Stella McCartney Knock-Offs

Having interned at Stella McCartney this past spring while I was in London, I became very familiar with her collection. For this reason, when I saw these shoes on Charlotte Russe's website just now, I recognized them immediately as Stella McCartney knock-offs. I even wrote about these shoes in one of my blog entries last spring.

The Stella McCartney pumps:


The Charlotte Russe pumps:

It's interesting the new information you are exposed to while working at various companies. While working at Earth Knowledge this past summer, I had the opportunity to post this article to the Earth Knowledge website. Not only do I think this tennis ball chair is incredibly creative, but it also is sustainable because it re-purposes dead tennis balls. I sincerely want to figure out how to construct one of these chairs myself, and I even presented about this chair in my Creativity and Communication class this semester.

My End-Of-The-Semester Schedule

It's finally Thanksgiving break! I drove home yesterday afternoon from Bloomington to Chicago, and managed to escape the rain. The weather in Chicago is pretty dreary, but it is still nice to be home.

With that said, I have a lot of homework to do over Thanksgiving break. Next Monday I have a paper due for my yoga class (try not to laugh). Next Tuesday I have a 15-page group paper and 15-minute group presentation for my Marketing Research class. Next Thursday I have a group paper and 15-minute group presentation for my Creativity & Communications class. Next Friday I have a group research paper due for my International Business class. It's going to be a very busy week.

The week after next I have two written finals on Tuesday and Thursday, and also a 15-page individual final paper due in class on Wednesday. I'm very nervous about how my performance on my finals will be, because I have "19 Party" for my sorority the weekend before. 19-Party is always fun, but also a lot of work. Spanning the entire weekend, there are 19 rounds of women coming to my chapter who want to rush a sorority, where each round I talk to at least three of the women individually.

Suffice it to say, I'm going to be pretty busy in the next few weeks! Wish me luck!

Like A Gypsy

Well, a lot has happened since my last entry.

Last week I flew to Chicago from the Indianapolis airport, and I was interviewed by Fox News Indianapolis. The cameraman was wearing a Purdue sweatshirt, so I had to tease him a little bit. Also, this week I was able to fly to Atlanta for two days. It was my first time to Georgia, and Atlanta was a very pretty city. I got back to my house very late Wednesday night.

Last night we had our senior bar crawl for my sorority, which was a lot of fun. Each team had two team captains, and the theme was high school cliques. I ended up going to eight different Bloomington bars, ending up at Kilroys. The bar crawl was like a scavenger hunt, where each team was competing based on a points system, such as getting a certain number of points for singing karaoke at Bears or taking a picture on the statue at People's Park on Kirkwood.

On Monday I had my second exam in my sales class, which I studied for all this past weekend. Now I am at the Union computer lab trying to get all of my homework done that is due next week so that I can go home for Thanksgiving....but not until after the IU/Purdue football game on Saturday!!! I am very excited, and I hope that IU wins with an upset. We will have to see!

Weather in Bloomington, IN

Being from Chicago, the weather in Bloomington shocks me sometimes.

Today the high is 70 degrees. It is November 9th.

I love warm weather, and I have no complaints about this temperature. I just find it funny that the weather in Bloomington is so unlike the weather in Chicago, where there are hardly ever such large temperature swings. In Chicago, I feel the high temperature just gradually trends downward as you approach wintertime. Here in Bloomington, these temperature swings are not only common, but expected. Two years ago on January 7th (bid night for my sorority where I met my little sis), the temperature was also approximately 70 degrees - and we all were able to stand outside at night wearing only sweatshirts as wraps. Don't get me wrong, it does snow in the winter in Bloomington, but the snow doesn't tend to stay on the ground until March like it does in Chicago. Because of this, my roommates and I regularly check the hour-by-hour forecast on weather.com to see what we are in store for each day.

Here's a picture of me and some of my sorority sisters outside of our house on January 7th, 2008:

Starbucks at IU

I just want to write a brief entry about Starbucks. I listed it as one of my interests in my blog profile, so I'm sure you're not too surprised that it is finally being mentioned.

First, I want to disclose that I am not affiliated with Starbucks in any way other than the fact that I am a huge fan and loyal customer. I know the company has many criticisms, but I think it does a great job at trying to be as customer-focused as it possibly can. Why else would it have created an entire microsite devoted to receiving customer complaints and suggestions? (www.mystarbucksidea.com) My Honors I-Core team and I created an entire marketing plan and corresponding presentation for Starbucks after conducting extensive research on the company, so I consider myself knowledgeable enough about the company to write about it.

This week the Starbucks holiday cups were released. My friend Heather (yes, the same friend who was homecoming queen that I mentioned earlier) and I had an excited conversation about how happy we were that the holiday cups were out. We both feel that the holiday cups put us in better moods. Also, I am currently drinking my first official Starbucks holiday beverage of the season - the Peppermint Mocha. I got a venti, which cost me around $4.50, but the joyful feeling and great taste made the expense worth it to me. This beverage actually reminds me of happy holiday memories, and blocks out the fact that at this time last year when I was drinking many peppermint mochas along with Heather we were both struggling through Honors I-Core final exams and the Business Plan proposal/presentation. All of those stressful memories are somehow completely unassociated with my Starbucks Peppermint mocha.

With that, I think the Starbucks location in the Student Union has the best restaurant location on campus. It was an incredibly smart business move to put a Starbucks in that location. The store is not in the food court, and instead on the floor above. Adjacent to the Starbucks stand is a very large, open, well-lit study room (the IMU Gallery) filled with tables that can be arranged for individual study and group meetings. The Starbucks music that is played in the study room is not distracting, and the entire environment is very welcoming - just like a Starbucks brick and mortar store's environment. I have many friends who go there to study, and Starbucks almost always profits from the people who study in the IMU Gallery. Also, I am in the computer lab at the Union right now, and I can see four Starbucks drinks right now within a twenty foot radius from me.

I realize that not all IU students drink coffee, but Starbucks is definitely making itself convenient to the ones who do.

Stella McCartney Spring 2010 Collection & My Halloween

This week went by really fast!

Today I contacted my old boss at Stella McCartney for the first time in a few months, and I looked over the new spring 2010 collection beforehand. I think the collection is absolutely brilliant, and I like almost every "look." Each look resembles modern art to me, where there is a lot of movement and interesting lines in the pieces. I also really like how Stella McCartney tailors her blazers. I was able to wear one of her blazers from the Spring/Summer 2009 collection for an event, and it fit me perfectly. These are my favorite looks from the new collection:

With that, I had a great time at Halloween this year! I dressed up as Carmen Sandiego, and attempted to steal my friend's Eiffel Tower figurine. I'm not sure if many people outside of my generation would know who Carmen Sandiego is, but my costume was a big hit. Plus my costume included constantly wearing a trench coat, so I was able to stay warm the entire night! Total success.