All That Glitters

This New Year's Eve, I'm sporting my grey Aerotek sweatpants and Denver Bronco's thermal , both made pour les hommes. Yup, thats right, I have chosen to sit this year out; mostly for financial reasons. So while I wait for my baked potato to cook in the oven, I thought I would showcase a sparkly outfit that I did wear this holiday season. Inspired by menswear, and passionate about ruffles and sparkles, I changed this simple button up shirt, to something a little more festive!

Basic black button up with white buttons

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Sparkly new crystal buttons

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Unique new festive holiday shirt! 

This is me rockin my new shirt at a company holiday party!

Location: Olive, a cool martini bar on Larkin & O'Farrell 

And here I am sporting my sparkles at dinner with a friend!

Location: Zushi Puzzle on Lombard St. (best sushi in the Marina!)

Happy 2011 Everyone... I'm excited 

Dreaming of a White Christmas

There are very few Christmas' that I have experienced without snow. Growing up in NY one could count on it to be frigid cold, and usually with snow and icicles by Christmastime. The two years I was not in NY, I celebrated the holiday in Denver, CO and it snowed the whole day long. This year I live in San Francisco, and thanks to a career in retail I am yet again unable to join my family back East. Californians swear that snow is not possible in SF, so this December I have chosen to embrace the rain as the closest form of snow I will get. The pictures that follow are from two different nights. The first; a night out with D to sip wine and soak in the holiday spirit in our new city. The second set are from today, a rainy Christmas Day in the city.

Christmas Tree in Ghirardelli Square

D has a wine membership at Celler 360 in the Square

Tasting the Zinfandel that D bought me for Christmas!

Union Square

Not exactly Rockefeller Center, but close!

A bird's eye view from the Cheesecake Factory on top of Macys!

Festive Trolley Car!

Reindeer about to take flight along the Wharf

The Pier 39 Christmas Tree! It smelled SO good!

City view of Pier 39 Tree!

But, of course, there is no place like home...

One year ago, I was sitting alone in my apartment on Christmas Day with nothing to do, and I started this Blog. It's a year later, and I find myself again sitting alone in my apartment. I am proud of what I have accomplished and experienced this past year. I take the good with the bad, and am always learning and growing. I have faith that 2011 is going to be exceptional. This time next year I will be writing to you from Niskayuna NY before I sit down to dinner with my most amazing family. 

Merry Christmas 2010 Everyone!

Dinner is Served

To entertain, among other meanings, is defined as the hospitable provision of the needs and wants of guests. This past Wednesday it was my pleasure to provide a lovely meal, and environment for which to enjoy it, as a means to celebrate a dear friends birthday. It has always been a dream of mine to host a beautiful dinner party and this week I got to start the foundation upon which I will learn and perfect the skills and techniques necessary to do well at playing host. While I take no responsibility as to the preparation of the meal, I did very much enjoy making my vision a reality. "I love it when a plan comes together," was my mantra for the evening, and my studio apartment never seemed bigger! Overall the night and experience was a great success and I look forward to many more gatherings in the future.

Feeling Crafty

In my parents never ending attempt to clean up our home in Upstate New York, they tend to come across some very interesting, lets call them "artifacts," from my past. My father would probably prefer to trash 90% of their findings, but my mothers method of cleaning is more to move the mess from one place to the next: in this case from NY to CA (I love ya Mom!) Recently I received the collection of six watercolor prints of classic sights in London, that I purchased my senior year of High School for around £5. Instead of adding to the clutter of my own closets, I decided to make something of my rediscovered treasure. To fill the empty space on the wall of my kitchen nook, I chose to get crafty. I purchased some two-tone frames from Walmart and fancy paper from a local shoppe, Paper Source. The physical construction was simple, just basic cut and tape. I fought my natural urges and went with asymmetrical placement on my wall... we will see how long it lasts! All in all it was a fun way to dress up and show off one of my life's many "artifacts."

Simple Process!

There was really no rhyme or reason to my picture placement.

The view from my couch into the kitchen nook!

A Lovely Distraction

Originally I had designed this dress with the intention of wearing it to the dinner portion of a two-day interview I had this past weekend. Needless to day the dress was not finished in time for the interview, and it's just as well: I did not get the job. With thoughts of uncertainty and inadequacy swirling around me I have sought solitude in the one place that I always feel in control, in front of my sewing machine. The bodice is near complete, and I hope to have the skirt portion put together by the end of the weekend. While I am unable to celebrate Thanksgiving at home with my family, at least I will feel at home, sitting in front of my sewing machine. To everyone reading this, have a very happy Thanksgiving, and eat an extra piece of pie for me!

Meet Audrey

I finally did it: I bought my first dress form! Every garment I have worked on, with the exception of a class assignment, I have had to fit on myself. Now I will be able to visualize my designs better and get even more creative. Right now I am very inspired by Audrey Hepburn. I have been "Netflixing" all of her movies and picked up a very well written biography on the actress by Harry Paris. While I admit to taking some creative liberties in naming my size 6 form Audrey, when Hepburn was more like a 0, she is whom I wish to emulate; in style and in life. I am excited to have this outlet for my nervous energies and stress during this holiday season. I am halfway into my first project and promise to update with pictures shortly!

Heaven On Earth

If you were to ask me what my idea of Heaven is, I would attempt the impossible and describe to you this place, really this feeling, which I struggle to put words to even in my own head. This place combines the two things I love the most; mountains and water. The air is perfumed with the scent of pine trees, the colors are vibrant and the sights are beyond breathtaking. In this place your heart beats faster by the excitement of adventure and the people that live there are genuine and inviting. In this place I call Heaven there is a strong appreciation of the history and distinct culture of the area, coupled with the curiosity and anticipation of what will come next. Luckily, this place I call Heaven does actually exist, and it is where I spent last weekend. It's a place called Lake Tahoe.

I escaped the craziness of city-living on Saturday morning and drove the three hour distance from San Francisco to Lake Tahoe to spend a few days by myself, and participate in the Half-Marathon I have spent the last month and a half training for. At just the sight of the California mountains tears filled my eyes and a smile formed across my face that lasted the whole weekend long. I can't really explain how I felt, or how what I did brought about these feelings, I just know that this feeling was unique, and special. My heart was happy; my soul was happy. I finished the Half-Marathon with a better time than I expected (2hr 8min) and proved to myself that I can do anything I set my mind to. Though I have had several accomplishments in my life, this was, to date, the moment I was the most proud of myself.

Now on to the pictures...

First view of Lake Tahoe on the drive in! 

Sunset from my favorite pier.

Me & a view of Nevada

Relaxing for a few, preparing for the race ahead!

This is what breakfast in Heaven looks like. A Chicken Chili Omlette from Driftwood Cafe!

There are no calories in Heaven... or at least none I was worried about after a 13.1 mile run!

Pic of a dead tree, just for Mom :-P

I got to see the Tahoe Queen in motion!!!

Another cool looking dead tree.

Pretty mountains

A view into Emerald Bay

I love Pine trees. A lot. 

Emerald Bay

Another view of Emerald Bay

A nice place to sit and think about all of life's blessings. 

A very happy me :-)

Ok Mom, one last dead tree pic! haha

I am already counting down the days until I can return to my "Heaven on Earth" and I am also desperately searching for pine tree scented candles and air fresheners!!!

Twain Was Right

Mark Twain once wrote that the coldest winter he ever endured was a summer in San Francisco. Everyone who lives in this city knows this quote, and often feel the need to share it with the freezing tourists who only brought shorts and tank tops to come to sunny California. Being new to the city myself, I guess I didn't really ever think it would be THAT cold, but it is. This past weekend D and I were excited to hit the bars, just two single ladies out to meet some cool guys. Of course we had planned our outfits in advance and couldn't wait to wear our sundresses and sandals. Wrong! Saturday night was so chilly that we actually dove back into our winter closets, and we each wore boots... and it's almost July!

 

Well Twain, you were right. Here's hoping for warmer days ahead, because I have an Ella Moss floral sundress, still with the tags on it from last summer, that is just dying to come off the hanger!

Day N Night

It's sometimes hard to find outfits that you can wear to work, and then to the closest happy hour afterwards. I work in a very casual retail environment where I am on my feet and moving around all day long, so I need to be comfortable and still cute. In Denver I could get away going out in super casual looks, but SF is another story. In the neighborhoods I mostly hang out, the pressure is on to look your best. Last weekend this was my ensemble of choice, a cute simple brown dress from Old Navy, colorful silk belt from Anthropologie, jean jacket from J Crew (did you know that my J doesn't mean anything in J Crew... random factoid) and my die hard Jack Rogers sandals. D and I bounced around meeting up with friends in Union Square, the Mission, and Marina, and I'd say this outfit was an acceptable choice for all three.

Just a walk in the Park

... Golden Gate park that is! With a thirst for adventure, and lattes from Starbucks, D and I explored the park today... well at least 1/5 of it. It's a pretty big park. With the occasional re-directional assistance from D's i phone, we spent hours wandering and taking in the sights. We saw cute couples picnicking, turtles, lots of different trees and plants, statues, and a super sweet gathering of talented roller-skaters. Seriously you have to give props to the people of the city who take the time to practice and share their passion for roller skating. I admit I wish it had been a bit sunnier, but it was nice to stretch the legs and breath in some (sort of) fresh air! 

Pretty view looking back at the Botanical Gardens

Me trying to imitate this funky tree. The name: Monkey Puzzle... awesome!

D looking pretty, rockin her new sunnies from Old Navy!

Me, my new sunnies from Old Navy, and the fake waterfall. 

The Little Mermaid... but where's flounder?

My new boyfriend Rob. He's an Irish Patriot.

Roller-skaters zipping around to some fly tunes. Oh yeah, I said fly.

 

DNL, over and out... for now anyways.