Peace

travel style | keep it simple

top: Kirna Zabete for Target / jeans: Uniqlo / boots: Anthro / scarf: Lululemon / bag: Marc by Marc Jacobs
Visiting New York in the fall is a great way to wear all the cooler weather clothes that I have accumulated in my wardrobe, but rarely use in the heat of the Texas weather. Our trip this time around was much warmer than we anticipated, but still nice fall temperatures.


top: Old Navy / jeans: Gap
I basically wore the same thing the whole time we were there, just changed the colors. While I love having cool outfit photos to post on the blog, sometimes enjoying the vacation is simply more important.


top: Uniqlo / scarf: Orla Keily for Uniqlo
We did do a bit of damage at Uniqlo this time around. I love that store. But I am actually glad it wasn't too cold because they always have the coolest cashmere sweaters with fabulous colors, but I need a wool sweater as much as I need a puffer vest. So I was good this time around and only bought things that I hope to actually wear. Coming to a post near you :)

project life | NYC, the start

In honor of our recent trip to the Big Apple, I thought I would dedicate a post to my newest memory keeping project: a NYC travel album.

title page, front
New York is our favorite city in the world. We have visited there at least once, sometimes 3X(!), every year since 2001. I have been wanting to create an album (or 2) solely for the photos and memories we have made but wasn't sure how to start.

I've been so loving the process of scrapbooking Project Life-style, that it finally occurred to be that I could totally make a theme album this way as well. I already have created a number of layouts about New York in our "Happy Travels" album, but now they will be in their own album with more pages made of divided page protectors instead of full 12x12 ones.


title page, back
I have so many ideas swirling in my head as to how to approach this album, but for now my goal is to create pages for individual things we may have done one particular year (like celebrating my best friend's 40th birthday in 2010) but also combine photos from multiple years of things we like to do every visit (like shop in Soho or eat at Hampton Chutney). Now if only I have 5 more hours everyday just to create!

We're here

Made it to hustle and bustle of the city that never sleeps, even though we like to! We've got a full 4 days ahead of us and we are ready to soak it all up.

Week in photos

{My least favorite part of vacationing is unpacking. So I thought I would procrastinate a bit more by updating the old blog!}

Observations for the week:

The hubs showed me this gem of a Halloween house. I can't imagine how long putting up all these decorations took!


I always overpack when I travel and end up wearing the same things over and over again. I need to remember to pack lighter!


Here I am with Mr&Mrs. E. She is a doll!


No photo could do the 9|11 Memorial justice. The pools are amazing. I am just glad we were able to pay our respects.


Us at the Highline.


The view from the Top of Rockefeller Center is amazing but getting good night snaps can be problematic.


We only saw one show this trip. We tried the lottery for The Book of Mormon but didn't get ticktes. Billy Elliot was a great one, though.

And what I wore

all items remix'd*
jacket: A|X
sweater: Gap
jeans: J. Crew
boots: Target
scarf&bag: Missoni for Target (*except these)

I pretty much wore a variation of this outfit the entire trip. Even thought NYC is the fashion capital of the world to me, I prefer to be comfortable when travelling and outfits were second to enjoying our time.

iNYC

The view of Manhattan from our friends' apartment.


Practicing yoga.


Riding the subway.


After dinner Sambuca.


Our friend JE who moved back from the city after living in Milan for 2 years. He brought back perfect Italian and a new wife!


The 9-11 Memorial.


Breakfast of champions.


And shopping of course.

{Can you tell I am obsessed with my new toy? It's so easy to edit and post photos now...I don't know how I lived without it!}

A creative lull

On days when I feel less than inspired by my wardrobe, I pick a fun top and comfy bottoms.


all items remix'd
top: Anthro
skirt: Old Navy
shoes: J. Crew
earrings, bangles: various, gift'd
necklace: Collingnon Designs


all item remix'd
top: Anthro
skirt: Old Navy
shoes: Marc Jacobs
sunnies: Dsquared
earrings: Collingnon Designs, gift'd
cuff: gift'd
bag: LV

The first look is from yesterday and the second from about two weeks ago. I count on Anthro to find unusual tops that are easy to wear. Lately I've been all about comfort. It's weird; I don't feel like shopping but I'm not feeling inspired either. I guess getting dressed has a creative flow too; sometimes you feel it and sometimes you don't. The only difference is that for most of us, getting dressed for public is a necessity while other creative endeavors can be put on the back burner.


While I enjoy having a versatile basick pencil skirt at my disposal, I think I need to shake things up a bit. I know I said I don't feel like shopping but we are going to the shopping mecca of the world (well, for me at least) - NYC - this week! My (shopping) goal is to find some fun pieces at stores not in Houston.


The hubs and I are definitely looking forward to our annual visit to the city. I will make every effort to post something the rest of the week but can make no promises.

P.S. Unfortunately my Chinese cooking skills are really limited to stir fry so those dumplings from last week are not homemade by me. We went to a hole-in-the-wall restaurant in Bellaire called Yummy Kitchen and they were definitely yummy!

We're here!

Posting will be spotty over the next few days. Hopefully I will be seen in some cool new clothes as well!{photo from 2009}

Not a fan

Billy and JC are a MAC family - they have a laptop and desktop. They do have wireless but I am having issues trying to connect to it on our laptop (PC). So Billy let me use their desktop to upload photos. I have been trying to put them on either Facebook or Flickr, but having major uploading issues - ugh! I'm sorry but MACs are not as intuitive as they claim to be. Maybe it's just user error, but I am definitely a PC girl at heart.

So, because of aforementioned issues, again a post with no photos. I practiced yoga again this morning. It's been raining again today - boo! Now I am off to meet my cousin Poni (stage name) and Aunt Fifi for lunch. Later gater!

Busy day

Joe left me to my own devices early this morning. Crazy boy is returning to H-town to put in some heavy miles on the bike before he flies back to the Big Apple. Yes, he is CRA-ZEE!

Today I woke up around 6-ish and decided to get a move on. I left the hotel around 7 and got to Billy and JC's about 7:40. The boys were still in bed, so I dropped off my stuff, picked up Billy's yoga mat and headed to yoga. Erik, one instructor at home, recommended a studio in SOHO, which was about 1.5 miles away. The walk was a good warm up, although I wish it hadn't been raining! I had a great practice, got really hot and sweaty (note to self: bring a towel next time!), was a bit intimidated by all the hard core yogis present but was really glad I went. My goal is to go every morning the rest of this week.

After yogi, I came home, rested a bit, went to Union Square and checked out F21 and DSW. Then I hopped on a subway back uptown to meet JC for lunch. We had Thai at this hole-in-the-wall restaurant (the best kind!) and then headed to the Salvation Army to pick up more stuff for our Halloween costumes (it's a surprise...I will post photos when we dress up!).

I rode back downtown and came home for another rest before heading back to Union Square for more shopping. I really wanted to find some tall black books, which I did at Filene's basement: Kenneth Cole for $80! Then I spent another $60 at F21 on 2 cute jackets. I'm not sure where I am going to pack all of my shopping finds...Joe will probably have to bring an extra bag!

After a quick trip to the grocery store, I am now resting with Marvin while waiting for the boys to come home. We will be going to dinner and working on Halloween costumes!

{Sorry for the lack of photos: I am blogging from Billy's computer as I haven't figured out the wireless connection yet.}

Taking it all in

We are enjoying our time in the Big Apple so far. Eating lots of good food, taking in the sights and watching a show (Next to Normal - it was excellent!). Today we stopped by the MOMA and are headed to the new park, Highline. I love this city!

Marathon weekend

...in more ways than one! We were in NYC for Halloween as well as the marathon so got to experience different sides of the city. For our Halloween costumes were dressed as the nativity scene: I was Mary, Joe was Joseph, Bill was Baby Jesus, Juan was a shephard, Marvin was a sheep and Mark and Jason were 2 wisemenBill was probably the funniest baby Jesus ever!We walked in the Village parade for a little while, but it was just madness. Other things we did on Friday: marathon expo...where we saw Peter Reid, a 3-time Hawaii Ironman winner (I think we were the only peeps at the Expo who knew who he was!)shopped in SohoOn Saturday we took it easy and hung out in the East VillageAnd Sunday was the marathon!
I finished in 4:36, which I was pleased with, especially since I was cramping up pretty badly the last 8 miles.
Now it's back to the real world...boo!

A quick update

{Yay, blogger finally fixed itself!}

Between work, working out and travelling, I have had no time to blog! We are headed to Atlantic City this weekend for cousin Amy's wedding - can't wait to see the fam!

A quick update on our trip to NYC last weekend:
Marvinshopping in SohoOur favorite pizza spotGypsyTaking the subway everywhereRunning in central parkTaking a tour bus around townWalking on the Williamsburg bridgeCool graffiti around townHanging out with Paul and PrescottAnd best of all, spending time with my hubby and my Billy