My twin has graduated!

Hey y'all!  I know, it feels like forever since you've read a good post from me, and your life has been desolate without the endless charm of my words.  Fear not!  I have returned.

Seriously though, you'll have to forgive me if I am somewhat less present in the next two weeks, as I am still in school, and it waited until just now to really start kicking my ass.  I got a couple of exciting new dresses though, so your patience will be rewarded with elusive outfit posts!  Not today, though, today you get pictures from [insert derogatory adjective here] New Haven.

I'm so funny.  Biggest dork everrrrrr accidentally left her camera in the hotel room on Sunday, so I have only cell phone pictures to show you for the only part of the extravaganza involving Tom Hanks.  Enjoy, though!

I slept on that.  If you can call it sleeping.

Deeeeeelicious mimosa and hors d'oeurves at Nina's friend's graduation brunch on Saturday

Nina and her old roommates Vicky, Shirley, and Phoebe, to whom I apologize for using this shot, but everyone's eyes were closed in the other one.  I like to think she gave me a saucy look knowing I would use this one.

#lies

Super stealth

Busiest brunch everrr

That's Tom Hanks!

Very excited twin person, Mom, and Mickey Mouse balloon

I had wine.

It was all very lovely, and I wish I could have stayed for all three days (!) of graduatingness, but silly me, I go to a school that doesn't get out until June.  Congratulations, my twin person, I am very proud of you!

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

Or rather, by the end of today's journey it will have been automobile, train, bus, plane, cab. I think I've covered all major forms of public and private transportation.

Here are some images from the day thus far to tide you over until I can upload from my real camera. My favorite is the sign the airport put up over an area they're renovating. Full of sass.

Vice Report: Week of 5/16/11

Well, I'm in an airport again. I think I've developed a Pavlovian response as a result of which I become ravenously hungry upon entering an airport and am compelled to satisfy my cravings with McDonald's.

I'm not gonna analyze it too much.

I hope you all have a great weekend!  Hopefully I'll be able to get in a post or two while I'm in New Haven for my twin's graduation (eee!).

The lady doth protest too much, methinks.

Sitting still, peaceful,

the endless tempest outside

makes me want to hurl.

There once was a month we called May.

The sun would come out and we'd play.

But then it stayed drear

When it should have been clear

For three weeks there's been nothing but gray.

In

Terrible

Irate

Skies

The

Onerous

Odious

Clouds 

Observe

Languishing

Denizens

I may be exaggerating the severity of the weather, but I thought I would try to express some of my frustration in silly poetry.  I'm not sure it worked, but hopefully someone was amused by it.

For those of you who weren't, here are some of my favorite picks from what's available on Piperlime right now.  A girl's got to go somewhere with a lot of choice to do her pick-me-up online window shopping.  Click through any of the images to check them out, some are even on sale!

Riller & Fount Claudia Maxi Dress

Collective Concepts Dual Elastic Detailed Maxi

Sam Edelman Garner Sandal

Bernardo Matrix Sandal

Bandolino Noticeme Wedge

Betsey Johnson Octopus Stud Earrings

All images via

St. Barts

Image via

I'm a little scared to think of the things I would do to be where that beach is right now instead of in still-too-cold Miseryville.  And I've never even been to St. Barts.

When the craving for summer just gets too strong, and I can't stand to look at my pallid face anymore, I pull out one of my all-time favorite makeup items, the NARS Multiple in St. Barts. I would describe the color as similar to wet sand, but with some glitter in it.  I don't know about you, but I find that description appealing.  Either way, it definitely goes onto my skin darker than it looks above.  Although it can look like war paint while you're applying it, the texture is perfect and it blends into my skin beautifully.  With just a little bit on my forehead and the tip of my nose, and a big sweep on each cheekbone, my face instantly looks more alive.  Plus, when it gets to be actual summer (and I get to be actually tan), a few quick swipes and your makeup looks totally complete with almost no effort!  It also makes a great base for a variety of eyeshadow colors.

Now if only real summer would hurry up and get here!

Rainy Day Pretzels

I've been wanting to make pretzels for a while now, so I finally steeled myself yesterday and went recipe searching.  There are several foods that, no matter what else I'm exposed to, I always like best out of a box: StoveTop stuffing, Idaho mashed potatoes, and Superpretzel pretzels.  I love cooking, and making my own food, but I think the nostalgia factor is just a little too strong in each of those cases.  I'm not saying I don't like other forms of these foods, just that my yearning for childhood puts these ahead in the competition.  Sadly, I had a difficult time finding a recipe for Superpretzel-esque goodies, or even satisfactory New York-style pretzels.  In the end, I settled for the chewy, Philadelphia iteration.  I would share the recipe, but I don't think they turned out all that well.  Though delicious, they lacked the density I would expect, and the crust on them was flimsy at best.  Oh well, I guess I'll just have to keep searching.

The weather here has taken a turn for the worse again, 45 degrees with rain and wind, and it's left me feeling a little uninspired.  I'm not quite sure how to climb out of this funk.  What do you do when inspiration is lacking?

P.S. The Star Wars logo in the background is on a toaster belonging to my roommate. It burns Darth Vader's face into one side of the bread.  Naturally, it works better than our other toasters.

Vice Report: Week of 5/9/11

This is a big deal.

Shirt: Urban Outfitters

Shorts: Gap

Necklace: Banana Republic

Flip flops: Old Navy

I told myself that I wouldn't go around purchasing any more clothing after my wild, mid-winter, depression-inspired shopping spree.  This, however, is something altogether different.  As many of you know, I only wear skirts and dresses, something I've done almost exclusively since I was five years old.  I haven't owned a pair of shorts since I was 17, a pair of pants since I was 15, and a pair of jeans since I was 13.

It's been a while.

The problem is that I've started liking shirts more, and people notice when you wear the same skirt five days of the week even if they don't notice someone wearing jeans five days of the weeks.  So I settled for shorts.  Admittedly, very baggy shorts that might be a little too large for me, but hey, baby steps, right?  Right.

I hope everyone's week was wonderful, have an excellent weekend!

Boston, Day 2

That's a big old bunch of graduates, no? In the vicinity of 3,000, as I understand it.  Steph's Commencement was at 10:00am on Friday morning, and that meant an early start to the day in order to get everywhere we needed to be on time.  Up at 6, in cabs at 7:30, in TD Garden by 8:15 so we could have excellent seats.

Flash forward to 12:30 -- that's right, four hours later -- and we're released from what was one of the coldest buildings I have ever been in, and we all headed over to Boston Commons to take graduation pictures.

Twin person guarding the handbags.  Grrrr.

Steph's roommate Alysoun and her brother Christopher.  Looks like they're taking an engagement picture, right?  We made fun of them the rest of the day.

Dresses, L to R: H&M, Diane von Furstenberg, Modcloth, Anthropologie

Diane von Furstenberg Dress, Michele Watch

The weather was beautiful the whole day, and the picture's taken by Steph's dad were spectacular.  He has one of those big, fancy cameras that make everything look good, unlike my little camera (which is, admittedly, much easier to carry around).

After pictures, we headed off to lunch...after Stephanie and I had to go buy flip flops because we both wore shoes that did not care to accommodate the swelling of our feet.  Classic mistake.  We at lunch at Stephanie's on Newbury, but at this point, due to my extreme hunger, the picture taking dried up rapidly.  Additionally, my own mother showed up, so I devoted my time exclusively to enjoying the company rather than taking pictures of them.  Later in the day we hit up a few bars, including Lir on Boylston Street, which I rather liked the atmosphere of, and the night ended without incident.

All in all, I had a really terrific time, and Boston was wonderful to all of us.  My biggest congratulations to my oldest and best friend, and congrats to everyone else who graduated last week!

Essie: Summer 2011

It's here!

Essie Summer 2011

As you know, I am deeply in love with nail polish, and I'm thrilled to see Essie's summer collection for this year.  I especially can't wait to try super bossa nova and too too hot, I think they'll look stunning with navy and white.  And two orange polishes!  Very exciting.  All the colors are super on trend for this year, while still being classic summer colors that can stand out during summers yet to come for those of us who don't necessarily change their whims at the speed of light.  I hope I get to try some of these soon!

What do you think?  Do you like the colors, or would you have wanted to see something a little more outside the box?

Boston, Day 1

In retrospect, I probably should have realized that those clouds meant rain would be in my future, but I was so pleased at the fact that I didn't have to wear a jacket I couldn't think of anything else.  On Thursday, Stephanie and I decided to head out and get mani-pedis while we waited for her parents to arrive.  I can't show you pictures from the walk back from the salon, because that's when the rain started :/  After her parents got to Boston and we picked my twin sister up from the train station, we headed to their hotel in Copley Square and had a couple of pre-dinner drinks.

I had what they called a Pom Fizz, which was just prosecco and pomegranate juice, but it was pretty delicious all the same.  We headed out for a late dinner at Vlora, which serves Albanian food.  I can't say I've ever had that before, but it was pretty darn tasty.  Definitely in the Mediterranean genre, which is always a plus in my book.

Arancini Siciliani - delicious fried balls of rice and feta cheese

Blue light makes everything look interesting.  We had a late dinner, so you'll have to excuse me for not photographing the entree, I was a little busy devouring it.

Stay tuned for Day 2, graduation day!  I promise I took pictures of people and their outfits, I think you'll enjoy them!

Saturday already?

Well, guys. I had a great time in Boston. I'm writing to you, once again, from an airport, but that's how you like it, right? To imagine me as a stylish jetsetter? That's what I thought.

Sorry for the silence, but pictures will be forthcoming. I just couldn't pull myself away from the fun! The weather was absolutely beautiful (most of the time), the food was delicious (except for a Hot Pocket I ate), and I'm enormously proud of my best friend of 18 years for graduating summa cum laude yesterday!

I hope you've all had a wonderful past few days, and I leave you with a picture of my current view of Massachusetts, as well as a picture of the dress worn by the woman sitting in front of me yesterday. Yes, that is a velour dress with glitter on it.

There's a jet plane, but I don't appear to be leaving.

You all wish you looked this good while your flight is delayed. The people in the terminal must think I'm hungover.

So while I keep hanging out here in beautiful O'Hare International Airport, why don't you share some of your fun travel stories with me? I know you all have them! Nothing like a little commiserating to help the time pass ;)

Love,
Harris

Strawberry Fields Forever

I'm coming to realize the flaws of the Blogger app for Android phones, as I'm finding it a little frustrating to make my posts exactly as I like them. It's good to try something different every so often, though, so I'm going to stick it out this week and keep on truckin' from my phone.

As you may already know, I am in love with NARS cosmetics. Their colors are simply fabulous. Here I'm featuring one of my favorite lip glosses of theirs, Strawberry Fields. It's this beautiful deep magenta color that stands up really well against the darkness of my hair.  I've layered it over NARS lipstick in Scarlet Empress, which is very similar in color but lacks the high gloss of the top layer.

Enjoy the insane pictures. I tried taking them in the bathroom at my job, but they are not kidding when they say flourescent lights are really dark.