I have a closet the size of most dorm rooms and I’m out of hangers and almost out of space. Yet sometimes I walk in there and can’t find a damn thing to wear. As my friend Amy would say, #firstworldproblems.

I was late for date night last week and ran in and decided to just go with something super simple and this is what I came out wearing. Surprisingly I was happy – usually I feel the need to make every outfit unique. But I like the shape and comfort of this one and love my new-to-me necklace and cuff.

Top: Thrifted
Skirt: Kenneth Cole Outlet
Shoes: Aldo Outlet
Necklace: Garage or Estate Sale
Purse: Gifted from Mom from Michael Kors Outlet

My darling friend Andrea and I had an eye-opening discussion recently. I already knew how much I love to shop (surprise!) and hunt for treasures. But the realization was that I wear the things once or twice and in some extra-awful cases, never, and then donate them or hold onto them for years thinking ‘one day I’ll be invited to a 60′s costume party’. Seriously.

Case in point: I’ve had the cuff and necklace worn in these pictures for months at least. And yes this is the first time I’m wearing them.

So I’m going to continue my thrifting habit (which is not to be confused with my book and magazine hoarding obsession) and wear the items a few times until the thrill is gone and then sell them online for another lucky treasure hunter to find…when I stop being lazy. Want to guess how lazy? I’ve had the Etsy store without anything in it for over a YEAR now. I have the shopping part down, it’s the uploading and pictures taking part that I’m struggling with. Go figure.

Sandhya

Here are some overdue pictures from our Housewarming this summer as well as the before and after shots of our Dining Room:

Bear got me these ceramic dry-erase cheese labels and I finally put them to use!

Olive Cheese Bread

Party Spoons!

Love this cheese plate I got while thrifting.

Now, this is what our Dining Room looked like before:

It’s the only picture I have and I showed you here what it looked like after we painted but here’s our (nearly) finished product. We are planning on covering all the walls with mirrors so we’re always on the hunt for those and we want to get a yellow rug eventually as well. But for now, I love having company over and serving up meals here!:

All the mirrors are thrifted and the rule is that they all must be under $10. The large one in the middle was an exception and it was $15. The furniture is all from different collections at World Market. Chandelier is from Home Depot! The plate was thrifted and the decorative balls were thrifted/bought new and from various places and here’s what I did for the straw-like ones that I picked up for $5 a bag at a garage sale, originally from Ikea:

Before

After – I just spray painted them gold! EASY!

Would love thoughts or suggestions on the room!

Sandhya

We recently went to my (Bangalore) to introduce Bear to my family, do wedding shopping and of course to visit with all our friends and family. We bought all our clothes and jewelry for the wedding as well as all the stuff for the bridal party. I can’t wait to see everyone wearing it all.

Bear and I decided for our Bridal Shoot coming up (with the fabulous Nathan Russell Photography and his incredibly creative wife and my friend, Amy) that we would go ahead and wear our actual wedding and reception outfits. Head to toe. We paid so much for everything and it’s such a waste if we never wear it again…plus the day of will be so hectic we won’t have a chance for fancy pictures. But those won’t be revealed until January. In the meantime, here are some of my favorite experiences in India (getting sick multiple times is NOT included):

Spending time with my loving (and sometimes out of control) family

My talented cousin doing my mehendi

Hanging out with the animals on my dad’s family’s farm

Getting out of the city

The sweet party my parents threw for us

And my absolute favorite was when Gaurav and I bought this motorcycle for my cousins – they are such good kids and work/study so hard and really needed something more efficient than the bus to get around. It was an amazing experience to be able to help them.

Sandhya

We had our Housewarming this weekend and it was so much fun to show everyone around our new home. Since it was clean I took the opportunity to get some shots of the “finished” rooms. Of course, decorating is an iterative process but I finally feel as though most rooms in the house are at a good point.

Here is the living room before:

We pulled up the carpet, put down laminate, changed the fan/lighting, painted the walls and trim and redid the tile around the fireplace to match the Bianca Carrara marble in our kitchen and the tiles in the bathroom and laundry room. Bear and I loved this room in my Domino book and used the colors as inspiration:

And here is the living room now:

The coffee table, chairs, side tables and most decor pieces (candles, vases, books) were all thrifted or vintage. The sofa table is from World Market, the rug from West Elm as are some of the accessories on the tables and bookshelves and the loveseat is from Ikea. The bookshelves are the same from our old house as well as two more we bought off Craigslist and were just sanded/painted a neutral beige from their former black. The print above the fireplace is from Urban Outfitters.

Still trying to figure out what to do with this area….thoughts?

I still want to put canvas prints of the furbabies up on the staircase wall, put up some curtains and there will always be space for more knick-knacks in the future as well as more pillows for the loveseat, but for now it’s quickly become the center of our home. We’ve had many friends over and it’s perfect for late evenings spent chatting over cocktails.

Sandhya

I’m not the biggest fan of tights. Because, well…they’re tight. I’m not a big fan of anything restricting my legs (dirty!).

No seriously, I change into pajamas the instant I get home and according to the masses on Facebook, I’m not alone.

As for tights or pantyhose…I have always found them incredibly uncomfortable. So much so that when I try them on to decide if it goes with an outfit, I’ll put only one leg on and another pair of tights on the other leg to minimize the amount of time I must wear them.

So while I find tights very versatile, cute and fun, let’s be honest: I wear them because then I don’t have to shave.

Saturday, before my birthday dinner, I went through my one-leg ritual and finally decided to just give up and shave.

Clearly I’m not a fan of shaving either. And while growing up, I was unlucky enough to have chicken legs for which I was mocked…it just meant I always wore jeans. Until college when I kicboxed and unearthed my calves.

But now, the fiance is regretting the day he told me he didn’t mind if I didn’t always shave. Muahaha…man captured…shaving ceased.

Long story short…here’s what I ended up wearing Saturday night (with my lovely new purse that I forgot to hold in these shots):

Dress – Random Store in Sydney, Australia, $14

Shoes – Bakers bought from Savers, $10

Jacket – H&M, $15

Belt – Thrifted or Garage Sale or Estate Sale, $?

I have the greatest friends. I received so many great presents that night (who knew 27 was such a special age?) including some very thoughtful clothes and books from Andrea and an adorable mug from Cathy, tons of candy and cute wallets/clutches.

And in unrelated news, I wore my new beaded tunic on a date night and was way overdressed. It happens a lot to me. I do not mind whatsoever.

Tunic – Thrifted, $8

Purse – Thrifted, $?

Jeans – AG, $100 or so?

Shoes – Aldo Outlet, $14

In even more unrelated news, how cute are these pillowcases my friend brought me from Japan? Seriously, the greatest friends!:

Hope you have a stress-free week!

Sandhya

Oops. Looks like in all the craziness, I have missed the one-year anniversary of my blog. Just like me…I’m terrible at remembering birthdays and anniversaries.

Just as well because I don’t have anything special to commemorate the day (which was way back at the beginning of January) but I am glad to have been around for that long. I”m grateful for the creative outlet and all the things this last year has brought me through my blog.

The Style Co-Op and so many like-minded ladies to thrift and love fashion alongside especially Elia, Andrea and Amy. All my great connections - I now know about a million photographers, stylists and make-up artists. All the sweet friends I’ve met from afar (Natira!) and being able to keep up with my friends (even if you don’t leave comments).

Thanks for letting me share my life with you all!

P.S. A new addition to my shoe collection (where else would this be appreciated), that I got at a thrift store yesterday for $7.50!:

Have a wonderful weekend! Hopefully next week will be less crazy and I can get some regular updates and pictures from the trip/of my ring up!

Sandhya

Last night Bear led me on a scavenger hunt through our apartment, with wine refreshments to help me (please excuse the pajamas, I was in the midst of a Gilmore Girls marathon when this happened):

We’re going to New Zealand + Australia!! It’s my dream trip that I’ve never been able to take. I couldn’t be more thrilled!

We celebrated with drinks and Plucker’s. This is Bear’s “This Beer Belongs to the Coolest Boyfriend In the World” mug. Very appropriate.

I think it goes without saying that I have the most thoughtful and sweetest man. Kangaroos and kiwis, here we come!

Sandhya