workin' on my night cheese

so, last night, after a long class of chocolate-tempering (an extremely messy and frustrating process) during which i somehow managed to fall asleep (falling asleep in a large lecture hall is one thing, but falling asleep in a kitchen is blaringly obvious and extremely embarrassing) i headed home on the JMZ. i'd spoken to my friend vanessa earlier in the night but a couple of texts went unreturned and i took it as a blessing that i could just go home and get some rest. i stepped off the JMZ and wandered in to a small family-style mexican restaurant and ordered a ham and cheese sandwich, and sat and waited as i listed to the soothing voice of scott carrier on the most recent episode of this american life. suddenly my iphone (iphone!!) started vibrating wildly; i'd received a barrage of texts from vanessa, sounding in need of a rescue. "piano les. need u now." "please come save me." etc. i asked if she needed me to come scoop her and got a "yes." so i briskly gathered my sandwich, put my chocolate cake in a plastic bag and hiked back to the JMZ, anxiously looking down the track and hoping she would be okay until i got there. i got off at delancey and hustled towards the bar (with the aid of my handy GPS!) and into the bar, where she was nowhere to be found. my heart dropped. i call. no answer. i receive a text: "upstairs." i run up the stairs to find a very happily drunk vanessa karaoking (read: butchering [i love you spramps!]) kanye west's gold digger. i bought a $4 pbr (scandal,) square danced around the floor with vanessa for a bit, then helped her into a cab and back to her apartment not 20 minutes after i'd come. i slept like a baby on her air mattress, though, and believe me, i am not complaining: i welcome any excuse to be able thumb through her rack of designer dresses and take my pick. it had to be a quick one this morning, and i think the cut isn't quite right for me, but i looove the pattern on this dress, and the light silk feels so good in this still-new manhattan sunshine.



dress: from my beauty in brooklyn, nunispramp
huraches: etsy
belt: also vanessa's
hair: getting more and more awkward

i am contemplating a trip to chicago this weekend. i had been anyway, and then i checked my bank account this morning (peeking through the cracks of my fingers to soften the blow that i was sure was coming after the decadence of this weekend) and was delighted to find that my extremely generous tax refund came through this morning! thanks, mr. president! delta has round-trip flights for $140, so there's really no excuse not to. . . get ready chicago. . . i think hurricane audrey is going to hit this weekend.

hope everyone else's day is as filled with sunshine as mine,

xo audrey

pbjb

good morning! i had a long, gorgeous weekend spent in the sun and it really took a lot out of me. pulling myself out of bed this morning was damn near impossible, and i've spent much of the morning dealing with iphone (iphone!! i got one over the weekend!) related issues. i'm currently holding as i attempt to change my cell phone number to a chicago one because i can now say with confidence that i'll be moving there after graduating from culinary school in september. as i hold, i'm the lunch of a privileged 7 year old: natural peanut butter and strawberry-peach jam with sliced bananas on wheat, a bowl of cut up mango, and a glass of milk. yum.



shirt: thrifted
skirt: american apparel
belt: anthropologie
shoes: etsy
necklace: ebay

tonight: more adventures in chocolate. i have to admit i don't like this unit much so far. not only am i not a chocolate person (i know, i know, i'm a sorry excuse for a woman) but tempering chocolate is a very precise and scientific process, and "precise" and "scientific" are things that i don't really do well unless it involves embossing powder or frosting. le sigh.

also wishing that the time spent in the sun this weekend showed up SOMEWHERE on my skin. i'm as pale as ever, still.

xo audrey

they just don't make 'em like they used to

stumbled upon this collection of vintage clothing labels (via coudalpartners) this morning. here are a few of my favorites, but the whole set is really lovely and worth checking out. i've always loved the charm of vintage labels.







photos by joulesstar, you can see the full set here.

thank g it's f

well, it wasn't pretty, the room-cleaning, but i did it. i even got new sheets and put them on my bed, although i think buying sheets with a pattern may have been a mistake; my room is about 8'x 8' and at this point basically functions as a glorified closet. i have nails every few inches on the longest wall and at least 2 dresses hanging from each, and my bookshelf holds no books but instead each cube is stuffed with a different color - yellow and brown tee shirts, sweaters, skirts, and blouses in one, denim in another. i should take pictures while it's all clean so you can get an idea of why a girl with lots of clothes shouldn't, despite popular opinion, live in new york city. i need a closet!!

in class tonight we start chocolates, which should be fun, although i have to admit i'm not much of a chocolate girl. more for my roommates! i think after i am going to force myself to go home and get a reasonable night's sleep - i have big plans for the weekend and i could use a quiet night at home.


detail shot of what this jacket can do:


sequined jacket: my favorite portland purchase. you can flip the gold sequins over to make silver! meaning you can write or draw on it. it's pretty incredible. and extremely loud.
shirt: gap
shorts: akira chicago
shoes: enzo angiolini
necklace: ebay

i hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! it is going to be in the 80s in the big apple this weekend so i'm breaking out the bare legs and summer dresses.

also, edit: i am wearing sheer pantyhose, too, that must be giving me a bit of color, because i am pretty sure i am not this tan.
xo audrey

marie antoinette

she's the one who said let them eat cake, right? after weeks of cake-making, i have to say i don't really want to touch one for years, but here are photos from last night's test.





all the decorations are made from fondant, with some royal icing details.

brain: dead

yesterday was a long, long one. had work, as usual, and left about an hour early to head to school and study for the midterm. when we have tests, there is a written part of the test and a practical part; the practical is where we actually bake something and get graded on taste, texture, appearance, as well as organization and timing and proper use of tools and all that. i've always done really well with the practical part of the exam, but i struggle sometimes with the written. this is the part where you have to answer questions like, "lean breads should be baked until their internal temperature is between _____ and _____." (answer: 204 and 207 degrees farenheit.) or, "list the twelve steps of bread making." it's questions that are very technical, very precise, and knowing them doesn't necessarily mean you know what you are doing. so i got to school and was sitting with a few friends going over the ingredients in a brioche and the difference between franzipan and creme anglais and bavarian cream and moussolin and i kind of started to panic. this test was over everything we've learned since november; it was a lot of information.

well, to make a not particularly long or interesting story shorter, it was a breeze. i was kind of amazed at how easily it all came back to me once i got the test. and the practical exam went pretty well, too; we just had to decorate a cake, and i liked mine but there were, of course, some things i could see about it that i would have liked to change. oh well. i'll have pictures up soon.

anyway, i've posted this dress before, but it's one of my favorites and a good standby, so:



dress: brooklyn flea market
socks: american apparel
shoes: steve madden

tonight i MUST clean my room. MUST. i put it here so that i am held accountable. I MUST.

xo audrey

do not, under any circumstances, fall asleep with wet hair.

or this will happen to you, too. it looks like something fell asleep on my head.



today i walked outside without a coat and it didn't feel like a mistake. i kept walking. my boss described my shorts as "hot pants" but not in a disapproving way. i have a midterm to study for but instead of studying last night like i meant to, i had 2 glasses of sangria with dinner and stayed too long and then went home and crawled into my roommate's bed and giggled about boys while watching hilariously bad music videos from the early nineties.

le sigh.



sweater: cacharel, thank you gilt!
shorts: american apparel
tights: HUE
shoes: payless
necklace: impossible to see, but erica weiner made it

i almost wore this sweater sans-shorts but had to remind myself that i live in williamsburg, i don't WORK in williamsburg. it is an awkward length, though; i kind of wish i had gotten it in an XS instead of a small, but it's final sale and i'm stuck with the size i have, so i'll make it work.

i am going to attempt a purchasing freeze. my bedroom looks like 18 different boutiques came in, had a crazy rager, then got sick and barfed clothes everywhere. i need to chill. but that is so, so hard when i find things like this:



maybe i will just make my own.

xo audrey