Weekender Woes!

Last week while I was packing for a quick weekend work retreat, my trusty weekend bag busted. (insert sad face here). It was not a timely failure, but I had been thinking I needed a replacement/upgrade for a while now so it was not a complete surprise. My bag criteria is fairly simple: classic shape, large but carry-on friendly, and does not cost a million dollars. Unfortunately, my favorites satisfy all but the last criterion:

Proenza Schouler PS1 Large Travel Bag. Love the large armholes and the included shoulder strap.

L'Wren Scott Lula Weekend Bag. I love the construction of this one! Tres chic.

Mark Cross Madison Weekender Satchel. This one combines statement color with awesome capacity.

Now that I am done drooling, where should I look for a weekend bag that is not $2K? My last bag (RIP) was from Urban Outfitters and far from luxurious, but it was a simple design and got the job done. The current Urban weekend bag offering is cow-print, which is just not that exciting to me...no offense to cows! If anyone has any suggestion for where to look, I would appreciate it. Do you think I should look in stores, or stick to online browsing for the best options?

I hope everyone has a great weekend! I am excited for time to be lazy, celebrate a birthday and wrap my head around the fact that it will be October next week!!!

I'm a Leap Year Sale Sucker!

I love a good sale and retailers know this, so they invent random sales to entice me to buy things... And it works because I was checking my email over breakfast and got completely distracted by a sale email from Urban Outfitters. In honor of the 29 days of the leap year, they have a few hundred goodies marked 29% off for today only. Now my breakfast is cold and my browser has 10 tabs of Urban merchandise open....

Here are my favorites:

1. COPE Striped Slit Back Top. This top would be great to wear layered now and on its own when (if) spring rolls around. And there are three different color combos to choose from-- all of them are good!
2. Herringbone Duvet Cover. This also comes in a variety of colors and I love that it is a simple, repeating pattern but very graphic and bold. Your bed is usually your largest piece of furniture to decorate with, so it's fun to make a statement with it (and textiles are easy to switch out, so it's low risk, too!)
3. Marquee Alphabet Light. Art piece + ambient lighting is a win-win! I have featured Z because of my last name, but they have every alphabet letter and E,F,M and N are my favorites in this typeface.
4. Boo: The Life of the World's Cutest Dog By J.H. Lee. Please don't question my sanity or intelligence but I am a sucker for this dog! He looks like some sort of mutated walking teddy bear and I love it. I think I even follow Boo on facebook...!
5. Pantone 100 Postcards. My sister got me this set (she is awesome, I know) and rather than use them as postcards I have been using them to create mock-ups of decor vignettes and envision wedding colors. Pantone colors are standardized so it is easier to find the color I am looking for than if I use paint swatches from home improvement stores (can't have my greens too yellow, etc)


Any other leap year sales I should(n't) know about? And am I alone in thinking Boo is hilariously cute?

"Two Tubes of Lipstick"

This post is actually not cosmetic product-related;  my sister's bf says my legs look like "two tubes of lipstick" when I wear these pink skinny jeans, but my inner Man Repeller has decided to run with it. Literally. I was practically running away from him and my sis for part of this impromptu photo session (and being a goof the rest of the time bc I can't stand having my photo taken. There would be many more outfit posts on this blog if I could!!) I forgot I had these photos, they were taken at Christmas time in AZ, but the outfit definitely supports my newly stated dedication to wearing color (as I posted here):

You can tell I am less-than-enthused about having my picture taken, but then the caffeine I am holding kicks in!

Don't make fun of my pants! I will run away from you and not share my delicious beverage! 

I have lots of photos of making this exact face as a kid, btw, I might be crazy from birth.

 Playing nice. Enjoy the sun glinting off my disheveled bun and massive fly-aways.

 The jeans are so soft and stretchy I bet wearing them is like what wearing Pajama Jeans and keeping 

your dignity would feel like if those two things could ever coexist in this universe.

Shopping for magazines for the flight home. To make the cut, it must be large enough issue to distract me for 

4+ hours and small enough that I don't get scoliosis from carrying it in my purse!

 JCrew shirt, thrifted belt (kids section, I believe), Urban Outfitters high-rise skinny jean (purchased my pink pair in Oct so that color is long gone, but the new mint color is awesome), GAP flats, Francesco Biasia bag (few years old, but a great plane carry-on)

 Embracing the bright pants yourself? Or do you try to avoid the "tubes-of-lipstick" effect? hehe