Hoping This Year Will Be Better than the Last

My New Year's resolutions:

1. visit an American city I've never been to (I'm thinking Nashville, Las Vegas, or Miami)
2. get sworn in to the NY Bar
3. gain permanent legal employment doing something I enjoy!
4. find a cheaper apt
5. get botox
6. visit a country I've never seen
7. stay in shape
8. go see the Statue of Liberty
9. complete my wardrobe
10. organize all my loose papers
11. pay off 7% of my student loans
12. have more fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Christmas

I had a very low key Christmas this year which is good. Simple is good. Sang a lot of Christmas songs and tried to keep my spirits up after a tragic year. I got these:

And I also got a bunch of church chick lit books which I love. My mom made me a cross stitch of my monogram. Currently, I am thinking of New Year's resolutions to make. Next year has to be the best one yet.

Preppy Presents!

J Crew Silk Frances cami in autumn sun 69.50

Brooks Brothers Tattersall Quarter-Flap Bag 124.00

Lily Pullitzer PJ Set Sateen 89.00

Vineyard Vines Simple Sail Mini Tote 75.00

Short Sleeve Bi-Color Stripe Stretch Pique Polo 49.99

Randomness

So this weekend I had dinner with a few friends from law school. I love that I've seen so many people from law school here in the city without having to go back to MinneSNOWta. Law school seems like a million years ago. My life has changed so dramatically this year. For starters, I decided that I need to try more new things.

I tried caviar for the first time on Thanksgiving. For some reason I've always thought that I can't eat caviar because I'm a vegetarian. I don't know why because I'm not vegan, and they're just eggs. They were a bit salty for me. I think I am becoming more open minded lately. I have always hated any sort of Latin music due to my inability to dance to it. Well I went to a Brazilian place called SOBs in Tribeca this weekend for a friend's birthday party and I totally got into it. They did Samba lessons and although I was pathetic, at least I tried.

Last night was quite an adventure. I met up with a couple friends at the Plaza Hotel to listen to some jazz. I can't believe that it was my first time inside The Plaza as long as I've lived here. I'm so glad I went at Christmas time because the decorations were beautiful. Fortunately, it turned out to be a jazz singer and not instrumental jazz music which is just not something I can get behind as more than background music. There was this girl there last night who I knew I recognized from some reality show but I just couldn't place her. I hate it when that happens. Well my friend M told me today that her name is Daniella and I now I remember. She was the judge's pick on Bravo's The Fashion Show. I didn't remember which reality show she was from, but I had remembered that I didn't like her. After the jazz, we were supposed to go to some bar in midtown. lame. But when we went to find my friend L's car, it was no where to be found. It was towed to the New York pound. So I'd only been planning to try out one new place last night: The Plaza. But, in fact I got to spend a couple hours at the Manhattan impound lot at Pier 38. There were lots of out-of-towners. (including two guys in cowboy hats, cowboy boots & silver suits). Thank God I don't have a car. I could never afford it. Despite how it sounds my night turned out to be super fun. We went out after and ate breakfast in Carroll Gardens.

I love Christmas time. It's so festive everywhere.

It's Christmastime in the City

It's Beginning to Feel a Lot Like Christmas

I made my mom's mashed potato spinach casserole and my grandma's Mennonite cheese pie and took a dinner roast as my contributions to Thanksgiving this year. I was so excited for macaroni & cheese, stuffing, pumpkin cheese cake, apple pie, etc. Last year I was in Cancun for Thanksgiving, so it was fantastic to be back in America having the most All-American Thanksgiving you could imagine. Watching the parade on TV while baking. Sitting down for the game after stuffing my face. What could be better? Plus I'm 1/8th Native American, so I could enjoy my day guilt free.

I didn't spend Black Friday shopping this year. Instead I spent my weekend seeing the movie Precious which features Mariah Carey looking like this:
After that I made my Broadway Debut in:
They let us get up on stage at the end which was an amazing feeling. I loved looking out into the crowd while dancing to and singing Let the Sun Shine In from the stage.

I also saw:
It was hilarious! I highly recommend this movie.

I gave my first tour of the financial district.
Then took my picture outside the Cosby Show house. It only took 9 years to find it.
And to top it all off I went to see the Radio City Christmas Spectacular.

If you don't spend the holidays in the city you are really missing out on something special.

The Perfect Wallet

I have been looking for a wallet with slots for cards on both sides for a long time. Apparently people still write checks because most large wallets I happen upon have one side for cards and one side for a checkbook. Well I recently stumbled across this beauty.

It's the Big Apple Stacy! The wallet is also available in purple, black, red, pink, and orange. But as usual, green is my choice. I love green. It looks sleek with the buttons on the inside. I'm also coming around to patent leather.

Good Day

A great thing happened to me today. So yesterday I lamented that I had no way of finding the attorney who supervised me at Legal Aid two summers ago. Well it turns out that the attorney who replaced her was a coworker of mine last summer in the tax clinic. That was fabulous news because she is a super nice girl and she told me she would get my affidavit all filled out. Yes!

In other news, I've lost about 25 pounds in the past 3 months and am feeling less busty. None of my bras fit, but when I went to Victoria's Secret for a sizing they said I'm still the same size I've been since I was like 13. They gave me a bra box which I'd never seen before. It's a box filled with every bra VS has in your size. I tried on about 10 and only two fit well, but it was such an efficient process. Whoever came up with that idea is a pragmatic genius. I highly recommend it. My favorites were the Secret Embrace and the Plunge. Is this TMI? Then stop reading now. I went swimming today. I put on my new bathing suit, looked in the mirror and thought. Wow. My next bf is going to be so lucky. I have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.

Admission

I think I have to come to grips with the fact that I will not be admitted to the NY Bar anytime in the near future. I know I shouldn't complain because I have a terminal degree and passed the bar which means I will never have to study for anything school related again. But ugh. Apparently a former supervisor of mine left her job and is now no where to be found. I cannot find an email, phone number, or address for her. She and 3 of my other former supervisors are standing in the way of me being admitted as an attorney in the great state of NY. The judge I clerked for my 1L summer claims to have put his affidavit in the mail, but it's been a few days and I have yet to receive anything. I don't really blame them. No one wants to do paper work. I blame the crazy people who are making me jump through all these hoops. Yuck.

If I ever have a job with decent medical benefits again I will never give it up. C'mon Mr. O, where is the free health care? Where is the change I can believe in? Things look much more bleak to me this November than they did last November. I never would have imagined that was even possible as I was facing 3-30 page papers and 2 law exams this time last year. We're still at war. There are less jobs. My confidence is not inspired.

This is all to say that it really sucks to have to depend on other people. But on a lighter not, I am so excited for Gossip Girl tonight.

Kate Spade is My Favorite

I love Lilly and Vineyard Vines but I could live on Kate Spade alone. It's so chic and colorful and urban. I always feel sophisticated in Kate Spade. I especially love all the yellow for winter. It makes for sunshine all year round

Witches

I really like Eastwick but apparently it's getting canceled. Rebecca Romaijn just can't catch a break. This is going to sound weird, but I actually love witches so much that I wish I were one. I would love to wiggle my nose and fix tricky situations. It'd also be cool if I could lightly shock people every time they tick me off. I know Halloween is over but here are some of my favorite witches anyway.

There's Nothing You Can't Do in New York

Central Park Zoo

Happy Halloween: 100th post.

It's my 100th post! I don't have anything special to say to commemorate this occasion but I will say that I'm shocked I have kept it going this long. So this is what I will be wearing for Halloween. I'm gonna be a 60s mod girl.

Twiggy by jennifermg featuring kate spade accessories

I have everything I need for a super fun Halloween full of parties, candy, and fun friends. My Kate Spade bangle and cardholder and Lilly Pulitzer shell shocked clutch are the perfect preppy touches to my costume. I'm excited to be blond for the first time in my life. I will post pics if they turn out well.

Last weekend was interesting and led me to the discovery that I have a condition I had no idea even existed. Since childhood I have had a difficult time following movie plot lines because I can't tell some of the actors, particularly the men, apart from each other. I've always said that I distinguish different characters/people I meet based on their hair. This problem has manifested itself in some embarrassing ways lately when I have either failed to recognize a person that I know or mistaken a person that I don't know for a friend for nearly 10 months. It turns out that I have prosopagnosia, also known as face blindness, and it is most likely do to the eye surgeries I had as an infant and child. I rely on hair, glasses, voice, clothes, etc instead of facial features in order to recognize people. I also have a hard time picturing peoples' faces in my mind, including close family members. My friend A alerted me to the existence of this condition when I told her my embarassing stories because she has another friend with the same condition.

Here's hoping for warmth and no rain this weekend. Also, Go Yankees!!!

The Perfect Bag

Kate Spade Gold Coast

I emailed the people at Kate Spade several weeks ago about a bag I was seeing in Bloomingdale's ads but could not find for sale at any retailer. Well it's available and if I have ever coveted anything it would be this bag. It might not be Chanel but who cares. It's black. It's quilted. And it's perfect. All the Gold Coast bags are beautiful in my opinion. I would take a gold, a black, and whatever other color they decide to bless us with.

I'm a Writer

As the document review is quite mindless and not as steady as I would like, I have decided to legitimize my lack of permanent employment by becoming a writer. I guess I have always been a writer according to my professors, my family, and the audiences (with painfully low standards) that applaud my spoken word. I've never been one to identify that way, but that changes now. The easy part was naming the cast of characters and producing the outline. The writing part is a little scary. Ok a lot scary since all I've studies is finance, economics, marketing, and law. I still haven't decided if I want it to just be chick lit or church chick lit. Decisions decisions. I know it will be a lot of work but I'm excited.

1912

My mom sent me this picture I'd never seen via email. No that's not Granny Clampett in the middle. That's my Great Great Grandma Nyce with my Great Great Grandpa. And on the left is my Grandma when she was 6 with a gigantic bow in her hair. That hottie on the far right is my Great Grandpa (so that is where I got my looks - lol) sitting with my Great Grandma. You have to click on it and make it bigger to really see them. I love old family pictures.

Life Inspiration

I have read the KJV, NIV, and NRSV translations of the Bible in their entirety. Bible was my favorite subject in school. I have hundreds of Bible verses memorized including many entire chapters. Yet, I never remember reading a passage I came across when reading the liner notes of Mariah's new album. She left an inspirational passage at the top of the thank you section that was just exactly what I needed because I've been faced with a lot of obstacles lately. So I thought I'd share:

"So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised."
Hebrews 10: 35-36

Mod

My friend M got this awesome mod dress at a vintage shop. I am so into mod and old fashioned clothes right now. I am constantly scouring modcloth for new dresses. I definitely don't need any new dresses. I have so many and not enough places to wear them but it's fun to look. Here are some of my favorites.

Me and Mariah

Last Friday at 2am I lined up to see Mariah Carey on the Today show and it really paid off. I was front row with some of my other friends who are huge fans. It was so much fun. We got to watch Debbie Allen do some choreography. The dancers practice lifting Mariah by lifting Debbie and she talked to us a bit. My friend K has devoted much more of her life to the pursuit of Mariah than I have so Trey Lorenz knows her by name and had a whole conversation with her from the stage during rehearsal. Mariah knows K so she was mouthing stuff to her during sound check, though we couldn't figure out what she was trying to say. Her voice was awesome and the concert was super fun. She sang Make it Happen which is such and inspirational song to me, along with Obsessed, H.A.T.E. U., and I Wanna Know What Love Is. It was definitely worth waiting in the bitter cold. It was also great to see Nick Cannon come escort her off stage. I have ever seen her so happy as she is with Nick.

I know I'm a veteran New Yorker because there was a time when I would have been excited to see Matt, Meredith, Ann, and Al. I am no longer phased. I only remembered that they were famous when the tourists started snapping pics. I love the city.

Fall Hobby

I think I am finally ready for fall. I am so sad that I can't wear my summer dresses but I have rediscovered all my beautiful sweaters. I want a pumpkin. I want Thanksgiving food. I want to wear my new yellow coat from J Crew.

I know I have said this before but I really need a new hobby. A girl I was working with yesterday was talking about knitting and it got me thinking about something that has bothered me for a while. I feel like I don't know how to do anything. I can sew a button but that's about it. I can't really sew, knit, crochet or anything. The problem for me is trying to find something that I will like well enough to keep doing. I also don't feel like buying a lot of yarn and knitting needles and having them sit around this apartment just taking up space.

What I would really love is to go to a quilting bee . The idea of sitting around with a bunch of other ladies trading gossip while making a quilt for a baby sounds so awesome to me right now. I have no idea what it takes to make a quilt. I should look into that.

Is it 1992?

I can't believe I am watching 90210 followed by Melrose Place on Tuesday nights now. It's like 1992 all over again. I remember the debut episode of Melrose Place like it was yesterday. I was hooked on Billy and Allison from the very first episode. I hated Amanda (Heather Locklear) and Brooke (Kristin Davis) for coming in between the two of them. MP spawned two actresses who went on to play characters with impeccable style: Bree Van de Kamp (Marcia Cross) and Charlotte York (Kristin Davis). It took me a while to come around to Charlotte because I harbored a lot of anger toward her character on MP. That's just how I am.

This is War

I thought it was absolutely brilliant when Blair had the OMJC people show up at Georgina's party on GG last night. What is wrong with Dan Humphrey??? Does he not remember all of Georgina's plotting and scheming? The manipulation? Blackmailing Serena and inserting herself into Dan's and Serena's relationship was so much worse than anything Blair ever did. I have no doubt that B will reign victorious. Isn't Blair's dress perfect? It's the Victoria Beckham Briseux silk mini dress and it's only $1795.00.

This is not the NYU I knew. I can't put my finger on it exactly but there's something wrong. I feel like Felicity was a more authentic portrayal of my Alma Mater.

Gettin' Twiggy Wit It

I thought it would be really cool to be Twiggy for Halloween. I am not blond or thin so it's a stretch. Nevertheless, with a blond wig, a little starvation, and this dress I think it's possible.
I already have a ladybug costume and a cat costume which I might have to pull out because the money is tight right now. But, I could wear this dress again and again so the price per wear would take it from 164.99 to like 1.65.

Hilton Head 2009

So I made a polyvore to keep me in check for my annual Hilton Head outlet shopping trip.

hh 2 by jennifermg featuring J Crew

I got almost everything. It turns out that September is not a great time to look for a new bathing suit. I searched high and low but still didn't find one. Luckily I brought and old yellow J Crew one just in case. Flat black boots are also not ubiquitous as I has anticipated so I didn't get those either, but I did get a lot. I got a navy pinstriped suit at Brooks Brothers and a yellow coat from J Crew that I cannot wait to wear (not that it needs to get super cold anytime soon.)

I got this from my sister as soon as I arrived (and it glows in the dark):

Lilly Pulitzer Sunny Shift Cotton Poplin

Lilly Pulitzer Doyle Shirt in Navy

I got this from TJ Maxx and I love it. So it is true what the say about being able to find Lilly there. Next I am going to work on getting my Halloween costume together. I think I want to be Twiggy.

The September Issue

I have been fascinated with Anna Wintour ever since I read The Devil Wears Prada. The movie was great but as much as I love Meryl, I was much more excited to see the devil herself. So my friend A and I went to see The September Issue and it was really funny. I'm sure it was made to show the EIC of Vogue in the most flattering light possible, but the true star of the documentary is Grace Coddington who doesn't hold back her unhappiness with Anna's decisions. There is lots of tension when Anna keeps cutting pictures from Grace's issue from board for the September issue. I love the disapproving looks Anna gives people. If you care at all about fashion I think you will enjoy this movie.

There are lots of fall movies I am excited for after a very boring summer for film:

Capitalism: A Love Story (opens September 23rd). I went to a school where I'm fairly confident that membership in the Republican Party was a requirement for teachers. For some strange reason my staunchly republican A.P. Government teacher screened the movie Ben & Me. I have gone to see every Michael Moore movie since and I haven't been disappointed yet.

Fame (September 25). Kherrington Payne from So You Think You Can Dance season 2 and Natari Naughton from 3lw both star in this remake and I expect it to be fabulous.

Good Hair (October 9). I just saw a preview for this Chris Rock documentary when I went to see the September Issue. I didn't realize it was going to be a comedy when I first heard about it but it is and that is fantastic.

Precious (November 6). Mariah Carey's 4th movie. They keep getting better and better and this movie has a lot of buzz. I hope it's as good as they are saying.

The Princess and the Frog (opens November 25th). I love Disney and it's been a while since they've made a new princess movie.

1939

I recently watched a fantastic movie on The Movie Channel called Sorority House. The movie is from 1939. Two college girls try to get into a sorority and its all about how much money the girls have and the one girl is denied because she dated a sister's former boyfriend. It constantly amazes me how women worried about the very same things 70 years ago that they do now. I had the same reaction to the older version of The Women. I didn't know women were going to gyms back in 1939. My vision of 1939 is very Little House on the Prairie. I know that those stories are based in the 1800s but I just don't picture sororities and gyms. I picture farms.


The black satin Kate Spade Karolinas I have been wanting for so long are now on ebay for a very nice price. I am so scared that if I start bidding, the price will skyrocket. I typically lose ebay auctions. I find it stressful. I feel like everybody else has this system for figuring out how to get the last bid in, but I don't know that system. I need something good to happen to me today, so here's hoping. Only an 1 hr and 40 minutes to go.

Swimming, Insects, Lilly cards

My mom sends me a card every month. Back in April I gave her the multi-patchtastic Lilly notecard book. Now she sends me notes on the cutest cards that I place all around my apartment. I guess that was a pretty selfish gift.

I have a pool in my building and it's pretty nice but it's so hard for me to get up the energy to put on my bathing suit and go. Lately I have been swimming about once a week which is really a shame. I am going to Hilton Head next week. Perhaps a new bathing suit will give me the inspiration I need to get in the pool.

I also have these weird little insects in my apartment that have been here since I moved in. They are only in the bathroom and I can't figure out what they could be. They are gray and tiny and just slither along on the floor. I keep the apartment so clean and take out the trash. I need to find out if the building has an exterminator.

Pink and Greenlee: Fall

This is what the five different sections of my dream store would look like this fall.


Green Bean by jennifermg featuring J Crew

Winky Pinky by jennifermg featuring J Crew

True Blue by jennifermg featuring Lilly Pulitzer

Mellow Yellow by jennifermg featuring J Crew

Bright White by jennifermg featuring J Crew