Shopstyle has been giving me some great shoe candy over the past few weeks. Almost makes me want to get a second job for a bigger shoe budget! #daydreams
therealcherish
Random thoughts from within my brain…
Category Archives: Fashion
#35for35 – EVENT 2 – Rudolph Ramble 8K
In my list of 35 events over the course of a year (give or take), I finally crossed off event number 2! The Rudolph Ramble in Lincoln Park (Chicago) was my first 8K ever! Luckily, there was a Midwest “heat wave” that left us with temperatures around 40 degrees that morning. AWESOME! I am learning the art of layering for outdoor activity, but that day my base tech layers were:
Nike Element Shield Running Tights
Nike Pro Hyperwarm Crew 3.0 Top
Topped it all off with the first red t-shirt I found (keep it festive/match the bib) and some RMHC socks!
The race was tough. Its the furthest distance I’ve ever attempted to run. I kept ended up with a run-walk pace that was all over the place for the first two miles (leaving me burned out by mile 2. My friends recommended I start with a 3:2 (3 min run, 2 min walk) alternating pace, but I thought that seemed too easy, so I set my shiny new TomTom Runner for a 6:2 interval. Boy was I wrong. That did not go so well. I spent the final 3 miles doing the math in my head to convert my 6:2 setting to a 3:1 setting, which I also found pretty difficult to maintain. At the finish line my coworkers were waiting and cheering.
Considering I had just started running less than 2 months prior, I didn’t care about being ranked 1,031 out of 1,113… I was more than satisfied with the simple accomplishment of actually finishing it!
| 2014 | Pace | Finish Place | Final Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age | Gender | Overall | |||
| Rudolph RambleChicago, IL, US • Dec 14th | 13:07 Min/Mi | 124 | 623 | 1,031 | 1:05:13 |
I signed up for another 8K in March, so we can see how much I am able to improve my time and consistency of pace by then…
Black Matte Nail Polish
I’ve noticed the steadily popular black nail polish trend isn’t going away, and I couldn’t help but try it for myself. After seeing an ad recently that featured a black-on-black french manicure (matte base and shiny tips, which is all over google images) I decided to go for a matte black look and daydream about having enough skill to make it a french someday. In the end I liked it a lot!
Waiting for Spring…
The weather is warming up!!! I’m so excited to break out my Spring investment piece – this adorable City Nylon Rain Coat from Cole Haan! I was lucky enough to find it during the huge sale this month so I saved a lot of money on it!!
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A drop of Irish…
Having a drop of Irish blood that I can trace is reason enough to celebrate St Patrick’s Day to the fullest!! Got this awesome “Kiss Me I’m Detroitish” tee from www.inkdetroit.com… Still recovering on Monday…
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Another reason I love Zara…
While browsing along Michigan Ave this Saturday (which was nearly deserted thanks to the #NATO warnings everywhere) I ran into this lacy gem at Zara. I have been looking for a lace dress for a while but never found the perfect look and fit… until now!
I paired the dress with a pair of Calvin Klein wedge sandals and a metal belt with “elephant-face hooks” from Anthropologie. The compliments were flying all night!!
Confession: I had to run into Ann Taylor Loft to grab some beige colored Assets (i.e. Spanx) to wear underneath since the beige colored slip dress kept riding up. I’m sure that would have made for an interesting night, but I decide to take the safe route and ensure folks at the dinner party I was attending didn’t think I was wearing a see-thru dress with nothing under it!
*I took a pic with the mirror behind me so you could see the cute, low, criss-cross back!
2011 Christmas Wish List
This year has been such a rough year, my Christmas spirit has been less than “cheery”. My parents have been asking for my list for weeks and I just couldn’t seem to come up with anything good. Recently, I looked through the Nordstrom Holiday catalogs and came across the awesome items listed below. Most of them won’t fit in my parent’s ideal shopping budget for me (LOL) but they’re fun items to dream about…
Yves Saint Laurent Large Satchel
Prada ‘Baroque’ Round Sunglasses
Valentino ‘Rockstud’ Open Toe Pump
MICHELE ‘Cloette Fleur’ Diamond & Mother-of-Pearl Watch Case
Michael Kors ‘Gia’ Ostrich Embossed Clutch
Vera Wang Lavender ‘Sammy’ Peep Toe Pump
Lagos Diamond & Caviar™ Station Bracelet
MARC JACOBS Zip Clutch Wallet
MARC BY MARC JACOBS ‘Petal to the Metal’ Zip Clutch Wallet
Echo ‘Touch’ Tech Gloves
Burberry Brit Trench Coat
UGG® Australia ‘Ansley’ Slipper (Women)
…and last but not least…. this Gilt/Jetsetter week long cooking excursion in Italy would totally make my year!
That’s about all I can come up with… It’s a sad day when a fashionista isn’t moved by shiny dresses and sparkly heels. I gotta get outta this funk soon! But enough about me… So what’s on your designer Christmas wish list???
The Usual ComeUp – Nordstrom Rack
A few years back I got luck in Nordstrom Rack during a search for a formal gown. Ended up with a beautiful, yellow BCBG number that had been altered from a size 6 to a 4 and never picked up, was 80% off and gained me a number of compliments! 
Well, my luck has struck again…
Found this beauty in Nordstrom Rack – Oak Brook, IL. A beautiful Diane von Furstenberg Kipling dress (my first by the illustrious designed whom I’ve admired for so long). The dress is on sale for only $269.50 at her website… but the “slightly altered” version I got from the Rack cost me only $89 (plus Chicago’s crazy high tax, but even still…) I tried it on with a belt and my black Burberry pumps and it looks amazing!
I can’t wait to wear it… I just need to find a cool place to go!
Topshop comes to the Windy City… My Anticipation
Are you counting down Chicago???? This September the city of Chicago will get the second stateside Topshop store!!! I am so excited, as if H&M and Zara weren’t already super exciting. This will totally round out my summer shopping options. I already browsed the US site to see what’s out and created a nice “set” (new and old items) on Polyvore of the types of items I will be looking for! SecondCityStyle posted images from the preview. I can’t wait!
Friends with Skills
So my friend Michelle is starting up her own jewelry business in Minnesota and I’m so proud of her! Being the fashionista that I self-proclaim to be, she sent me a pair of her handmade earring to test run. I don’t think I’ve worn another pair in the last month. These earrings are great to dress up or down and they are so lightweight I can barely feel them! She did an awesome job and I can’t wait to share her website with all of you when she finally decides to sell them!!
As for the item of the day and my newest current obsession, big ups to my girl Maya for putting me up on the Tieks by Gavrieli foldable flats. (See image below from the Tieks by Gavrieli website)
These handmade flats are butter soft and feel like slippers (read more here), but will last WAY longer than the $10 not-so-foldable flats I used to get from Target and run into the ground after 3 months. I got a pair in black, but I honestly would take a closet full of every color they sell!! Here are some pics of my new “buddies”…
The beautiful packaging:
The pouch for folded flats (shown in the box, next to my iPod Touch for size and inside my purse… you can’t even tell it’s there!!):
The flats – folded….
…and then on my feet (sorry if they are a little ashy – its cold and my feet are bare, LOL!)
As an added “just in case” bonus, they come with this cute foldable tote to put your heels in!
Go grab a pair – I promise you won’t regret it!
therealcherish 