stripey & strappy

Sometimes when I’m bored, I go to Target. Terrible habit. But it’s a 5-minute walk from my apartment! So last night, when my plans were in flux, I walked in for no reason and walked out $93 poorer. Oops.

But I also walked out with this little number:

Draped Double Layer Tank Dress (Grey/Pebble): Mossimo (size M). It mystified me on the hanger, what with its curious double layer/tank lining, but trying it on was a pleasant surprise – especially considering the stripes… cuz that’s a lotta stripes.

big style, small price

What’s this, another blog post? To think I used to do it nearly every day… but summer is a busy time. The last week or so has been a blur – but a fun, sunny, musical blur (U2! pool party! shopping! grilling!), so I’m definitely not complaining.

As a thanks for hooking her up with U2 tickets, my friend Andrea bought me this dress from H&M when we were walking around State St. the day after the concert:

Such a fun print and color palette, right? The best part? It was $15.

watermelon manicure

Plenty of people have done it before, but I thought it’d be fun to do a watermelon-like manicure for summer:

Juicy fun, right?

how to modify a tee with only scissors and safety pins

Happy Pride, everyone!

Speaking of which, I really wanted to get one of Old Navy’s Pride-themed t-shirts this year. I don’t know why it became such a quest for me, but I must’ve gone in at least half a dozen times over two weeks to two different Old Navy stores in Chicago. The last time I went into the State St. store, they had four left: two designs, all men’s size Large.

I decided I’d get one and somehow modify it to fit and look cute. Here’s the before:

What to do? While I can handle a needle and thread enough to sew a button back on, I wanted this to involve nothing but scissors and maybe safety pins, which seemed like a fun thing for Pride. I looked up modifications online and watched a few YouTube vids for ideas but ultimately ended up making something I hadn’t been able to find anyone else explaining. Maybe it’ll help you too!

the tragic style of 16-year-old lauren alaina

All season on American Idol, Lauren Alaina Suddeth (yes, that is her real name; she prettied it up by just using her first and middle name for her journey to “superstardom” apparently) has had absolutely abysmal style. She’s even admitted that the stylists hate her choices and are frustrated by her, which is a little funny. Tonight, however, I was finally pushed to posting about her, as she wore this little number in the finale:

Oh, HONEY.

stop telephonin’ me-eh-eh-eh

Hello. RAWR.

As you may or may not know, Lady Gaga’s Monster Ball concert aired on HBO weekend. I was invited to two parties – but since Mom nabbed me first, I was at home with her and her good friend Sue, as well as Sue’s daughter Macey, a Little Monster extraordinaire. We decided to dress up a bit, and of course I went all-out!

regina george presents: a Mean Girls birthday party

My birthday was on April 25, but because it fell on the Monday after Easter weekend, I decided to have my party yesterday. This turned out to be a pretty great decision because instead of it being gross any rainy like the last, oh, I don’t know… 5 years?, it was springy and 69° here in Chicago. Unbelievable!

Also a great decision? I decided to make my party Mean Girls-themed. Yes, theme parties can be cheesy, but I think they’re fun, and I knew my friends would too.

So of course I had to dress in my best Queen Bee Regina George ensemble:

A little bit dramatic – who, me?

a royal wedding party!

Pip pip cheerio! Did everyone enjoy the Royal Wedding? Or did you just care about letting everyone know how much you don’t care? (Do you want a cookie or something?) Months back, I was like, “Eh, whatever.” But then I realized just how fun and exciting it was gonna be, and I was all for it. In the words of @ecctv, it is just fun, dang. Plus, pop culture and fashion? I had to see it live!

Which is why, after too-short disco naps, Katy and I got up waaaaay too early Friday morning to get ready for my friend Roxanne’s Royal Wedding party.

These photos are some of the most crap-quality ever, but it’s dark out, and did I mention waaaaay too early to be awake?

$36 (faux) leather & lace

Hi! We actually had some sunshine this morning! Which made me start to break a sweat taking these pics, no lie. But was it nice and toasty warm outside, too? Noooo, of course not!

Oh well! Happy with this, which has quickly become one of my new favorite outfits – and it seriously cost $36.

braided & bitten

Oh, hello! Let’s skip the I’m-a-bad-blogger part and get right to it, shall we?

My friend Julia invited me to a couple of concerts this week that I probably wouldn’t normally have gotten tickets for: 30 Seconds to Mars and My Chemical Romance – holy guyliner, Batman! But who can resist Jordan Catalano?! And who can turn down free shows? Not this girl!

While I am definitely not the, uh… key audience? for such shows, I thought I’d kinda “rock”-ify my hair a bit.

This is totally rock, right?