Zen

Perhaps its the fact that I'm running in a bajillion different directions lately, maybe I'm just getting to know myself better, or maybe I just can't take my messy room mates any more (why do I always get stuck with the slobs?) but I'm really embracing the idea of zen.

Dictionary definition of Zen is:
A school of Mahayana Buddhism that asserts that enlightenment can be attained through meditation, self-contemplation, and intuition rather than through faith and devotion and that is practiced mainly in China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. Also called Zen Buddhism .

I do have Buddhist friends, but by nature I tend to be an atheist and avoid religion like it's my job (sorry mom, Catholicism just didn't work out) so I'm not so much into the religious side of it. I am however very into the idea of simplicity.


What it means to me?
Just getting rid of all this STUFF and streamlining my life.
Saying no more often.
Realizing simple does not mean easy, but it usually means better.
Breathing.

I'm still figuring this stuff out as I go, but a great resource I found to kick start me off is Zen Habits.
Now I'm off to go purge my life.


Image thanks to Genisrp

Mood

Just some images that are inspiring me lately.

Please pardon me, but I clipped a few of these into my inspiration folder without the sources. If you see a picture of yours, please contact me.

Images thanks to Brook & Lyn, Jak & Jil, Style.com and Knight Cat

Volume

I'm trying very hard to not get caught up in all the fall fashion when it's only mid-summer.
Because I heard somewhere that thigh high boots and fur aren't very practical in 100% humidity and 95 degrees.
So let's revisit the Spring/Summer 2010 rtw.

I'm really loving the architectural draping and volume right now. Blame my internship, I'm really starting to get into the Malia Mills aesthetic and embracing my minimalism.

Speaking of which, I feel like a style schizo. Between working at the Loft where the motto is "more is more! Shiny! Color! LAYERING!" and working at Malia Mills where the aesthetic is more androgynous, urban, and minimalist, I'm dressing two completely different ways for both jobs.
Although, lets be honest. The androgynous minimalist is much more me.

Loving Albino's S/S rtw, here's how I'd spin it:

Albino Inspired by erind90 featuring Chinese Laundry shoes

And a Few More

Thanks to the amazing Sarah at Yes and Yes who is a self-proclaimed travel addict, I picked up a few more tips for my upcoming plane trips (yes, the one has now expanded to include family visits to Seattle and San Antonio. Apparently I'm going to be living on a plane for the month of July).

One is 3 Fl. Oz which has all of your favorite brands and products in a convenient 3 fl. oz size for that pesky 3-1-1 regulation.
While I already have a collection of little 1 oz labeled bottles that I just decant into, I could see this being very useful for just trying out products that I'm not sure of or just want a taste of luxury without indulging.

The other is the bar lotion at Lush. I went and wandered over there after work to try it out, and while I can see the appeal, I just wasn't feeling the scents for some reason *shrug*.
However, I am all over the Bee Bar which smells like vanilla and bees wax (yum!) and comes in an adorable tin.

If you have any other tips, tricks or products to streamline, spill-proof, and generally making traveling easier give a shout out, I could always use a few more to keep my blood pressure down in the airport.

Take the Heat

Here's the issue ladies.

My internship takes place on the top floor (the 16th to be exact) of a building in Times Square. It has production machines, computers, and many human bodies, making it about a bazillion degrees in there by my reckoning.
So how do you look professional and still not faint from heat stroke?

I'm taking a cue from  Band of Outsiders

and 3.1 Philip Lim.

Internship by erind90 featuring Melissa shoes

And voila! My summer internship uniform. So far it's performed pretty well, going from hauling around boxes to accompanying my bosses on buying trips.
And yes, sometimes when I'm by myself I strip off everything unnecessary, just to let everything air out. I'm no super woman.

Nude Shoes

Just doing a little shoe browsing. Since I'm stuck up in the northern hemisphere I usually don't get a chance to bust out warm weather anything, as I'm finding out by my social calendar.
Between going down south with the girls and a wedding in San Antonio I need to do some serious warm weather shopping. Can you believe I don't own anything without sleeves? Or any strappy shoes? Or any nude shoes for that matter?
I think these would be just gorgeous to wear to the wedding with my red dress (and out clubbing with my girls later shhh....)

 Nine West Consuela

Edit:  I just realized that I might not be up to date on wedding dress code. I know that it's a huge no-no to wear a white dress (um... duh) but what about white accessories? 

These are labeled as nude, and let's be honest, if I'm going to buy nude shoes/ones that match my skin tone they're going to be closer to cream than to tan. But of course I want to be within social guidelines?

What do you think? Are white accessories/shoes okay to wear to a summer wedding?

Backlog

Here's a post from a while ago of my top five trend predictions for fall.
Who's excited for maxi skirts and fur coats?
This girl is!

Butter Sale!

Exciting news guys, Butter by Nadia is having a sample sale!

It begins June 18th at midnight and ends June 21st at 9 am.

What goodies are you going to pick up?

The Blues

A video from a dear friend of mine, who always knows just how to cheer me up :)
Yes I'm secretly five years old at heart.





Which, speaking of puppets and Sesame Street check out Stuffed and Unstrung by the Henson Alternative down at the Union Square Theatre.
Student Tickets are $20 one hour before show time btw.
You're welcome.

All the Boys

I just lately wandered into Esprit (again) I keep hoping that I'll find something exciting in there, because it strikes me as so.... European or something. However, once again I was non-plussed by their women's selection.
HOWEVER, over on the men's side I struck gold.
My fall back for button downs and "boyfriend" wear has been target's Athletic Fit line, which seems is no longer being stocked (poo-poo on you Target. What about all those athletic boys? What about me? )

But Esprit's slim fit shirts? Perfection. Looser on the top, fitted at the waist, perfectly slouchy and over-sized. The price tag leaves a lot to be desired after living off Target's $19.99 shirts, but hey, when they also have gorgeously slouchy v-neck sweaters and cardigans, I'll keep my mouth shut.

Basic Stretch Shirt

 Cotton Knit V-neck Sweater

Note: Obvs, these clothes make me look just as rugged and handsome as the model, or just that my boyfriend does ;)
Also Esprit, why don't you carry your slim fit and urban fit options on line? So ladies, here's what it looks like, now head into stores because they have a lot more variety than the four options they carry online.

Window Shopping

Sorry guys, I know that I haven't been posting much but things have been a bit crazy.
But I have been doing a bit of window shopping, this self control thing is SO HARD.
Well, after paying the plumber and bug guys for a busted pipe and a cockroach invasion it hasn't been too hard.
Unfortunately that means my accounts have gone a little south, but the alternative? Cockroaches and squishy carpets? No thanks.

On a complete side note, I think it's interesting how people react to a problem. I feel it shows a lot about their personality.
My three roomies and I stumble out of bed at 5 am when we hear this huge bang in the bathroom, aka a busted water pipe.
My first reaction "I hope that wasn't important"
room mate #1 "I didn't do it!"
room mate #2 "Oh my god, our land lady is going to kill us! OMG OMG"
room mate #4 "Jesus, I have work in like 3 hours, can we just do something about this?"
Me "I have some duct tape..."
That was just a snap shot of my room dynamic for y'all.


Anyway, in my window shopping excursions, here's a few things I'm lusting after:

Betsey Johnson Cry Bow Uneven Earrings

 Theory Cardigan

Asos Cross Back Wrap Vest

Miracle

 I can't own white things because I invariably either get food, dirt or sweat stains on it.
So my color palette is pretty much limited to black, navy and once in a while I get daring with a gray shirt.
Which is pretty much the bane of my existence because I love, love the look of a crisp white blouse with jeans. But without fail I always get pit stains on it after a week or two making it not worth the money and a white button down anything but a classic "investment" piece.

I've tried bleach, stain removers, baking soda, cold water, hot water, aluminum-free deodorant (ew), and none of it worked.

Then I asked my wears-pearls-and-heels-while-vacuuming grandma, who I assumed had never had a stain on any of her perfectly pressed clothes in her life.
She said to try oxiclean, and it worked like a miracle.

Oxiclean Laundry Stain Remover

I decided to test it out on a white t-shirt that I was hoping to resurrect from pit stains, I just sprayed some of it on the stains, let it sit in my laundry hamper for a few days, sprayed it again before I washed it and voila! Out it came sparkling clean and white.
It must be a sign.
It's time to go on a white blouse shopping spree.

TSA

I've already talked about my mission to bring on an actual carry-on this time for my upcoming vacation, instead of dealing with the hassle of checking my baggage.
Plus, I like to think that it gives me the opportunity to slim down my routine/get new solid products since I'm such a klutz.

Perfume
I'm happen to just be one of those girls who can't leave the house without putting on a signature scent. In the winter it's a perfume with notes of roses and musk. In the summer, it's oranges and white musk.
So I figure Pacifica's orange blossom solid perfume is a good stand-in for my usuals. Small, convenient, spill-proof. Sweet.

Nerola Orange Blossom

 
Sunscreen
 I'm willing to put any dime store sublock on my body, as long as it's SPF 50 or higher, of course.
For my face I'm much more picky (zits? No thank you). So this baby sunblock stick is perfect. SPF 60, hypoallergenic, oil free, fragrance free and waterproof.

Neutrogena Sunblock Stick

Shampoo
Dry shampoo is a god send. I try not to shampoo my hair much anyway to avoid damaging my color and fine hair. Of course, there's the problem with "no aerosol containers except for .... in reasonable amounts". I am NOT willing to get through the line and find that they dump my big spray can of shampoo, so we're going to go with Blow which is just a squeeze bottle. Much better. 

Blow faux dry shampoo

Everything else (toothpaste, conditioner, moisturizer...) I figure I can either find minis in CVS or just pour into 3.4 oz bottles.
But watch out TSA, I might be hiding something in my Bumble & Bumble conditioner. I'm just saying. : )

Why I'm Watching the World Cup This Year

 Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal

What? I can't check out the man candy to get me over the mid-week hump?
Guess what team I'm rooting for....

Photo thanks to Style.com

Malia Mills

I just finished my first day of my summer internship at Malia Mills and I LOVE it.

Very chill environment, the ladies that run the business are sweethearts, plus everything is made in NY's garment district (and it's a small boutique brand), so even on my first day I got to see how production went from the designer's sketches all the way to me tagging it and shipping it to the store right next to my apartment.
I'm not allowed to bring my camera to work or say too much about my internship (sorry guys. I had to sign a privacy agreement with them.)

So since I can't show you the pieces still in production that I wanted to snatch up, please just check out the stuff from their current collection that I'm drooling over.
I wish they did better pictures on their website, but that's part of my internship to brush up their media so we'll see what we can do
; )

Check out their website here.