handbag perfection

 

 Ok, that's a bit of an overstatement. I'd really like happiness, world peace, an end to world hunger... But this is what Christmas would look like if I won the lottery tomorrow (a.k.a the $8,473 that these four lovelies total up to be). When I think of my four dream bags, these are always the ones I come back to - I mean, the Chanel quilted bag I've wanted my entire life, and may have seriously considered emptying my savings account in order to buy it multiple times... The PS1 and Alexa were added at later dates, most recently joined by Reed Krakoff's Boxer bag - isn't it the prettiest thing you've ever seen? The mixing of neutrals, the clean and classic shape, the belt detail... pretty much everything you could want in a handbag

Why am I telling you this now? Well, I just wanted to say hi, check in and say that yes, I am still a fashion blogger, albeit one currently in finals. And while I am a horrible student and don't study as much as I should, finals still means days where the only activity is going to the library - and it's really hard to dress up knowing that! (Also, everyone else actually has work - weird, right? - and are therefore harder to pin down for forced picture-taking) But good news, a week from Tuesday I'll be headed home for an entire three weeks! I'm dying inside a bit each day seeing all the statuses of friends already on their way home, and soon my own friends from school, who have less obnoxious finals schedules, will be doing the same... But it's only 9 more days, and I have faith in myself that I can do it!

...Sorry, apparently I complain a lot. That's all. Have a lovely week! 

finals have begun

Less than two weeks until I go home! Last day of classes was Wednesday, and now the studying begins (or, at least, I'm trying really hard to make it begin). My first test is Russian on Tuesday, then a couple of papers due Wednesday - so I'm trying really hard to get the papers done by the end of this weekend. And with the help of some muffins and copious lattes, I may succeed! This morning Jess and I went to a free yoga class and I think sweat half my body weight off... so needless to say I'm not really put together yet for today! But here are pictures of yesterday's outfit, I think I looked pretty cute for a day at the library

rachel rachel roy dress

vintage necklace

gap sweater

hue (maybe?) socks

target boots

 First time out in my other Black Friday purchase! My thought process pretty much went as follows when picking this outfit out: It's not raining anymore. Therefore I'm not going to wear tights. Or a jacket. Yes. Logical, right? I honestly still don't understand how this is considered December weather right now. I mean, I just wore flip flops to yoga. Let me repeat that: I wore flip flops. In December. This is so wrong.

Work just really doesn't sound like much fun right now. Thankfully, me and the other girls of Harmony are going to sing at the Study Abroad Christmas party in a bit, so I can I avoid it for a bit longer. But considering that I got up, dressed and got ready just in time for noon yoga, there should probably be some work getting done some time soon. Oh well, tonight I will just hole up in my room and research International Relations until I cry. Or just watch a movie. Maybe both? Who knows... Have a lovely Friday afternoon all!

zipper dress

I've decided that zipper dresses are my friends - first, I had the most adorable outfit last Friday showcasing my new zipper dress from Target (scroll down to two posts to see it on a hanger - I'm such a failure for not showing it to you in all its glory from Friday) and today is my other, a purchase from last year's New York trip!

cotton candy dress

h&m cardigan

vintage necklace

hunter boots

 So I should have listed another item of clothing in this outfit - my soffe shorts. Because honestly, this dress is too short. And for me, that's saying something (you may or may not have noticed, but short things don't really faze me). But it's so cute! I really don't know, I'll probably keep it and just make myself get over it, like I do with all my other inordinately short garments.

It's not really December. Or at least, the weather doesn't seem to think so - I didn't even wear a jacket today! How is that possible? I mean, the rain made it a bit chilly, but growing up in Minnesota has trained me to believe that come oh, October? You wear a jacket, no questions asked. But for some reason, Washington doesn't even come close to that standard. Which I guess I don't mind? It's just odd. 

Guess what? Tomorrow is my last day of classes! Beyond excited right now. So good luck to all of you still in classes or, as some of my lucky friends are, to those of you almost done with finals. And have a good night!

serendipity

So normally I don't do life-related posts (I generally just keep it to clothing) but since I failed at taking photos of my outfit for dinner last night, and it was a good outfit, you get to see it via random photos of me and all of my friends! We went to Serendipity as a late celebration of my roommate Nicole's birthday - so here you go!

loft button down

forever21 skirt

street market pendant

target boots

So when our friend Jess made the reservations, we were told that we had to wear pink, to fit in with the decor of the restaurant (which was absolutely adorable by the way - besides the dessert, it was the only thing I really liked about that restaurant, unfortunately). But then when we all met up, Nicole and I were the only ones in pink! And do you know how difficult it was for me to find a pink outfit? You are actually looking at just about everything pink I own.  Though I must say I like the juxtaposition of the red skirt and the pale pink blouse.

And here's an adorable group shot of (almost) everyone in front of the John Carroll statue at Georgetown - just ignore the giant dog stuffed animal.

 thegeorgetowndish.com

 And since I failed at taking photos of the interior myself, here is a picture of one of the rooms inside the restaurant - don't you love all the pretty lamps? The room we were in also had a chair hanging from the ceiling, and all of these pretty gilt  mirrors.

I have to say, the food wasn't my favorite, and they lost our reservation (and were completely unapologetic about it). But its an adorable place, the desserts are fantastic, and it was so lovely to be out with all of my friends - we rarely get all together like this, it's so hard to schedule time when everyone is free. As in, we literally made a doodle poll to see when this would work. So it's been a great weekend so far, hope you all agree!

happy december to all

.... And to all a good night. I really wish I could go to bed right now. Honestly, I've been so tired lately! On Tuesday, I took two naps. Worrisome, right? I have a capella in 30 minutes or so though, so no bed for Alison quite yet.

aran island sweater

street market pendant

gap jeans

minnetonka moccasins

 So, here is the only usable - a slightly relative term, looking at it now - one of the photos Nicole and I just took outside before my camera died and she had to run to play intramural basketball (if you knew her, you would find that just as funny as I do). Regardless, I love my sweater - we got it on our family trip to Ireland about 4 years ago, and its the only piece of wool clothing I can wear. I'm sure you all remember my rants on my wool, but for some reason this sweater doesn't bother me! Maybe if I wear it every day for a month or so, I'll be able to handle other wool, and a whole new world of fall/winter clothing will open for me!

And here are the lovely two dresses I picked up while Black Friday shopping! The top one is Rachel Rachel Roy from Macys, and though it came with a belt, I chose not to include it - it actually didn't have a belt when I found it, and when I asked where its belt was they pulled out some long piece of brown leather and said that's what it was! Brown leather with black zippers? I tried it on and felt like Robbin Hood. In fact, I may be Robbin Hood for Halloween next year now. The one below was cheapie from Target, and I'll probably wear it tomorrow, if I can find some combination of layering pieces that makes it possible to wear in this horrible weather...

So that's it for this random amalgam of a post. Tomorrow Harmony (my a capella group) is singing at the Christmas Tree Lighting and I can't wait! Christmas music is seriously the best thing ever. Sometimes I miss the days of high school choir, when I would lose my voice I sang so many concerts in the month of December... and for some of them, we were paid in food, it was lovely. But speaking of music, I'm off to practice, hope you have all had a great week so far!

all that glitters

I am literally so tired right now, I am incapable of doing anything. Anything. First of all, Natalie took me to yoga sculpt with her last night and I worked my butt off - when I woke up this morning at 5:30 am (the "second of all" of why I'm tired) I wasn't sore and foolishly thought I was fine! By midafternoon my abs hurt so much that I didn't want to hold myself upright anymore. Never. Again.

In the meantime, I didn't have time to take outfit photos but wanted to show you some of the pretty, glittery things in my life! Because really, who doesn't love shiny things?

New phone case for my new phone - it sheds glitter everywhere (which I'm hoping will stop soon?) but it's worth it, it's just so shiny.

My necklace for today! Just an old string of (I'm assuming fake) pearls, to which I added this Target ring I've had for a year or so - the elastic band makes it quite uncomfortable as a ring but, once again, it's oh-so-shiny. 

Do I sound like an obsessed child/weird bird-like thing yet? Mission accomplished. Now I can go to bed and make up for all the lost sleep (being home is quite fun but should really be more restful...). Have a lovely night!

last night home...

Sooo these photos for some reason managed to be both seriously unattractive and quite blurry, making it pretty much impossible for me to put together a good post (not to fault my mother's photo-taking skills) - so I apologize in advance for what is coming. However, I think my outfit is quite adorable, if I do say so myself (from what you can see of it that is)

vintage blouse

street fair pendant

gap jeans

nordstrom boots

I still have yet to find what's wrong with this blouse! Every time I put it on I remember the "$8, as is" tag, but it seems just perfect to me - if it means I get it for cheaper, I'll take it

And here is a lovely picture of me in my grandmother's old hat - it was just lying around in the kitchen so I put it on for some carol-singing :) Don't I just look adorable? (And sidenote: notice that gorgeous tree in the background? Picked out by yours truly, thank you very much)

And last but not least, what you always what for in my posts - amusing life anecodote! Just pretend you care please? My family did the Advent candle lighting this morning at church, and after the service this lady that none of us had ever met before came up and asked if we wanted a picture together - apparently we all looked so perfect, she wanted to know if we coordinated outfits! It was very sweet and made me happy, funny though that anyone thought our family was organized to plan outfits, let alone get out the door on time... (Oh and as another sidenote,  Nicole has been expressing her discontent over the lack of funny anecdotes containing her in my posts - does this count as an anecdote? I think so. You're welcome roomie)

And now I have to go pack, as I'm leaving at the crack of dawn tomorrow! 5:45am, can anyone say coffee? I'm hoping if I really concentrate I can actually get on my flight this time. Have a good night, hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving break!