Practical Magic.

I still can't believe this year is almost over, where did 2010 go?! I'm not too thrilled about October being over, since it is one of my favorite months. BUT...December is by far the most magical month of the year. December will be filled with birthdays (mine included), present buying, snow falling, tree decorating, and GRADUATION!! I can't wait :)

Speaking of magical, I just watched one of my all-time favorite movies, Practical Magic (cheesy, I know). I'm not a fan of scary, gore-filled movies, so I tend to stay away from those come Halloween. If you haven't already seen Practical Magic, I highly recommend it.

It stars Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman as Sally and Jillian Owens, who come from a long line of witches. They're sent to live with their two aunts at a young age and discover that the Owens women are cursed-they are all unlucky when it comes to love. The movie basically centers around Sally and Jillian and their romantic relationships, but the scenery is what drew me in from the very beginning. The aunts' Victorian home is absolutely stunning!

Stockard Channing and Diane Weist as the aunts.

It's not the strongest storyline, but how can you go wrong with a great cast, beautiful sets, and a little witchcraft? This movie makes me wish I grew up on the east coast in a small coastal town filled with rich history and Victorian mansions.

Not only does it happen to be one of my favorites, but my friend Cait also shares my love for this movie. I wonder why we love it so much? :)

all images (except the last one) were found via Google.

Once upon a midnight dreary...

Sweater top: Ruehl

Skirt: Free People

Dot sheer tights: J.Crew

Shoes: Jeffrey Campbell

My family takes Halloween very seriously. We go all out with decorations, as you can see from the pictures above. I blame it on my mother's love of Martha Stewart, but I don't mind it one bit. This is my favorite time of year, and I never miss a chance to carve pumpkins and dress up for Halloween. Even my favorite memories from english class were reading Edgar Allan Poe short stories and poems. I couldn't get enough of the dark, macabre settings and themes in his writing. 


Another favorite of mine is incorporating fall colors into my wardrobe. I die for pumpkin orange, mustard yellow, and deep plum. That's why I fell in love with these t-strap shoes a few years ago. The back and sides are a beautiful mustard yellow with a silver border around the strap. They really are the perfect fall shoe.


Speaking of Halloween, I put the finishing touches on my costume the other night! My friends are having a costume party complete with a pig roast, it should make for an interesting night. 

Here Come the Hawks

 If you need to know anything about me as a person, you have to know that I am a hockey fan. I come from what you would call a "hockey family". My dad was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in the 1960's, when the Canadians were the team to beat. You would think that my dad was a die-hard Montreal Canadians fan growing up, but you would be very wrong. My dad, and his 2 brothers, LOVED the Blackhawks. They experienced many a fight in grade school over it, but their loyalty to the Hawks never wavered. It's no surprise that my brother grew up playing hockey, and I spent a few years taking figure skating lessons. Looking back, I wish I would've chosen to play hockey instead! Watching my brother play and watching Blackhawks games was a big part of my childhood. I've been to many different cities to watch my bro compete in tournaments, including Boston, Pittsburg, and Toronto. Of course, no trip to Toronto was complete without a stop at the Hockey Hall of Fame. I've been there more times than I've been to Disneyworld!

My brother, Angelo, after winning State. He was pretty excited, can you tell?

Naturally, my favorite team has always been the Chicago Blackhawks. My brother and I both have winter birthdays so hockey-themed parties were a must. What did I do for my 21st? I invited a group of my friends to a Hawks game at the United Center, of course.

My friend Doug & I at the United Center on my 21st birthday.

My 1st birthday, wearing chocolate cake & a Blackhawks bib.

So you can imagine how excited my family is that the Chicago Blackhawks are going to the Stanley Cup Finals! The cup hasn't come to Chicago since 1961, unless you count the times that Chris Chelios brought it after winning with the Red Wings (Don't even get me started...)

This Saturday is the first game of the Stanley Cup Finals against the Philadelphia Flyers, and you know I'll be wearing my red,black, and white proudly!

LET'S GO HAWKS!!

Cait & I

(photo courtesy of Cait)

This Summer.

This summer, I want to...

Bake lots of these-

Learn how to make these-

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Go here-

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With these people-

Have this attitude-

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Dress like this-

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Wear this color-

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Listen to their albums on repeat-

Watch all her movies-

ride lots of these-

(not sure where I found this)

...I can't wait!

What about summer are you excited for?

Magnolias in Bloom

Dress- Urban Outfitters '09

Boots- Steve Madden

The magnolia tree in front of my house is stunning this time of year. It usually blooms later in April, but the weather has been slightly warmer than usual, for the most part. I love how the color of the blooms just pop against the dark green hedges. This past Saturday, I had a bachelorette party to attend (my first ever!). My friends Brian and Kristin will be getting married this weekend, and I can't wait for the wedding! My boyfriend, Michael, will be standing up in the wedding. It's going to be held at a garden, and from what I hear it's a gorgeous, magical place...I can't wait. Back to this past weekend, I decided that the warm sunny weather called for a dress. This dress made its first appearance at another wedding, Mike's best friend Kevin's wedding in August, and I've been dying to wear it casually with these boots ever since. I wanted to keep it simple so I went without any jewelry. I'm really glad that it was still mild at night, otherwise I would have been freezing! I did bring a sweater though, my mother taught me well.

I love all the pretty details in this dress, it really doesn't need jewelry! It's hard to tell from the top picture, but it has alot of hand-drawn looking tree branches and splashes of pink and white leaves. I wish I would have gotten a picture of the back, it has a lot more of the little details.

an ode to everything red velvet

My love for red velvet cake/cupcakes is pretty obvious.  Anytime I'm out to dinner, if there's red velvet on the dessert menu, I have to try it.  I've also tried practically every recipe for red velvet cupcakes in order to find the perfect one (thankfully I found it, I'll share it if you'd like!). I was over the moon when I found out that The Cheesecake Factory started making a red velvet cake/cheesecake combo last year, which is probably the most calorie-laden thing I've ever consumed. It's not easy to be a health-conscious person when you've got red velvet on the brain, let me tell you. BUT! Yoplait has answered my prayers with a fat free red velvet cake yogurt! I'm not usually a fan of anything light or fat free, I think artificial sweeteners are just gross. Suprisingly, I didn't notice too much of an aftertaste and the flavor is pretty darn close. It's no Claim Jumper's red velvet cupcake, but I guess at 100 calories I can get used to it. Now I'm in no way a dieter, I eat what I like but in moderation. So I'm sure the next time a red velvet cake comes along, I'll probably still splurge.

Now I don't limit myself to just eating red velvet cake/cupcakes, of course not. I actually feel the need to smell like it from time to time.  At least that seems to be the reason for me buying this from Ulta today-

ultra-rich 3-in-1 shampoo, shower gel and bubble bath

It smelled so delicious that I just couldn't put it down. It even has a recipe for red velvet cake on it (I might have to try that one...) 

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I also like my art of the Red Velvet variety. One of my absolute favorite bloggers, Elsie Flannigan, has a store (both physically and online) called Red Velvet Art. It's a company she started with a few friends a while back and it has grown into something amazing, definitely check it out! Elsie is also super sweet and so so inspiring, so go check out her blog if you haven't yet.

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Back in Black, for now.

For whatever reason, I am obsessed with finding the perfect not-quite-black-but-very-dark-brown hair color. My hair is naturally dark brown, but it developed a reddish undertone as I got older. Looking back at pictures of little Joannie, I noticed that my hair was almost black without any trace of red, just like my dad's.

So naturally, I became hell-bent on ridding my hair of its aquired auburness. I must mention that for a very brief period in high school, I colored my hair it's-obviously-fake-and-from-a-box burgundy...bad idea.

Initially, I tried every dark brown at home color out there, from Revlon to Clairol Nice and Easy. It didn't make much of a difference. Then, I went through what some might call an emo phase in my life and colored my hair black...Jet. Black. My parents weren't thrilled, partially because our shower now has a permanent black tint that always makes it look dirty, and partially because they couldn't understand what my facination with black hair was about. I also decided to hack it all off into a spiky do complete with long bangs.

Shortly after turning 21, I finally had it with unnatural black hair. I made an appointment with a trusted hair stylist to strip my hair of black dye. A few hours and a few hundred dollars later, my hair was the lightest shade of brown it had ever been. Well, close to the lightest, there was a caramel highlight phase after the emo one.

I've experimented with every variaton of brown since then, even thrown in a bit of blonde and purple,


which brings me to my current shade,

black.

That's right, I gave in again. I was inspired by Katy Perry,

But this time, I've found the "perfect" not-quite-black-but-very-dark-brown black. That's right, it's Perfect 10 Black. But not quite black, of course.

Hello!

Image source: weheartit.com