juicy (or: 8 days later)

it's been quite a week. and by that i mean i have been so busy i can barely remember it. i have been working on a big project that involves making lots and lots of french macarons, which today i assembled and boxed up.





other than that it has been work, work, work. the bakery where i work has been getting lots of tv time lately (we've been featured on a few food network shows) which is fun and exciting but when it comes down to it just means a lot more orders and, thus, much more work. we recently won best cupcakes in the city - again, flattering and awesome, but oh, my aching feet.

other week highlights:

* going for a run and nearly killing a chihuahua when i ran right into his leash and dragged him a couple feet (I KNOW. thankfully i was running so i apologized profusely and then ran away.) (he was fine. but pissed.)

* eating top ramen for dinner twice this week (and it's only wednesday)

* watching and re-watching the season premiere of mad men (!!!)

* a lengthy email chain with my sisters about the bachelorette (a guilty pleasure for all of us)

so. . . it's been a slow week. except! a week ago yesterday i got to feel like a movie star. i was invited to an event at juicy couture, for erin fetherston, who has a line coming out for them; i turned it down, partially because it was a tuesday and i have to work super, painful early wednesday mornings, and partly because i honestly thought. . . juicy couture? probably not my thing. but the (sweet, wonderful) woman who invited me hinted that i should probably try to find a way to go, and i trust her, so i went.

i have to admit, when i attend events i often feel just crazy awkward. i mean - i am surrounded by fabulous, chatty fashion bloggers, many of whom do it full time, or at least work in fashion in one way or another. then there's me - i wear jeans, a t-shirt, and some beat up asics about 90% of the time for work, so i kind of go into "i am not worthy" mode and get really quiet and weird. this event was a total blast. i met up with the sweet, stylin' christine of mystylepill beforehand and we headed over together. we walked in the door and were greeted by a girl in this fabulous jumpsuit - a weakness of mine - and when we complimented her on it, she said, "oh, it's juicy!" a good sign of things to come. we drank down some champagne taittinger prestige rosé (yum) and took our seats for dinner to find place cards with a complimentary sony bloggie (which i of course left with christine and have yet to get to play around with.) we were served an amazing three course meal (asparagus and frisee salad, arctic char with cauliflower, and a chocolate something - i remember the food, of course, but forget the dessert!) and chatted with the people around us (across the table from me was the new york editor of refinery 29. i tell you, it was absolutely surreal.) we were then whisked away to the juicy store, which opened up just for us, and told we were allowed to pick two things - whatever we wanted. WELL. consider me a convert. i found these shorts AND the bag, both of which i absolutely adore. i dressed them up with a little madmen inspiration - joan's outfit from the premiere was just divine.



shorts: juicy
top: church & state
bag: juicy
shoes: seychelles

inspired by:


(sorry for the crap quality - all i could find was a screen grab.)

i've always thought that since i was a, ahem, larger chested girl, i shouldn't wear high necked things - they make me feel bigger than i already am. well, christine hendricks has proved me wrong on that front, and i'll never wear this blouse the same way again. may i someday wear my (much less extreme and hot) curves with as much grace as she does.


okay. i have another event tomorrow night and then i am going to attempt a master cleanse. has anyone attempted this before? i'm going to maine with the man of my dreams (aka my fiancé) a week from tomorrow and i cannot. wait.

all right! until next time -

xo audrey

NSFS

that's NOT SAFE FOR SAM. i've made sam promise not to glance at the blog until i've posted enough to get this one past the first page, so sam, my dear, i love you dearly, but if you've made it this far, STOP. i'm about to post something you don't get to see for another 11 months or so.

okay.

promise?

so. . . i found the dress!! i'd been looking and looking and then i realized that there really isn't any way to pick a dress until you've decided what kind of wedding you're going to have. how fancy do i want this affair? inside, outside? what food? i didn't want to buy an expensive, floor-sweeping, long-trained masterpiece if i was going to be eating barbecue outside, barefoot. so after making some key decisions: the wedding will be outside, it will be kept pretty small and intimate, with local, seasonal, family-style food to be served on picnic tables, and sam and i are going to do everything we can ourselves. so i decided a short dress made the most sense. and that i wanted to spend as little as possible on the dress, because really, the food is what matters most to me. well, the hunk standing across the aisle is what matters most. but the food is important too. so i was absolutely delighted when i stumbled upon this on hihlo studio's etsy:




it came in the mail a couple days ago, and it fits like it was sewn for me. i am beyond thrilled. and how much did this beauty set me back? $62, including shipping.

more wedding stuff to follow (although i will certainly be doing more recipe posts soon, it's been too long!)

xo audrey

bonne bastille!

bonjour! happy bastille day everyone! i happened to (not planned, i swear,) manage to wear red, white and blue both to bake in this am and now to continue my day in. it's a full one, too; home for a quick post, then heading to the new museum to see what's what, then to a friend's going away party this evening. my weekend has been planned for months - a couple of my best friends are getting married, and i have the honor of not only baking the cake and making the dinner, but i also get to revise my roll as reverend audrey of the universal church of life. it should be a wonderful few days.

and where the hell have i been? everywhere, it feels, except home! i've been working tons, and in a hot bakery at that- and with the summer we've been having in new york, working in a hot kitchen wears you out faster than any workout i've tried. the last couple of weekends have been spent with sam, upstate at a bed and breakfast, relaxing and fishing and swimming. . . all without internet access. this is my last weekend out of town for a couple of weeks, at least, so hopefully i'll be a bit more prolific.



shirt: urban outfitters
skirt: american apparel
belt: little boutique in claremont, california
necklace: ebay
shoes: urban outfitters

i find myself gravitating much more towards this sort of outfit this summer. last summer i was all about the vintage dresses, the silk, the heels - but i'll be damned if it doesn't feel good to be this comfy.



this is a quick one, but i have another lined up for later, i promise!

be well, stay cool!

xo audrey

bang bang

so, last friday i decided i was bored with my hair, and it hadn't been touched by scissors in almost a year, so i made a phone call and scheduled a cut for that day. i have this fantasy of getting married with hair that is at least long enough to pull over one shoulder; it is truly pathetic how often i dream of waking up with hair about six inches longer than it is currently. really, subconscious? that's the best you can do for me? and as much as i hate to be that girl that is thinking about her freaking wedding day hairstyle a year in advance, it seems i am that girl, so i told anya (the sweet russian girl who chopped it) not to take off any length. she snipped away for about 40 minutes, and even took the time to diffuse my hair (something i never bother with - if i leave my hair to air dry, it curls itself -) and i happily paid her and went home. upon closer inspection, though, i couldn't really tell it had been cut. it looked. . .cleaner, maybe? but you'd never know i'd paid to have it cut unless i'd told you. so after a few days of hemming and hawing, i showed back up today and asked her to cut me some bangs. so there you go. i got a haircut. now you can tell.



top: quail
skirt: quail
shoes: uo
purse: vintage

this shirt, from quail, is one of my all-time favorites. unfortunately, last summer, while out of town and sautéing some onions in butter, a bit of oil leapt onto the shirt and i knew i didn't have time to get it to a dry cleaner, so i made the fatal mistake of washing it. even without putting it in the dryer, it shrunk up and warped a bit, so i'm left with a top that fits a little odd and is about 2 inches shorter than i'd like. so today i decided to do something about it, and sewed some vintage lace to the bottom, for modesty's sake.

tomorrow is friday (for me,) then friday night i have a show to attend, then saturday morning i'm off to california for a week of relaxing with my family (sam included.) i'll bring my computer and try to be better about posting - i'll have no excuse! - as i have many photos and recipes to catch up on.

until then

xo audrey

she's crafty

hello! i've been making some cards lately and it occurred to me that i may not have mention this hobby of mine. when i lived in chicago i had a small business hand-making invitations for a bar mitzvah here, a wedding there. i really miss sitting down and making things out of tiny pieces of paper, so lately i've been grabbing every excuse to do so. i've also decided to make the save the dates (and invitations, eventually) for the wedding myself, but it's way too early to send those out just yet, so i'm keeping my hands busy with this kinda stuff.











while i'm speaking crafts, i've been meaning to mention this lady for awhile - alexis brown, a friend from chicago who makes beautiful, witty embroideries. she now has an etsy store so you can have some of her goodness for your own.





get some.

xo, audrey

lookbook contest

hi everyone! wanted to really quick let you know about a contest that the ladies at purple lab, who did the lovely photo shoot you see in the last post, are having now through july third. their makeup really is amazing (this coming from a girl who rarely wears much of it, but totally would if i had a cabinet full of their goods.) all the details are below. good luck and hope you're all having a wonderful week!



Remember when makeup used to be playful and fun? Purple Lab does! Today we will launch a Look Book on our Web site, starring fashion and beauty bloggers and friends, meant to inspire women to experiment with beauty tips and tricks, while creating an effortless online shopping experience.



To celebrate the Look Book launch, Purple Lab is launching a contest, inviting consumers to recreate and upload looks inspired by the Look Book, on Purple Lab's Facebook fan page for a chance to win Purple Lab beauty products. The contest will run through July 3, 2010.



more soon!

xo audrey

birthday mirthday

hello everyone! it is my 25th birthday today, and i have the perfect thing to post - a few weeks ago i took part in a photo shoot for purple labs. the photos turned out so nicely, and i just found out yesterday that i got featured on women's wear daily online yesterday and will be in the print version today!! very flattering and exciting, and a perfect little birthday surprise.

so, here are the photos, along with what they had me wear in every look. i am not a big makeup-wearer (i load the mascara on daily, but don't really wear anything else,) and i definitely never take photos of my face, so it was fun to get to have someone do this for me and actually be happy with the results.



Look: Red Alert
Makeup Artist: Ani Hovhannisyan
Photographer: Ana Schecter, http://www.anaphoto.net/
Get the Look:
*Skin- Apply Pearlesque Show Primer followed by Silk Sheets
*Eyes- Luxury Squared, Cheek Implants in Backstage Pass and Huge Lips Skinny Hips in Red Sole, Lashionista Modelista in After Dark
*Cheeks- Cheek Implants in Backstage Pass
*Lips- Huge Lips Skinny Hips in Kitty Poledancer



Look: Glow Girl
Makeup Artist: Ani Hovhannisyan
Photographer: Ana Schecter, http://www.anaphoto.net/
Get the Look:
* Skin- Apply Pearlesque Show Primer followed by Silk Sheets
* Eyes- Lashionista Modelista, Luxury Squared, Huge Lips Skinny Hips in Red Sole
* Cheeks Cheek Implants in Backstage Pass on apples of cheeks
* Lips- No Panty Lines Huge Lips Skinny Hips



they even did a behind-the-scenes video, which i hesitantly link to here. is it ever NOT weird to see yourself on video?

any way, that's all from me for now. happy june 3rd everyone! have a lovely weekend! i'm scooting off to work and then sam is whisking me and one of my closest friends off to the beach for a couple of days. it should be absolutely divine.

xo audrey