White Christmas

I can't believe it has been A MONTH since my last posting! Things have been crazy here; this is how I've been feeling for a while: 

During finals week, stressed is an understatement

Luckily, that phase has passed as I am officially on break until Weds., January 4th. It turns out it's going to be a white Christmas after all in little old Louisville, Colorado, because it snowed a foot last night and today we're rocking a balmy 23 degree temperature. To ring in the holiday season, before the snow started falling, I went caroling at Avista hospital the day before break started. Not one to shy away form bold colors and short hemlines (classy, not skanky), even in the most treacherous of weather situations, I dress to the 9s.

Gold and silver studded headband- JCrew $29.95

Gold leaf necklace- Francesca's $24, gold stackable beaded bangles-  gift,  Giant Check cashmere scarf- Burberry

Red strapless dress- Urban Outfitters- $79

Black sweater leggings- Nordstrom $14, black leather knee-high boots- Nordstrom

For Christmas I've compiled a "short" and sweet list of all my favorite things for the big man. It includes:

1) An Ipad

I've already found a plethora of cute cases that I will gently put it in when I'm not downloading the new Sephora App or catching up on 90210:

2) Gossip Girl Seasons 1-4

3) Black TOMS

4) Hunter Boots

Those are probably at the top of my wishlist. 

Don't you love when people become overly obsessed with their own birthday? I don't but that doesn't mean I don't become obsessed with my own special day, December 9th. That's right, I am within a week of waking up and having the Sixteen Candles moment, except I will NOT let anyone forget:

Everyone keeps asking me what I want for my birthday, so I compiled what I think is a short list of my most sought-after items. Top 2: Burgundy knee high Frye boots and a hot pink Juicy hoodie:

Holiday Dress Shopping

Holiday dress shopping with my grandma has been a tradition since my oldest cousin, Alex, was potty-trained....about 1992. Each year we scour another one of Colorado's nicest malls, Park Meadows, to find enough sequined dresses, argyle sweaters and faux-fur lined coats to satisfy the party demands of the Christmas season. Of course, there has to be an age-limit for this excursion, as with all great (IDEAS) (kids' menu with crayons, carts at Costco...), which in this case is college graduation.

With 6 years ahead of me, I celebrated the first day of Thanksgiving Break by participating in this annual outing, this time with my aunt, also, who was visiting from San Diego. We were looking for Arielle (14), Thayer (8), Dylan (5), Sydney (3), and myself. And I know that what I found far exceeded my expectations; some years I've had to resort to wearing matching navy velvet floor length funeral gowns with faux white fur embellishments, with my sister 8 years my junior.

I bought my dress at Urban Outfitters, just like last year, coincidentally. It is one of the most beautiful dresses I own; the picture from the online store doesn't do it too much justice. It reminds me a bit of Blair Waldorf, a star of one of my latest teen-drama driven addictions, Gossip Girl. The books are fantastic, by the way. I also adore the old Hollywood vintage feel to this dress; its so simple, yet has strong undertones of elegance, sophistication and class without being too "uptight debutante."

Pins and Needles Lurex and Lace dress- Urban Outfitters $79

I'm not sure how to accessorize just yet but hope to get some killer silver shoes like these to play up the silver in the middle:

Silver Glittered Slingback Heels- Forever 21 $26

Oyzter Heels in Silver Glitter- Steve Madden $49.95

Enzo Angiolini Tolten Slingback Pump in silver-Nordstrom $99.95

How do you think I should glam it up? Let me know with a comment!

Cherry Creek

I just got back from a highly successful shopping excursion at Denver's Cherry Creek Mall. Known for its high-end retailers such as Tiffany's and Louis Vuitton, Cherry Creek also has a fantastic Nordstroms, where I scored some brown leather boots. 

Report "Waldron" boot-  Originally $150 to $79 Nordstrom

I have been lusting over the idea of dark brown, leather, knee high boots for months. I wanted the height to say "sassy" not "stripper", and the color to be versatile enough to be paired with anything from jeans to a sweater dress. These are perfect; they're even durable enough to make the block-length walk from my house to the bus stop in the snow. And kudos to the Customer Service (always highly praised by fashionistas and magazines alike) for holding the abnormally wide box at the counter while I shopped the rest of the mall. I mean the phrase "Shop til you drop" should not be taken that literally, especially with a sprained wrist.

Subsequent to the review of H&M I wrote previously, I wore a navy and taupe striped H&M dress, Coconuts by Matisse suede taupe boots and a black Nordsrom BP leather jacket, bag by Michael Kors:

Dress- H&M $14.95, Boots- Amazon $100,  Jacket- Nordstrom $50,  Necklace- Aldo $15

Michael Kors Uptown Astor Large Shoulder Tote in brown (mine's black) $448

H&M

For those of you that live in or around the Denver-metro area, you must be aware that the announcement of an H&M store opening is a really huge deal. The announcement was first made in the spring of this year and the store opened its doors along Denver's 16th Street Mall yesterday at noon. Occupying the former Nike Town building, H&M Denver is the first store for Colorado; before, avid shoppers' closest location was in Arizona and going online to shop has never been an option.

It comes as no surprise to my friends and family that I would spend my Veteran's Day (no school) scouring the racks of the newest flagship store for the Swedish company.

H&M Flagship store Denver Pavilions 

My friend Emily picked me up at 9:15 this morning so we could arrive shortly after the store's 10 am opening. Built among two levels, H&M boasts a men's, junior's and kid's section, among piles and piles of women's lingerie, activewear, maternity, business and casual attire. After 2 hours of anxiously waiting in line and trying things on, I walked out with a few new goodies.

Navy/white striped l/s- $12.95 H&M

Beige sweater tights- $14.95 H&M

(Similar) beige and navy striped jersey l/s dress  $14.95 H&M

Cream ribbed legwarmers- $5.95 H&M

Emily left with an assortment of cable sweaters, solid basics and fun accessories such as:

Basic jersey tank dress- $12.95 H&M

Sequined jersey mini skirt- $19.95 H&M

For future reference, get there earlier rather than later to avoid 45 minute dressing room lines and crowds, especially if you're impatient. By getting there shortly after 10 and leaving there at 12:30, we avoided the mile long line guarded by 6 police officers that made its war around the building from the entrance. Though the store occupies the late Nike outlet store, the women's section is significantly smaller than I had anticipated, but does include sportswear, maternity clothes and juniors'. The salespeople are friendly and helpful and the atmosphere and layout are very welcoming. I would give it an 8 out of 10.

I work out; I'm sexy and I know it

I don't know about you but I like to look cute when I work out. That's why this blog entry is dedicated to all things sporty and stylish to take you from yoga to Zumba to cross country to aerobics. My exercise of choice is 3 hours of Zumba per week. For those who are unaware of this trend, Zumba is a high-impact, aerobic latin fusion dance class offered at my local Rec Center (as well as other health clubs nationwide) 3 times a week:

Today I went and danced to artists like Enrique Iglesias with two of my best friends. I wore new, hot pink Nike tennis shoes, maroon Harvard Nike running shorts, a pink H&M active tank and a pink/orange leopard push-up sports bra from Victoria's Secret.

Pink and black Nike running shoes- $30 Nike outlet Colorado Mills

Harvard running shorts by Nike- $30 Harvard Coop

Pink running tank (similar)- $19.95 H&M

Pink/black leopard Yoga Push-up- $29.50 Victoria's Secret

I also love yoga pants from Lululemon, crops from Lucy , or shorts from Victoria's Secret as an alternative to running shorts: (Keep in mind there are a variety of athletic clothes available from each of the three stores I mentioned).

Groove Yoga Pant- $98 Lululemon

Novelty Propel Knee Pant-$69 Lucy

Bling Yoga Shortie in Pink Leopard- $29.50 Victoria's Secret

Gettin down with the dinos

Well last Saturday night was interesting...

I did end up finding a dress in exchange for the one with the cut-outs, at the same boutique, which was great; it was strapless, turquoise chiffon with a ruffle. I paired this with gold accessories, specifically a layered gold leaf necklace and gold sequin clutch from Francesca's and gold 2.5 inch sandals from Nordstrom BP. I also had my hair blown out and straightened.

Strapless chiffon dress from Violette--Minuet $75, gold necklace--Francesca's $18

Gold BP Gallery sandal--Nordstrom $69.95

Gold sequin clutch--Francesca's $24

In all honesty, getting ready with my friends and taking pictures and eating sushi was great. The dance though was just alright, which was kind of disappointing. Although, someone did tell me I had a really nice tan and how often did I go to the tanning salon. Um well I actually go outside, instead of laying around in a bed steaming with skin cancer.Here's a picture of the 4 of us, outside of my best friend's house. From left, Broccan, me, Samantha and Audrey:

The highlight of the night was our midnight run to IHOP for milkshakes and pancakes. They're open until 4 am which is pretty sweet. Unfortunately, Paul, our waiter, got really confused with why there were so many dressed-up kids there that he took forever and kept asking stupid questions.

Compared to last weekend, this weekend has been significantly more fun. Last night in between frozen yogurt runs and having homeless men in trench coats with pink wheely suitcases stalking us at Target, we found some "beautiful" clothes at Macys. Now, we went to the Macy's on 29th Street in Boulder, which could be considered semi-decent. For some reason, the one at Flatirons is the ghetto Macy's with a 3x5 shoe section, dim lighting, a smokers' section and knock-off clothes. Some of our finds include:

A  maroon version of this dress:

Karl Lagerfeld collection for Impulse--Macy's orig. $99, sale $59.99

A floor-length Wiccan Free People skirt. 

Free People Twisted Velvet Maxi Skirt--Macy's $148

And a pink tie-front short sleeved shirt I can't find a picture of that had cartoon flowers and a fake varsity number on the front, on sale for $4.99. Obviously if you're wearing a shirt or even sweats with a "varsity" number down the side and someone asks what team you play for, and your response has something to do with buying that shirt or those sweats at Macy's, there's a serious problem. 

My name is Brooke, and I am a relayer

Talk about school spirit

I am pooped. Shopping for 4 hours wipes me out. Today 3 of my friends and I conquered Halloween, Homecoming and football game shopping all in one sweep. Last week I mentioned a segment on homecoming dress shopping; it was difficult. We started at a little dress boutique, Violette, where I tried on 6 or 7, from strapless, green ruched to a black and silver sequined option that barely covered my butt. I ended up putting this dress on hold, and later buying it:

Bronze sequined Violette dress with waist cut-outs $69

Front view

Side view

Unfortunately it didn't pass the "mom test" so I am going back Wednesday after school...with homecoming less than a week away.

Aside from the dress mishap, I found a whole host of goodies. Probably my most favorite is a skirt from Goldmine Vintage. They have a FABULOUS assortment of halloween costumes/pieces from disco man to aerobic instructor to pin-up girl, if you are in need of a few items or merely an idea. This is part of what I walked away with that I will be wearing, with pride, like 3 times a week:

Gold sequined Goldmine Vintage skirt $22

Side view with black BP cami and black leather knee-high boots

Front view

It is literally the most comfortable skirt I own and makes my butt look less pancake and more Kim Kardashian...more or less. You betcha I'll be wearing that for either spirit day on Thursday or the football game Saturday morning. Or both. I also scored some bunny accessories from this store because, you guessed it, I'm going as a bunny for Halloween:

Bunny costume accessories Goldmine Vintage $7.95

From Goldmine and American Apparel, with their outrageously expensive tank dresses and see-through mesh bodysuit-clad employees, we walked to Urban Outfitters who was having a "take 50% off the lowest price sale." I bought this floral bustier top, originally $50 for half off of $20, also known as $10.

Tomorrow for the lamest, most un-creative spirit day ever, "casual sweater day, I'm wearing this top with dark wash Morgan skinny jeans from delia's, a mustard Halogen sweater from Nordstrom and navy TOMS. How is that for school spirit?

I have come to the realization that I have an obsession for anything floral. Not in a granny way, but more of a boho pin-up girl way. Besides buying the corset top from Urban today, I also scored a strapless floral Forever 21 dress from Buffalo Exchange. Not to mention it was $8. I don't know when I'll be able to rock it this week seeing as it doesn't really mesh with USA day or toga day.

Forever 21 floral sweetheart dress originally $27.80

Since it has started getting colder, as it should be in the middle of October (it snowed for about 15 minutes yesterday), I would wear this with a jean jacket, tights and cute boots. I am dying to get a pair of knee-high, caramel brown leather boots like these for myself. They are so cute and go with everything. Good thing I'm getting this little thing called a paycheck later this week.

Steve Madden Sierraa boots in cognac sale from $229.95 to $160.97

So that is my shopping review from the 4 hours I spent carrying my weight in bags (and receipts) this afternoon. Look for my *new* homecoming ensemble this Wednesday.

Tata for now