OMG Giada.

I finally made it over to Target yesterday; although I love the store, I have had really low energy since fall started blowing in and just couldn't muster the strength to get over there. I got some good stuff - more of their fabulous v-neck pocket tees (seriously the best t-shirts ever for 8 bucks a pop), a neon pink sports bra, a faux leather jacket, Burt's Bees toothpaste...gotta love a store where you can just get everything! My heart stopped, however, when I found the section for the new Giada for Target line. Dear sweet Lady Gaga. This line is all I've been waiting for. I'm just so pissed that it wasn't available last year when I stocked up on kitchen gadgets for my Boston apartment! It is such a great line containing everything you could ever need for your kitchen: pots and pants, bakeware, cutlery, even appliances! I died when I saw her food processor for 69.99, as opposed to Cuisinart's that go for at least 250!

Isn't it cute???

I've been wanting a food processor forever - my family doesn't even own one, even though we have random things like a bread maker and ice cream maker. I know you can usually use a blender, but like, no. I want to be official. I want to be professional. I want to be Giada.

I was going to buy myself one of her adorable red spatulas (the spatulas in my parents' kitchen are seriously lacking), but I resisted. Instead I got a jar of her Tomato Basil sauce (I read on her blog that her favorite items from her line are her pasta sauces) and I poured it over ravioli for dinner last night and it was fabulous! As soon as you open the jar, you actually smell fresh tomatoes and fresh basil, which you may not expect from a jarred pasta sauce. 

I'm excited to try her other food products and perhaps even obtain a small collection of some of her cookware and tools. I imagine that if I were to be getting married (I'm not getting married, but you know IF I were) I would immediately register for all of her products. Sigh. One day I will have the Giada kitchen of my dreams. Until then, I'm going to try some more of her recipes from this cookbook, maybe one that uses butternut squash to ring in the new season!

Giada is such a Go Austen heroine. She is talented and smart and savvy and beautiful and very much her own woman. You can tell that she's worked very hard to get where she is and that she works for pleasure as well as to make a living. She loves what she does, and that is really inspiring. You go, girl.

Summer to Fall Beauty Staples

  These are some products that I was into this summer that I believe will carry me through the next season:

Revlon ColorStay Mineral Mousse Foundation

(Photo: walgreens.com)

This foundation was seriously my secret weapon this summer. It is awesome. I wear the Fair/Light shade, which is perfect for my skin when I have a slight tan. The formula is just great; it's this really unique liquid mousse that you can apply with fingers, a sponge or a foundation brush and it's super-easy to blend and dries to a perfect, undetectable, airbrushed finish. It's sheer enough that it never gets cakey or obvious, but it does an incredible job of evening out your skin and neutralizing any redness. In addition, the tube is nice and streamlined and perfect for travel. Love.

Revlon ColorStay Eyeliner

(Photo: walgreens.com)

So apparently I have become a slight Revlon stalker, which is weird because I'm usually more into CoverGirl...anyway. This eyeliner is the shizz. I've been using Black/Brown, and it's a great shade and an even better formula; super pigmented, easy to blend, and then it DOES NOT MOVE. It's great and it really makes your eyelashes look thicker if you put it right at the lashline. I anticipate this becoming my new favorite eyeliner ever...might have to get some more colors...gray perhaps?

Stila Convertible Color in Poppy

(Photo: lookfantastic.com)

Stila Convertible Color is such a great product; if you haven't tried them, I highly recommend them. I have them in both Petunia and Poppy: Petunia is a really fabulous coral-y pink that is natural and flattering, and Poppy, which is a sheer, buildable true red. Both colors manage to have both warm and cool undertones, so I can imagine them both being flattering on a variety of skintones. Poppy has been my go-to recently - I apply it with a flat-top cream blush brush (mine is Sonia Kashuk) and slowly build the color until there's a nice flush going on. It goes on very well over the Revlon Mineral Mousse foundation, and it really lasts. A great, versatile product.

Chloe Eau de Parfum

(Photo: fashionfuss.com)

This is a beautiful, rose/peony-based fragrance that I got for my 21st birthday. I got the eau de parfum because the eau de toilette hadn't come out yet, but I just love the fragrance and I knew as soon as I smelled it that I had to have it. Since it's a parfum and is therefore very concentrated, I only need a tiny spritz for it to be noticeable (and it lasts - I put a small amount on last night and I can still smell it on my wrist this morning). Check out this perfume if you like girly, ladylike scents that aren't cupcake-y, coconut-y, or food-y in any way...the scent is both classic and modern, which I love. I could see an Austen heroine wearing it (Emma, of course...it's fit for an English rose), which makes me like it even more!

Love Your City.

(New t-shirt I got from the Gap. Normally I am not into graphic tees...but I couldn't resist.)

I am a woman that has love affairs with cities. I was born in New York and have since lived in both Vancouver and Boston, leaving pieces of my heart in both places that I will never get back. There is something about getting to know a new city that just drives me batty with desire. While New York is my first love and my home, I fell in love with Vancouver when I lived there for six months during my junior year of high school. I learned that I am a city girl, regardless of whether that city is New York or not. When it became time for me to choose a college, Boston University was perfect for me, and I fell in love with both the school and the city. I already feel heartbroken over having to leave Boston; although I know it was time after four years, and as excited as I am to start my life in New York, I feel like I was in a four-year relationship that suddenly and brutally ended. I can't think about Boston without tearing up a little. I mean just look at the gorgeousness:

(Photo: ocweekly.com)

Sigh. It is just delicious. I can't wait to go visit, even though I know it will make me feel like my heart is being torn out. This is why I just HAD to have that GAP t-shirt...I do not LIKE my city or ENJOY my city...it is pure love all the way. Pining, heartwrenching love, to the point where no matter where I am, I will always be missing at least one city. But that is how love goes.

In my attempts to "get over" Boston and get plugged back in to New York, I've been more actively pursuing what NYC has to offer. Exhibit A: the Brooklyn Bridge part movie, which I attended last week with some of my lovely girlfriends. This ended up being one of my favorite New York moments I've ever had...it was a gorgeous night, a perfect 80 degrees with a breeze, they were playing Some Like It Hot with Marilyn Monroe and Tony Curtis (if you haven't seen this delightful comedy, you MUST check it out), and beyond the movie screen was the most amazing view of New York I've ever seen. It was incredible. Of course, I was enjoying the experience so much that I forgot to take a picture, but here's one that I found:

(Photo: brooklynbridgepark.org)

This picture really doesn't do it justice...in person, the view is just overwhelmingly beautiful, especially for a city-ophile like me. The Movies With a View season is over now for the year, but you best believe that I am going to be there as often as possible next year. Great movies plus some city eye candy equals a fun time for Tara. 

Bad Day Solutions...

...According to me. You see, this Sunday I got a major case of Bad Day. PMS, stressful life situations, and my whole family being gone for the day just got me in a tizzy. The emotions bubbled over and I proceeded to sob for an embarrassingly long time in an empty house while my dogs looked at me like I was insane. It was pretty dramatic...a total "woman moment" (or "estrogen fest" as my boyfriend would lovingly call it), and it made me feel pretty pathetic and hopeless. However, I self-medicated with these things in this order and they did wonders:

1. Gilmore Girls. Lots of it.

If you know me, you know how I feel about "Gilmore." It is simply my bread and butter of life. Gilmore is just the perfect combination of wittiness, comedy, girliness, fantasy, reality...it just has everything. It entertains me, it comforts me, and I always emerge from a few episodes' viewing feeling a whole lot better about life. Besides for it just being a great show with amazing characters played by great actors, it also takes me back to simpler times, when I was in high school sending IMs to the boy I liked instead of stressing about how the IRS wants to makes our lives miserable. Gilmore is better than happy pills, I swear. Oh also, one of the episodes I watched was Deep-Fried Korean Thanksgiving, which made me think of one of my favorite holidays...Thanksgiving. I LOVE Thanksgiving. Which brings me to my next point...

2. Food. Lots of food.
So since I'm a wannabe actress, I've been trying to be "mindful" of what I'm eating (whatever that means). You know, keeping an eye on portion sizes, eating more fruits and vegetables, cutting back on sweets...blah blah blah. But on the Bad Day, I knew I needed to just eat whatever I wanted and not worry about it. I ate half of a thin-crust margarita pizza, a can of Progresso Beef Barley soup, lemonade, a couple of mini brownie bites things with milk. Basically I ate until I was stuffed. It was just necessary.

3. Dog walking.
I took my small pooch Molly for a walk while listening to some sweet tunes once my food had digested a bit:

Put on my sneakers, enjoyed the sunshine, listened to showtunes, made one doggie very happy. It was great.

4. Took a Shower

Because being clean and fluffy always puts me in a better mood.

5. Wine, Cooking, Feeding Others.

I poured myself a big fat glass of Chardonnay with ice and proceeded to cook...chopping up huge heads of broccoli and little grape tomatoes (chopping vegetables soothes me like nothing else...go figure), boiling up pasta, sauteeing some shrimp scampi. Then my parents came home, my best friend came over, and we all ate. I love eating, but I especially love cooking and feeding other people. Great feeling.

So these are my five steps. I encourage you to try any or all of these things next time you feel like the world is raining on your soul. While I wasn't completely cured until my hormones finally decided to get a grip the next day, I felt markedly better and confident in my ability to be alone and ok. Onward.

Oh September, I love thee...

First of all, I am loving September 2010 because it's when Sara Bareilles' new album Kaleidoscope Heart drops (Sept. 7th!), which I have impatiently been waiting for forever and I am just so excited!! She is my absolute favorite...that rare combination of incredible songwriter, instrumentalist and vocalist. Sure enough the songs that are available for preview are just amazing and I am eating them up! Her new songs will be the soundtrack of my fall in New York and will always remind me of the year I started my post-grad life. I love Sara so much my boyfriend should feel threatened.

Soooo September has always been a favorite month of mine because it means beautiful weather and back-to-school! Now I don't get to indulge in the back-to-school hoopla, and I am really sad about it. However I am venturing forth by getting excited about fall fashion and my new NYC style (which will hopefully be a big of an upgrade from my college style, which let's be honest, got a little lazy sometimes). I'm following in the footsteps of the girls over at Lucky magazine here (if you know me, you know I LOVE Lucky magazine and have an embarassing number of copies in my collection...some of which date back to 2003....yeah.). Every year one of the girls in the Editor's Picks sections proclaims something like "I just want to pretend that I'm going back to school and wear collegiate, studious-looking things!" So that's what I'm about right now. Here are some things I'm excited about for fall:

Shoes!

http://bananarepublic.gap.com/browse/product.do?cid=33940&vid=1&pid=779385&scid=779385012

The Reno High-Heel Oxford from Banana Republic
This was the first thing I saw (in the September issue of Lucky, no less) that made me go "Ah-Ha! I must have you for fall!" I think these shoes are just so cool; I love the unexpected combo of such a masculine style of shoe (my boyfriend has a pair of desert-boot/oxford shoes that remind me of these) with a feminine heel. Speaking of the heel - I love that it's a sturdy, stacked heel that won't make me feel as if I'm about to twist my ankle. I think these would just be so cute with my normal fall uniform of skinny jeans and a slouchy sweater. There are two problems with these shoes, however: one is the price ($140), which is a little steep for me, and the heel height, which is a little high at 3 1/4". I just don't know. But I love them.

Plaid Blouse

http://www.target.com/

Ok so I am pissed, because the original Steven Alan plaid blouse that caught my eye in People StyleWatch seems to ALREADY be unavailable on stevenalan.com because I can't find it! The top I liked was very similar to the Kayla top (http://www.stevenalan.com/catalog/KAYLA-TOP-p-18294-c-996-17415.html) but in this airy red-and-white plaid. It was SO cute; a fresh new version of the now ubiquitous plaid shirt. Now the only similar top I can find is this one from Target, which is also cute - I like that it has the whole collarless, slightly-drapey thing going on, but I really liked the original one from Steven Alan. Oh well, if I'm honest with myself I could never have afforded Steven Alan anyway...which is kind of the theme of my fall shopping...

Faux-fur Vest

http://piperlime.gap.com/browse/product.do?cid=59637&vid=1&pid=796894&scid=796894002

So I know I'm being a total trendoid here, but this vest is just so cute. With the toggles?? Amazing. Like the BR shoes, I think this vest would make the fall staples I already have fabulous, like my collection of comfy but relatively boring long-sleeved tees flat boots.

J.Crew Toothpick Zippered Cord


I have been loving on these pants since I stumbled upon them while browsing the site randomly a few weeks ago. I must have these in Steel Green. They are just so cute....the collegiate, slightly nerdy cord material with trendy, slightly tough exposed zippers?? Yes, I say yes.

http://www.jcrew.com/womens_category/pants/corduroy/PRDOVR~28522/28522.jsp

That is all! I am going to go enjoy me some of this beautiful September-teaser weather and continue to obsess over Sara Bareilles. Tell me what you're doing today. 

I Want to Become a Runner.

I am so not a runner. I was one of those kids who tried every sport, following her mother's insistence that there had to be one athletic endeavor that I would enjoy and be good at. Nope. I thoroughly suck at all sports, and nothing is worse than running. My childhood memories of running are centered around the Presidential Physical Fitness test, a once-a-year test that they give elementary school students (at least here in New York), where you run "the mile." So instead of a normal gym class that would involve half-assed attempts at dodgeball or kickball, all of the students would suddenly be expected to go out and run a mile. I hated it. I would start out running and make a real effort, but eventually that small-elf-squeezing-your-lungs feeling would set in and I would stop and walk, feeling like crap and watching my elementary school crush zip by (not only was he a runner, but he set the record for speed every year). Not exactly the best way for me to gain confidence in my athletic ability. As a result of this athletic anxiety, I turned to dance and yoga as a way to work out that's actually fun (I may not be able to shoot a basketball, but I am damn good at learning choreography). I never even entered a gym until college when my girlfriends dragged me into the gorgeous gym at BU, taught me what an elliptical was, and encouraged me to broaden my fitness horizons.

Once I started to be able to recognize myself in workout clothes, I started to change my outlook on running. After avoiding any kind of fitness endeavor that I found too "badass" for my girly self, I challenged myself to become more comfortable with running. Now I know that running can be unhealthy if you overdo it, but I think it would be really great to be able to run one to three miles a few times a week. Being able to run at least a mile without stopping is my current goal, something that I think is doable and will really make me feel like I am on my way to being "in shape." By in shape, I mean I want to look like this:

Did Kristen Bell's physique in Forgetting Sarah Marshall just blow your mind or what? She just rocks, and I've decided that I want her jobs (another one of my goals: to become a rom-com queen), her bangs (more on this soon) and her bod. I think Kristen is a great fitness role model because she's honest about her diet (she's a vegetarian and admits to counting calories and being very careful about what she eats while also letting herself indulge here and there), has a varied fitness routine (outdoor activities as well as good ol' hitting of the gym) and hello - she's 30 and looks like she's 20! Part of this, I'm sure, is due to her petite cuteness, but still - the lady seems to have mastered the art of taking care of herself without doing ridiculous cleanses or diets. Awesome.

So yeah, I'm going to become a runner. It's going to happen. I am going to beat the elf in my chest and really be in shape, and also become a movie star and have perfect bangs that I don't get sick of...anything's possible right?

Things I Like

Hello! I'm finally back from my long family vacation in Northern California (including one of my favorite places on earth, Lake Tahoe!) and finally settling into my life. It's becoming real now that I'm actually not going back to school in a couple weeks and instead have the month of September (and every month after that!) at my own disposal, to do with as I wish. There will be work, there will be weddings, weekends, birthday celebrations with friends (I have SO many friends with September and October birthdays, it is nutty), and more importantly I will get to watch fall descend on New York for the first time in four years. I am very excited and just happy to be back with access to a computer! Here are some things I like:

Origins Ginger Souffle Body Moisturizer
Use this stuff if you want to smell fizzy, spicy and delicious like a Dark n Stormy (ginger beer and dark rum, aka a super delicious cocktail). I bought this for myself in the early spring of this year (along with the Origins GinZing eye cream, another thing I love) and it's just a yummy beauty indulgence that makes me happy. Ginger is a great all-season scent because when it's cooler the spice is nice and warming and in the warmer months its citrusy freshness is really refreshing. Love it.

L'Oreal Extra Volume Collagen Mascara

This stuff is serious mascara for when you need serious lash-thickening, eye-brightening power. I've been turning to this stuff more lately as I've been losing sleep over figuring out my life (long story) and it means business. It's a little messy, so I use either CoverGirl Volume Exact or LastBlast Fusion mascara first on top and bottom lashes and then use this stuff on my top lashes for some extra "pow." It is seriously darkening, seriously thickening, seriously lengthening...it is SERIOUS mascara. Not for the faint of heart. But very satisfying.

Saigon Grill, Downtown NYC

(Photo: www.eateryrow.com)
I just ate at the downtown location of this Vietnamese restaurant last night with my boyfriend and some friends (whee triple date!). Neil and I had been here once before and loved it but never made it back because we get lazy and tend to just hit up the great restaurants around his area in Chelsea, and this is kind of a long walk away at University and 12th. One of the great gals we were with is Vietnamese and helped us with ordering, and all of the food was just delicious. Such great combinations of flavors, spicy curry and ginger and cool mint and cucumber...yum. I had one of the best chicken curry dishes I've ever tasted, and was dreaming about it all the way home as I rubbed my food baby tummy.

Real Simple Magazine

(Photo: www.ba-reps.com)
Man, I love Real Simple. It's a lifestyle magazine that's practical while still being stylish. I love the combination of beauty, fashion, finances, food, organization...it's just great. Yes it's probably technically targeted to women in their thirties and beyond, but I feel that even their articles that don't pertain to me yet (like how to successfully get your family out of the house on time in the morning) will eventually come in handy. I love their simple recipes that focus on the pairings of great flavors (in the August issue above, they featured 3-ingredient dishes that all sound so delicious and easy). It's just a great guide on how to be a smart, classy, organized lady...which I (and therefore Go Austen) are all about.

Happy Saturday everyone!