Oh my ZARA.

On Thursday night, Zara opened it's doors on Michigan Avenue in Chicago! Well, they opened on Friday but I was lucky enough to go to the opening party on Thursday night. It is HUGE at THREE LEVELS! My friend Casey and I were in heaven. And the free wine/champagne for the party wasn't a bad touch either. I heard it was the biggest store opened in the US, which is super exciting. I ended up buying a really cute over-the-top shoulder pad shirt in a heather grey color, and a black knit button down sweater that I can wear over anything. While I spent far more than I intended to that night, everything was also tax-free! The black sweater I had picked out was the last one left, and about 5 people asked me where I found it while I was exploring the store further. It seemed to be in such high demand, I just couldn't let it go! I definitely will be back. Welcome to Chicago, Zara!

Rubypearl on Etsy.

I had been eyeing this dress for a bit from Rubypearl on Etsy for a few days, and finally bought it. I love how she uses antique corsets plus other antique random fabrics pieced together to make her dresses. I previously have purchased this dress and this dress from Ruby, and she's always been a super great seller to work with. I can't wait to get this dress and see how it fits!

28!

Tonight is HALLOWEEN! and also my 28th birthday! While looking through NYMag.com fashion stuff, I found this makeup from Balenciaga in the Milan/Paris Fashion Week slide show. I'm thinking I might try to incorporate similar makeup like it with my costume tonight! Not sure how it will turn out...but if it's awesome, I'll try to post some photos here. I think the black with a little pop of color on the corner of the eyes looks pretty darn cool.

I am in love with these boots from Lulu's. I already have a pair of thigh high boots, so I can't really validate getting another pair. Though these remind me of the Rodarte Fall 2009 RTW collection boots I totally was in love with (Kristen Stewart also modeled a pair for her spread in November 2009's issue of Allure Magazine). But since I'm going to NYC in a week and I have another trip to Hawaii in February, I am just going to have to gaze longingly at these instead. Sigh.

black lipstick. it's just not for halloween anymore.

MAC Cosmetics among other brands have come out with new black lipsticks, which seem to be all the fashion lately. It looked awesome on their site and I've seen it in a couple magazines --so the impulse buyer that I am, I pretty much put about $90 worth of black lipsticks/glosses/etc into my online shopping cart at MAC.

Then I realized I never wear lipstick and $90 worth of black lipstick might not be the smartest shopping decision I've ever made (I recently was going through my closet to search for a dress for my 10 year high school reunion. I found a dress I bought by Black Halo that I wore all of once last year, tag still on it for some reason....the price? $309. WTF.), so I went to Walgreens and bought a $3.99 black lipstick off of their halloween aisle. It seems to give the same effect. But will I wear it out when it's NOT Halloween? Maybe. It looks good in photos, though.