i'm a new woman!

eleven inches.

can you believe i could even get my hair that long? well...it's not that long anymore and i am loving my new 'do! i feel like a new woman and i'm really excited to send my 11 inches off to a good cause to help make a wig for someone who deserves it.

who should it go to? wigs for kids, beautiful lengths or locks of love? decisions, decisions.

ps. it's REALLY weird that my old hair is in my apartment in a ponytail in a ziplock.
pps. nick was 100% useless for helping me take pics so i had to make do with DIY bathroom mirror pics. he is such a man.

toms shoes introduces a wedge

you may have picked up by now that i HEART wedges. i really love wearing heels but there's something about a wedge that i adore to the max. and look what i found! toms shoes is coming out with a WEDGE version! swoon! i have a pair of the regular old toms and i rarely wear them out of the house because i think they look weird on me. but a wedge!? yay!! i haven't tracked them down yet but i think they're retailing somewhere for about $70. write to me if you've found them, por favor.

banana republic is super fresh for spring

i am

L.
O.
V.
I.
N.
G.

the spring styles. so many florals and light fabrics and i can't wait to get my hands on some. i did a quick walk through of the banana republic store in the [ridiculously gigantic] dallas galleria mall (yes, i popped my dallas cherry) last weekend and i couldn't stop swooning. and i NEVER swoon at banana.

NEVER.

here are a few of my spring picks:

motorcycle leather jacket in neutral brown, $298

silk racerback color block tank, $59.50

washed silk military shirt, $79.50

beaded peasant top, $89.50

silk twist halter dress, $110

fun and flirty romper for spring

yes, i've started shopping for spring already. a lot. it's really hard not to when we have random 80 degree days in the middle of february...sunday was 82 but now we're back into the 40s....i'm confused and so is my wallet. the one thing that is benefiting is my closet and i can't wait for my latest purchase to arrive.

this button-front shorts jumpsuit from victoria's secret is $68 and looks exactly like one from zara in about 30 seconds last summer. don't forget to do a quick search for coupon codes before you buy anything...or better yet, call customer service to place your order and they'll find them for you.

i'll be waiting [im]patiently for our next warm day so i can break this bad boy out!

cold feet about getting my hairs cut

**update**
ARGH!!! so it snowed here in austin for about 45 seconds and the whole city practically shut down...so my hairscut has been postponed until saturday. thanks for all of the good wishes, it means a lot! will post a pic when finished!!

i've been growing my hairs out for about six years now. it grows sooooooooooo sloooooooooooowly and it has been a really long process. my intention has been to get it to the point where 1) i can't stand it anymore and 2) it's long enough to donate and not make me look like a texan kate gosselin. well, it turns out i'm there. and tonight's my hair appointment. and i have cold feet. can i really do it? it's.for.a.good.cause.it's.for.a.good.cause.it's.for.a.good.cause.

here's me now (well, from the summer...hard to find a pic without my hairs in a ponytail. that's when nick decided to go for a buzz cut...hilarious).


and here's what i'm hoping for (i mean...who wouldn't want to look like one of these beauties?).




i'll let you know how it turns out!

libery of london for target

target has been knocking it out of the park recently with their designer partnerships. in about three weeks, they'll launch one of their latest and biggest partnerships -- with liberty of london. liberty's fabrics are fantastic and are used in tons of amazing brands (alexander mcqueen and burberry, for example) so i'm excited that target is bringing a little bit of tea and crumpets-ishness to us here in the US.

the line will include women's, men's and children's fashion, home decor, storage and garden. here's just a snippet of what's to come...

every non-paper cup needs a koozie

i've been meaning to get one of these "i'm not a paper cup" cups by dci for ages now. available on amazon.com for about $15, i should probably get one to use for my regular trips to the coffee bean. and you know what's putting me over the edge to go get one? the idea that i can also get one of these super cute knit coffee kozies by etsy seller waysideviolet. but i can't decide between these two...which do you like better?

below: adorable bow coffee cozy, $15

below: cable knit coffee cozy, $10

my vintage inspiration usually comes from modcloth

my friend emma reminded me that i've never written about modcloth, which is pretty shocking since i'm on the site at least once a week. i've never actually ordered anything from the site but i drool over their stuff on a regular basis. they have a really great range of prices and a huge stock of vintage-inspired pieces. and speaking of vintage, they even have an entire section of legit vintage pieces.

from modcloth.com: Founded by high school sweethearts, Eric Koger and Susan Gregg Koger, and built on a foundation of love for vintage and retro clothing, ModCloth.com is an online clothing, accessories, and decor retailer that aims to provide a fun and engaging shopping atmosphere for you, our customer. ModCloth began by selling only vintage and expanded to sell vintage-inspired pieces by indie designers, but we still launch one new true vintage item each day.

these are just a few of my current favorite items...

below: the bauhaus belt, $32.99

below: continuous line drawing dress, $99

below: the georgia dress, $49.99

i wish i wish i wish...for these wishbone wedges

i was perusing in anthropologie this past weekend and DIED when i saw these shoes. made by lucky penny, these wishbone wedges go for $148 a pop. even though i almost fell over with excitement when i saw them, i wouldn't let myself try them on...i have way too many brown wedges in my life. hopefully one of you loves them as much as i do and can find them in your size at your local anthro...i will live vicariously and jealously.

be awesome, buy this plate set

i'm sure we all like to find a personal way to give charitable donations, and i think this is the perfect way for me to help the relief efforts in haiti.

oh joy! is one of the blogs i read every single day. so when i saw her post about this plate set, i knew i had to have one. oh joy! writer joy deangdeelert cho teamed up with three other artists to create this melamine plate set based on the four seasons: spring by deadly squire, summer by lost bird found, fall by julia rothman and winter by oh joy. they're giving all profits from this plate set to oxfam's efforts in haiti.

be advised that this is a limited edition and orders will only be accepted until 2/28/10. plates are 10" in diameter and are priced at $54 for the set of four plates.

and as they say in the product description, "be awesome. buy this set."

i'm such an olympics nerd

the olympics is the absolute best two weeks to happen every two years. YAY!!! can't wait to see the ralph lauren get-ups tonight.

my regular dose of j.crew

it's been a while since i bought anything from j.crew and i think it's about time i make a little trip to the mall. my friend martha sent me a link to this lilac shower shift dress and i instantly fell in love. the tulle and cotton petals are a lovely detail that would look super cute in either ginger or black. plus, it's relatively cheap for j.crew at a price point of $69.50.

want to order online but don't want to pay for shipping? j.crew has regular promo codes for free shipping when you spend $250 or more. martha's trick? buy what you want plus something you don't, bringing your total to $250 or more...and then return the something you don't want to the store. voila, free shipping.

simple stripes for spring

ok so it's not exactly spring for most of you...but i think it will be spring for us here in texas pretty soon! in my excitement for the season, i've been digging the concept of sailory osh kosh stripes jazzed up with a tiny little detail to make them a little less popeye and a little more flirty feminine.

below: stripe frill front vest, topshop, $60

below: my colleague lani found this dress at anthropologie and said it's suuuper cute. it has red buttons down the back for an extra surprise. slate stripes shift, anthropologie, $128

below: these are the shoes that started it all. they look wonky in the photo but i betting they're great in person. kimball by report, zappos, $49.95

nesting with heather palmer

below: medium aqua nest, $130

below: small green nest, $60

below: steel blue, $49 through the end of february

i came across these gorgeous glass nests on etsy and i can't get enough. heather palmer, the artist, lives in san francisco and calls herself a craftsman, artist and teacher. her work was recently featured in real simple so she's having a special on the small steel blue nest - $49 til the end of february. could be a great off-registry wedding or shower gift, birthday gift or a just-because gift for yourself.

banana bread

banana bread is definitely my favorite thing to make (and eat). my mom handed her super easy recipe down to me, and it was originally handed down to her from an old family friend. i like to make three smalls instead of one large and put two in the freezer for enjoyment at a later date. hope you like!


ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 2 eggs
• 3 brown bananas
• 2 1/2 cups sifted flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts (if your hear desires...i skip them)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• cinnamon sugar for dusting the pans and top of the batter
  

instructions:

• preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• cream the shortening, sugar and eggs.
• add mashed bananas and blend well.
• add dry ingredients and mix.

• grease one large or three small loaf pans, sprinkling each with cinnamon sugar mixture.
• fill each loaf pan with equal amounts of the batter and sprinkle the top with cinnamon sugar mixture.
• bake at 350 for one hour.
  

here's the finished product. i like it best when toasted with butter. mmmmm.

socks + tights = bootights

if you read lucky mag then you saw bootights in last month's issue. how smart, right? i always wear a pair of socks over tights when i'm wearing them with boots...so why not buy a pair of tights with socks built in? socks + tights = bootights. genius.

they retail for about $30 and come in a bunch of colors and styles.

framing my past with ork posters

our kitchen/dining area is allllllmost completely decorated and it is making me very happy. i bought four black and white posters from ork a really long time ago and since most of them are non-standard sizes i have been dying to get them framed. timing worked out perfectly and i was able to take advantage of a 60% off custom framing coupon at michael's and use some gift cards from santa.




you're probably wondering why i chose the cities i did, right? they all represent a city where we've lived in the past. hopefully the artist will continue expanding her collection to one day include baltimore and austin.

about ork: To us, it's not just posters. To us it's about finding where we are, where we've been and where we want to go. In the most humble manner, we can only hope it's that for you too. Ork Posters was born when I embarked on a search for a neighborhood poster that fit my taste for good design and typography, simplicity, and originality. My hunt came up empty. As a result, I designed the original Chicago poster in the summer of 2007 for myself.

each city also comes in multiple colors and the selections are really pretty. check them out! oh, and click here for more info on our shmancy vintage 4/5 subway sign.