Day 13, Person 13

It was a random outing as always with Mary and I.

Mary has this thing where she has a hard time saying no and I'm just a compulsive person.

[ I always feel like I always leave out our third blog partner, Sona, but obviously she's been MIA for the whole entire summer so she can deal. ]

Anyway, Mary and I were headed to this local Mexican restaurant called Polvos on South 1st street with some of our friends, and we ran into this girl after we parked in the farthest parking space available from the restaurant.

Meet Jenna,

Name: Jenna
School: University of Texas at Austin for Graduate Degree
Major: Art Direction
Wearing: Boots from Staple, Dress from Little Shop, Earrings from New York, Ring from God Mother (heirloom)
Current Obsession: Edward Sharpe, Jane, Cowboy Boots with Bicycles, Patterns of All Sorts, Vintage Wallpapers.



She has also interned in New York with Havaianas in the advertising department and helped out during New York Fashion Week.







The highlight of the outfit was the interesting mix of patterns of her striped socks and the dress.

-Kaidon

clogs

The word "clogs" is just disgusting to me, but the shoe is simply amazing. They can make any outfit 100 times better. My favorites right now are these Sam Edelman ones.

Project Cheap & Chic: Amber

The first person for our Project Cheap & Chic is Amber McAdams.

We find a person and make him/her over. Essentially, we accentuate a person's beauty.

Meet Amber McAdams.



School: University of Texas at Austin
Major: Management
Wearing: F21 Skinny Jeans ($16); Gap Belt ($7); Marshalls Tank ($13); F21 Shoes ($18); Mossimo Purse ($10)

Amber is my current roommate and will probably be my roommate forever. I met her last year when we were randomly assigned to live with each other. My first impression of her was not that great. But … once again, never judge a book by its cover. I would say that she is one of my best friends at UT now, and a good friend at that. One of the first things I noticed about Amber was her style. I wasn’t too fond of her style, so Kaidon and I decided to take her shopping one day in April. From that day on, she decided to trust us. What I love the most about Amber is that she completely and fully trusts us. She trusts that we know what looks good and allows me to use my creativity. Also, she has a very model-esque type body, so she made our job easier.

Before:



After:



This outfit cost below $50.

We love going shopping at various places and love saving money even more. Expect more to come!

Usually, I like to conclude my posts with some words of wisdom - or just things that I notice about the world. I truly think that there's a reason for everything on this earth. There's a reason why you meet the people you meet. There's a reason why moments happen. For example, if I had accidentally clicked the update button on my roommate, I would have never met her. It's like that commercial "any second could be the second." Appreciate the people you meet because they could be your next best friend, your boyfriend, or your husband.

-Mary

Day 12, Person 12

I like to go to random places sometimes. In fact, I like to go to random places so much that I willingly volunteer to run errands with my friends - even when they don't want me to. Yes, I do this very frequently. After all, it's the best way to meet new people. And ... I love meeting new people.

My friend Julie and I went to Barton Creek because she had to fix her MacBook. People always think I have one of those, but you know what? I don't even support Apple laptops.

On a more related note, we were eating at the food court when I saw this very business casual woman. She looked like she was probably around her mid 20's, and I knew I had to feature her. So ... when Julie left to her appointment, I approached this person while she was eating at another table.

Meet Lyndsey.



Occupation: Accountant Executive for Trish McEvoy
Wearing: Zara Dress; Nine West shoes; F21 Bracelet
Current Obsession: Chanel clogs, Gucci handbags

For some reason, I thought of Megan Fox when I met Lyndsey. Maybe it's the long hair. Maybe it's the tan skin. Or maybe it's just that "important person" aura. Whatever the case, I wasn't too surprised when she told me she worked for a makeup company sold exclusively at Nordstrom. She started working immediately when she graduated from Texas State. Even though she probably calls herself an Austinite now, she is orginally from Dallas. There's just something about her style that reminds me of Dallas. I mean, I'm from Dallas, so I'm partial to Dallas fashion. Also like me, Lyndsey took a while to like Austin. After living here for several years, she grew to like Austin. She thinks that people in Dallas dress up more. It was weird to her when she would walk outside and see people walk around in pajama-type clothes. I agree.

Clean. Classic. Modern.

Even though we have our similarities, we also have some differences. Unlike me, she likes to read a lot. She especially loves reading Vanity Fair when she travels. She especially loved the piece about Dennis Hopper and Sean Lee. Her favorite place to travel to is New York, and just recently, she went to the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic was very different than the US. It is a poor country, and many of the villagers live in huts. Other than that, she really enjoyed the place. She liked the nice people, and she liked the scenary. When she's not visiting cool places, she likes to just go to Borders and sit outisde under the sun.

"Do the best with what you got."

-Mary

Day 11, Person 11

Kaidon and I were walking back to our respective apartments when we spotted a couple sitting outside Cafe Medici. Cafe Medici is a small coffee shop on the drag. It was one of my first coffee experiences when I was a freshman two years ago. Rather than going to all of those fraternity parties during orientation, I was a loser and went there instead. On a more related noted, we did what we do best and asked to feature these people.

Meet Isabella and James.



James and Isabella became friends after meeting in an introductory theater class.

Name: James
School: University of Texas at Austin
Major: Mathematics
Wearing: Short from Barney's; Shirt from Barney's Co-op; Paul Smith shoes; Tag watch
Current obsession: French new wave films/ costumes; guitars



Modern. Elite. Showy.



James is one of those people who love art but don't actually major in it. Installation of performance and surreal sculpture are two of his favorite types of art. He particularly finds interest in Louise Joséphine Bourgeois. Louise is best known for her spider sculpture, Maman. Remember the video game from 2000 called Pikmin? One of the monsters from this game reminds me of Louise’s sculpture. Ultimately, James just wants to be an installation artist and not have a "real" job. But ... what's real anyway these days?



Name: Isabella
School: University of Texas at Austin
Major: Studio Art
Wearing: Shoes from Urban Outfitters; American Apparel Shirt; Anthropologie Cardigan; Skirt given as gift
Current Obsession: Romance, infatuation



Textural. Dark. Lace.



Isabella also loves art and is actually majoring in studio art as a third year student. Like James, she also likes installation art. Ultimately, she wants to be a patron of the arts and is greatly inspired by pop art. When I asked her if installation art was similar to the artwork that people usually see in the Blanton Museum, she quickly told me that installation art dealt more with creating space than creating something on a canvas.

I know that I’m not a great artist or even close to even being an artist at all, but I love meeting artists. I study science or at least pretend to all the time, so I love it when I get the opportunity to hear insightful words from artists. The combination of art and science is what makes us unique as humans.

-Mary

Day 10, Person 10

I went to American Apparel a few weeks back. Even though I can respect this store for its simple and minimalistic style, I always think twice before buying anything more than $20 here. I like the store's preppy line the most. Call me boring, but I like the oxford button-downs, stripped tees, and pleated skirts. While looking at a few solid tees, I saw Rachel talking to some of her friends and asked if I could feature her.

Meet a few American Apparel employees: Ashton, Carla, and Rachel (left to right).



Ashton
Current Obsession: Anything high-waisted
Wearing: American Apparel shirt and shorts, Payless shoes

Although Ashton isn't currently attending school, she works with Paul Michell. When I asked her to tell me an interesting fact about herself, she told me that she had a silver tooth. It's true, I can't say I have a silver tooth.

Carla
School: Austin Community College
Major: Undeclared
Current Obsession: Mussels, high-waisted things

Carla is originally from Venezuela and loves traveling. One of the coolest places she has ever been to was the Amazon Rainforest.

Rachel
School: University of Texas at Austin
Major: Theater and Dance
Current Obsession: Pleated skirts, socks
Wearing: American Apparel skirt and dress; shoes from thrift store in Houston

Rachel recently graduated and landed a small part in Machete (directed by Robert Rodriguez) as a pool girl. I learned later from a few friends that she's also a model for the American Apparel ads.

Here's some Mary 101. Sometimes I like to watch movies while I blog. Tonight I am watching 500 Days of Summer. This is one of my favorite movies.

-Mary

Project Cheap and Chic

Our new project is called Cheap and Chic. The concept is quite simple. We help our "not-so-fashionable" friends transform into some jaw-dropping fashionistas. We don't want them to just change their outfits. We them to change their lifestyles.

So ... what do we do exactly? We take our clients shopping at various stores. We pay attention to cheap and chic clothing. Discounts, sales, and bargains - our forte.

A lot of people think I am very high maintanence because of the types of clothes I wear. In a sense, I am high maintanence, but I always look for sales. One of my favorite stores to shop at is TJ Maxx. My favorite TJ Maxx is in Las Colinas. It's the Runway one. They sell Gucci, Prada, Moschino Cheap and Chic, and Alice and Olivia. One of my favorite brands is Vince.

I really hope we change lives.