fashion blogger Archives - Page 17 of 26

Paint the Town Blue

This is one of my favorite jackets to wear for fall, and you can see I wore it last fall as well. I received this beautiful necklace as a new mommy gift from a friend, and I just couldn’t wait to style it! I have been reluctant to do a full shopping spree this season since I am in a bit of a limbo period where some of my old clothes still fit, but some of them are still too small. I am hesitant to go out and buy a bunch of new clothes in bigger sizes than my “normal.” (especially pants.) So all the items here have been recycled from my current closet. Everything you see here has been worn in a previous post, but I mixed and matched to create this new look for the season.

Photos by: Zack Notes / Edited by: Myself

Jacket: Macy’s (old) / Button Down: GAP – sold out – similar / Jeans: Motherhood / Booties: Target / Necklace: Coup de Coeur (gift from friend) – not available online / Sunnies: Vintage / Earrings: Forever 21 / Watch: Michael Kors / Bracelet: Baublebar – similar / Lip: Lancome Fuchsia Clutch – similar

Hope you all had a great weekend. We celebrated Nico’s 1st Halloween party with the parents and babies in the neighborhood, carved a pumpkin, took a couple walks and did some things around the house. Nico has his 2 month doctor’s appointment this week (wow, 2 months already!) and it’s also Halloween! Not sure if we will actually walk around with him this year or we will just give out candy on the stoop. What are your plans this Halloween? Or what did you do to celebrate this past weekend?

XO,

Gina

Seven Deadly Sins {Link Up}

To celebrate this Halloween season, I’ve decided to link-up with Shane, who came up with the brilliant idea to share Seven Deadly Sins. I adore Halloween, dressing up (have never repeated a costume…see here for last year’s), pumpkin carving, and most importantly…candy corn.

PRIDE

Seven Great Things In Your Life

1. My amazing family including my fantastic husband, adorable baby boy, and my incredibly supportive extended family on both sides as well as in-laws. We are so blessed.

2. My phenomenal circle of friends that I have made throughout my life starting in childhood, and moving through middle school, high school, college, post-college in Maryland, Dewey Beach, New York City, and now in my neighborhood of Brooklyn.

3. This blog as my creative outlet. It’s a place to vent, a place to share, a place to (hopefully) inspire, and also a place to document my life, my fashion, my adventures, my friends, and my family.

4. My apartment. We are lucky to have a spacious apartment complete with parking, outdoor space, a garden, a grill, washer/dryer (practically unheard of in NYC), dishwasher, and wonderful neighbors…all for an extremely reasonable cost…and all within the incredible city of New York.

5. Speaking of NYC…I love my city and the fact that we have pretty much anything we could ask for at our fingertips…beautiful parks, museums, art, culture, a melting pot of people from all walks of life, delicious food, shopping, fashion, and even the beach.

6. My job. I am so thankful to have a job that I enjoy, wonderful coworkers who are fun to be around, and the stability that it offers to help provide for my family. And the fact that I am being fully supported while on maternity leave.

7. Soccer. While I haven’t been able to play in quite some time due to my little monkey…soccer has always played an important role in my life. It’s my favorite way to work out and de-stress, because I can run around without thinking about how tired I am every 5 seconds. I am excited to hopefully get back on the field again soon.

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ENVY

Seven Things You Lack And Covet

1. I know I said I loved my apartment…and I do. But I secretly covet the adorable Victorian mansions in my neighborhood, and it’s my goal to buy and renovate one of them one day.

2. A bank account that has no end. Okay, so maybe that doesn’t exist…so maybe just a bank account that has more money than mine does haha.

3. No matter how much shopping I do, I can’t seem to have enough delectable fashion in my closet!

4. Time. The days go by so quickly! It feels like there is never enough time to do anything.

5. The creativity and skills to draw and paint. We went to an artist’s open house over the weekend, and the artists were so skilled and talented. I can barely draw a stick figure.

6. The ability to let things go. I am super stubborn and must win every argument. Or at least get the last word. I should have been a lawyer…

7. Ultimate confidence. There are things I wish I could have/should have done in life, but ultimately didn’t have enough confidence to pull it off. I envy those who do everything they put their mind to.

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WRATH

Seven Things That Make You Angry

1. People who stop walking in the middle of the sidewalk. I don’t care if you are a tourist. MOVE OVER to the side to figure out where you are going, and stop blocking everyone from walking.

2. The fact that I practically have to stand on my tippy toes to reach the upper hand bar on the subway. One stop and I’m already exhausted from holding on. Don’t they know that not everyone is so tall?

3. Liars. The truth will always come back to bite you, so you may as well just be honest.

4. The fact that America is one of the few countries in the world that doesn’t give a shit about parental leave after having a baby. Don’t believe me? See here.

5. Bad drivers. I’ve seen my fair share in Brooklyn (seriously, stop honking your horn for no reason), Maryland (oh my God, it’s raining! Let’s all forget how to drive!), and in Boston (I mean, they just breed straight up maniac drivers), and they all know how to ignite my road rage.

6. Religious wars. I mean, to me that just sounds like an oxymoron…

7. People that are ignorant or close-minded. There’s a whole world out there people, and (gasp!) everyone may not be like you.

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SLOTH

Seven Things That You Neglect To Do

1. Floss. I will do it for about a week after I go to the dentist, and then it gets forgotten again.

2. Iron my clothes. I hate ironing. I’m not really sure why…maybe it’s because I end up putting more wrinkles in them than they started with.

3. Clean. Don’t get my wrong, I am tidy. I am good at straightening up. But ever since I got pregnant, and it became a huge burden to get on my hands and knees and scrub anything, and the cleaning got totally neglected. I haven’t exactly had much time since the baby was born either. I admit, we have been paying someone to come in and clean every few weeks these days.

4. Change the filter in the Brita. It should probably happen a few times a year I’m thinking, but it very rarely gets done.

5. Wash my car. I mean…it’s just going to get dirty again!

6. Cook dinner every night. Luckily, my husband enjoys cooking!

7. Tweeze/Wax my eyebrows. Yeah, I can’t tell you the last time I did that.

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GREED

Seven Worldly Material Desires

1. A Chanel bag. What girl doesn’t want Chanel?

2. My dream house. With dual staircases.

3. Weekly manicures. It takes forever to dry when I do them myself.

4. Unlimited airline tickets to travel the world. There are oh so many places I long to go.

5. Louboutins. See above re: Chanel bag.

6. A Canon 5D III. One day, when I really know what I’m doing, I will splurge on this.

7. Sparkly jewelry…preferably diamonds.

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GLUTTONY

Seven Guilty Pleasures

1. Ice Cream. Can’t get enough of it.

2. Reality TV. I watch waaayyyy too much of it. Especially the Real Housewives.

3. Singing in the Shower

4. Picking my skin when it’s peeling…I know, it’s disgusting.

5. Chick lit. Sometimes we all need a good beach read.

6. Hitting the snooze button

7. Online shopping.

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LUST

Seven Things You Love About Love

1. The way it sweeps you off your feet.

2. Those little butterflies during a budding romance.

3. Having someone that you can completely trust, be open and honest with, and tell them anything without judgement.

4. Knowing there will be someone there to support you through both good and bad times.

5. Not having to hold your farts in anymore.

6. Cuddling/Snuggles

7. The passion

Well, now you’ve definitely gotten a deeper look into me, and it was fun linking up with Shane this Halloween season. If you’d like to link up, you can do so here!

Hope you all enjoy any Halloween parties that you may have planned for this weekend. We have one in the neighborhood, and can’t wait to dress up our little one!

XO,

Gina

Horsing Around

Photos by: Melissa DiGiulian / Edited by: Myself

Horse Sweatshirt: J. Crew – also like this one / Lace Skirt: American Eagle (old) similar here and here / Flats: Go Jane (old) – similar / Sunnies: ModCloth / Watch: Betsey Johnson (old) – also like this one / Earrings, Necklace, and Bracelet: Gifted / Ring: Forever 21 / Lip: MAC Snob

These photos were taken last Friday after a little Mommy Hour sesh at Bar Chord in Ditmas Park with my fellow new moms in the neighborhood. Yes, it’s perfectly acceptable to take your baby to a bar in Brooklyn…so long as you go before the regular patrons get out of work for regular happy hour time. Haha. It was a beautiful day, and their back garden was open, so a group of us got together for some drinks, snacks, baby talk, and funny stories. I’m very fortunate to have met these wonderful ladies and their adorable babies, and looking forward to more adventures to come as they grow.

Have a happy one ya’ll!

XO,

Gina

Fall Wish List

LOVE Pave Bracelet – BCBGeneration / Burgundy Nail Polish – OPI / Over the Knee Boots – Sam Edelman / Military Boots – ALDO / Moto Jacket – French Connection / Burgundy Beetle Loafers – Tory Burch / Tuxedo Pants – AG Jeans / Burgundy Fedora – Miss Selfridge / Swag Sweatshirt – Miss Rebel / White Blazer – Roberto Cavalli / Leopard Pumps – Nine West

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Fall has finally arrived in NYC. The leaves are multi-colored, the air is crisp, and it’s time to start layering. I’m looking forward to (and already enjoying) everything autumn including apple cider, pumpkin carving, football, pumpkin spice lattes, and hiking outdoors.

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Now that I’m no longer shopping in the maternity section, this season’s fashion excites me even more than usual. Some of the current trends I am digging are the color burgundy (or bordeaux according to my sorority sisters), the tuxedo pant, winter white (no white after Labor Day is so outdated!), over-the knee boots, and more.

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What trends are you into this fall?

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XO,

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Gina

{17} Lately…

Lately I’ve been…

reading What to Expect The First Year by Sandee Hathaway, Arlene Eisenberg, and Heidi Murkoff. Rather than read the entire book all the way through right away, I have decided to read each month as we are all going through it as a family. So far I have finished the first month, and I’m starting on month 2.

writing Well, Nico’s birth announcement cards just came in the mail today, so I am super excited to address and send them out!

listening The Coffee House station on XM Radio has been a top contender for most played the past few weeks. It’s soothing and Nico falls asleep in the car to it.

thinking I can’t believe we survived our first weekend trip to Maryland as a family! Although it was extremely stressful at some points, everything ended up working out well and the bottom line is we did it.

smelling Pumpkin Spice coffee…mmm…

watching Million Dollar Listing LA. My husband used to be a real estate agent, so this is one of the few shows he will actually watch with me.

wishing A lifetime of happiness to my friends Teri and Charlie! They are the reason we went down to Maryland. We celebrated their wedding, and it was phenomenal. What an amazing couple. I am so happy for them!

hoping To survive my first 48 hours as a single parent while Zack goes to Chicago to present at a conference. Hopefully it will be nice outside and Nico and I can take some walks together.

wearing Got dolled up this past weekend for my friend Teri’s wedding, and man did it feel good! Hair, makeup, mani, pedi, a sexy bridesmaid dress…the works. It felt good to be pampered again after rocking sweats for so many weeks!

loving The fact that I have amazing friends and family. While on our first trip as a family, there were some bumps with the weather, traffic, fire alarms in the hotel, etc. I am so lucky to have had my friends and family to help us out on our first trip. From helping me carry diaper bags, driving my car, watching my little boy, holding him during dinner so we could eat, and more. I know I am super lucky to have such wonderful, trustworthy people in my life.

laughing Every time Nico farts, I think it’s the most hilarious thing. What am I, 5?

wanting My bags to unpack themselves.

needing Snuggles from my little boy. I just can’t get enough!

feeling Sleepy sleepy. While we had a great weekend, it was a bit crazy trying to figure out our new normal. Did I mention the fire alarm going off in the hotel? TWICE.

craving These over-the-knee boots by Sam Edelman.

clicking Through photos to try and figure out which ones I want to frame and hang up in the apartment.

What have you been up to lately?

Hope everyone had a nice long weekend! Hope you all have a great week ahead!

Love,

Gina

***I was inspired by Tina of Like Ordinary Life to create this post, and she was inspired by Lauren of siddathornton, who started The Sunday Currently.

Pumpkin Patch

This past Saturday, we celebrated the fall season by taking our first family day trip to the pumpkin patch. We trekked outside of the city to Alstede Farms in Chester, NJ where we found a sprawling PYO (pick-your-own) farm littered with TONS of people. The crowds were a bit overwhelming as we didn’t know what to expect, but once you got out to the fields for picking, it was a lot less crazy. There were tons of crops for the taking including pumpkins, apples, corn, lettuce, eggplant, tomatoes, raspberries, blackberries, and more. And these items were just currently what was in season. Other seasons of the year you could pick strawberries, peaches, black raspberries, and so much more. It was definitely a place for kids with a moon bounce, corn maze, hay ride, farm animals, etc, and even though Nico is still too small really remember the experience, you could tell he was enjoying himself. He was looking around and in a happy mood the entire day. This adventure was our first foray into sharing and experiencing the world with our little guy, and it only made us more excited for the future ahead.

Nico’s Pumpkin Outfit: Absorba via Gilt

My bff, Meg, is arriving today to hang out for a few days and meet little Nico. I am so excited to spend some quality time, since we rarely get the opportunity these days to hang out with just the two of us. We head down to Maryland on Thursday to meet our new nephew Nathan, and to celebrate the wedding weekend of another one of my best friends, Teri. It will be our first long weekend trip with Nico, and being the obsessive compulsive paranoid person that I am, I’m a little nervous about how it’s going to go. I’m crossing my fingers that I don’t forget anything and that it all goes smoothly. Either way, my new mantra is “just go with the flow!”

XO,

Gina

Fall Fresh

It’s officially fall, which means it’s jacket season! I had been searching for a great camo jacket for awhile, and finally found this one on sale from JC Penney. If you hurry, they may still have the sale going! This outfit is proof that you can dress up any simple basics (white tee and jeans…boring) by adding some fabulous accessories (camo jacket, studded combat boots, statement necklace and bracelet…no longer boring!) We headed to the pumpkin patch this past weekend to pick out some fall decor for our Brooklyn abode. It started as a crisp fall morning, and changed into a hot summer afternoon, so I eventually had to ditch the jacket, but that is the fun of fall layering, right?

Photos by: Zack Notes / Edited by: Myself

Camo Jacket: JC Penney – on sale! / T Shirt (my husband’s): Express / Jeans: Motherhood / Combat Boots: Steve Madden (last season) – also loving these / Bracelet and Necklace: Gifted / Aviators: NY Street Vendor / Satchel: TJ Maxx / Lip: Rimmel Vintage Pink

Stay tuned for more photos from our day trip later this week. Hope you all have a good one!

XOXO,

Gina

Saturday Stroll

The weather has been so gorgeous, and last weekend was perfect for a Saturday stroll with the whole family. We headed over to Caton Park (near Prospect Park) to check out the kids playing soccer (boy, do I miss soccer!), and then headed out for a second family dinner at a local Thai restaurant. Yes, I had dessert before dinner…oops! But the coconut ice being sold at the fields was too yummy to turn down. Nico is loving his stroller (thanks Mimi/Nano and Aunt Angie/Uncle Adam!) We are pretty lucky to have received this gift as it’s basically the Mercedes Benz version of a stroller. It even has shocks! I have to say, it’s perfect for our bumpy neighborhood sidewalks, and it’s definitely getting a ton of use right now.

I’m feeling good and had a great post partum doc appointment this past week. Nico also had his 1 month appointment. He seriously disliked getting his shot (Mommy and Baby were both in tears.) However, he is hitting his milestones so far and is looking to be a healthy baby at this point, so I could not be happier!

Photos by: Zack Notes / Edited by: Myself

Top: GAP / Tank: J. Crew / Jeans: Motherhood / Sunglasses: Waveborn / Shoes: MIA – on sale! / Earrings: ALDO / Necklace: Family Heirloom / Watch: Michael Kors / Bracelets: Gorjana, Stella and Sparkle, and Baublebar / Lip: Lancome Red Haute

Stroller: Uppababy Vista / Car Seat: Chicco Keyfit 30 / Chicco Car Seat Adapter for Uppababy: Amazon / Baby Blanket: Carter’s

Looking forward to the weekend and having Daddy home with us. I’m picking up a dress for one of my best friend’s wedding’s next weekend. I was super worried about how it was going to look having just had a baby, but luckily the material is forgiving and the color is black! Also, breastfeeding and walking around the neighborhood have proven to be advantageous to starting me off on getting my old figure back. I have to keep reminding myself that it took me 9 months to get the way I was, so getting back to normal is not going to happen overnight!

Also on our possible weekend agenda is taking Nico out for his first visit to the pumpkin patch! Hoping photos will follow.

Happy Friday and a Happy Weekend to all!

XO,

Gina

First Family Dinner Out

With all of the craziness of figuring out life with a newborn, I sometimes find myself not leaving the house for days on end. I also find that this isn’t very good for my sanity. The constant 24/7 loop of feed, change, sleep, repeat can be a little mind numbing, and as adorable as that little face is to look at every day, living in a constant loop can drive you a little nuts. Therefore, to break up the monotony, I have been trying to get out of the house for walks whenever possible. Nico loves the stroller, and we have been super blessed with amazing weather these past couple weeks. Two weekends ago, I was pleasantly surprised that we were able to take advantage of one of these walks and go out for our first family dinner. I put on “real” clothes (the pants are still maternity, but at least they weren’t sweats!), make-up, and even semi-did my hair…that’s as good as it was gonna get that day. We tried a new place in the neighborhood called Dogwood, which boasts southern comfort food, and was absolutely delicious. At three and a half weeks, Nico was an angel the entire time. It was as if he was allowing Zack and I to actually have a date night. Amazing. I know they say these “quiet sleeping times” won’t last forever and eventually he will be a toddler and impossible to bring out to dinner, but I am living in the moment, people…living in the moment and loving it.

On me / Shirt: StyleMint – similar / Pants: Motherhood / Shoes: Nordstrom Rack / Bag: ALDO – similar / Watch: Michael Kors / Necklace: Baublebar / Bracelet: Baublebar – similar

On Nico / Shirt and Pants: Carter’s / Socks: Gymboree

Happy Monday everyone! Have a great week.

XO,

Gina

Happy 1st Birthday to Popcorn and Pandas

Would you believe that today marks one whole year that I decided to make the change to my little ole blog, popcorn and pandas? I know, I can’t believe it either. It’s been a crazy year full of adventures and travel, fashion and fun, pregnancy and now a new baby. It’s been wonderful and therapeutic to have this creative outlet to share with you all, and I am completely grateful that you all have chosen to follow along for this past year.

Below I have reflected a bit on some of your favorite posts this past year:

My first two outfit posts with the amazing photographer Marisa

Reminiscing a Rockin’ Summer

Summer Stripes

Lettered sweaters were my jam

Sported my favorite Halloween costume

Rang in the New Year in Winter White

Foxes became super trendy

I had some ups and downs, announced my pregnancy, and did a cool photo shoot with Justin to find out the sex of our Little Monkey

I added some Flair to my wardrobe

Craved everything peplum

Felt a little Guilty

I ate my first mangosteen

Went to Arizona and saw the Grand Canyon

I made some waves with Waveborn

Made fresh homemade tomato sauce and pesto from the garden

Enjoyed the sunrise on Branch Lake in Maine

Watched as my belly grew larger and larger

And gave birth to a beautiful baby boy

It’s been such a great year, and I am hopeful that this year will bring even greater joy. Thank you so much for following my adventures. Would love to hear any feedback that you have of things you want to see from me in the coming year. What you like/don’t like. What you want to see more or less of (outfit posts, lately posts, shopping posts, personal stories, photography, baby stuff, etc…) I have less free time on my hands, but hopefully I can make things happen!

Happy Friday everyone!!!

XO,

Gina