Every year, I always post a little Yow Yow! Christmas list. I thought I would have more “wants” this year, but I’ve got everything I need! It’s always just fun to have a little list of things that would be nice, but when it comes down to the holidays, good company is all I’m asking for.
Nordstrom Family Table Cookbook – $27.95
It’s been awhile since I’ve received another cookbook and I’m ready to do some work in the kitchen again!
My former co-workers and I got into a heated discussion last night over weddings. When one of them asked me what I thought my overall wedding budget would be, I couldn’t give her an answer. To be honest, I don’t actually know the average cost is for every aspect that goes into it. Furthermore, there are many aspects these days that can all be DIY. A long time ago, couples would enlist wedding planners, caterers, photographers, designers for invitations/menus/ etc, and rental companies to provide the furniture and decor, but these days – those things seem a little uncommon, don’t they? Why not just ask your own friends and family to help you out?
I may not know how much I want to pay for my wedding just yet, but I know what aspects I want in it and I can definitely say that I want a second dress for my reception! I’ve envisioned my future wedding gown to be long, flow-y, lacy, or silk, but I’ve always been partial to the short dresses. Since it seems to be more appropriate for a reception, that is most likely what is going to happen. I stumbled into BCBG Max Azria yesterday and drooled over almost every short white dress in the store hence leading me to be inspired to write this post. What do you think readers? Are second dresses for you?
Nel Lace-Back Cocktail Dress – $268
With shows like Dancing with the Stars and outrageous red carpet gowns, it is no surprise that school administrators have been cracking down on the dress codes recently. Schools districts all over the country have gone as far as creating a guide for their students informing them what types of dresses are banned from their formal dance. The times have definitely changed since I was a high school student because this was never an issue for my peers.
However, from a young girl’s perspective – I get it. Short is sexy. Cutouts are intriguing. See-through gowns are mysterious…maybe? But there’s a difference. You can incorporate trends without being over the top and can ere on the side of classy over trashy. You may think that the only way to be fashion forward is to be sexy, but you’re going to Prom to wear a beautiful dress and to have an incredible time with your friends and your date. The sexiest thing about a someone at Prom is confidence and you don’t need a dress to do that for you. Here are some of my favorite picks for the season:
J. Crew Sinclair Dress – $250
J. Crew Crinkle Chiffon Skirt – $118
Whoaaa sorry y’all! I really dropped the ball on this one in not publishing it before the new month, but I’m blaming it on the whole Leap Day thing.
Boo: The Life of the World’s Cutest Dog – $12.95
It’s a short Closet post this month! There wasn’t too much that I was lusting over for Christmas this year, but here are a few standout pieces.
While perusing Netflix today, I came across a new film called The Romantics (2010) now available for instant watching. I like romantic comedies. The story revolved around a group of close friends from college reuniting for a wedding between Anna Paquin and Josh Duhamel, but then it occurred to me that this wasn’t the first time I had heard of this film. In June 2010, the cast of The Romantics did a photo shoot for J. Crew and I had even made a post about it. Those facts about the movie, alone, are all great, but I think the main reason why I was attracted to watching this film today was because of Adam Brody. The cast is a pretty intriguing one featuring the ones I’ve already mentioned, Katie Holmes, Malin Ackerman, Dianna Agron, Candice Bergen, Elijah Wood and a couple that I have never recognized before. The film centers on a complicated love triangle between Anna, Josh and Katie, but I was more fixated on the dynamic characters that Malin and Adam portrayed. They were both married or engaged to people in the group of friends that didn’t make any sense to me.
It’s an interesting film and I’m still trying to find closure on it, but I won’t press on it to much because it was the only movie I watched today to pass some time.
I am pleased to announce that the outfit posts are officially back! The series of posts will continue at least until break and if they do well, I’ll be bringing them back in the winter quarter. If some of you have been reading Yow Yow! for awhile, then you know that outfits posts were updated pretty regularly back then until all of a sudden they weren’t anymore! I started becoming frustrated with outfit posts because I thought they looked exactly like everyone else’s. Also, in every outfit post that I saw on blogs, the bloggers always looked sad and emo. It was like seeing a brooding Keanu Reeves in every photograph. I figured it’s probably because taking the shot in the first place was just uncomfortable for them and if I was going to do outfit posts, I didn’t want to go out that way.
So let’s have a little fun with them, right?!
Space.
Also, I’m still getting a hang of how I want these pictures to be done so this is just a test run.
My favorite retailer, Madewell, will be releasing a quarterly catalog with the first issue debuting in stores August, 27th. Fashionista sat down with creative director, Kin Ying Lee, to discuss what types of features can be found in the new catalog. Madewell and J. Crew are just a couple of my favorite brands so it’s exciting to hear all of this news surrounding them recently. Above is one page from the issue provided by Fashionista!
And I am currently counting down the days until I can make my way over to their UVillage store to purchase my fall findings.
Here are just a few of my favorite things that I am lusting over for fall:
Saint James Aviso Tee – $85
J. Crew’s creative director, Jenna Lyons, is making her dreams of expanding the retailer across the pond come true. Look out Londoners, J. Crew be comin’ at you! There has been no word yet on actual stores opening up, but Jenna will kick off this transition first by launching an e-commerce site for the British customers.
“We’ve been focusing on our growth in the US: we’ve launched childrenswear; we have an amazing wedding business; shoes and accessories are growing rapidly; and there has been a huge uptake in menswear, so we’re looking to launch men’s-only stores,” she explained. “We wanted to make sure we had all our ducks in a row in the US – but things are solid so now is the right time to look at the UK.”
- Laguna Beach
Some people enjoy the first week of school because they become restless with summer or they’re excited to be back in the learning environment. I couldn’t wait to get back so that I could show off the various outfit combinations that I had created within my new fall wardrobe. Oh yes. I was THAT girl. Not much has changed since then though except for the fact that I strive for this throughout the year instead of just the fall season.
Growing up, my mom had given me a fall school shopping clothing budget so that I could purchase the items that I needed for the upcoming season. Though frustrating at times, it also taught me how to be a careful spender and learn the value of budgeting. Once I had hit zero, I was done until Christmas came around. These days, I no longer have that same clothing budget because I have my own job and all that. Instead, I’m the one giving myself the clothing budget and it’s going to be a small amount since my priorities of school books, bills, and food tend to be a little bit higher on the spectrum.
When I was younger, I needed to have many items for fall. I needed to be able to mix and match everything to create the max number of outfits possible. Little old me was thinking efficiency here. As I’ve gotten older, my tastes in clothes have developed more (hopefully better,) and I have found that I am more interested in making purchases that will be longer-lasting. Instead of buying the same basic tank top or tee in a number of colors, I’ll purchase a jacket for the fall that will be a bit pricier, but can be worn with just about anything. It may or may not be trendy, but at least I’ll know it’ll last me for more than just a year (since I’m not growing anymore – this is possible.) My current list of back to school items include an olive canvas jacket, a dress for the fall that can be dressed up or down and a pair of rainboots. I took a trip to J. Crew and Madewell this past weekend and found myself swooning over EVERYTHING. I rely heavily on sales though as a broke college student so I suppose I’m lucky that two of my favorite retailers are pretty great in that department!
I promise to keep you posted on my purchases within the next month.
For now, here are some new Madewell campaigns featuring my style icon Alexa Chung!
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