On My Paper Anniversary My Sweetheart Got From Me .... *

*sung to the tune of Twelve Days of Christmas

A knit cover for his Touchpad [made from cotton yarn]

If you're into Steampunk ...

Modcloth has some great options right now ...

Not much spirit for Spirit Week :P

So I realize this Spirit Week post is way late, but I figure it's still ok considering our pep rally and homecoming were postponed to last weekend, a when I would be out of the state -___-. Still, even if I missed it, I always have next year!

For each day of Spirit Week we have a designated dress up day, so this year the schedule was like this:

Monday- Pajama Day

Tuesday- Twin Day (Find someone to dress identically with)

Wednesday- Mix and Match Day

Thursday- Character Day

For Monday, I was really tired, so I decided just to keep it simple by wearing a sweatshirt, some plaid black and white pajama bottoms, and my little stuffed goggy :)

This picture makes me laugh only because we took this in a seminar where we were having a visitation from a rep from Penn State.. so he was pretty confused as to why we were all wearing pajamas...heehee.

For twin day, I usually dress up with my friend every year, so this year we just found inexpensive matching shirts that we could even wear normally, and then I found a bunch of matching accessories.

I know it's not a full length picture, but the only good pictures that were taken of our outfits were by the yearbook photographers, so I'm not counting on ever seeing those... We were wearing matching scarves, silver hoop earings, shirts, and headbands.

Mix and Match day is one that's personally fun for me, only because I get to pull out some clothes that I wouldn't normally wear and not really care about if what I'm wearing coordinates or not. I also love it because my mom gets so embarrassed at how crazy I get with the mixing :)

I look super weird in this picture but I had no choice considering this was the only picture that taken of me that day, and I didn't bother to take any pictures of myself :P. If you're wondering, I was trying to explain some chemistry thing to my mini-bearded friend there.

Finally, Thursday, my absolute favorite day by far- CHARACTER DAY! I take a lot of pride in my Halloween costumes, and since no one really gets to see them very much, I like to show off my costumes in school during Spirit Week, heehee. So this year, I decided to go back to one of my favorite Halloween costumes... *drumroll*

THE MAD HATTER!

So yeah, that was pretty much my Spirit Week, rolled up into one tasty blog post :) Unfortunately I wasn't able to go to homecoming or the pep rally, but if I get chance when I get back home, I could just take a picture with my class t-shirt to show you guys the awesome-ness of it :)

Cat appreciation gone a little too far ...

So as much as I love my baby, Big Cat ... I don't love her to the point I would turn her into a source of crafting material ...

But apparently there are people out there that want to have a piece of their cat with them always ....

UPDATE:

2 months of procrastinating and struggling has come to an end ... DONE IS GOOD!

When art and literature combine

Went to a book event at Purl Soho tonight. Amazing display of embroidery skills in redesigning three Penguin Classics. I personally loved the cover for The Secret Garden.

Also ... Elda Rotor is AWESOME :-P

P.S. If anyone is interested in reading about the event, here is the link.

Polo Preppy

I'm back again with another post- I'm trying to be better about keeping up with these things. Well today was a yucky, cold day, so I wanted to be warm and comfortable, so behold- the Polo Prepster! This shirt is very special to me, because the last time I wore it I found out one of my dreams was about to come true, so I personally like this outfit a lot- I may be slightly biased though. :P

Dress: Ralph Lauren Polo

Tights: Apt. 9 black tights from Kohls

Boots: Madden Girl Zandora Boots in Tan Paris from Macys

Beret: Made with love by Shar :)

Little Schoolgirl

I know this post is very late...but better a month later than never I guess. Recently I ran for the position of SAC (Student Advisory Council) Secretary, so this is something like what I wore for the speech about 2 weeks ago. Fortunately I won the election, even though everyone thought I looked like a "Puritan Schoolgirl." The fact that we were reading "The Crucible" in English class and Puritanism in AP History didn't help...

(Yeah I know, it's pretty much the worst angle to take a picture from ever, but I needed a quick way to get my whole outfit in the picture, so my bookshelf served as a tripod...)

Dress: Dear Creatues Avalon Starburst in Cream (as seen here)

Tights: Apt 9 brand black stockings from Kohls

Shoes: White Mountain Icon (seen here)

Black beret from Target

Wardrobe Malfunction- My First Day of School Outfit Story

As promised, here is my very first post of the new school year..but off to a rough start. See, this was the original outfit I wore to school:

Dress: Macy's

Lace tee underneath from Kohls

Leggings from H&M

Ed Hardy Locket borrowed from Shar

Feather hair fascinator from H&M

Unfortunately, about five minutes after I got off the bus, the zipper that goes down the front of this dress completely split, and since the lace tee I was wearing underneath was practically see through and I only had a sweater to cover myself up, I was panicking. Fortunately, mom came to the rescue with a new shirt, and one sprint to the office and change in the nurse's room later-

Green/Black striped sweater dress from Forever 21

So yeah, that was fun.

A Summer Sweet 16 Party

So I was invited to a friend's "Romeo and Juliet" themed Sweet 16...unfortunately while I looked like I was going to a summer wedding, everyone else was wearing clubbing clothes, but I still like this outfit!

Dress: Tabitha Pitter Patter Dress from Anthropologie

Shoes: Style&Co Muriel Sandals from Macy's

Bermuda Bag: Urban Outfitters Circa '04

Shawl borrowed from Shar

Hello Interwebz..

What a lot of you may not know is that there is another half to this blog- another sister- an underachieving, lazy sister when it comes to this blog :( Shar has done such a great job with this blog all by herself, but I feel terrible for not contributing. That is why I've decided that for this coming school year, I will try to post at least one thing every week. I realize making this promise to myself is like not making one at all, so I'm making it to you interwebz. Hold me to it!

Happy Bastille Day

Better than a Loubi?

UPDATE: Just found out that these are now on the site listed as Reeve Ribbon Pumps. I ended up returning them because I was absolutely in love with them, but they are pretty if you are looking for a navy pump, especially since they also have lovely black suede ruffles.

C'est la vie

H&M Tank
Butter by Nadia Signature dress worn as a skirt

Happy 4th of July

Spending the day resting and playing video games.

Here's a pic from our trip to Europe taken by Tazy ... I know I look silly, but can't criticize a girl for jumping for joy.

Burned out

I currently need a vacation from my vacation ... running around Paris and London has worn me out ... and I look like I got in a bar fight.

Also, I might have sorta failed to keep my promise of outfit pics because I managed to look tired and hideous the entire trip. I'm more disappointed than anything.

Totally in love with BUTTER

 This dress is making me SWOON!

[dress from Butter by Nadia]

So, in case anyone has been wondering ... I've been a very ill girl since my sister's birthday party. I've had 2 bouts of pink eye, and several asthma attacks, several allergy attacks, and several other medical issues PLUS my hubby had to go through the heartbreaking decision of putting one of his cats to sleep ... so now we have a very lonely and needy cat who has never been without her sister her entire 10 yrs of life. She pretty much wakes us up at odd times since she doesn't have her sister to play with. I miss Little Cat very much :'(

Luckily our family will be embarking on a fabulous vacation soon, so I'll be gone from the blogosphere for a little longer, but I promise to post some fab pics when we get back.

Sorry for not posting

Dealing with some medical issues right now ... will report back once I'm done being ill. ugh.

Money Saving Problems

Taking on the Anthroholic Shopping Ban was pretty much a no brainer for me. Not that I spend a lot, but that since starting this blog I have changed my shopping habit a lot. I'm a lot more critical about what I buy, and I would rather just save money. But for some reason, even with this ban and being more mindful of my money, I can't seem to find where our money is leaking. My husband and I make a decent amount, but we never save quite enough at the end of the month towards the future home we plan to buy. Furthermore, there are all these expenses coming up that I really don't know how to curb.

• We're taking a family vacation to Paris soon, and that has been in the works for YEARS. It's the trip my parents planned for Tazy's 16th birthday, and I can't imagine missing out on her trip to the place she's been dreaming about seeing since she was 12.
• It's Graduation season, which means presents. I don't want to look like a cheapskate ... but Bengali ppl have really rich tastes, and judge you based on what you spent instead of the thought behind it.
• My husband has taken on this diet for the past 5 months which has worked great for him ... but hasn't been great on the wallet. Groceries get kinda expensive when you refuse to eat any carbohydrates. Carbs are cheap, and I would rather gorge myself on peanut butter sandwiches until we can afford a home than have to borrow money. But that isn't really a choice for him ...
• Because my husband is on this diet I have been on this diet too ... which means like my husband I've lost weight ... which means my clothes are starting to not fit. I tend to shop for things my sister and I can both wear, but now I've lost a lot of bulk and stuff just doesn't look good on me. And even though I'm on this shopping ban, sometime in the near future I'm going to have to rehash my wardrobe before I get criticized for wearing t-shirts and jeans to work everyday when nothing else fits. Same goes for hubby ... he needs new clothes too so he doesn't look like he only owns clothes that fall of of him. Hopefully taking sewing lessons in July will help in elongating the life of our over-sized clothes.

Ok, I'm done whining now ... on with my day.

Rainy Monday

H&M scarf

Aeropostale polo

Forever21 jeans

Capezio ballet shoes

Outfit inspired by Twenty.Something

OOTD: Blues and Grays

Express cardi

Anthro belt

Forever21 tee

Fields Skirt

ballet slippers

Color-blocking

Abercrombie halter circa 1999

Fields Skirt

And I twisted my hair up ... may be my new go to hairstyle

P.S. I am never using 1800Flowers to order flowers again ... I'm pretty furious with how my mom's bouquet looks nothing like what I ordered.

Just another boring OOTD

Felt very exhausted from entertaining the teen bro and his teen best friend. I forgot college kids can stay up until the wee hours without crashing like us old folk. Didn't make much effort to get dressed in the morning, and didn't care much that I looked out of place shopping for shoes with my bro at Saks Fifth Ave.

That is said bro entertaining himself with his phone.

"Why was I shopping?" you may ask since I'm participating in Kim's shopping ban ...well, because like I said before, I am in desperate need of flats. It's the only thing I will allow myself to cheat on during this ban, though it doesn't look like I'll be any successful in buying a pair this month. I couldn't decide if shoes were too tight or too loose since I don't remember the last time I bought flats ... or wore a pair for more than a couple of hours before flinging them across the room never to be seen again. My brother came along/was dragged along because he has a good eye for fashion and value. The contest is pretty much between a pair of flats by Tory Burch ... or these Prada ballet flats.

Those big bows are so totally me ... but I hate that they are patent shoes ... and that they cost so freaking much. I want the bows but not the shoes ... if only I could transport these fluffy bows onto the front of a pair of eddie flats by Tory Burch. Hhhhhhhmmmmmm.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

My OOTD will be up later since I couldn't get hubby man to get out of bed before I left for work ... but I promise that it's as cute as my Tazy [see previous post].

Today is also Day One of Kim's Shopping Ban. Go check it out if you haven't already. In support I'm going to try really really really hard not to buy anything for myself. This is slightly different from this blog's previous goal since I was allowed to buy accessories [maybe even makeup]. Not this time around. No accessories or clothes. No new makeup. My only cheat I will allow myself is a new pair of flats. Since I own none and continue to fail in buying any.

UPDATE: OOTD

Forever21 pants and tunic

H&M headband
Capezio ballet slippers [no outside shoes allowed in my home]

The Loveliest Sweet Sixteen

photo compliments of Ami

Mac-ing it

Even though this is a fashion blog, I just wanted to share what I've been working on the past month instead of blogging ...

I've been trying to make macarons for Tazy's French themed birthday party! All of the attempts have not been successful though ... 

Chocolate ones are really hard to make. Between me and Tazy we made three batches of macarons that completely pwned us in shape and/or form. These things are really temperamental. So far my first batch has been the best, but I have another 3 batches still to make.

Here are my gold ones before I put them in the oven.

Here is what they look like baked [different cookie sheet]

And a finished batch! Now I have 3 more batches like this to make ...

Recipe by The Brave Tart

My First Poll

I'm trying out the new polling gadget ... so please direct your attention to the left side of the blog for my poll on what to get for my upcoming milestone birthday ... the BIG 3 0.

gah!

They're not full grown yet ...

but my biceps are starting to show!

It's been about 8 classes at Physique 57, and I'm seeing some subtle changes. My legs feel more firmed and toned, though not any bigger. My bicep is more toned. I think my posture has improved. I'm disappointed that my gut isn't gone, but I think it's more because I'm a wuss than the classes not being effective. So far, it has been worth the money, but I still have another 2 weeks to go. Wish me luck! Bikini here I come!

My Little Fashionista

The year was 1995, and my mom had just come to the end of a difficult pregnancy. We were still in the midst of trying to pick baby names, and we [my dad, my grandmother, my aunt, my brother and I] piled into our new purple minivan [Barney the Nissan Quest] to head to the hospital. At the last minute we had decided on a name that meant "smile" and "pillar of support" for the new baby's name, and my grandmother decided on the nickname "Tisha" so she would have a name that sounded similar to my brother's name and mine [we both have names that start with a "sha"]. Shady was excited about becoming a big brother at three, I was still grappling with the idea that I was no longer the only girl in the house at thirteen ... and my dad was talking nonstop about how this was the best birthday he's ever had.

We arrived at the hospital and friends of the family came rushing up to us to congratulate us. One auntie in particular pulled me aside and said "you won't believe me until you see her, but she's just like you." And she was right. Sleeping in a bassinet in the nursery was a face I could recognize anywhere, a face I have seen since the first time I looked in a mirror. She was lighter skinned, but she had my same ringlets of hair, and she had my furrowed brows [my parents said I was born contemplative, thus the furrowed brows]. And I decided that she was mine, all mine. That no one was going to get between us, and there would never be any sibling jealousy to make us fight. I loved her at first sight.

Shady meanwhile couldn't wait to get his hands on her, to rock her in his arms, and to tickle her until she giggled. He had finally found someone to play with who wasn't always kicking him out of the room for being too small. I think he fell in love with her at first sight too.

And it's hard not to love her. She has a smile that brightens everyone's day. She is the most photogenic of the three siblings.

She would make us giggle when she was trying to be coy.

And she has always been our pretty pretty princess.

And this year, she turns sixteen. My baby and best friend is growing up too fast for any of us, but she's grown into a beautiful, intelligent young woman.

Happy Birthday Baby Catush,
from your Apush and Bhaiyush

Physique 57

This past Saturday I decided to take my first Physique 57 class to try to get into shape in time for summer. For those of you who don't know about Physique 57, it's the fitness program that Kelly Ripa and Zooey Deschanel have used to get into shape. It is a high intensity bar method workout that is supposed to tone and strengthen various parts of the body during one session. They swear they can change you in 8 classes, so I'm taking them up on that.

My first class was really intense. We did lots of strength training [arm curls, push-ups, crunches] which were followed by a lot of stretching. I might have walked out in one piece, but I am definitely feeling the pain now. I have my next class tonight, so hopefully I can get through it without injuring anything.

For Japan With Love

OOTD: Inspired by Anthropologie Catalog Jan '07

Blouson Cardigan - Jan '07

American Eagle Jeans

Coral Necklace - F21

Hat made by me

Capezio ballet slippers

p.s. totally got myself a tripod ... finally!

Camptown races sing this song, doo da, doo da...

That's all people kept singing when I wore this to school today...

Most people told me the dress reminded them of a sailor or a camper and that I looked like I was ready to hike or something...I did not know if this was a compliment or an insult. Anyway, since the picture is not very good, here are the components to the outfit for a better understanding:

Delia's Morgan Low-Rise Skinny Cord in Turkish Coffee

Sporto's Sally Boots

Dear Creatures Camp Dress in Khaki

Camera Equipment Help!

Help me Blogosphere!

Unlike many bloggers with significant others, my other is fearful of the camera[phone]. What I really need help with is finding a tripod for my Canon Powershot S3. It's big like an DSLR but is really a point & shoot. I'm overwhelmed with the choices out there online, so any bit of advice would help.

Happy Birthday to ME!

My birthday outfit

Eastpointe Garden Top

Field Skirt

Giant Dwarf Headband

Shoes from Kaitlen

The Married Life

I recently stumbled upon Kendi's "better off wed" blog ... and I haven't been able to stop laughing! Everything she writes about is something that I can relate to, especially the dietary lifestyle change. See, my hubby recently decided that he not only didn't want to eat red meat, but that he's given up a bunch of other foods that I absolutely love. So I pretty much moan everyday about how I can't cook corned beef at home because E will never eat it, and he has these moments when we go to get food he likes and he goes "doh!" when he realizes it no longer fits his new diet guidelines. This has caused me to have dreams about the foods that I can't eat at home free of guilt ... like chocolate cake and carbs.

I wonder if E has nightmares about steak ...

30 for 30 Challenge

I came pretty close to completing this challenge, though I feel like it was more like 20 for 30 [that's me being generous]. I definitely learned some things from trying to do this challenge, and here are some of them:

• I got unmotivated really fast. January has not been a friendly winter month. I spent almost everyday wearing the same two boots, and now both boots are in massive disrepair. I haven't looked at my pretty shoes in a really long time.
• I can't remember the last time I went into Anthro, even if it was to try to get some inspiration from the store displays.
• I was highly uninspired. You may even call it lazy. With only a select few things to wear I actually became more of a roll-out-of-bed type instead of artisitically inspired. I had one pile of clothes to dress from, so I never looked anywhere else for something to liven things up.
• I own more black than I realized. This made every outfit pretty boring. I know I own a lot of eclectic things, but for this challenge I tried to go back to basics. I guess it proves that I'm more basic than I realized.
• I love my Butter by Nadia dress, even though the hubby got tired of seeing the same black dress all the time. He asked me to go buy it in red to change things up.
• At least I didn't go shopping at all for a month, and I didn't really miss it. 
• Being unmotivated and uninspired resulted in me being too embarrassed to blog, even though I stuck to the challenge. I even broke my own plan and dressed according to the challenge on the weekends. Butter by Nadia .... goes a long way.
• My wardrobe for the month fit in one load of laundry ... I don't know if that's a good thing.
• Packing for weekend trips got a whole lot easier ... in some ways. I felt like I carried my challenge wardrobe with me all the time, but at least I didn't have to think about it.
• I was really stingy about the items I picked. I never got around to picking 30 items. In fact, I could wear whatever I want for the remaining days and still fulfill this challenge. I think in total I picked 17 items to wear over and over again.

2 things I've learn so far

• I own/wear too many dark colors [black, grey, navy, etc.] This makes taking pictures in low light really hard since you can never see the details of what I'm wearing.
• I love my Butter by Nadia dress a little too much ... so much that I've put it on at least once a day to try a new configuration. No one has noticed I've been wearing the same dress every weekend out.

Oh so sleepy

I haven't blogged all week ... and the culprit has been sleep. My department at work has been in whirlwind preparation for the move to another floor. I have been boxing things nonstop ... and all I ever want to do when I get home is sleep. In addition, taking pictures of my outfit everyday has become a challenge since I have no one around when I have time to take a picture, and it's difficult to take pictures on my own without a tripod or someplace to put my camera to take pictures.

But believe me ... I have been sticking to this challenge even if I can't chronicle every outfit in pictures. I've also been trying to expand from the 15 items I originally picked now that I've passed the midway mark. I've been really stingy about picking clothes to wear during this challenge, and I'm trying to be more carefree for the remaining days.

Snow Days

This week has been crazy. Between my sister getting surgery, the snow storm that didn't do as much damage as expected, and my office in mid-move ... I haven't really sat down to the computer to do much leisurely stuff. Unless you count helping the hubby play Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood.

I did, however, try to keep taking pictures of what I wore as proof that I was sticking to my challenge.

Day 7 & 8 - taking Tazy for surgery and travel wear [I spent most of my time in pjs]

Rugby dress

Black tights from Sock Dreams

Boots by Report

Day 9 - back to work & cooking dinner

Bubble sleeve blouse from Express

Butter by Nadia jersey dress

tights by Hue

cooking dinner ... hahaha

Just for kicks I decided to change up the jersey dress into another form for dinner.

Day 6 - Taking it Easy

Polo from Aeropostale

American Eagle Jeans

Marrs Boots

Cardigan from Express

Decided to take it easy today since we are still in packing mode ... and also because I had to take the bus to visit Tazy. She's having surgery tomorrow for her knee, so positive thoughts please!