Tag Archives: new york city

Umm… #FUNFEARLESSLIFE in NYC?! I am SO (bleep)ing there!!!

Posted on by

Oh how I do love a good cliché! From catch phrases like “reach for the stars” to stereotypes like high school “jocks” and “nerds”, these tired ideas are all around us, breathing truth into our lives.

There really is no “i” in “team”.

If you don’t “keep calm and carry on”, you will just be stuck in hysterics somewhere. 

You can count on least 4 slutty pirates to show up at every Halloween party.

Screen Shot 2014-10-26 at 10.22.10 PM  Screen Shot 2014-10-26 at 10.21.56 PM Screen Shot 2014-10-26 at 10.21.50 PMScreen Shot 2014-10-26 at 10.25.09 PM

*facepalm*

I know the cliché life quite well.

Most of my Christmases have been white.

My favorite food is pizza.

My first kiss was under the bleachers at the high school homecoming game.

I am a blonde, Midwestern girl who was raised in the suburbs, joined a sorority, competed in pageants, and I have a love of fashion. 

Just a small town girl with big city dreams.

Screen Shot 2014-10-26 at 11.09.27 PM

WAIT WAIT It gets worse.

nytoo

I have a very large city crush on the Big Apple. We met just a few years ago when I chased romance, and now I get cravings to visit like I get cravings for pizza. Next week, I can have both for four. straight. days. (eee!!!)

I’ve planned an adventure– party of one. It begins in 10 days.. I’m going to New York City for a solo weekend listening to incredible speakers and meeting women just like me who want to grab life by the heels!

It is going to be FUN and it is going to be FEARLESS and, oh yeah, that’s what it’s called!

Screen Shot 2014-10-26 at 11.32.57 PM

AHHHHH

Photo on 10-27-14 at 12.34 AM

AAAAAAAAAAAAHHH

Photo on 10-27-14 at 12.34 AM

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!

Photo on 10-27-14 at 12.34 AM

Cosmopolitan Magazine is putting on a 2 day conference for women looking to write on the walls of the world in lipstick. I’m going to soak in words of wisdom from women who are living the dream. Kelly Osbourne! Jillian Michaels! Chrissy Teigan! Joanna Coles (CEO of Cosmo)! And so many more, but I would probably lose your attention if I listed them all. 

Why am I going? Because the struggle of senioritis is real. I’m t-minus 6 weeks to being plopped out in the real world. That’s right, everyone. After that year off of school as Miss Oregon and a transfer from Oregon State to Portland State, I’m finally going to (bleep)ing finish!!!!!!!! I have some ideas of how I want to make my first moves in big-girl world, and I can’t help but ask myself– what are the ladies at the top up to?  I’m hoping to harvest some inspiration from these working women. They didn’t do it overnight; I’m sure life handed them some lemons.

And these chicks know how to make lemonade. 

^^ How about that cliché, eh? eh? You see, I love clichés for their steady truth, and mostly because you never know when they will show up. They lend peace of mind, they make for great jokes, and they level the playing field. Nobody is safe! Everyone fits somewhere, and the fun is finding out where it is by following the cliché clues.

Small town girl with big city dreams? That’s a cliché I can live with.

So I have 10 days until I wake up in the city that never sleeps! And guess what?! You are coming with me my beloved reader-watchers! Cosmopolitan’s Fun Fearless Life Conference 2014! I’m going to be logging with both a “b” and a “v” in these days leading up to takeoff, and will be social media-ing the $#*+ out of NYC.

Say it with me:

AAAAHHHHHHHH!

Photo on 10-27-14 at 12.29 AM

Stay tuned as I rip off links on my paper chain, pick out outfits, try to pack light, and prepare for the fun-cation of inspiration ahead!

Cheers! To an Empire State of Mind and lemonade…… and clichés! 🙂

X!

Caroline

@pdxcaroline  and instagram: pdxcaroline

Pics of my TRENNNDAY outfit- feat. the dress I made!!

Posted on by

*bvv ts bvv ts bvv ts bvv ts*

That, friends is the sound of me having a small celebratory beatboxing session.

FashioNXT week followed through with everything I could have hoped for and then some. I made some new friends in the industry, got to see the work of fashion rockstars four nights in a row, and feel like I overall have a much better idea of what the fashion world in Portland has to offer and how I want to be a part of it! Some of you may know that a while back, I set a deadline for myself to engage the skills I’ve been boasting and I could prove myself by completing a design and wearing it at FashioNXT. I have been doing a lot of sewing over the past months, but mostly for class projects. That means pajama pants, tailored shirts, and sample stitches. All of these skills are important,  but if I don’t start churning out more of my own looks I’ll be burning daylight!

In the words of Elvis,

“A little less conversation, a little more action please”

Elvis-Presley-007

Look at that face..the man has a point. 

So when I zipped up my creation and took off for the venue, it felt like an official stepping out. This was 100% mine and what I have been working hard to feel confident enough to do for years.

What I wasn’t expecting was that I was going to feel super nervous. I got in the car to drive to the event in my dress and thought, what if it looks homemade? What if a seam pops? What if I tell someone I made it and they get that glazed/raised eyebrow look on their face that says “yeah ya did….” while their voice says “oh that’s cool…”

Irrational fears, maybe, but I had put a lot of thought and love into making something that I knew epitomizes where I feel my style is right now and exercises my growth in my sewing skills.  I splurged on the fabric months ago in NYC, I drew it and redrew it, and I did a lot of seam ripping right up to the hours before I left the house. So it is with grand excitement that I debut to you, loving readers, just another baby step in the “Dorky Chick in Lipstick” story.

OBVIOUSLY this calls for  some “trennndayyyyy” pictures from my high class studio!

TA DAAAPhoto on 10-12-13 at 4.51 PM #3

 

 

Day 4 of heels… ay yi yi….Photo on 10-12-13 at 4.51 PM #5

 

See through back….scandiiiiiPhoto on 10-12-13 at 4.50 PM

I tried to recreate the pose from the drawing….. lol

Photo on 10-12-13 at 4.52 PM #4 Image

 

At the event, my friend Erika, who I met working VIP, and I got to get our pics taken at the Intel Photobooth! It was a real mini runway you can walk down– we felt pretty cool.

Screen Shot 2013-10-13 at 3.39.51 PM

Image

 

For the record, nothing ripped, popped, or snagged. I just wore a dress and the world kept spinning. It isn’t a big deal, but someday in the future when I have made fourtyhundredthousandmillion dresses, I’ll know that this  is one that helped me get there– and that is a great feeling.

The highlight, though, was after I took some designers from NYC to after party, they asked me if I was wearing one of Michael Costello’s pieces (a headlining designer for the week and Project Runway star). After hours of work, pin-pricked fingers, and a few F-bombs I got to respond

“No, actually, this is one of mine.”

xo

 

 

 

 

 

Dorky Chick Diaries: Somebody ate skittles and threw up on my iCal.

Posted on by

*Exhale*

I’ve just popped yet another dark chocolate covered mint from TJ’s and am staring at spinach that needs to be put in the refrigerator. It is about 9 p.m. on a Wednesday and I’ve recently returned from some mid-week grocery replenishing. I’ve opted out of music as background noise partially because I’ve been overdosing on Top 40 lately, and partially because it sort of sounds like Fall outside. It smells like Fall. I can tell. A sullen moisture is collecting around old buildings again and the cooler evening temperature isn’t cooking the earth enough to expel the familiar fragrances of warm weather anymore. My laundry is whispering to me from the basement, but my fingers are tingling on this keyboard as I unzip my chest and begin to let words splatter onto my e-diary.

September has ignited me. If you’ve followed any of my past blogs you may have noticed that over the past few months I have grown from being eager, to steady, to scattered, and, at times, defeated. I guess that is what being a 20 something is supposed to be though. Just as things started to get foggy, though, I was reminded of this promise to myself to stay motivated. This silly little blog was the reminder for that promise. So I’ve made some moves, and suddenly my iCal looks like it went on the Color Run or somebody spewed Skittles on September. I have 2 intern positions, both fashion related (more on that in a later post), 3 sources of income (my beloved restaurant, tuppins for my PSU fashion articles, and now extra support from a little daytime receptionist gig), and in 3 weeks I will again be a full time student (a light, yet still full credit load at PSU this term and also a light load at Portland Sewing).

Sounds farking crazy, I know. 

I may risk speaking too soon, but now there is a stomach-butterfly inducing feeling I get when I breath deeply. I’ve piled so much on my plate, yet, I feel like I’ve never felt so privileged to have such little free time. I love everything I’m filling my days with. It feels balanced. It is all work, but with the right state of mind, it is all play. 

I’m playing grown-up, and my Subaru is much more fun to drive than that Playskool thing. 

Image

 

 

To report on my fashion pursuits, here are the headlines!

Miss OR and Miss RI 2011 take NYC by Storm, Stop at Mood Designer Fabrics Before Breaking Hearts 

😉

 

ImageImageImage

Portland Fashion Week: Gen. Admission Doesn’t Include Champagne, Still Buys a Good Time

ImageImage

Croquis Improve for McGowan, Hope Exists

ImageImage

Image

Croquis Come to Life, as Designer McGowan Takes it to the Next Level

ImageImage

 

^^obviously we’re not quite done 🙂

Serger Changes Life: Thanks, Gram

Image

If you sew, you understand this to be the most exciting of all of the above things.  Thank you to my Gram for my years-late follow up on a high school graduation gift 🙂

 

I wish I could tell you everything, but I know I’m lucky if you made it this far. The bad news, is that my sheets are still in the dryer and it is past my bedtime. The good news is, being busy means things are happening, and I really want to thank you for reading this blog. Every time you click to read, it’s sort of like passing a stranger who smiles instead of looks dead faced. It’s encouraging in the best way. 

 

The bedtime police are going to arrest me, so toodeloo my friends!

If you were wondering, the spinach did get put away a while ago, because I’m grown-up like that 😉

xo