New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve celebrations are in store for later today - time to break out the party dress!  Hubby and I had plans to be in Boston for the festivities but due to the lousy weather we nixed it and will be going out to dinner with friends at a restaurant closer to home instead (restaurant review to follow!)

So we won't be at the official "First Night" celebrations in the city but I'm still ready to have fun with my outfit.  This year, I'm thanking one of my go-to places, Banana Republic for my dress.

The picture doesn't do it justice.  In person, the dress is covered in hundreds of rosy pink sequins which are rectangle shape rather than round.  Thankfully the dress is completely lined with soft fabric on the inside so there is no rubbing or irritation.  The cut of the dress - which I am always very picky about  - is also great and will flatter many body types.  I will be pairing this with a pair of black tights, grey booties, and a cropped pink cardigan to throw on if I get chilly in the restaurant.


Happy New Year Everyone!  Have fun and be safe tonight!

Uggs That Are Not So "UGH!"

Haters of Uggs, this is my attempt to draw you over to the other side.  Whether you love them or hate them, I don't think many people can argue that Uggs are both functional and incredibly warm for those dreary fall/winter days.  Most people are driven away simply by their fugliness.

Thus, I present to you the "Over The Knee Twisted Cable" boot.  This beauty comes in either black or grey and was just the thing I was looking for to spice up my winter wardrobe.  Of course, they are warm and comfortable, but the fact you can wear them up over the knee if desired also makes them...gasp...STYLISH too!

Are you won over yet?  If not, consider how many different ways you can actually wear this boot.  It doesn't HAVE to go over the knee - you can fold it up or down to all different lengths for completely different looks.  Warm, stylish, versatile?  What more do you want?  

These boots go for $250.00 on the website, which is a little steep for a pair of Uggs but I'm still calling this a smart buy considering how much wear you can get out of them.  The flexibility you have to scrunch, fold, or pull up these boots ensures you'll get a bang for your buck.

The Price of Fashion

While my husband may be somewhat grateful for the newfound sense of fashion Manhattan bestowed upon me during my time there, he may not be as amused at the price tag.  Fashion literally comes at a price, and having said that I pride myself on creating a wardrobe that combines cheaper items with more expensive ones to create what I think is a unique blend.   This being said, just today I was mentioning how quality seems to be going down in a lot of brands (that's for a different blogpost.)  Now days, if you want quality, you need to be prepared to pay top dollar for it.  My time in Manhattan taught me if nothing else that the cut and fit of clothing is essential.  Price and quality aside, you need to have clothes that fit you well if you want to truly feel put together.  (This sometimes proves to be a challenge for me.  I am a curvy size 8 with a full chest and a slight difference in cut can cross the fine line between professional and too revealing).  This is primarily what I paid attention to rather than fabric or quality for a long time.  As long as it fit me, I'd buy a lot of something cheap from anywhere - Weathervane (remember that place?) to American Eagle.  Now that I'm getting even older, however, I pay much closer attention to fabric and quality as a factor in the price - smarter shopping.   

Speaking of smarter shopping, today I want to give a shout out to one of my absolute favorite clothing brands - Tory Burch.  Her clothes may be expensive at first round, but if you're patient and wait for them  to go on sale, they get knocked down to prices that are in a much more comfortable zone.  Take this Tory Burch dress I bought earlier this fall, for instance.  $595.00 when it was first available - I bought it for $175.00.  And for the price, you get immaculate quality.  The dress is 100% silk.   

Paired with these Kenneth Cole boots in 100% leather / brown suede (bought on sale at 50% off for $80.00) and a cozy cardigan, I felt totally ready for the cooler weather.

Small Town Girl Meets Big City

So, I just finished an episode of Sex and the City.  My wonderful husband bought me the complete series for Christmas (thanks, Babe!) and I've been enjoying watching the FULL episodes from the very beginning (no more of the edited down crap they show on E!).  Now that I've had my fix of Carey, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda for the day, I'm feeling primed to write my first fashion blog post.


I used to dream about visiting New York City as a young girl.  The whole facade just seemed so intriguing, mysterious and glamorous all at once, but out of reach for a small town girl like me.  Fast forward to my senior year of high school, and I was eagerly packing up all my worldly possessions to live out my dream and attend Fordham University - right smack in the heart of Manhattan.  My decision to actually move away to NYC was not an easy one, but it was one of the best ones I have ever made.  The next four years I would spend there dramatically changed my life in exciting ways I could never have thought possible.  This is where my love of fashion comes in.  Seriously, who could live in NYC for four years and not have your surroundings influence your sense of fashion in some way?


Before I get to that, however, you should know that in order to really understand my sense of fashion, you need to first understand where I come from.  I grew up in a small town outside of Boston.  My hometown is one of those places where everyone knows everyone.  Cows and pigs are a common sight.  I just visited my parents there for Christmas and was able to confirm that nothing has changed since I left nearly eight years ago now (has it really been that long?)  It's enough to bore you to death and drive you away forever if you don't have strong ties like family drawing you back in.  But, it is my beloved hometown where I spent my childhood and it is where my fashion story begins.


Straight into high school, my sense of fashion was...non-existant.  Jeans and t-shirts in the summer, jeans and turtlenecks in the winter.  Hair in a ponytail.  No make-up.  That was about it.  (I was studying, ok?  It took effort to get straight A's and actually get into a good university!)  Anyway, I lumbered along, proudly wearing a few nice sweaters my mother helped me pick out at the Gap.  It went on like this my entire freshman year until something finally clicked.  One night, I asked my mother if I could get my belly button pierced.  Surprisingly, she said yes, but only if I got straight As.  I was shocked she was going along with it and thought she would back out if I actually made the grades.  But I busted my ass anyway, brought home a perfect report card, and before I knew it I was waiting in a tattoo parlor with my mom.  What a sight we must have made!  My belly button was pierced over the summer and I was so in love with it I decided I needed to make my grand entrance back to school my sophomore year with an amazing outfit that showed it off.  I had never spent so much time shopping for clothes in my life, but soon I had my first day of school outfit:  khakis, a denim jacket and a cropped yellow tank top that showed my navel underneath.  The outfit got mixed reviews from my peers "hey!  where did the rest of your shirt go?" but the bug had been planted.  I had actually LIKED shopping for this outfit, and the next one I bought was going to be even better.  And there my friends was the birth of a monster, kept somewhat tame for two more years of high school until I finally reached my promised land - Manhattan - and was set free.