my last two books

I'm trying to read two books a month this year, and so far I've completed 1/12th of my goal! yay! I LOVE reading but I feel like it's something I need to deliberately make time for or I don't do it often enough.

I started off the year with The Postmortal by Drew Magary. I intended to read a chapter or two each night but two chapters turned into three, which turned into ten.. before I knew it I was up all night reading. I had ONE chapter left when I decided I was just too tired to keep going and I don't think I've ever been more excited to wake up.

The Postmortal takes place in a dystopian future where someone has found the cure for aging. It's something everyone probably dreams about at least once or twice (or constantly) but in Magary's book he finds every single possible thing that could go wrong with that discovery. Things you would never think of until you read them and you're like "Drew Magary, you wicked genius!" His writing is insanely funny and sharp and I'm pretty bummed that his only other books are about sports and parenting because I'm dying for another novel.

The second book that I read was Never Have I Ever by Katie Heaney. It's a memoir about her life (so far!) with very little romantic experience. Katie has never had a boyfriend and, well, neither have I. I know, you probably think it's really weird. But if you read her book (please do!) you'll see it's not so weird at all. Honestly, for most of my adult life I've felt like a total misfit because of my inexperience in the love department, but reading this book made me so much more comfortable in my own virgin skin. Katie is laugh-out-loud hilarious, self-deprecating, but also empowering. I've never felt more secure about that part of my life than I have after reading her book.

The similarities between our lives are so many that sometimes I was like, "wait, did *I* write this?!" (Then I reminded myself that, no, I'm not that good of a writer and I'm not nearly as funny or witty.) But seriously, everything down to the nicknames for our crushes (mine was "french fries" to my friends, hers "garlic toast") to the awkward first kiss (although I guess most people share that fun detail?) to the precise reason that she's still single -- a lack of interest from the opposite sex (I swear that I've never been hit on, though my friends think I must just be oblivious), a healthy dose of fear, satisfaction with being single, and Disney-movie-level high expectations of what love should actually be like. Or at least When-Harry-Met-Sally-levels. I know.

All of the blurbs about Never Have I Ever suggest that you'll want Katie to be your best friend once you've read her book, and they're not kidding. It's taking everything I have not to send her BFF necklaces, cross my fingers and hope for the best. I'm sure she must be getting tons of emails and letters from romantic amateurs who have come out of the woodwork to recognize one of our own. We should form our own club or something. Katie can be our queen.

Seriously, just read the book. Even if you're the Casanova of our generation, I promise it's a fun read and it'll make you laugh your socks off.

bat your eyelashes

Guess what genius forgot to get her flu shot this year? Yes, that would be me. I woke up yesterday feeling pretty sick and now I'm just praying to the gods of sickness that it's just a cold and not the flu. I'm bargaining "I promise I'll get my flu shot as soon as I feel better, I PROMISE!!" and hoping they'll let me go. I basically spend October-March every year living in fear of coming down with the flu (I know, you'd think someone as petrified of sickness as me would have gotten her shot, but no, I forgot. Of course.)

Not that having a totally stuffed nose and sore throat is a walk in the park but I'll take it over the flu any day. I just really hate being one of those people who is sick on and off through winter. My mom NEVER gets sick, it's ridiculous. I seem to have inherited most health-related genes from my dad (scoliosis, high cholesterol, a weird nerve issue in our feet.. thanks, dad!) so it stands to reason that I would have gotten his weak immune system, too. Phooey!

On a less germy note, how cute are these shoes? I love inanimate objects with human features, so shoes with eyelashes are pretty awesome in my book. I also love the trompe l'oeil loafer outline, too! So adorable!!

dress - forever 21 | cardigan - old navy | shoes - c/o loly in the sky

wig- minty mix | hat - forever 21 | tights - target

my five favorite coats

I (obviously) prefer to take outfit photos in the climate-controlled comfort of my own home rather than braving the elements outside. The only downside (besides having the same background in almost every picture, though that doesn't bother me as much as I wonder if it bothers other people) is that I never get to show off any of my coats.

These five are my super duper favorites:



I got this one last year from Dorothy Perkins (unfortunately it's sold out now) I bought 2 sizes intending to send back the one that didn't fit, but they're both so close -- one fits perfectly with light layers and one fits perfectly with bulky sweaters -- that I kept both. When you find THE perfect pink coat you make irrational decisions like keeping two of the same item, it just happens.



This coat has cat pockets, what more can I say?! I got it two years ago from Vivetta during a sale as a birthday present to myself. It's hands down one of my favorite purchases I've ever made. It's obviously cute but it's also a pretty substantial winter coat, which is coming in handy during this ungodly cold winter.



A girl can never have too many light pink coats ;) This one is perfect for fall or early spring since it has 3/4 sleeves but it's still pretty warm. Not in this particular outfit but the coat makes me feel a bit Doris Day-ish, it just has that crisp, clean look in person. It's from oasap (also sold out, boo!)



When I first got this one I didn't like it and actually put it in my shop my closet store. It sat there for a really long time and one day I decided to try it on again, fell in love and promptly removed it from the shop. And now (obviously, since it's in this list!) it's one of my favorites! It's another one that's surprisingly warm for how cute it is (usually cute things seem to be totally non-functional, don't they?!) It's from asos a few years ago. It originally had hideous buttons and I replaced them with big plastic daisies (DIY post here!)



I fluctuate between wanting to dress cute and wanting to dress kind of dramatic. In my dramatic spurts I tend to order hats with very large brims, sunglasses with enormous lenses, and lots of faux fur. During one such spurt recently I snatched up this coat on clearance at Nasty Gal (actually still available AND still on clearance, here) Granted the dramatic accessories never actually make me look dramatic but they definitely make me feel it ;)

tights - target | shoes - modcloth | wig - minty mix | dress - h&m

tick tock tick tock

I just noticed that society6 is offering wall clocks now! Some of my designs were automatically generated into clocks (they use the same images from tote bags & pillows to produce the clocks) and it was so fun scrolling through my shop to see how they look! These six are my favorite (I can't BELIEVE how well the bottom left one was cropped! It was an accident that it turned out that precise, isn't that cool?) I might maybe possibly get the top middle one for my apartment. I always feel weird putting my own stuff up but I just love how it looks!

The neat thing, too, is you can pick black, white or natural for the frame and black or white for the hands. These are my own preferences but it's fun playing around to see how they look with different colors.