Mom’s Birthday & What I Wore

This year I did all I could to make my mother’s birthday the best it could be! I woke up earlier than her to make funfetti pancakes and blueberry coffee (in their coffee maker; which for me is a challenge as I’m a Keurig girl!). She loved her breakfast and relaxed all morning while i fixed up her bathroom with her tangible gift; a sand and seashell square-‘quarium’ alongside Seagrass and Seashore scented candles.

I took her out to lunch to an esteemed nearby eatery we’d never been to, Not Your Average Joe’s. We enjoyed a fresh pitcher of sangria, while she dined on vegetarian lasagne and I had a veggie burger with fries. It was an exceptional suburban dining experience and my mom seemed to thoroughly enjoy herself, to my pleasure.

She went to work, then a work meeting, then home to a homecooked seafood meal by my father and a chocolate tiered cake.

Happy Birthday Mom! ❤

Now, what I wore:

Forever 21 skirt and sweater

Guess? Bag

Wacoal bra from Nordstrom’s

(skirt and bra in the “haul” post here)

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Happy Birthday! and A Giveaway!

EffortlessCool is TWO years old!

Holy wow, time has gone by! But has it? Two years and I’m not sure how I feel. I feel like I should be farther along; not stuck in this rut between dream jobs. I feel like I should have had more iconic wardrobe pieces, more sponsorships and affiliates, more success with this thing. But I guess maybe it’s perceptive, and I’m just feeling this way because of my recent lull in life.

Looking back, I guess this blog HAS come a long way. Back form my first posts just WRITING about fashion-y things, to becoming more of a personal style blog, and even a once-a-week food blog. I started the NYC Fashion Bloggers group and made so many friends, attended many a fashion show and fashion event…

So, I can’t complain. This blog is my baby, and I don’t know what I’d be doing with my life without it!

With that being said, I figured I’d do something nice for all you followers and readers! A giveaway of my favorite items, just for YOU!

Dior “Waterlily” vernis parfume

Kat Von D Tattoo Liner in Trooper

DiorShow mascara

Garnier Moisture Rescue

this Dior nail polish has been on my nails for WEEKS since I bought my first bottle;  perfect minty spring green!

The eyeliner has been my favorite for YEARS. The pen like shape makes it easy to hold and the brush makes winged tips so easy and effortless! Just be careful to not make mistakes; this eyeliner is meant to STAY where you put it!

DiorShow mascara perfectly separates my lashes and gives them everything they need.

Garnier Moisture Rescue is something I’ve been swearing by since my friend Ashliegh introduced me sometime two years ago. You put it on before or after your make up and it instantly gets rid of flakes!

All products will come brand new and in their original boxes (I took them out for photography purposes) and I may even include a little something extra!

To Enter This Giveaway:

1. Follow me on BlogLovin’

2. Follow me on Twitter

3. Leave a comment with your email address and twitter handle

Simple as that! Giveaway ends in ONE WEEK (Thursday, March 22nd)!

Good luck to all who enter ❤ And thanks for your support !

My Birthday!

Thursday was My Birthday!! 22 years old, baby! And unlike many young 20-something’s I didn’t want to have a party at a club or bar, or go out and do shots or drink. What I wanted for my birthday was to go to Connecticut’s Mystic Aquarium.

Since it was my birthday I received free admission, and I had been looking forward to feeding the sting rays and doing a one on one encounter with the penguins. Like, I was telling everyone at work about how ecstatic I was.
Sadly, the aquarium only does those things in the summer months. While I did get to pet the sting rays and smaller sharks, everything else was a no go.

Still, I had an amazing time!

Can you tell I love jellyfish!? Also, look at these eels! They look straight out of the little mermaid!!

I had some fun in the gift shop as well, they had some “kanye shades”. I ended up getting this amazing jellyfish tee shirt as well!

After that fun afternoon of sea creatures, I surprised my parents back home! They took me out to dinner at a shockingly fancy, delicious, and well priced Italian restaurant in their town of Seekonk, MA called ‘Chardonnay’. The ambiance was great, with faux candles to set a calm mood.

With a bottle of wine and birthday cards we feasted on a Mediterranean pizza piled with spinach, olives, feta and onions; all my favorites!
I then finished off my birthday night with dessert and drinks with some local friends at UNOs.

Oh sweet, delicious success of becoming 22!

Granma’s 90th

While on vacation we took a break from our home cooked dinners to go out for my grandmother’s 90th birthday dinner. We took a nice family picture (which we then had framed and given to her as a gift). We then went to a Pine Point local restaurant called the Captain’s Galley. With minimal vegetarian options I opted for fried vegetables with penne and alfredo. My 14 year old brother, though, made my night. I’m a HUGEfan of french fries, so my brother verrrrrry sneakily snuck a fry on my plate at every chance he got, completely under my radar, making it so every time I looked down I had a greasy, delicious fry poking out of my pasta! In the picture below we had just taken a picture with his arm around me where he stuck one in my mouth. Silly, but it made my night.

gifted dress by Hype (available by clicking the link!)

Alice Yim cocoon cardigan

DB sandals

As you can see, on those cold Maine evenings I’ve been living in this amazinglyyy comfortable cocoon cardigan. Be sure to get YOURS just in time for fall here! I’ve been keeping this casual, but with my return to NYC I’ll be ready to glam up everything, so be prepared for some killer outfits to come!

Patricia Field’s Valentine’s Ball

After the IFB conference and workshops I went home and immediately changed to go to the Patricia Field Valetnine’s ball. I got there early to take some backstage pictures of the models getting ready, hair and make up and such. All of the models were professional dancers from various companies around New York City. Make up was by Llamasque, who I LOVE for their pigments. THe event was co-hosted by the fabulous DJ Cassidy, and sponsored by (in addition to Llamasque) Trojan Vibrations, Cafe Bustello, and Belvedere Vodka, YUM!

Around 10 pm the party was starting. Belvedere had reps making drinks at bars lining the entire wall of the Captiale’s ballroom. The model/dancer’s were go go dacing all around, and guests were coming in for photo ops dressed like the club kids of her demographic. I took my photo taken, took some with some other fabulous guests, and mingled about. The party was also in celebration of Patricia’s birthday so she was merrily drinking and looking fabulous. Thankfully I managed to get into the VIP section, meeting up with Richie Rich, Angela Simmons, and a number of fabulous people.

Loft Sweater

Forever 21 skirt

Ellie shoes from Patricia Fields

Vintage Bag and scarf

Forever 21 ring

ran into Amber again! who had completely changed out of her vintage frock into this fun dress!

Now, back to resting and preparing for the other shows and events. Enjoy!