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?

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?

how to make a care bear costume

Happy Halloween! It’s been an eventful weekend already, full of shenanigans and dancing and drinks and friends and fun. And I did it all in this:

I give you: Cara the Care Bear!

Cheer Bear, as a matter of fact.

Ok, so it’s a different shade of pink, but finding a pink sweatsuit was more difficult than anticipated. Keep reading to see how I made it and/or scroll to the bottom for a few more finished pics.

skirting the issue

“Ah, crap, I forgot a necklace.”

No, really – that was my thought here as I had begun taking pictures and walked to stop the cam & fix this egregious error. Oops!

feelin’ groovy

Celebrating their birth year of 1970, my family had a ’70s-themed 40th birthday party for my Aunt Jackie and Uncle Jon yesterday. I tried to dress semi-appropriately!

Sorry for the weird lighting here. Just pretend it’s psychedelic or something.

Chicago PRIDE Fest Fashion

Oh my goodness, I am straight exhausted – no pun intended! – but I wanted to get this post up. Pride was such a great experience. I have a lot of gay friends, and it was just really fun to celebrate the community and be a part of such a huge party all about unity and inclusion. I wish it felt this way every day!

As for my own outfit, please note: it is meant to be ridiculous. Because Pride fashions are largely about being flashy and sassy.

Strapless sun dress: Mossimo – so comfy & cute and in a variety of colors (was also $5.00 cheaper in store when I got mine). I felt very Carrie Bradshaw in this – she wore a lot of those tube top-ish dresses, and the big ol’ flower on my head was also very Carrie. But I enjoyed being ridiculous. And the back of this dress is so fun.

in bloom – sine hollyhock, take 2

I have been in such a good mood today – it’s Friday! it’s my friend William’s birthday! and I love my look today! And this one is a genuine day-to-night, office-to-out ensemble, too.

You’ve seen this dress before, but that was in a most ridiculous, staying-in-on-Friday-night silly post. Not so today. No, today I feel I am done up right, if I may say so myself!

Sine hollyhock dress (size 8): Anthropologie, ruffled grey cardigan: Express, braided sandals for comfort and bug-bite-avoidance: Mossimo.