August Wish List

1. Eye catching clutch (5 Inch and Up)

2. Long Sleeve Silk Shirt (Nana in Wonderland)

3. Long sleeve white layering top (Hand it Over)

4. Structured jacket (Rich Hippy)

5. Pattered jeans/pants(Karla's Closet)

6. Summer/Fall Shoulder bag (Fidget Finds)

7. Layered beaded Necklace (What would Summer Wear)

I plan on finding all of these things in the next few weeks

yard sales, church shops, thrift, consignment and discount stores...be prepared for madness.

Cannes Shopping: Buffalo Exchange

Dress (Buffalo Exchange $20)
Jade Bracelet (Buffalo Exchange $10)
Wool Blazer/Sweater (Madewell from Fall)
Sparkly Earring (Closet Revival $7)

I have been beyond busy with exams and saying goodbye to friends that I almost forgot I was leaving for Cannes on Saturday! Ah! So after my exam yesterday, I ran to Buffalo Exchange in Somerville to see if they had any great dresses for the occasion. I found this beauty and a light jade bracelet.

Perfect! I paired it with my favorite wool blazer and a sparkly earring and ended up with this ensemble. You like? Now all I need is a lovely pair of heels.

I never wear heels...I always look like a bowlegged pony...not too attractive, but I feel like for this type of event, I will probably need to suck it up and practice my catwalk ;)

Marathon Monday

Striped Shirt (Salvation Army $1.49)
Sunglasses (Betsey Johnson @ Loehmanns $22)
PAnts (Urban Outfitters BDG)
Black Espadrille Flats (H&M $7)

Marathon Monday. A Massachusetts holiday I have never quite grasped or participated in. I think it all began when I was little and my mom and dad would drag my sister and I out to watch the Easter Parade in Newport. It was never quite warm enough and the streets were filled with runny noses, strollers and a view that was aimed at someone old guy’s butt pockets. Hmm. Yeah I never got the point of parades.

But this year, I am attempting to make a day out of the Boston Marathon.

Crowds? Loudly lined streets? Pshhh I can handle it!

And while most people are shot gunning beers and painting their faces, I’ll be sipping mimosas, awaiting friends and mentally preparing for the madness.

Have a wonderful Monday!

Ultimate Tapestry Bag!

Clutching it with dear life yesterday

I know yesterday was a post about bags, and I certainly hate beating a subject into the ground but after my weekly internship meeting at Second Time Around on Wednesday, I decided to sneak into the downstairs location at 176 Newbury and check out the merchandise and I found the the ultimate carpet bag! Well...at least I think so.

It's a handwoven tapestry overnight bag and I absolutely cannot get enough of it. My sexy mutt olive even likes it and found a way to balance perfectly on top of it when we were sitting outside the other night.

I am absolutely in love and got it for $32! Handwoven! Amazing!

DIY: The Oh So Trendy Vest

the inspiration:

(in case the type above is too small it's repeated below)
Final Product: The Girly Badass
Paired with Old Navy Tank, Citizens of Humanity Jeans, Jeffrey Campbell beaded flats, Grandma's earrings and bracelet

Every September I come across the same setback. What happened to my pants? The problem is that right when it starts to get even the slightest bit warm out, I line up all of my FAVORITE jeans and with my magic wand (aka scissors) I turn them into my FAVORITE shorts! It's a severe issue...but this is the first summer, where I think that another item of clothing in my closet may be at a greater risk. My jackets! Dun dun dunnnn!

So as I am sure you all know, the new trend this spring is the jean vest and though I must admit, many of my friends have been a fan of this look many years before, I am finally catching on. Here I bring you through the process of turning a blah jean jacket into my most fawned over piece of clothing this summer. Enjoy!

ALSO, as you can see I made a bracelet with the cuffs of the jacket. I love wearing scarves as bracelets and this is a great alternative. You can use any kind of fabric and I am terrible at sewing so as long as I have a hot glue gun, staples and safety pins I'm all set!

Happy Easter: Marie Antoinette Lace

Though many blouses made it into my paper bag, this was the chosen one for morning brunch. Easter reflections are on their way...

Easter Egg Hunt...well...kind of

Saturday. A Brilliant day in my book but in Jamestown there is a little extra oomph added.

From 9 to 11 each Saturday, Saint Matthew’s Church opens its big red doors and welcomes thrifty shoppers in to enjoy the lightly used clothing, furniture and house wares.

But this particular Saturday was a bit different. I had a goal.

The sun is finally kissing New England and I was on a mission to find the perfect pastel blouse to honor it.

I brought my mom along with me to experience this ritual and once again I have dragged someone out of the dark and into garment enlightenment. She was a natural, which I shouldn’t have been surprised by. Guess it runs in the family ;)

Stay tuned tomorrow to see all of the fabulous finds...to keep you intrigued, we walked out with a big bag of clothing for $10 total!

Working Girl

Seeing that I am attending a business school and have never in my life owned a suit, I try to find new ways of approaching "formal attire". Not quite sure that I've mastered it yet but this will have to do for now.

Each of these tops looks smashhhing with some narrow pants/dark skinnies and the oxford shoes seen above. Though I do buy some shoes thrift, if I'm going to spend a decent amount of money on something it tends to be shoes...I like to get some wear and tear outta them.

The Dreaded Cropped Shirt

So this shirt (clothes swap $0) has been in my closet, at the bottom of my pile for about three months now and I’ve been dreading the day I would shoot it for my blog (It spares my boobs by about an inch!).

For a while I thought I would toss it but just a few days ago I went into the store LF and saw that they were attempting to sell cropped men’s Hawaiian shirts...so if they can sell those dreadful pieces for $100 plus than I better be able to pull this thing off.

Anyways, I am pairing it with a black romper to cover up what the winter has done to my midsection and I have also added some fabulous chandelier earrings ($3.85 Forever 21) and red lipstick.

Check out my new blog posts for Second Time Around's fashioniSTA

http://www.secondtimearound.net/blog/

This retail/consignment chain is amazing! The most recent post I did was to find looks similar to Reese Witherspoon at the Atrium Mall Store and the types of designers I found were amazing Everything from Jimmy Choo, Prada, Burberry, Chanel, etc.

Rainy Day Boredom

So...what do you do on a Tuesday night when torrential downpour is obliterating the city? Well, I try on all of my weird clothing and see if there is something that can actually be worn around normal people. This oversized cardigan($4 Goodwill) may have been an 80s reject but I think it can work as long as you make sure to downplay the rest of the look...well seeing that I'm wearing studded leggings(Miley Cyrus Collection Wal-Mart $10) with a faux snakeskin clutch(Charitable Heart $7) I don't know that I'm abiding by my own rules...but, Boston may be seeing this in the near future.

Cocktail Anyone?

You like?? I have been wearing them(cocktail rings $3.80 each @ Forever 21) all the time with my blah winter clothes. Makes me feel like I'm still a girl. Just thought I'd share them with you tonight since I'm bored and case studies on MicroTechnology companies aren't really doing the trick.

Urban Earth Mama

So this red number is a night gown (Clothing Swap $0) and I have been wearing it around the house since I got it but thought it was time to find a way to publicly present it. It has absolutely no shape so I thought i'd layer it with a knit vest (T.J Maxx $12.99) and gray moccasin boots (Jeffrey Campbell) but I also think it would look really nice with a big brown belt, tights and a barn jacket (like the ones from l.l bean).

Do you like my gardening skills on floor 21? Though this pic may be staged, I actually am quite skilled. I even taught Olive ($70 Potter League) how to plant seeds in the pots ;)

haute couture for a poor girl

Daring outfit. I'm actually nervous to throw this into the World Wide Web abyss.

Anyways, the lace shirt ($0 Clothing Swap) is long sleeved and looks pretty good on its own. I am wearing a black bra underneath (ahh scandalous!) and the faux fur coat ($20 Wish Newport) is from a little consignment shop in Newport that just opened. I love it because not only does the whole outfit look lux but it’s also guilt free! No animal cruelty here. Also, the two rings I am wearing are

I am pairing this with my favorite black skinny jeans and dark gray ankle boots and two rings(about $3 Forever 21) one is a bow and the other one says LOVE. Both which will probably show up in posts to come.

PS: I hope you are enjoying the photos, I have been teetering my camera on top of cereal boxes and random cook wear just so I didn't have to embarrass myself by having another person in the room. It really is amazing how shameless I can be on my blog yet when it comes to telling a story in front of a small room of people...well...lets just say it never goes over that well.

Channeling Death Metal

Another clothing swap treat. These acid wash, embellished, high-waist jeans($0) are incredible. I brought them home and my family thought I had lost my marbles. My devious fairy friend Casey so generously brought these to the swap and when you look at them off the body they are tiny! I actually refused to try them on for two weeks, waiting for a confident day...it never came, so I just went for it.

I am pairing them with an H&M tank top ($8) and a wool blazer from Madewell. They are great comfortable pants in general and I have worn them with longer sweaters and shirts as well. They are perfect for tucking in the weekend's excess ;)

Shredding the Prep

A clothing swap treasure(aka FREE!!)

When I first punched my fist into the pile of misfit clothing, I yanked out this yummy "Fred Benson Town Beach" polo. Being a reformed serial collar flipper, this piece yanked at my heart a bit.

Here, I have paired it with MASSIVE clip-on earrings (Closet Revival $8). I am also wearing black skinny jeans and black ballet flats.

What I love about this outfit is that the polo doesn't scream Murray's Toggery or Dark n' Stormies instead it has an eclectic feel to it.

Clothing Swap Pictures: Read Entry In Post Below!

The ladies checking out the merchandise

Bernie ponders the idea of neon jeans...hmmm