life

looking forward

March 16, 2013 · 1 comment

I wish I could tattoo this onto my forehead, but instead, I’ll settle for the friggin T-shirt. I have to say, this has turned into the mantra I find myself repeating out loud to myself frequently. Sometimes it’s so hard to keep yourself from thinking about the past and decisions that you’ve made and regretted or just wondered if you took the right path. Lately it’s taken all I have to just say, hey, move it on forward, sister. Because you can’t change your past and you can’t change your decisions, you can only learn from them and keep moving forward.

And when it’s hard to remember this, there is always the tee shirt. Or the tattoo, if that’s your thing.

p.s. Aritzia not sells online! One of my favorite stores, and since there isn’t one here in Philadelphia, I’ll be taking to the net to stock up on my favorite light high low hem tees. <3

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shopping terrain

March 3, 2013 · 6 comments

in fashion, house and home, life, shopping

Mania Mania ear cuff, old Sanctuary fur vest, Free People French Terry Moto Jacket & beaded tank, J. Brand skinny jeans, Frye boots, Patagonia quilted jacket

This past Friday while my mom was in town visiting I played hooky from work and we took a road trip out to Glen Mills, Pennsylvania to pay a visit to ‘Terrain’ -a nursery/lifestyle store and cafe by the Urban Outfitters team. I had been wanting to visit Terrain ever since moving to Philly as I had heard it was such a cool shopping experience and totally worth the trip out of the city. I love a good nursery and Terrain did not disappoint. In additional to beautiful plants and trees (including an adorable succulents wall), the store was stocked with the prettiest and most unique housewares and cooking supplies. It is one of those stores that is like walking and shopping through an amazingly decorated indoor/outdoor living experience home. My mom and I both wanted to move in, right then and there. If you are ever in the Philly area, you must go (there is also another one in Westport, Connecticut). For now, you can shop online.…

I am settling in nicely to my life here. My mom helped me move in (finally), paint and outfit an adorable 1 bedroom apartment in the middle of the city and I am so enjoying the fun of decorating the place and creating my very own little cozy corner of the universe in this semi foreign city I have moved to. It has officially stopped snowing daily (watch once I say this, it will snow tomorrow) and I am starting to really appreciate all the quirks of this old, historical city. Mom and I didn’t do as much exploring as we would have liked (next trip), but we did eat some delicious food – at a corner restaurant Mercato and at the cult favorite, Han Dynasty. We even hit up Franklin Fountain for Sunday afternoon to-die-for old fashioned milkshakes. Mom was surprised at how much I knew my way around already! go me. cheers, Tara xx

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Fashion Week(end) photo diary

February 12, 2013 · 9 comments

in fashion, life

Just a few snapshots of this past weekend spent in New York for Fashion Week(end) – so happy I got to go and see a lot of my blogging/real friends, take in some shows, both fashion and theatre, and get caught in a real blizzard!

*Me and a few girlfriends went to see ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’ Sunday afternoon (and snuck in a good long catch-up brunch beforehand)- starring Scarlett Johansson ( I know, look at us, all cultured). We all loved it- Scarlett is actually really great in it as wife Maggie, and so is everyone else in the cast actually. Now I of course want to rent the Robert Redford/Elizabeth Taylor movie version…

*A few photos I took of the Rebecca Minkoff Fall 2013 runway show- loved her bold color palette and her always too cool tomboy girl style. She had all kinds of cool multicolored hologram fabrics going on everywhere. Plus the purses! You can see more images of her show here.

*Snow storm Nemo ended up being a pretty fun event to live through in the city. I will never forget stepping out on the street with a friend after a late dinner in the midst of the worst of it Friday night to a completely vacant New York street, no cabs, cars, people, or noise – it felt like being in a zombie movie. Luckily, a cab eventually found us and we settled in for the night- and woke up the next morning to freshly plowed streets. We took a sunny Saturday afternoon stroll through Central Park and it was so fun to see the park packed with kids and families out sledding and playing in their snow gear- another in a movie moment. All kind of magical.

more fashion show snaps to come…

xx, T

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ad.ven.ture.

January 23, 2013 · 8 comments

in life

Today I was really feeling like I was missing my blog. It hit me. So here I am, posting and checking in and, by the way, how are you all? I admit it’s been hard managing all of my balls in the air these days with my new life and blogging, but I can assure you, this is still a passion of mine and I’m not letting it go.

I think it hit me today because today was a sort of interesting day, a sea change, if you will, in my life as of late. As I write this, it is occurring to me that really, every day seems to take me on some sort of adventure, and things seem to change course frequently, whether that be physically, metaphorically, or even emotionally. Sometimes (a lot of times) that’s totally exhausting, but then, isn’t that the total point of changing up everything in your life? To go on a big adventure, knowing every day for a while is going to feel at times new and uncomfortable, but also exciting, and full of interesting things? It’s the perspective I need to keep up when I ask myself, what did I get myself into? I’m not going to lie, I’ve had that thought- a few times. But I think that’s normal, and I have yet to regret this. In fact, at this point, I don’t think I ever will. And that is despite a few hefty roadblocks: my dream job being much more challenging than I ever could have imagined, and an apartment situation that kind of went to hell (I’m really surprised I haven’t ended up on the street yet, something temporary seems to keep coming up, miraculously, although I was forced to shower at the gym in my office recently. Again, it worked) and on top of it all, sub-freezing weather that I am just not used to. I totally just Zapppos.com’d myself an overnight-shipped down parka because it was time. Thank God for the little things that save us right?

this quote by H.K. really does say it all to me, and thus, I have this print (by Leah Flores - she has a lot of good ones) as my cell phone backdrop as a reminder. A good reminder for us all, right? Life is a great adventure, or nothing at all. More soon… xx

p.s. i’m obsessed with this song/this chick. get on it.

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ch-ch-changes

December 16, 2012 · 15 comments

in life

“When your rooster crows at the breaks of dawn, look out your window and I’ll be gone…”

A few short weeks ago I decided to uproot my entire life on go on a big life adventure, leaving everything familiar behind me. On Saturday, December 8th I left San Francisco and the great Pacific Ocean permanently (for now) to move to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to chase after some of my dreams. Because, you know, isn’t that what life really is about? Dream job, dream of living on the East Coast for a while, dream of taking a big risk and switching it all up and seeing what happens and where life can take you. Because if not now, when? In case you have been wondering where I went on the longest break I have ever taken from this blog since I started it, it was doing (mostly executing) this. It started with giving my 2 weeks notice at my SF job and finishing up all my projects there, it went into selling my old car, and buying a new one (!), to packing up my entire apartment, sorting out everything I didn’t want anymore, including half of my wardrobe which went to either Crossroads or Goodwill, to spending time with and saying goodbye to all of my people in San Francisco, which was undoubtably the hardest part. Weirdly, I was unemotional about leaving anything in the city of SF itself – I didn’t do a leaving SF bucket list, because a) there was no time and b) I figured if I hadn’t done it in the 5 years I had lived in SF, it wasn’t that important, and c) SF would always be there, for me to come back to. Really, at the end of the day, it was all of my people/friends I love dearly in SF (and there are a lot of them, I am lucky in that way) whom I was saddest to leave. Luckily, they were all insanely supportive of me and understanding of why I wanted to do this. I guess the best you can hope for is friends who want you to grow to be the best person you can possibly be, and support you in all of your endeavors, no matter where they take you. It was surely surprising to me how many people in my life, both in and outside of work, when I told them the news, said with a big grin on their face that they were happy and excited for me, that it was perfect. That was such a sign to me that I was making the right decision, and I haven’t really looked back.

My empty Larkin Street room that I left behind – it has been good to me

My last hours in SF were spent with some of my best girlfriends at the Cavallo Point Lodge in Sausalito, CA, looking back at the city I grew up in over the past 5 years

So here I am, one week into my adventure, hanging out in a little studio hotel room in temp housing, drinking copious amounts of California wine totally by myself and adjusting to my new, albeit in transition, life. I made it through week 1 at my new ‘dream job’ (with only one major freak out of ‘what the hell have I done?’ which I am proud to say I got over pretty quick. Just FYI to everyone out there, a dream job is still a job. Like, something they pay you to do. Friendly reminder. But on the other side is, well, we all have to work, so it might as well be everything you always imagined, right?) and have pretty much adjusted to the time change and recovered from my massive sleep deficit that occurred over the past weeks. I even made a new friend (this little lady!) whom I think I have convinced to become my new BFF. Victory? Victory. So wish me luck in this stage 2 (stage 1 = getting me here) of life uproot which includes, but is not limited to: finding an adorable little 1 bedroom apartment (no small feat), convincing many people I’m cool and friend-worthy, figuring out how to write a PO so I don’t continually embarrass myself at work, finding the perfect warm winter coat (what should that look like? I’ve got no clue.) and mastering the bus system between here and NYC. I hope you will enjoy following it all here on the blog, which I fully intend to keep up, probably with less outfit pics for the time being.

Thank you to everyone who supported me in this adventure and was there for me to make it happen! I owe ya one. xx

p.s. know anyone who lives here in Philly who might want to be real life friends with me? send um on over! tara.wondergirl@gmail.com

“…don’t think twice, it’s all right.”

-Bob Dylan

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