THE APARTMENT by The Line

Welcome to the apartment of my dreams (and probably yours too).

My roommate who knows about my interior design obsession told me about this place called The Apartment by The Line and that I should check out. Their concept is quite unique and I think that they are the best at explaining what it is exactly that they do:

The Line is a modern and personal approach to retail. Guided by a distinctive point of view that prizes craftsmanship, versatility, and ease, we bring together carefully chosen products from established and emerging designers. These fashion, home, and beauty items are placed in context through the inspiring editorial features of The Stories and the intimate domestic interiors of The Apartments: our immersive stores in New York and Los Angeles.

If you think about it, this is probably the coolest and best way to sell products for the home. It's like when you go to IKEA and see all the little room setups, you immediately want to buy everything, so why not do this on a bigger scale? The apartment really does feel like an apartment (minus the lack of a bathroom and a tub in the bedroom), but every detail you'd expect to have in a place was found here. While their design is a bit too minimal and modern for me I couldn't deny that I wanted so badly to be able to live there. Beautifully curated spaces are very important to me, and all the items in the apartment were carefully selected from companies who really try to make beautiful and functional products.

While all of the items they sold there were way beyond my college budget, it was definitely a good place to get some inspiration. Also it was a pretty good place to go and pretend that this was my million dollar apartment and that I was just some socialite living in SoHo, enjoying a life of luxury. One day.

Swing of Things

Shirt: Old Navy (similar) // Coat: J.Crew Factory // Jeans: Topshop // Shoes: J.Crew Factory (similar, cheaper) // Necklace: J.Crew Factory (similar)

I'm only two weeks in to second semester and I can already tell that it's gonna be a looooong semester. With harder classes, more hours at work, and a million clubs, events, extracurriculars, and projects it feels a bit tough to keep track of everything. Luckily with the help of my handy dandy planner, and pens in every color of the rainbow I'm starting to get in the swing of things and make a routine for myself. I don't have as much downtime during the day as I did last semester so when I go to get dressed in the morning I have to make sure that my outfit works for everything from class, to work, to meetings and events. I wore this on a Friday which is generally my most relaxed day because I only have one class. However, on this day I had to attend an info session for a job I really wanted and made plans to get boba and enjoy the rest of the day with one of my roommates. 

These jeans from Topshop are by far my favorite because they are incredibly stretchy but hold their shape very well. This flannel is also very soft and it looks nice without feeling stuffy or constricting. Because I knew that at the people who would be looking over my job application would be at the info session, I felt like I really needed to look put together and added a flashy necklace and wore my favorite shoes. Although these shoes are not practical at all for walking around in New York (they have no grip or padding whatsoever), they always get noticed by others and hearing them tap tap tap down the hallways gives me a major confidence boost.

I'm already getting a bit bored with dressing for winter (I just want to wear shorts!), but with some solid pieces, creating a winter ready outfit isn't so bad after all. 

February Small Goals

Hello February, Nice to see you! Can you believe that we're already on month two? January was spent relaxing at home and then getting back into the swing of things here at school.

J A N U A R Y  G O A L S

1. File my taxes and fill out my FAFSA | My taxes are filed, my refund is on its way and my FAFSA will be done once my parents send me their tax info!

2. Post at least twice a week (M/Th) | So I didn't exactly post twice every week on the days I planned to, but this month was a good month content and consistency wise so I'm gonna cross this one off anyways.

3. Use my blog Facebook more | I think this month I used my blog Facebook once? maybe twice? Me and Facebook just don't jive and it's really not my preferred choice for social media. I definitely prefer instagram or twitter so I'm plan on trying to focus more on that instead!

4. Do something with my writing | This goal was really neglected this month. I didn't write too much, and I still don't have an idea on what to do with the writing I eventually will write.

For my first month of small goals I feel like 2/4 ain't too shabby. Hopefully I'll be able to ramp it up and knock out all my goals in February!

F E B R U A R Y  G O A L S

1. Stick to my budget | At the beginning of the year I made an official budget for myself to keep my spending in check and also help me reach some of my personal goals (saving up for studying abroad, saving to upgrade my laptop, getting my savings account to a certain amount). I'm trying realllllly hard to stick with it this month. My bank isn't available on apps like Mint, so i'll need to find another way to keep track of spending.

2. Finish Modern Romance | I started this book over the break and I would read a few pages before bed once I got back to school but now it's been over a week since I last picked it up and I'm not too happy about that. Hoping to finish this book this month, I mean it is February after all!

3. Keep killing the email game | I hate emails. I really do. But as a college student and a young adult I can't avoid them any longer. For the past couple of weeks I have been really dedicated to maintaining inbox zero and replying to emails in a timely manner and I hope to keep it up for the rest of the month and hopefully forever.

4. Practice being thankful more | A few months ago I got in the habit of tweeting "today I'm grateful for..." I really liked doing this before bed and being able to reread those tweets if I was feeling down or stressed out. I don't know why I stopped, but this month I want to get back into that habit!

*p.s. I'm linking up with Nicole

January Purchases | Budgeting Bloggers

1. J.Crew Factory Rolled Turtleneck Sweater- $88.00 $21.99 (43.98 total)

2. Uniqlo Heattech Socks- $12.90

3. Uniqlo HeatTech Sleeveless Top- $12.90 $9.90

3. Uniqlo HeatTech Leggings- $19.90 $14.90

4. Uniqlo Fleece Zip-Up Jacket- $29.90 $9.90 

TOTAL: $91.58 ($43.98 fun clothing + $47.60 winter essentials)

January was a great month for my wallet! I had a very little urge to go shopping and I only picked up two items that I had been watching for a few months when the J.Crew factory had a sale on clearance items. I am obsessed with these turtlenecks and I want to wear them everyday. They are soft and warm and easy to throw on with a pair of jeans and head out the door. I almost managed to finish off the month with no other purchases but once I got back to New York just days before the blizzard, I decided to stock up on some winter layers for the season. I don't know if I should really count these since they're more functional than stylish, but I thought I would include them anyways! 

My feet are always freezing so I got a pair of Uniqlo's heattech socks with the hopes that they would leave my feet toasty warm. I think my hopes were too high because although they keep my feet warmer than normal socks, I'm still left with frozen toes after a day outside. Does anyone have some sock recommendations? While the socks were kinda a bust, their leggings do keep me quite warm and are great at keeping in body heat. I also picked up a scoop neck shirt to wear underneath sweaters to let me go longer without washing them by being keeping my sweat and oils away from the sweater itself. I think my favorite winter purchase however would be this fleece jacket. It is the softest, warmest thing I have ever put on my body and I wear it around my room all the time because my room is always cold! It's a little bit short in the body, but since I only wear it at home I don't mind. I can also see this being a great layering piece under a puffer vest or alone once the weather starts to warm up. 

I've yet to make an official budget yet, but it looks like my clothing budget will be around $70 a month so this month was a bit above that but I did have some extra cash this month and most of the purchases were necessities so I'd say I did pretty well. I just haven't really been in to shopping lately and I'm working on making more thoughtful purchases instead of impulse buys. On my list now are a pair of black jeans, new ankle boots because my old ones are totally worn out, and a new backpack that's a bit larger than my TOMS Backpacks. I also need to get rid of some items in my closet that are just taking up space. What are your favorite ways to sell old clothes? Hopefully next month comes with some more space in my closet and a new staple item or two! What have y'all been buying lately?

Linking up with Franish 

2016 Planner Overview

In an attempt to be more on top of things this year, I decided to invest in a nice planner. I ordered this one from Mossery on Etsy and although I haven't really started to use it, I love it so far! I thought it would be helpful to give y'all my first impression of this planner and I included plenty of pictures if you ever want to scoop on up for yourself!

One complaint that I have so far is that all of the monthly spreads are grouped together at the front of the planner instead of being in front of the weekly spreads for that month. On the other hand, it's good for planing out big picture things and it's nice being able to easily flip between month to month to see what's going on.

You are able to choose from 5 different options how you want your planner to be organized. I chose the vertical weekly spreads and I'm really liking it so far! I like how it has the hours on the side which makes it easy to write in my schedule and plan my days out. Also on the bottom there's a checklist and spot to write quick notes.

I'm crossing my fingers that I keep up with this for the whole semester. I'm trying to be on top of everything this year and I think this is really going to help. If y'all would like a more in-depth over view of how I use my planner once I get a system going, let me know!

Photo Diary | Snow Storm Jonas

Y'ALL. Y'ALLLLLLLLL. THERE WAS A BLIZZARD AND I AM STILL ALIVE. 

Enough with the all caps, Jonas was no joke. With over two feet of snow in a day the fact that I still have all my fingers and toes is a miracle. I may have looked like a total idiot running around in the snow being stupidly happy and in awe and wonder but snow is so damn pretty. The park was absolutely covered and I took full advantage by making a snowman and having a massive snowball fight. I know that the rest of winter is gonna suck, and this winter is probably going to be brutal and long, but at least my first experience with snow was one filled with overwhelming delight and happiness– and I'm fully aware of how cheesy that sounds but being in a blizzard is truly a beautiful thing.