Work It Out

 

Patterson J Kincaid floral tunic, Patterson J Kincaid racerback tank top, Maison Martin Margiela 1 blazer, Alexander Wang cap sleeve jacket, Joe's Jeans joes jeans, Joe's Jeans short shorts, Miu Miu high heels, Sam Edelman thong sandals, La Mer rose gold watch, Kenneth Jay Lane bead chain necklace, La mer watch, Gilded Lily Goods chain earrings, Deborah Lippmann Boom Boom Pow Nail Color, Deborah Lippmann Lara's Theme, Essie Nail Polish Mint Candy Apple

I have been on the hunt for "work" clothes that I can wear out and about too. I get done with work around 6:30 or 7, so if I want to meet up with any of my new found friends, I have to race home, change and then come back out. And since I take the bus...that's $1.50 each way!

I love both of the outfits above. I DIE for blazers, and have been on the hunt for a good short sleeved one for this summer. Plus, my summer revolves around white shorts. We sell PJK and Joe's Jeans at the boutique aaaaand La Mer watches. I can't decide which one I want more, hence two outfits that I basically centered around the watches.... and I love the look of layering gold polish over the coral/orange.

The Return of Five Things

Well folks, I ain't gonna lie but things around here have been a little dark as of late.

I blame being unemployed...

But fear not because those days are gone. Aside from the occasional sassy comment here and there (and a dash of sarcasm), things are overall going to be a lot happier around these parts

Maybe no one noticed a change, and that's fine, but I was just feeling a little too snarky for my own good

I'm big on sending out good vibes to get good vibes in return

And I realized that I haven't done a '5 Things' post in a while!

So here it is, 5 Things That I Am Loving RIGHT THIS MINUTE

1. Clouds that make you do a double take because you think that they're mountains (and then you remember that you live in Michigan, and there are no mountains outside of your window)

2. FUN nails (and getting compliments on them at the pool)

3. Outdoor summer concert series. Cold beer, good music, awesome weather- what more could you ask for?!

4. I know I'm such a nerd but I absolutely LOVE starting a new day planner. I have to write everything down (otherwise I forget) and July is always the first month in the planners that I use (also-I love yellow legal pads and making to do lists for myself-such.a.nerd.)

5. And last but not least, I love having a job!!! Woot woot (you can't see but I'm doing a little dance right now) I've worked the past three days and begin full time next week! I'm sure I will give some more details later on, but basically, I'm working as a stylist.

And there ya have it. I can finally say that things are startin to happen around here (oh and did I mention that I have made friends?! Again, such a nerd)

What's Up With It (Vanilla Face)?

That quote from Borat makes me laugh just thinking about it. I have spent the entire day on the internet. Well, kind of. It's only 3 pm here, and I did go for an hour long bike ride....and I also went grocery shopping...so really, I haven't been online all day. But a good chunk of it. Here's what I've been more than slightly obsessed with today/this weekend:

I wanna make these to drink out of, just because. Do you think I could get my dad to use them too?

A dove made of butterflies?! Baha I love you, Conan.

I think this is interesting. Also, I can't afford any of those things.

I am just going to have to make a trip back to Chicago sooner or later. French onion fondue with gruyere? AND a retractable roof? Done and done.

I firmly stand by the fact that these shows are educational too.

I totally made my hair look like this for my internship yesterday. I definetly did not look as glamorous as the model, but it's the thought that counts, right?

And here is a preview of what I did yesterday:

It was the greatest day. EVER.

Cork Letters

What a fun idea!!!

All you need is some (okay, LOTS) of corks, some wooden letters, hot glue and a way to hang them!

Check out the full tutorial here. 

Marble Nails (Or, How to Make Your Nails Look AWESOME)

To make my nails look like this:



I watched this video. She is seriously talented.

A couple of notes:

I wanted a more muted look. Since I have been applying for jobs, etc, I didn't want to get too crazy. I started with a base coat of pale pink (I used Essie "Ballerina Slippers").

The colors that I put in the water to make the marbled look were white and then two shades of glitter (one a dark brown and one silvery color).

I don't have a wooden stick or anything like that, so I just broke Q-Tips in half and used the "stick" part of it to swirl the nail polish colors.

I preferred when the colors were mixed more, so the lines were smaller, but the fun part about doing your nails like this was that I experimented a little before I settled on what I wanted to do. I did a trial run with some different colors and patterns.

I found that I got the best results when I only worked on a couple of nails at a time (2 or 3). Otherwise, if I didn't let them dry, they got smudged, and then I had to start all over. Also, the scotch tape gets a little messy. So make sure you have a garbage bag handy. And some paper towels.

Like I said before, I had a LOT of time on my hands, but once you get the hang of it, the process goes a lot quicker.

Rain, rain go away!

Today was a pretty awesome day. Or at least it has been pretty awesome so far. The morning started out with a quick trip to Meijer to pick up some nail polish remover. 20 minutes later, I left with what I came for PLUS two new nail polishes (purple and teal) and some strawberries (all for under $6, not too shabby Meijer, not too shabby at all)

I then made my way down to Kerrytown, where I had a job interview (that went very well, might I add!) I am officially in love with Kerrytown. It's filled with lots of cute shops and look what is has every Saturday:

Kerrytown is also filled with LOTS of artwork. Some are in kind of random places:

But I dig it.

And the best part of my day? I made a real friend! (I promise I am not as creepy as that sounds, although it does sound pretty creepy...and sad)

What did you do today?!



AA

I need to get in a better habit of posting. I promise there's nothing (too) exciting going on here, I have just been busy!!

This past weekend was spent actually working! There is a music festival in town that lasts for about a month, I spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday night helping work it.

The atmosphere there is so fun! There was this amazing face painter there and awesome local bands and the best part? It's all FREE!

The only downfall is that I would often work until 1 or 2 in the morning, so by the time I got home, it was around 2:30/3. Naturally, I would sleep in until noon and then I had to leave at 3 again to get back to work. Needless to say, I was not the happiest of campers.

In other news, I have spent a bit of time stalking the stars of the movie, Five Year Engagement (not really stalking them, but kind of). It stars Emily Blunt and Jason Segel. And they've been filming in Ann Arbor for the past couple of weeks. Well this weekend, Emily Blunt's husband, John Krasinski was in town and they did a little karaoke. Too bad I was working :(

And last but not least, I am making MAH-JOR progress on the job front. I had four interviews this week (count it-FOUR) and I have a trial run with one of them next week. I also start my internship this weekend! Well I technically have already started it, but I will be doing my first "day of coordination" for a wedding this Saturday!! (More details to come...)

Here are a couple of pictures to document my new life in AA (Ann Arbor, not Alcoholics Anonymous)

A quick pic of my bedside table: my favorite picture of my Mama, Daddio and Me + a ceramic bowl that is my "catch-all"

I am more than obsessed with this flavor of Vitamin water. Biotin is my favorite vitamin, so it's only fitting. Also? Check out my nails- I'm rocking a glitter "french" manicure

And I wasn't lying when I said my bike has a basket. Now I just need it to stop raining so I can use it again!

Skill sets

Dear 'job I applied for last week': I don't really understand how one day you can say that I "do not possess the skill set needed to fit the position, but best of luck in my job search" but 24 hours later you want to schedule an interview? Regardless, I look forward to showing you how my skill set does, in fact, fit the position.

Dear Daddio: Thank you for driving me to/from Chicago the past two weekends. I am sorry that I sit in the back and refer to you as "driver" sometimes (aka "Driver, take me to Chicago) I will try to contain my imagination more.

Dear Whole Foods: Oh, how I've missed you!

In other news, I must've turned 100 and not realized it. Last night, while I was working out, I threw my back out! Seriously?! I work out regularly and do yoga, how did I throw my back out?!!

I painted my nails yesterday

And up close:

Marbled. That's right, I'm awesome (and have way too much time on my hands)

ROY G BIV

Dorothy Perkins short sleeve wrap dress, Maison Martin Margiela draped dress, Summer dress, Ruched dress, Dorothy Perkins chiffon dress, One shoulder dress, Wrap dress, Eastex sleeveless linen dress, Tory Burch linen dress, See by Chloe pleated dress

Lately, I have had weddings on the brain.

We're talking watch every episode of Say Yes to the Dress, Bridezillas and my new guilty pleasure, My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding (it's so good, how could you not watch it?!) I may or may not have checked out every wedding planning/celebrations book that my little library has to offer. And yesterday, I had to seriously talk myself out of "casually browsing" at David's Bridal.

Don't get excited, I am still (happily!!) single. But weddings (and planning) have been occupying my thoughts because of my new internship (also partly because I'm attending a wedding at the end of the summer)

More details on the internship to come later... but for the meantime, I can't help but post some ideas of dresses to wear while attending a wedding. At least dresses that I WANT to wear while attending a wedding. 

A popular trend right now is bright colors. While I have been known to only wear black at all times, I am really trying to branch out and wear some color. Hence all the bright colors above. Can you tell what type of dresse I like to wear?

PS I know I am missing the color "green" in my dress rainbow above, but a girl has to have some limits, right?

Seriously?

Friend count: 1/2

Job count: 1 1/2

I'm makin progress!

Yesterday, I applied for 36 jobs. THIRTY SIX.

Let's get one thing straight. I am a college graduate. Thousands of dollars were spent on a BACHELOR'S DEGREE. So please tell me why I am competing with 16 year olds for minimum wage, part time jobs at the mall.

Don't get me wrong. I have nothing against working part time. Nothing against working at the mall. I'm not thrilled at the thought of making minimum wage, but I'll do it.

I do have a problem, though, with competing for jobs with someone who is:

a) still in high school

b) not legal to drive (because they aren't old enough)

c) "wantin to make some quick money so I can take my baby daddy to dinner"

d) all of the above

And yes, while I was filling out an application, a girl came up to the manager and said "Hi. I be wantin to make some quick money so I can take my baby daddy to dinner. Is you hirin'?" And then he gave her an application.

Equal opportunity employer, blah blah blah. I want a job!

I HAVE secured one job. Working at a local festival. But it is only at night, for about three weeks. Still, it's a job.

My other "1/2" of a job is an unpaid internship that I am BEYOND excited about. But it's only on the weekends. Still, it's half a job. (Well really a full time job, but since it's unpaid it only counts for half)

So now I'm just trying to find a 9-5 Monday through Friday job. And that is proving to be way harder than I thought it was going to be.

Now to my friend count

Last night, the power was out in the whole apartment building for about 3 hours. I couldn't get the car out of the garage because the garage door was closed. No power: no way to open the door. An older man came down and asked if he could help. He proceeded to work on the garage door for 30 minutes, manually raising the door.

I don't know his name, so he's not really a whole friend. But I'm eternally grateful to him for helping me, so he can count for half a friend.

One last thing, this past weekend, we drank a little French wine...Bordeaux wine to be specific!! You can imagine how excited I was. And it really made me miss Bordeaux

Blah

Dear 'People Who Say They Will Call You and They Don't': I say "no thank you" to you

Dear 'People Who Say They Will Call You and They Do': I say "thank you" to you

Dear 'Death Guy', 'The Dark Lord', 'Kelly Oxford' 'Jon Friedman' and 'Charlie McDowell': Thank you for being sufficient time wasters and making me laugh 

That pretty much sums up the last 24 hours of my life.

I was waiting around yesterday (and maybe a little bit on Wednesday too...) for a phone call that I NEVER RECEIVED. And no, I'm not annoyed by that at all

I did, however, talk to two people interested in working with me. I'm calling it now- I'm officially taking over Ann Arbor. I haven't made any friends here yet and I am not currently employed, but it's only a matter of time until everyone realizes how awesome I am!

In other news, I organized my closet. Three different times.

Here's a picture of round 2. I ended up moving all my clothes to the higher shelf and color coordinating them. Sorry I party.

Also, in the past two days I have finished two (TWO!) books. Impressive, I know. Although one was part cookbook so it doesn't really count.

And that's about it. I'm adding "Make Friends" to my To Do list for next week, things are getting a little too monotonous around here

Day In, Day Out

So it has been a little while since I last updated. I think about a week. And in that week, I have done nothing. Well, I have done things, I've actually been somewhat busy, but nothing extraordinary. Just day in, day out sort of stuff.

In the past week I:

• returned to the great U S of A
• awkwardly navigated my return to speaking only in English. Example: I have been wanting to say "pardon" (French for "excuse me, I'm trying to walk past you") when trying to walk past people, my brain knows that's not quite right but it's unable to formulate the proper thing to say in English, so I say "pardon" but with a British accent (wtf?). It ends up sounding more like "pawden" and yes, people look at me weird.
• unpacked
• repacked
• moved to Ann Arbor, MI
• saw the movie Bridesmaids
• loved the movie Bridesmaids
• fell in love with Chris O'Dowd from the movie Bridesmaids (can someone please tell me where I can meet a charming Irish police officer in the states?!)
• Stalked Jason Segel and Emily Blunt (and really everyone else that's filming Five Year Engagement in Ann Arbor)
• drank a million and one Venti Iced Americanos from Sbucks (hell yes big coffees!)
• interviewed with one very scary woman
• signed up for a sweet pay as you go phone (all the cool kids use flip phones)
• spent quality time with ma famille (bbq brisket for Memorial day-yum!)
• painted my nails 5 times and tried Sally Hansen salon effects
• watched approximately 85 hours of America's Next Top Model
• scoured the internet for job openings in Ann Arbor

Currently I have no car, and no job. Ladies and gentlemen, it's going to be a fun summer. Hey, it's a mundane life but someone's gotta live it.