Color Me Christmas

Seasons greetings!

With Christmas around the corner, I wanted to share some of my colorful and diy holiday decor in my NYC apartment.

Holidays can get expensive, so I was determined to have a frugal festive season, and that included the decor. I bought a little tree for only $12 at Duane Reade (Walgreens) stacked it on coffee table books for extra height! I love over-the-top wrapping and big bows, but didn't want to waste the dough on something that would just get thrown away, so I utilized my hair bows, scarfs, belts and pins in association with some great vintage bow finds to embellish the presents! I also created a advent calendar with candy and suggestions on how to add color to the holiday season, such as "treat yourself to tea" ... which I did! After a few lights, and a pinch of glitter, all that was left was to put a bow on it; I added bows to my dinning chairs, candy canisters and even my wall to finalize the festive feel. 

Now that you have seen the merry make-over, check out my apartment 6-6, to see the rest of my NYC apartment without the festive feel.

Waffles and I hope your holidays are merry and bright, I'll be taking the next few days off for some time festive fun, but will get back to blogging towards the end of the week. Until then, stay fabulous!

Dear Santa

It's the most wonderful time of the year, when I over-trim my tree, deck the hall until their dripping in dazzle and just go Coo Coo for Christmas, but this year has been a little bit different! Since I've been working like a maniac, with only one day off all month long, I've fallen a bit behind on my seasonal celebrations. Plus, my family flyes in on friday (from AZ) to spend christmas in the city, so we are skipping the big gifts this year to splurge on shows and such for some fowler-family bonding! Despite my recent lack of shopping (I've been all work and no play lately, boo) I'm still completely content with having a less "materialist" christmas this season and investing in memories instead of mementoes. All these frugal factors have resulted in a slightly less Christmas-crazed Courtney and therefore a wish list full of functional (yet fabulous) gifting goodies that I'm sharing today!

Oh, and yes I'm wearing ornaments as earrings, tune in tomorrow for more on that plus a day full of holiday DIY's!

In my stocking:
I've been a good girl all year ... who are we kidding,
that's a lie; for starters, I've broken every fashion rule in the book, mixed
my matches and turned skirts into dresses if only for a day. Nevertheless, I'm still hoping Santa will stuff my stocking with something swanky!

 always dreamed big!) 

Under the Tree:
I guess you know you're officially an "adult",
when you stop the pleading for a pony and move skin care to the top of your Xmas list. I mean what's next a vacuum cleaner? Actually I could really use a new one, put me down for one of those too ... but let's make it high-gloss red, I wouldn't want to grow up too fast. Anyways, here's a peek at my grown-up-ish Christmas list, centered around a clear complexion and vinyl vices to fuel my record addiction.  

Side Note:
Every mess of a twenty-something needs a retro record player,
it's the perfect addition to any apartment. Bad day? Pull on your favorite party dress and twirl to She & Him volumes 1 and 3. before falling to the floor and listening to Back to Black (how amazing is Amy Winehouse?), it will surly cure any awfulness the day may have thrown your way.
And if not, there's always prozac.

// Vintage Cashmere Sweater, Thrifted // Skirt: H&M (similar here and here, plus obsessed with this leather one that's 50% off!) // Shoes: Jcrew // Belt: H&M (similar) // Earrings: DIY (tune in tomorrow) // Jewels: Jcrew // Bowtie: Vintage Silk because I'm ridiculous and splurge on stuff for my pup!

What are you wishing for this year? Sit on my metaphorical blog lap (leave me a comment) and tell me all about it!

holiday highlights

although christmas has come && gone i wanted to give you a little peak into what went on in the colorful world of courtney during the past few days

merry&&bright