i cannot believe christmas is finally here! it feels like this holiday season came and went in a flash! but i am so excited to finally share my last and favorite holiday outfit that i told you would have no shortage of plaid. now be sure to spend today with family and friends and have yourself a merry little christmas!
Read Moretwas the day before christmas and all through the web,
not a blogger was blogging, not even a celeb.
the glitter stockings were hung by the fireplace with care,
in the hopes that kate spade presents, soon would be there...
this holiday season, plaid has been my go-to print and it was inevitable that i bring out my favorite shirt from last christmas! this year, i decided to pair this christmas classic with the skirt that i've already worn a million times (seen here and here) and added a few extra sparkles. now i can't wait to show you all the grand finale that is plaid perfection!
Read Moreare you guys ready for a holiday outfit marathon?? well you have no choice because someone (me) chose to procrastinate this holiday season. oops! for whatever reason, this season seemed to be one of my most stressful to date and found myself frantically running around the city, both for my own holiday shoots as well as for pret.a.photo...i even visited the tree at lotte palace hotel 11 times! oh yeah and on top of that i had to buy presents for all of my family members and the gifts for each other because i have somehow become the designated family gift buyer. can you believe my parents called me within 10 minutes of each other asking what the other wanted?? well there is no time to waste so i was thankful to be able to throw on this sparkly tweed jacket with an all black outfit to be instantly holiday-ready!
Read More5 more days!! eek! and i couldn't be more obsessed with these red lace pants! don't worry, i also got them in black too! these pants are the perfect alternative to any dress/skirt for the holidays and are optimal for large meals because of the elastic waist in the back...bring on all the peppermint brownies! just add a cozy sweater and a moto jacket and you can out-style all of your relatives without looking like you're trying too hard.
Read Moreas i mentioned yesterday, plaid is going to be my obsession this holiday season. and i mean it! first up on plaid line-up is this j.crew dress that is perfect for any and all holiday festivities! and we all know how much i love a good turtleneck...stay tuned for the continuation of the countdown to christmas!!
Read Morethe final countdown to christmas has begun but where did the time go?? anyone else feel like they have 2 more weeks to prepare? this year, my holiday closet is prepped with tons of plaid so i figured i would start with a little pinch of lace. this super romantic dress is the perfect option when you don't want to scream christmas, but still festive enough that you're family won't claim you're the grinch. now i'm off to go buy everyone's christmas presents because i'm the master at procrastination! oops!
Read Morei'm definitely a sucker for the snow! ...not always the sub-freezing temperatures but it's definitely better than being too hot. when i saw the forecast for nyc said snow this past weekend, i started preparing for magical day! new york city is the perfect backdrop to look just like a snow globe and this snowfall did not disappoint! lydia and i braved the weather to get just the right shots all while gripping my hot chocolate as it was my only source of warmth. we immediately hopped right in a restaurant when we were done shooting and treated ourselves to some ahhhmazing burgers right next to grand central station! i mean seriously...who can ask for a better day!? there is still a little bit of snow sticking around the city but i truly can't wait for the next snowfall!
Read Moreas much as i love traveling, there is nothing quite like coming home. after taking one of the longest trips i've ever been on to paris, vienna, salzburg, and hallstatt (with a few days in detroit), i was so relieved to finally be able to sleep in my own bed. all in all, i was gone for a total of 3 weeks and 3 days and carried 3 rolling bags in addition to my camera equipment all across europe. i was exhausted! but nothing can ever compare to coming home to new york. sometimes i get caught up in the craziness of the city and forget how truly wonderful this place is! so it takes a little vacation to remember that new york is my true love. i am beyond thankful that i get to live in such a creatively simulating and energetic city that is full of countless opportunities. so every time i wear this sweatshirt, it serves as a little reminder of the greatest place on earth! ...but i'm not biased.
Read Morewell the time has come...this is officially the last post from my european extravaganza! as a closet pinterest-er, i stumbled upon the most picturesque town of hallstatt when searching for locations in austria. sitting just an hour outside of salzburg, my mom and i decided to make the drive to see my pinterest board come to life. thankfully our sound of music tour guide from the day before gave us amazing pointers for this quaint little town.
Read Morewell the time has finally come for me to share my favorite day of the entire trip...the sound of music tour! knowing we were going to be in austria, i could not leave the country without visiting the location of one of my favorite movies. so after our night at the ballet (and visiting one more museum for my mom in the morning), we hopped back in the car and drove the three and a half hours to salzburg listening to the sound of music the entire way. it was dark upon our arrival but we knew we were in for so much fun when we checked into the hotel sacher. even through the minimal lights, the view from our room was stunning! after ordering room service, we immediately went to bed because we had an early wakeup call.
Read Morewhile in vienna, the one thing at the top of my to-do list was to go to the opera house. the only problem? i'm not the biggest fan of opera itself. thankfully the opera house also houses the ballet and as a former ballerina, there was no hesitation when we purchased the tickets! knowing that i would be attending the ballet at the prestigious opera house, i of course had to come up with the perfect outfit. i had originally purchased this dress as a contender for the veuve clicquot polo classic in los angeles but decided against it as it was just a little bit too formal for the occasion. i'm so thankful i saved it for vienna as i truly felt like a ballerina!
Read Moreonce upon a time, in the middle of nowhere austria, was a monastery that housed arguably the world's most beautiful library. one so stunning that it was even the inspiration for the library in beauty and the beast. after seeing a photo of this heavenly place on instagram (vaguely geo-tagged austria), i set out on the quest to track it down. after hours of research...okay dramatic but whatever...i finally found it: admont abbey. the town of admont was located right on the way to salzburg, austria (where we were heading next) and figured that we would stop there on the way for convenience. but thankfully i looked at the hours and would have been closed the day we were heading to salzburg (as well as the remainder of our trip). so we had to move to plan b. after our morning at the schönbrunn palace, we hopped in the car to make the 3 hour journey to admont. aka a total of 6 hours "to do it for the gram."
Read Morehello vienna! after an amazing week in paris with andrea, i was so excited to meet up with my mom in the capital of austria! when planning, we needed to pick a location that had both enough fall foliage for yours truly with a mix of history and art for my mom...and vienna seemed like the perfect decision. immediately when we got off of the plane, we checked into the palais coburg (we were very unimpressed but i will get into that some other time) and headed right to albertina museum to check out the raphael exhibit. my mom could have stayed there for hours (and she did) so i stopped in for a bit but then left her to go get a blowout - you know, priorities - because i knew what time i needed to wake up the next morning.
Read Moremy final post from paris is here and i am a little sad about it! for our final full day in paris, i knew we needed to stop at the most iconic café in paris: café de flore. located in my old neighborhood on the boulevard saint-germain, this quaint little café has hosted some of the world's finest patrons. does ernest hemingway ring a bell? although andrea nor i are the next hemingway, we felt honored to grace this historic parisian spot! and the hot chocolate is one of my favorites in the city! paris really knows how to do hot chocolate!
Read Moreas i mentioned in this post, i have been trying to make more of a conscious effort to re-wear pieces here on the blog. some of you may remember this dress from last christmas where i wore it to my favorite nyc holiday location! and trust me, i have been finding every excuse to wear it since! because the holidays are quickly approaching, i thought it was about time to bring this bad boy out of the closet to get myself in the holiday spirit while in paris. this time around, i had the cutest little sidekick that paired perfectly with the red lace - and it even has a crossbody strap to use when i'm running around town! i threw it on with my current favorite over the knee boots and it gave this dress just a pinch of a casual feel so that i could wear it all day long!
Read Morewas this jacket love at first sight?? absolutely. i first spotted this jacket when it was roughly 150°f in nyc and i couldn't quite justify the price tag in the middle of july. so i waited. and waited. but i never forgot about my true love. that wasn't until tory burch had their friends and family sale that i pounced. the jacket is a mixture of embroidery and beading that is truly a piece of art. although i was eager to strut around town in it, i knew i needed to save it for my trip to paris! and i think we can all agree that it was worth the wait!
Read Morenext up on my paris re-do list was none other than my vacation home...err i mean the palace of versailles. the last time i visited my vacation home...ugh i did it again! the last time i visited versailles was during my first few days of studying abroad. i took the hour+ long train out with a few of my classmates and explored the palace. this instagram was even one of my favorites from the pre-blog days! this time around, andrea and i opted for the time efficient uber just a 30 minute ride outside of paris. we had originally planned to get there right as the gates opened with our pre-paid tickets in hand but our snooze buttons got the best of us! we headed out around 1:00pm and that was a mistake to say the least. we figured it would be crowded on the thursday we went but not as crowded as it actually was! our pre-paid tickets only saved us around 5-10 minutes but the waiting in line took around and hour and a half. and the photographer in me started to freak out about how much light we were actually going to have. but we definitely made it work!
Read More
