Holly Golightly: Well, when I get it the only thing that does any good is to jump in a cab and go to Tiffany’s. Calms me down right away. The quietness and the proud look of it; nothing very bad could happen to you there. If I could find a real-life place that’d make me feel like Tiffany’s, then – then I’d buy some furniture and give the cat a name!

I admit that I didn’t watch Breakfast at Tiffany’s until I was an adult.   I didn’t feel underwhelmed after watching it, but I definitely wouldn’t call it my favorite movie.   These days, if I watch it again then it’s because it’s on TCM on a weekend and it’s a good movie to curl up on the couch and watch.

A few days ago, I’d just left a doctor’s appointment and I went to grab lunch while waiting for my ride.   I sat on a bench outdoors to eat and when I looked up, I noticed I was having lunch–or breakfast, since it was my first meal of the day–at Tiffany’s!

I ate in silence and looked at the storefront and the beautiful items inside.  Instantly, it made me think that Holly Golightly might have been on to something after all.

I haven’t written an “I Like Her Style” post in awhile.  Lately, I haven’t been felt like there is anyone in the public eye whose style has been too inspiring lately. However, this “I Like Her Style” has been long overdue since I’ve been an admirer of musician Janelle Monae and her style for quite some time.  The pompadour, her “uniform” and unique musical sound are a bit different from what you might see or hear daily, but you can still pinpoint some of her inspirations.  Her style is  simple and usually remains the same: black tuxedo pants, a dinner jacket and her Charlie Brown shoes..And although I don’t personally subscribe, I love her take on uniforms:

“I have always taken to uniforms,” she explains. “I loved watching the guys and the girls in their post office uniforms. And I was obsessed with Colonel Sanders.”

For me, her style and music are always inspiring to me. From my failed pomp’ that I tried on my own hair (and it was bad) to listening to her music for stimulation while writing or even cleaning around the house, Janelle Monae never really fails to inspire me.

1. Learn my mother’s recipe for pound cake and perfect it.

Image Source: kimberlykv

2. Be able to successfully defend myself physically if a situation arises.

3. Dress up and go to the opera.

4. Read the entire works of Shakespeare.

Image Source: We Heart It

5. Learn how to box.

6.Take a dance class and go to the highest level that I possibly can.

7. Move to another country and live there for at least a year.

8. Throw a fabulous cocktail party.

9. Run a marathon.

10. Learn how to box.

Image Source: bfurnace

11. Become absolutely dedicated to a cause I care about.

12. Go to graduate school.

13. Volunteer at a soup kitchen on Thanksgiving.

14. Learn how to belly dance and become damn good at it (not the same as #9).

15. Learn how to appropriately apply false eyelashes.

Image Source: tinywhitelights

16. Perfect my skincare regimen.

17. Ride my bike along the Chicago lakefront.

Image Source: Amy Guth

18. Designate one room as my library when I purchase my first home.

19. Write a book.

Image Source: We Heart It

20. Dress up in my most fab dress, best jewelry and throw on my favorite shoes and go to brunch, browse/shop and or peruse a museum–alone.

Source: We Heart It

21. Pay off all of my debt. Every.single.cent.

22. Re-read the Elements of Style.

23. Become happy and comfortable in my skin.

24. Start a gym regimen and keep up with it.

Image Source: sina

25. Build and keep a constant nest egg for myself so that I can always take care of myself no matter what the circumstances are.

26. Continue my thirst for knowledge and curiosity and learn as much as a can while I am on this Earth.

Do you have a list or any tasks that you want to complete by a certain time?

I know I’m late for this one, but I recently met up for a fun evening out with a couple of friends and we decided to check out the movie 500 Days of Summer starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel. Overall, I thought the movie was cute and a fun, romantic comedy to take your mind off things.

What really caught my eye was Summer’s (Zooey Deschanel) wardrobe. I loved the fact that her wardrobe looked very attainable and fitting for the character. Very carefree, yet still polished and put together with a vintage feel.

When looking for a store that would allow you to perfectly emulate Summer’s look in the movie (if you so choose), I immediately thought of ModCloth.com. For most of the movie, I kept wondering if some of her clothing was from ModCloth or at least I felt I could recreate some of the looks from there. Here a few pieces that inspired me from Summer’s wardrobe:

Source: TFS

Another semi-lazy Sunday, but I’m doing a bit of work here and there.  Today is filled with cooking, cleaning and True Blood anticipation.  Here are some thoughts and musings on this beautiful (but hot) day:

What I’m Reading: Monochome Magazine.  Very cool style, fashion and design magazine online with interviews from Christian Lacroix, Rad Hourani, Genevieve Jones, amongst others.

What I’m Listening To:  Esperanza Spalding’s Esperanza seems fitting for today.   Inspiring and chill music for a chill day.  Check out this vid below from Jimmy Kimmel:

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LC21nP8yFX0]

Photo Inspiration:

I hope you are having a good Sunday, too!

Source: TFS

I’ve traveled through many states in the South in my youth, so when  it comes to vacation, there aren’t any places that I can think of that I would choose to visit.

However, there is one sure state that I would love to visit and perhaps live someday: Louisiana.

Watching the HBO series,  True Blood has only intensified my romanticism of the Louisiana culture and increased my desire to visit the state.  Yes, even if it is a show about brutal, blood sucking vampires.

But, the movie that started the fascination with Louisiana culture and cultivated a wish to retire to a swamp is Eve’s Bayou.   It’s a cult film that stars Samuel L Jackson, Lynn Whitfield, and a young  Jurnee Smollett.   Here is the synopsis of the movie as given by IMDB:

The story is set in 1962 Louisiana. The big Batiste family is headed by charming doctor Louis. Though he is married to beautiful Roz, he has a weakness for attractive women patients. One day Louis is flirting with married and sexy Metty Mereaux, not knowing that he is observed by his youngest idealistic daughter Eve, who is there by accident. Eve can not forget the incident which is traumatic for her naivete and shares a secret with older sister Cisely. Lies start to roll.

The movie is moving, thought-provoking and stirring.  I highly suggest running out and renting it at Blockbuster or Netflix it if you haven’t seen it already.

However, the fashion and style of the movie is also what always captivated me.  The costume designer is  Karyn Wagner, who has also served as costume designer for “The Notebook” and episodes of “Friday Night lights”.  For Eve’s Bayou, I’d say she did a great job of capturing the style of an affluent family in rural Louisiana in the early 60′s.

Now, whenever I watch Eve’s Bayou,  I’m always inspired to put on my Sunday best instead of throwing on a typical pair of jeans, T-shirt and flip flops.  Instead, I feel like I want to put on a pair of pearls, a nice floppy hat and a pair of white gloves.  Okay, maybe not the white gloves.

Photos from Amazon, IMDB

And you can also see the trailer:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LcrFBhY3vI]

These adverts and images are at least a couple of years old or more, but I can still find inspiration from some of them and I remember why I saved them.  I will say this, I must have been in a romantic reverie, because these images come off as incredibly romantic and idyllic in my mind.  Soon, I hope to update this and show what imagery currently inspires me.

In the past four and a half years, I’ve sought out many inspiring images or celebs that portray natural hair.  I have also found blogs like Mane and Chic, Honey Brown Sugar and Afrobella.  I’ve also perused communities like NaturallyCurly.com.  These sites have helped me immensely in feeling uplifted when I decide to wear my hair natural with their tips and stories.

Also, here are some fabulous natural celebs (models and singers) that I’ve found.  This by no means covers all of the fabulous and natural public figures.

Tracee Ellis Ross

Janelle Monae

Erykah Badu

Wakeema Hollis

Bre

Jordan Richardson

Amel Larrieux

Jill Scott

Yes.  My old school Dr. Martens.  I’d had them since I was about 13 or so.  I’d actually had a pair when I was in 2nd grade that were the lace-up high top style boots.    I quickly tired of those and by third grade, they were out.  However, the other Dr. Martens were the 5 Eye Cap Lace to Toe style shoes.  Yellow trip and the thick sole I always felt looked like gristle.   Those shoes got me through Jr. High School, but I only wore them sometimes on weekends.  However, high school is where it counted as these Docs (as I called em) went perfectly with my wool skirt and white monogrammed shirt and tall knee socks.   In college, the shoes were always a fall back and a comfy alternative for walking around on campus.

Over the past couple of weeks as I looked at the scuff marks and the wear and tear, I noticed that first, the shoes held up pretty damn good for all of the trauma I probably put them through.   Then I reminisced about chance meetings with new friends, reconnecting with old friends,  going to the pizza place after school and the joyrides around town.   After sitting there and looking at my Dr. Martens for 15 minutes, I realized that I couldn’t throw them away.   I put them back in the corner of my old closet and threw every other meaningless Express T shirt and NY and Company pair of jeans away.  I can only hope that I find more items Dr. Martens that actually mean something to me.

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