the weather outside...

MADEWELL CITY GRID JACKET

MADEWELL CASHMERE BEANIE

Sometimes when Winter begins, the cold rolls in I start to wonder why I love the east coast so much, and then something magical happens...snow. Along with it comes cozy fires, mountainside cabins and skiing. I've been doing more work this week then skiing, so I decided to come up for some air and post. It's been a while since i've written anything here and I have high hopes of coming out hibernation.

The city grid jacket is truly my favorite, I have it in two styles because it keeps me warm from all that walking from block to block with the neck strap that protects against the cold. I interchange them throughout the winter months so that I keep it fresh, and someone told me once, if you find something you love...then buy it in every color. It's a Madewell classic, and they come out with a new version every year and keep things consistent. I paired it with my cashmere white speckled hat here because it's the softest hat I do and probably will ever own! Lastly on the bottom I wore Madewell boyfriend skinny jeans for a laid-back look and Kirkland ugg-style boots, because they look like Uggs with the same warmth but a fraction of the price tag and i'm not above a good deal.

Here's to hoping you've had a great holiday season even though 2016 sucked.
Check yeh next year!

cutting room floor.

HAIR BY CHI OF BIANCHI SALON

I'm a woman, so whenever I feel like I need a revival, I look to my hair to do that. There's something about a cut or a color that makes you feel refreshed and renewed and puts the strut in your step. I've never had an authentic new york city hair care experience, so I followed a friends recc and went to a salon and stylist notorious for the balayage. If you feel the need to freshen things up, i'm definitely passing on my praise since he delivered what I asked for to a T.

The video short game is one i've been thinking about for a while, so when I got my hair balayaged for the first time I decided to try creating a short film just to experiment with Premiere Pro and see what's up. I learned that there are far more toggles than iMovie and that picking the right beat is key. One small step into a new creative outlet. Meanwhile this year i'm still working on a video where I combine footage from every day of my year, which is going to be challenge but will feed my need for nostalgia. Stay tuned...

Click here to view the full result. 

black & blue.

WEEKEND PAST HAIKU :: RICKY&LEIGH

eye dark as abyss. dance floor to ocean floor. goodbye to summer.

Inspired by Hunt of the WIlderpeople

the healing powers of water.

MARA HOFFMAN FRONT TWIST ONE-PIECE

This summer i've found my way to it.

Water. Sun. Sand.

I've floated in the deep sea, ran into the ocean and dove into a cool pool.

Mission accomplished.

Living in NYC has really limited my swim time the past couple of years, and this time I refused.
Moving to BK and being forty minutes away from the beach helped.
It wasn't till this year that I realized that being in the water during the summer is a huge point of nostalgia for me. I've spent every summer since I was in my moms belly on Cape Cod. 

There's something amazing about the process. You get up early, get sustenance, trek towards the water and find unbelievable peace as you walk into the massive body of water that has no end.
There's a certain kind of therapy to it.

Then as you lay on the beach, you interact.
Usually due to lack of service, it becomes a cell phone free environment and you focus on the people who are with you or the people around you or the music in your ears. You learn about yourself, about your friends and family, sometimes about new people. 

You relax. 

Which by the way, is a difficult thing to do.

I was taught always that salt water can cure anything, mentally and physically.
Salt releases minerals which lowers your stress and drinking it is known to eliminate fatigue and aid digestion. Sun is also essential to the body, heals the skin, kills off bacteria and boosts the immune system which is key for someone like me who had an autoimmune disorder. The Salt and Sun are a health dream team, making you beautiful inside and out.

Who knew your environment could do so much while you are doing so little?

Hold up, they don't love you like I love you.

I want to talk quickly about one pieces. I've been OBSESSED.

They're so easy breezy to plan and make my feel so cohesive, and there are so many possibilities in fashion right now. Overalls, jumpers, rompers. They're killing it.

Anyways, somehow this blog has turned into a sequence of thoughts, and that's not what I intended out of it, but it's all I have time to do right now and hopefully i'll have more focused posts up soon. That being said, I hope that someone somewhere finds these to be enjoyable or insightful or something.

I've been doing a lot of reading and listening to books and podcasts and friends on the subject and I feel like I just wanted to focus a topic i've been very aware of as a 20-something female in NYC these past couple years and that is dating. I want to also highlight that the experiences I go off of are rarely my own, but I am observant of male and female exchanges that occur whether they are in person or being recounted to me by my mass of girl friends. For the most part, I think apps are joke, primarily because I would never actually ever meet someone in person because i'm shy when meeting new people and a little scared of the potential killer on the other side of the keyboard. Let me be clear- I know that it's a totally normal thing and not dangerous, my best friend is married to her Tinder match, and I know plenty of people dating a fellow Bumble-ers who still have a pulses. Mostly, I think it's just not for me, i'm an old-fashion kind of girl who is still waiting for a special guy to literally ask me 'to go steady' in those terms. That is my dream.

That being said, I do find it fascinating.

I can't keep up, but my generation has found it as the norm and embraced it, even when people I know express their disapproval of this new norm, they adapt and reluctantly go to the app store in the hopes of finding love. Unfortunately this is making the 'organic' meeting become endangered. One of my friends stayed on the subway missing her stop just to witness a 'meet cute' which is an adorable story of how you meet your loved one which merits an 'awwwww' response from all those who ask the inevitable couple question 'how did you two meet?' (one which I am constantly asking in the hopes for some clues to navigate this single world). Another friend recently recounted a meet cute in an email she sent to Bumble about a missed connection gone wrong twice and an error in their app that resulted in the pair being unmatched without consent:

You see Bumble, I have this dream of meeting my dream man via a "meet cute" - bumping into each other on the subway, standing in line next to each other at the grocery store, reaching for the same tomato at the farmer's market, etc. You get the picture. A fairy-tale meeting that you only see in the movies. Well, I was so close, until all of these hopes and dreams were SHATTERED when he abruptly got off at the Myrtle-Willoughby stop, two stops before my own. So I chuckle to myself at the irony and bid the man adieu, never to be seen again...
UNTIL.
Fast forward three hours, I'm laying in bed swiping on Bumble, as part of my nightly ritual, when I SEE HIM.

So even people who are clearly romantics, like my friend who is clearly distraught about missing her opportunity to connect with someone whom she had a mutual connection, despite the fact she could have approached him in person in the first place. The dating app gave her the courage to do so in a way she was more comfortable. I don't blame her, i'm no expert in non modern dating and I totally would have done the same thing, but I feel that these apps have totally enabled this mentality, the want for 'meet cute' but the reluctance to make it happen on both of their ends. I have so many beautiful, talented, powerful women in my life who are single, and not necessarily by choice and I can't understand why.

When I was growing up, dating sites were something that people who were divorced or perpetually single did in order to find a mate. I never thought I would ever in my life be on a singles forum of any kind, and here I am at 24 and i've admittedly had short-lived accounts on Tinder, Hinge and Bumble. These apps are making us lazy daters because of all the possibilities, but they're also giving introverts a greater chance of finding love if they're able to actually meet these people aaaand they're pretty addictive. 

Another thing about technology and online dating, there's been the creation of the 'ghosting' method where you flat out disappear when you don't want to talk to them anymore. Guess what? You have many social media accounts, and I know you're still alive, and its just cowardly. I've been on both sides of ghosting and it's awful. But in my experience, if you tell someone like it is and that you're just not interested, they are so appreciative of you being straightforward.

I know there are pros and cons to the evolution of dating to where it is today, but i'm on the cons side right now. So. What I want to change about the modern day dating community by Ricky&Leigh-

(1)

Approach people IRL and say something nice to them, faces are better than screens. 

This is easier said than done.

(2)

If you don't want to talk to someone, let them know. Don't 'ghost' them. 

It's just the kind thing to do.

That's it. That's all i'm asking.
Thanks for listening.

comfy cozy.

FREEPS PULLOVER

SOFT SURROUNDINGS LUCCIANA BED SHAM

FOREVER 21 PANTS

4040 LOCUS ANGLED WOOD HEADBOARD

ANTHRO LIORA DUVET

Settling into a new place takes time. It's gradual building and then someday all of a sudden you feel like you've built a home to come to at the end of your workday. This home is in Brooklyn.

I've lived in Manhattan for the past 4 years of my life on and off. I've inhabited a wide range of neighborhoods from Hells Kitchen to Lower East Side. I have my favorites, I know the trains and the directions and where to get delicious late night food past 4am. These are all important things.

So, I've just wiped my slate clean. I've moved across the river and onto a new map of places I have yet to explore. So, my plan is to document everything. Start bringing my camera out and about and get to know my neighborhood, my neighbors, the local life. 

Maybe i'll start strong and things will fade out when I get lazy, or maybe i'll have a whole body of work to look back on someday and appreciate. Only time can tell.

Here's some old pictures collaged with some new pictures. Never forget where you came from, YaMean?

More from the new place to come. Holla at the new rooms. 

we want some more.

MARA HOFFMAN CUT OUT JUMPER

First off...
A year has passed since my post last year at the gala with team Moremag. Life has gone on and we have all been forced to go on our separate journeys, but still our bond remains. I feel deeply that the passion that we shared creating the most magnificent magazine that we could while being in an intense environment, is something that ties a group together. More magazine was something special, it's missed and I feel so proud of being part of an award winning team. 

Also...
looking back on the post I made last year, it seems like this is the appropriate year mark to reflect since it has been two years since I walked at NU graduation, packed up all my stuff and moved to nyc. I looked back last year on obstacles that were important to me at the time, and i've been faced with sets of new ones throughout this past year as well, but all of these are just that- in the past. I've also grown to realize that graduating in a sense was a form of rebirth to an extent that I would have never expected or imagined.

On a smaller note...
I was blessed to spend my gala night with all the friends I have met through s.p.d. this past year in the industry who share the same passions for print as I do.

Photos by the outstanding Ari Michelson.

drape shop.

INVENTORY

Once upon a time there was a girl who thought clothes to be pieces of artwork carefully crafted into shapes that wrapped around the body and brought beauty to everyday life. She collected these clothes carefully to keep, her bag of tricks and trinkets into two closets in her home on the island of Manhattan. Until one day, she had to simplify and found an incredible home in the faraway land of Brooklyn that was perfect in every way except her clothes poured out like rivers of fabric from the single closet in her room.

Please help this girl find a new home for her beloved clothes.

Visit Drape Shop

through the looking glass.

 PHOTO BY KRISTEN BONKOWSKI

My sister is four years my senior. When we were growing up, I wanted to be her and wanted to run as far as possible from her at the same time. Now that we're older and i've been in this world for some time I realize that she's actually the best friend I will ever have. She inspires me constantly and I hope that I do the same.

This picture was taken by her in my family home, and I can't wrap my head around how special it feels. Truthful, raw.

I'm working on building my room this month like i've done so many times here in n.y.c. and this time I can feel i'm home. It's like all the newness in my life is weaving together to form something beautiful. It's like all the people in my life are as close or far away as they are supposed to be at this point in time. I've had a lot of time to reflect on this during long subway rides. #commutecatalog

maybe i'll make that a weekly thang.

△.

Seems appropriate that I found this picture from around two years ago today. It was an outtake for the first blog post I had on my original Ricky & Leigh and also taken at a very similar time in my life that was filled with uncertainty. I think back on everything that has happened since then and where I have landed and I feel pretty good about it all as a whole. Recently, i've spent a lot of time rehashing my past and the career path that I've taken. I think back to all the times that 'everything happens for a reason' and 'things have a way of working themselves out' have been very valid in life. 

I'm upset that some things in my life are ending before I feel they're meant to, but also am so excited for all the things that are yet to come. Trying best to realize that change is just a five letter word. Wish me all the luck.

To see the style deets click here and coast to the bottom.

i'm dwellin' here.

My life has been incredibly unpredictable and unreliable these past few weeks, which doesn't bode well with someone like me that likes to plan the details. Take it from the girl who coordinated her day off from start to finish.

Due to the state of publishing, my beloved magazine More folded unexpectedly and sent me into a whirlwind of questions about my future. The process was tricky, it was mentally exhausting and it was also a great gage of how much i've grown this past year. I only say that because I think with all things considered, I handled delicate scenarios to the best of my ability and ended up landing in a really great place because of it while also finishing my last job to the very bittersweet end. That being said, i'm also upset to be leaving a job full of people I respect and moving out of my current dwelling which I love.

Speaking of, i'll be starting work at my new job at dwell magazine today.

I guess i'm just a sucker for the publishing world.

I'm just getting ready for...

Work, work, work, work, work, work

love yourself.

ladies and gents, happy v. day.

hope you enjoy all the love around you and give it to all the people who deserve it in your life.

one of the truest quotes i know is that 'you only accept the love that you think you deserve' so I hope your man buys you flowers, and that you feel special not only today, but everyday you are with him.

this year has been an especially big lesson in learning what love means in my life as an independent female.

i'm so thankful for that.

Tommy boy.

TURQUOISE IVY
ZARA WHITE TEE
ONE TEASPOON AWESOME BAGGIES

I was a tomboy up until sophomore year of high school.

That's when the love affair began with fashion.

I find dressing an art and matching together the perfect outfit is the equivalent to relationship goals.

I also find the simplicity of a white tee/boyfriend jeans combo incredibly satisfying.
It's a good way to reconnect with my roots in this modern-day me way.

& please say hello to my new ivy plant friend.

Morning vibes.

Good morning, weekend. 

Hoping you refresh and renew me. 

Welcoming the storm with open arms.

pillow talk.

DOWN PILLOWS, Y'ALL

This year when I moved into my new place, I decided I was going to grow up in the apartment therapy kind of way. I invested in new furniture for a bigger space, organizational products that were also attractive and most importantly, I invested in brand new bedding.

I looked back on all the years i've been out of college and thought- i haven't bought anything new since I left my house. In fact, I brought most of the things I had from my parent's abode. So, I decided to slowly flip my bed into the cloudlike mecca that it is now. New duvet and comforter, new foam mattress topper and brand new sleeping pillows and decorative pillows. I was actually excited for all this new stuff, and it wasn't even clothes! Is this what adulting feels like?

As i've gotten older, i'm discovering more and more how important (and sometimes difficult) a good nights sleep is. When I was in college, I slept around my study schedule, mastering the art of the nap and sometimes not sleeping at all, and somehow I made it out alive. But now that i'm on that 10-6 schedule, i've learned that although it's possible to get through a day without an 8-count of hours slept, it's not necessarily the best for your body, and recharging isn't only for your iPhone.

My doctor told me that coffee is the worst thing to do before an appointment because it raises your heart rate, so it got me thinking that it's probably best in smaller doses. I definitely enjoy the occasional Flat White to get me going in the morning, but getting all that sleep in is always the better alternative healthwise. Besides, it keeps those dollar bills in your pocket.

what a marshmallow.

     

FP CHUNKY SCARF

This scarf is certainly one that can weather a storm. Although the weather has hardly warranted it's use yet this season,
i'm ready for when I can bring it out regularly. The moment I saw it in the shop window I knew I had to have it. It's so fluffy that whenever I feel it around my neck all I can do is smile, and feel like taking a nap. There's a song that has some lyrics I
always feel like I can relate to during the winter season...

SHE GETS DRESSED UP LIKE A PILLOW, SO SHE'S ALWAYS IN BED

-Where has the time gone? by Dr.Dog

Now all I need is a pair of gloves to match.