Vogue

So, I confess I eagerly await the day in every month when my Vogue gets delivered to my mailbox. I compulsively check my schedule, block out time to read the whole thing cover to cover and voraciously devour it, stunning photos and glorious magazine features. Glossy fonts and couture really do get my heart all aflutter.

Last night, after a work day greatly in excess of 8 hours, I sprawled out with the March edition, sipped some amazing Snickerdoodle coffee, turned up the Adele in honor of her magnificent cover shoot (That eyeliner! That decolletage! Adele is a topic for another, longer day.) and spent hours with my nose buried in the magazine.

Here's to a weekend full of Vogue-worthy fabulous!



Kisses,
AJS

A Black Tie Affair

Sunday night brings the Academy Awards. I just adore watching everyone strut the red carpet in their black tie finest. It gets me all starry-eyed at the prospect of Old Hollywood glamour, vintage couture and what it must be like awash in the flashing lights. Tonight, I'm just wondering what kind of glorious dresses I'm going to get to see. Perhaps the formal wear will be nodding toward the Spring 2012 Runway collections I've been scouring, trying to decide what trends seem do-able outside of the couture arena. (I really adore the vast number of ruffles that are on par for the warm months! There is nothing more feminine than a well-placed ruffle.) I'll just be mooning over these until my Oscar Report....

Diane Von Furstenberg (I want DVF to design my life...)



Lazaro





Marchesa (Too pretty to only post one...)



Tobi Hannah



Valentino



Vera Wang

Kisses,

AJS

Home is Where the Heart Is

Home.

I travelled to the place where I grew up this weekend for the first time since a wedding I was in two years ago. My parents moved back to where they grew up and the rest of mu family lives and I haven't had the opportunity for many road trips since I sold my Orange Pontiac Grand Am to avoid amassing even more parking tickets than I already had recieved from my friends at the CPD.

I drove down the streets where I learned to drive with surprising muscle memory, I ate toffee chip ice cream from my favorite ice cream place and I met the new baby one of my best friends just had (It was serious love at first site! And she is the most amazing mother in the world; she seriously brings sunshine into every day). I got to show my boyfriend where I took all the baby steps to become the person I am today. And I got to see the amazing paths and successes that my friends for life have moved into. One of my closest friends has an amazing fiancee and a house that they've put so much love and time into remodeling; their happiness is stunning and beautiful and infectious.

It was a trip full of smiles and love and the immense gratitude for the people that have loved me unconditionally throughout my whole life. It reminded me of who I was and how I got here, sitting in this bedroom in the city with its sunny windows and closet in the hallway in a neighborhood where I can walk to anything within ten minutes. It reminded me of long afternoons sitting with my mother in the kitchen of our old house, the hours I spent laboring over my thesis before graduation, the summers I spent with the top of my gorgeous candy apple red '72 Beetle convertible down and the radio blaring as I jetted off from place to place. It reminded me how much I've always wanted to do and made me pause to take a breath and reflect on all the things I have accomplished, muddled through, made.

Never forget to take a minute, a weekend, a day to just stop and appreciate your roots and smile at the awkward, bookish ten-year old you were and hope that she'd be immensely excited at the prospect of the woman you've become.

Kisses,

AJS

Rules for an Awesome Road Trip

Once upon a time ago, my roommates and I drove from Chicago to Auburn, AL where my parents had recently returned after many years in Ohio. I think we spent 20-odd hours in the car, with an adventurous stop to stay the night in Ohio on either end. We drove through rain, we drove through mountains, we drove through sunny, windy roads. We ate local fare and made new friends, in spite of being enclosed in my 2004 Pontiac Grand Am for hours on end.

It was amazing.

I’ve embarked on many of these get up and drive trips in my life; my family made the dreaded Ohio to Alabama drive at least 4 times a year. Every year. For 15 years of my life. My love, Valerie, and I did a St. Louis/Chicago trip before I lived here. And, on a whim, boyfriend and I drove to Madison, WI and Kalamazoo, MI all in one weekend. Clearly, I don’t mind kicking it car-style. The best friend and I are actually debating a Route 66 journey in the near future. If you find yourself with a car and a destination, here are some solid ways to get your road trip out of first gear and into the seriously awesome zone.

1.) Great music. If the jams you pick for the car aren’t great, an automatic bad mood will settle in all corners of the car and no one wants that. It’s tradition with my roommate that we listen to the entire discography of Fall Out Boy on a trip. When I’m alone, I always go showtunes so I can sing my little diva heart hoarse on the road. It’s all a matter of personal preference, but be sure whatever you listen to is a crowd favorite.

2.) Pick the right road trip buddies. You know the friends that you have tons of fun with; the ones that will set fire to the bars with you at 4 am, the friend from knitting class, the neighbor you casually grab sushi with periodically. But you should also keep in mind your limits when planning a road trip. You’ll be spending hours in the car, then days at your destination with your road trip buddies. And if they are lame, the whole experience is lame.

3.) Snacks. As tempting as it may be to pull off at the first Steak and Shake/In and Out Burger/Jack in the Box you see once you’ve hit the road, you might want to consider healthier fare on your driving days. Greasy food will just make you sleepy for the drive and napping makes you miss all teh fun stuff. Why not pack some sandwiches and fruit and have a picnic instead?

4.) Do your homework. Figure out how you and your mates are going to divide the cost of gas (AAA's Fuel Cost Calculator is awesome for that!), how much money you actually have to spend on keychains from every state you drive through and figure out where you’ll stay when you arrive at your destination. These are things you are not going to want to bother with once you are on the road.

5.) Be spontaneous. Don’t do too much work though. Don’t plot out exactly how many hours everyone will drive and where you are going to eat every single meal and how much time is allotted for chewing. Part of the beauty of a road trip is pulling off the road to have grilled cheese at the biggest dairy farm in the country or taking a photo with the giant peach sculpture at the rest area before you really needed to stop. Spontaneity is in the true spirit of a road trip, hitting the pavement and just going.

6.) Document everything. Keep menus. Take pictures. Make friends. And when you get home, there are tons of cute crafty things you can do with your road trip memorabilia. My personal fave suggests taking a city map from each city you visit and using it to mat a photo from the place to display as a group.

7.) Wear a wrinkle free dress. Seriously, some of my favorite road trip pictures are me with huge sunglasses, dress and hair slightly ruffled by the breeze, usually posing with something ridiculous like a giant beaver. My mother always tells me to dress to arrive, not to depart, so you can be ready to make an entrance anywhere. I always travel that way. (Thanks, mom.)


8.) Don’t forget your umbrella. You can’t change the weather. Make sure you have a coat, umbrella and shoes that can handle rain or sand or whatever kind of ground situation might await you at your destination.

9.) Be courteous. Don't pop your gum. Throw away your trash. If someone else is driving, offer to pump the gas. Don't be a jerk and karma will smile on your road tripping efforts.

With that, I’m off to finish packing and get ready to take off for Ohio for the weekend with the bestie and the beau. It's going to be Barney Stinson legen- (Wait for it...) -dary.

Kisses,

AJS

Love

My Valentine's Day was so full of love and candy hearts and happiness that I'm still feeling over the moon. I hope you had little paper hearts and chocolate covered pink peeps and fancy dinners, platonic or otherwise. My Valentine's Day involved an all-day treasure hunt, Vintage romantic films, dinner (complete with a new, very Joan Harris dress; red and black in appropriate holiday spirit) and the best sour cherry pie in the city (maybe the world?).

Most inspirational was the number of people in my life who found their own special ways to celebrate, single or together or eating cookies with their cats. Friends separated by states sending adorable handwritten snail mail cards, couples away at different schools with mushy midday messages and dozens of roses and my mother calling 6 times to see if I was having a good day at work. Seriously, I'll say it again; What is so wrong with a holiday that brings out the mushy side of working men shuffling off to buy flowers in their 9 to 5 suits to take home during rush hour and makes even the grinchiest of grinches feel a little something? I mean, I just love love. I know you know this about me, but I just firmly believe that all of the people/animals/special things you love need to be and should be reminded all the time. Love deserves to be shouted from rooftops, tumbling out carelessly and falling onto anyone who gets in its way.

I hope you did something you love or spent the day with someone you love. I try to spend every day that way, but having a special day set aside just to do so once a year is a pretty rad reminder that it's a good way to spend a day.




Kisses,

AJS

A Splish-Splashy Love Story

Let me tell you a story about a girl with a rainy day dream.

This dream involved a pair of galoshes. With a bow and enough of a heel to make them feel a little more Madison Ave than fresh off the farm. Simple, black and rainproof; a flash of magenta on the inside. Love at first sight on Oak Street in the Kate Spade store. I could practically feel exactly how fabulously urban I was going to feel strolling to the red line in my incredible rainboots, very vintage sunglasses, femme fatale trench coat and umbrella.

But the boots were $150. So, they could not come home with me.

Fear not, dear reader, this story does NOT end there. This is no mere tragedy; it's a story of hope and unending promise.

A few months later, after relentless albeit erratic price monitoring on a few websites, I discovered the boots were marked down (Last night to be exact). And that I had a coupon only good for rainboots (Only at Piperlime, right?). And I had a $50 reward that was applicable.

Annnnnnnd the shipping was free! Seriously, the dream galoshes for only $14? Yes, please.

I guess good things really do come to those who wait. Now, I just need a puddle to do some serious splash testing once they arrive...



Kisses,

AJS

That Holiday Right Around the Corner

It’s that time of year again. Candy hearts, pink nail polish, glittery cupids adorning walls. I know that Valentine’s Day is a controversial Holiday in some people’s hearts; the forced romance, the commercialism, the pressure to make some sweeping romantic gesture that you spend all of February prior planning, etc etc etc. Single’s Awareness Day (I’ve been there. I get it.)

But, I’m not one of those anti-Valentine’s Day people. Any reason I have to show a little love to the people in my life seems like a good one, even if it is just a Hallmark Holiday. I think it’s a glittery-pink-doily-heart bright spot in a very grey month that desperately needs a pick me up. And it’s not just about romantic love; Valentine’s Day is day to celebrate all kinds of love. Love for your best friend who telepathically knows when you need a GNO, love for that coworker that knows exactly what you like from Starbucks, love for the roommate that takes out the trash, love for your mom, love for the little girl you babysit who thinks you are nineteen times cooler than you are, love for that guy that holds the door at the post office every time you see him there. And I guess that breathless-fearless-flying-floating-swept-off-your-feet-everything-is-fireworks-and-magic-weak-in-the-knees-over-the-moon kind of love isn’t so bad either. Is a holiday that celebrates the thing that makes the world go round really all that bad? This girl thinks it’s pretty awesome in fact, even if that does make me hopelessly romantic in my sensibilities. So awesome, in fact, that I made handmade Valentine’s Day cards for the people I love the most. Not cliché, not trite; just made with love and a really awesome glue stick.

So, this year, instead of hating on Val Day, show the people you love what they really mean to you. Ask that dude four cubicles down to be your Valentine. Tell everyone you know you love them, in whatever way they are most special to you. I recommend a handmade Valentine. But if you don’t have time for that, I found some pretty adorable ones that someone else handmade on etsy. Check these out!

Wishful Thinking

Robot Valentines


Simply Adored (I love the ribbon!!)

Pride and Prejudice (These really appealed to my two degrees in English...)

And a play on Vintage Valentines, my favorite V-Day aesthetic!



Meanwhile, I'll be busy letting the beau sweep me off my feet!

Kisses,
AJS