songs for style: 'girls' edition.

"what's with all the geisha shit?"

i think that may have been my favorite line in tonight's totally intriguing yet seriously disturbing episode of hbo's "girls." it even had me wondering and questioning my man as to whether he thinks i act like shoshanna - who was wearing ruffled sleeves in that scene and has a dress form in her bedroom - as much as i'd rather think i'm more like the cool and carefree jessa, whose costuming is incredible.

so, in honor of this season's sunday night obsession, which is even beats out "pretty little liars" in my tv world, today's song for style is fiona apple's "valentine," which aired on tonight's episode. (no...i did not choose kayne's "stronger," for anyone who watched marnie sing tonight and thought that's where i was going with this!) here's the link to download "valentine" on itunes.

just another reason why i love "girls." it reminded me how much i love fiona, and of my "romantic" anniversary gift a few months ago when we got to see her at the filmore down in miami...and how i got to wear the perfect dress, again.

side note: did you know there is a deborah lippmann line of limited edition "girls" nail polish on the hbo website?!?

say it's your birthday.

now that i'm over the age of 21, i no longer care much for my birthday. actually, that is probably only considered to be a half-truth, considering it may or may not have taken me until at least 25 to stop planning my own parties.

well, today is my birthday, and no, i'm not going to tell you which year. luckily, i have some way cool people in my life that made the day semi awesome. the "birthday suit" i got from urban outfitters helped a little too, mixing business with pleasure by adding spikes and color-blocking to an otherwise conservative collared, button-down dress. no pics yet, but i'm sure it'll show up on the blog soon enough. in the meantime, here's one of my instagram-inspired nail art courtesy of my new bff, van from tipsy spa.

back to those cool people i know. first, my man. probably the smartest guy i know...he sneaked a look at my pinterest page and purchased my latest obsession: these minty fresh, lace-up "troopa" boots by steve madden i found on zappos. (want your own? my green version is sold out, but the purple is a close second.)

barely over the excitement of my new boots - which, by the way, i plan on wearing every day i'm not working until the florida summer gets too hot - two of my lovely friends and coworkers also surprised me with gifts i can only assume are from francesca's collections at cityplace. love these goodies and the patterns: a wallet with colored bikes (that match my boots!) and a pretty lunch bag with little russian dolls.

they know me so well.

now i'm looking forward to a low-key happy hour at the wine dive on clematis street with my parents, little sis and of course, the guy who officially gets the title of the best gift-giver ever. after all, his past present resume does include a a sewing machine and lady gaga pit tickets.

p.s. i'm not yet 30, so your chances of guessing the correct age is one in four.

loVely nails.

memorial day weekend has been good to me so far, starting out with an early morning ocean swim with friends and a trip to the pool with my husband and jane austen today. it was followed by a manicure and pedicure with my friend jennifer at tipsy salon & spa in jupiter, which was much needed and a sweet thank-you she gifted me at her baby shower a few weeks ago.

it had been a while since i had my nails done, so i wanted to do something fun. i went with neon and neutral after seeing a cool chevron-ish design on pinterest recently from the french site, pshiiit.com. 

i had mine professionally done in gelish polish by tipsy's cute nail tech, lisa, but it'd be pretty easy to do it yourself too. just swipe on some nude-colored paint, followed by a thin "v" on each nail in neon pink to really make the color pop - and match my outfit, as you can see in the pic! you can use a very thin paintbrush if you have one, otherwise a toothpick might work if your base coat is dry already.

so as you can see, all in all it was a good, relaxing day. i rounded out the day with the new god bless america movie (not for the faint of heart, but pretty hilarious and scary at the same time), and some diy action, which you'll find out more about tomorrow...

girl on fire.

so at 12:19 a.m. eastern time, it's safe to say that high school girls on spring break, 20-something year old women and their significant others who were dragged along are all just getting into the first few minutes of what may be the movie of the year.

i might be obsessed with the books, but no, i am not one of those girls watching the hunger games tonight at the midnight premiere because frankly, i didn't expect to be up at this hour. my friend julie and i are going to see it tomorrow night and i cannot wait.

to get me even more excited, she surprised me with this cute katniss-inspired tee with the story's mockingjay pin worked into the iconic "love" sign...very appropriate. and yes, i will be rocking this to the movie tomorrow. my husband is pretty happy he will be in los angeles tomorrow so he does not have to be seen with me.

while it certainly did not turn out as well as the shirt, i also ordered some of china glaze's "capitol colours" a couple weeks ago, and i painted on a few swipes of "stone cold" to get prepped for tomorrow.
stay tuned for more hunger games-related posts after i get up-close looks of the "capitol" fashions tomorrow. until then, may the odds be ever in your favor...

gray is the new black

ok, so i know i'm not really ahead of the game on this one considering i only discovered gray nail polish in january and am just now posting about it, but i am still loving it. gray was a hot color for winter this year, but as a paler and less harsh version of black or silver, i think it can be incorporated into spring and summer fashions too.


my favorite is the above "on the prowl" color from mac's hello kitty line, but it's apparently everyone else's too because it's sold out online and at every store i went to! in the meantime i found a way to get my fix from mac's darker metallic "nightfall" and a bluish-gray l.a. girl polish i got from urban outfitters for only $5 (also sold at forever 21).

i was excited when i first learned of the gray polish trend because i had already been using sephora's wet & dry pale gray eye shadow for a while to line my lids. i had always heard purple tones make green eyes really pop, but since using this product i noticed that gray has the same effect.

gray is also good when i'm stuck in an outfit and neither black or brown quite matches...which is why i purchased this puffy jill stewart handbag that gets me through at least half of the days in a week. there are some great stone-colored chloe handbags on bluefly.com if you'd like to get one of your own, but if you're not sure you want to throw down $1,000 or even a few hundred like me, old navy and target have a few good picks.


lastly, here is a way i found to incorporate gray into my spring outfit. mixed with white checkers and subtle pink lines, this shirtdress from forever 21's new heritage line is perfect by day with gray or pink opaque footless tights and sandals, or by night with my washed out gray jeans (of course!), silver heels and dressed up accessories.


what do you think...can gray be a spring/summer color or is it strictly for winter? how would you wear it?