation we were going to be dining at best steak house in Chicago on me.  This meant I had every intention of dressing up and making a thing of it, which is exactly what I did.  Not to mention this restaurant makes the best champagne cocktail, it is straight out of The Great Gatsby so believe me this was going to be an affair to remember.  No one who knows me will find this surprising and those of you who have no idea who the hell I am well you should have a decent idea by now.

I decided an appropriate outfit would be a nearly floor length tutu, cashmere sweater and silver italian leather pumps.  I love wearing a statement skirt, specifically tutus so when I happened upon this gem in Anthropologie I knew it was love at first sight and one day I would find myself wandering down streets walking home with a gentleman and know that I was having a real Carrie Bradshaw moment.  And low and behold that night was last night.  I found myself at 11pm wrapped up in a fairytale and realizing that I am becoming exactly who I want to be.

xxx
B

ps.  I highly recommend Champagne Cocktails!

 Outfit Details: Skirt from Anthropologie, Heels from Jcrew, Sweather Jcrew, Necklace Vintage Pearls.

Let's Have a Drink

I love a glass of champagne, I could drink champagne daily if I society didn't call people that drink daily and sometimes alone alcoholics and if alcohol wasn't so expensive in Chicago.  For me champagne fixes everything, it makes an ordinary day feel like a celebration and a crappy day seem like a minor hiccup in the grand scheme of things.  Champagne makes one feel rich and glamorous even when its being drank in sweats watching Sex and the City.   It is safe to say champagne is one of the best inventions besides high heels.   I am truly the kind of girl who would be happy with flowers in her hair and champagne in her hand rather than diamonds around her neck and wrists.  Because of this I have mastered the art of Champagne Cocktails so here is one of my favorites:

Cheers!

Photo Credit

COMMITMENT: one word with a huge meaning

Photo Credit: Tumblr 

Well I signed a one year lease on my little apartment in the Chicago Gold Coast.  I spent weeks looking for other places to live and working out all the details on paper but I decided my first apartment will stay my first apartment for the next year.  I will experience all the summer festivities and the horrible winter here.  Luckily my 15th floor studio is a block from my new (second) job at Kate Spade.  Which side bar I am very excited to start because filling my days with beautiful things from a brand I adore is going to be exciting.  But back to commitment...I am officially staying in Chicago, not that I was planning on leaving after my sublet ended but it is all very, and I mean very real now.  It is also extremely exciting, like I have spent the day making my apartment really feel like home, and making sure it is everything I could want in my first apartment!

My whole life commitment has been a slight issue, I either jump in head first with no thought or I detail everything that could happen good or bad.  I lean towards planning extensively and making sure there is really nothing that could go wrong.  And typically I go with the safe option and have several backup plans.  This time I just went with my gut and let's be honest a lot can go wrong in this situation.  I have chosen to let go of all the what ifs I have managed to dream up and jump head first with my fingers crossed which I think is something people should do more often.

When you think about it making a commitment is really more exciting than it is scary.  So what if things go wrong, really, really wrong? You learned something didn't you.  The best example of this is falling in love, you can't be scared of loving someone because you could miss out on the best times of your life, you could let the best thing that has ever happened to you slip out of your fingers based on fear.  I love Chicago and yes she could royally fuck me six ways to sunday but I bet that sunday will still be my favorite day of the week.  You can't control life you just have to allow yourself to commit especially in matters where your heart flutters and learn as you go!



So here's to Chicago the biggest commitment I have made for now, come visit!

xxx
B

Photo Credit: Tumblr

Some Say it Takes a Village...

I prefer to call it a Band of Bitches...

In this world you need to have people to stand by you and believe me if I didn't know that before I moved I know it now.  Girlfriends/Bitches are your soul mates, they are who stand by you and pour you that last shot you shouldn't have and in the morning they do not judge they go to lunch with you and plan the next adventure.  The world is lonely and I live alone now so I have learned that while I love living alone I really miss my old roommate coming home and watching Dance Moms with me or making me a grilled cheese after a long day.  When I am sitting on the bus and there are two girls chatting and drinking Starbucks I get a little misty and remember all the coffees and conversations I have had with my bitches back home.  You don't realize that in friendships it is really the little things that will make you cry after you leave them behind and embark on a new adventure.  Also making friends is going to be the death of me, one because I suck at it and two because I am not kidding when I say I HATE EVERYONE...ok maybe I am kidding a little bit but seriously I do not know how to make friends.

How does a slightly single girl in the city find bitches...

I have a couple friends who I knew before I moved here and luckily one had a great girlfriend whom I like so we can add one to Team Bitches and I know a couple others whom I just need to get in touch with but I am learning that adult relationships require time and work and I can barely handle myself attempting to date a boy much less add girls into the mix.  So, back to why having bitches is so important...well first off being able to be like "hey wanna go kill a couple hours at Starbucks" and have someone agree would change my life! If I asked the boy I'm dating if he was cool with chillin' and eating at Starbucks he would act like I was crazy.  As I am writing this I am in Starbucks and was really contemplating asking him to meet me here for dinner.  Which leads me to the other thing, who am I supposed to call to drink wine and eat takeout and bitch about the boy I am dating....my communication with my band of bitches back home is solely through text except when I cried on my birthday to Alex because well I was having a meltdown over feeling alone in the big city, which lets be honest I am not completely alone but my first birthday where everyone wasn't making plans to hang out with me was weird.   But when you move things change and people kinda forget about you and forget that you are in a huge city practically alone so they also forget you might need them to call and check in.  I forget this quite often seeing as I have not called anyone back home who is not immediate family since I moved.  I guess ultimately I need to find some bitches because I really miss the bitches back home and while they can most definitely not ever be replaced but I could use some girl on girl!

xxx
B

Chicago and Blyss

      (photo credit: mofosodope tumblr)

There is something to be said about just saying "yes" and figuring the rest out later.  It has been two weeks since I moved to the magical city of Chicago.  My tiny studio apartment in the Gold Coast has become my office, my sanctuary, and my source of inspiration.  It helps that I am blocks from all the great shopping and some pretty delectable food but that is a blessing and a curse as well.  In the two weeks I have been here I have been to a Bulls game, a Blackhawks game, and a Cubs game so I have a whole new appreciation for sports and their fans.  I have also learned how not to dress when attending these events and the idea that when in doubt overdress does not apply to all occasions, and it is ok to wear a t-shirt and jeans in the city.  I find this very exciting because although I love expensive pretty things the fact that people are very casual here makes my heart happy! I can dress like a homeless person and not be judged! HALLELUJAH.  I have also fallen in love with walking everywhere, on days when I am overdressed for meeting a boy for drinks after work I get validation that I am doing alright because people are staring and I almost forgot how much I missed that.

Ok but in all seriousness, I think the scariest part is I don't have a job that pays my rent, finding a job is a lot harder than they make it out to be in college and really how far is Target because that is one place I can't live without.  I have left behind everything I have known for the past 23 years and decided that I am going to find myself and grow up in a city I hardly know.  It is exciting and terrifying but in the best way.  I have every opportunity to do whatever I want and really do something incredible with my life.

So here I am sharing this whole journey with the rest of the world, all the fashion, mishaps, adventures, and lots of champagne.  Ladies and Gentlemen welcome to the life of a girl with a band of bitches(who are now far far away from me) and a love of all things fabulous!

xxx
B