April Instagram

Ahhh it's already the end of April! This month has been the absolute best. I've had so many exciting opportunities and adventures. It's also the first time, in quite a long time, I feel unbelievably happy and like I've accomplished a lot. I've made so many new friends, rekindled old friendships, and have been receiving a lot of gorgeous items from some really amazing sponsors (appearing soon on my blog!). April has been a breath of fresh air for me, and the perfect time to focus on what I really want to do and surround myself with all of these different and positive experiences . Here are a few pictures posted in April from my Instagram. Follow my adventures on IG here.

Starting from the left:

1. My beautiful friend Jade did my nails this week--mint green with yin yang designs. I'm loving them!!

2. A couple days ago I saw M.I.A. in Pittsburgh!! I've been wanting to see her in concert for so long and I'm stoked I finally was able to.

3. Playing around with the sunshine coming through my bedroom window.

4. This was probably the best day of April...my younger sister Corrina came to visit me in Pittsburgh! She was giving me a piggyback ride (typical) and tried to do a squat with me on her back and we both fell. Oooops.

5. Some days you just need to come home from work or your busy schedule and take a hot bath with a bath tub tea bag. This one is my favorite. I forget the scent but it smells divine and it has these cute rose buds in the mix.

6. It's Spring time! So clearly that means rain rain rain and Wellies all the time.

7. This is my roommate's dog Nico. He's an Alaskan Klee Kai and dreadfully adorable.

8. One of my favorite things to do on a warm evening is to sit outside with a tea or coffee and read for awhile. This book is called Beware of Pity by Stefan Zweig and it's soooooo good! Wes Anderson's film Grand Budapest Hotel was inspired by the writings of Stefan Zweig, if you enjoyed that you should check this novel out!

9. I did a collaboration with my friend Carl Bajanas this past month. It's one of my favorite photo shoots to date! You can check out the full blog post here

Thanks for checking in!! I hope you all had a lovely month!
xo,
Maddie

Loss / Recovery / Decay

Last week I had the absolute pleasure of visiting the Lossless exhibit at the Miller Gallery at Carnegie Mellon University to do a collaborative photo shoot with Carl Bajandas. I couldn't have been more flattered or excited for this shoot because Carl's work is eminently breathtaking and brilliant. He says this piece "explores our relationship to loss as one of entropy."

Upon arriving to the third floor of the Miller Gallery, Carl's work (titled Loss / Recovery/ Decay) is easily the first piece you'll see. One of my immediate reactions was "HOW!! How did you do this Carl?!" The large-scale arched canvas stretches across the entire center wall. When I first saw this piece it was a vibrant aquamarine color with little hints of copper here and there and a beautiful sparkly and grainy texture.  This effect was achieved by creating a solution of copper sulfate crystals in water. The copper oxidizes and the solution crystallizes. Surrounding the piece is a hypnotizing droning sound. This sound is also part of the art work. Behind the canvas is a computer that plays the noise though a special software. The software registers the dark discoloration of the piece and emits the sound correspondingly. When I went back to the exhibit last week, the art work had changed so much since I had first viewed it. There were dark browns and greens running down the canvas along with a little bit of the turquoise/aqua color still peaking through the art work. It was mesmerizing to see how the color field had changed in just a couple of weeks. Check out the time lapse video to see how the chemical reactions are "slowly co-evolving both sound and color."

Because I find this piece to be both striking and calming, I decided to wear something that was neutral and a pattern that corresponds yet clashes with the natural texture/pattern of the art work. I bought this dress a few years ago at Goodwill. It was originally a maxi dress with long (puffy) sleeves so immediately after I purchased it I brought it home and cut the sleeves off and cut off most of the length at the bottom so it would look more flattering on my body. I'm extremely happy with how it turned out and I add this wide belt to give the dress less of a boxy shape. I paired the dress with these brown heels to coincide with the dramatic feel of piece, being that it's quite tall and spans the entire center of the gallery.

Thank you again Carl Bajandas for doing the photography and Miller Gallery at Carnegie University for inviting me into the gallery to do the shoot! It was an absolute honor and beautiful experience.

Please check out the rest of Carl's work on his Vimeo channel and visit the Miller Gallery at CMU for more upcoming exhibits!   

xo,
Maddie



Outfit Details: 
Dress: Vintage
Belt: Charlotte Russe
Heels: gomax

Carnival

Happy Tuesday Everyone!

It's currently snowing in Pittsburgh right now...but this past weekend was gorgeous!! It felt like summer. Every year Carnegie Mellon University has a carnival on their campus and I thought it was the perfect event to wear this new Boardwalk Romper from Pin-up Darling. Pin-up Darling is an online fashion boutique that specializes in vintage inspired clothing. Their pieces are classic, fun, and flirty. Needless to say when they reached out to me about doing a sponsorship I was thrilled! There's really nothing I enjoy more than stunning vintage clothing, I mean more than half of my closet is full of thrifted and retro pieces.

What I love most about this romper is the highwaisted shorts with the bow belt! The bow gives it such a flirty and cute touch to the outfit and I love how it ties the look together. I'm also crazy about the top half of the romper....it's this gorgeous lace overlay with cute little wooden buttons. I can picture myself wearing this romper non-stop during the summer. I threw on a cardigan I thrifted from Avalon Exchange in case it got colder in the evening and my favorite pair of flatforms! I'm really excited with how this outfit turned out. I feel like Ann Margret in some of these photos haha.

If you're loving this romper you should definitely check out the rest of Pin-up Darling's website and peruse the rest of their collections!! I'm personally in love with most of the dresses, they remind me of what the women wear in Mad Men.

Thank you for checking in!
xo,
Maddie

Outfit Details:
Boardwalk Romper: Pin-up Darling
J-crew Cardigan: Avalon Exchange
Rosegold Flatforms: Go Jane
Earrings: Secondhand

Bib + Tuck & Alexander Wang

Hey Hey!

I was contacted recently by Casey Finigan, the Outreach and Closet Coordinator of Bib + Tuck, "a curated community marketplace of shoppable personal closets," about doing a collaboration and being an influencer for their brand! Bib + Tuck is basically a really cool way to bring fashionistas together to buy and sell their clothes. The idea is genius...have you ever shared clothes with friends or your siblings growing up or gave away the clothes that didn't fit or you didn't use anymore? That's pretty much what Bib + Tuck reminds me of. So here's how it works: users can upload photos on the site of pieces the user wants to sell (bib) and peruse other closets published that they would like to buy (tuck). The site uses virtual dollars ("bucks") as currency. The best part is that once you sign up you already get 10 bucks!! Along with earning "bucks" users can also buy "bucks." All of the money stays virtual for now but they're coming out with a cash-out option next month! You can check out more about Bib + Tuck on Refinery 29 and Vogue!

All of the clothing is AMAZING! The items on the site range from designer vintage pieces to YSL to Jeffrey Campbell. I had such a hard time deciding what to tuck because I adored everything! I eventually tucked this gorgeous T by Alexander Wang maxi dress!! I usually wear a small and this dress is a medium so it's a little big on me. When I tied a belt around my waist and wore some platform heels it didn't matter that it was a medium. The dress itself is sooooo soft, comfortable, and body skimming. There's just something about maxi dresses (simple or outrageous) that make me feel so elegant and feminine when I wear them, I love it.

My idea for the styling and photo shoot was to do something rather ethereal and in the spirit of Spring time. I teamed up with my insaaanely talented friend Katya McCoy for this shoot. Kat is such a brilliant photographer, I could stare at her images for hours....they're always just so breathtaking and innovative. She astonishes me every single time we shoot. Kat and I are also really great friends so I always manage to have the BEST time modeling for her. You can check out more of Katya's photography on her website and like her on Facebook! Thank you again for the gorgeous photos Kat!!

I'm so elated that Casey reached out to me and I was able to have this opportunity to be one of their brand influencers as well as becoming part of their amazing community! Thank you Casey and Bib + Tuck!

I hope you all have a lovely weekend! Thanks for checking in.
xo,
Maddie

Outfit Details:
Alexander Wang maxi dress: c/o Bib + Tuck
flower crown: Burlington Coat Factory

Luna

Happy Monday!

I hope all of you had a beautiful weekend. My weekend was insanely busy but in the best way, I'm actually really amazed at all the things I was able to cram into Friday-Sunday. I'm even more excited for this coming weekend mainly because I'm going to see St. Vincent!! I've missed her the last few times she's been in Pittsburgh so I'm stoked that I finally have the chance to see her. I'm also going to see M.I.A. at the end of the month and I cannot wait!!!! I haven't gone to any concerts yet this year so getting to see two in the same month is incredibly exciting for me.

These photos were taken yesterday while the sun was still shining. I was out all night Saturday so yesterday I tried to keep my outfit super casual and comfortable. I got this rad cat crop top from Brandy Melville last year while I was in Santa Monica. I love this top because it reminds me so much of the cat Luna from Sailor Moon. It's also super comfortable and soft! I threw on these BDG Jeans and this black cardigan in case it cooled off later in the day. I don't mind still having to layer but as the weather becomes warmer and warmer...I'm feeling less motivated to wear socks and gravitate to all the flats in my closet. These cheetah print flats are my by far my favorite pair because of the pointed toe and the metal detail on the front.




I wasn't wearing any sunglasses yesterday but it was so blindingly bright outside that my blue eyes couldn't take it anymore. My friend let me borrow her sunglasses while we sat outside and drank our coffees. I'm a little embarrassed to say that during the two hours we sat outside I managed to get a little bit of sunburn! It's messed up too because it's only on half of my forehead and side of my neck! Hahaa, but I can't really complain too much, it was totally worth it.





Thanks for stopping by!

xo,
Maddie

Outfit Details:
Crop Top: Brandy Melville
Jeans: BDG
Cardigan: Forever 21
Flats: Rainbow
Velvet Purse: Vintage
Earrings: Secondhand
Rings: Secondhand