my rocky spine

friiiidaaaaay. how i've missed you. how i've longed for you. i am so, so glad you are here. i have class tonight and then i am going home and getting my laundry together and going to BED. i need to start gathering up my clothing and taking a toll of what should stay and what should go; i'm meeting with the girl from old hollywood in a couple of weeks about unloading some stuff, and i need to get my dry clean on.

of course, having a room overflowing with clothing does not keep me from obtaining more (no matter how many times i swear to myself i will NOT buy anything this week, i somehow end up browsing online and finding something i just can't live without. . .) and this shirt is a new favorite. it's from quail, the makers of one of the other pieces of clothing i eyed and craved and obsessed over until i finally found it on sale and pounced. i had seen this shirt on their website ages ago and continued to keep an internet eye on it, until i spied it on sale from buydefinition and snatched it up, along with a skirt i'd also drooled over for quite some time. (if you shop there, enter the code "grechen" at checkout; it'll get you 20% off everything, even stuff already on sale. this is how i justify these things.)



shirt: quail
jeans: cheap monday
necklace: girl selling her shit on the street
shoes: steve madden

as my hair gets longer, i may allow it to do this curly thing it so wants to do. it's risky when it's this short, but happy hair grows faster, so i'll indulge it.

this weekend: two brunches, a picnic, a drink or two or thirteen, wine and cheese, and sleep, glorious sleep.

have a good weekend, everyone!

xo audrey

fail

so, i got to work this morning nice and early, in a cute summer dress and bright blue socks with my little pink slingbacks, headed back to my closet, got everything set and. . . my camera died. and my charger is at home. so, once again, i'm going to have to cop out with some photos i took for the weardrobe closet a couple nights ago.

i may have explained this some yesterday, but basically, weardrobe invited me to be a part of their closet, which means that i get to go and pick 3 things from the site that i want to borrow, and they send it to me. a few days later, i ship it back, using the label they sent. my package was here waiting for me when i got back to work on tuesday, and it included a couple of things that i hadn't asked for - they wanted me to style a few things from urban outfitters, at least 3 times each, and take some photos. who am i to say no to the people providing me with clothing? so i styled 'em up in my disastrous bedroom, and here's one of my favorites.



shirt: urban outfitters
sparkly tights: forever 21
shoes: bloomingdales, forever ago
bow clip (on shirt): my mom's had these shoe clips forever.

i think i have some things coming in the mail today that i am extremely excited about, so i'll be sure to charge up my batteries tonight to be ready for tomorrow.

it's thursday! almost friday! hallelujah!

xo audrey

jane fonda

hello again! okay, the repairmen seem to have been gone, so i managed a few quick shots. this is my favorite borrowed piece from the weardobe closet; it's ridiculously tiny, and i don't think i'll be able to eat today without popping a button, but i love the color and the silk feels awesome. i do kind of feel like a dharma initiative member in it, though. it's somewhat janitor-ish.

i have a huge test in school today and i am kind of panicking about it, since i missed two classes last week and am completely unprepared. i have some homework to catch up on, as well, so i think i'm going to keep this brief and get to work!



jumpsuit: vintage, borrowed from the weardrobe closet
shoes: pour la victoire
belt: thrifty

okay! i hope everyone has a great wednesday (i can't believe it's already wednesday,) i'll be more chatty tomorrow!

xo audrey

this one's for katie

good morning! there are currently air conditioning repairmen banging around in my broom closet at work, so i have to wait to sneak in and take photos. in the meantime, a quick outfit post for katie, who wants me to wear nothing but yellow.



dress: vintage, thrifted
necklace: urban outfitters
shoes: some shop in union square

this necklace was included in the package i got from weardrobe yesterday; they included a couple of surprise pieces, and this was one of them.

hopefully what i'm actually wearing today soon to come -

xo audrey

marry me

so. . . i guess you have to be engaged to get engagement photos taken, right? i am completely infatuated with the pictures of max wanger. i stumbled upon his work multiple times this weekend, and with this combined with all the wedding stuff, it almost made me want to get married. almost. instead, i'll just continue to peruse his website and wipe away the occasional tear.







i am helping style a friend for her engagement photos this weekend; i've found my inspiration.

first sunburn of the year

hello!! it's been awhile! i had hoped to keep up with the ol' blog while i was in california, but i left my camera in my coat pocket so i took the weekend off. but i'm back, well rested, and in high spirits after a great weekend with my family. my sister's wedding was beautiful; the night was perfect, and she was absolutely radiant.



because she is my kind of crazy, she did all the baking for the wedding herself; made her own three-layer cake (dark chocolate orange, vanilla bean, and white chocolate layers,) cannolli, toffee-topped brownies, and tons more all made by the bride herself, from scratch. my sole contribution was frushi, which i was elbow-deep in up until about 30 minutes before the wedding.



fruit sushi! coconut and strawberry rice with a variety of fruits atop.

i got back to new york late sunday night and went straight to my friends' engagement party in astoria. i stayed up, drinking beer and laughing with the grooms-to-be, until about 2 am, then slept on their couch. yesterday we woke up, got bagels, and spent the afternoon in their backyard, playing phase ten and drinking beer. i got my freckle on and a bit of a sunburn, which will hopefully fade in the coming days to a nice mellow tan.

anyhow, perhaps subconsciously in honor of my skin tone, i wear a monotone pink outfit today:



dress: dalaga
belt: thrifted
necklace: ebay
shoes: devotte
socks: american apparel

i should have lots more this week - my package from weardrobe came (!!!) and lots of lovely things inside for me to try. until then,

xo audrey

thunder, lightning, strike

bonjoooourno! i think i got more sleep last night than i have in weeks, a whopping 8 hours! huzzah! i still didn't wake up until 8:22 this morning, so apparently lack of sleep isn't my problem. how do people wake up in the morning? is there some trick to it? i set an alarm, i turn on the radio, i turn on the lights. . . and then i sit there with all three blaring until it's way too late.

my night was pretty quiet and pleasant; i stopped into j crew to exchange my mom's birthday present, then headed back to brooklyn and bought a new yorker and some korean food for dinner. i took my time, walked home, took a bath, and hit the sack. it was divine.

and now, again, i must mention that i have a ton of work to do. ever building. i am supposed to have class tonight, but i may not be able to make it; my flight to california is at 9 am tomorrow and i have a lot, a LOT, to do before then. we'll see how today goes. but i should probably stop wasting time here and get to it.



shirt: american apparel
skirt: american apparel
belt: american apparel
tights: NOT american apparel. welovecolors.com.
shoes: some no-name store in union square

i love these tights but they are so neon, and the jagged black makes it hard to match with anything. if i wore a bunch of loud, crazy patterns i think i could just toss these on with that; but i don't, and i have a compulsive need for colors to match, so as much as i love them, they don't get a lot of wear. i was determined to put 'em on before it gets too warm to do so, though.

have a good wednesday, everyone! i was lucky enough to be chosen to pick some items from the weardrobe closet that hopefully arrive today so i can take them with me and find a closet to sneak into at my parents house to take some photos. have a lovely long weekend if i don't talk to you for a bit, thank you so much for reading!

xo audrey

wtf hair day

eeuuugh, another morning of waking up 3 minutes before i'm supposed to be at work. my sleep schedule got thrown off way back in december when i went back to california for a few days for the holidays, and i swear it hasn't gotten back to normal since; i still stay up until 2 or 3 every night, wide awake, until i finally shut my eyes and will myself to sleep. it makes waking up difficult. and, as yesterday, i have a LOT to do today. including but not limited to working on the homily for my sister's wedding. that's right, i've been ordained by the universal church of life and i'll be saying the "do-you-take-thee"s and the "you-may-now-kiss"s. i'm kind of nervous about it. as the least well-spoken of my family, i don't feel very well suited to write such a serious speech, but i'm going to do my best.



shirt: vintage ck pajama shirt
skirt: american apparel
belt: mom's
oxfords: DSW
necklace: ebay

i love this shirt, which my mom handed down to me as half a pajama set from the late 80s/early 90s. and i could only find one sock this morning so one of my feet is comfy and the other is. . . gross. ugh, today. i'm going to get crackin'.

hope everyone has a lovely day,

xo audrey

MDW to LGA

good morning, er, afternoon! another straight-from-the-airport monday at work. gotta keep it short today because i walked in to a pile of papers, and i'm out of town AGAIN this thursday through sunday (my sister is getting married!) so i have to buckle down and accomplish things before then. like finding interns. breaking down invoices. cleaning my desk, which will probably take a day on its own. . .



airplane-slept hair, airplane-wrinkled corduroy.

dress: anthropologie
belt: part of a blouse from church & state
shoes: jeffrey campbell. i can't stop wearing them.


net-a-porter is having one of its rare and amazing sales. of course, stuff that starts off in the four figures is generally too expensive even when heavily reduced; and of course, i couldn't find my debit card to save my life this morning, so it looks like i'll be unable to take part in this sale. but there are some incredible things, including these marni heels i am in love with marked down 40%.

tonight: class, and more plated desserts. i leave you with this: an almond-infused creme caramel with strawberry-orange salad and a tuille i plated on friday. we're on to puff pastry tonight.

until tomorrow,

xo audrey

dancing with myself

i had the idea for this shirt on a cold and lonely day this winter. i'd bought these beautiful mint-colored leather gloves, then somehow lost one on the way home from the bar one night. (gee, i wonder how that happened.) i held onto the orphaned glove, hoping i'd think of something to do with it because i couldn't bear to throw it away. i'm not sure what gave me the idea to sew it onto the shirt like this - i think i was remembering how good it feels to have someone to lean against, with their hands resting on your hips, and i decided to make a shirt that looked like i was being snuggled. i carefully cut the glove in half and handstitched it onto this shirt. voila!

a friend of mine from high school rolled into town late last night and came over to crash on my couch, and we ended up going through 2 bottles of andré and a couple brooklyn lagers apiece, chatting until 3 am. so i woke up rather late this morning and decided, hell, it's friday, i've been wearing skirts all week, and today i'm going to take it easy on myself.



shirt: american apparel, DIY'd
shorts: american apparel
necklace: ebay
shoes: jeffrey campbell

currently listening to the royal tenenbaums soundtrack. a recommend for today. man, bob dylan's wigwam is such a tough song because of the way the instruments swell up and you want to sing along so badly but there are no words except "ba da da dee dum." it's a daily struggle, folks.

AND! a huge, flattered thank-you to the sweet and lovely aDeLiNe, who bestowed an award upon me on her blog. i am pretty green when it comes to this stuff, truly, and it made my day. and to all the kind comments that have been coming in all week: i don't even have the words. you make me smile. you make me blush. so many thanks.

have a wonderful weekend, everyone! i'm off to central illinois (via chicago, just like the wilco song) tomorrow morning, so tonight is going to be a quiet one of packing and sleep.

xo audrey

dead leaves on the dirty ground

yesterday we started plated desserts in school, and i think i am going to LOVE it. we were broken off into teams and each team is designed a multi-facted dessert; our first assignment is an almond-infused creme caramel with cigarette rolled tuilles and a strawberry orange salad. everything is made from scratch. we start plating them on friday; the main point of this unit is to learn how to make everything look pretty on a plate. needless to say, this blog will soon be flooded with pictures of beautiful food. (again.)

as much as i try to put myself together nicely during the day, my school uniforms are a disaster. it is becoming a problem. i love getting dressed up but i am a total slob by nature, and this is becoming a problem that manifests itself all over my chef's coat every day. we get graded, in part, on a clean uniform, and i just can't seem to find the time to get my laundry done between work, school, and play. i'm going back to chicago this weekend (i have a good reason though! my little sister is graduating from college, with honors! hi esther!) and i think i'm going to have to schlep my uniforms with me and throw them in the wash before i go out and about. sad.



shirt: anthropologie
skirt: anthropologie
belt: anthropologie
shoes: georgina goodman
necklace: ebay, embellished with a shoe clip

ha, i guess it's easy to make a cute outfit from a bunch of shit from anthropologie - but in my defense, this skirt was on sale for $20 and about 4 sizes to big and i sewed it to fit. so, you know, that's something.

today i am determined to plow through some work. been very distracted the last few days. happy thursday, everyone, the weekend is almost upon us!

xo audrey

my wandering days are over

back in my college days, i used to be kind of a hippie. i, at one point, had stringy green hair woven with hemp and about a dozen necklaces around my neck at all times, and a jean skirt that i had made myself that was too long for me and thus collected dust, leaves, and other chicago grossness everywhere it went. i rarely washed it. i rarely REMOVED it. and while i look back on this time of my life with a slight cringe, i enjoyed it. i am, however, glad to have moved past it. so this skirt worries me a little, because i'm not sure why i like it so much. it doesn't fit with anything else i wear. but i. LOVE. it.

a few of years ago my mom gave me a couple of long, straight vintage skirts (she would probably smack me for calling them vintage, since they aren't vintage to her but rather her college clothes) and i held on to them for a couple of years and then tossed them, having never worn them. a word to the wise: if your mom gives you her old clothes, just keep them. odds are if you wait long enough, you'll want them. i've been looking for a long, straight skirt for awhile - i love how it plays with the proportions of a person's body, i feel like it makes me look tiny and i have always wished i was shorter - and i was scouring etsy and coming up short. everyone is selling these full, gypsy-like skirts, and it's all i could find in the stores, too. but i found this vintage lord and taylor skirt on advintagous's etsy and decided to go for it. after dressing in too-small thrift store t-shirts and lacy and patterned tank tops in my hippie years, i went to the other extreme and have spent the last few in mostly solid colors, very few patterns, maybe a stripe or two if i'm feeling nutty. this is my attempt to break away from that.



skirt: etsy, vintage lord and taylor
shirt: a slip i bought on the street from some woman (yes, i washed it first)
shoes: etsy
necklace: ebay
belt: vintage - er, was my mom's

yes, my eyes are closed in this picture. i took my regular 6 this morning and my eyes were closed in every single one. that's what i get for traipsing all the way down to carroll gardens last night and oversleeping my alarm clock this morning.

happy hump day, everyone! until we meet again. . .

xo audrey

maybe the cutest thing i've ever seen

except that video of capucine telling the most epic bedtime story of all time. you've seen that, right?

the one that i like best from Jessica Bigarel on Vimeo.

thanks to daniel at vendytv for showing me this. he'll be famous soon, just watch.

enjoy!

plummage

i felt i needed to bring the brightness today to make up for yesterday's lack of color. i got to school a bit early yesterday to cram for a test and my classmates looked at me somewhat surprised and said, "you look so. . . professional." rarely the look i am striving for. so today i threw on my favorite thrifted duds and a new pair of shoes and hopped the L to work.



shirt: etsy
skirt: thrifted
belt: thrifted
shoes: jeffrey campbell, from oak

i ordered this shirt on etsy awhile ago because i loved the details but it just looked WRONG on me. this morning i figured out the solution: to wear it backwards. bam. i'm amazed i had the brainpower to buckle my shoes; i had a test in chocolate last night (HALLELUJAH, it's finally over) and got let out of class extremely late and ran home, changed, and met a couple of friends at the bushwick country club near my house. after that we walked a couple of blocks to the metropolitan, featuring a gay bartender who also happened to be an avid sports fan (he and i shouted back and forth about the yankees, he being a fan and i most certainly NOT, and then when he found out i was from chicago extolled the greatness of jay cutler and all the great things he's going to do for the bears this year, so i decided he was okay) and $1 pbrs. i didn't know reasonably priced beer existed in this city. i think i've found my new spot. i teetered home at about 2:30 am and fell asleep watching a biography on jon stewart.

tonight, no school! the possibilites are endless! stay tuned!

xo audrey

freck

good morning! i am sun-kissed and well rested after a near-perfect weekend in new york. friday night after class i went out with a couple of friends from class and spramps, had a few beers in a beer garden in park slope, and somehow found myself being twirled in a dive bar while drinking pbr at 2 am. saturday i took myself to breakfast and then went on a nice long walk, found the big floppy hat i've been dreaming of for a fraction of the price i've seen, and finally made it into a boutique in greenpoint i hadn't been able to catch open, old hollywood.





if you live in brooklyn, or are visiting, check it out; the owner is really cool and now that she is renting the apartment right above the shop, it should be open more often.

and it's conveniently located right near the black rabbit, a great bar with a backyard and board games galore. i took myself there after my long walk (and purchasing a gorrrrgeous lace blouse from old hollywood) and had a couple of ciders while reading alone on the patio. eventually made friends with four strangers and played apples to apples for hours and hours, wound up at a 3 story house party somewhere in brooklyn and danced to honky tonk music whilst wearing the outfit below, plus my kentucky derby hat. it ended up being oddly appropriate.



shirt: thrifted
pants: OTTE online (CHECK THIS. these pants were $30 down from $330. yes.)
shoes: devotte
belt: thrifted

yesterday my world-wandering roommate finally came home, so after brunching with a good friend i hadn't seen with awhile he and i took a long walk through williamsburg, pausing for bloody marys on a patio and ending up at bonita for the best fish tacos and mexican corn around. today i have a big test on chocolate, so i'm going to go stick my nose in my notes for awhile.

xo audrey

zebraflouge

getting a bit of a late start because i got to step out of the office for once! i came in to work and had to run up to the MTV building in times square. i took a cab through heavy traffic up and decided to walk back with my iced coffee, the thirty or so blocks to my office. the weather is partly sunny and about 70 and absolutely perfect walking weather.

and last night's make up class was exactly what culinary school should be like, all the time. the class i was with was working on truffles, and they all got to choose their own flavors and make bon bons; at the end we had a big tasting, with strawberries to clean the palatte between every chocolate. it was absolutely heavenly. it almost made me excited to get back to chocolate myself tonight.



jumper: h&m
shoes: forever 21
belt: thrifted

i saw this in the window at h&m a couple months ago and had. to. have. it. of course they only had it in a size 8, which i swam in - it's baggy to begin with so it really has to be the right size or you just look [even more] ridiculous. so i made them take my name and number when they took it off the mannequin. it's still a bit baggier than i'd like, but when you roll it up and belt it, you can tell there's a person in there.

tonight: finish chocolate sculpture. spramp around the town. SLEEP IN. like whoa.

have a good weekend, everyone!

xo audrey

curly

as i walked home from class last night (which was not awful! we are doing a big project that is self-directed, and i think mine is going to turn out really nice) it was sprinkling a bit and i thought, this is nice, and then it started to POUR. i waited it out for a few minutes under the BQE overpass but finally gave up and walked slowly through the downpour as my tights soaked water up to my knees and my heels got squishy. my coat was still wet when i put it on this morning. and my hair - well, it got soaked, and i fell asleep watching the colbert report, so it is doing it's wild, curly thing today. a new issue: i have a new roommate and she seems to manage to be in the shower every time i want to be. my hair is really suffering.

anyway. bought this dress waaaay back when i started school in chicago. i found it at a thrift store up on belmont and took it home and immediately hacked it up. (this was before i had any sort of understanding of a sewing maching.) i wanted to shorten it but was too impatient to measure, so i ended up with this asymmetrical hem; i was going through a major halter-top phase (i know, i know) so i cut the straps and tied them behind the neck. and you know? it isn't the most practical dress, but i kind of love it.



dress: thrifted.
shoes: some crappy store in union square
necklace: ebay

all right. coffee time! i have lots to do today, and a class to make up tonight, and then i am allll made up and ready for friday.

happy thursday! xo audrey

chenin blanc

good morning! my makeup class got rescheduled at the last minute yesterday, so i ended up wandering down to the west village to meet a friend for a drink and a chat. we walked up to a place right near my office called petit abeille that has half-priced wine bottles on tuesday, got a bottle of chenin blanc and some cheese croquettes, and caught up for an hour or so. i am trying to pay more attention to the wines i like lately, and chenin blanc is definitely a new favorite. crisp, barely sweet, it's a perfect wine for warm weather. i walked home in the drizzle, stopping at a chinese place near my apartment for some crab rangoon and pork fried rice, crawled into bed and ate on a breakfast tray. i fell asleep sometime around 11 pm with my book open and fried rice half-eaten, only to reawake at 2 am because, whoda thought, white wine + cheese croquettes + cheap chinese food is not so easy on the stomach. anyway.



shirt: american apparel
skirt: j crew
tights: HUE
shoes: part of a swap, from linsey
necklace: from mom

i love this skirt but it has an awkward stiffness that is tricky to pair. i feel like no shirt i wear it with is ever quite right. i have to sneak back into j crew today to try to find something for my mom's birthday (which happens to be the day before mother's day,) so maybe i'll find something there.

in class tonight we start chocolate sculptures. i have to sketch out what mine will look like and bring it in this afternoon.

hope everyone has a lovely wednesday,

xo audrey

how i color my photos - tutorial

good morning! i have had several people over the last couple of weeks ask how i make the backgrounds of my photos black and white but myself/my clothes color, so i'm going to do a quick tutorial in lieu of an outfit post (i'm very boring today, blue v-neck, blue skinny pants, yellow heels - i'll do better tomorrow.)

i do all my work on a mac. i don't think this really matters, but just putting it out there. i import everything into iphoto, pick which photo i'll use (i take about 6 on a self-timer in the closet every morning) and drag it into photoshop. as far as i know, photoshop is absolutely key for coloring photos this way - if someone knows a way to do it without, let me know and i'll post that, too.



so. i have my photo. i drag it into photoshop to open it there. if need be, you can adjust the auto levels or whatever you want to do to it. then go into the "image" menu, go to adjustments, and select "desaturate."





using the "history brush" tool (circled in red in the image above,) you can then essentially "paint back" the colors. it's as easy as that! if you just want your shoes to pop, you can just paint them back, etc etc. the most important thing with this is to have a little patience with it, to blow up the picture a bit so that you can be careful to get the edges cleanly; otherwise you'll look like you're glowing.



that's it! really a pretty quick and easy process. i didn't finish the photo above, but i think you get the picture. (pun?)

class AGAIN tonight, a make up, and then again tomorrow. . . i am already waiting longingly for the weekend, and a little bit of relaxing.

happy tuesday!

***EDIT! special thanks to Lou!, who left this in the comments as a way to do this without photoshop:

"I thought I'd chime in with my own way of recoloring photos. I use Picasa 3 which you can download from the Google site.

1) Open the photo for editing
2) Click the Effects tab in the panel on the left
3) Select "Focal Black and White"
4) Then adjust the sliders until you've got the size and sharpness you want
5) Position the cursor on the parts you want illuminated
6) Click Apply and Save as normal

It probably doesn't work as good as Photoshop but it's an alternative."

thanks lou!


xo audrey

jetlaggg

i woke up at 5 o'clock this morning and stumbled around in the half-dark throwing my belongings into my bag. slept in the cab ride there, slept on the chairs in my gate, slept against the window of the plane, my mouth surely hanging open and my book sitting untouched on my lap. i woke up feeling like i'd been drugged - my eyes felt stuck together and standing up felt like the hardest work i've ever done. i dragged myself outside and stood in line for a cab, shivering a bit after the perfect chicago sunshine. the concrete was a mess of puddles and i could see my breath as i stood, waiting, with at least 30 strangers behind me, impatiently as one cab came every 3 minutes. finally i climbed in one, told him where i was going, and fell back asleep.

so here i am, at work, in my rumpled clothes and unwashed hair; the closet was fuller than usual, and i didn't have the energy to move anything or pose, so here's the best i can do today.



dress: h&m
belt: bought at a thrift store in chicago this weekend
tights: HUE
shoes: etsy

tired. tired tired tired. too tired to post more, but i'll be back tomorrow with (hopefully) my brain back intact and more to say about my trip.

xo audrey

birthday cakes

tonight is vanessa's birthday, and i'm going to make dinner for her and a small army at her apartment. i can't wait. my lovely friend linsey turned me on to tastespotting, a website full of beautiful photos of food and amazing recipes to match, and i'm scouring it to find something pretty but not too complicated or time consuming for tonight. after the partying's through, i have to rush home, pack for chicago, try to grab a couple hours of sleep, and hop on a jet plane.



spent an hour or so at the new museum with vanessa last night. they currently have an exhibition up called "younger than jesus," 50 artists from 25 countries, all under the age of 33. a wide spectrum of exhibits from a woman sleeping in an all-white bed in the middle of a room, to photos of survivors of hurricane katrina, to a big led that said "OMG" in blue lights with candles surrounding it. interesting stuff. worth a stop-by, especially thursday nights, when it's free!



dress: AKA, bought from gilt
socks: american apparel
shoes: forever 21
necklace: ebay
belt: salvation army

a quick thank you for the kindness of everyone who reads and comments on this blog. i am blown away by how sweet strangers can be, you guys make my day!

aaaand i'm off. lots to do before tonight and the weekend. have a good one, everyone! happy may day!