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sexyback

i have a beloved black cashmere sweater from rugby that i have absolutely worn to threads but can't seem to stop throwing on when i seem to have exhausted all other options. sure, black is basic and cashmere is soft, but the real reason i keep coming back to this piece is its silhouette: a high boatneck in the front and a low scoopneck in the back. it's a versatile piece that provides warmth under a blazer but whose sexy shape can more than hold its own once the blazer comes off. here are some beautiful backless finds you might incorporate into your own wardrobe:
vena cava wow dress, available from rent the runway for $50
helmut lang bondage exit dress, available on rent the runway for $50

velvet kalani dress, $124 at shopbop

susana monaco mini open back dress, $150 at shopbop
in addition to these sexy nighttime options, this look can work unexpectedly well for daytime too. the impressive selection of cutout dresses at urban outfitters is a case in point. here are two of my favorites:
pins and needles lace open back shift, $58 at urban outfitters
lucca couture open back dress, $58 at urban outfitters

Desk Du Jour

i don't care for the desk itself but i think the juxtaposition of old and new is very interesting in this space. plus how glamorous is a chandelier in a home office?

21 things before 21 {update no. 1}

i started a list at the beginning of the year of 21 things i'd like to accomplish before my 21st birthday in august. with exactly five months until this deadline, i thought it would be a good time to check in and see where i stand with all my goals.

1. do something with my hair i chopped off six inches (!) but it’s in a very transitional stage. i’m in the dreadfully long process of growing out my chemically straightened hair and letting it return to its naturally rebellious state but i’m stuck in the mean time with partially curly and partially straight hair. yikes! does anyone have any advice for making it look as "normal" as possible? any products that worked miracles for you? supplements that will accelerate the growth of my curly roots? i'll take all the help i can get!
fresh from the salon. it does not look like this anymore.

2. pack sensibly for france hmmmm. does incurring $100 in excess baggage fees constitute sensible packing? to be fair, i was packing for five months in europe!

3. see as much of europe as is humanly and financially possible definitely a work in progress. i’ve been to paris (several times!), four châteaux in the loire valley, london, barcelona, and amsterdam. plus i’ve got a lot more trips in the works! check out my sidebar "where in the world is design darling?" to see where i'm headed next.

4. ...and take thousands of pictures not quite at a thousand yet but certainly on my way.

5. spend valentine’s day with michael in paris read about it here.

7. apply to ten internships i think i’ve applied to seven, with one offer and anxiously awaiting to hear from the rest.

8. secure a french internship for the month of may create a website for our family’s summer house on nantucket since plan A didn’t materialize the way i might have liked, i’m moving onto plan B. i’ve wanted to build this website forever but i’ve never gotten around to it and i really have not the slightest idea where to start. knowing my way around blogger is one thing but the big www? i’m not quite there yet.

14. read 12 new books (one per month) my january book was the blind side by michael lewis. i hardly understand the game of football but i loved the movie (cough, want to be sandra bullock’s character) and lewis is a phenomenal writer — which leads me to my february book, moneyball. i’m much more into baseball than football but it seems i haven’t had as much time to read of late. here’s to catching up in march and april! any recommendations for future books?

15. blog here five times per week i’m doing quite well on this front, if i do say so myself. ;)

16. comment on at least one other blog per day hopefully some of you are feeling the love! i love reading your comments and am only too happy to return the favor.

17. start a study abroad blog

18. stay a vegetarian thank god for my wonderfully accommodating french host mom. i’m still finding it hard to eat out so i’ve really lucked out with her cooking.

21. end my twentieth year feeling more independent, more wordly, happier, healthier, and otherwise better! "little" things like mastering the parisian metro toute seule and surviving the arduous bike ride to villandry have definitely made me feel more independent. the combination of doing some traveling by myself and abandoning my native tongue for a new culture (truly no one in tours speaks english) is certainly making me feel a bit more worldly, too. i don’t know about healthy (too many crêpes, if such a thing exists) but i do feel very happy and lucky to be here.

not too shabby, right? i've got a ways to go but i feel like i've been making steady progress. what were your goals or new year's resolutions? how is your progress measuring up? i would love to hear from you (especially if you've got help for my hair or books for my reading!).

sock it to me

how great are these fleece-lined socks for achieving the same effect as the over-the-knee boot trend without investing in a whole new pair of boots?
wear them with your black pumps and you've achieved precisely the same look (plus added warmth!) for practically nothing! these have been going in and out of stock on shopbop so i have a feeling i'm not the only one who thinks these are a genius idea.
i love the way rumi from blogworld favorite fashiontoast styled hers with fierce jessica simpson platform sandals. what a great way to reinterpret the same heels you wear day in and day out! i love the over-the-knee boots i ordered but they kill my feet — wouldn't these fleece-y thigh highs be a cozy substitute?

desk du jour

happy monday! i hope you all had a wonderful weekend. amsterdam was amazing! it's such a beautiful little city and so unlike any other place i've been. i'll be updating my study abroad blog later in the day so stay tuned for pictures and anecdotes from our travels! without further ado, here's some desk du jour eye candy to start your week off right.
i love the framed posters in this studio office. the warm colors in the art offset the industrial quality of the chair, the lamp, and the shelving quite nicely, don't you think?

guess where i'm going!

friday is here! can you guess where i'm off to this weekend?
it's amsterdam! i have no idea what to expect (although the weather forecast is a little chilly) but i'm so excited! michael and i arrive tonight so we'll have two full days in the city before leaving on monday. have you ever been? what do we have to see? i hope you all have a happy weekend and i'll see you back here next week!

desk du jour

rumbly in my tumbly

while i'm smelling but not yet tasting my host mom's cooking and my boyfriend is taunting me with his pasta dinner via skype, i thought i would distract myself from my hunger by alerting you to a beautiful foodie website called la tartine gourmande that my sister told me about. the food photography is gorgeous and they even have a vegetarian section for people like me! i could go for any of the following right about now.
pardon me while i wipe the drool from my mouth. is it dinnertime yet?!

what goes at the foot of the bed?

an email from my mom about decorating my bedroom for our senior year house (it sounds like she's already been picking up a few things — lucky me!) has me thinking about the layout of my room. she says she found some inexpensive suede storage cubes at target that might work for the end of my bed. an easy enough purchase at $17 apiece, i'm too detail-oriented to make the purchase sight unseen. here are some rooms that might prompt me to make the right choice:
i love the simplicity that this old wooden trunk brings to a room otherwise brimming with bold fabric choices in typical kathryn ireland fashion.
two small ottomans neutralize a turquoise bed skirt and orange throw pillow.
i love these x-shaped benches! how cute that one provides seating and the other features a tray for collecting what we can only assume are more of the homeowner's pretty things.
doesn't the scale of this bench seem a little at war with the grandeur of the canopy bed? still i had to include this bedroom for all the features that work: the subtle moulding, the sunburst mirror, the perfection of those throw pillows...
not that my collegiate bedroom will sport a fireplace, but isn't the idea of putting a loveseat at the foot of your bed a nice one? the mix of chairs keeps the sitting room from being stuffy, though i'd worry that the loveseat would merely become a new destination for my clothes.
{domino}
there's something so delightfully un-decorated about this space from blogworld's favorite (and sadly folded) shelter magazine. leave it to domino to make an askew throw blanket and a messy stack of mail on one of two yellow garden stools look like the epitome of effortless style.
a long bench that runs the width of the bed mirrors the color on the walls and offsets the prominence of the bed curtains and patterned fabrics.

what do you have at the end of your bed? do any of these inspiration rooms speak to you? i always love to hear your thoughts and i would love some advice from my stylish readers!

desk du jour

the refurbished childhood desk of university of minnesota student anna kohler. the desk is nice but i love the lamp and that blue and white silhouette. like her style? read the ten things she can't live without on la dolce vita.

suit up

since you ladies loved the idea of rent the runway, i thought i'd bring you another smart shopping find: hautelook has rachel pally swim on sale today and it's full of pretty spring (and summer) things! click the link above or the button on the right under "you're invited!" to join for free and then take your pick of mix-and-match tops and bottoms and pretty cover-ups for more than 60% off. here are some of my favorites:

belize maillot, retail $180 / hautelook $68

rio top, retail $90 / hautelook $36

malibu top, retail $90 / hautelook $32

short catherine dress, retail $234 / hautelook $84

long cameron dress, retail $229 / hautelook $94
for those equally interested in interior design, the candice olson lighting collection is also on sale today. i hope you'll decide to join the site — with new sale events every day, i know you'll find something you love!

desk du jour

i love her inspiration board and the nailhead trim on the coral-hued chair, and i'll never object to a big wide desk and a stack of design books.

papered corners

at a staggering 5'1", i think i have an innate attraction to all things fun-sized — so long as they still pack a punch. thus in addition to providing inspiration for those with less space than they might like, these tiny little spots strike me as downright, well, darling.
who knew an unexpected dash of wallpaper could do so much for a room? this mosaic pattern plays off the navy walls and turns a useless corner closet into a pretty place to [albeit inefficiently] stack books.
another architectural eyesore is transformed with colorful wallpaper and smart shelving. i find that there's nothing like a chic white mac computer to deem a closet corner both high-tech and high-style. (the ghost chair doesn't hurt either!)

desk[top] du jour

such a pretty little vignette of worn leather and filtered sunlight. wouldn't you be happy to sit down to work at this desk?

high shine

i'm loving the sparkle of each of these bathrooms. why not add a little glamour to an otherwise unglamorous room?

it's the weekend!

i'm so happy this week is over! i might not have been looking forward to it quite as much as these girls (who write a hilarious blog about getting through the work week) but i'm pretty happy nonetheless. my boyfriend is coming to tours to meet my host family and join the bucknell group on an excursion to a nearby château. the language barrier could get interesting as my host family doesn't speak english but it'll be an excuse to wow michael with my french! i can't wait to show him around the city and introduce him to all the people and places that have made my stay here so delightful.

thank you for all your lovely comments this week — you have no idea how happy i am to hear from you! whatever this weekend has in store for you, i hope you have a great one and i will see you back here on monday!

{photography by kate powers}

desk du jour

white walls, dark floors, cool art... this is one of my favorites!

rent the rainbow

there's a whole host of bright new hues at rent the runway. i've blogged about this site before but here's the gist for you newcomers: rent any dress for up to 90% savings off the retail price, receive it in two sizes for no extra cost (just in case the first isn't quite right), wear it out, receive compliments on your designer duds, and return the next day. it's a great philosophy especially for women who tend not to wear the same dresses repeatedly.

for instance, i loved my high school prom dress (a floral floor-length alice + olivia number) but haven't found a good time to wear it again. wouldn't i have done better to rent the same dress for a fraction of the price, return it, and then use my savings to order something stunning for my next occasion? here are my picks from rent the runway's current offering:
mark & james by badgley mischka scarlett o'hara dress, retail $350 / rental $50
rebecca taylor pin dot runway dress, retail $595 / rental $75
pencey neon marquee dress, retail $374 / rental $50
alice + olivia asymmetrical one shoulder dress with belt, retail $395 / rental $50
catherine malandrino cap sleeve ruched dress, retail $425 / retail $50

clearly i'm most drawn to the red-orange end of the ROYGBIV spectrum but rent the runway's members-only service allows you to search by size, color, occasion, and more — so you're bound to blow everyone away at your next event.

want in on these deals and more? click here to join rent the runway for free and check out "you're invited!" on the right side of my blog for links to more savvy shopping sites like gilt groupe, shopbop, and others!