We have Public Speaking together every Thursday and last night I finally worked up the courage to ask him to be in my column. Judging by the consistently cool outfits he dons in class, I had a feeling he wouldn’t disappoint. When he showed up for our shoot today in this rock star-worthy Canadian tuxedo, I couldn’t have been more happy. I have a huge admiration for risk takers, and I feel like Andrew falls into that category. From his DIY studded collar to his combat boots, Andrew fully embraces his own aesthetic and it just works.
For all AU students reading this, check out next Thursday’s issue of The Eagle to find out more about Andrew’s personal style. For all my other readers, I’ll post a link to the article when it goes live.
And in the true spirit of Fashion Friday, I’m sharing the Anna Wintour fan art my roommate Aditi just sent me. I think my personal favorites are “Anna Wintour’s face on a chair” and “Anna As Campbell’s Soup, On A Tshirt”. More adventures to come, for now I’m going to give my brain a much needed rest and indulge in some candy corn and Project Runway. Happy Friday, there’s no better feeling than making it to another weekend.
Today’s outfit post draws inspiration from two sources: first, my absolute favorite blogger/idol Emily Schuman of Cupcakes and Cashmere and second, Rumi Neely of Fashiontoast. Neely’s minimalist way of dressing sometimes frustrates me, but other times I can really appreciate her aesthetic — she’s definitely a less is more, quality over quantity, monochrome kind of girl. Schuman’s style is a bit more approachable and I have gathered a lot of inspiration from her ability to seamlessly integrate different textures, patterns and colors in each of her looks. Her style communicates this classic effortlessness, something I always want to achieve when I’m picking out what to wear.
This look is centered around the bib necklace I received in yesterday’s care package, passed down from my grandma Lee:
I wanted to juxtapose the sweet girly look of the necklace with something a bit edgier. I immediately reached for one of my favorite pieces in my closet — a black faux leather skirt I picked up at Buffalo Exchange for a cool $13.00. To balance out the skirt, I opted for a loose fitting linen tank top and some black booties.
I just like how this outfit makes me feel — it’s a happy little union of hard and soft, like “I’m a biker chick who also likes cupcakes and art and indie music.”
… or you know, something kind of along the lines of that. I topped it off with a subtle red lip stain and a super messy top knot (with maybe one too many flyaways for my taste, but who’s counting?). The weather in DC has been pretty strange the last couple of days — overall really humid with temperatures ranging from the 60s to the 80s. This reality has forced me to reign in my “OH MY GOD, IT’S FALL I NEED TO WEAR SWEATERS AND BOOTS AND TIGHTS ALL THE TIME AND NOTHING ELSE EVER” attitude. Sweaters and humidity are two words that should never be associated together. Linen and humidity, however, is slightly better.
Do you guys have any other suggestions of how to wear this bib necklace? Maybe with a collar? More sweet sartorial stories and awesome alliteration-filled adventures to come.
I want to start this post off with a quote I just found on The Man Repeller‘s Instagram:
“There is no duty we so much underrate as the duty of being happy.”
– Robert Louis Stevenson
I really like the idea of this — happiness should be a duty, a priority, in our lives. I feel too often I spend my time micro-managing that I only have a few fleeting “wow, I’m doing this for myself and no other reason” moments every week. Which brings me to the main topic of tonight’s post: homemade pop tarts!
I pinned these over the summer and have been wanting to test drive the recipe for months. Wandering around the aisles of my neighborhood grocery store last night I thought to myself, “What the heck, I’m going to make pop tarts tonight because I need a break from everything else.”
So I gathered up the ingredients…
… mixed up the dough…
… flattened the dough out with my trusty rolling pin + cut out 14 rectangles for 7 pop tarts…
… added strawberry preserves + closed up each tart with a fork…
… let ’em bake, then let ’em cool…
… annnd adding the icing/sprinkles in the morning!
And let me tell you, they turned out great. Like taking a bite from my childhood, without all of the extra preservatives and red dye #12. Yum! My tips for future pop tart endeavors: less is more with this crust, and the more strawberry preserves the better. I was pretty light handed with the preserves this time around and I really didn’t need to be — live bake and learn 🙂 If you end up baking your own homemade pop tarts, you’ll have to let me know how they turn out through a tweet or Instagram photo.
These pop tarts turned out looking pretty celebratory, what with the colorful sprinkles… who knew today I would have something to celebrate!? Last week my dear friend Tania asked if I wanted to be featured in her “Looks on Campus” column on College Fashion. I jumped at the opportunity to connect with a wider audience of fashionistas, you can read Tania’s article here.
After the article was posted, I reached a record 500 page views in one day! Opening my Google Analytics account this morning was such a big surprise and I want to say how thankful I am for everyone and anyone who has read SLB — every day is an adventure, and I’m so glad I get to share it with you guys. On that note, I’ve gotta get to bed, the last 24 hours have been both exhilarating and exhausting. Sweet dreams readers, much more to come.
