living in: christmas vacation

in my family, we have a tradition of watching national lampoon’s christmas vacation every weekend from thanksgiving until christmas. then it goes away for the next year, only to resurface at the following thanksgiving. most of us can quote the majority of the movie. it might be a sickness.http://coedmagazine.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/national-lampoons-christmas-vacation1.jpg?w=600&h=350

anyway, want to live in christmas vacation like the rest of my family? here’s how:

1. a christmas tree. a full one that is far too big for the room. (full of sap, of course!)
2. a hat with ear warmers when you have to leave your trailer to go to the bathroom ’cause the shitter’s full.
3. jelly of the month club (no pool for you!)
4. a santa hat. essential when the squirrel jumps out of the tree at your face, runs through the house, prompting your brother’s (or your brother-in-law’s) dog to run through the house and destroy everything.
5. lights. to cover your whole house. oh, and be sure to knock out the neighborhood electricity while you’re at it AND steal the electricity from your next door neighbor.
6. a moose mug. for egg nog. duh.

7. a tree scented candle. just in case the sap from your over full tree (see #1) isn’t filling your home with christmasy goodness.

living in: christmas vacation

 

8. oh and some rope for when your brother kidnaps your boss (because he gave you the jelly of the month club and not cash for a pool)

one blouse: four ways

what i love about jcrew is the versatility of their pieces. they are made to not be worn as one outfit, but be remixed and reused multiple times. one thing you can learn from “the crew” is to be fearless. throw different colors together (like pink and red!). put on polka dots with a floral print. put neon pink over navy. do it with a smile and you’ll pull it off.

enter the talitha blouse.

when i purchased this top i wasn’t quite sure how i would wear it. then i thought, hey with colored jeans! or ivory shorts! or blue slacks! or a bright pencil skirt! i was so happy i made the purchase because it’s a versatile piece – key to bringing new frocks into your collection.

one blouse: four ways

get the look: virginia macdonald

sometimes design can be overwhelming. but if you take an inspirational photo and break it down piece by piece it’s definitely attainable, and often at a much lower cost than the magazines and online rags we all drool over.

i stumbled upon this photo by photographer virginia macdonald featured on desire to inspire yesterday and fell in love immediately. i love the layered look, plus it’s light and airy and a little sassy with that punch of leopard print. at the end of the day though, you can break this overall vibe down into 5 essential pieces and then layer on top of that with light and airy pieces of art (and a good dose of white paint).

for product info please click here.

lust vs. must, urn table lamps

restoration hardware never fails to impress me – i walk in the store and i long to take everything home with me. i especially love their lighting – and, no pun intended here, but the lightness of some of their table lamps.

particularly, i love the palladian crystal urn lamp. but with a heftier price tag ($455 without the shade or lightbulb) it’s just not in my price range. enter (i know, again!) amazon. there’s a solution to everything on amazon. and for this we have lamps plus possini crystal urn table lamp (with a more reasonable price tag of $179…it’s on sale right now, so chop chop).

restoration hardware vs. an amazon find ($500 vs. $180!)

get the look – neon pink lips

chloe sevigny has inspired us today – as well as the brutal heat wave hitting the east coast – to try some neon pink lips. often seeming edgy, there is something gentle and graceful about this photo.

feeling a little bold today? here are some great options to get chloe’s hue.

Top: MAC Chatterbox; Clinique Extreme Pink; Illamasqua Fable; Maybelline Fifth Ave Fuschia; Sephora Maniac Mat 01, Bottom: MAC Girl About Town; YSL Pink Celebration; MAC Show Orchid; NARS Schiap; YSL Provocative Pink; NARS Carthage