Kate Spade Fall 2013

It's that time of year again! The time where the heat begins to recede, and the evenings get a little bit breezier, and then suddenly it transitions into the season to trump all other seasons: Autumn! Or Fall, whichever you prefer. Though, it goes without saying what I personally prefer are fabulous jackets, cute sweaters, and hats. Enter the Kate Spade Fall 2013 Lookbook! I want everything. Obviously. But especially everything in the yellow and black sections...What are some of your favorites?

Glamping!

When I stumbled across this photo series on Buzzfeed, I just had to share! I have always been a fan of summer camp, having gone to good ole' Camp Frederick quite a few times back in Ohio. But many of the East Coasters I know got to go away to 4 or even 8 week camps almost every year as kids and early teenagers, just like in Bug Juice. Stilling sighing with jealousy! I looooved camp.

How glam are these camp counselors from the 1950s in the photo below? They are up an at-em with their cute little penoir sets and their red lips! I imagine there were some pretty lucky male counselors at the all-boys camp across the lake, just waiting for their chance to spot these bathing beauties in their binoculars. "Just because you're in the woods, it's no excuse not to look your best!" quoth Phyllis Nefler in the classic film, Troop Beverly Hills. Let that be a lesson to us all!

Photo via Buzzfeed

Goodbye Captiva!

I have been having a simply marvelous time on Captiva, in our beachfront cottage! I never ever want to leave. Though, I am sadly aware that the week is coming to an end. I will say, though, the best part about returning to New York City is remembering that I live in a city that plenty of people go to on their vacations. And I'm lucky enough to call it my home. Love you, New York, and I'll see you any day now!

Vacation: All I Ever Wanted!

Well, pardon me for the Go-go's reference! But I will be out of the blogging office for a nice long vacation on Captiva Island in Florida. There will be sun, there will be sand, there will be shells...and there will be plenty of Instagrams! Toodaloo!

JSQ Instagrams

I am the last person you'll catch stopping to smell the roses, and unfortunately that also translates to snapping iPhone pictures of said roses. But I am using this summer to participate more in my life, versus breezing through every day on a racetrack to an imaginary finish line. Part of this goal is to snap at least few pictures every day. See a few of my best shots, and a few shameless "selfies" below. And follow me on Instagram here (username: jennasaisquois) for more!

Friday Beach Fever

Happy Friday everyone! After plenty of rain in New York City, it looks like we're finally shaping up to have a beautiful, sunny weekend. My plan is to celebrate by taking myself out for a lovely little beach day. Mostly in anticipation of the fact that I am heading off to Sanibel Island next month for a real-live relaxing week-long beach vacation, which means that I should probably get used to the unfamiliar feeling of the sun on my extremely pale, freckled skin. Below are a few must-have beach items that are perfect for the Fourth of July, or just a red-hot day in the sun!

1  Cordelia Shades from Kate Spade 
2  Leghila Beach Tote from Farfetch
3  Jonathan Adler Beach Towel from Layla Grace
4  Bathing Beauty one-piece in red from Modcloth
5  Semi Matte lipstick in Heat Wave from Nars
6  Archer Sandals in Coral from Anthropologie

Call Me, Maybe?

There are sooo many good jams songs about telephones...from Blondie, to The Backstreet Boys (a millennial classic), right down the the Song of 2012 from Carly Rae Jepson. Though I have to admit I am not personally very good at answering my telephone–SORRY friends and family! Yes, I'm aware it means I'm a bit antisocial if I prefer texting, and sort of can't remember a time before my iPhone was more for apps than conversation. But, after contemplating the purchase of few of these vintage phones on Etsy, purely for decoration, I can kind of see why the Telephone Hour was so popular.

1 Red 1980's Desk Phone – $42.50
2 Mustard 1980's Swedish-made Phone – $54.00
3 Yellow Push-Button Phone – $75.00
4 Vintage Green Rotary Phone – $27.50
5 Vintage Green USSR-Made Rotary Phone – $19.00
6 Vintage Purple USSR-Made Rotary Phone – $39.00

Come and Get It!

Image snapped at an Anthropologie display in the Chelsea Market

I hope your weekends are full of cold milk, striped straws, and plastic fresh pear pies, like in this Anthro display!

This weekend, I'll be cooking a few meals from Skinnytaste.com, going to a friend's Russian-themed birthday party, doing about six loads of laundry, and most importantly taking some much needed time out to relax! What do you have planned?

June is Bustin Out All Over!

Forgive the "Carousel"/Leslie Uggams reference, but I am so thrilled that Summer is here! Well, sort of...New York City has been experience some fairly heinous weather lately that has felt a bit more like October. But I have decided not to let that cramp my excitement!

With the start of my second summer here in the Big Apple, I wanted to share with you some of my summer favorites that I've been reading/listening to on my commute.

The Age of Innocence | Edith Wharton 
This old New York story is full of lust, scandal, and impropriety all wrapped up in a 'Society' package.

New York Diaries | Edited by Teresa Carpenter
This compilation of journal and diary entries, each written on one of the 365 days in a year, spans four centuries of New York life.

No One Belongs Here More Than You | Stories by Miranda July
This book of short stories are conversational and thought-provoking and I enjoy Miranda's quirky take on subjects from the mundane to the self-actualizing.

The Heavy: a Mother, a Daughter, a Diet | Dara-Lynn Weiss
This book has been the topic of much debate, especially when it comes to parenting and dieting/relationships with food. But I ultimately admire this mother's choice to put her 7-year-old daughter on a diet after reading this insightful book.

All of these tunes can be found on my Spotify playlist Perfect Summer, shown below. Give it a listen and leave a comment listing a few of your favorite reads and tunes this summer!

Kate Spade Queries

My fashion philosophy revolves around a bit of wisdom passed down from my mother: If you really love it, get it in every color! This has served me well, especially in moments where I just can't quite decide between two amazing items. In fact, it is in those very moments where I'm confronted with a tidal wave of self-reflection and existentialism. Who am I? What does this say about me? Am I a Joan or a Betty? A Jessa or a Marnie? A Samantha or a Charlotte? (...An advertising drone or a blogger...hmmm?)

Anyway, my unwavering enthusiasm for Kate Spade is large in part due to the diverse color palettes, style offerings, and perfect balance of kitsch and classicism. Lucky for me, this means I don't have to make any rash decisions just yet!

So...tell me. Who are you today?

Celina Dress in Zinnia Pink and French Navy

Karolina Pump in Silver  |  Karolina Bow Pump in Pale Pink

Lincoln Square Little Kennedy in Fresh White/Natural and Belflower/True Navy

Mad Men Recap: The Doorway

Season 6, Episode 1: The Doorway brought back all of our favorite characters, up to their usual tricks, during the holiday season of 1967. Honestly, I was always a bit scared for the show to move out of the pseudo "perfection" of the late 50s and into the cultural turmoil of the mid-to-late 60s. But mostly what truly worried me was the fashion turmoil. Of course, taking one look at the style evolution of either Harry Crane or Joan proved my suspicions to be correct. Though one character has calmed my nerves about the fashions of the time period, and her name is Megan Calvet Draper.

In this episode alone, Megan rocked an amazing bikini, 3 punchy printed beach coverups, an ahhmazing sunhat, round sunglasses, and that was just in Hawaii! Being back in NYC brought her into a fabulous leopard fur coat with an epic hat to match, effortlessly glam New Years Eve sportswear, and her very own fondue pot from Bloomingdale's...She is a soap opera star now, so aside from being a rich advertising executive's wife, she could further up the ante with her wardrobe in a way that would make Destiny's Child "throw their hands up at her." If you can forget the fact that Don hiring her for that national commercial is what enabled her star to rise. And let's not forget that while Don keeps pretty classic when it comes to the east coast, whenever he's on vacation, he loosens up...just a bit.

In the world of Henry and Betty Francis, they seemed to have taken an orphaned teenager, and her violin, under their wing. This new character, Sandy, seems to have made an impact on nearly every member of the Francis clan... from Bobby's obsession over how her instrument case looks like a coffin, to the suspicion that she may be a future love interest of Sally, or possibly the distant fantasies of Henry or maybe even Betty (in probably one of the most disturbing scenes of the episode, we get a dark glimpse into Betty's ability to talk dirty). Though, I think Betty's opinions about this child show a level of maturity and nurturing in her character that make me think she's reached the age where she truly should have become a mother, versus the neglectful, selfish, wine guzzling, dry-cleaner bag days of her past.

Peggy is back and better than ever...ish. She has truly been able to thrive after escaping from the offices of SCDP, and from under Don's shadow, and she seems to be able to manage crises with confidence and New York chutzpah. Her new boss, the ubiquitous Ted Chaough, seems to trust and respect her in a way that Don never really would or could. It has to be said that I don't get the feeling things are very hot and heavy with her live-in boyfriend, but her listless late-night calls to Rizzo back in the old creative studio make me hold out a certain hope that she is still on the path toward professional and romantic happiness.

Now, catching up and fashion assessments aside, this episode set a tone for season six that leads us all to believe it's the beginning of the end for many of our characters. The opening sequence puts us in the point of view of someone who is being resuscitated after a heart attack. We then immediately transition to Don on the beach reading Dante's Inferno. Roger also must confront the idea of his own mortality when his 91-year-old mother passes away, though his constant need to use his humor as a defense mechanism remains undisturbed for the most part. Until his ex-wife brings her new boyfriend (husband?) causing Roger to lose it and cry out "This is MY FUNERAL!" Interesting... It should also be noted that Don, struggling with his own fears and uncertainty about death, vomited into an umbrella stand during the wake and all hell truly broke loose. Inferno, indeed. When Roger's shoeshine man mysteriously passes away a few days later, it all proves to be too much and we, the audience, see him in the middle of an emotional breakdown that only the likes of Joan has witnessed.

When Sandy, Betty's teenage friend, ran away to New York City, presumably to a shanty town in The Village with no running water where dirty hippies make goulash in a dirty pot using a dirty hunk of snow, Betty had no choice but to follow her there and intervene to make sure no one would end up contracting dysentery. But when one of them confronts her, and calls her hair "bottled", she heads home without Sandy in toe, as a brunette! Jaw, please meet the floor as Bobby tells her she's ugly and he hates her in the sensitive way that only an eleven-year-old boy could muster. Poor Betty. It always seemed like the less she knew about life, the happier she could allow herself to be. But all that's gone now that she's more self-aware than ever.

I'm sure I'm missing a few important elements of the episode, like the fact that the young whipper-snappers we met in the early parts of the series, like Ken Cosgrove or Peggy, now have a sort of high-and-mighty opinion about the new crop of young bloods in their respective offices. Ken gives the new account man with his uncomfortable amount of caffeinated enthusiasm and inappropriate bestowal of a deli spread at Roger's mother's funeral, a spectacular tell-off. And Peggy rips a few new "you-know-what's" on some young and lazy creatives regurgitating 3 versions of the same tired idea.

In the final pitch of the episode, Don reflects on his vacation to Hawaii in a proposed campaign with visuals that seem a bit more akin to a suicide at sea than a tropical vacation. He relates the Royal Hawaiian hotel to paradise, and to heaven, by saying "to get to heaven, something terrible has to happen to you first." All in all, the episode featured 2 deaths, a heart attack, a disappearing teenage runaway and more than a few unanswered questions, as creator Matthew Weiner sets the stage for season 6.

Happy New Year: 2013

Happy New Year, friends! I hope you all had an amazing holiday season and an extraordinary New Year's Eve. We had a party here in our apartment and it was lovely to be surrounded by my new fabulous friends. It was very surreal to realize that I have joined such an amazing, shiny new group of people in exactly one year's time. See a few of my 2013 Resolutions below, and feel free to share some of yours! I'd love to hear them.

Image taken at the party via my Instagram account

1  BLOG MORE
I've talked about this many times before, but since I sort of fell off the blogging wagon last year while adjusting to my new surroundings (and an extremely taxing new work schedule), I vow to carve out more time this year to writing in this blog. It always makes me feel like the truest version of myself when I am taking the time to be creative and share my thoughts with all of you readers.

2  MAKE MY BED EVERYDAY
I am embarrassed to say it, but I still don't religiously make my bed in the morning. I am not a morning person so I tend to just roll out of bed, throw on some clothes, brush my teeth and get on the subway. But I'm proud to say that I took the time to wake up earlier and make my bed every morning this past week and it made my room feel much cleaner and more organized! And it was a much better sight to come home to, and more comfortable to crawl into at night too. This is one resolution I am definitely going to stick with!

3  SPEND LESS MONEY
This is getting into the cliched New Years Resolution territory, but I seriously need to stop eating out for lunch everyday. It's not healthy and it's really not affordable. Instead, I am going to pack a lunch the night before, or bring a Lean Cuisine or something. I am also going to take fewer taxis, as I've crunched the numbers recently, and that is a huuuuge cost that will definitely be easy enough to cut. I could also stand to cut out some of those guilty pleasures like after-work drinks too, which will be sure to lighten my monthly spending!

4  WHITEN UP
This is probably more of a vanity thing, but I'd really like to cut out dark beverages like Diet Coke and coffee, because I can tell they are slowly but surely staining my teeth. Everyone likes to have a bright, white smile, and I have identified a few things to cut out of my daily routine that will help brighten my teeth.

5  WORK/LIFE BALANCE?
This is the biggest struggle in the world for me...I tend to be a bit of a workaholic, and my job is equally very demanding. This is a disastrous combination, to be sure. I need to know when to say enough is enough, and leave the remaining work for another day. There's always something more I could do, but it often doesn't have to be now, now, now, and completely interfere with my personal time! I need to reclaim my life, and I'm planning on doing it soon!

I know that New Years Resolutions are commonly scoffed at, but I can't imagine ever discouraging someone's quest for self-improvement. It's a very human thing to want to be better and do better and this time of year feels like the closing of one chapter and the opening of another! Good luck with all of your New Years Resolutions! I will keep you posted on how mine are going...

The Great Gatsby

The character posters from The Great Gatsby have been revealed, and I am so, so excited! I have been looking forward to this movie since I first heard whispers about the project and ties to Baz Luhrmann, director of Moulin Rouge and Romeo+Juliet. I think he has such a unique, dreamlike visual perspective that will be perfect for helping to recreate the glorious jazz-age parties on Jay Gatsby's lawn. And the rest of the casting decisions have been equally exciting. I'm very much looking forward to the performances of Carey Mulligan, Isla Fisher, Toby Maguire, and of course Leonardo DiCaprio. Are you guys looking forward to the movie? Any fans of the book? It's one of my favorites. I reread it this past fall, and I have to say that while I enjoyed it as a 15-year-old English student, I have a completely different perspective this time around. Perhaps you need to have lived some life to really understand where Daisy and Gatsby are really coming from? But these costumes can be enjoyed by just about everyone!

New York, New York

Illustration by Carolyn Gavin

I have spent this entire year crafting a post to accurately explain just how much my life has changed since I moved to this crazy, crazy place. It's been both the best and worst and most epically different year of my life. I never use this blog to complain, so I certainly won't do that. But when you think about starting over in a completely new place, moving in with 3 new roommates, making new friends and meeting new coworkers, starting a new job and then subsequently phasing into about a 60-hour work week in no time flat...it's made these nearly 365 days in the city go by in the blink of an eye! Take something similar to the fall semester of your freshman year of college and multiply it by 50x more stress and 30x more fun, subtract ALL of your paycheck when you realize that you will now burn through shoes at the rate that an F1 racecar burns through it's tires...and then add 25% homesickness and 25% friendsickness, divided by the square root of Pi, for good measure. That leaves you with a pretty strange equation that equals my new life in New York City.

I explained to my roommate once that I was a bit depressed that I never got to see or do the things I thought I'd certainly have crossed off my to-do list in the first year. Things like walking across the Brooklyn Bridge, or eating a Nathan's Famous Hotdog at Coney Island, or freezing my butt off watching the Macy*s Thanksgiving Day Parade live and in-person. But then, he said something that really got me thinking...Jenna, you LIVE here. And you've LIVED here for a year. And that doesn't mean going to tourist attractions or vacation spots everyday. It means going to work, sitting on the couch, watching TV and eating takeout. It means paying way too much for a cab home because there is now nothing at all whimsical about riding the subway after a long, hard day. It's not about going to the hottest gallery openings, or taking vacations aboard Ramona Singer's yacht. Because life in New York is not a TV show. It's just life.

And for those of you who are curious about what I HAVE done in my time here, below is a list of things I am incredibly proud to have done/seen/accomplished:

1. I took a surfing lesson on Long Beach
2. I drove an actual racecar (!!!) in New Jersey
3. I got to sit in a floor-level box to see Madonna perform at Madison Square Garden (where Psy also made a surprise experience)
4. I added Hellmann's Mayonnaise, American Express, Klondike, and Dove Style+Care to the list of clients I've worked with
5. I drank a Black & Tan in the same bar that Abraham Lincoln used to hang out in
6. I saw Bon Iver perform at Radio City Music Hall
7. I saw about a bazillion shows on Broadway. Some favorites include: Newsies, Anything Goes, Porgy & Bess, Bring It On! The Musical, Peter and the Starcatcher, The Heiress (Starring the dreamy Dan Stevens from Downton Abbey...sigh), A Christmas Story, How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, and maaaaany more.
8. I had visitors in the form of friends from high school, friends from college, friends of friends, my aunt, my parents, and friends of my parents...
9. I rode the Long Island Railroad and then took a train to Connecticut all in the same weekend
10. I got sunburnt to a crisp on the 4th of July on the beach at Fort Tilden Park
11. I danced the night away in a basement bar on Bowery street (a few times...)
12. I took the Chinatown bus back to Columbus for an incredible weekend
13. I made it through a major natural disaster relatively unscathed and sent many prayers to those who felt it's effects more closely
14. I have made incredible memories with incredible friends that I didn't even know existed only a year ago
15. and I have made an incredible, lasting bond with friends I did know existed but now I know them a whole lot better

It's been an incredible journey. One that I haven't been too communicative about...apologies about that. But while my plans of documenting my first year didn't go so well, I like to say that it's because I was too busy experiencing everything. And next year comes the writing!

A Christmas Story: The Musical

I don't think I need to tell you how magical Christmas in this city is...I've always thought that New York City was the setting of every Christmas carol from the chestnuts roasting on the open fire, to the city sidewalks, busy sidewalks all the way to the what are you doing new year's eve? But this season, I was happy to introduce a few original carols to my holiday season in the form of the show, A Christmas Story: The Musical. Of course it's based on the classic movie, and definitely sticks close to the plot (and the flagpole) for you die-hard fans. But the original songs and choreography add something even more special to this story. I've seen it twice now... And I highly encourage those of you near enough to the city to check out this Triple-Dog-Daring Musical!

1  Ralphie hates his pink bunny suit in the musical just as much as in 2012 as he did in the 1983 film.
2  The World Premier Cast Recording will definitely have you singing along.
3  The driving force of the show is Ralphie Parker's quest to unwrap a Red Ryder Carbine Action BB Gun with a compass in the stock (and this thing that tells time...) this Christmas.
4  The ensemble of kids in this cast will impress even the most top-notch Broadway connoisseur!
5 The leg lamp gets the fanfares, accolades and (spoiler alert) KICKLINE it truly deserves in the show-stopping Act I number that would make "the Old Man" proud.