Furniture Rehab

Well folks, turns out my love of thriftiness does not just apply to clothes. Nick and I decided to check out one of our favorite thrift stores for some furniture.  We wanted to find a bedside table we could fix up. No luck there but we wound up taking home 3 chairs! First we found these two guys:

These were in great condition and for $15 each, how could we pass them up? They just needed a little makeover; some sanding and a few coats of paint did the trick!
Below is a shot of the original paint color on the left and the new paint color on the right. Love a little Bird's Egg blue :)

Doesn't the chair on the right look brighter and more modern? I think so :)

Our third chair is my favorite. I fell in love with this one. Yes, you have to look beyond it's facade and it'll require more of an extreme makeover. Here she is:

We took this chair for an estimate to get repaired and reupholstered. It's not exactly cheap to do all that, man I need to learn how to reupholster on my own! We're still trying to decide on a fabric, below is a "dream fabric," because white is just not gonna work with 2 adorable cats running around.

I'll keep you posted on the yellow chair, we're thinking of doing a charcoal gray...

I couldn't just mention our kitties without including a picture of them now could I?

Chester

Riley

Vintage Fur Capelet

I found this little gem while thrifting the other day. I really don't think there's a better feeling than finding a diamond in the rough, especially at a "can't leave without it" price. After a little TLC (had a few rips), he is looking good as new. He even has little arm loops to keep you attached to the little guy. You may be wondering why I'm referring to my fur as a male. Well because it's totally not a female fur, duh!

Anywho, if you feel like putting on your fancypants, you could wear it over a preppy button down like I am above. I'm digging buttoning my shirts all the way and putting a pretty almost-choker necklace on over it. Kinda like having a fancy collar on.

If downtown is more your taste you could always throw it over a white tee with some skinny jeans and booties or even some flares for a more boho look.

Fashion Focus Chicago

I had SO been looking forward to attending my first fashion show! For those of you not in the loop, last week was Fashion Focus Chicago. My super stylish BFF Jill and I went to "The Art of Fashion" show on Friday. Ten different local designers were featured. We managed to get a pretty good spot and had a great view of the show!

Outside the tent

Boris Powell

Lara Miller, lots of colorful knitwear

Zamrie, our favorite, sophisticated looks with pretty prints

Zamrie

Zamrie

Zamrie

Zamrie

I hate to sound like such a critic, but here goes. This was no NY fashion week. Sure, I've never been to NY fashion week (nor London, Paris, or Milan), but I definitely check out what comes down those runways via photos and blogs. I'll just say I was a bit disappointed with some of the designs. I love Chicago and I think the style here is just different...maybe it's because of the weather we have to put up with!

Chanel

My new polish: Peridot by Chanel. Not for the faint of heart, this yellow/gold/green metallic shade is dazzling! Peridot also happens to be my birthstone :) What do you think?

Fashion!!!

     College was an entirely eye opening experience. Though I was still in Indiana, I was exposed to people from all over the U.S., even all over the world. Of course there were those coeds who rolled out of bed and wore their sweats to class, lucky if they brushed their teeth.  There were also girls who I considered much more stylish than I. I recall one lovely brunette who wore a silk scarf as a headband and a maxi jean skirt. I was in awe and purchased my own jean maxi immediately.
     I think that jean maxi was a turning point. I stopped shopping at Abercrombie and soon learned about Forever 21, my fashion savior. We had to drive for a good hour to get to the nearest Forever 21, but it was so worth it. I would stock up on as much as I could. Farewell khakis, hello cute skirts, tops, and dresses!
     It wasn't always smooth sailing. My friends and I went through a dressing phase that you might call "skanky frat hoodrat". I don't know if college girls still wear tight flared black pants to frat parties, but that was pretty much ALL we wore! When paired with a tight, sometimes midriff baring top and some chunky boots, you were ready to rock.
     I eventually grew out of dressing like I belonged on a street corner (okay it wasn't THAT bad). I started devouring Harper's Bazaar and InStyle magazines.  I emulated looks I saw in those pages, using my much less expensive resources.
    I remember one of my favorite outfits mixed brown and black. I had previously considered it fashion law that one should NEVER pair black with brown or black with navy blue. This outfit consisted of a black turtleneck sweater, black miniskirt, black suede knee high boots, brown boho belt tied low on my waist, and brown handbag with some gold jewelry. I felt so chic in this look. At long last, I was learning that individuality is a wonderful thing.

Fashion?

So now you are probably wondering, when is this chick going to get to the good part? The part about fashion? Well, here goes...
I'll begin by saying that I grew up in a small town. In Indiana. The type of place where fashion is not a priority and maybe even ridiculed. I can't say that I was that girl who dressed like she stepped out of a Vogue editorial and was made fun of. Or that girl who looked cool in her thrift store outfit and was a total outcast. I wore the same kind of crap everyone else did and fit in just fine.
I had access to a mall about 30 miles away that had your typical mall stores. In high school I worshipped Abercrombie and had quite a preppy look. I always cared about what I was wearing and would plan my outfits each evening in preparation for school the next day. These outfits usually consisted of jeans and some kind of sweater or button down.
I read the teen fashion mags like Seventeen and YM (remember that one?), but I didn't get it. I was too busy emulating what my peers were wearing. It was the late 90's and the internet was not what it is today. Imagine a time with no fashion blogs, I shudder at the thought!
While we're on the subject of 90's fashion, I'd like to take a moment to discuss a few of the embarrassing things I wore back then. First, there were tapered jeans. These are not comparable to today's skinny jeans. I'm talking tapered at the ankle and a bit roomy up top. Not flattering. Then there was the flannel shirt/grungy look with some platform off-white lace-up Vans sneakers. Now I know flannels have made a comeback but just picture an oversized brown plaid flannel shirt with the tapered jeans and Vans, yuck! My only accessory was my backpack. Did I even have jewelry? I don't think so, perhaps just my Guess watch. Later came khakis and tops that said "Abercrombie and Fitch" on them. Snooze.
I can recall one of my classmates who most considered stylish. She was the only person in school to get some Doc Marten combat boots. I recall thinking they looked cool, but there was no way I would have worn them. She also shaved the bottom half of her head. A little too edgy for my former fashion self.
My evolution will continue next time...

The next step

  Optometry school wasn't bad. I studied quite a bit and did well in my classes, but I had time to have fun too. It seemed like a good choice and I enjoyed helping others see better. I went on to a residency program where I learned a lot about eye diseases and then I was ready to go out into the "real world."
  I decided to move to Chicago. After spending most of my life either in a small town or a college town, the idea of the big city was thrilling! Plus, I had friends there and it wasn't too far away from my family. Win-win!
  Before I made the big move I got hired by an ophthalmologist. This job was ideal, I would work in private practice right in the Loop! The downside quickly became apparent: I would also have to commute to the burbs a few days a week AND would have to work most Saturdays, bleh.  But, hey, it was (still is?) a recession, I should be happy to have a job, right? I guess that's what I should've thought, but that's not really my style.
  So I went along my way. I found a great apartment in lively Lakeview (neighborhood on the north side of Chicago, includes Wrigleyville) just about 2 blocks from my best friend. She happens to be an amazing interior designer, so it didn't take long for us to paint and decorate my apartment. I had a job, friends, and a home I loved. Life was good :)
 

And so on...

My story continued:

  So there I was, in my junior year of college. I had spent two and a half years preparing for this next step on my path to becoming a doctor. All of a sudden, I didn't want it anymore. I remember breaking the news to my parents, if they were disappointed it certainly didn't show. In fact, I was a bit surprised at how supportive they were. My parents only wanted me to be happy. They even setup a meeting with a hospital administrator after I said that I might want to go in that direction. Turned out, I didn't. 

  I no longer was able to declare with confidence, "I'm going to be a doctor." I actually felt relieved to admit that I had no idea what I was going to do. I was getting to a place where other people's opinions didn't matter as much and I felt at ease. 

  I was talking to my Dad one day and he mentioned that my cousin had been accepted to optometry school. I didn't know much about optometry as I had only had my eyes checked once in my life. It sounded great though: only 4 more years of school and she would be a "doctor." One of the scariest things about med school had been the thought of a good 8 more years of school. That sounded like a prison sentence! I mean, I could handle 4 more years, right?

  I did some research about optometry and then quickly made up my mind. I would go to optometry school! What else was I going to do with a degree in health sciences? I certainly didn't want to be a dentist. Teeth gross me out :) 

  I breezed through the admission test and the interview. My life was figured out again. Or at least I was pretty sure it was...

Hmmmm

  Have you ever woken up and wondered what you were doing with your life? Like, how did I end up here? I can't pinpoint one day in particular, it seemingly happened gradually. This is not a new story. I know I'm not the first person who has gone through something like this. You see, I had had my whole life planned out. I would go to college and then enter medical school. I would become a compassionate and competent doctor, the type patients adored and peers envied.
  The idea was completely logical. I was a straight "A" student in high school and I especially excelled in science and math. I came from a family who valued education, which quickly became one of my values too. I'll never forget proclaiming at the ripe age of 8 that I wanted to be a hairstylist when I grew up. I mean, I loved playing with my dolls' hair, how hard could it be? To this my parents promptly replied, "you'll never make money doing that!" It was at that moment that I knew I had to do something bigger with my life. Something that would make my family proud, something prestigious.
  I idolized doctors. They were so smart and they saved lives. They were respected by the entire community. My uncle was a doctor, my grandmother a nurse. I could see how proud she was to have a doctor for a son. I wanted my parents to be that proud of me. I liked this idea so much, I didn't consider any other options.
  So off I went to start my undergrad degree in premed. It was as though it was set in stone. Along came my junior year when preparation for the MCAT, the med school admission test, crept up on me. I developed a sinking feeling as I started to study. I knew it wasn't nerves as I hadn't had problems with exams in the past. In fact, my grades were excellent, a product of long hours in the library. I just had a nagging feeling that maybe this wasn't the right path for me.
  This feeling forced me to examine my goals. Was this really what I wanted? Was I doing this for the right reason? My gut said no. It was this time in my life where I learned to listen to my gut and make some changes. More on this later...