The 5 Shoes You Need

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Interior Style Files: Herringbone

Today's interiors post is all about herringbone detailing, mainly floors. If you spend any time on Pinterest, then I'm sure you see flooring and tile work in herringbone patterns everywhere. Now before you go rush to call it a trend, keep in mind that some of the earliest herringbone wood floors date back to the 16th century France. Herringbone is a pattern style of parquet flooring (parquet being hardwood flooring arranged in repeating geometrical patterns). So like pretty much everything else out there, it is a style resurrection that has found an updated and modern look. Herringbone adds such a bold statement to a room, and lends itself to classic and contemporary flooring. I personally love seeing it in bathrooms and in a great room or other room with higher ceilings. Herringbone is a great way to highlight and feature natural elements in the home.

all images via Pinterest

Theme For The Week

Today's post is brief as I just wanted to share a mantra I'll be adopting for the week especially the next few days. Should be interesting to say the least. Things I am attempting to tackle include but are not limited to: getting tons of work done at the old J-O-B, getting back on the workout horse, doing a healthy food shop, and an a apartment clean. Wish me luck, and have a kick ass Monday friends!

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Weekend + Links

Thank heavens this week flew by! I feel like I still need a rest from the bagillions of activities of last weekend (a nap due to a nap sort of thing that happens as we get older). I am looking forward to not doing a heck of a lot honestly. So in the spirit of sitting on your butt, kick back and check out these links!

FOUND: Design on a Dime. This great blog that sources "copy cat" items for your favorite high end furnishings and decor.

SIPPING: Cider. But not just any cider, a bourbon spiced cider to be exact. Cold or hot this sounds fantastic and can easily be made for a crowd.

BEING: Predictable. Excited for PSLs but in all honesty I don't make it to Starbucks very often at all. This at home skinny version is right up my alley.

CRAVING: Soup. Actually looking forward to soup and this chowder recipe looks comforting and delicious.

REMINISCING: Childhood favorites. It's the 20th Anniversary of The Little Rascals, and the cast reunited and took one amazing picture.

SHOCKING: White Girls + Fall. Hilarious list of what you can expect, shocking because I don't do most of the annoying activities on the list.


Have a great weekend! xx

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You Need This: Rack It Up

Today I wanted to share my new favorite sale shopping tool, Rack It Up. I'll be honest I'm not a great bargain shopper. I almost never keep tabs and monitor items so see if prices have dropped, and don't check my promo folder for sale alerts in Gmail either. So unless I stumble across something online, chances are I miss the sale or that coat I dreamed took its half priced self to live with someone else. In short, I miss out on sales and deals ALL THE FREAKING TIME!

Enter Rack It Up to save the day. This amazing site allows you to grab items from your favorite stores online and organizes them in your "closet." Simply install the RackItUp button to your browser and click on it when you find an item you like (from their extensive list of retailers). When you add items to your closet, you can add qualifiers to the item such as size, color, but most importantly when the item goes on sale or when it is discounted by a certain dollar or percentage amount. Once you add the item, you sit back and wait for Rack It Up to send you emails when the items you've selected go on sale. How is easy is that?!?

Rack It Up also allows you to follow your friends or other stylish members so there's always new pieces to add to your closet! Gone are the days of missing out on a fresh mark down on those boots you've been obsessing over. Another great thing to note is that it's not just for clothes and accessories, but things for your home like decor and furniture too! Rack It Up takes the work out of sale scouring and frees up more of your time so you can do more of the things you actually like doing. Search for me, Ali Bentolila in the members tab and follow along so we can score some great deals together!

I was not paid or compensated by Rack It Up for this post, I just like the concept and site that much!

Fashion Week

Funny story: my boyfriend asked me why I wasn't going to Fashion Week after I received some event invites. I proceeded to burst out laughing. There are several reasons I am not going, the main one being $$$. However, I don't think Fashion Week is really my scene to be quite honest. Other than ready to wear, I don't have an appreciation for haute couture, don't love the idea of getting dressed to the nines for days at a time, and while I love the blogging community I cannot stand the blogger mean girls. 

I don't know if I will ever make it a point to attend Fashion Week, but if I were going this is what I would wear. Other than the bag, which yields me incapable of focusing on anything else, it's a pretty doable look for a variety of budgets, it's classic with an edgy twist, and the pieces are so so versatile. Below you can shop the post, and I added a few skirts with different price points along with blouse options. **If leather isn't your thing, or you don't like the price you can try this faux option.**

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Kicking Bad Habits

Ok it's confession time: I have a slew of bad habits. Not just one or two that you can chock up to being busy, but several really bad habits that I am dying to change. I'm sure you have all seen those hashtag challenges, The Everygirl and 100 Happy Days are popular ones, and they got me thinking. Could making a big deal of changing or shifting behavior work for even simple everyday tasks? I'd like to find out. I've often heard it takes about 28 days to effect habitual change, so I have the month of September to see if I can make the changes stick. So in the spirit of transparency and starting fresh (the adult version of back to school), I wanted to share with you my bad habits, and how I would like to change them.  

Bad Habit #1 : I struggle to put clothes away and at times leave them on the floor.

I am not a dirty person, let's make that clear. However, I tend to get my head caught up my ass and ignore the fact that with exception of underwear, I have thrown two days worth of clothes off to the other side of the room. This unkempt pile should not be welcome in my bedroom. So while it's simple and very basic, my goal is to put away my clothes each day. Whether that is going into the hamper, being hung up or folded, there should be no clothes on the floor...PERIOD. I'm going to piggyback on this goal again with organizing my very large walk-in closet so that getting dressed is easier, I know what I actually have, and I can asses what I need and need to get rid of.

Bad Habit #2 : I go stretches of time without any kind of exercise.

If this was the only thing I stuck to, this entire experiment will be a win. This is just plain bad for me. It's bad for my health, it's bad for my mood, and it's plain awful for my body. There really is no excuse not to get moving for at least 30 minutes a day if not more. A walk, a workout DVD, a class is really all it takes. I have a gym in my building I have never been in and they have tv's on the machine, that's pathetic. In short, I need to move my ass. While I'm at it I want to set a goal of not only moving each day, but also taking time each day to stretch. As a former dancer and cheerleader, it's shameful where my range of motion is lately. I'm about as agile as Chris Farley in Tommy Boy, and yes I wish I was kidding. So some kind of exercise (walks for the days I don't workout) and stretching daily.

Bad Habit #3 : I eat carbs (not the great kind) at almost every meal.

Look I am not a champion of low carb, no carb, or anything like it, but I do know I cannot eat starchy carbs at every meal and think I'm going to see change. I can eat all the kale in the world, but it won't matter when it comes to starch. I know carbs are a trigger for me, and that I have literal carb addiction. Going cold turkey won't work, so it needs to be minimized. No carb 3-a-days. Preferably lay off starchy carbs in the evening, and when I can't or simply don't want to avoid them make sure I remember that for the rest of my meals. Like I said I am never giving up carbs, but I need to curb those babies in a serious way.

Bad Habit #4 : I go to bed very often without taking off my makeup/washing my face.

Yep, this one is gross. I don't know any reason other than sheer laziness for this one, but it's pretty rare that I take time at night to care for my skin and yet I bitch about blemishes and skin issues. This is a simple fix with an even easier back up. I'd like to take 5-10 minutes a night and devote them to taking care of my skin. Cleansing, treating, whatever I need, and for the nights when that's too much then at least use disposable face cleansing cloths. I am also going to piggyback on this and say that I should be cleaning my makeup brushes/Clarisonic weekly. 

Bad Habit #5: I put my hair through a hot, chemical shit storm on the regular.

Yes my dear readers, I am a bottle blonde. I am a colored, bleached, flat ironed, hot mess. I coat my scalp in dry shampoo just so I can wash my hair every other day, which has been a savior but causes MAJOR buildup. I blow dry and straighten my hair which you know is f*cking awful for it too. The reality is I am not going to stop coloring my hair or styling it with heat. This means I need to take some extra care of my locks. This is another easy one, but I NEED to start using a weekly hair masque and deep conditioning treatment, along with some sort of heat protection product. I am so lucky my hair doesn't look like shredded wheat, but I won't always be. The time is now!

This should be no surprise to you, but I have a few other bad habits. I want to set myself up for success, so I am trying to be realistic about changes I want to make and not bite off more than I can chew. So if you are feeling brave, inspired, or can just commiserate with my less than stellar habits, leave a comment. It's always nice to know that other people don't have it as together as they appear to on Instagram!

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