You knew I wouldn't be able to stay away, right?

Find me here now.  Ta-da!

It is with bitersweet feelings that I announce...

the end of this blog.  It's been so fun writing and posting and I've been so inspired by other bloggers.  But, all good things must come to an end.  My life has become busier and busier and I no longer have the type of job that allows me the flexibility to post and read throughout the day.  That leaves the evenings and weekends to write, and truthfully, I've decided that time should be spent with my beloved Mr. DD, our precious new puppy and my darling girlfriends. 

To be honest, I haven't even read a blog in months.  So- I'm quitting while I'm ahead and signing off here.  Thanks for reading and commenting and following for the last 2 years.  Thanks for the great ideas, the recipes and the fashion.  Thanks for everything.


And...That's all she wrote.  ;)

I love a long weekend.

Hope you all enjoyed the 4th!  We went to Connecticut for some much needed R&R. 
We partied with a celebrity, ate like fat people, watched some amazing fireworks and and spent lots of time with our puppy.  She is the most precious thing ever and I have to keep reminding myself not to treat her like a baby.  Is that weird? 

She's finally here!

Introducing, the cutest, smartest, most precious puppy in the world.... LOLA!!

She's pretty much consuming all of my time, energy and attention at the moment, especially since Mr. DD has been out of town since the morning after we brought her home.  She's precious and I adore her.
And the moral of the story is this: enough whining/begging/pleading and your husband can be convinced of anything.

I've always dreamed of a bulldog, either French or English...

But this photo has me wondering if perhaps I would be better suited for a tiny pig in rainboots.
"Miniature pigs are sold only as pets, and therefore we know that, as all pets are, they will be played with … its important that nothing particularly worries them or gets stressful."
From here.

A late weekend post.

I hope everyone had a lovely weekend.  I certainly did.  I went to spinning, I went to yoga, I purged and reorganized my closet and donated 4 trash bags full of clothes and I had 2 (count 'em, TWO) dates with my husband.  Oh, and we learned to shuck our own oysters! Our oyster habit was getting a bit out of control, so we headed to my favorite place on earth, Chelsea Market, and bought a dozen oysters, gloves and a shucking knife.  It takes a little bit of practice, but they were so worth it.

Another debilitating habit that I've developed recently is juice.  For those of you who are not New Yorkers, allow me to explain.  There are delis on every corner of this city.  In many of those delis there are juice counters where you can pick your veggies and have them juiced right before your eyes.  As much as I love the juice, the neurotic side of me has always wondered how well the veggies were washed and I've felt uncomfortable about the fact that they are likely not organic.  So, this weekend, I busted out my 10-year-old Braun juicer and went to town.  Totally amazing. 

2 carrots, swiss chard, 2 apples and a lemon.

Voila!

It's a good thing that I realized all of these cost saving DIY tricks this weekend, cause there's nothing like a good closet purge to make you recognize that you need more clothes and shoes.

SYTYCD

I am obsessed with So You Think You Can Dance.  Really, truly, totally obsessed.  The truth is, I sob every week as I watch (the guy with scoliosis, the twin brothers... the list goes on).  Then I laugh hysterically as my husband tries to recreate the contemporary routines.  Who knew you could be so moved by dance.  Next to the performances, my favorite part of the show is Cat Deeley.  Could she be any more adorable?  I'm looking forward to an amazing season... and berating my parents for not putting me in dance classes.

Despite my hesitatations...

I've fallen hard for the American Apparel interlock skirt.  It's just beyond.  And despite my self imposed AA boycott, I may cave and get one in every color.  Fabulous, no?

I loved it then, I love it now.

I'm not ashamed to admit that I loved SATC2.  Despite the garish fashion, predictable plot lines, and cheesy one-liners, I always relate to SATC.  I can honestly say that there was never an episode that did not in some way resonate with me and the movies have done the same.  There's something I can relate to in everything Carrie Bradshaw Preston says and does.  Call me cheesy, but I can't help myself.  New York City is my favorite.  Great girlfriends are my favorite.  Sex and the City is my favorite.

It's Thursday morning...

 Photo from here.

And I have successfully completed my 3-day cleanse.  I've lost 6 pounds and I feel surprisingly good.  The best news though, is that I haven't killed my husband.  I came close a few times.  On Monday when he ordered Italian and on Wednesday when he brought home Mexican.  But he's still alive... and so am I.

All in all, the BluePrint Cleanse wasn't terrible.  I was never even really that hungry.  Drinking a bottle of juice every 2 hours keeps you full.  So full, in fact, that I was often unable to finish a few of the bottles each day.  I did, however, start obsessing about food half-way through day 2.  Like, very literally fantasizing... about chips and salsa.

I'm heading to West Palm this afternoon for a much needed getaway.  And I'm feeling far more confident about putting on my bikini.

Have a fabulous holiday weekend.  See you on the flip side :)

Cleanse me.

A 4-day getaway to West Palm Beach with a yoga instructor will make you do crazy things. On Thursday, we leave for Florida to spend Memorial Day with some dear friends. She is wonderful and sweet and... a yoga instructor with a sick body that I have to lay next to in a bikini. So, I am using this trip as an excuse to finally try the BluePrint Cleanse. Three days, 5 juices per day.  Nothing else.  No caffeine, no alcohol, no solid foods. 
Anyway, SJP is a devotee and if it's good enough for her, it's good enough for me.  Wish me luck, the torture begins this morning!

(This weekend, I had to "prepare" for my cleanse but cutting back on caffeine and sugar and meat and dairy and alcohol, so cleansing was certainly on my mind.  On Saturday night I dreamed that it arrived at my apartment and I opened the box to find cartons of cigarettes.  I had mistaknely signed up for the "cigarette cleanse," where you smoke cigarettes all day every day, instead of the juice cleanse.  I was so relieved to wake up.)

Who said one-piece suits are frumpy?

I'm digging this one.

From anthropologie, like all the other good stuff...

I love you, bad-ass clock:

I love you, cross-body bags:

Badgley Mishka

Anthropologie

Joe's Jeans

I love you, Stefon:

Imitating Americans...

Sure, I can do a great fake Chinese, French, German and Italian, but I always wonder how non-English speakers imitate American English?  Here's a hilarious and brilliant answer to the question.  Enjoy!

I feel special!

A lovely and flattering feature about Mr. DD and I on my wedding planner's site!! 

Next to marrying Mr. DD, hiring this wedding planner was the best wedding related decision I made.  There, I said it.

We (still) heart Vera

Look who graced the cover of NY Mag!

Louisa Settee available at Anthropologie.

As someone who dresses up to fly, I can totally identify with this cartoon.

From here.

Always here.

Poor Mr. DD is required to complete a number of "residence weeks" during graduate school.  Essentially he and all of his classmates are holed up in a hotel in Jersey attending classes from 8am-8pm for 7 straight days.  Sounds like fun, right?  Anyway- he leaves tomorrow and I won't see him all week.  So close, yet so far away.

I love this, don't you?  From le love.

A whole week without a post.... whoops.

I'll be honest with you, dear blog readers, I typically write and schedule all of my posts for the week on the weekend prior.  Occasionally, I will write something mid-week, but things get pretty busy around here.  I'm lucky if I get a chance to read blogs, let alone write for my own. 
So, as I mentioned, I flew home for mother's day and spent an amazing weekend playing quite a few rounds of this:

learning even more about how fabulous he is:

getting talked into camping out (on my mother's porch) with these two (we made it until about 4am):

and just generally enjoying the hell out of my family.

And I dare you to tell me this isn't the cutest rendition you've ever heard:

But alas, I didn't get to any blogging, which explains my absence last week.  Hope you didn't miss me too much ;)

Oh mama...

I'm hopping a plane to Virginia this evening to spend the weekend celebrating my fabulous mama and spending every moment possible with my rose and my wildflower.  It's always nice to go back to what was home.  It's always nice to come back to what is home.  Have a wonderful Mother's Day weekend!  Here's to mamas!

Ps: Don't you just love a peony?  I'm obsessed.  I can't walk past the bodega without buying a few bunches.

"This time baby, I'll be bulletproof."

This is my favorite song of the moment and my personal mantra.  I blast it on my ipod as I march to work every morning.  Yes, it's been a few of those kind of months.

Lusting.

Bag by Marc by Marc Jacobs.  Someone's been spending a bit too much time browsing Bergdorf's lately.... But admit it, the bag is beyond, no?

(Just don't tell the hubs.  He's not been pleased with my spending habits of late.  Oooops.)

Met Gala: 2010

Yes!  Dear Blake, you are tan and lovely and your legs go on for days.  That dress is right up my alley.

Yes!  SJP, As far as I am concerned, you can do no wrong.  Ever.  Let's cut to the chase already and be BFFs.

 

Yes!  Dear adorable-little-nugget-from-that-movie-about-the-awkward-teenage-magician, I've never seen your films, but you look adorable.

No!  Sienna!  What are you doing?  He's a pig and a creep and I thought you already learned your lesson.  Run for your life!

Ex-factor

Photo from here.

On Monday night Mr. DD and I had dinner with his (extremely pregnant and beyond adorable) ex-girlfriend and her husband.  We had the best time.  I realize that some people find this kind of thing odd.  Plenty of people look at me sideways when I tell them about encounters with exes.  It seems that there are 2 very distinct ends of the spectrum.  On one end there are those that stay very close to their exes and others that never speak another word after a break-up.  Mr. DD and I find ourselves planted firmly at the former end.  We love a good ex, actually.  Now granted, some of our exes don't love us... especially mine.  (What can I say?  I'm a heart-breaker; guilty as charged.)  There are even a handful that likely hate our guts.  And of course, they are entitled to those feelings.  However, it seems bizarre to me to spend any amount of time in a relationship with someone and then sever every last tie.  I don't want to do it.  And I'm glad that my husband doesn't either... because, frankly I totally love his ex.  In fact, every time we see her, I find myself shaking my head in disappointment and saying to him, "Geez, you really blew it with her.  She's super-great.  You missed the boat on that one, sucker."

Girl crush

I have a total girl crush on Kate Lanphear.  And why wouldn't I, right?
Dream job: check
Dream hair color: check
Dream wardrobe: check
Enough said.

I jacked these photos from all over the internet.  Just FYI.

Fannypack!

When is the last time you thought of a fannypack?
I mean, there was that hilarious and ridiculous song a few years back by the group "Fannypack;"

 

but besides that, it's been years right...

Then, all of the sudden I started seeing them again. Very rarely, and mostly on European-looking tourists traipsing through Times Square, but I was noticing them. Then, the other day I met a friend for a pedicure and a picnic in the park. On our way out she grabbed a fanny pack and snapped it on... And I was IN LOVE.  I had to have one.  Hers was from American Apparel, a company that I refuse to support. 

So, the search was on.  I knew I could turn to etsy, the site that never fails me.  And once again, I struck gold when I set my sights on this beauty from redbirdstyle:

And on moi!

the adorable pink interior:

The truth is, my purchase was met with some dissent from my girlfriends, though all the protests disappeared once they set eyes on this fabulous bag.  I wore it all weekend and let me tell you, never have I felt freer than when I'm handbag-less. Highly recommend.