#19 Talbots Contest - Please vote for me!

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. I've been meaning to post an outfit post soon, but unfortunately I've been sick for the last week and half with bronchitis, which as you can imagine, has been no fun at all. On the other hand, I did enter a Talbots contest.


The winner receives a $1500 Talbots gift card and a free trip to NYC for a fashion makeover. I love Talbots, especially for work, and it would be awesome if I could win. Second and third places also get gift cards! I'd greatly appreciate it if you could click here and vote for me! It only takes a minute. If you really want to be awesome, you could also post this link: http://bit.ly/oMImNQ to your Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, blog, MySpace, Friendster, etc. (haha) and get others to vote, too!

I highly recommend you fashionable ladies of the blogosphere should enter as well if you love Talbots, too! Thank you all!

#18 Unusually Bright

Unusually Bright by zezaftig featuring antique bracelets

Tonight is about demonstrating self-control: I've been really working hard to save money. I have some upcoming traveling I want to do and I'm also really trying to minimize the number of material possessions I own. It's something I've always wanted to do-- I really admire people with few belongings. I see how it can really keep your life from getting overly complicated and keep you focused on the things that are important. I also notice how people (myself included) use shopping as an emotional outlet, which I think can be financially dangerous. I haven't really bought new clothing for months, which has taken quite a bit of restraint. I'm proud of myself, but it's really getting tough to keep this going...

Which gets me to my next point: for the past few days I can't seem to stop fantasizing about shopping! Tonight, I daydreamed up this little fantasy on Polyvore. It's one of those, "If I had a million dollars..." scenarios. I have always been into bright colors and quirky statement pieces, and I think this photo sums up that aspect of my style quite well.

If you want to find out where to purchase all of these quirky, bright, beautiful pieces, just click the photo. My favorite pieces are the glittery Miu Miu salmon heels, the neon green satchel by Cambridge, the cobalt blue body con lace dress from ASOS, the mustard pencil skirt by J Crew, the white seashell heels by Alexander McQueen, and the peacock tights from Mod Cloth. A girl can dream, can't she? This was a pretty fun project and it cost me zero dollars. Not bad.

On another note, my literary wish list includes the following:

A graphic novel's interpretation of The Canterbury Tales by Chaucer. AMAZING.

A collection of essays by the amazing David Foster Wallace.

A new book about self-control and will power. I just read about it in the New York Times this weekend. Goes well with my theme of self-restraint this evening...

The incredibly brilliant Howard Zinn writes about race in America, something that has always fascinated me.

And now, the end to my materialistic rant! While I may never own Alexander McQueen heels, I definitely plan to own these books sometime soon. Surely, they will also make you "unusually bright!" As much as I love fashion, books will always be some of my favorite possessions. I learned to read at a very, very young age and I used to stay up all hours of the night reading as a little girl. My parents even had a small library in the home we used to live in before we moved and I used to stare at all the books on the shelves and promise myself I would read every book that was ever written! It's always been my dream to have my own library in the beautiful home I will own someday. Just day dreaming on a Monday night...