N'S OBSESSIONS ... TAKE 4 (ALL THINGS LONDON)

in a few weeks time i am packing up a portion of my belongings into a few suitcases, taking j with me and heading across the ocean to begin my adventures as a graduate student in london, england :) ... i am so excited to start my master's ... so this edition of n's obsessions is dedicated to all things london ... aka the waterproof, warm and of course stylish :) i am a bit of a nerd for supplies and i seriously cannot wait to get a chance to use these

1. flowered waterproof laptop bag ... i found this bag at my local indigo bookstore of all places and immediately fell in love ... i am not naive and i know that it is going to rain and rain and rain whilst i am there so this is the perfectly stylish solution to protecting my laptop and books

seriously how cute is this bag?!?!

2. houndstooth rubber booties ... my mom is well aware of my obsession with all things black and white and she found these super cute booties last spring for me to wear when i was outdoors on recess supervision in the puddles ... they remind me of a certain girl who is also in love with houndstooth and that makes me smile when i wear them

these are like shoes and probably won't be the best for those super rainy days ... but i will wait to buy a pair of unique rain boots until i get to london

3. a hoodie built for the elements of england ... this jacket is a waterproof wind resistant fuzzy lined comfort ... perfect for those crisp days to come and it was found at costco so you know the price is always right :)

4. my plaid fulton umbrella ... one cannot take a trip to london without an umbrella ... i came across this one at a small luggage and travel shop and i was immediately sold ... i mean it's a london based company that solely makes umbrellas and it is commissioned by appointment to her majesty queen elizabeth 2 ... could it get more british than that?

5. coach purse ... so this summer n's sister little j started working at a local coach store and little j one day came to the house very excited and said that she found the perfect london purse for me ... it's waterproof, mostly black and came with a ridiculously low price tag ... so this purse is now in my possession and is used on rainy days here and can't wait to travel to london with me

cheers ~n

AM I OBSESSED? ... YOU TELL ME

the inspiration ... photo courtesy of a most fantastic blog: three men and a lady ... i was smitten the second i saw this and wanted to put this somewhere design in the house somewhere but wasn't sure until now

this is actually the office closet but

i forgot to take a picture before the paint job

... the closets used to be dark but

then you couldn't see anything when you went in them

... so enter the boring white bedroom closet

tape out the stripes ...

i decided to keep the stripe width the same but differed the distance between the stripes

paint the stripes and wait

remove the tape and admire

the finished product

enter the storage boxes from ikea

(i love the clean white look of these)

even the new light in the closet looks fancy

ta da ... a clean organized closet

will probably put another shelf underneath this one for the 2 boxes but that is for a much later time ... we have lots of other projects to finish

his and hers laundry baskets ...

all neat and tidy

it's nice to have an unexpected twist on an otherwise boring closet

cheers ~n

IN MY HOUSE IT'S BLACK AND WHITE

anyone who knows n knows that she has a love to the point of obsession with black and white photographs, paintings, posters of buildings, cityscapes and landscapes and any other decorating ... now don't get me wrong i love an amazingly beautiful colored painting ... in someone else's house ... in my house it is black and white ... i actually had a really hard time debating with j about letting these into the house ... my reasoning to allow them was 1 - they were paris and london, 2 - they were a very dark brown and black with highlights of white and 3 - they were actual paintings instead of just a picture ... you may be laughing right now at how ridiculous that sounds but just ask j and little j (my youngest sis) ... we spent a good hour talking about these points in the store and now i am so glad that i caved and allowed a slight variation of color into our house

now just because i gave in once doesn't mean i'm willing to continue to do this ... i see lots of great colorful pieces but they still don't belong in my house ... i know putting this out in the internet world will bring criticism about how plain and boring my house is ... i know it will come ... i follow apartment therapy ... people's comments can be cruel

but i don't care i like my boring black and white obsession and here is the proof:

cheers ~n

THEY'VE ARRIVED!!!!

finally got around to ordering j's birthday prints for the house ... here's a peak at the potential layout for the wall ... so exciting to have my own pictures become part of the artwork in the house ...

now just to head to a certain blue and yellow mega-store to buy some affordable picture frames ... that's for another day

cheers ~n

BLOG SLACKER

so instead of spending time posting pictures of the bathroom ensuite dormer n decided to go out shopping and spend some money at a much loved store ... ah sephora ... what a beautiful place with so many lovely things in such pretty packaging ... how can a girl resist?

nothing better than a little bag filled with all kinds of awesomeness

behold all the bright and shiny things

sometimes it's nice to take a break from all the dust and dirt and do something girly

cheers ~n

p.s. the pictures will be coming very soon

N'S OBSESSIONS ... TAKE 3

this post has taken me a few months to put together because exciting progress on the house conveniently got in the way :)

here is a list of n's current obsessions again in no particular order:

1. dior rain sunglasses ... last christmas n went to hawaii and had saved up her money and wanted to get some sparkly designer sunglasses ... n got a super sweet deal on some beautiful diors

aren't they pretty?

2. dior show blackout mascara ... j'adore dior ... the sunglasses n recently bought definitely biased the purchase of this mascara ... but it is something amazing ... thick black luscious lashes ... tinted with kohl pigments ... so super black ... what more could a girl want?

3. coach nikole winter boots ... christmas in hawaii had been kind ... another fabulous purchase ... my beautiful sparkly silver and black coach boots at 50% off... being surrounded by snow for so long it is crucial to have the feet warm and toasty and of course looking beautiful and fashionable ... and how many people can say that they bought winter boots in hawaii to bring home?

4. glee ... yes n knows that glee is on a hiatus because of a certain other singing show but n was able to catch up and has officially become a gleek ... the breaking out into song and choreographed dance, the high school drama, sue silvester (need i say more) and the cuteness between mr. schuester and emma keeps me watching and wanting more ... can't wait until april!!!

5. sherlock holmes ... yes the movie came out at christmas and n thought it was great but n's current obsession is with the sherlock holmes stories ... a fun who-dun-it mystery before bed is awesome

6. bosu class ... yes it is the blue half exercise ball and n absolutely loves taking the class ... a great cardio workout plus strength training, push ups and ab work ... a fun way to pass 50 minutes of working out and burn a lot of calories

cheers ~n

WHAT A GREAT FIND

so n knows that the sartorialist has been kicking around for quite sometime and spreading the fabulousness of fashion over the years. however n made a new discovery recently and it was in partnership with one of her favorite luxury brands ... burberry

nothing says classic fashion like a trench coat and burberry has perfected this since 1856. to n a fun marketing idea was born ... showcasing burberry trenches worn by everyday people in fabulous locations ... could it get any better than this? n doesn't think so

introducing the art of the trench ... all n can say that she is officially in love

cheers ~n

N'S OBSESSIONS ... TAKE 2

again in no particular order just some things that n is currently obsessed with

1. n's new sparkly puma ballerina slipper shoes from brown's ... for everyday and everywhere ... they are just so pretty and the most comfortable pair of shoes ... ever

side note - the people at brown's were the most fabulous n couldn't find her size in stock so they ordered her a pair in ... and she had 15 days to decide if she wanted to keep them :)

2. mad men ... both j and n's obsession ... can't get enough of the characters and all their problems, the swanky offices, american society and new york city in 1960

3. black and white coach purse ... n splurged and bought this last year in hawaii over christmas break and she still thinks it is so pretty and perfect and it totally goes with everything from jeans to dresses

4. london fog ... on perfectly rainy fall evening n and j stopped at a local coffee shop chain to purchase a drink to warm them up before heading to ikea to try and find a solution to their storage problem and voila a new fav drink was found ... steamed milk with earl gray tea and shots of vanilla ... mmm makes n want one right now

5. classic literature ... in a previous post n purchased 41 premier classic books from some literary greats for her birthday present ... she has since visited the time of little women, pride and prejudice, sense and sensibility, the awakening and is currently wrapped up in great expectations

6. photography ... since n started this blog it created a renewed passion for pictures and helped nudge her camera out of storage and start documenting life again

7. leggings and scarves ... with the cooler weather in the air both have been n's go to in her wardrobe to stay warm and stylish

... yes n is well aware that this is not her but this is the look that she loves so much

and is super glad that it's fall and she can wear lovely things like this

8. spin class ... the weather here is very unpredictable with snow one day, rain the next, gusting winds or gorgeous sunny days. sometimes that can all occur within the same day ... n had been riding her bike home but isn't equipped to try and make the trek through weather that isn't sunny and calm. so a much welcomed substitute ... spin class ... what a great way to burn tons of calories and keep conditioned through till spring

cheers ~n