Time.

February 7, 2014 Kelly Donohue

February 7, 2014

Beverly Hills, CA

After a beautiful weekend in San Diego, an interesting time in court serving jury duty, and a tearful goodbye to the comedian I’ve grown up with and come to admire- Mr. Jay Leno- it’s been quite the week! And while I know it may sound like a lot, I truly cannot believe an entire week has already flown by. Where does the time go these days? All I know, is there just never seems to be enough.

On my twenty-first birthday, (yes this was actually on the top of my list) my friends and I attended a taping of the TONIGHT SHOW with Jay Leno. And let me just tell you; it was everything I could’ve hoped for and more! Jay met us before the show, took pictures with us and of course- found ways to poke fun at all of our majors at UCLA. It was during the writer’s strike and so the show was relying much more on guest interaction because they were not able to get as many celebrity guests/ write as many bits as usual. Lucky for us though, he came to us to participate on the show and then after that, his hilarious guest, the “Fruitcake Lady” (have you ever seen her?), baked a cake for him and he came over and gave his piece to me for my birthday. Pretty much the nicest guy ever- right?

Growing up in Boston, my parents adored him and had him on our television every night. If I had to be up late doing homework or if my Mum and I were up late chatting, we’d always have Jay on in the background. I’ll never forget how relieved I felt when I finally got a TV in LA after I first moved out here because it meant I didn’t have to feel so alone at night. His show has always been so comforting and it was like taking a piece of home with me. Thus, I made sure to tune in for last night’s final show. It was wonderfully touching and candid – leaving me once again wishing that there was simply more time.

Today’s outfit is inspired by today’s break in the rainy weather we’ve been having the past couple of days. It’s still on the chillier side here in LA but it’s nothing tights and a sweater can’t fix! I adore the Peter Pan collar on this dress- it adds so much to what is otherwise a quite simple piece. I dressed it up with this belt from the Melrose Trading Post and voila! A neutral classic outfit, put together for under $100, that is perfect for this Friday afternoon.

Happy Friday!

Dress: H&M

Sweater: TJmaxx

Tights: Forever21

Belt: Melrose Trading Post Fleamarket

Booties: H&M

“We must use time wisely and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right.” -Nelson Mandela

Photos By: Jennifer Biswas

Snooze.

January 28, 2014 Kelly Donohue

January 28, 2014

Beverly Hills, CA

We’ve already established that I’m not much of a morning person at some point here on the blog by now… right? Well, that being said, while most mornings take me a few extra taps of the snooze button than your average lady, today was just one of those days where one quickly turned into five taps. Perhaps it was all the birthday partying I did over the weekend or the fact that my old age is finally catching up to me (ha!)- who knows? All I know, is I could’ve kept hitting snooze for days!

Even knowing how much I had on my plate for the day, I simply wanted to roll back over, curl up underneath my five pillows (yes I sleep with a ton of pillows-it’s an art form, making a comfortable bed) and call it a day.

But alas- after about 20 minutes of snoozing and what felt like four long dreams later, I finally got myself together and started the day. However, I still couldn’t seem to wake myself from my morning dreamy fog and so that inspired today’s casual look. My goal was to look presentably cozy and I think this outfit achieves just that. Anything that I can wear after literally rolling out of bed, yet still passes me off as a decently fashionable human, is fantastic in my book and that’s what this outfit does. Plaids are everywhere right now- which I LOVE and this oversized plaid shirt from H&M is just about the coziest thing I own right now. I paired it with some thick tights, (and you can see it passes off as a dress) and a longer grey sweater for some layering but you could also put some leggings with it or even some jeans too.

Some days, there's no use fighting how you feel- you just have to use the energy you have and make it work!

Knit Top: H&M

Necklace: Ruche

Booties: H&M

Tights & Purse: Forever21

Sweater: Ross

Earrings: Kate Spade (bday gift!)

Photos by: Jennifer Biswas

Orange is the New Black.

October 29, 2013 Kelly Donohue

October 29, 2013

Hauser Blvd. Los Angeles, CA

Last night I finally finished what has become one of my favorite shows (yes I realize that I’m late in the game but go with it), the fantastically bold and frighteningly dark Orange is the New Black, and I have to say I can’t wait for next season to sta- BOO!

Did I get ya? Are you guys scared? Were you afraid a ghost had momentarily taken over my keyboard for a second there?

Have no fear! It was only just little old me being silly. (You can come out from hiding behind your keyboards now;) And while I can make a kindergarten level Halloween joke, similar to the type I just pulled in the paragraph above, for days, I have to admit, that’s about as tough as I get. I have an incredibly low tolerance for fright. It’s almost comical. In fact, if they came across my bedroom in Monsters Inc., they would’ve bottled up enough of my scream to fuel the city for the rest of time! (If you don’t know that movie- you should watch it immediately).

That being said, things that jump out at me, scary movies, cars that startle me on the road, loud noises, couples that argue publically at restaurants, TV crime dramas, and bar fights, are just a few scenarios that cause my heart rate to skyrocket into panic mode.

Bottom line: I’m easily frightened and there’s nothing fun about it!

Therefore, while I truly think there aren’t many things on the planet that sound better than being able to spend an entire night dressed up as anyone or anything you want, while eating a pumpkin-head bucket full of free candy, I also know that Halloween is associated with haunted houses, fright nights, graveyards, bloody costumes, and everything scary. What a dilemma! Therefore, since my earliest years of trick-or-treating, I have tried to navigate Halloween by excluding the spooky parts and hanging on the costumes and the treats. To this day, I have never been on one of those haunted hayrides, I even risked my reputation in high school by staying home on a Friday night and refusing to go out to the local Haunted Mansion (no thanks!) Oh and I was always the only one that sat outside the puny little Haunted House at Canobie Lake Park (which I hear was more comical than scary) while my cousins went inside year after year. The funny thing is that I never outgrew it! I still avoided the scary house (with all the amazing decorations and characters that pop out at you) when I was probably too old to even be trick-or-treating anymore! Oh and my landlord has decorated my apartment building, with what I would like to call extreme Halloween decorations that still startle me on my way out the door in the morning. I have been avoiding the bat-filled elevator all month!

So there you have it. I have a love-hate relationship with Halloween.

Today, I literally threw this Halloween inspired outfit together in a hurry. I got this adorable orange dress off the clearance rack at Target last month and paired it with some classic black tights, my Forever21 boots, these beautiful handmade cat ears from Social Butterflies and suddenly my day is so much more exciting! My look today is certainly just a canvas. You could add some make-up and a belt to make this look really pop!

Just wanted to show how a few basic pieces can quickly help to get you into the Halloween spirit. It’s important to know that even if you don’t have the time or money to spend getting decked out in a costume this year, you can still spice up your day with pieces you probably already have in your closet. It will make your workday fly by and it will help you battle all those scary things in the world!