behold.. BHLDN

BHLDN.. aka the most awesome thing to happen to brides since J.Crew start selling wedding dresses. The company that owns Anthro and Urban debuted BHLDN on vday this year (I know, how sickenly perfect, right?). But it is perfect. I have been drooling over this bridesmaid since the day the site launched.

 

 love.love.love.need.

sadly... expensive.

But besides the bridesmaid dresses, the do wedding dresses (duh!), shoes, jewelry, accessories and lingerie!

 

And guess what... I read the BEST NEWS EVER today...

Take a little guess as to whats being built here, this lovely spot on the Gold Coast on East Walton?

 

Yes, Yes... the second BHLDN store is being built in good 'ole Chicago. Me thinks I'll be taking a trip there when it opens!

{via Racked Chicago and BHLDN}

i want to make these

I think I'm feeling crafty because I'm reeeeally sick of using my computer to do projects right now (I'm currently attempting to work on my PR launch. uhhhh attempting being the key word.) I saw these paperclips on  The Sweestest Occasion via This Is Glamorous, and I LOVE THEM!)

 

I love the gold. She used 20-gauge jewelry wire, which is so easy to get. Well, unless you're in London like me. 

Ok so one of the weird things about this city is there are no Targets/Walmarts where you can get everything you need at once. I think they exist outside of the city, but property here cost so much that it would not be cost-efficient for a company to have a huge store. Tesco is England's Walmart-equivalent, but the stores around me are solely food. Also, I have not found any craft stores anywhere. The department store John Lewis has a floor of "bit and bobs" which is like an abbreviated Michaels. I miss Hobby Lobby and Joannes. And Target a lot. And trips to Wally World at Purdue. At least there's the little things like that to look forward to when I get home.

kids

This video just made me giggle... The idea was to experiment with little kids willpower. They were given a marshmallow and if they didn't eat it while the woman was gone, they'd get another one when she comes back.

Oh, The Temptation from Steve V on Vimeo.

SO DARN ADORABLE! I love the little girl who keeps eating bits of it until it looks like an apple core. And the boy who almosttttt puts it in his mouth, but then doesn't. hahaha oh little kids, they make me smile.

{Via A Cup of Jo}

One more down, only two to go!

Another last project done....

This is the layout I had to create for Glamour based on an image our teacher gave us (mine was, obviously, a blue and green printed dress). I am SO not a fan of how cluttered this looks, but it's in the style of Glamour. And, well, it always has this headache-inducing clutter thing going on.

Ok time to finally eat lunch, get ready and take a night off. Camden for drinks sounds reeaaallll nice right now.

mood boards

I feel like I am going mood board crazy over here! Currently working on another for Journalisim, but here's what had been eating up my time this week...

Forecasting: my prediction of a childrens trend, called Tiny Dancer. Taken from the heavy influence Black Swan has on womens wear this year, tricked down into little girls. There's empty spaces for my drawings and fabric sample.

Forecasting: My prediction of a womens wear trend, tentatively titled Electric Pastel. This takes the pastels and neutrals that have been very in, and knocks the contrast button up a few notches.

PR: I had to write a paper and create a mood board about a style icon of my choice (obviously, Brigit Bardot)

VM: Re-do a window for a company in need of some help (Kurt Geiger) and write a paper that was way too long about it.

And last but not least, I'm creating board right now that will create a trend as if I was working for Glamour, based on a picture my teacher randomly gave us. Phew. After this, I'm really quite mood-boarded-out.

My Man Tom

In my eyes, Tom Ford can do no wrong, and he only made me love him a teensey bit more this morning when I read his Five Gentlemanly Commandments:

1. You should put on the best version of yourself when you go out in the world because that is a show of respect to the other people around you.

2. A gentleman today has to work. People who do not work are so boring and are usually bored. You have to be passionate, you have to be engaged and you have to be contributing to the world.

3. Manners are very important and actually knowing when things are appropriate. I always open doors for women, I carry their coat, I make sure that they're walking on the inside of the street. Stand up when people arrive at and leave the dinner table.

4. Don't be pretentious or racist or sexist or judge people by their background.

5. A man should never wear shorts in the city. Flip-flops and shorts in the city are never appropriate. Shorts should only be worn on the tennis court or on the beach.

I think we need more Toms in the world.

ombre

So as much as I love my new(ish) dark hair, I'm itching for a change already. I love the dark color, but i think its too flat and monotone. I definitely miss having all of my highlights. Most likley I won't change it again until I go home and get it professionally done (I miss you Jenna. My hair needs a cut rull bad). I'm going between two options: auburn-ish highlights or ombre.

please ignore that i used a Kardashian as an example- although, I know we can all agree that they have really good hair. I think Mila Kunis' is perfect. Literally. Perfect.

Now, onto the slightly more drastic ombre:

 

More fun, but I'm starting to think this is way blonder than I want to go. 

cant stop the colour

I literally cannot shake this obsession with bright colours that I have right now, ahhh! And of course Elle UK created another absolutely perfect mini-editorial that expresses what I am lusting after for spring.

 

Please will my fairy godmother place all three of these outfits in my tiny little closet overnight? (I would even settle for just the  pink skirt, if that's alright)

Easily Distracted

Yeah so I'm supposed to be doing my homework... I know I know. I just get so easily distracted! This time it is because of cases for my electronics. I'm totally ok with the fact that I don't have an iPhone or an iPod touch... my go-phone is wayy more indestructible that an iPhone/Blackberry could every be, and my iPod classic can hold more music that a touch ever could. I only get upset that there are NEVER any cute cases for my electronics! It all started when I saw these Kate Spade cases:

Whyyy oh whyyy don't I have an iPod touch?! I love these so very much it's not fair. So of course, then my obsession started. I didn't even think about finding a case for my go-phone (not gonna happen, and I know it). But sadly and kind of surprisingly my hunt for a cute iPod Classic case also proved to be totally fruitless! Yes people, no one makes cases for them anymore. I find this really odd because Apple still produced the Classic, and yet no one cares if it is pretty OR protected!

So on my search I found all of these really funky, gaudy, girly electronics covers by compnies like LuxAddictions. Like literally check them out:

Obvs the complete opposite of the KS ones, but I mean who doesnt want Ariel on their phone? Oh, you don't? No worries, theres still cheetah. Or food.

So now I have found a clear iPod case on Ebay for a pound. A pound! So, guess who's going to get crafty pretty soon?! I'm going to keep an eye out for little charms and things to put on my little case, and hopefully sometime in the near future I will have a blinged-out cover of my own.

Love Letters For Homework

I never know how a week slips by so fast! The end of last week was filled with homework and getting ready to travel, then we were in Amsterdam for a little weekend frolic and now it's already Tuesday! Pictures of Amsterdam to come, but here's what I spent my entire morning working on:

Love Letter to a Martini

Dear Espresso Martini,

                I have been looking for you all my life. High and low, in every bar, pub and club I have searched for something that completes me like you have. We all know that love is found in the most unexpected places or when you have stopped searching for it, and our love is a testament to that fact. It was a regular old Saturday night out with the girls, exploring another little pub in Shoreditch. A pint in my hand, we were sitting outside on the terrace when a mutual friend introduced us. It was infatuation the second you touched my lips. I realized at that moment that a hundred ciders could never fulfill me like one of you could. You were delicious and comforting like my first cup of coffee in the morning, charmingly sweet like a decadent dessert, but you had an alluringly dangerous side to you too. I knew I had to go seek you out for myself.

I discovered that you were from the upstairs of this rowdy little pub- a martini bar situated above all the raucous behavior and sloshing pints of manly beer. Chandeliers hung from the ceiling and everyone eyes sparkled by the flicker of the candles on the table. I walked up to the bar and asked for you; my wish was granted. As I saw you being concocted, I learned what makes you who you are: vanilla vodka and Kahula contribute to the sweet side of you; a shot of espresso lent that familiar and comforting taste of coffee and a splash of Jose shows that you like to walk a little on the wild side. I have never been so certain of anything in my life: We were made for each other.  That night was much too short of an encounter, and although we have not been together since that fateful night, I know serendipity will bring us together once more. You have captured my heart my dear espresso martini.

Lovingly and Forever Yours,

                                Erika

 

For our BCS class, part of our final assignment is to write about an experience, a place, a taste: something that only you have experienced. It couldn't be about a day or a whole long memory, it had to be about one tiny little thing. And ummm what's more fun that writing a love letter to a martini?! It was prettymuch the best thing I have tasted while being here.

ban.do

Over sized bows and sparkly barrettes are my "you had be at hellooo." I mean, let be honest- we all know how I feel about anything overly feminine. I used an image from the accessories brand ban.do for the cover of my magazine dalliance, and I have been glancing at the web site quite a bit since them. I had heard about the brand quite a way back, but I feel like they have become more refined and girly over the years (or maybe it's just the collection that is out now?). No matter what the reason, these are some kick-ass hair accessories. 

 

Yes, a bit pricier than anything you can find at Primark, but oh so worth it to have a crown of jewlels on your headband, or sequins holding your bangs back!

My favorite aspect of the brand is their styling- they let the accessories do the talking in the shoots and the results are perfect!

I want those lipsticks on me right meow.

happy moment: finishing my journalisim paper. a bright new spring scarf and wrap bracelet.

5 weeks and counting

Seriously, 5 weeks and counting... how weird is that? I knew that this semester would go by fast... but really? I can't imagine being done here in London, it's too weird to even think about. So I won't hah. But to make the most of the end of this trip, I have told myself that I will do one thing that makes me really happy every day. Just so that I can't ever say "oh I wish that I had done this..." or "I can't believe we never did that!" 

Starting with yesterday, I took an afternoon for me and went to Brick Lane to do a bit of shopping (and gift-buying for those lucky ones at home). The tubes were all closed so I found a bus and set out to walk there... and on my way I found a new market! See what happens when you go wander by yourself? Oh, and it was a very successful shopping day too which made me happy. I feel so weirdly grown-up knowing London so well that I can just leave my front door, hop on a bus and find my way. I don't even know Chicago that well! I feel so acomplished.

Today I have a lot of homework to do, so my happy moment wasn't a place, it was my dinner. I made pasta sauce with spinach from scratch and had it with garlic bread and green beans. Yum! I'm working on a runway review of the Etro Fall 2005 RTW. Random collection to assign us, in my opinion. But whatever. I'm at 250 out of 600 words.... aka hardly done.

my street

elle uk feb 2011 spread

ELLE UK has become my favorite fashion mag since being here in London. I have been reading everything from mainstream to indie, and by far ELLE has the best articles, the most visually pleasing layout and most of all the most stunning editorials. I want to rip every page out and plaster it on my wall (too bed were not allowed to use tape here... grrr). This spread with the impossibly striking Chanel Iman is from the February issue.

 

 

 

dyed

 

 

 

Why is there something about pink hair that draws me in? Not Avril Lavigne, scenester punk-rock pink hair... but pretty, baby pink waves or dipped ends. I mean it's not like I'd ever do it (aside from the face that I couldn't), but I love looking at it.

Haus of Price

I saw these and the rhinestone and glitter-loving 7th grader in me came out. I mean, how could you not love shoes that look like a bedazzler threw up on them? 

Haus of Price encrusts the soles of their shoes (and sometimes even the whole shoe) with rhinestones, glitter and even seashells!

These just make me want to go buy another pair of cheap wedges from New Look, grab a glue gun and

get crafty! Hmm now to find some comfy heels to get my rhinestone on with...

Haus of Price