Zebras and Bullies

Simple outfit I wore for a child psychiatry clinic. Most often I see kids on the autism spectrum during clinic, but this time we saw a young woman who was the victim of terrible bullying. Just horrible - both in school and on-line (cyber-bullying) - so bad that she stopped going to school and needed psychiatric help. She was an awesome unique kid, and it was great hearing her story and how well she was doing now.

Listening to her story brought back memories of my own middle school/early high school days- definitely not my best. I was initially bullied a lot, by both girls and boys (who just loved making fun of how skinny I was), but I took a little different route. I fought back (literally), getting into multiple fights and eventually joining a gang. No way was I gonna let anyone bully me.

Crazy right!!?? Silly, really. I turned my ways around and realized I was actually smart (thanks to Mr. Voltz who was the first teacher to actually tell me that), and fast-forward a few years and I'm on my way to becoming a doctor from Harvard Medical School. Life is crazy, and full of so many different roads to take. Thankful I was (eventually) steered the right way.

Life lessons in this post: don't bully people, and give kids credit for their accomplishments. We all need a little pat on the back sometimes, or someone to just say we did good.

Top, thrifted (Michael Kors- read about it here!)

Pants, American Apparel

Pumps, Max Studio

Bag, H&M

Belt, thrifted

Relaxed Plaid

Over the weekend we visited the crumbling Old Newgate Prison in Connecticut. I never intended to take pictures of this laid-back Saturday outfit, but once Dave and I got to our destination, we just had to snap a few shots. The first copper mine in America (1705), it was turned into the first state prison in the late 1700s. Sorry if you fell asleep at the keyboard with the mini-history lesson, but (nerd-alert) I love history!

Top, thrifted

Jeans, Vigoss

Mocassins, Minnetonka 

Thanksgiving Break

Just a few snapshots from the Thanksgiving Break (for what I wore on Thanksgiving, click here).

Although I cheated and began to celebrate the holidays a little early (see my Pre-Thanksgiving Cheer post) post-Thanksgiving is really when we get into the holiday spirit. We enjoyed the last of the pumpkin cream martinis and began enjoying eggnog drinks - like my eggnog coffee or my fave - eggnog and rum (post coming soon)!

One evening Dave and I had dinner at the greatest little pub, where we sampled the house brews and enjoyed the best spinach and artichoke dip ever. Ever. For any of you in the Western Mass/Northern CT area it's the Cambridge House Brew Pub. Definitely a spot to visit again!

Before dinner we visited the Old Newgate Prison, and sat in awe taking in the most gorgeous New England in November sunset. More photos from this spot coming soon!

I hope you all had great breaks and are ready to do big things this week! And thank you so much for all of your entries in my Marc by Marc Jacobs bracelet giveaway!

Red Lips and Faux Fur

We took these pictures right before going to bed on Thanksgiving. With tired eyes and full bellies we realized we hadn't taken one picture all day! Too busy enjoying the family, food, and drinks (mmm, pumpkin cream martinis). And passing my faux fur thing around. My aunts wanted to try it on, as did Dave (but don't tell him I told you). I hope you all had wonderful Thanksgivings and got to spend it with what's most important - those you love! 

Faux Fur thing, Gap

Dress, Macy's (literally a decade ago)

Tights, Express

Boots, Chinese Laundry

P.S. I also hope you've had your chance to enter my Marc by Marc Jacobs bracelet giveaway! It's my thanks to you for being amazing readers and supporting my blog! Thank you so much.

Giving Thanks: Giveaway! - Closed

As promised in my Thanksgiving post yesterday, I'm announcing a giveaway for all of my fabulous readers! Up for grabs is the fabulous Marc by Marc Jacobs Katie Turnlock bracelet, a gorgeous gold chain bracelet featuring a turn lock clasp. Bold and classic, this bracelet is a must for the season! Selling for $98, you guys have your chance to win it for free! Here's how:

Mandatory: You must be a follower of A Little Bit of Lacquer on Google Friend Connect. Just click the blue "Join this site" button to the right! Make sure to leave a comment saying that you follow.

That's all you have to do to be entered, don't forget to leave your comment! If you want extra entries you can do any of the following, and make sure to leave a comment for each one you do.

• Follow the blog with Bloglovin (link to the right)
• Like the blog on Facebook (link on the right)
• Follow me on Twitter (link on the right)
• Retweet the link to this giveaway (on twitter)

So that's up to five entries to win this gorgeous bracelet! Again, make sure to leave a comment for each entry you make (up to five comments); I will be randomly selecting a winner from the comments you leave.

This giveaway ends at 12am on Monday December 5th, and I will announce the winner Monday morning! Good luck, and thank you so much for reading! This giveaway is my thanks to you!

Update: Thanks again everyone, this giveaway is now closed. 

Happy Thanksgiving

Photos from Thanksgiving 2010: My siblings, my Dave, my dog - thankful for them all.

I try to practice giving thanks each day as opposed to once a year, but it's nice to have a holiday where we all can reflect on just what it is that we are thankful for. This Thanksgiving I am grateful for everything in my life (including the hard times), so it's hard to list it all, but I can start with a few things. I'm thankful for my family, for without them I'd be nowhere, thankful for Dave, who has proven to be the best partner along this journey anyone could ask for, thankful for my friends with whom I share secrets and laughs, thankful for my health, which I could never again take for granted (especially working in medicine); the fact that so many of us are healthy is mind-boggling when you learn all of the things that can go wrong. Thankful for my education; when I think back to how hard I worked to get here and how much I dreamed of being here, well the fact that I'm actually here is just crazy. I'm thankful for my own place and my coffee maker; it's gotten me through many early mornings. Something new to add to the list this year... YOU! My readers! Many of you are friends and family and I am so very thankful for your continued support, but many of you are complete strangers who stumbled upon my blog and have been visiting ever since. Blogging is new this year, and I am so incredibly thankful for all of you who read and comment daily. And for that, I have a tiny little announcement... a giveaway! I'll post exactly what it is tomorrow, but let's just say it's small, shiny, and gorgeous!

With that I wish you all the happiest of Thanksgivings and hope that you all have a huge list of things to be thankful for!

Gold Polka Dots

I'm sure you guys realize by now that most of the time I dress by the "less is more" principle; I really think simple is better. Some days though, I get an email telling me exactly what to wear. This was one of those days, and the email read "wear pants and an over-shirt or sweater that you can simply lift, making it easier to reveal only your abdomen." What was this girls gone wild? No, just med school, and we were learning the abdominal exam by practicing on each other. Sounds super creepy (at least to me) but my classmates are cool and all of our bellies are ok :)

Sweater, Lauren Conrad for Kohl's

Pants, Charlotte Russe

Pumps, Guess

P.S. It's the day before Thanksgiving! So excited to see my friends and family back home and give thanks (which I try to do a lot more often than once a year). I hope you all have wonderful Thanksgivings and check back on the blog tomorrow for a Thanksgiving post and an announcement!

Green Jeans and Leather

A comfy Sunday outfit that turned out a little more rocker than I had anticipated. The comfy booties and their thick, low heels were perfect for roaming around Beacon Hill after brunch on a gorgeous November day. Future neighborhood for me? We'll see... it's getting to be that time at the medical school where we are all thinking about our rankings for hospital rotations; MGH is definitely on my list, so Beacon Hill could be home! We'll act like we don't know how ridiculously expensive Beacon Hill is for now.

Top and Jeans, PacSun

Jacket, H&M

Scarf, Send the Trend

Booties, Charlotte Russe

Bag, Target

Pre-Thanksgiving Christmas Cheer

Sitting in cardiology lecture being a bad medical student (it's an intro lecture so it's ok) reminiscing about the amazing weekend. Dave and I had a great time at the tree lighting ceremony at Faneuil Hall; this was the first time I had been to a tree lighting before Thanksgiving, but it was so much fun! After the tree was lit (and we did just a tiny bit of shopping) we walked up to the North End where we roamed the streets of Little Italy until I found a little restaurant with candle-lit tables (my only requirement). It was just one amazing night of the weekend; I hope yours were wonderful and you're excited for Thanksgiving, I know I can't wait!

 P.S. Did I mention I got to dog-sit this little cutie this weekend?

Room Crush

As the holidays approach, I begin to grow fonder and fonder of sequins. Don't get me wrong, sequins are fine by me any time of year, but it's something about the holidays that actually makes them feel warm. It should be no surprise then that as I browsed the virtual pages of this month's issue of Lonny Magazine, this room caught my eye. And it's all started with that gold sequin pillow. Add grey walls, gold accessories, and gorgeous white furniture, and I've got a room crush.

Lumberjack Laura

Happy Friday! Here's a fun fall outfit that made me feel like a lumberjack. All I needed was an axe (or whatever tool lumberjacks use) and my look would have been complete; I doubt I would've been able to walk around with an axe all day at the med school though. This Mr. T necklace is quickly becoming one of my favorites. The shoes on the other hand, I'm not in love with yet. I love the look of them, but on me they do a great job of making my legs look stumpy; I'll have to try them with a different outfit, suggestions?

Top and Bag, H&M

Vest, Old Navy

Jeans, thrifted (Madewell)

Shoes, Charlotte Russe

P.S. I am enjoying getting your comments so so much! I promise I am reading all of them, and I will get back to them this weekend! We're finishing our respiratory block today :)

Military Top

This is one of my favorite tops in my closet. Unfortunately I rarely wear it for fear of staining it (which I do every time I put it on). Last time I made the unwise decision of wearing it to a festival and eating (delicious) greasy food (check out the summer version of this outfit here). This time I just wore it to school, but with my luck I still stained it, with soap of all things! Curse you, gorgeous stain-loving shirt (almost called you stainophilic, but that would be way too nerdy)!

Top, Gap

Pants, Charlotte Russe

Pumps, Charles David

Bag, Target

Kristina over at Pretty Shiny Sparkly had perfect timing and decided to host a military chic inspired Bloggers Do it Better! Check out the other military inspired looks here! 

Grey and Gold Nails

 

A fun hospital-friendly manicure I did this weekend. I'm obsessed with gold and grey this season, what are your favorite nail polish colors for the season?  

Grey polish is Rimmel Lasting Finish Pro in Steel Grey; Gold polish is O.P.I. Dazzled by Gold. 

P.S. Thanks so much for all of your kind comments on my twitter and facebook pages regarding being named Glamour's Best Dressed Reader! You guys really are the best :)

Sequins and Stilettos

Dave and I snapped these pictures in an alley after having an amazing tapas dinner Friday night. I wanted to look dressy but still casual, so I paired a gold sequin top (what can I say I was inspired by my Friday's Fancies) with a pair of distressed jeans. I finished the outfit with my sky-high stilettos (which I save for occasions that require sitting 90% of the time) and my favorite thrifted purse. What do you wear when you want to look dressy but maintain a more casual feel?

Top, Jennifer Lopez for Kohl's

Jeans, Vigoss

Pumps, Zigi Soho

Bag, thrifted

Coat, borrowed from my mom (Old Navy)

I couldn't help but snap a few pictures of this hunk. Loving his color palette in this outfit. 

He's the best ;)

Tapas, BBQ, and Scrabble

Amazing long weekend, won't even write about all of it here! One of the really fun things was grabbing a fancy dinner at a new Tapas bar - amazing doesn't even begin to describe the meal! I didn't even snap a picture of the complementary dish, suffice it to say it was delicious. The fried spice potatoes, grilled pork loin, braised short ribs, bread pudding... I'm really torturing myself right now. It was all scrumptious I'll just stop there - and the sangria was fabulous!

Sunday we had a relaxing day, sleeping in (more like waking up early but staying in pj's all morning) and then going out to barbeque for lunch. The restaurant had the cutest lighting, and we even got to sit next to the fireplace! I enjoyed a pulled pork sandwich (and more bread pudding) and Dave had a beef brisket sandwich. Later we came home, watched tons of football and played Scrabble (and Max curled up in his favorite spot - right on my behind)! I hope you all had beautiful weekends and are starting your Mondays off right!

Rust Corduroys

Trying to soak up all the sunshine we could at the park this weekend. It's so nice being able to spend quality time with Dave; living 2 hours away from each other makes us appreciate the little things like grabbing a coffee together or just sitting on a park bench talking that much more. It also means my pictures are a bajillion times better since he's taking them and not the self-timer on my camera in front of my brick wall (sorry about that guys, but most of the week I'm sans photographer)! Hope you all are having wonderful weekends!

 

 Sweater, thrifted

Corduroys, Lauren Conrad for Kohl's

Boots, Charlotte Russe