The A List: 5.20.16

You guys, this week.

It’s been a week of getting back into a routine, a week of serious brain usage and most of all, a week of new surroundings. I’m a little too excited that the forecast is a bit gloomy for Saturday, I can’t wait to get my bearings again.

But with all this newness also comes a giant boatload of inspiration (woo!) which I’m excited to share. In the meantime, here’s a look at what I’m loving this week.

Stella McCartney Lips iphone case

If school supplies are my ultimate way to nerd out (see below), phone cases probably come a close second. I love to dress up my iphone in crazy ways, it’s the one piece of my ensemble that doesn’t stick to my color uniform. Case in point, my latest case. I’ve been eyeing this lip case for weeks, trying to figure out if I should bite the bullet or not to spend the $$$. After seeing it in person at Neiman’s (and finding a gift card) I’m now the proud owner of the best selfie case around. Sure, the case is large, but my personality is larger. ;-)

Rebecca Minkoff Unlined Feed Bag

Rebecca Minkoff has always been one of my go-to handbag designers, but I think she’s completely one-upped herself with my latest purchase. The unlined feed bag is the PERFECT summer satchel. It’s a buttery leather toughened up just slightly with the addition of studs, which coupled with a square shape and wide strap, set it apart from your typical cross-body handbag. I carried mine with me everywhere on my last road trip, it not only holds your essentials but it’s also great for toteing around a blogging camera, your moleskin and even a bottle of water.  You can’t go wrong with this bag by your side all summer long.

Muji Gel Ink 0.5mm Pens

Confession time, I am a giant school supply nerd. From agendas to notebooks, folders to paper clips, I love school supplies. And after getting back into the swing of things this week (i.e. working) I think I’ve finally found my holy grail of pens. Seriously, these pens not only write consistently, they also don’t smear when this lefty advances across the page (ahhh!!!). Leave it to Muji to create the perfect writing specimen. I picked these up in store in NYC the last time I was there, but thankfully you can order them easily online now. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to get back to geeking out over my school supplies.

Google’s Gboard App

GIFs. I’m still not quite sure how to pronounce them as a word but boy do I love to send them to friends via text or other medium. And for me, my friends timelines just got completely spammed thanks to my faves at Google. I have no clue if Google’s Gboard app for iphone is new, but after downloading it this week I’m hooked. Operating just like my beloved emoji app, you can scroll through google’s gif options by category or search for that specific gif that you know and love. So many puppy gifs, so little time.

DNCE Toothbrush Video

I originally had another fave slotted into this spot, but after watching DNCE’s Toothbrush video, I knew I had to include it. And can I just say one thing about this vid? Joe Jonas is a dreamboat. Even better though? Ashley Graham is a total fox. But the best part might be Joe’s follow-up interview with Glamour – saying he only had one girl for the role in mind (swoon!). DNCE knew they were making a statement with Ashley's casting, but the video is so beautiful you don’t even notice. 

Best of 2015

 

If you've been on instagram the last few days, you can't help but notice the #2015bestnine photos in everyone's feeds.

I kind of love this.

Best nine is a great and easy tool to remember the highlights of my year, or at least my photos that trended throughout 2015.

And how genius are the app developers who are collecting all of this data from people (like myself) giving them access to their insta profiles? #nerdalert

Anyways, my #2015bestnine did a pretty good job of summing up some of the highlights of my year. Here's a little more into what my 2015 looked like.

(L to R, top to bottom)

1. Rose gold iphone! I remember the day I squealed with delight when my rose gold iphone arrived in the office. Of course my case was already purchased (Rose all day!) but the real hero of this photo is my co-worker Maggie, who let me take this pic on her phone and then texted it to me. (For the record, I'm still in love with my phone).
2. Pan-Am Games Opening Ceremony. It's no secret I wear the love of my hometown on my sleeve, so when I saw this photo from the opening ceremony of the Pan Am Games in Toronto, I had to regram it. My annual weeklong visit to TO came about a week or so later, which prompted my excitement to post the photo.
3. Goal Digger. Chalk this photo up to a cold winter, a new fashion app, and my love for witty and wordy sweaters and tees. It's a hashtag trifecta and a warm sweatshirt too.
4. Home. You might think from the picture directly below this one that Christmas is my favorite holiday, but if I had to choose, I think Valentine's Day might be #1 in my <3. (See what I did there?) This find from Target sat outside our front door for the first few months of the year and grabbed a few more likes than normal with some help from #targetstyle.
5. Morning breakfast. Confession: I love a good #viewfromthetop photo, especially if it has something to do with food. But there's little more meaning to this pic - it's one of the first photos I took from our new office, after it was set up from moving a few weeks earlier. I'm not a fan of moving, but I am a fan of great morning light in an insta snap.
6. NHL All-Star Weekend. A rare glimpse into my work life hit my feed, thanks to some last-minute unreal seats to the NHL All-Star game. This pic to me reminds me of an amazing last weekend in January, a weekend that combined professional success with a love for showing off and experiencing the best Columbus has to offer.
7. Holiday decor. I love decorating my home for the holidays and am quite proud of the aesthetic i've created over the last couple years. Here's a peek into that aesthetic, hints of silver and gold and soft lighting mixed with our mostly neutral decor and my favorite #Toronto poster.
8. Macaroons and Petit Choux at Nadege. One of the many instas from my trip to Toronto, this one came from the cutest french patisserie on West Queen West, just before Trinity Bellwoods. We had traipsed around much of downtown earlier that day and this was the perfect (and cutest) pitstop for a mid-afternoon break. Fun fact, I found this place via instagram too!
9. First trip to Roosevelt Coffee. I hold 90% of my meetings outside the office at coffee shops and had been hearing about Roosevelt for weeks leading up to this pic. The space doesn't dissapoint - open and airy with big tables for collaboration, located in a great part of town, and of course, fabulous coffee, i've been back many times since first snapping this pic.