The Tinder Chronicles: Part I

There have been a lot of whispers among twentysomethings around Tinder.  In case you live under a rock, Tinder is a dating app, to put it simply, and it doesn’t exactly come with the best reaction when you tell people you use it.  I’m not a fan of finding “love” via an app for the following reasons in no particular order:

1. You never know when you’re getting Catfished.
2. Too many creeps.
3. Most guys are too full of themselves and you would never know from an app.
4. Everyone and their mothers is on Tinder, the chance of finding a decent guy are one in 6 billion.
5. If I got to the point that I needed to use an app to find someone to just go on a date with me, I should just accept the fact that I’m never getting married.
6. It’s free. Never trust a free app to find love.  I would pay for eHarmony or Match.com if I needed to find my future husband online.

However, I cannot get over how popular Tinder is.  I was at a friends house watching the Oscars recently and every single person in the room was using Tinder.  Mind you, I was in a room full of guys + one other girl and a female dog.  Hearing the way these guys talking about the girls they find on Tinder and the things they say to initiate conversation shows me just how not-seriously they take this app, which I find hilarious.  I even learned about the “Power Swipe” which is when guys just swipe right for every girl as fast as they can, which in turn means that girls need to be extra picky about the guys they “like”.  That right there is already too much work for a guy that is probably not even remotely interested.

I heard many stories about how finding on match on Tinder actually lead to real dates, so I was curious to see how they went for different people. I decided to ask 5 of my girlfriends (who will remain nameless) how their Tinder dates went.  These are their stories in a five-part series of posts called “The Tinder Chronicles”:

The Stoner

“I met this guy on Tinder and we talked for about a week before he asked for my number.  He was so good looking and so smart and seemed really interested in me.  He invited me to go to the movies on a Friday night for a date, and I said yes.  By the time he asked me it was pretty late and the only movie we were going to make was at a theater closer to him.  So, me being the considerate person I am, asked him if he wanted me to pick him up on the way since, according to him, he lived five minutes away.  So I picked him up and the first thing he says is “sweet ride” (complementing my car).  Weird - but okay.  As we’re driving I realize we had already been driving for at least ten minutes by this point and he actually lived no where near this movie theater, so I guess he just wanted me to drive.  He pays for our tickets (a plus) and we sit in our seats to watch American Sniper.  I loved the movie, and to anyone that’s never seen it, the movie is pretty much over but the most emotional part is at the very end where they show real footage of America pay their respects to Chris Kyle.  I was so into it and was basically in tears, and this guy the entire time is saying “want to leave? “want to get out of here?” “you ready to go?”  I wanted to tell him to just shut up and how can he be so rude?  I ignore him and keep watching.  Then the film ends and we go back to his house.  We get to talking and learning a bit more about each other.  And thank god this guy is good looking because he is a f**king IDIOT.  This kid sounds like he is stoned 24/7, even though he’s not actually high. And he cracks himself up with stupid comments that are not even funny.  All I have to say is thank god we went to a movie rather than dinner because once he opened his mouth, I needed to get the hell out of there.  Oh, and I came to the conclusion that he wanted me to drive because he wanted to save money on gas…”

Get Dirty - And Look Good Doing It

The weather this weekend was beautiful, so there was no excuse for not being outside.  While there are many options as far as what to do on a warm and sunny Sunday (brunch being one - duh), hiking is one of my favorite activities.  You get the view, the workout, and a tan all at the same time. It really doesn't get much better than that if you ask me.  However, my kind of hiking involves Nikes instead of Timberlands and a Camelbak water bottle with my monogram in glittery gold over a canteen.  I guess you can call it the hiking edition of "glamping" (which I am talking my friends into doing as we speak. Lots of trips coming up - stay tuned).  Here are yesterday's hiking outfit details and a few additional suggestions.  Enjoy!

Jacket

lululemon: dance studio jacket iii

I absolutely love this jacket.  It's reversible and super lightweight making it perfect for outdoor spring activities.

Sports Bra

Calvin Klein Performance: Performance Reversible Heathered Sports Bra

Leggings

My leggings pictured above are also Calvin Klein Performance, but they are out of stock.  Here are a few suggestions from CKP that are from similar collections.

Calvin Klein Performance ALL ON SALE (Left to Right):

Performance Marble Print Cropped Leggings

Performance Camouflage Print Cropped Leggings

Performance Spiral Print Cropped Leggings

Performance Brushstroke Print Cropped Leggings

Top

H&M: Yoga Top with Inner Top

Believe it or not, H&M has an amazing collection of activewear. Check out the whole

Sneakers

Nike: Nike Women's Free 5.0

Check out this awesome InStyle article "Five Water Bottles So Chic You'll Want to Show Them Off"…I almost bought every single one! Especially this one by Kor.

5 Ways to Wear Denim Overalls

It finally feels like spring outside!  This means it's time to be a little more creative with your daily outfit choices since you no longer have to layer with a bulky coat and scarf.  One of the most difficult trends to style appear to be denim overalls.  Some people wear them like they were born to rock the overalls, and some wear them in all the wrong ways.  If you want to try out this trend, give these styling options a shot - you might be surprised how creative you can be with all that denim.



Overalls: H&M / Tee: H&M / Sunglasses: Ray-Ban / Bag: Forever21 / Shoes: Michael Kors

Overalls: Guess / Top: Uniqlo / Shoes: White House Black Market / Watch: Movado / Clutch: Tory Burch

Overalls: H&M / Top: River Island / Shoes: Vince Camuto / Bag: Rebecca Minkoff / Bracelet: Tory Burch FitBit / Sunglasses: Wildfox

Overalls: Madewell / Top: Express / Bag: Calvin Klein / Shoes: Keds / Sunglasses: Ray-Ban

Overalls: H&M / Top: J.Crew Factory / Trench: Forever21 / Shoes: Aldo / Sunglasses: Tory Burch

We're All A Little Mad

If you live anywhere but Florida, you cry a little bit every time the weather calls for rain or a temperature under 40 degrees, which ultimately means that you cry every day.  I actually had to defrost my windshield before getting in my car this morning.  It’s truly a never ending winter, even though it’s spring.  Does that make any sense? Maybe, if we lived in Canada or Alaska.  It’s even warmer in Denver than it is in NYC!  And you know what? We have had it.  My super cab driver the other day told me that this is the part of the year when people start talking about moving somewhere else, and that man interacts with tons of people every day, so you know he knows what he’s talking about.  He also confirmed that I’m not the only one that has talked about moving out of this iceberg that we call the Northeast.  If you think about it, the title “March Madness” totally applies to this weather considering the weather in March, from the first day to the last, drove everyone insane.  I think we all need a little bit of uplifting, and nothing raises spirits more than shopping and clothes (it’s a problem – I know).  So here are some of my March Madness picks for a spring that is hopefully not too far away.

1. Michael Kors

2. Madewell

3. RVCA

4. Topshop USA

5. Vince Camuto

6. Zara

7. Rebecca Minkoff

8. Matt Bernson

9. Kate Spade

10. Abercrombie (yes, abercrombie)

11. Kendra Scott

The Best Mask Ever

The moment we see that first little red bump on our face, we embark on a rollercoaster ride of skincare routines and frustrations.  It takes years to figure out what works with your skin, what irritates it, what dries it out, and what is just a waste of money.  And just when you think you got it right your skin decides it doesn't like what you use anymore and you have to start all over.  It truly has a mind of its own.  It's like a baby.  When a baby cries, you have to figure out what it wants with trial and error.  Babies can't tell you what they want, they just cry and scream until you get it right.  And you might realize that one day a pacifier is what calms the baby down, another day all the baby wants is to be held by it's mother and another day by it's father.  But you can't just give up because, well, it's a living being that is completely your responsibility to take care of for at least the next 18 years.  This metaphor might be a little extreme (especially because the closest thing I have to a baby is my dog, but she might as well be a human baby) but you see my point.

My skin has been difficult for years and I have spent so much money on "the best" products and "the best" skincare regimines, and guess what…nothing works.  I've realized that you have to keep it simple.  You know the Clarisonic spin brush that is suppoed to work wonders on your face and is apparently the greatest skincare product since the beginning of time? Yeah, that didn't work for me either.  What all the reviews dont tell you is that while it works on most people, there is a small number of people (like myself) whos skin actually becomes WORSE beause of it.  But after working all day in New York City, I want to do nothing more than scrub the city air off my face.  And then I found this. 

The Freeman Charcoal & Black Sugar Polishing mask is incredible.  I use it twice a week and it leaves my skin feeling amazing and clean.  No wonder it was recommened by Allure.  Like any skincare product, it caused my skin to get worse before it got better, but that's just part of the process. And it's cheap too! sometimes we think that we have to spend a ton of money on a designer product (which I am guilty of) but this is $5 and works better than anything I've ever used.  So save yourself some money and a trip to Sephora and try this out.

Sunday Brunch

Sunday Brunch is a crucial event in a young adult female's life - especially when there are bottomless mimosas involved  (but apparently that doesn't exist in NJ?).  It's a time to dress up, look cute, eat a good, laid-back meal with your friends, and post to Instagram.  It's nothing formal and it can be as casual as you would like, but some of us like to make it a time to flaunt our street-styling abilities like we're celebrities. Celebrities look amazing everywhere they go even if it's just the food store or the farmer's market or to pick their kids up from daycare (do celebrities even bring their kids to daycare? Probably not, but you get where I'm going with this).  For us normal, less artificially glamorous civilians of the world, if we dress up like that just to go to Target, you might frequently get the question, "why are you so dressed up just to go to Target?" which may lead to you responding, "why can't you just let me live my life?" (an often response of mine) - that tends to make them stop asking questions.  So get dressed up for your day-to-day activities because those clothes you bought aren't going to wear themselves.  And when it comes to brunch, take a picture of your outfit and your food, maybe sometimes even take pictures of you friend's food as well, because, as the saying goes, pics or it didn't happen.

Jacket: Raison Detre

Flats: J.Crew

Bag: Henri Bendel

Sunglasses: Ray-Ban

Denim: H&M

Tee: Madewell

Monday Round-Up - Work Shoes

Have you ever started getting ready for work and put together the perfect outfit and then think to yourself, "if only I had a pair of (insert type of shoe here), this outfit would be on fleek"?  Have you ever actually used the phrase "on fleek" in a real sentence? Me either, until this post.  I'm not even sure if I used it correctly but I'm going to leave it because it makes me feel trendy and cool and all the kids are doing it. Anyway, there are several pairs of shoes that every working (or not working) woman should have in her collection to make sure she's prepared for every outfit for every occasion.  Today, the lovely Aemilia Madden from PopSugar posted an extremely helpful article that lined up all of the staples and put them in a glamorous slideshow for our enjoyment. But the shoes featured are shoes we would really only see in our dreams rather than in our closets because some cost more than an entire paycheck.  You know, not all of us can be Carrie Bradshaw as much as we would like to hope that's where the road is headed (Mr. Big, if you're reading this watch the Sex & The City movie, specifically the part where Chris Noth surprises SJP with her dream closet in her dream apartment and keep that in mind for our future home). 

But here's the issue when it comes to shoes.  There's a saying "Buy cheap, buy twice", and this should be a constant thought when buying shoes, because it is absolutely true.  There is no way you can buy a cheap pair of pumps from Charlotte Russe and have them last longer than a couple of nights.  They fall apart, and then what do you have to do? Buy another pair.  But there is a way to buy shoes that aren't going to fall apart after one wear while staying within a reasonable budget.  Keep in mind, I truly believe your maximum price for shoes should be higher than your maximum price for clothes simply because (and I've said this before) you wear your shoes everywhere, on every surface, and they get put to the test when you wear them.  Sometimes you have to spend a little more to get a quality you need, but you don't have to break the bank.  So here is my modified version (right) of the PopSugar slideshow (left) with a maximum budget of $150 so we can look like Carrie Bradshaw without spending like Carrie Bradshaw.

Black Ankle Boots

Left: Gianvito Rossi ($995), Right: Nine West ($89.95)

Nude Heels

Left: Sergio Rossi ($595), Right: BCBGeneration $88.95

Polished Sandals

Left: Proenza Schouler ($795), Right: Splendid ($147.95)

Sophistcated Kitten Heels 

Left: Jimmy Choo ($595), Right: Kenneth Cole New York ($149.95)

Patent Leather Loafers

Left: Nicholas Kirkwood ($300, originally $595), Right: Aldo ($60)

Below: Jeffrey Campbell ($148) [and my personal favorite]

Tall Boots

Left: Stuart Weitzman ($655), Right: Ivanka Trump ($112, On Sale!)

Printed Pumps

Left: Giuseppe Zanotti ($499), Right: Louise Et Cie ($117.95)

Comfortable Commuting Shoes

Above: Nike "Free Flyknit 4.0" Running Shoe ($120)

I think this is a completely reasonable price for a pair of sneakers, especially for commuting purposes.  I'm also a HUGE Nike advocate, so maybe I'm a little biased on this one.

Stowable Flats

Left: J.Crew ($125), Right: Yosi Samra ($65.95)

Classic Black Pumps

Left: Christian Louboutin ($675), Right: Kristin Cavallari ($129.95)

One day, one day those Loubs will be ours, but in the mean time, the Cavs will do.