leahbrier.com

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It’s that time of year when we think about what we are thankful for. My list is topped with things like my family, amazing friends, fabulous apartment and the ability to do, feel, say, think, breathe, smell, touch, believe and see nearly everything I want. But I decided to share the more personal (read original, quirky and material-centric) things I am thankful for:

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- Flowery RL sheets. They make me feel girly, they are incredibly soft and they make me happy each time I hop in bed

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- Practicing yoga. Pure Yoga is an amazing studio and I love the teachers and all the classes there. I have also love practicing at The Shala

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- Tytin Steve Madden boots that add the perfect hardness to my dresses, skirts and tights and shorts

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- Poladroid for both my amazing LeahBrier.com banner and for the great sound effects the come from the beta application

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- My signature Swatch time piece. It has the perfect amount of bling, and it’s still really light

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- Three-in-one by American Apparel: onesie, high waist pants and comfy harem pants

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- Metal Pointus. Noah and Leila introduced me to this amazing jewelry last year for Hanukkah and I have been obsessed since

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- RIM and Blackberry for bringing me my Bold

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- Etsy for providing hours of treasure hunting and a place to buy amazing handmade crafts

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- Delicious, Flatiron lunch establishment Energy Kitchen. Their food is insanely good and everything is under 500 calories

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- The blogs that I read daily, and the bloggers who write them. Thanks to Noah, Jackie, Emily, Joanna, R29, Rumi, Geri and Jak & Jill

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Have a Happy Thanksgiving. Be back on Monday

I have been feeling restless and having trouble finding inspiration. I decided to cheer myself up, and get out of the little pouty hole I have fallen into, by looking at some pictures that make me smile, make me happy and remind me of the beauty and art all around us!

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It’s a gloomy day, perfect for a photo pick-me-up. Enjoy!

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PS: Have I mentioned my current obsession with Poladroid?

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Photo creds:
Give and Receive
Pretty Dresses
Heartland
John Simonelli

Why can’t Jews be put in jail?
THEY EAT LOX!

Honestly, does it get better than a delicious bagel and lox?

Blair Waldorf may have brought the trend to primetime television, but I believe that I have officially embraced the bow and made it a part of my style! I wear a small bow barrette in my hair, on the right side, almost everyday. It’s the perfect punctuation point on nearly any outfit.

If I had to describe my style overall I would call it “The Best of Both Worlds”. I think I have a way of combining things that ordinarily would never be paired up. Whether that be colors, patterns, textures, trends, seasonal pieces, etc. I like making things my own, and I think adding a bow does a perfect job of making an ensemble a little less obvious and a little more extraordinary.

BOW TO THE BOW!

I absolutely can’t wait to see this. I think I am going to treat myself to some good old fashioned entertainment tonight, and finally see this movie! Heard great things about it.

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After yoga, when I get home and I am showered and fully relaxed, I lay in bed or stare at the mirror and try to say to myself:

Nothing in this moment needs to be different for me to be happy

And it really works!

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Now I should say that the demand has primarily (read as only) come from my wonderful mother, but nonetheless there has been a void in my life as of late and I have decided to use my newly designed, and work-in-progress, website to help fill it.

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I hope for leahbrier.com to be a place where I can share my thoughts and the bit and pieces I find every single day that inspire, motivate and intrigue me. I want to share my theories that range from the marketing industry to shopping. I will cite whenever possible the images I find from amazing artists and designers, and I hope to even share some designs of my own.I imagine there will be a healthy dose of insights on fashion and for the site overall to be a repository for all things ‘creative’.

And so, we meet again…I’m back!

I get very excited over things, and I am one to announce to the world that these things play such a vital role in my life that I am not only amazed and astonished by them, but I truly can’t live without them.  Here’s something I love and why I love it.

Day 5: Starbucks green swizzle stick-stopper

Its a morning ritual for many.  Go to your closest starbucks, purchase your favorite brewed beverage, and walk, briskly, to the office to start your day.  Unfortunately this ritual is often interrupted by a messy, and sometimes painful, spilling incident where your coffee goodness come spraying out of the tiny sip hole.  Until recently, this has caused me at least a lot of annoyance…It always happens when I am wearing either something new or something white!

And then, out of the blue, a solution has been put in place by Starbucks themselves that solves the problem in both a functional and fashionable way.  The Starbucks green swizzle stick-stopper as the Business Week article refers to it.  By plugging the little sip hole, the potential for spillage is eliminated and all the while the cup keeps with the Starbucks motif (the stopper has a little green mermaid on the top that matches the mermaid on the cup!)

The real reason I love the Starbucks green swizzle stick-stopper is the simple design.  Every single time I see the stopper I am tempted to use it (unfortunately my local Starbucks has been out of stoppers and I get very disappointed).  I also always say to myself, “I wish I was the one who invented this thing!”  It’s not complicated, its not over thought and yet it works and looks perfect.  Why wasn’t I the one who recognized this void in the coffee spillage realm and found the way to fill it?

Regardless of my jealousy, this seems to be one of those “simple things for simple minds” ideas.  Whenever I am given the opportunity to utilize a Starbucks green swizzle stick-stopper I am happy and stain free.  What more can you ask for!?

I get very excited over things, and I am one to announce to the world that these things play such a vital role in my life that I am not only amazed and astonished by them, but I truly can’t live without them.  Here’s something I love and why I love it.

Day 4: Planet Earth (TV Series)

When I was younger and was asked what I wanted to do when I grew up, the answer, for a long period, was become a zoologist.  I loved animals and thought the idea of playing with them, studying them and working to better understand them was incredibly fascinating.  Unfortunately, once I realized that part of being a zoologist meant dealing with sick and dying animals and not just cute and cuddly baby animals, I lost my interest and never really pursued it again.

The first time I saw Planet Earth all of those feelings came rushing back.  I spent about a full week watching all of the P.E. episodes on DVD my senior year in college after finishing the grueling task of writing my thesis.  I needed an escape and the DVDs, and David Attenborough’s soothing narration, did the trick.  I immediately rediscovered my passion for animals in their environment and the amazing evolution that exists around us.  Check out some of the birds in the first few minutes of “Jungles” and try and tell me that evolution isn’t real… It is absolutely mind blowing.

Recently P.E. has returned to my life weekly on the Discovery Channel, one of my favorite stations on TV.  (Note: If you’re looking for great TV check out their shows: Deadliest Catch, Dirty Jobs, Man Vs. Wild and of course their Shark Week coverage!)  But what makes P.E. more than just a National Geographic issue shown on TV, is the incredible cinematography mixed with extraordinary storytelling.  Some of the images that they capture are absolutely unreal.  For instance, to better understand, and share with the audience, how male penguins survive the freezing arctic winter, while protecting the egg with their child in it, filmmakers watched a group of emperor penguins for one full year.  And in the end, the footage and the story is amazing.

I think the show really helps shed light on the world in a new way.  And most importantly, they do it without being too political or preachy.  Even though there are scenes of stranded polar bears unable to make it across the semi-frozen ocean, you don’t feel like you are watching the WWF, wildlife, not wrestlers, commercials and feeling obligated to donate money.  They are educational but they are also entertaining, and they are beautiful to boot.

Now all of this is not to say that I am going to quit my day job and begin my quest of becoming a zoologist, but it is impressive and comforting to know there are still television stations out there that are informative and entertaining all in one, and that are truly inspirational.  For other great shows check out the Travel Channel, my boyfriend loves Samantha Brown’s whirlwind adventures, the History Channel, who doesn’t love the Modern Marvels series that covers all things from Disney to LSD, and the National Geographic Channel with my favorite show Locked Up Abroad.  I would say these shows, and a healthy dose of Sesame Street growing up, had a ton to do with how I think, what I think about, and what things I am excited to learn about!

I get very excited over things, and I am one to announce to the world that these things play such a vital role in my life that I am not only amazed and astonished by them, but I truly can’t live without them.  Here’s something I love and why I love it.

Day 3: Crystal Light Peach Tea

I am the first to admit when I have a problem.  And today I am openly admitting yet another one.  I am addicted to Crystal Light Peach Tea (CLPT).  I love it.  I have multiple glasses in one sitting and can drink it at all hours of the day.  It tastes good right after brushing teeth in the morning and its a great thing to sip when you wake up with a sore throat in the middle of the night.

Let me start at the beginning.  Growing up, there was always a pitcher of Crystal Light Iced Tea, NOT peach because my mother doesn’t like it, sitting in the refrigerator.  From about March until November, the “warm” months, the Brier family would have iced tea at home and out at every meal.  And still to this day do I enjoy a nice unsweetened iced tea while dining out.  And I also occasionally fill my tea quota with a delicious diet peach Snapple — yum.  But it wasn’t until recently, when I found out my fantastic boyfriend, Michael, had a complimentary obsession, that I fully appreciated the power of CLPT.

It’s just so great.  If made right, it never tastes powdery, it’s fairly healthy, only 5 calories per serving, and when served cold can’t  be beat with just about any meal.  And Crystal Light knows they have a good thing on their hands.  They now sell 6 pack cans, 3 pack original cans, and now Crystal Light to go where you can pour the perfect amount of CLPT into your bottle of water for a change in beverage.

But there’s a problem.  Even though CLPT is delicious and nutritious, like many addictions, this one too comes with a price.  At $5.99 for a 6 pack, which makes 3 pitchers, this habit becomes very expensive when both Michael and I can go through about 2 pitchers a day, on a work day — home only from about 6-11pm, and were going through about 3 or 4 when we were both home sick for a week and something similar when home hanging out on the weekends.  NOTE: You must put 2 pouches of tea into a gallon pitcher, it gives the perfect CLPT to water ratio and makes for a delightful iced tea experience.

You know you have a problem when you are willing to justify your problem, right?  Well that is definitely the case for Michael and me.  Recently we have been venturing off the island to purchase CLPT at Target, Wal-Mart and supermarkets outside of Manhattan where the price is lower.  If you can’t kick the habit, at least don’t let it bite into your savings and change your standard of living!