A little bit of everything

I'm not even sure how to sum up my life lately. It's been busy, crazy, fun, all that stuff. It's been kind of an insane whirlwind that I can barely remember, but I feel like I've been enjoying it. Ha.
By the way, with all the Rachel Zoe marathons on TV lately, my fashion radar is that much more in effect, so it's been fun living this whirlwind, meeting my inner stylist somewhere in the middle, and seeing what comes out.

Here's my latest collection of evidence.

Studying my script for my latest film, "The Hit."

 A quick, healthy dinner mid-week: Open-faced egg salad sandwich. Hard boiled egg chopped up with a little mayo, topped with avocado slices, a slice of cheddar cheese, and turkey bacon on once slice of whole wheat bread. Cucumber "chips" and grape tomatoes on the side.

Heaven = almost burried under a pile of clothing to try on, in the dressing room of Buffalo Exchange.

A retro-inspired dress and modern smokey make-up to attend the premiere of my film, "Everything's Ok."

On the way to Dallas for some time with Steve's family.

This is where you can usually find me.

 Coffee and auditions and shoots, oh my!

Obsessed with this new vest from Buffalo Exchange, which I got for $15 and makes me feel like a fluffy little owl.

My sister moves to town this week, so things are probably about to get that much more cool around here. But this past weekend was one of the best I've had in a long time.

Dallas and stuff

This last week or so has been packed pretty full, but it's been fun. Steve and I celebrated our two year anniversary of meeting/Cinco de Mayo/his sister's birthday in Dallas this past weekend. I also kept busy with a 12 hour film shoot immediately prior to our drive up there on Friday. There are way too many pics of food but I'd been eating super good for a couple weeks to prepare for my shoot (in which I wore very little, heh), so splurging a little was nice. But I'm still mostly trying to stay on the healthy-eating wagon. We also spent some quality time with Steve's niece and nephew and played tourist in Dallas with my friend Kady before heading back to Austin. Here is the random collection of photos I managed to get recently:

2 years ago, I met this cute guy.

Yummy Tex-Mex/Salvadorian cuisine at Gloria's. I'd always wanted to try plantains.

I love having my hair and make up done on set (with independent films, it's not always provided). I was definitely digging the look they gave me.

Dallas sight seeing...somberly. Outside the building where Oswald shot JFK.

 Iced cappuccinos and baked goods at a cute museum cafe. We needed something cheery after seeing the JFK assassination site and some fuel before hitting the road back to Austin. We were pretty beat after the busy weekend.

Paparazzi shot, courtesy of Steve. With my future niece (ok, that still freaks me out a bit!) at her twin brother's baseball game.

I seemed to be a bit popular with the little girls there.

My homemade smoothie obsession is continuing. Yesterday morning I had a strawberry + ice + almond milk + greek yogurt (honey-sweetened) smoothie and some peanut butter toast. So healthy, yet delicious!

 We had an amazing breakfast prepared for us by Steve's brother-in-law our first morning in town.

Did I mention this was my anniversary gift from Steve? Lovely! But I'm not sure I need any for a while after Cinco de Mayo festivities at Gloria's. I definitely paid for it the next day. Luckily, Steve also bought me a pair of earrings and a cute little onesie, which I may have to post photos of soon to do it justice.

Rainy ready

It was a stormy night in Austin and the rain lingers on today. I actually love cloudy or rainy mornings, because they are so cozy. I brewed coffee and made a strawberry smoothie and peanut butter toast for breakfast, curled up on the couch, and watched the Rachel Zoe marathon that my DVR caught.  Can't get much better than that. However, now it's actually time to go out and get my errands done, rainy or not.

What do you guys wear on wet days, when you want to look presentable? I'm very curious, because it can be hard to manage sometimes, and I seem to always end up wearing the same thing.
My outfit will usually consist of my dark grey skinny jeans with knee high leather boots (with a short heel) to keep the water out, no matter how many parking lot puddles I might stomp through, and a top that goes-with. Probably high necked (water running down your chest isn't exactly ideal) and long or three-quarter sleeve just to stay as dry as possible, even if the weather is still somewhat warm. Hair goes completely up -  in a bun on top of my head - or else I just slip on a over-sized beanie cap and keep my hair in a low braid. I tell myself that I look like someone cool out of the Matrix and venture out. Sigh. ;)

Tell me your ideas for rain-proof fashion!

Sunday rocker

I love the leisurely feel of Sundays. But that doesn't mean I like to forget fashion. The fun lies in combining the two. Even when you're feeling a bit edgy. And with a smudge of black mineral liner, red lipstick, and a pair of shades, I'm ready to go sip mimosas out on my (thankfully) private-ish patio...and channel my inner rock star, of course.

Boy shorts, Spencer's. Tank top, Old Navy.

Hot drama

The change over to warm weather always means new perspectives. Of course, with me, this floods over into fashion in a big way. Here's some stuff I'm digging lately:

So sophisticated. Courtesy of Blushing and Sweet

Love the hair

 Off-the-shoulder Sexy

This might have to be my hair after my wedding in November.

* All photos found in random Yahoo.com images searches, unless otherwise noted.*

I'm sensing some real glamour in the mix this season. In fact, I was just watching Funny Girl and envying all of Barbara Streisand's dramatic 1920s attire. I would wear any of that stuff today, honestly. I'm having a little bit of a Lindsay Lohan fetish lately, too, and I have no idea why. Could be worse.

Random snaps

Here are some random photos of highlights from the past few weeks. :)

 Exploring the wine section at World Market

 Remanence of lunch at California Pizza Kitchen - Club pizza and margaritas

 Warm weather unlikely mix-and-matching (pink and purple with Camo-shorts? Sure, why not?)

 Shopping for summer "essentials" at Garage

 My first-ever pie from scratch (lemon) for Steve's birthday

Shaggy hair, with new fringey bangs

Glad I tried the gladiators.

 I'm not usually a fan of gladiator sandals, but at a recent trip to Burlington Coat Factory, Steve forced me to try these on. Once again he was right. They looked pretty awesome. And they were comfortable. And they looked more glam-edgy than straight-up gladiators. Ok, they'll do.

...Now I'm pretty much in love with them.

I love the easy little outfits that get thrown together when the weather first gets warm again.

I also love when accidentally blurry photos turn out looking like you were trying to be artistic. Ha. Or maybe that's just wishful thinking. :)

Texas toast

While catching up on FashionToast, I saw Rumi had posted some photos of a trip to Austin! Pretty sure this is her outside the Whole Foods about 3 minutes from my apartment. WHERE WAS I?!?!
*sad and starstruck all at the same time*

I'm guessing she was in town for SXSW, which I always seem to miss for some reason. Last year, I had just severely sprained my ankle and was pretty much bed-ridden that week. This year, I was out of town. Boo.

But I must say, after too many years in places like Little Rock, Arkansas, I do love living in a city that people actually want to come to. :)

Straw-berry

 

It's officially straw-fedora weather. :)

This was me goofing around outside Cabela's outdoor store near Kyle, Texas (I'm not an outdoor person, but this store is seriously impressive) while Steve ran to get me a button down from the car, since I (as usual) was freezing inside. Sometimes I still can't believe I wear pink now.

p.s. That's not me trying to do "sexy" eyes. I was literally that tired. 

Silver lining

As unorganized as my life has felt over the past 6 weeks or so (crazy illnesses that wont go away, travel, being apart from my fiance for way too long, auditions, wedding planning, "real" work, and acting work...), I've had a real craving to stay as organized as possible in smaller ways. My current purse had recently become so worn out that the now fraying straps are in danger of snapping at any moment. Rather than waiting until that happens while I'm out shopping somewhere, I decided to take the plunge and purchase a new handbag today. Always fun!

I love the color silver for a purse. Infact, when I bought my last purse, I couldn't find anything I liked in silver so I settled on a white one. It was a cute bag, but the color gets dingy so quickly, even when you try to keep it as clean as possible. I was happy to find something in a more realistic color this time around! (Purse by Croft & Barrow from Khol's, 40% off 49.99).

It's so fun "moving in." I'd actually done a decent job of keeping my old handbag pretty clutter-free, but getting a new one is always a good time to check and make sure you're not constantly carrying around anything you don't actually need.

 What's in the bag:
"Bottom row" left to right:
- My wallet, which I am still loving and showed off HERE
- I also bought the little polka-dotted bag today (Walmart, $2.97) to keep essentials like floss and band-aids (for when those heels start hurting! Or, obviously, for an actual emergency...um...yeah...) plus, some personal items and a couple medications in the main (i.e. opaque) section.
- Gum! I'd been out for a while...it's always nice to have around to freshen up while you're out.
- Hand lotion. I apply this about 60 times a day, so having some on-the-go is a must for me.

"Top row" left to right:
- Make up bag with touch-up items like pressed powder, mineral concealer and brush, eyeliner, and lip gloss.
- Check book and pen (always carry a pen with you! You'll be glad you did).
- Chapstick. If I could only have one item in my bag, this would be it.
- Aviator sunglasses.
- Hair bands in case my hair decides it needs to be put away for a while.
- My beautiful compact mirror, a gift from a friend in China!

Pink eye (the good kind!)

I have an on-and-off love affair with pink eye shadow. Right now, it's back on. It can look punk or really pretty and fresh depending on how you use it. I actually use a rosey cream blush that I've had since my days of using stage make up, so don't even ask me to try and figure out what exactly it is and where you can buy it. ;) Just use whatever works for you. For this, I think a product with creamy texture looks fresher than powder eye shadow and blends really nicely. Just make sure you powder it after applying to set it.

A recent look:

I liked the pop of pink with the black and white dress. Don't be afraid to be a little messy with the pink. It shouldn't look too calculated. You can even put it all around the eye, but I didn't do that this time.
I traced the outside of the pink with a shimmer golden powder shadow and extended it outwards (up to my eyebrows and around the bottom outer corner of my eye). I wish my crappy little camera did it more justice. It's not that easy to pick up in these photos. But, along with the pink, it created a shimmery pastel look all around the eyes. Almost "fairy"-like, but understated.
I finished with black mascara. It's not often that I don't wear some sort of eye liner, but I didn't feel like I needed anything taking away the focus of the pink and gold or making it too harsh of a look. I kept the lips light and neutral as well.

Blush always goes below my cheek bones, rather than the apple of the cheek as many people suggest. It really helps accentuate the cheek bones that way. I put a little shimmery powdered bronzer on the cheek bone to help highlight them even more.

Thoughts? Ideas? Suggestions? Share 'em!