More Fall Favorites and some Zine Talk

Today I want to show you my favorite neutral toned items for this coming season...

Neutral for Winter by malorimaeva featuring oxford heels

If you've stopped by Jacques and Jill you know that I've been dreaming of neutral colors for winter long before it hit the runways (yeeeuh that's what's up!). Of course, now that the world has agreed that neutral colors are "in" this fall, I can't wait to scoop up as many accessories/shoes/clothes in these colors. To see the sources of anything listed, just click the link below the picture. I believe that'll tell you everything you need to know :).

Before I go I'd like to address the Zine unhappiness. You may recall that I was part of a group of bloggers who contributed to the "zine" Creative Juice a few weeks ago. Apparently many who purchased said zines never got anything at all and those who did received something that was quite disappointing. I'd like to say that I have never seen the Zine in person, nor did I receive any monetary compensation for my contributions. As a matter of fact, I didn't know until yesterday that everything had ended so poorly. I want to apologize to any of my amazing readers who purchased a zine. I am embarrassed that my name is attached to it at this point in time and I am so sorry for the disappointment. Please know that I did not handle the design, printing, or distribution for the zines and that if I had known people were going to lose out on money and receive a slipshod product that I never would have taken part in the project. For more details, you can read Kaeluh's post here. Again, I apologize and I promise I will not steer you in a shady direction again. Thank you for being so loyal and wonderful. As a small bit of compensation, I'm offering free shipping in the U.S. on any product from Jacques and Jill for the next 24 hours.

EDIT: Can someone make me a few blog buttons this evening fo' cheap? I'm in need!!! Shoot me an email at malori(at)jacquesandjill.com

xo
Mal

Fall Crushes

So I'm pretty poor. This is no secret. Being in college is like being robbed every day of the week. No matter how much money I save over the summer, it's gone within a month of being at school (thanks to groceries, books, art supplies, and apartment shenanigans--IE: internet installation, rent, decorations, cleaning supplies, bathroom supplies, etc.) and I do not like it. I desperately need a job but until I can find one I'll have to make do with what I have. I'm pretty good at controlling my shopping if I can avoid actual stores. This proves to be somewhat difficult because I live above some awesome shopping and within a mile of the rest of the awesome shopping but I haven't done too poorly this year! Having said that, I complied a list of things I'd love to have this fall/winter. Because there are SO many fabulous things out there I decided to break this post up into a few parts. Today I'll share (some of) my shoe obsessions. I can't afford any of them but my birthday is coming up so maybe I'll splurge on one of them. Enjoy!!

Penny Loafers & Other Flat Footed Friends

Fall Flats by malorimaeva featuring ballet pumps shoes

My style has evolved over the past few years and is gravitating towards a very preppy place. I am entirely obsessed with penny loafers right now and I want a pair that I can wear till they break. I'm also seriously lacking in the flat department and I'd like to remedy that situation ASAP.

xo
Mal

Football!!

My shoes were lake forest colored :)

NUMBER 34! That's my bro!

are you ready for some football!?

I had a fantastic weekend with my brother at Lake Forest. I know that I posted a little bit about this before but I feel the need to elaborate. Columbia is a great school, don't get me wrong. But one major drawback to going to an art school is that we don't have ANY sports or school spirit. I really miss that from high school and I never thought that I would. It's fun being able to go support your school's sports teams! Anyways, when I'm feeling like I need a break from art school culture (a different breed for sure) I visit my brother's school and I pretend like I'm a state school student. It was a really wonderful weekend and it helped me make a huge decision. More information on that later.... Sorry about the lack of real posts this week. My apartment is being painted and it's a huge mess so I can't accomplish anything productive. I'm also buried in homework.

See you tomorrow!
xo
Mal

Spoonflower

So recently I started following the wonderful Wild Olive blog. Through her, I found the site Spoonflower and I am smitten. It's a place where designers can upload their work to be printed on various types of fabric. I think it is SO COOL. I've been browsing it in between homework sessions today and I thought I'd share a few of my favorite prints with you. Have you all heard of this magical place before? If so, WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME!? How ruuuuude. Anyways... I'm learning how to sew right now and I already have about a billion prospective projects lined up for which I'll need fabric.







Speaking of sewing...
I'm in the market for a new or gently used sewing machine. Do any of you have suggestions on brands or places to buy a good machine? I don't have oodles of money to spend so something affordable would be great. Tell me what you know.

xo
Malori

Are You Ready for Some Football?

My photo of the week comes from my older brother's football game.  I really liked the excitement in the air pre-game and the headsets resting on the bench so I snapped a photo. I have a few more to share tomorrow. Have a great night tonight!



xo
Mal

99 problems but a bitch ain't one

I promised my roommate that when my little "follower" gadget hit 99 that I'd name a post after the fabulous Jay-Z song 99 problems. Except you guys aren't problems. You're like 99 little rays of sunshine... perhaps 99 red balloons? Okay I'm finished :).

Today I'm in Lake Forest visiting my big brother and watching him play some football. I took a bunch of pictures but I'm not on my home computer (I didn't bring my laptop in an attempt to "unplug". Clearly that worked out...) so I'll have to share them later this week. They played pretty well but didn't come out of the game with a win. Maybe next week!?
I love coming to Lake Forest because I get to have the cliche college experience. It's really fun to be on a real campus with real(ly shitty) dorms and school spirit. I enjoy the atmosphere and it makes me regret going to art school (jusstttt a little bit). Luckily, once I'm back downtown I fall in love all over again and realize I'm in the right place after all!

I just wanted to pop in and say hello. I hope you all have a FABULOUS weekend.

xo
Mal

Today was all kinds of fun

I got up bright and early (much like the sun) and went to my sewing class. I live in Chicago where the weather is fickle but apparently I'm stupid and looking out the window to see that it's raining is far too much work for me. Luckily I was dressed mostly appropriately... I mixed patterns and I feel like such a rebel that I took a picture to share with you :).

I'm done with class every day by noon so that leaves me with gaping expanses of free time. I like having some down time but not this much. I'm starting to go a little crazy. I really need a job but no one seems to want me (I've applied EVERYWHERE) so I'm having to find other ways to occupy myself. I've been wanting to try out Sweet Mandy B's ever since I read this fabulous post over at Much Love, Illy. So when I got out of class today, my friend Jason and I headed off to this lovely little cookie shop.

I got the molasses cookie (two of them...) and a confetti cookie. They are GIGANTIC!

Don't worry, I only ate half of it and took the other two and a half home for later :). Their cupcakes looked fabulous as well but I decided I'll have to go back another time to try them out. If you're ever near DePaul (or in Chicago in general) I'd suggest trying out this sweet little place. SO GOOD!

After we got my cookies we drove around trying to find a place for Jason to eat (how cute is he? Seriously.) and stumbled onto Franks and Dawgs.
Just looking at the sign I knew I'd enjoy this place.

They have all kinds of hot dogs (many made in-house) and are served in a variety of unique ways. I had already eaten a sandwich for lunch but I couldn't resist grabbing a dog. It was DELICIOUS!

I will absolutely be back for more.

Eating is one of my favorite things to do in Chicago because there are so many fabulous places to discover. I'm going to start bringing you more reviews of the restaurants I experience here in my wonderful city. I'm also going to try harder to tag my posts because I'm really terrible about doing that.

xo
Mal

Renegade Part Two...

So last week I featured the first of my Renegade purchases. I decided to give you another Renegade treat today :).

I have an all-encompassing love for letterpress goods. Have I admitted this to you before? I really cannot get enough of it. I follow wedding blogs because they often feature letterpress invitations that make my heart race. Silly? Perhaps. Regardless, I got this tiny letterpress notebook and I'm in love with it.

I bought it because I was going to throw it in my purse and jot down little notes but I feel like it's too special for that so for now it's sitting in a shelf above my desk. I want to think of something really cute to do with it before I use it :).

To see more from this fabulous seller, check out her shop :). I bought a few postcards from her last year (haven't used them either...they're so special!) and I will definitely buy more in the future.

Note: I'm only 90% sure I'm giving the right artist credit here. If I'm incorrect and you know it please let me know so I can direct you to the right person.

xo
Mal

Shameless...

The only thing I've accomplished in the past day and a half is listening to the new maroon 5 album on repeat. I. Am. In. Love.

Those of you who have been around for a while know how excited I was for this album to come out and I am beyond thrilled that it's finally here. As soon as I downloaded it I came home, put on my delicious beats by dre headphones, cracked open a fashion magazine and enjoyed myself. I've been a little on edge this week for some reason I can't quite grasp so it was WONDERFUL to just zone out for a while.

Here's the verdict:
Overall- LOVE
Favorite Songs: Stutter, I can't lie, Never Gonna Leave This Bed, Just a Feeling, The air that I breathe, and Misery of course!
Least Favorite Songs: Out of Goodbyes (NOT my cup of tea at allllll) and Don't know nothing.

Have any of you given it a listen? If so, how do you feel about them?

While I was reading my magazines yesterday (Elle, Vogue, and In Style) I was so inspired. I have 4 pages choc full of ideas for this little blog of mine. I can't wait to start bringing you a better mix of things I love.

And since I hate leaving you without any pictures, here's a photo of some veggies I chopped up for a ratatouille I made yesterday (delicious).


xo
Malori

Frustrations and Soup

I spent the past couple hours trying to perfect some seam samples that I need to turn in to my sewing teacher come Friday morning. Note: I now want to die but only if I can take the sewing machine with me. I am SO frustrated. Today has been full of all kinds of shenanigans but I'm still hoping to see a light at the end of the tunnel.
Here's a rundown:
-Woke up (after sleeping in) which was nice
-Found out that I'm having MORE problems with my internet card which was not nice
-Realized the new Maroon 5 album came out today (SO NICE)
-Couldn't download it because of my internet issues (death...)
-Went for a quick run (nice)
-Had to stop after 15 minutes and head back home because my asthma was going crazy (not so nice)
-Got all dressed up to run some errands (nice!)
-Spent a few hours screaming curses at an industrial sewing machine for moving faster than I could keep up (not so nice)
-Went to the library to use the internet to download my beloved maroon 5 and finish some homework AND blog (nice)

I guess it's been a fair mix of good and bad but the bad is really getting me riled up for some reason. When I finish my homework I'm going to go home and work on some embroidery for a while to wind down. I also plan on having a gigantic bowl of the fresh chicken noodle soup I made yesterday. I had some chicken in my refrigerator that was thawed because I was going to cook it for some friends a week ago but ended up not making it. I really hate wasting food so I googled chicken recipes to see what I could whip up with it. I adore cooking but the food I make needs to taste good as leftovers since the portions are generally way more than I want/need for one meal. Usually I'll cook a big pot of soup or something of the sort at the beginning of the week then eat it for lunch the rest of the week (last week I made Chili). So the soup of the week coming out of my kitchen this week is Chicken Noodle! I found a recipe online for it and loosely based my soup off of it.

Here's what you'll need:
-Cooked Chicken torn into strips
-Carrots
-Celery
-Egg Noodles
-1/2 cup of chopped onion
-12 cups of low sodium chicken broth
-2 cloves of minced garlic
-2 bay leaves
-pepper

Here we go:
1) Cut your celery, carrots, and onion so they're ready to rock
2) Add the garlic, bay leaves, and chicken broth to a large pan. Bring your broth to a boil.
3) Add your celery, carrots, and onion to the boiling broth, reduce heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes
4) Bring the heat back up just a pinch. Add in your chicken and noodles and cook until the noodles are tender.

Tips:
Don't add any salt. The broth has more than enough so unless you like REALLY salty things, I'd steer clear. Pepper is a different story :). Add it liberally! If you remember (I did not) take the bay leaves out before you add the noodles/chicken because they'll get lost and will not taste good if eaten.

Alas... I feel better just thinking about soup and sweatpants :).
See you tomorrow!
Mal

P.S.
I don't know if the formspring trend died, but I love when you all ask me questions there so feel free!
ALSO: I lowered prices in my shop since it's still so darn hot out. Go check everything out :) (the link is on the righthand side of my page)

Embroidery

Last year I embroidered my first piece ever. I was inspired by someone at Renegade and decide to make my own version which dumped me into yet another wonderful kind of stitching (I'm already so fond of some other stitches like knitting, crochet, and now sewing) it's only fitting that I enjoy laying down with a little embroidery hoop from time to time.

Recently I've been really jonesin' for some cute new patterns and after seeing some more AMAZING pieces at Renegade this year I decided I'd use my greatest resource (you all!) to find some fun things to stitch.

What is your favorite place to find hand embroidery inspiration and patterns that won't break the bank? Also, what do you do with your embroidery once it's finished. I feel like I can only pawn so many off on my friends before they start to judge me and call me Phyllis again.

To give you a point of reference, I'll show you some embroidery that I adore. Also, what's the deal with cross stitching? Would I like it? Someone tell me all about it!

home embroidery

Katie Cupcake

moxiedoll


wild olive



xoxo
Mal

Studying...

I've been in the library for the past few hours getting the bulk of my homework for this week finished up. I love being ahead of schedule :). I'm going to try something new with the sugar this week. I promise that I'll find something more stable eventually :).

My favorite picture from blogland this week is courtesy of LLYMLRS.

xo
Mal

Another one bites the dust!

This morning I woke up bright and early to go to my very first cooking class ever. I had a blasty blast. Who knew cooking could be so much fun!? Well...I did. That's actually why I decided to take a class in the first place. I was not disappointed :).

Since I'm madly in love with making noodles, I thought it was only fitting that I take a pasta making class. I learned how to make all kinds of fun things! Like a good little blogger, I brought my camera. Like a bad little blogger, I took about zero pictures. I'll have to be better next time.

Now, I'm incredibly exhausted (I haven't been sleeping well recently) so I'm going to spend the rest of the night writing a paper and watching Will & Grace. I'll be back tomorrow with some sugar. And since I hate leaving you empty-handed, I'm going to share a pretty necklace that I'm craving right now. Psst...my birthday is coming up :). Feel free to treat me ;).


Found via Mallory.

xo
Mal

WEEKEND!

I feel like these past two weeks of trying to settle/move/start classes have been quite stressful and exhausting. I didn't finish unpacking until this afternoon. I still have a list of to-dos for the apartment (we don't have anything in our living room STILL and I'm starting to get frustrated) but I'm crossing things off each and every day. I absolutely love decorating and living on my own. My roommates are always on the go so at times I feel like I'm the only one who lives here. The quiet is so nice and I have a lot of time to do the extraordinary amounts of reading I have for class. A while ago I saw one of those "day in the life of" posts and I think it'd be a lot of fun to do one of my days. Expect it soon :).

I keep SERIOUSLY slacking on my Renegade posts so instead of doing one big post I decided to break it up. The first purchase I want to feature is this sweet little print I bought from Raw Toast Design.

I was sucked in by the pretty colors and the great layout of this booth. I spent some time pouring over all his prints. I posted some of my favorites below. It was really difficult to decide which to buy.





In the end, I decided to get this guy. I can't resist that chunky little peach fishing with kites. I put it up on my print wall in my bedroom (which has changed quite a bit since the last time I showed you).


Be sure to check out the Raw Toast site and give it a little love :).

Have a wonderful Friday night!
xo
Mal

Things I did today:

1) Went to class. Rocked my Sales Promotion class like a champion. You're welcome world of sales promotion.
2) Spent money I don't have on jam that I don't need but have not stopped thinking about for three days.

But how could I resist?


What are you kids up to today?

xoxo
Mal

What you should be reading every day...

I read an obscene amount of blogs. I devote one hour every day to taking in everything in my google reader and I read all kinds of blogs from people who like to tell personal storeis to those who strictly post pictures. I know I love finding out about a sweet little corner of the blog world that I have never seen before so occasionally I like to share what I'm reading with you. A few weeks ago the lovely author of Amateur Couture commented on one of my posts and when I visited her page I died. Her blog is GOLD. It is a mix of two things that I hold very close to my heart--fashion and fine art. Her posts are absolutely fabulous. One of my favorites is below but don't take my word for it, check her out!


See you tomorrow
-Mal

My day off

Tuesdays are my day off from classes but my empty days generally end up being more busy than those that are scheduled. I visited a part of Illinois that I absolutely adore but can't tell you about because the reason for my visit was something of a secret. Suffice it to say that it went very well and I have a lot of big decisions to make now. Anyways, instead of sharing about my day today, I have a few pictures from a walk I took the other day with my friend Ben. Poor kid isn't a huge fan of walking but lets me drag him all over the greater downtown Chicago area.

We spent some time checking out the boats then walked to Navy Pier (I don't have any pictures of Navy Pier) which I love :).

There was a weird thing going on with the birds and this guy was feeding them which just made more of them come over. It was really odd but pretty amusing.

Also, has anyone seen these ads? I think they are hilarious and pretty successful considering I'm really curious about this movie because of them.


xo
Mal

Back in Chicago

So I've been back in Chicago for about a week and a half now and I don't know how I lived while I was away. I've been trying to take pictures of my adventures so that you can feel like you live here too (after all, Chicago is the best place in the world). One of the things my wonderful city is best known for is its food. Last week I was CRAVING a cookie and not in the mood to cook (SHOCKING! I know) so my roommate and I decided to settle for pazookie. I used to think this was a pretty universal term but my roommate had no idea what I was talking about so I'll clarify for you as well. This delicious treat is mostly baked cookie fresh from the oven with ice cream and whipped cream on top. And holllyyyy shit is it good.
It looked so good in fact that a tourist came up to us and asked if he could take a picture. We obliged him, of course :). Here are a few of my own pictures.



If you've ever in town, be sure to stop by Pizano's. Their pizza is to die for as well :).

xo
Mal

Leave the Light On

“You can’t have light without its opposite”
--Grab on to me tightly as if I Knew the Way

source

xo
Mal

I went to Renegade today...

I got some great stuff :). I'm really tired so I'm not going to do a real post but I will leave you with a few photos to hold you over till Monday.





xoxo
Malori