the 100th post: recaps and a give away!

HAPPY ONE HUNDREDTH POST!
woo! can you tell I'm excited? thank you all for your wonderful friendship & support this past year. to commemorate reaching 100 posts I am doing my very first give away!
*jumps up and down with excitement*
I wanted to make it something really special and this what I came up with...

meet lauren, the busy bee. she is a blogger/designer/photographer/artist extraordinaire. and more recently, a killer headband designer. her lovely creations truly rock my world and I'm sure your going to be equally as nuts over them. I have two headed my way as we speak, and I have a third one that will be up for grabs.
just for you!
voila.... the Chloe
lauren names all of her headbands after important ladies in her life. isn't that auh-mazing? I think its super sweet and I can't wait to share this give away with one of you!
I chose the chloe because that adorable cheetah rosette is calling to my fashionista side. you know its calling you as well. check out her creations here.

all you have to do to enter this give away is have a peak at my 2009 outfit recap below and leave a comment letting me know what YOUR favorite outfit is!
easy as that. :)

Since I only got back a few weeks ago from the big trip, I haven't really had time to do "a year in review: the outfits of 2009". I'm thinking that this type ordeal is perfect for my 100th post. So, off we go on the yearly recap.

I started the year out with a las vegas trip with some friends, and these are my top two favorite outfits. two of my LBD's that I'm quite fond of. the above photo is taken at the "parasol room" at the wynn, where we stayed.
and yes, I would like a room like that in my house.

walking around the strip. you will see these boots fairly often in the recap. I didn't realize how many times I wore them this past year!

the spring time was spent visiting my parents often up in sonoma while Logan was away at his boot camp. this gorgeous field is right behind their house and my mom and I loved to walk the three dogs out there. love my pearls and tutu in this outfit.

the spring was also spent with friends attempting to cross out things on my "san francisco list".
the list of all of my favorite things to do in the bay area and all the things I've always wanted to do, but never done. on this day, my friend jen and I waited in line over an hour so that we could drive my convertible down Lomard street. you know, "the crooked street".
it was totally worth it.

in april I traveled to Italy for most of the month with some of the women in my family
(mama, aunt, and great aunt).
we visited with our family and friends that live there and had so much fun. we traveled mostly in the north, staying in Milano, Venezia, Verona, and Lago di Garda to name a few. it was summer weather and it was super hot so I wore mostly dresses. these were my favorites.

sad face for the last gelato of the trip. when I'm there I pretty much alternate between and espresso & gelato. my life blood.

outside alessandra's house in milano. getting ready for the futbol party!
Italians take their futbol very seriously.

sitting in Attila the Hun's chair on the island of torcello.

at the doge's palace wearing my little purple frock that I bought for next to nothing at a street fair that day.

sipping proseco in the sun.

at alessandra's chateau at the lake. um, hi? can I live here year round?
please?

back in the states in may and spending time in one of my favorite cities by the bay.

in june, my friend and I took a week trip to santa fe and it was gorgeous. oh man, I was dying over the adorable-ness of this quaint town. and also I have to admit I was excited to visit the town that had been featured in two of my all-time favorite musical numbers.
newsies/christian bale/santa fe
rent/jesse l. martin/santa fe

another santa fe outfit. I was attempting to channel my "inner-south-west" girl in preparation for the arizona move and wore... a cowgirl hat.
yup. I went there.

while in new mexico, we also made it to roswell. and yes, we did meet many strange people that we suspected were aliens. it was the funniest town! EVERYTHING was alien based, even their McDonald's was shaped like a UFO. so funny.
and yes, we did tour the alien museum. why not?

many july nights at the boardwalk in santa cruz, ca.

fourth of july parade. I went maxi crazy last summer.

in the middle of the month we headed home to chicago for a visit, a cubs game, and a few nights at the drake.

love walking the beach of lake michigan.
no shoes required.

escapades at navy pier.
oh hai taller-version of megan. your legs are looking mighty long today.

taken in august. last day in california. last walk behind the house with mama.

first night out in tucson. the day we moved in it was 115 degrees and I wondered to myself...
what have we done?

wore this to celebrate our one year wedding anniversary.
august 15, 2008
we wandered around and explored our new town since it was our first few days there.

I quickly discovered that tucson has the best thrift stores.

my favorite back to school outfit. after the move, I decided to head back to school. again. :)

see?
told you that normally I look like a walking rainbow.
but in a good way.

I was auh-mazed at how long it stayed ridiculously hot in the southwest. far into october.
still in short sleeves in late september. crazy.
also, this rock star vest was definetely thrifted for under 4 dollars. love that.

bohemian chic in october.

all that glitters is my shiny sequin dress.

during october we celebrated my mama's 50th birthday in vegas. I adored this look because of the fedora. which, was sadly crushed recently in the "california trip" suitcase.

um, helllllo faux fur vest. let me count the ways I love thee.
found this vest during the vegas trip. I'm not much of a gambler. more of a shopper
obviously.

once we got back from vegas it was halloween time! my favorite time of the year.
and I was feeling the roaring 20's. gatsby style.

and at this point we are reaching the end of the year and since these are pretty recent, I will let the pictures speak for themselves. :)
also, I am fer sure running out of witty/charming commentary. and getting kind of tired. ha.

well there you have it! my favorite outfits of 2009. man that was an insane post. going to need a few days to recover from this one. :)

I hope you enjoyed it and go ahead and click the comments section to enter yourself in my first give away. I know you are all loving on the busy bee headbands as much as I am.

and if you wandered over here from the lovely lauren's blog, or amazing amy's blog (hows that for alliteration?) and you like what you see, be sure to hit that follow button up top! :) thanks!

buon weekend!

xoxo

BCBG and other letters I'm fond of.

so last post when I said it would be short? this time I am totally following through on that promise. tomorrow is a huge post with a give away, and another valentine's give away to follow. so we are keeping it short and sweet.
just like me.
oh hai barely over five feet tall. thank you heels.

this is the new BCBG shirt that I j'adore. like whoa. its crazy soft like a night gown and I love, love, loves it. this sweater is equally as soft and can be found at forever 21. I definitely purchased two of them and wore them non-stop
gray & black.
on that note; I understand that I am rocking a copious amount of black on this trip but nothing speaks to my city-girl-side like a black ensemble, newly polished nails, a latte, and that rolling SF fog.
you know how much I adore color.
in the spring/summer I am like a walking rainbow.
raise your hand if you own tights in 50 different colors
*oh me!*
I promise the colors shall make a triumphant return at the end of this trip.

speaking of that glorious fog, I do believe that its trying to steal my thunder in this picture.

*um excuse me fog? I'm trying to show off the new BGBG (I really can't say it enough in this post, can I?)
so, could you take it back a few notches? thanks.
<3>

I need more ideas on how to wear this short hair do. somebody offer some suggestions. stat.

le sigh. this is where my best friend/maid of honor/ soul mate (sorry logan) lives and its simply stunning. I am getting that homesick bug right about....
now.
*counting down the days until 3/16*

I'm positive that in french this means "BCBG is super awesome. then end"
yeah, that seems right.
christen, thoughts?

this scrumptious ring was purchased at a fair in santa fe, nm over the summer and they metal work on it is just gorgeous.

had to do another close up of the bangles. I added a few over the trip. next week you will see the ones I picked up over in berkeley and they are super funky.

I wanted to amend this post, as I have just heard the horrible news of the death of a great fashion icon. Alexander McQueen was a true visionary and artist and its absolutely tragic when someone so talented is lost at so young an age. we can only imagine what wonderful work he would have had for years to come. this is truly a loss to both the fashion and artistic community. today is a sad day as we say goodbye to a creative and inspirational soul.

happy thursday and be sure to come back tomorrow!
*squeals for my first give away*

sequins and bowling shirts. oh my.

happy tuesday. today's post is heavy on the pictures and light on the words. a very rare occasion for an english major, I promise you. this week just gets busier and busier. :)

I brought my H&M sequin frock with me for the trip and dressed it up with all black for our family dinner at the in-laws.
It can be seen in this older post for a little more of a rockin, casual look.
but I digress.
since my hubby, Logan, had to work through christmas (federal agents don't have much of a say in their schedules!) he was only able to come home for a dew days after the holidays.
we decided to have a faux christmas so that he would be able to celebrate.
everyone got dolled up and we had a ginormous dinner.

below is a photo of our family first wive's club. ha.
if you have been paying attention, you will notice that my husband comes from a family that is heavy on the male side. four brothers, one sweet little sister, and one rockin cousin (shes like a sister to us)
the three oldest brothers are all within a few years of each other and we always have a blast. its literally like living with your best friends. no one makes me laugh the way my family/in-laws do.
for reals.

so here are the girls. Rene and Jules. Julia is that crazy cousin, and she is getting married in a few months (cant wait to walk down that aisle right before you darling).
Rene is dating one of my many brother in laws, Leigh. He is closest in age to my hubs and therefore the most like him. I love her because she is one of the only people in the world who truly understands what its like to live with one of these boys.
she also understands me best because both of them have chosen to serve their country.
*our boys are brave*
they both put their lives on the line and I am so proud of them. it takes a certain type of lady to be able to get through that and to be separated for long stints of time.
Logan and I were apart for almost 8 months last year!
and miss Rene won't have her man back in her arms until the end of this year.
sigh. we are tough chicks.

*another member of the first wives club*

now, I offer an explanation for the below photos.
remember my wacky in-laws? with the upside down tree? the ones who call themselves the wolf pack?
(were not crazy, our last name is wolf. duh.)
well for our family christmas present this year, they decided to buy all of us matching bowling shirts with our names on them! crazy!

and sometimes the combination of bowling shirts plus wine equals embarrassing photos of you lovin on rob patz.

dear pre-teen sister in law,
thanks for bringing out your teen bop magazine to share with your older sisters at 2 am, when you knew that you shouldn't be showing us pictures from twilight. and thanks for insisting we take pictures of it. I will get you back for this. you and your justin beiber clad room.
love,
megan

after dinner/copious amounts of wine/present opening, we decided to have a bon fire outside and catch up with each other. all together in the fam we have...

Julia, Tom, Logan, Megan, Leigh, Rene, Landon, Tiana, Layton, and Denae.

and those are just the kids. brady bunch much?

wow.
remember at the beginning of this post when I said I wasn't going to write much today?
yeah. I totally lied.
sorry!

hope you enjoyed the extra long post and again stay tuned for later this week! and welcome new followers! I appreciate each and every comment and lovely person who takes time to check out my ramblings!

to those who are being caught in the snow out east, be careful, and stay warm!
and make some snow angels for me already. jeez.

xoxo

sushi. sake. san francisco.

happy monday ladies! and welcome to any lovelies that have made their way over here from the fabulous Amy's blog *waves* hi!
today is unfortunately going to be a quick post, as I am running off to the school for some meetings. blah. it was a pretty uneventful weekend and I am sad to say that my trip back to san francisco was canceled. extreme sad face. I was headed up there to help out my mama and watch the house while she and my dad jetted off to barcelona for ten days. but, my mom ended up getting pneumonia (of all things? really?) a few days ago and is no longer going.
but I can now concentrate on planning my east coast trip and keep that in my sights!
on to the post.
I've lost track of what day of the california trip this was... but enjoy anyways. :)

rocked my little tie dye number to meet up with one of our favorite couple friends to grab some sushi. Logan was able to come home for a few days after the holidays and it was a complete whirlwind attempting to see everyone.

I was feeling the gray/black/tan combo here. yes?

fun fact, is that this is actually my mom's shirt and I totally stole it from her massive closet.
sorry!
have you even noticed it missing yet? no!

love this sushi place. Ra. gotta try it if you are over in the east bay.

the husband finally makes an appearance.
aside from the leggings+funky shirts+boots kick that I was on this trip, I was also finding some deep love for layering chunky necklaces.

my sweet friend, rachel. she is a total doll. she is a grad student at pepperdine, down in malibu.
seriously, you can see the beach from her window.
jealous? you bet.
anyways, she is studying to be a family therapist. she actually gets to have patients as part of her grad school program. so she is already helping out families.
I have such a deep admiration for the amount of friends that are out in the world making a difference. all of my girls have turned out to be teachers, or doctors, or vets, or therapists, and some are even joining the peace corps. shout out to cassidy, who leaves on a two year adventure next month. cheers to you girl. :)

anyways, hope that you all had a wonderful weekend. did you all watch the big game? do anything out of the ordinary? or super fun? well, share it! and coming up later this week?

my 100th post and give away.

yeah, you want to check back. :)

xoxo