When was the last time a CD moved you?

Today I finally broke down and bought the "Hope for Haiti Now" CD on iTunes--originally, I wasn't going to buy it. Straight up, I am on of those people not comfortable with emotions. The first single I heard was "Hallelujah" and  man does it make those emotions come out. Hell I'm listening to it now,and still getting goose bumps and choked up. The next track I listened to was Alicia Keys's "Send Me an Angel". I almost felt guilty for listening to it because it was as if I was eavesdropping on the prayers of those in Haiti--but I thin that is the point, you know? To really get the listener to walk that mile in the people of Haiti's shoes. The song that made me decide to purchase the CD was "Stranded (Haiti Mon Amour)". It truly is an up-lifting song and gives me hope that there is hope for those in Haiti. I think the CD was like $7.99 (the cost of a mixed drink at a mid-tier establishment, or two lattes at Starbucks) and there are 20 songs on it. I mean, it does take you on an emotional roller coaster, but that is the point of the CD. Although I was hesitant to buy it, I am going on record and recommending it to all of you all. It is money well spent no matter how you look at it.

Sources: I got all video links from youtube.com... whatever the people I got it from cited,or disclaim, I do to... (I hope that's legal enough for bloggin purposes... guess it's going to have to be huh? haha.)/ itunes.apple.com

Wait, what? Green really IS the new black? Who would have thought?

I can't lie, I was a bit upset when I watched the latest episode of Project Runway. I feel like the producers and I were totally on the same page with this challenge. If you remember, I blogged about an event I am working on very similar to this a while back... This posses an interesting challenge--if our event continues to be planned, and I say if because it is an if now due to the bureaucracy of organizations-- then I feel that we are definitely going to have to make sure to give the designers more than burlap.

Now that I am done licking my wounds... time to talk about my favorites of the episode.

Amy Sarabi totally impressed me. I LOVE the technique she used to die her fabric and I love the depth she created by layering the skit. I believe the neckline is flawless and the back is everything the word sexy embodies.

 

Ben Chmura wowed me as well. I LOVE his interpretation of a cocktail dress. To me it's post-WWII with a twist of today.

I think I liked Anthony Williams the second best of the night. This dress is amazing and I am pretty sure it would sell itself if it were on the wracks. I love the draping of the skirt and I really do feel that everything about this dress is on point.

NOW that I have blogged...I guess I should finish the episode. I kinda fell asleep while watching it last night. :-/ Oh  well, than God for ninjavideo! I do not know what I would do without it.

Sources: mylifetime.com

p.s. The title of this post really is just me blowing off some steam because the fashion show I have been working on may not be happening anymore. I'm talking with the programing adviser tomorrow, but I don't know what to expect. He's already had us change the charity as well as the venue and contributing partners. I know life happens, but this event isn't even feeling like the event my team and I have been working on. Sleep fixes everything so I may just turn it in early tonight...

How did I get this lucky?!

Saturday Night was CRAZY. Lisa and I were hands down one of the best Ken and Barbie pairs at our friends birthday party, but I think I have finally learned my lesson. Sunglasses--properly croakied or not-- and alcohol DO NOT mix. While helping a friend to the car, I guess my Maui's slipped off my corakies, and fell in the parking lot. I honestly don't even know how I realized they were missing but I did. Lisa and I got our inebriated friend home, and I headed back to complex where the party was at to retrace my steps. I'm 99.999987% sure my beloved shades got ran over, but after I took hem in to Solstice the next day, one would never know. I guess the hinge or something was popped and the screw needed to be tightened. I am going on record and officially endorsing Maui Jim Sunglasses! They are absolutely amazing and I swear for them to go through the hell I put them through, they are solid shades.But seriously, I am going to do better. I think God is getting tired of my frantic prayers to find lost designer items. :-/

Sources: mauijim.com

What do you think of Gameday Ken & Barbie?

My Barbie and I decided to take our looks to the next level by paying homage to the second largest religion in the South- SEC Football.GO GATORS!

What "Ken" am I?

Aight, so here's the deal... My friend is turning 21 tonight, and decided to have a Barbie & Ken themed party... Originally I was going as "Country Club Ken" because I have definitely have everything I need for that outfit. After finding out that most people are going in pairs, I decided to see what some of the girls were going as. Turns out, one of the girls is going as "Sorority Barbie". That's close enough to my original plan. In order to go from "Country Club Ken" to "Fraternity Ken" I changed the shoes for flip-flops, added a cap, and lastly, added my Florida Croakies and Maui Jim's.  What do you think?

Sources: Click the name of the look, and a link will direct you to the polyvore site where the polyvore itself is deconstructed with links to the websites I got the content from.

Why don't I go to the movies more?

Today my good friend Lacie Ann introduced me to one of my new favorite movies- "The Blind Side". I know I won't do the movie justice if I try to tel you about it, so I'll just direct you to the trailer.  There are some points in the movie where humor may be lost if you are not a true Southerner, but regardless of where you are from, you will still enjoy this movie.

Hit me up with what you think If you have already seen it!

Who was best dressed in your eyes?

Penelope Cruz and Toni Collette tie for best dressed in my eyes. I love the the three different parts to Penelope's dress, and I'm not going to lie, the umbrella (though I know not an intended accessory adds a bit of a classic twist to the dress-think 18th/19th century parasol). I cannot say enough good things about Toni Collete's dress. I LOVE the beading, neckline and silhouette. I missed her red-carpet arrival but definitely took note when she won for "United States of Tara". (Great show by the way!)

Now you all may be wondering who wins the award for worse dressed of the night... There were just so many, but if you were watching the same show as I was, I think you will agree with me when I announce Mariah Carey (and her "golden globes") as my choice for for worse dressed.To be honest, she may not have been THE worse dressed person there, but the cleavage and hair, and drunken demeanor was just a huge turn off.

Who do you think was best dressed? Who were your favorites and least favorites of the night?

Sources: eonline.com

Is it too early to start shopping for Spring Break?

Ok,

I know I need to undo the damage I did this holiday season, but check out my  first planned purchase for Spring Break. I know Spring Break is not until March 6, but it's not like I'll be  shopping any between now and then, plus I already know I have a spot at GUESS? when I return, so I figure it's okay to salivate over this watch until I may purchase it with my discount.

You see,  I will be spending the last few days of my Spring Break in Louisville, Kentucky possibly presenting at SROW- an annual orientation workshop where orientation leaders from across the South come together to swap techniques and stories. For two days, you dress like a freshman-meaning, you are decked out from head to toe in nothing but your school's paraphernalia-and prove to other schools that you have more school spirit than them. 

This is my staff at last year's SROW which took place at Ole Miss in Oxford, Mississippi. Do you understand why I already have my eye on that watch? I also know that I'll need to buy a Gator scarf and Gator toboggan because it may still be cold in Louisville while we are visiting.

Man I'm excited for Spring Break!

Who even knew Project Runway was back on?

 

Nicole Richie-the guest judge for the season opener, and a woman who can do no wrong when it comes to fashion in my eyes- liked these two designers just as much as I did. Needless to say, I feel these two are going to go far.

To say Ping Wu has a unique design aesthetic is an understatement. She is a physical therapist by day, designer by night. She says that she uses her knowledge of how the body move as a basis for all her designs. If her first look speaks to who she is as a designer, I am VERY excited to see what else she creates!

 

Emilio Sosa also seems to be a promising designer! I LOVED the dress he created for this challenge. Though I feel as if I have seen this look done before, I like his take on it, and am a huge fan of the complex construction technique he chose to use.

Sources: mylifetime.com

Is "green" the new black?

As I mentioned in a much earlier post, I am currently working on a charity fashion show event. Originally, I was working with an organization to bring awareness about malaria to my campus. Where as I totally support educating people about malaria and raising funds to prevent the spread of malaria, it was always my vision to work with a more local/tangible cause... Looks like my vision is becoming a reality...

One of my good friends works with the Senior Associate Dean for External Affairs for the University of Florida College of Medicine to manage their Mobile Outreach Clinic. The Mobile Outreach Clinic is basically this bus the College of Medicine tricked out to serve as a mobile clinic here in the greater Gainesville/Alachua County Area. I honestly cannot even say how excited I am to help raise money for this cause.

Now that green, and giving green , is the new black, I figured it would be the perfect opportunity to capitalize on this trend for The Mobile Outreach Clinic. The current plan goes as follows:

• Arrange a "Project Runway" like competition amongst local designers here in Gainesville
• Have designers  complete 2-3 looks (hey we are college students first and school IS our first priority) from sustainable materials such as burlap, linen, and cheesecloth
• Showcase these looks in the tradition of the old Parisian Houses--rather than have one runway with stacked seating, have the models walk a path through the house, thus allowing everyone "front row seating"
• Utilize President's House at the University of Florida to host the gala/ fashion show (It is a BEAUTIFUL and will serve as the perfect venue for this event.)
• At the end of the night, have the attendees of the event place their donations to the Mobile Outreach Clinic in baskets designated for their favorite designer
• Declare the designer that has the greatest amount of donations (in terms of total dollar amount) in their basket the winner
  
• Hit up every store we can think of  for contributions to the "accessory closet"
• Auctioned off in a silent auction all donated items with proceeds going to the Mobile Outreach Clinic.

Now some of you all may be thinking to yourself, "WTF? Who wants to wear burlap and such earthy materials?!" WELL, I have news for you all. GREEN really is (and arguably has been) the new black. With socially conscious clothing companies such as So-Me, TOMS, EDUN, and American Apparel improving the socially conscious model, it makes perfect sense that the fashion industry would provide their twist to ensure their clientele remain amongst the vanguard of the society.  

Check out this collection of green accessories from some of the great fashion houses.

And here is a  look from  Mui Mui Spring 2009 RTW (which was very eco-chic)  as well as a bag from Burberry and a bag from  Fendi.

I only have three months to make my vision a reality but I am determined to succeed. I have faith that come April, I will be in the President's House thinking to myself --and most likely saying to anyone who will listen,  "Damn this truly is amazing".  I have been blessed with an amazing support system here at UF, and I am confident that so long as we pull our resources, this event will take place, and we will be successful in raising mad funds for the Mobile Outreach Clinic. 

So, am I right? Is "green", whether one is sporting it, or giving it, the new black?

Sources:

http://www.helium.com/items/1646204-top-socially-conscious-clothing-companies-socially-conscious-clothing

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/16/fashion/16POINTS.html?_r=1&ref=fashion

http://nymag.com/daily/fashion/2009/04/have_you_bought_your_1400_burl.html

Why am I obsessed with Moleskine?

GREAT NEWS!

I have my first official must-have item that I am recommending to y'all! After only  making use of this nifty little notebook for the last three days, I have decided to go on record and declare my belief that EVERY PERSON should have a Moleskine notebook in their life.

I purchased the Plain Notebook- Pocket in the three pack at my school's book store, and its position in my life is already up there in the ranks with my BlackBerry! I see why Hemingway, Picasso, and Van Gogh are amongst the many greats who utilize notebooks like these. They provide THE perfect place to jot down everything from your everyday to-do list to your avant-garde haute couture sketches . Not only are these little gems extremely practical (there is seriously a Moleskine for ANYTHING you can think of) , they are mad stylish.

Oh, I almost forgot, Moleskine is a socially responsible company! It feels great to support a brand with a conscious!

***Update-- 12 Jan 2010... I have already gifted two of these must have items to friends... I need to stock up so that I can pull and Oprah and pass these out to all my friends.

Sources: moleskine.com/  and for the photo, did one of those Google Image searches and picked the one I liked most...( I'm going to need to get better about citing these :-/)

When will I ever learn?

Today is a sad day...

Last night I went out to celebrate my friend's 21st... Well, the whole group got COMPLETELY trashed-as is etiquette on a friend's 21st- and I am still suffering the consequences.Hangover aside, the worst part of the day is that I set my new shades down and forgot about them for a good 2 hours. Needless to say, they now belong to someone else...

Let's take a moment to mourn...

Moments over... Seriously, this is the second pair of GUESS? shades I've lost to hangover-induced carelessness... The way I see it, I have two options: 1) Don't wear shades when I'm hungover or 2) Don't allow hangovers to happen...

One never really plans on being hungover,so I am crossing out number 2, and my eyes are sensitive to the Florida sun sober, so 1 isn't happening either...

I guess I'm going to have have to invest in some decent cheap ($5-$10) shades that I can afford to loose. What do you think?

It's not like I'm a drunkard or anything... I am a senior in college! haha. 

Well, my 5:10er is about to start  so I have to run. (Side note, I am still hungover and I woke up at 8am...blehk)

Till next post,

Ebb

Sources: Totally found this Phixr website that allows you to play around with pictures on-line... (I'm not that tech savy and could not figure out how to do this using the office suite.)

What am I doing up?!

Man, I'm still on my holiday sleep cycle...NOT GOOD... got bored and decided to work a look around some camo I cam across in my closet... (note to self--next time I can't sleep, I should get my closet up off my floor and put it back where it belongs... )

I go back and forth on how I feel about camo, but most of the time, I end up liking it... It's just a fun pattern to work with...  I named this set "The Fatigued Travelers" ... 

The clothes are mad comfortable...The shades are perfect for napping on the plane...The flip flops are check points friendly...The duffel bags are carry-on approved... And the cologne is always good to have in case the cabin is hot and you need to freshen up...

Signing off only because I need to be to campus in 4 hrs...AHHH!

Ebb

Sources: Click the name of the look, and a link will direct you to the polyvore site where the polyvore itself is deconstructed with links to the websites I got the content from.

What will I do with out my GUESS? discount?!

I bought my last item today as a GUESS? sells associate. Definitely spent a little more than planned, but I figure I will be able to wear this watch even when I get out of the Peace Corps. (Side note...That is my new way of shopping, at least for the time being--I ask myself , "Will I be able to wear this item in 2012/2013?" )

Ain't she a beaut?

'Till next post,

Ebb

Sources: shop.guess.com

Is school really starting on Tuesday?!

chool is going to be starting on Tuesday! FML man. I have a million and a half things I should have done this holiday to prep for the Spring term. Oh well, nothing I can do about it now. haha. I actually spent an extra day at home because I was having a great time just chilling with  Mom and Dad.(Side note, Dad started running again and totally kicked my ass on a run the other morning...Looks like the gym and stadium are going to be my new best  friend this term.)

This is my last term in Gainesville! I know that the first week is going to be nothing more than "social gatherings" and falling back into the grove of things... Needless to say, I am VERY excited about this. :-D

In my excitement and preparation for my return to Gainesville, I  decided to throw together a polyvore of the look/s I will be rocking for the first part of this term. I named this set "The Three Amigos".

Although the formula for these three looks remains the same, the corresponding accessories give each outfit a personality its own. Here goes the description I posted on Polyvore.

The first one likes his beer,

The second likes his shots,

One and Two throw up all year,

While Three drinks Scotch on rocks.

Does that help you see what I mean about how accessories change the feel of a look?

Well, I need to go pack :-/ but blog again soon...

This week starts my more formatted blog! Wish me luck!

Ebb

Sources: Click the name of the look, and a link will direct you to the polyvore site where the polyvore itself is deconstructed with links to the websites I got the content from.

Do you ever need a little "Twang"?

I think I've been listening to too much country music. I heard George Strait's "Twang" the other night and it made me homesick for Texas. (Don't get it twisted, Texas isn't as back woods as people make it seem. I actually spend most of my time in Texas in cities, BUT my fondest memories of Texas are those of Sunday afternoons fishing in the Gulf with my Dad and my uncle, of Summers with cousins on the gazebo, and of weekends spent getting into trouble on my uncle's ranch.)I know it is YEARS down the road, but I want my kids to have the best of both worlds--all the culture city has to offer, with the morals of the south I grew up with. Whatever the case, the song inspired me to create a look I like to call "The Ranch Hand".

(Now that I am looking at it, I can actually pull this look together from my mom's dad's closet. He's from Arkansas and dresses along these lines...Man I need a themed party to go to because I really want to wear look out somewhere. haha)

Happy Bloggin',

Ebb

Sources: Click the name of the look, and a link will direct you to the polyvore site where the polyvore itself is deconstructed with links to the websites I got the content from.

Did I Start 2010 off right?

This New Years is a bittersweet New Years for me. Bitter because this was my last day at GUESS? for the season; sweet because I bought the sickest pair of Cole Haan tennis shoes. I know I was/am suppose to be saving money, BUT I figure, these are a great addition to my wardrobe. Not to mention, I took back the Ralph Lauren Sweatshirt I bought earlier this week. I really want to step up my look this term and I feel like sweat shirts, regardless of brand, are not really going to have a place in it. What do you think of my first purchase of 2010? Pretty sweet eh?

Source: colehaan.com