First Blogiversary!

Hi friends! I hope you are all having a terrific Thursday, and for any east coast readers, I hope you aren't too shaken (see what I did there :)) from our quake and are ready for natural disaster round two with Hurricane Irene! Quite the interesting weather we are having lately, huh? In all seriousness, be safe everyone! 

So I am now officially late in celebrating my own blogiversary, which is possibly the most pathetic thing ever! If even I don't have time to celebrate, who does?? Mais, c'est la vie! And don't think that I am canceling the hoopla just because it's a belated hoopla! Hooplas are way too much fun to just be cancelled willy nilly. The party must go on! Dolls, if I had it my way what I would do to celebrate one year of blogging is to throw a gigantanormous (so big it needs its own word) party and invite each and every one of you who have made the last year as amazing as it has been. We'd get all dolled up (duh), nibble cupcakes and other delicious morsels and sip some bubbly! And I'd hug all you beautiful people and say thank you for the support, the laughs and the inspiration that you have provided throughout the year. Oh, and I'd tell you that I absolutely die for your adorable purse/necklace/dress etc, but that is really a given considering how utterly fabulous you all are. Now, since it would be rather impossible to actually throw this marvelous soiree, I am doing the next best thing: hosting an online virtual tea party! Yes, ladies, get out your best tea dresses and throw on whatever elegant baubles you deem necessary and join in my virtual fun! Linkup your darling concoctions below and one lucky lady will be leaving the party with a dozen custom cupcakes from the best cupcake shop ever: GEORGETOWN CUPCAKES! All you have to do is submit your teaparty-worthy outfit and be a follower for your chance to have the cupcakes sent straight to your door! 

If you are really gaga over cupcakes (and trust me, you will be over these cupcakes) and want extra entries to winning the delectable dozen you can tweet about this giveaway/linkup party, post about it on facebook/your blog, or like A La Mode et Plus on facebook! Just make sure you let me know that you did. 

In case you were wondering, this is what I'll be wearing, paired with these heels!
Wearing: Betsey Johnson dress, Steve Madden heels, Michael Kors watch, forever 21 earrings, gifted rings and bracelet. 

Now I want to see what vous are wearing! So show me those stylish outfits girls and one lucky lady will get to enjoy delectable cupcakes of her choosing!

Bisous!

5 miles and an interview

Hola amigos! Happy (late) Friday (almost Saturday). I hope you are all excited for the weekend, but really, how could you not be? I am excited about two things tonight. Can you guess what they are?? C'mon they are right in front of you. Yea, there you go. I knew you'd figure it out :) But in case you didn't and you are just pretending I will go ahead and tell you. I got a call tonight from an editorial editor... asking if I could come in for an interview next week!! Yes, I am beyond pumped! I know there is absolutely no guarantee from it, but an interview is the first step! It is a really great paper, and I wouldn't have to move. All very good things. I'm a little superstitious so I don't want to say too much in case i jinx it, but I'll share more after the interview (maybe). 

The second excitement inducing event of the evening occurred directly after the phone call, so it is probably a result of the interview. I was going out for a run and my goal was just 3 miles, since I had 4 for the first time yesterday and my hip was really hurting. But I felt amazingly good the whole time, so I pushed myself and ended up doing 5 miles for the first time EVER! I was so excited. It was also the first time that i enjoyed myself during the run, and not just afterwards. I think I am starting to like this thing... I took it as a sign that it was time to finally sign up for a 10k I had been keeping on the back burner. So now I am officially signed up to run 6.2 miles in about a month and I am actually excited. Who woulda thunk it? Certainly not this girl who whined and complained when her roommate made her run for 15 minutes a day :)

I know neither of these has absolutely anything to do with fashion and I don't even have any pictures for you to go with the news, so hopefully you will just understand that I wanted to share my double excitement with you. And I have an actual post for you on Sunday so I'll se you then! 

Bisous! 

Truck, truck, Truckeroo!

Salut mes amis! Is it just me or does that post title sound like a redneck version of duck duck goose? Just me? Gdangit. I guess that is what happens when you decide to write a blog post at 5:56 am because you can't go back to sleep after your puppy wakes you up. All I  can say is he is lucky he's cute.

I'm not sure if it's the Elle September issue sitting on my bed next to me, the disgusting humidity that we have dealt with nonstop for the last 5 weeks or the beautiful blush blazer hanging (unworn) in my closet but all my thoughts seemed to have turned to fall! Or more accurately, how I can't wait for it to be fall. All I keep thinking about is enjoying those perfect autumn afternoons of horseback riding and apple picking while wrapped in light but cozy sweaters. Can it please be late September/early October already?!

Since I've heard many (incorrect) guesses as to what the heck Truckeroo is all about here is a very brief synopsis: Once a month in the summer a bunch of food trucks park in this parking lot. They all cook different foods. They sell said foods. I buy their delicious food. End of story. 

Dress/Belt: Urban Outfitters, Sandals: Rainbows (via Roommate), Headband: Target, Earrings: Forever 21, Sunnies: Marc by Marc Jacobs, Orange ring: Amrita Singh, Other ring: Grandmother's vintage, Watch: Michael Kors, Leather bracelet: Eastern Market vendor, Gold bangles: Amrita singh, Bag: Kohl's 

I think this was my nervous "people are looking" laugh. 

This headband didn't really leave my head all weekend, starting with the Wicked performance on Thursday and ending with holding my hair out of my face during my run on Sunday. 

I have been intrigued by the tribal print trend this summer, but weary of trying it for myself until I happened upon this dress on the sale rack last week at Urban Outfitters. The cream lace-like top helped tone down the sometimes overwhelming tribal print, the airy fabric made it ideal for the disgustingly hot temperatures we are contending with and the $20 price tag sent it soaring home with me! 

I think I can count on one hand the number of times you all have seen me wear flip flops on this blog, but I have learned my lesson the hard way this summer that when I am going to be walking around DC, there is just really no heeled shoe that will do. And believe me- I've tested them all. Wedges, espadrilles, chunky heels, low heels- they all failed me. So hopefully you can accept these flip flops for the sake of my poor feet. 

I have been so into the arm full of bangles look, paired with my MK watch, but I hardly wore it when I was working all week, because the bangle jangle isn't very practical in a cubicle environment. But it is not even remotely noticeable when walking around Truckeroo. Solution? I should work at Truckeroo! Able to rock the bangles, AND I fix my unemployment situation. See what I did there? :)

Apparently this is my "sexy face" since roommate said be sexy, and I did this. I think it needs work...

Proudly showing off my first food truck purchase! Pleased to say that DC Empanadas is DELICIOUS! I will definitely be a repeat customer. 

Just to prove that I'm not making that name up!

And to show you that not all my food comes from trucks, I present you with the campfires cupcake from Georgetown Cupcake that college roomie and I got for *free* on Saturday! No, I did not five finger discount it, people. If you follow this delectable store on twitter you know that each day they have 100 secret flavor cupcakes available for free, but only if you ask for the secret cupcake by name. Oh the joy that Gtown cupcake brings to my life!

Bisous!

Long overdue

Aloha chicas! I hope you have all had a superb week and are preparing for a totally rad weekend. And yes, I am most definitely bringing back words like superb and rad. Next on my list of "over the top but awesome nonetheless" words to bring back to life is tubular. Who is with me?

I don't know about you, but I think it is high time that Awkward and Awesome Thursday made a resurgence on here! And wouldn't you know it- today is Thursday! It couldn't have been more perfect if I had planned it. Oh but wait... I did.

Awkward:
-Inviting brand new friends over to my apartment last night and having the whole place smell wretched because my "special cat" had many accidents while we were gone. It was the absolute worst our place has ever smelled. Yea, we'll be lucky if they ever come over again.
-People who talk in public restrooms from the stalls. Seriously. Just do your business in silence and finish your conversations later people.
-Totally forgetting that your maintenance man told you he was going to be in the apartment when you got back from walking the dog and the conversation occurred less than 20 minutes ago, yet when you get back in the house and you see a large man in the apartment you instinctively let out a loud gasp which makes him feel very guilty and you feel dumb. Takes the awkward cake for the week I think. Or maybe poopey apartment does...
-How terribly unfunny I am in this segment of Awk and Awes. I think I am off my game. Will be ready next week to knock it out of the park!

Seeing my favorite musical with my favorite people. Doesn't get any better than that!

Fabulous night at the Kennedy Center! I love excuses to get all dressed up :)

Dress: Belk or Dillards (can't remember) Bought for senior dance in college, Shoes: White House Black Market, Necklace/Earrings: Gifted, Bracelet/Ring: Personal Accents, Headband: Target, Purse: Kohl's

I love them more than I can even express. 

Awesome: 

-If you haven't figured it out from the photos in this post by now, I got to see my favorite musical tonight with my two favorite people: WICKED!! It was just as amazing as the first time, and possibly a little bit better because I knew all the music this time around! Although, I wasn't in London and I wasn't with college roomie, so maybe they cancel each other out. Either way, the play and the company were fantastic and I want to go back! 

-The mouthwateringly good three course dinner we had tonight before the show. French food is parfait because they give you just the right amount! Tonight we dined like kings and queens and I thoroughly enjoyed my rare seared tuna, salmon and chocolate souffle! 

-Wednesday nights. Yep, they rock now that roommate and I have taken up playing kickball on the mall! Our team rocks, on and off the field and I am having such a blast making new friends. Especially the ones that put up with our "poopey smelling" apartment, thanks to tippy cat. 

-College roomie coming for a visit on Saturday!!! 

-Sitting in my room singing wicked songs in the middle of the night but trying not to wake up my roommate. 

-Truckeroo and Jazz in the Garden tomorrow! Basically just excuses to eat a lot of bad for me food and call it a day. 

I sure do have one gorgeous mumsicle! 

I am so incredibly blessed to have this kid not only as my brother, but as my best friend. Even in heels he towers over me. 

Overlooking the Potomac River. My apartment is off to the right somewhere. 

When did my brother get so handsome and grown up?? P.S. ladies... this guy is available and he is quite the catch. I'm not biased at all! :)

Bonne nuit, mes amis!

Bisous! 

A picture perfect weekend

Bonsoir bellas! I hope you are all soaking up the last minutes of weekend awesomeness! Isn't that what Sundays were made for? To sit around and reflect about the epic occurrences of the last two days. Gosh I hope so, otherwise I am a very bad Sunday-er. 

I know they say perfection doesn't exist- and I agree. But I would nominate this weekend for the "close as you can come to perfection" award any day! Delicious food, fun atmospheres and the best friends a girl could even dream of. What more could I want? Well, maybe one more day to bask in the glory. Hope that isn't too tall of an order... The weekend kicked off on a high note Thursday when my best friend from college arrived (after a loooong day of bus/train rides) in DC to spend the weekend with me! Love the chica so much, and as always we had a blast catching up. We kept it chill on Thursday and relaxed with a pizza made by roommate and champagne. Perfect ladies night. We continued our excellent eating Friday with Ben and Jerry's for lunch and shopping as our cardio. Friday night was a night of mayhem when 11 of us got to together for a dinner at one of my all time favorite restaurants- Cactus Cantina. Shout-out to my cousins for introducing me to the amazeballs that is Cactus! I think we all rolled out of there after consuming copious amounts of homemade chips and salsa... plus our dinners. Saturday we continued the tour of Georgetown dining and finally got to check out a restaurant we had been dying to try: Mie N Yu. We went for brunch and basically had the whole place to ourselves, which was fine because we thoroughly enjoyed wandering around to check out the differently decorated rooms and tables. Ours was an elevated turkish tent complete with throw pillows. Finally, Saturday night was spent in the excellent company of my brother and some of his/my friends. Let's just say we all stayed up talking until 6 am... and I had to be awake at 8 am. Not my smartest move ever, but I don't regret it one bit :) And I really meant to veg out all day today and recover from our exhausting weekend, but my dad had other plans. So we went for a long bike ride along the waterways of Georgetown instead. At least I felt slightly better about the heinous amounts of bad (but oh so yummy) food I ate this weekend!

What made the weekend so terrific...

Getting dressed up for a fun dinner out with these lovely ladies... and Stephen. 

Eating an incredible brunch at this ADORABLE restaurant called Mie N Yu

Being totally goofy and making faces likes these

Spending time with the most wonderful people! 

I would say that this weekend would be impossible to top, but college roomie is coming to visit next weekend, along with two college friends of current roommate! So in reality anything could happen :)

Bisous!

The one that took an hour

Greetings friends! You may or may not remember me, but I am the girl who used to blog here on a regular basis. No? Not ringing any bells? Well it is understandable since I have been in and out, in and out about a hundred times lately and keep promising that the absences will stop. And before you know it I am gone for another week. I really thought I would have more time to spend with you all while I'm not working. But turns out that finding a job really is a full-time job! And it isn't one that pays very well, so really it is the pits.

So I think I can safely say we all have those days where we just aren't liking any clothing combination we try, right? Well, lately that has been every day for me, thus why you haven't been hearing from me as often. I think I really like my fall/winter wardrobe so much better because I do better layering than I do in summertime, when I want to be wearing as little as possible. Today was particularly bad though, because this was the first thing I tried on, and I initially was happy with it. Then I made the mistake of trying a skirt with the tank, instead of shorts, which is when all h-e-double hockey sticks broke loose. I proceeded to try on practically every garment in my closet, and get more and more disgusted with each wardrobe change. It was a nightmare. Approximately one hour later (no exaggeration friends) I was standing before the mirror wearing this same outfit that I had started in. Roommate couldn't help but laugh. What makes it even worse is I had worn the outfit last night when I met up with friends for drinks, and had received many compliments on it, so I really should have felt very confident about it. But I wasn't. I'm still not so sure after seeing pictures. But I think I will use my energy on more productive matters than worrying about an outfit that has already been worn-- twice. Like maybe picking up my disastrous room that is now littered with every item in my closet. Woopsies...

Tank: Banana Republic, Shorts: Charlotte Russe, Shoes: Betsey Johnson, Clutch: Banana Republic, Ring: grandmother's vintage, Earrings: Forever 21

I cannot believe I did not get one single photo while I had my spray tan. I swear to you, though, that for a good 8 days or so I had actual color on my body! It was amazing. But now we have resumed our regularly scheduled pasty legs programming. Enjoy. 

For once, I can take credit for my hairstyle! Yes folks, I actually did this one all on my own without roommate. I know, it sure does take a lot of styling genius to pull a few pieces of hair back and bobby pin them in place. Think I should go pro? 

I have been rocking this clutch more than I care to admit! But I can't help it. The clutch is perfectly sized for nights out. I can even fit my ridiculously large brush inside if I really want to. I don't have to skimp when I bring this baby out. Plus, it just adds a fun, edgy element to any outfit- even over the top girly outfits with lace and hot pink shoes. 

Roommate loves to capture me in motion. 

If you follow me on twitter you heard me talking already about how much I LOVE my gel manicure, but in case you missed it... I LOVE my gel manicure! It is the first time I have ever done it, but I can't get over how good my nails look days later. No chips and they are still super shiny. Again, I LOVE it! 

I affectionately call these my barbie shoes! They are almost "too pink"- even for me. Hey, I said almost. Note the cute designs on my toes, though! Mumsicle treated me to an out of this world pedicure with her on Sunday and boy of boy was it heaven. Lots of massaging and foot rubbing and general goodness! Not to mention cute little drawings on my toes that I could never imagine doing on my own. 

What do you all do when you have "I hate my entire closet" days? Do you have some routine to overcome the mental aversion to your wardrobe, or do you just supplement it with new and exciting items? I am really hoping it isn't the second one, because then my unemployed self will be very jealous of all you lucky shopping ladies. So bring me some good news, dolls...

Bisous!