Glasses Wishlist

I have been wearing glasses since I was 2 years old, so this cool and geeky accessory is pretty much part of myself. For most of my early years, I hated them. It was an obligation to wear them, a wall between me and regular teenagers. I was the four-eyed girl, I was automatically labeled a nerd (okay, I was a nerd), and view with slightly suspicion because, clearly, glasses meant a higher intellect, therefore we must avoid such people. Anyway, it wasn’t till a fateful day in 2005 (I remember it like it was yesterday), when I needed a new pair of glasses, and as I arrived at the optical store I decided: I wear glasses, might as well stop trying to hide it behind ugly wire frames (not my thing, clearly). And it was on that cold 2005 winter, that I bought my first pair of advertiser’s glasses (that’s how I call them). The thick black square frames I bought completely changed how I looked. I even changed my hair style after getting those glasses. They truly changed my life, and it’s the only style I buy now.

Another thought on glasses, though: they are a very expensive purchase, especially when you have very high prescriptions and weird eye problems. So, as I was growing up and learning about money and the cost of things, I was always terrified of one thing: one day, I’d have to buy my own glasses. There would come a day where my parents would not pay for that stuff anymore, and I’m not gonna lie, it did add some pressure to my college career “I need a career that will help me afford my expensive glasses!” Thankfully, I got such career (after a lot of schooling, I’m not gonna lie), and with said career also came eye insurance benefits, ie: best thing ever. I bought my first pair of glasses almost two years ago, a pair I paid for myself (thanks EyeMed and Westminster!), and, since I could afford it, prescription sunglasses to go with it. In July, I get another $100 toward a new frame from my insurance, and I plan to use it wisely to start my own collection of glasses. I’ll probably only add to it every two years, but it will be a fun and useful thing to collect, crazy glasses in all different colors and shapes! Anyway, here’s a few ideas of the kind of frames I’m thinking of buying.

Glasses Pictured:

Elderberry – Warby Parker

TF2078  – Tiffany&Co

RX5150 – RayBan

Cobson – BonLoon

I’d love to hear your thoughts on glasses on the comments! Do you wear them too? Do you love or hate them? What’s your favorite style of glasses?

Online Personal Styling: Stitch Fix

Do you sometimes feel like other people pick cool clothes that you’d have overlooked before? Would you love to sometime just have someone do your shopping for you? I thought the idea was pretty neat, so when my friend Mindy posted on her blog about her experience with Stitch Fix, I decided to try it out and see what they would come up with. This weekend I got my first fix, and was pleasantly surprised with what was packed in the box.

How it works: you fill out a style profile, and then they have someone picking out 5 items they think you’d like, then mail it out to you. You can keep what you like, and return what you don’t. Overall, I liked everything, and was happily surprised with the quality of the items I was sent. I thought it was a great way to get to try some new (and cool) stuff, and to be introduced to new brands I didn’t know. Out of the 5 things I was sent, I really loved two of them, and the other three, even though I liked them, I didn’t think they were the perfect fit for me, so I’m sending the three items in the photo below back:

Now, I’ll need your help… I love those next two, but I don’t think I can justify keeping both, since I ended up liking the two most expensive items in the box. So, the rational part of me says keep the black and white shirt, because it’s more versatile and I can wear it more often. But, that dress! It’s so pretty… But the shirt, has that super cute collar… but the dress is pink! UGH, so, please help? Which one of those two should I keep?

If you want to try it out, go to Stitch Fix and fill out your profile. I’d love to see what you get!

Happy Mother’s Day

I’m not a really great storyteller via text, so I thought the best way to celebrate mother’s day and honor my favorite mom ever, was to post a selection of our best mother-daughter pictures.

Outfit of the Day: Crazy Neon Pink Blazer and Navy Skirt

You know what I haven’t done in a while? An outfit post. Since Occupy the Wardrobe ended, I haven’t really felt like taking my picture that often… I guess I needed a little break! But today I have a good one to share with you all. I’m basically wearing Forever 21 from head to toe, except for the super awesome blazer that I got from Loft. I love this outfit, especially for my new Mel for Forever 21 shoes. Melissa makes my favorite shoes, and they are usually super expensive, but with this collaboration with Forever 21, they were so cheap! And they are so comfy!

What I’m wearing:

Blazer: Loft | Sandals: Mel for Forever 21 (available here) | Lace Skirt: Forever 21 (available here) | Top: Forever 21 (available here)

Red Butte Garden

Mother’s Day Gift Idea + Discount Code from Blurb

(Note: I do get paid for my Blurb posts, but their product is so fantastic, I was promoting them for free way before I started getting paid to do it!)

Head’s up! Blurb just sent me an email with an awesome discount code to share with you all, to help with your (let’s face it, totally last minute) gift idea for mother’s day! I already tested out their new Designer Template Books with my Austin trip photos, but today I created one with some funny (and some endearing) photos of me as a kid to send to my mom. I know she loves photos, so there ya go.

Instant Books are easy to create, take about an hour, and start at just $12.99. This is definitely a present she will leave on the coffee table for everyone to see each and every day! Start creating your Blurb Designer Instant Book today and save 20% with promo code LOVEYOUMOM valid through 5/10/13!

Offer: 20% off through May 10, 2013 | Code: LOVEYOUMOM | Dates: 4/25/13-5/10/13

Spring Fashion Inspiration

It’s been long overdue for me to write a little about fashion. I guess after a year of Occupy the Wardrobe, I needed a little break. I haven’t stopped caring about fashion, though! I still take some outfit shots, but nowadays I post them on Instagram (if you’re not following me yet, do it now! @anitaboeira). Since this year started, though, I have been very inspired by bright colors and prints, and I wanted to share with you some of my favorite Spring looks!

The Glitter Guide | Design Love Fest

Sidewalk Ready | Weddington Way

J.Crew Factory | Ann Taylor | Seersucker & Saddles

The Glitter Guide | The House of Shoes

Wanderlust: Travel Goals

My goal in life, money-wise, was always to make enough of it to live comfortably and travel every year. And today, after extensively discussing travel and living abroad with several people, I decided it was time to get organized on my travel goals, at least for the next 10 years. I’m setting up a plan to save extra money every month for a travel fund, research the places I want to visit and deals/prices to make it happen. I’ve been already cutting my expenses to the bare minimum (I really don’t need cable tv), and i’ve been doing some extra photography on the side, to help up with my travel-fund goals.

This year, I have two trips planned: Southern Utah and a road trip in California. I’ll be talking about those soon, but in the meantime, here are my goals for the next 10 years:

International:

In the next 10 years, I’d like to visit at least 3-5 countries I’ve never been to, with the following being on my top 5:

Photos: Japan | NZ | Canada | Scotland | Thailand

(Also on the list, but maybe we’ll shoot to go to all those in my 40s: Germany, Australia, South Africa, Egypt, Morocco, Greece, Turkey, South Korea, Czech Republic, Iceland)

Japan is definitely happening in the near future. I already started saving for it, and I have an idea of hoe much money I need to make it happen. I’d like to make it a 2-week trip, with at least 2 or 3 days dedicated to Disneyland Tokyo. I’m also very curious to see all the temples and historical sites in the country, and not really high on my list of priorities is Tokyo, actually. Except, I’d love to go shopping for all sort of cool things, and to spend a couple of hours at a Cat Cafe. New Zealand is somewhere I’d like to go and spend some good time at, maybe doing a road trip through the islands, like my friend Adina from Gluten Free Travelette did. I’d love to go see all the places that Lord of the Rings were filmed at (#nerd), and to enjoy the sea, of course. And, Canada! I can’t believe I live so close to it, and yet, haven’t visited. This is definitely on the short list because it will be very easy to make it happen. I might even make it to Vancouver before Japan. But I’d also like to go to Quebec on the other coast. Scotland is another top spot on my list, especially Isle of Skye, who has some striking landscapes. Thailand is last, but not least. I have a friend who lives there, and I’d love to visit her and see all the beautiful sights of the country.

And I’d love to revisit some of my favorite stops in Europe, from when I went when I was 14:

Photos: London | Venice | France 1 & 2

I know they are the top 3 cliche places to visit in Europe, but what can I say? There’s a reason why they are so popular, and I’d love to make my way back to all three. I’d also love to explore much more of England than I did when I was only 14 and a little tied up to my group to be able to go anywhere I wanted. For example, we never made it to Stonehenge, one of the places I most wanted to visit at the time, because the driver didn’t feel like driving us there. I was so sad about it, I’ve longed to go back to go check out that place. And to revisit so many of my other favorite cities I’ve been to on that trip: Oxford, Brighton, and of course, London. At least when I was in England, I was there for 3 weeks with plenty of time to explore, but the rest of Europe was a blur. Two days in Paris, with a quick sightseeing tour where we didn’t even stop at the attractions, except for the Eiffel Tower. I, with a couple of other friends at the time, vowed to go back with our significant others some day, so Mike, let’s get on with this! lol. And Venice, ah.. I even wrote here some other day how I wish to go back there on a photo trip, to just enjoy the city for a couple of months and take pictures.

In the USA:

I’d also like to add some more US travel to my itineraries, I feel like there’s so much of this country for me to see yet:

Photos: Hawaii | DC | Alaska

I have been dreaming of a Hawaii vacation for years. I’ve been trying to find a friend who’d be willing to go, but due to costs and how much time off we’d need, it’s been kind of tricky. So  Hawaii has been postponed indefinitely, but if anyone feels like going in February next year, let’s make some plans. I’ve been to DC for a conference, so I only had a day to sightsee, and I’d love to go back and actually spend time in all the museums. Alaska ia also a place I’d love to visit, big expanses of striking landscape is kind of my thing.

I also made a quick Google Maps to place virtual pins on all places I have visited and or lived so far. I hope to expand on it in the near future.

View Been there, done that in a larger map

You can check out my travels on my photography blog.

My Next Blurb: The Cloud Book

I have seen quite a few variations of the same theme floating around the web: a notebook with pictures of clouds in its pages instead of plain white pages, for you to doodle or write ideas (and I think it would be super cool as a diary too). But even though I love it, I’m iffy on buying it… I mean, wouldn’t it be way more personal and fun if the cloud book had photos of clouds I’ve seen in real life, floating around in the Spring Sky? I thought so too, so I made my own cloud book with Blurb. I think this book would make an awesome gift to that creative person in your life!

I really love the cover I created for it, by the way:

The story behind the cover? I was at Andrew McMahon’s concert last week, and when he started singing “Watch the Sky” I suddenly saw this book taking complete shape in my head (before it was just wisps of thought). And I saw the cover like this, this font, some doodles, perfect. This book is that song.

If you love it and want it, you can buy it! For now, I have a hardcover version uploaded to Blurb, but if you have interest in getting this book with a soft cover, message me and I’ll upload a new one! And, they have an awesome coupon for April, so you should definitely take advantge of it: 15% off promo code APRIL15. And this code is good to buy my book, or to make your own! I get credited if click on my affiliate link –> Blurb, but even if you don’t, Blurb is awesome, and I strongly recommend them as the place to print all your books and magazines.

The Art of the Brick Exhibit

Here’s another insight into my nerd life: I love Legos. You know how some couples (aged 50 and over, of course) put puzzles together at night after dinner? Well, Mike and I get Lego sets and put that together, while watching some tv. And as I write this, there’s a small collection of tiny Lego figurines under my computer screen. So when I heard that they had a Lego exhibit in Park City, I immediately planned on going. Nathan Sawaya creates some pretty cool pieces using Lego Bricks, and I took some pictures to share with you all some of what  you can see if you hit up one. Or, maybe they are here to inspire me to create some cool things with Lego without the help of manuals.

The Art of the Brick Exhibit at the Kimball Art Center in Park City runs till April 21st, and it’s free!