East Idle

From left to right: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 Happy Monday! I hope you had a great weekend. Mine was filled with reading, relaxing, and roaming around. Something I have noticed since I have been in California is that the weather has been incredible. The sun is always out, the sky is always blue, and the air is always fresh. (My love for the sky and California scenery explains why 90% of my Instagram photos are of the sky, nature, and scenery... too much beauty!) Sometimes I wonder if I should just stay here forever... :) I mean, Boston has its pluses, but it is difficult to top pleasant weather year-round. But, for now, I will enjoy both cities since I am still going back and forth between the two and will not actually settle down in one place anytime soon... I can only say: lucky me! This photo was captured last Friday morning just as the sun was rising. Love this view! Since I do not own a watch (or, rather, I do not own an operative watch), I was online-window-shopping for one. I love go...

Upholstered Panel Bed | Wade Logan Happy Monday! A few years ago, I decided to sell my twin-sized storage bed (similar style here ) and use the money I received from that to build a tufted, upholstered bed. I was inspired by various bloggers who "DIY-hacked" the Ikea Fjellse bed frame and upholstered it . In addition to the upholstering, I loved the look of a tufted headboard so I did my research on the Googular  and combined the Ikea Fjellse upholstering instructions along with the tufted headboard ones. Ultimately, persevering through the laborious - but worthwhile - process (buying wood planks/foam/other items, hand-tufting, stapling, assembling, drilling, etc. etc. etc.), I had my dream bed. Sure, there were slight imperfections, but overall, the design and outcome was everything I had hoped for. (I actually ended up building my sister her own tufted upholstered bed, too.) My DIY tufted upholstered bed is still in great condition, but because my family moved, we...

Happy Monday! I hope you all had a lovely Valentine's Day. I sure had a wonderful one. :) Valentine's day is filled with love and happiness. Big smiles are all around and, other than the two aforementioned feelings, this might also be due to chocolate consumption. I am not sure if you feel the same way, but chocolate makes me happy. I have it once in a while so I try to savor each bite, but, most of the time, I find that the chocolate disappears in the matter of seconds. (Hmm... is this magic or is this a case of a-piece-of-chocolate-too-eager-to-be-eaten-by-a-20-year-old-girl? Could be one, could be the other, could be both, but I believe it is the latter.) After I eat chocolate, I just feel an overwhelming sense of pure joy. So rich, so creamy, so delicious, so decadent, so... chocolatey. Even though Valentine's Day has passed, I would like to continue thinking about chocolate. So, naturally, I found four chocolate-filled recipes that I can make (and just so I can peek at...

I like to keep things simple. For instance, my makeup routine... I have had the same makeup routine for the longest time. I do not use many products and everything fits into a small pouch so that it is convenient for travel and also organization. These products have lasted for a long time even though I use them daily. Every morning, same routine, same products. The consistency of this allows me to think and worry less in the morning as I prepare for my day. Also, because I am so used to this routine and the order in which I apply everything, I can apply my makeup efficiently. Me doing my makeup routine is analogous to a robot performing its programmed-tasks. Everything is automatic and flows so naturally. (Yes, I did just compare myself to a robot. This circumstance called for it.) I do not intend to modify this routine or supersede it anytime soon. It is easy and provides results in which I am perfectly happy with. Evens out skin tone? Check. Covers up blemishes? Check. Diminishes shi...

Front and center on Nordstrom's home page : exclusive Olivia Palermo + Chelsea28 collaboration. I immediately clicked " All Olivia Palermo + Chelsea28 " to see what this style icon/ex-reality-tv-show-star/socialite designed. (I am a fan of her style and was extremely curious.) Her 20-piece line is, unsurprisingly, an eclectic mix of edgy, classic, polished, and feminine. My favorites are the three above: a turtleneck sweater with sheer, silk sleeves; pleated wide-leg trousers with a bow tie-belt; and a silk camisole with crisscross straps. I will never get tired of black or navy and I also love each piece's shape. The best part is that the trousers can mix and match with many of the tops from the line. See the options below... The trousers and the tops can be found here . xo, I

Happy Monday! Last night I had this wild dream that I saw a puppymonkeybaby in real life. As a backstory, growing up, I would spend countless hours doodling this purely fictitious, rare specimen. Day by day, doodle by doodle, draft by draft, I ended up producing exactly what I had envisioned: a puppymonkeybaby (puppy+monkey+baby-in-one). I assumed that since this creature was a combination of three of life's most adorable things, it would also certainly hold the caliber of being one of life's most adorable things (if not, the most adorable thing). Well, on sketch paper, this assumption held true. It was super adorable. However, in my dream, it was not and my assumption could not be further from the truth. This so-called "adorable thing" turned out to be odd-looking and might I add, perhaps one of the most disturbing things I have ever seen. Truth be told, I even let out an incredulous gasp in the midst of my dream. Um, so this is what a puppymonkeybaby looks like?......

My closet, I would like to think, is well-stocked. I have accumulated numerous pieces throughout the years that have accompanied me from high school through college. Albeit my posts on rather pricey clothing, shoes, and accessories, I am still a student after all and my budget does not allot for the purchase of those items (so I just post about them on here... a girl can dream, right? ;)) Most of my closet stock is from the likes of Banana Republic and Nordstrom . Admittedly, I do not have a lot of clothing, shoes, or accessories, but I am able to make what I do have last. How? I am an enthusiastic proponent of mixing-and-matching and wearing things over and over again (read: I am a proud outfit-repeater), which, in turn, affects my purchasing decisions. When shopping, regardless of if the item is $20 or $100, I always consider the "price-per-wear" (ppw) of it. Ex: two shirts I have my eyes on... one is $20 and one is $100. Both equally chic. Here's where the ppw comes i...

Who knew a spontaneous late-night rendezvous with my beloved laptop would lead me to a blog post? Well, here I am, hearing the clicking and clacking of my keyboard as I type away. There was an ultra-mini setback in the progress of this post due to me decidedly lifting my right hand up towards my volume control keys so that I could turn my music up... (I have a Macbook Air 11" - it's compact, portable, light: love it - so the ultra-mini setback was really just about one second.) Coldplay trumps keyboard noise any day, so it was a given that I would not allow for my typing to muffle Chris Martin's voice. Come up to meet you, tell you I'm sorry, you don't know how lovely you are...  Ah, a classic. (I am listening to this from the embedded Spotify player on the sidebar. Music selection for that will vary over time.) So far from this post, I am thankful for technology, Apple, Spotify, Mr. Martin, and Coldplay. I am not, however, thankful for the fact that I just spent m...

Have I mentioned I adore pretty pastel colors? More specifically, I absolutely adore all shades of colors along the spectrums of pastel pink and pastel blue. Show me those colors and I will gaze in awe. In amazement. In fascination. In actual disbelief that such beautiful hues of color exist in this world. Sure, this may all sound quite extreme, and... I am totally with you. Truth be told, I'm afraid my innocent adoration for pretty pastel pink and blue has undoubtedly turned into an obsession. Now I am daydreaming about a world where everything consists of those colors... *sigh*... call me crazy, but they are just too pretty! PASTEL PINK PASTEL BLUE xo, I