Heigh-ho Heigh-ho, off to school (abroad) I go

Click here to see backpack

Hello friends, tomorrow I am off for an incredible little adventure to New York City (again) and Venice Italy.

Now, I've never been to Europe before so to say I’m excited is an understatement. I'm going on a field school for 2 Art History courses (one was a studio class and the other was a lecture), so it was 3 weeks where I live, 2 weeks in NYC and 1 in Venice. I can't believe I leave tomorrow morning! I'm a little nervous as always but very excited. I hope I get a chance to post 1 or 2 times on my trip, I know that I will for sure have tons to post when I come back.

Moving on, I purchased this gorgeous MATT & NAT backpack a couple weeks ago to use for this trip because A. Its vegan leather (cool af) B. It fits the world, C. It will be better for my shoulders vs a cross-body and D. It looks cool. Also, the lining is made with 100% recycled water bottles which makes me feel good about the environment.
I also intend to use this when I come back from this trip, don't you worry. Hopefully my bag addiction won't get the best of me while I'm away.

Any who, off I go to visit Carrie Bradshaw's apartment & sing in a gondola!

Kimoh-no an #ootd

Top, Macy's; Kimono, XXI; Jeans, Zara; Shoes, Nike

Ever since I bought these Nike's in NYC I've been trying to incorporate them into my wardrobe more. Not only do they give me a break from my Forever 21 booties that I wear in almost every other OOTD I do but they are comfy and still give me maybe an inch more of height.

Really quickly this outfit was put together. I have jeans for days so I brought out my Zara Basic ones and paired it with a lacy black tank and my XXI kimono.

My kinda Silverware.

Left to Right
Rose ring from Avon (I don't even know how old this is)
Lotus ring from a flea market in Brooklyn NY
Fox & Navy stone rings from Forever 21

Left to Right
Both silver bands found at my parents work, It just happened to be luck that I love them both
"Humming Bird" ring from my friend who thought it suited my personality (not sure where she bought this from)

I don't think I was ever really into jewelry when I was in High School. I basically stuck to earrings and a bracelet or necklace here or there but nothing to wild. Ever since the summer I graduated high school I became obsessed with silver hand jewelry, in specific, rings. Silver rings especially, to me, add a cool, care free but chic vibe and can make your hands look a bit more interesting.

When I first dove into wearing rings, I was o b s e s s e d with cocktail rings, I still have them all. And I still love a few of them. But as I began to develop my style more I noticed that they weren't such an investment piece as they were just for fun (I'm a huge quality over quantity-kinda shopper). They were getting tarnished easily because I'd wear them in water (washing my hands) and I just didn't like the idea of buying more. I just wanted a few good ones that I could wear all the time.

Since that time I've really gotten my act together and sorted out a good range of silver rings that I can wear everyday and feel as if they have completed my outfit. Of course you're all probably like "But Jess, there's 2 silver rings from XXI?!" well, I couldn't completely cut Forever 21 rings out cold turkey. They are just so lovely! But all the rest are plated silver or are sterling silver or don't tarnish under water. Yay!

Do you prefer gold or silver jewelry? Or colorful?

New York, New York!

Yes my friends, the time has come.

Time to talk about my adventures in New York City.

There are a couple points i'd like to make before diving in.

• I didn't do everything I wanted to do, I'm going to have to make another trip in the near future to experience the city better
• I don't see myself living here. A very very large portion of why I went on this trip was to see if I could live in the environment, if I could possibly live here one day and after a 10 day trip with 40 other personalities that came along with me, consider the situation I was in, no, I don't at this very moment think that I could live in NYC
•  The above bullet point does not mean that I did not LOVE it. Because, Yes...I did fall in love with New York City 

Here we go. . . 

What can I say! The boat cruise we went on was amazing, might of even been my favorite part of the trip! When you're walking around the city you don't feel like the buildings are that tall, or that there is an insane amount of people but when you step off the island and onto a little boat you really feel you've made it to Manhattan.

Brooklyn was hipsterville. But it was divine. This meal literally costed 10 dollars and was one of the best meals of my trip. There were so many cute little shops and an amazing flea market and it was homey in a way. Maybe we only saw the "good" part of Brooklyn but it was lovely.

I took a panorama shot of walking towards Union Square. It was beautiful, the buildings against the sky among the people briskly walking. It was a gorgeous day to shop and eat and explore.

While my friends were checking out the shoe department in Union Square I decided to #selfie it up

Classic, we had to go to Serendipity and get frozen hot chocolate. I shared the Salted caramel and it was so salty and so caramel-y and delicious.  

Went to go watch Cinderella on Broadway! The set was AMAZING. They had trees moving around, the biggest downfall was that Carly Rae wasn't preforming as Cinderella that day but never the less it was spectacular.

I wish I could have been able to take photos at the Met, Charles James exhibit, but they were not allowed. Go Google him and his dresses now.

Of course I had to walk the Brooklyn Bridge. It was maybe 5 or 6 o'clock, and there was barley anyone walking it, it was slightly misty, it started to pour after, but I got some damn good pictures of the view.

And Brooklyn welcomed us nicely.

Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass..I actually got a pedicure with my friend before walking the bridge, so here are my lovely sandals, my perfectly painted pink toe nails and some road.

This was the another one of the best meals I had on the trip. Brooklyn Pizza. DELISH. I wish I could eat it again and again...and again.

So these were just highlights from the trip. There was many photos but I chose the ones that I thought you would find the most interesting. I didn't want to bore you all with information about the trip so if you have any questions about my travel feel free to leave a comment below and i'll reply back asap!