Classy or Trashy?

Lately I've been obsessed over leopard print! And it's everywhere in London. I can't say that I own much leopard (just flats and a cardigan) but I'm intrigued to invest in some pieces, especially a big (faux) fur jacket.

The problem with leopard is, there's a fine line between dressing it up classy or being straight-up trashy with it.
For both mine & your sakes, I'll only post classy pictures of outfits incorporating leopard.

 

 

Aquarium adventure!

Yesterday Rachel and I decided we needed to go on an adventure instead of hanging out in our flat so we ventured off to find the Horniman Museum!

After taking basically every form of public transportation to get there (underground, overground & 2 buses) we finally made it and went straight for the aquarium exhibit. The zoo in Syracuse isn't known for it's 'aquarium section' so I was really excited to see something different.

The jellyfish were my favorite!

It's hard to see in this picture but I love love loved the seahorses. They're just so cute.

Little kids kept screaming "I CAN SEE NEMOS HOUSE"

Towards the end we decided to play in the little kids room and of course had to try on some masks.

Ice Skating next to the crown jewels

Okay so technically it wasn't really near the crown jewels, but the skating rink was on the grounds of the Tower of London, where the crown jewels are kept!

Earlier in the morning, Rachel and I set out to see the Changing of the Guard ceremony at Buckingham Palace. Apparently everyone else in London decided to go today too haha so we didn't get up too close to the gates, but the parts we were able to see were really fun.

Friday fashion

After posting Lauren Conrad's book, LA Candy, in my list of favorite things, it kind of inspired me to just dedicate a post to her. I was an avid fan of Laguna Beach way back in the day and then went on to love watching The Hills. Out of all the people on the show, I think Lauren is the most genuine  (and the only sane one). You can just tell (or at least I thought) that Lauren was the one that had her head on straight and she never intended for the show to blow up the way that it did (okay, so maybe she didn't have her head on straight when she dated Jason, but everyone makes mistakes). She always wanted to stay focused on her goals of working in the fashion industry and she even chose to leave the reality tv life to do it. Now that she's accomplished so many things, I heard she's coming back to MTV and starring in a new reality series that chronicles her life in the fashion world - and I'm so excited!

I just love that LC always looks put together and polished, even if she's just roaming the street's of LA.

 

Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

It's very, very surreal celebrating Thanksgiving in London. This is the first (and will hopefully be the only!) time I haven't spent Thanksgiving surrounded by my family. But I am glad I'm getting to spend it around my friends.

I always help my mom cook on Thanksgiving, but mostly just with the desserts and things like that. So let's just say, it's going to be very interesting today when my flatmates and I try cooking our own dinner! I plan on taking lots of pictures.

So of course I'm going to ask what is everyone thankful for?

I am thankful for my amazing family, my best friends and the wonderful opportunity to have spent this time abroad in London. I will be home 3 weeks from today =]

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So since I'm 5 hours ahead of the US, we've already finished our dinner! 

It was a success!

my tuesday fail + favorite things!

Now that the weather is getting chilly in London, I've made it a little routine to get a big warm drink from Starbucks on my way to my internship in the morning - Chai tea lattes are my weakness!

So I got my drink and made it to my office and as I was setting up my laptop at my desk BOOM! over spills my chai. And mind you, it was the venti size.

So there I am, covered head to toe in Chai tea. The table was dripping, it was all over the floor and my chair.

My flat is about a half hour from my office + walking to and from the tube so it would've taken too long to go home and change. So I sucked it up, tried wiping my shirt with lots of wet paper towels, and toughed it out the rest of the day =[ I am very thankful, however, that it narrowly missed spilling all over my laptop.

Most epic fail ever!

Anyways, I love reading other people's "Favorite things" posts and I wanted to do one! Is it cheating if I wasn't "tagged" to post them like everyone else is? Oh well. Here are some of my favorite things, people, music, etc.

#1: Emma Stone! I finally got the chance to watch Easy A and I think Emma Stone might be one of my favorite actresses just because of her ability to speak fluent sarcasm. She's kind of like the female version of Jonah Hill for me haha And I love me some Jonah Hill. And Seth Rogan.

#2: Dexter! I used to only catch a few episodes here & there at a friend's apartment until I got to London. Before my flatmates and I got our TV set up, I downloaded some episodes and set out on a mission to get caught up before the newest season started. And I'm glad I did because this season is INCREDIBLE. If you've been watching it, can you believe the teaser preview they gave for next week's episode!?

#3: PUGS! My goal/master plan is to have a little pug of my own in March =]
(if you have one or know someone who does, I want to know everything! Pros & cons)

#4: He Is We. I saw this band by accident at last year's South by Southwest. I was waiting for another band to play (I think it was The Cab) and I got there too early but got to catch He Is We's amazing, amazing set. This girl can sing! Their cd came out yesterday and is already doing really well on the charts. Check them out on purevolume for sure. "Happily Ever After" will  make you a fan.

#5: One of the things on my Christmas list. I haven't read LC's other books but for some reason, this one caught my eye and I'm hoping Santa puts a copy in my stocking haha

missin' you on a monday

Alright that title was cheesy - but true! With Thanksgiving only a few days away, I'm really starting to feel homesick! Only a few of my roommates (I'm looking at you, Rachel!) are really as excited about cooking a Thanksgiving dinner with me, and it's kind of bumming me out!

Like I've said in a few of my previous posts, my (super Italian) grandma always, always, always has a big feast of food on Sundays for my family, so you can imagine how it goes on holidays. This year is the first time I'll be away from home for Thanksgiving so it's really kind of hitting me hard.

So here are some things that I miss.

My cat! My friends will most likely tease me for being a cat lady but I don't care! I got him as a birthday present in the 4th grade and ever since then, he's been my #1 Buddy, hence he is named Buddy (seewhatididthere?).

Buffalo Wild Wings! This is me & my friends' "spot", if you will, on the weekends when we're at school. I only tried the blazin' wings as a dare, and the pictures that were taken afterwards are too scary & gross to post. Spicy things are not my friend...

...but this lady is my best friend! And these few months are the longest we've ever gone without hanging out! Counting down the days (24!) until she and I will be eating at our favorite diner.

Okay I confess!

I guess when I started this blog ages ago, I always had the intention of taking pictures of my daily outfits, etc and making it somewhat of a fashion blog, but I always get so self conscious when I do take pictures! I saw these quotes on weheartit and just thought, heck, I'm going to post whatever because it's my blog. Now you'd think that since I'm typing this, I'd have some pictures of my outfits right? But of course I forgot my camera during my adventure to Chipotle today and Cambridge yesterday (double fail). But! tomorrow is a big holiday festival in Camden and I plan on trying to do some then.

Instead; I've had these gorgeous pictures of Tara Lynn on my computer for ages now and just love everything about her. I think she's the face of Faith 21 (now Forever 21+) and I just love, love, love that she is being featured in magazines and being accepted as beautiful, no matter her size. Over the summer when I was living in New York (if you go back and read my scarce posting), Kaelah and I hit the gym everyday, and we hit it hard! At least an hour or hour & a half on the elliptical bikes, and I was very conscious of what I was putting into my mouth. Now in London, I haven't been finding it as easy to do. Between classes, interning, and hoping to save some money, I opted not to join a gym and now I'm regretting it. I've definitely gained back lots of weight that I lost all summer, and it bums me out! But it is a nice reminder from lovely ladies like Tara Lynn that beauty comes in all sizes.

Too old for Minnie mouse?

Before coming abroad to London, my first and only real job was working at Forever 21! The past few years have seen new "lines" being introduced to all the stores (ie Ballerina, Rockabilly, etc etc) and I just saw online that they are now launching a Minnie Mouse line!

Now since I was a lazy Minnie for Halloween this year (aka I just wore the ears), I admit that she's a cute character for some fashion inspiration.

There are a few cute pieces, but I can't really find anything in the line that I'm absolutely crazy over. 

catfish

I saw the trailer for this movie a few months ago and was so intrigued. I missed the screening of it here at the London film fest but my flatmate downloaded it tonight and we just finished it.



My mind is so completely boggled! It will definitely change your perspective on social media, especially Facebook.

Some video love

I just stumbled upon this via twitter and had to share! I'm a sucker for acoustics and a sucker for anything involving Dave Melillo.

Monday

I definitely woke up with a case of the Monday's but then I realized that I only have 4 Mondays left in London! It's strange thinking that this experience is narrowing down. It feels like yesterday I was just getting off the plane & searching for a flat to live in.

With only a few weeks left, I've hit the mood of wanting to buy souvenirs! In fact I even started writing out a list of presents I was getting for my family and myself. A few weeks ago I went into Starbucks and saw they had London holiday mugs! I should've gotten it when I saw it because when I went back today, they were all gone =[

Now that I started interning 3 days/week instead of 2, I was beginning to run out of lunch ideas until yesterday. I was seriously craving Chipotle so I decided I'd try to make my own version of a burrito bowl and bring it for lunch. Basically I started with a layer of rice (and by a layer I mean I made WAY too much and then couldn't finish half of it) and then layered on some shredded cheese, chicken with sweet chili sauce, spicy refried beans, and guacamole! I had planned on having some sweet corn on there too, but our can opener just doesn't work. All in all, it was yummy! My office doesn't have a microwave so I ate it cold, but it was still pretty good!

Sundays

Sundays are always lazy, yet productive for me. I've finished most of my schoolwork for the semester (just waiting on taking 3 finals!) so besides reading a few books, my to-do list is usually short!

I did the usual Sunday things, grocery shopping and laundry, and some cleaning around the flat. Exciting right?

I thought I had my living arrangements all set for second semester until a few days ago. The plan was to live with my brother in his new house, since it's close to campus and would be much cheaper than the housing near school. Yadda yadda apparently after a few months of being in his house by himself, he's decided he's too accustomed to the privacy of living alone and he is having second thoughts about me living in his guest-room. 

I'm thankful that my parents live only 20ish minutes from school, but the thought of living at home during my senior spring semester kind of bums me out. To keep my spirits up, I've decided if I end up living at home, I want to completely re-do my room so I at least feel like I'm not living in my same old room. (In my opinion, half the excitement of living in off-campus housing is DECORATING the new place!)

I've been snooping around weheartit (shocker) and saved some more bedroom inspirations. 

I am absolutely obsessed with big headboards like the one in the last picture.

Nandos!

Today was the first time I've set foot in a real mall in almost three months! It probably sounds lame that I was so excited, but having worked in a mall for four years, they sort of become comforting! If my friends and I were ever bored, the mall would always provide some sort of entertainment, even if just people watching. The shocking part is, my roommates and I spent around 3 hours there and I didn't buy a single thing!

One of the places on my "list of things to do/see" was to eat a Nando's and we got lucky that there was one in the mall! Since the first day of being in London, I've heard that Nando's was delicious and a must-do while here (I'm sure to the people here, it's not a big deal since they are everywhere).

You basically pick what you want and choose the sauce for the chicken to be cooked in and choose from yummy side dishes. I'm not a fan of spicy things so I opted for Lemon and Herb for the chicken and got garlic bread and fries!

(It doesn't look like the healthiest meal on earth, but it was delish!)