Friend Friday - Hair Care

Oh, heck yeah, I'm behind (again), but I have a good excuse - second week on the job and two business trips, one of which involved an unplanned stay at the Atlanta airport Thursday night.  Thank you weather.  I slept a grand total of 1 1/2 hours between Thursday and Friday and those 1 1/2 hours were spent on a bench in Terminal A (don't be jealous).  Worst part was I decided to not take my laptop because it was supposed to be a quick trip.  Joke was on moi.  And no, there weren't any rental cars to be had and I have a dumbphone so I was internet-less and I don't recommend that at all.  In the meantime here are my answers better late than never.  Thanks again to Katy and check out what everyone else had to say here!

Source: beauty.about.com via Jenny on Pinterest

1. How often do you get your hair cut?
Not as often as I would like.  I used to do it every 6-8 weeks, now I'm lucky to get it cut every 4 months.

2. Do you go to the same stylist each time, try someone new, go to the cheap hair cutting chains or live it up in a salon?
I try to stick with the same person.  I had the BEST stylist when I lived in Westchester, NY - gosh, she rocked.  I've yet to find one I like here so I'm still shopping around.

Source: beauty.about.com via Jenny on Pinterest

3. Do you color your hair? How often? What’s your natural color?
Yeah, totally color my hair.  Again, I used to do it every 6-8 weeks when I got my hair cut (the good ol' days as I refer to them).  I color my hair myself now to save some coin and I aim for every 8 weeks.  As for my natural color, I haven't seen it since I was 18, but I think it's a mousy brown/dark blonde - I have noticed some *gulp* grey hairs as of late.  Not happy.

Source: fashionison.com via Jenny on Pinterest

4. The one thing you always do to keep your hair looking great is:
Well, I have to say keeping on top of cutting and coloring, that always made my hair look amazing.  My hair hasn't looked really good since I got pregnant (hormones), so I'm still trying to figure out what will make my hair look like it used to.

5. What hair trend do you love and wish you could rock?
Anything stick straight.  Never can pull that off, my thick hair will not cooperate at all for that sort of thing.

Friend Friday - Outside Influences

Source: vogue.it via Jenny on Pinterest

A quick update, we are knee deep in moving and I started my new job so needless to say things are crazy.  CRAY-ZEE!  I thought I was so on top of my game last week with some posts ready to be written and then the whole Blogger insanity happened so those never materialized.  I finally was able to recover the draft of this post that was supposed to go up last Friday.  Oh well, welcome to my life right now.  Hopefully by June things will have calmed down and blogging will be a bit more regular.  In the meantime...

I'm joining (a bit late) Katy at Modly Chic for Friend Friday!  Today's topic is outside influences.  Don't forget to head over and check out everyone's answers here!

1. What magazines do you subscribe to?
I'm a magazine-a-holic, I just love them.  I get:
Vogue
Harper's Bazaar
Lucky
Self
Real Simple
InStyle
Health
Conde Nast Traveler
Marie Claire
Coastal Living
I think I'm forgetting some.  Luckily I get a bunch of these for free with airline miles so I'm not totally blowing the budget.

2. Do you watch any fashion TV shows?
I used to watch more than I do now.  I make sure to catch "The Rachel Zoe Project" when it's on and that's about it. 

3. Beyond blogs, what websites do you frequent for fashion inspiration?
Style.com, Vogue.com, Pinterest, various retailers sites.

4. Advertisements play a huge role in forming public opinion about a product or brand… what ads do you like and why?
Hmmm, one ad campaign that always stood out for me was the early 90's Donna Karan one with the model being sworn in as President.  (I've snapped some photos of these ads from my inspiration books since I couldn't find them online - will post later).  For ads out now, I always love a good Target ad and Bottega Veneta's ads.  Hermes print ads are nice, but I adore the fun illustrations they use on their emails and website - so cute!

5. Do you own any fashion books?
Um, yeah, lots - so many.  I blame this on my job because I do use these books a lot for inspiration, color, etc.  My favorites are Haute Couture, The Vogue History of 20th-Century Fashion (published in the late 1980's, this is where I saw my first Birkin - which was then referred to as a "large Kelly-bag". So basically a Birkin before it was a Birkin.), The Fashion Book, Fashion in Colors, Diana Vreeland.

In case you were wondering what I looked like as a bride...

I mentioned a few days ago on Twitter that I have recently accepted a new job (I start next week - eek!) so I've been scrambling to figure out childcare, etc.  And on top of that, we've been packing up our "for sale" house so some renters can move in, hence the lack of blog posts.  Well, I'm having to figure out what we take and what gets put into storage for the time being.  When we first put the house on the market I went around and took down things to make the house less "personal" and I forgot I had stashed my wedding portrait under the bed.  Here it is before it gets put away - again.  Ha!  We got married on 11/6/2004 and it was warm enough that I didn't need a wrap or anything, which was nice.

Photo by Natalie at Aesthetic Images (if you are ever in Greensboro, NC and find yourself in need of an amazing photographer, contact her.  She's the best!)

Here are the green shoes I wore to match the orchids in my bouquet (packed those away too).

Ahhh, memories...

What I Wore Wednesday!

Linking up with The Pleated Poppy for WIWW!  I'm totally lame with just one outfit to post, but hey that's how it's been around here lately. 

Top - Liberty of London for Target

Jeans - Gap (my very first pair of skinny jeans that didn't make me feel like an ice cream cone when I put them on.  I've got hips so skinny jeans can be tricky.)

Shoes - Cynthia Vincent for Target

Close up of the print on the top - I love this print (and waited patiently for the top to go on sale).

We had to hop in the car and do a little road trip the day I wore this, that road trip involved a little detour through Atlanta to drop of something from my husband's work to a place that was in a very bad part of Atlanta.  Like, oh-look-there's-some-hookers-and-a-drug-deal-going-down, part of Atlanta.  How do I know they were hookers - well one was talking to a guy through the window of his car obviously "negotiating" something or maybe they were just discussing the stock market, who am I to judge?  It's funny because I'm Southern born and bred, but I never have clicked with Atlanta.  I have many ties to the city (my Dad went to high school there, my Grandmother worked at Emory University's hospital) but I always feel out of place.  One cool thing about any trip through Atlanta is when you get near Hartsfield Jackson airport and see the airplanes taking off and landing.  One after another, sometimes two landing almost side by side on different runways.   Just airplanes galore!

Don't forget to check out what everyone else is wearing for WIWW here!

Friend Friday - Shoes!

I'm joining up with Katy over at Modly Chic for my very first Friend Friday!  I always loved reading everyone else's answers to the weekly questions so I thought I would join in! 

1. What is your go-to pair of shoes?
Right now, my silver Birkenstocks - it's just the way it is right now.
2. What goes into your shoe buying decisions?
Taking inventory of what I have and what I need.  I try not to have a ton of shoes around, it's too easy to forget what you have.  I also would rather have quality over quantity.

3. The majority of the shoes in your closet are what color?
There really isn't a dominant color - I try to have a good mix.  I don't want 20 pair of black shoes, don't see the point.

4. When it comes to design shoes what are your favorite brands and why?
Hands down, dollar for dollar, Prada.  They are so comfortable, well made (they should be right?), and last forever.  I LOVE that the heel part of the shoes have rubber soles so they wear well and cushion the step.  I was over the moon when Prada Sport was introduced, I had a few pair of the leather loafers that were the best shoes I have ever owned (I say "were" because again, wore them out). 

5. If price wasn’t an issue, you’d own which shoe?
Oh, I've professed my love of the YSL tribtoo pump many, many times here on the ol' blog. 
I also wouldn't mind a pair of the Brian Atwood Rose Gold Metallic Maniac pumps.

Head on over and check out what other people have to say about...shoes!

Met Gala Best Dressed

I know you've probably seen these a few times already in the ol' blogosphere, but here are the looks I loved from the Met Costume Institute Gala last night. (pssst - a little secret, I'm trying to figure out how to plan a trip up to NYC to see this exhibit before it closes in July.  I mean I'm such a McQueen fan, I don't know how I could not see it.  The only issue is that next few months are jam packed, so it's not looking good.  But I'm gonna try, try, try.)

Gisele in Alexander McQueen

Amanda Brooks in Giambattista Valli

Taylor Swift in J. Mendel

SJP in Alexander McQueen (I see you Andy Cohen!)

And this lady, is having one heck of a year so far!  (As Andy would say, "Mazel!" - don't act like you don't watch Bravo.)

Sarah Burton in Alexander McQueen

On a personal note, the blog will still be limping along through this month.  I've got oodles going on behind the scenes and I'll spill all the details when I can.  Meanwhile, I'm still here but the posts will be not as frequent until things settle down a bit.

Images via Vogue.com