As I posted last week, I was in DC this past weekend to see the Cherry Blossoms! I got SUPER lucky and there were still plenty in bloom even though they had reached peak bloom (70% of trees in full bloom) the weekend before. Many of the trees had lost most of their flowers but we managed to find some that were still hanging on, even though they had turned white. I took far too many photos but I've narrowed them down for this post. I also had some pretty tasty food on the trip as well! I'll share what I ate at the bottom of the post.
The Blossoms:
The Renwick, Cherry Blossom Kite Festival, etc.: On Saturday we took a quick trip to The Renwick Gallery by the White House. I enjoyed the June Schwartz exhibit they had. She did amazing work with copper and other unconventional materials. We also stopped by the Washington Monument to see the kite festival. Also included are some random shots from our travels over the weekend.
The Food:
The night I arrived I met a friend at Matchbox and got some chicken pesto pizza. It was really good, and not horribly expensive ($14.) I saved half of it for lunch the next day since I was going to be working from my friend's apartment while he was at school and didn't want to venture out alone. So I got two meals in one! She had the apple and pear salad.
Friday night the friend I was visiting suggested heading to Busboys and Poets. I was boring and just got a plain burger but we also shared a sweet potato hash which was very tasty. After dinner I made us some chocohotopots. Later that evening we went to Barrel for some drinks and I tried the 'A Henway?' I'm not the biggest drinker but I enjoyed it. (Probably should've gotten something with bourbon since it was a bourbon bar, ha ha.)
Saturday we went to Reren in Chinatown for lunch. I had the Reren Signature Lamen and we shared the Shanghai Steamed Soup Bun appetizer. I could have eaten a whole meal of the buns, sooo good! Confession: I only had the noodles and kale (I think) in the ramen, I'm still getting used to eating weird things so some of that stuff was a bit much for me.
For dinner on Saturday my friend, his roommate and I went to Zaytinya. It's a tapas restaurant so we ordered a bunch and shared. I'm really picky but I made sure to try everything, I was rather proud of myself! We got the hommus, tabbouleh, falafel, cauliflower tiganites, crispy brussels afelia, sea scallops, keftedes kapama and shish taouk (see the menu here for details on the items).
My favorite was the falafel but the cauliflower was also really good. Our pita bread was replenished throughout the meal and I bet I had at least 5 pieces, oops! I took photos of everything but some were blurry, so these few will have to suffice! (clockwise: hommus, falafel, shish taouk, cauliflower; tabbouleh below)
After our stomachs settled, we walked to Dangerously Delicious Pies. I got a piece of chocolate chess and it was good but didn't really live up to the hype. Especially at $6.50 for a slice. No picture of this though, oops!
Sunday was the day I had been looking forward to for months. Brunch at Founding Farmers! One of my other best friends joined us from Virginia for the day. I went to Founding Farmers last year when I visited as well. Both times I got their Chicken and Waffles. SOOOO good. I also tried one of their scratch sodas this time, which was just okay. A friend told me to try the vanilla but I went with orange since I'm not a huge vanilla fan. Guess I should have listened to her!
*Download an agenda of my day of sightseeing in Washington DC
The Blossoms:
The Renwick, Cherry Blossom Kite Festival, etc.: On Saturday we took a quick trip to The Renwick Gallery by the White House. I enjoyed the June Schwartz exhibit they had. She did amazing work with copper and other unconventional materials. We also stopped by the Washington Monument to see the kite festival. Also included are some random shots from our travels over the weekend.
The Food:
The night I arrived I met a friend at Matchbox and got some chicken pesto pizza. It was really good, and not horribly expensive ($14.) I saved half of it for lunch the next day since I was going to be working from my friend's apartment while he was at school and didn't want to venture out alone. So I got two meals in one! She had the apple and pear salad.
Friday night the friend I was visiting suggested heading to Busboys and Poets. I was boring and just got a plain burger but we also shared a sweet potato hash which was very tasty. After dinner I made us some chocohotopots. Later that evening we went to Barrel for some drinks and I tried the 'A Henway?' I'm not the biggest drinker but I enjoyed it. (Probably should've gotten something with bourbon since it was a bourbon bar, ha ha.)
Saturday we went to Reren in Chinatown for lunch. I had the Reren Signature Lamen and we shared the Shanghai Steamed Soup Bun appetizer. I could have eaten a whole meal of the buns, sooo good! Confession: I only had the noodles and kale (I think) in the ramen, I'm still getting used to eating weird things so some of that stuff was a bit much for me.
For dinner on Saturday my friend, his roommate and I went to Zaytinya. It's a tapas restaurant so we ordered a bunch and shared. I'm really picky but I made sure to try everything, I was rather proud of myself! We got the hommus, tabbouleh, falafel, cauliflower tiganites, crispy brussels afelia, sea scallops, keftedes kapama and shish taouk (see the menu here for details on the items).
My favorite was the falafel but the cauliflower was also really good. Our pita bread was replenished throughout the meal and I bet I had at least 5 pieces, oops! I took photos of everything but some were blurry, so these few will have to suffice! (clockwise: hommus, falafel, shish taouk, cauliflower; tabbouleh below)
After our stomachs settled, we walked to Dangerously Delicious Pies. I got a piece of chocolate chess and it was good but didn't really live up to the hype. Especially at $6.50 for a slice. No picture of this though, oops!
Sunday was the day I had been looking forward to for months. Brunch at Founding Farmers! One of my other best friends joined us from Virginia for the day. I went to Founding Farmers last year when I visited as well. Both times I got their Chicken and Waffles. SOOOO good. I also tried one of their scratch sodas this time, which was just okay. A friend told me to try the vanilla but I went with orange since I'm not a huge vanilla fan. Guess I should have listened to her!
*Download an agenda of my day of sightseeing in Washington DC
I've found a way to wear this crop top without it looking like a crop top! Just put it under a dress! The fact that it's cropped also helps it not look bulky under dresses, why didn't I think of this before?! I could also wear it over longer shirts but have yet to find one that works. Grr! This is probably more of a Fall look considering the color scheme but I had wanted to wear this dress and the idea came to me so why wait?
And no, I'm not bare legged. I have on tights I got from Hanes a couple years ago that don't look as weird as some nude tights tend to. They make my legs look just a little bit tan and perfectly smooth. You can't even see the seams in these open toe booties.
Crop Top Sweater: Zara, Sweater Dress: Miss Selfridge (Lord & Taylor), Peep Toe Boots: Alexander Wang 'Freja' (The Outnet), Necklace: Madewell
And no, I'm not bare legged. I have on tights I got from Hanes a couple years ago that don't look as weird as some nude tights tend to. They make my legs look just a little bit tan and perfectly smooth. You can't even see the seams in these open toe booties.
Crop Top Sweater: Zara, Sweater Dress: Miss Selfridge (Lord & Taylor), Peep Toe Boots: Alexander Wang 'Freja' (The Outnet), Necklace: Madewell
Happy Friday and happy last day of March. This month includes one purchase, but it's something I bought on February 28th. Silver heels to go with my bridesmaids dress for my cousin's wedding in April. I decided to give up buying clothes for Lent knowing that I might not be able to make it. So far, so good! Only 16 days to go and I will have made it! (That would also mean 2.5 months without buying clothes - if you don't count the wedding shoes)
THE (modified) RULES
Clothes:
Gifted from Brands:
Total spent in 2017: $146
Total spent with Christmas/advertising money included: $395
THE (modified) RULES
- Be mindful of purchases
- Quality over quantity
- Basics are best
Clothes:
- She Made Me Essential crocheted cotton swimsuit via Net-a-Porter sale ($45, retail $150, used Christmas money)
- Calypso St. Barth Gylden Cashmere Sweater via Gilt ($71, $295 retail, used Christmas money)
- M.i.h Jeans Tomboy cropped mid-rise skinny jeans via Net-a-Porter sale ($98, retail $245, used Christmas money)
- Miu Miu ankle boots via Roundabout Resale - also here and here ($146, retail $850)
- *NEW!* New Look Metallic Block Heel sandal via ASOS ($35, used advertising money)
Gifted from Brands:
Total spent in 2017: $146
Total spent with Christmas/advertising money included: $395
I had to modify this throwback outfit a little more than usual since I don't have the original tee anymore. Rather than wear the same shoes (which I still have) I decided to wear pumps that matched the pants. They're still pointy toed so I think it's okay.
Today I'm heading to DC for the weekend. It was originally intended to be for the cherry blossoms, but they decided to reach peak bloom last Saturday instead, so I'm a week late. GAH! Hopefully there are still some left for me to enjoy. At least I'll still get to have my chicken and waffles for brunch!
Cardigan: Burberry Brit (net-a-porter end of season sale), Leopard Jeans: Current/Elliott (RueLaLa), Tee: Everlane, Heels: Coach 'Nacie' (Marshalls), Sunglasses: Ray Ban 'Erika' (Ditto)
Original: Heels: Lanvin (Roundabout Resale)
Today I'm heading to DC for the weekend. It was originally intended to be for the cherry blossoms, but they decided to reach peak bloom last Saturday instead, so I'm a week late. GAH! Hopefully there are still some left for me to enjoy. At least I'll still get to have my chicken and waffles for brunch!
Cardigan: Burberry Brit (net-a-porter end of season sale), Leopard Jeans: Current/Elliott (RueLaLa), Tee: Everlane, Heels: Coach 'Nacie' (Marshalls), Sunglasses: Ray Ban 'Erika' (Ditto)
Original: Heels: Lanvin (Roundabout Resale)
Apparently whenever I wear green and want a second layer I have to wear this purple cardigan. I just love the two colors together so much so why change what's not broken? I've been neglecting these Free People flare jeans the past few months because of snow and not being in the mood to wear heels in the middle of winter. Hopefully I'll get out of my rut and start pulling them out some more instead of always wearing my skinnies.
Sweater: T.Babaton (Aritzia), Cardigan: Max Studio (from Lydia), Jeans: Free People (Marshalls), Boots: eBay, Necklace: BubuRuby
Sweater: T.Babaton (Aritzia), Cardigan: Max Studio (from Lydia), Jeans: Free People (Marshalls), Boots: eBay, Necklace: BubuRuby
This is me trying to brighten up a gloomy (almost rainy) day. How'd I do?! I bought this jacket almost exactly 4 years ago at Target and while it doesn't come out often it always bring a smile to my face. I mean who doesn't love a bright purple rain jacket?!
Floral Jacket: Target, Turtleneck: Vanessa Bruno (Coco's $10 sale), Jeans: Free People, Necklace: House of Harlow (from Lydia), Two-Tone Sandals: Cole Haan 'Minetta' (Amazon)
Floral Jacket: Target, Turtleneck: Vanessa Bruno (Coco's $10 sale), Jeans: Free People, Necklace: House of Harlow (from Lydia), Two-Tone Sandals: Cole Haan 'Minetta' (Amazon)
And so continues the week of blazers! This one is one of my favorites and an amazing deal. I bought it back in 2013 at my favorite consignment store, Roundabout! It was in the clearance section "as is" for $400...yes, please! (They usually sell Chanel blazers for at least $800.) I actually left it the first time I saw it and had to go back. Even though it was still expensive it was too good a deal to pass up, especially since it was purple-ish. I googled it the day I bought it and found it was from the Autumn 1998 collection, so it's almost 20 years old and still going strong!
Blazer: Chanel (Roundabout), Cashmere Turtleneck: Vince (Marshalls), Jeans: Current/Elliott (The Outnet), Boots: Cordani (Roundabout)
Blazer: Chanel (Roundabout), Cashmere Turtleneck: Vince (Marshalls), Jeans: Current/Elliott (The Outnet), Boots: Cordani (Roundabout)
Disclaimer: I didn't wear these shoes while outside. I also wore a coat. That big dumping of snow we had last week was insanity. Some areas of the state had two feet of snow, luckily we had a little under a foot where I am. Spring needs to hurry on up so I can start wearing sandals again without freezing my toes off.
Top: Equipment (sample sale), Sweater: American Eagle, Jeans: Free People (Gilt Groupe), Heels: Miu Miu (eBay), Scarf: Jason Wu for Target
The Original: Top: Express
Top: Equipment (sample sale), Sweater: American Eagle, Jeans: Free People (Gilt Groupe), Heels: Miu Miu (eBay), Scarf: Jason Wu for Target
The Original: Top: Express
I think I partly owe my love of blazers and Marc Jacobs to Emma Watson. When I was getting into fashion I helped to run a website dedicated to finding all the pieces Emma wore for different events and photoshoots, Sassy! I hunted for many of those pieces on eBay for my own collection and did manage to find a few over the years. This particular jacket was one she wore to a Teen Vogue photoshoot in 2005. It wasn't part of the actual shoot, it's from a small behind the scenes photo of her getting ready. Another one you've seen MANY times is a velvet Marc Jacobs blazer, last seen here.
I don't think I ever styled it like she did so that's what I decided to do this past weekend. Blazer? Check. White tee, light jeans and two-tone flats? Check! Easy peasy!
Blazer: Marc Jacobs (eBay), Tee: Everlane, Jeans: FRAME (Shopbop), Flats: Chanel (eBay)
The inspiration:
I don't think I ever styled it like she did so that's what I decided to do this past weekend. Blazer? Check. White tee, light jeans and two-tone flats? Check! Easy peasy!
Blazer: Marc Jacobs (eBay), Tee: Everlane, Jeans: FRAME (Shopbop), Flats: Chanel (eBay)
The inspiration:
Today is supposed to be the first day of Spring. Sadly it's still mighty cold out there! I know we don't go straight from cold to warm weather but I'm missing the almost-Spring weather we had a few weeks ago. We got into the high 60s and yet we're back in the 40s now. Annoying!
Blazer: Evan Picone, Sweater: Madewell, Jeans: Free People 'Jax' Patchwork, Boots: Vince Camuto 'Davila' (Marshalls)
Blazer: Evan Picone, Sweater: Madewell, Jeans: Free People 'Jax' Patchwork, Boots: Vince Camuto 'Davila' (Marshalls)
