So Loving it Right Now

Ok it is time for the next installment of So Loving it Right Now. Thankfully, there are a lot of things that I am So Loving and not many that I am So Not Loving! (Always a good indication that things are just peachy!) Since I have started my Fall semester of graduate school I have been SUPER busy! Who knew school could be so much WORK! Ew. Also thankfully I am really learning a lot! That definitely makes me happy because school is no longer free and I would be quite bitter if I were not getting a great education! I have decided to not even include a So Not Loving it Right Now section because I am going to be SUPER positive! Wohoo here is goes...

...........SO LOVING IT RIGHT NOW...........

Solidifying my travel arrangements for London and Ireland for my Study Tour in October

Gator Football in FIVE DAYS

(Our QB in GQ! Can you believe it!? Let's go GATORS! AND Gator Football means I can finally wear these Stephen Bonannos! Yes, they are dirty, they have been through 3 years of Gator Football but they are good luck!)

Capitalizing on humid weather by doing my hair wavy

(At a career seminar day and showing off my cute new J Crew barrette!)

Trips to Jacksonville to visit the BF

(Hibachi grill fire from our dinner trip and shopping at Off Fifth, got that super cute Tart navy romper for 30 bucks!)

Through Pink Colored Glasses,

Lookin' Profesh

If you are new to my blog or haven't caught on to my love of abbrev's, this post is about professional wear! (Get it? Profesh? Ok now you must catch on to the rest of my abbrev's because doing that every time would get exhausting.) Since I am now in graduate school and will be entering the workforce faster than you can say paycheck soon, I have realized the desperate need to build my professional wardrobe. While these clothes may not be the most exciting to purchase, they definitely are necessary.

If you were to ask any business person about first impressions, what would they say? What would they remember about you? How would they judge their impression of you if they only had a couple of minutes to make a decision?

YOUR APPEARANCE!

For someone like me, it is difficult to maintain a personal style while also looking professional. I have found some awesome basics that can combine my own personal style with an overall professional look. Depending on the field you are entering, you can vary your style accordingly. For instance, who would want to hire a fashion editor with boring fashion?!

I like to get inspiration for professional wear from some of my favorite first ladies homegirls, Jackie O, Michelle Obama, and Carla Bruni-Sarkozy (former model, current French 1st Lady.) Their impeccable style, attention to detail, and maintaing of personal style is amazing.

Since most of us have become fabulously frugal Recessionistas, it is painful to splurge on expensive business wear. Especially as a young woman who has yet to maintain any sort of income, I would rather buy cute clothes to go out to dinner or hang out in. BUT IT IS NECESSARY and there are ways to look great on a budget!

Here I have compiled some profesh pieces that would be a great start to any professional wardrobe! A great word of advice is to check out the outlets of the stores that you would like to buy your suits from. My personal favorite outlet for professional wear is Brooks Brothers. Their classic style, clean lines, and detailed craftsmanship ensures that you will be investing in some great pieces. (Even if it is from an outlet!) If you like what you see and prefer other brands, use these basics as a guide and find the similar looks at the stores of your choice!

The Simple White Dress Shirt

2 for $149

Brooks Brothers (Outlets have all of these as well! They are much cheaper there too! This applies to all of these pieces!)

Did I mention this is NON-IRON?!? Hello fellow lazies, this is for you. Even if you splurge on an expensive, basic white dress shirt...NO ONE will know if you re-wear it a bunch of times and it will hold up well! (Don't forget a nude colored bra or cami underneath for everyone's sake.)

The Navy Blazer

$348

Brooks Brothers' stuff is really on another level. If you invest in a simple navy blazer like this one you can be sure it will be the last one you will ever have to buy. Not only can this match khaki, white, or grey work bottoms...imagine this blazer paired with a slouchy white shirt, rolled up distressed boyfriend jeans, and some great gladiator heels? A long gold necklace too you say? I thought so too! (Ok I know this post was about professional wear but I had to stress the multi-usage of these pieces. Oh, and this outfit would be presh so I had to mention...)

The white dress shirt, the navy blazer, and a black, grey, or white suit would have you more than set to take on the working world. As I have just discovered, while Brooks Brothers has awesome suits, a great outlet, and a timeless style, their website sucks. They don't even have all of their suits up on the site. BUT, when you are buying a suit from a store like Brooks Brothers, it is going to look great no matter what style it is, as long as it is TAILORED! I personally can not stand getting clothes altered but it is oh-so-necessary! You will look like a million bucks in a well fitting professional outfit (and maybe land close to that in a salary deal!)

Through Pink Colored Glasses,

It's Bananas

B. A. N. A. N. A. S! (Gwen Stefani? Anyone? Anyone?)

It's Banana Republic! What you ask? Banana Republic? Why YES! Ok, so I can admit that I often forget about Banana Republic when I fashion stalk browse websites. BUT, I have been missing out! Chances are you have been too.

I have always thought of Banana as a great place for simple basics but WHOAH HELLO HAS ANYONE SEEN THEIR JEWELRY LATELY?!? My mother and I spent about an hour (probably closer to two hours) just last week trying on almost every piece. We even inadvertently recruited a fellow jewel-oogler who proceeded to purchase about four pieces. YOU ARE WELCOME BANANA, I take cash, check, or jewel. To add icing on the cake, everything was reasonably priced! I am always a HUGE fan of J Crew's jewelry but it tends to be pretty expensive! Banana had very similar jewelry for A LOT LESS!

Here are some of my favorites. I picked up this amazing tassel bracelet which I have worn almost every day since I bought it! I would also bet some big moola that TASSELS are going to be IT very soon. I suggest snagging some hot tassel jewel action of your own! My mom picked up the matching necklace that is FAB as well. $42.00

Here is another awesome tassel necklace. This is a perfect piece that can transcend all season pigeon holeing. (Yes I just said that.) $42.00

HELLO STATEMENT! I DIE. (In honor of the season premiere of the Rachel Zoe Project. I had to. A vintage tassel necklace also made a short cameo on the new episode in case anyone noticed!) How perf would this necklace be with a simple, black sheath dress? $80.00

Through Pink Colored Glasses,

Now Maybe I am Being Crazy...

But does anyone else feel like this new Nike ad's catch phrase sound VAGUELY FAMILIAR?!?!?

As I was blogging this morning I came across this Nike ad on my Photobucket account. (I use the service to get the html for my photos!) To my surprise, I SAW THIS! I almost didn't even notice it because I look at my blog name 100 times a day and am used to seeing these words together now. (I am sure some of my fellow bloggers out there feel the same way!)

THE HORROR! I really can not believe Nike totally jacked my idea. Not to mention their ad doesn't even make sense. Sweat is a color? No, PINK is a color!

How does everyone else feel about this? Am I being crazy? While imitation is the sincerest form of flattery (as my mother taught me in elementary school,) Nike makes bajillions of dollars per year and the least they could do is throw some my way! I thoroughly researched my blog name before I made it so that I was sure there were no other blogs with similar names. Even though it is just their ad, I feel like someone just MAY have stumbled across my blog and got a little inspiration for an ad campaign.

Nike, I am on to you. I feel betrayed. I always buy your products. And now, you have stolen from me. As compensation I only ask five million dollars. You can deliver it to my house in cash. No hard feelings once the cash is delivered.

Through PINK Colored Glasses,

Pretty Party Place Settings!

Students Taking Pics with our mascots...Albert and Alberta!

The food stations before the hoards of seniors arrived

(Poor College Seniors+Free Food=Great Event)

Above are some photos from an event that I planned for an internship at the UF Alumni Association for graduating seniors. There were over 1500 attendees and the event included prizes, entertainment, and FREE FOOD! (And of course Albert and Alberta were in attendance!)

I have always loved planning events. Throughout college, I have had the chance to plan some great events for my sorority and events like the one above. Sometime in the future, I hope to do event planning, marking, PR for large scale FABULOUS events! Since the FUTURE part of that is stressed, until then, I like to find great ideas for parties and events and store them in folders and files on my computer! (Maybe that is why I get pinwheeled so often!) I suggest to anyone who has a goal, idea, or future event...always be on the lookout for new and exciting ideas. Chances are if you don't take a picture of what inspires you, write it down, or save it...you'll forget! I take pictures on my iPhone of pretty much everything that I want to remember out of magazines (too lazy to scan...) and save articles, pictures, and everything awesome in files on Word and iPhoto. That way, when I need inspiration for pretty much anything, I can look through them and get some great ideas!

Recently I have been finding some really interesting and low cost ways to use everyday items as truly unique place settings. Once I am what I like to call a "real person," a.k.a. having a job, having money of my own, and don't feel terrible need to go to smokey bars to fraternize with friends, I plan on having some awesome parties of my own. These place setting ideas could be used for pretty much any event, and you can tweak the ideas to your liking!

Cantaloupe Sailboat

This super cute place setting idea was found when I was at the hair salon in Southern Living Magazine! All you would have to do is make small slices of a cantaloupe depending on how many guests! I would suggest this setting for a brunch with friends. The "sail" is made out of thick watercolor paper but you could use any paper (or even patterned paper) to your liking! Since I am a Gator girl, I thought it would be cute to make the "sail" with blue and white striped paper. Think...you could even add logos, quotes, or embellishments of your choice! In the magazine they added a small amount of twine at the top and bottom of the sail to look rustic and hold it in place. I think that you could also use Glue Dots (my favorite for EVERYTHING) or even blueberries or raisins! I also think that you could substitute the cantaloupe for any other melon (watermelon, honeydew...) that you would like! (Think a watermelon with a green polka-dot sail...large cursive letter of the guest's first initial...so preppy, so cute, OH MY!)

Pretty Plain Pear

I found this simple place setting idea here on Bridal Wave. For this idea, you pretty much use letter stickers and stick them to the beautiful fruit! I like the idea used for a kid's birthday if you used a banana and colorful stickers. Even though I am not a mother myself, I have learned from my camp counselor and babysitting days that making food look "cool" will trick them into eating healthy. (Can you tell what kind of mother I would be? :) ) I think it would great if you were also to use a green pear with chocolate linens and decor...BEAUTIFUL! You DO NOT have to spend a lot of money to make your event look personal, well thought out, and classy!

Strawberry Monogram

This idea I made up myself. So creative I know! (Pats self on back) I think it would be perfect for a dinner with girlfriends! Think of three strawberries, held together by a long toothpick, skewer, or stirrer. Then, place the guest's monogram on the strawberries (one letter on each berry) with pins like these metal letter push pins! (Found on Etsy of course at this shop.) Make sure you wash everything first OBVI.

You could either place them on a small plate OR even better on top of a pretty pink COSMO! Make sure the skewer is long enough to balance across the rim of the drink. Then, your guests can take their pins home and use them on a bulletin board! (Let's be real, our girlfriends would probably enjoy a pretzel stick if it was on top of a cosmo but greatness can always be improved upon! :) )

Through Pink Colored Glasses,

Sorority Sadness...

My Bid Day 2005

As a now former sorority girl this will now be the time of year when I miss it the most. I was named "Miss KD-Tastic" as a freshman and loved Recruitment every year. I guess I am just wired for that kind of thing. Some people can look down on sororities but I can honestly say that it was one of the best decisions I have ever made. I have met the coolest, nicest, craziest girls, had the best times, and can look back on college and smile. Smile really big.

I am going to miss acting like an idiot. (Me on Bid Day last year)

I am going to miss dressing like an idiot while acting like and idiot. (At a social, the theme was "Goodwill Hunting" aka find treasures at Goodwill...go nuts.)

I am going to miss these idiots. (Bar golfing last year during Senior Week.)

As I am still in graduate school at UF, I drive past all the girls practicing almost daily and I hear about it every day from my two younger roommates who are still in Kappa Delta. I miss it so much! I love all the girl time that the two weeks bring and even though it is the most tiring week of the year, I LOVE meeting new people! Rush week is the best week for girl crushes, plastering a smile on your face till it hurts, and wearing head to toe impeccable outfits when your normal gear very well may be soffee's and frat shirts.

I think I will wear Lilly today. Kinda like in mourning, the death of my sorority life. Like black to a funeral. But awesome.

So, to make myself feel better, I decided that I would find some SRAT-TASTIC (think frat-tastic for my non-greek readers) items on the internet and blog about them.

A Lilly Pulitzer Dress

Cute! Girly and classy. Not overtly Lilly (though I love those too!)

Bowen Dress

$248.00

Adorable Boatman Geller Notepad

With a cute Gator of course!

Notepad Book

2 for $38.00

Cute and Colorful Necklace

Beautiful craftsmanship! Would be great with a plain colored top!

At this Etsy Shop

$36.00

Gator Lilly Alarm Clock!

I'd love to wake up to this! (If it only matched my room...)

At this Etsy Shop

$16.00

Isabela Costa Sunglasses

I LOVE COSTAS! Costa Del Mar is an AMAZING and AUTHENTIC company that truly stands behind the products that they sell. You will NOT be disappointed by these glasses! I have these and LOVE them! Their customer service is amazing and they even have a great warranty program. (Us girls can be a little rough on our shades!) If you are ready for an adventure, get out there with some COSTAS! (Worn with croakies OF COURSE!)

Base Price $149.00

Through Pink Colored Glasses,

Gettin' Blonde and Moroccan

Today I got some desperately needed root retouching. AKA covering up my terrible blah brownish hair and replacing it with beautiful blonde. Yay. Getting your hair done is the best. Hope you enjoy the silly picture of myself. I clearly have no shame. The "I am trying to get digital cable with my head" look is clearly necessary since I only looked cute with light brown hair when I was three. If my hair was still that cute light-brownish-that-gets-blonde-in-the-summer color, not only would I save myself my parents a lot of money, I would be perfectly happy au natural.

Here is why I like getting my hair done. My guess is that many of you feel the same.

1. I like gabbing with anyone and everyone...usually gossiping and discussing various mindless vanity related topics.

2. I love catching up on magazines.

3. It makes me feel pretty.

4. You get to try out new hair products that you wouldn't otherwise try unless your girlfriend used them.

So, today I got to try out the Moroccan Oil shampoo, conditioner, and hair oil. May I say..............LOVES IT!?!? Not only does it have the androgynous scent that I love in hair products, it really makes your hair feel great. The shampoo, conditioner, and oil all smell slightly different but all have the clean scent that I think all hair products should have. I can best describe the scent as vanilla, musk, lavender, and detergent. I know that sounds strange but I swear it smells I-want-to-bathe-in-this amazing.

The products are made with argan oil which is apparently an anti-oxidant, UV protector, and free radical neutralizer (fancy speak for get-ridder-of-bad-stuff).

You can use the oil on any type of hair and it can also be used for different purposes. I plan on using it before I get my hair highlighted (for protection and to help to "enhance shine, elasticity, and depth of color") and before I style my hair while it is still wet.

LOVES IT! Now if only they sold bottles of Moroccan tan skin color....

Speaking of blonde hair and beautiful tan skin, I simply cannot post without mentioning Kim Kardashian's new blonder locks. While I do like her hair darker because she is such an exotic beauty, I think it looks great! Stars always change their hair colors and styles (sometimes for the worse like dear ol' Britney) and it's generally to get press. Well, she succeeded. There is only one reason I do not like this hair color on Kim...if she were to wear red lipstick she would look all kinds of crazy. This hair color works on her because it still blends well with her skin tone and coloring. If it were any blonder I think it would look cheap. I recommend making subtle color changes like this in stages so that you can gauge how you like your new look. Changing your color is a BIG process and should not be taken lightly...after all, as my girl "Samantha" from Sex and the City says.....

"Your hair is the frame for your face!"

Through Pink Colored Glasses,