Remember when you were younger and it used to feel like all you ever had was time? Time to do everything, be everywhere. It seemed to take forever for those 365 days to pass – just so that you could celebrate your birthday once again. Time ticked by so slowly that you weren’t just 8 or just 9. You were 8 1/4, 8 1/2, 8 3/4, then finally 9.

As we get older, for some reason, time seems to slip from our grasp faster than ever. In order to get everything that we need done – we sleep less, worry more, ingest copius amounts of coffee, etc. As a result, there are many of us who are sleeping an hour or two less a night which we then try to make it up – mostly during the weekends.

If any of this rings true to you, then you might be suffering from sleep debt. And let’s be clear – debt in all forms is something that we want to avoid at all costs. To break it down: sleep debt = hours of sleep you need per night minus the hours of sleep you actually get. Now, in a perfect world, we would all get to sleep 7-8 hours every night but sometimes we’re just not able to do this.

For the majority of us, we’re able to make up that hour or two that we lose here and there but stop and think about this for a moment: if we continue to keep losing hours of sleep we start to experience daytime drowsiness, mood shifts, stress, anxiety, lethargic feelings and weight gain.

However, there are a few things you can do to keep your sleep debt in check.

Stop stressing over not sleeping.  Listen, you know what’s not going to help you fall asleep? Lying in bed worrying about how much you’re not sleeping. Worrying keeps your mind active and your body tense which will only help in keeping sleep elusive. The best thing to do is drink something warm before turning in for the night – like tea or milk. But not coffee, try to keep your caffeine intake to the mornings and afternoons. Pick up a book or a magazine to read as you lie in bed. Trust me that combination usually works like a 1, 2 punch without the annoying concussion.

Invest in your bed(room). Sleeping on a futon might be economical at one point in your life but eventually you have to upgrade and invest in a comfortable mattress and great sheets. Don’t underestimate how important clean sheets and pillows are to you enjoying your sleep. The same goes for the room in which we fall asleep – things like clutter, bright lights, stale air all contribute to disturbances in our sleep pattern. Set the mood by opening the window (weather permitting) to let in fresh air, use lamps before bed instead of a harsh, ceiling light and by all means clean up. Since we spend approximately 1/3 of our life asleep, let’s make the space that we sleep in calm and soothing.

Turn off the T.V. Now I know there are some people who need to have a television in their bedroom – I am not one of them. It’s too much of a distraction and to fall asleep with that endless stimuli droning into your subconscious just seems unnecessary. I’ve found that listening to some soothing music at a low sound does wonders. I know a few people who even make sleep playlists but try to stay away from pounding bass lines and thumping rhythms – that’ll get you too amped. This is the time to get acquainted with your Mozart & Beethoven – if you enjoy classical music great, if not, you’ll be bored to sleep. Either way it’s a win-win situation.

Develop a regular sleeping habit. If you do the same things every night before bed you can start getting your body ready to fall asleep. You’ll start to have a Pavlov reaction to these little routines so that by the time you lay your head onto the pillow, you’ve already mentally prepared yourself for sleep without even thinking about it. Perhaps, you take a nightly shower, brush your teeth, watch a certain show, then lie in bed to do some quick reading. Listen, it works for little kids – by the time, they settle in to hear the bedtime story you know it’s a matter of time before they fall asleep. The habit helps to create a positive sleeping result.

Remember, we can’t always get the hours of sleep that we want but we just need to be careful that we don’t start to drown in sleep debt so much that we are unable to make up those missing hours of sleep.

Are any of suffering from sleep debt? Do you have any tips or a routine to help you fall asleep?

Image Source: Yelena Yemchuk

It’s this NOW, NOW mentality that we have to deal with when we work or be creative. We want to be successful right away, we want to be recognized for our contributions to society today not tomorrow. Most people want to be famous for not actually doing anything – look at some of these reality stars who have made that their …well, reality. Yet, sometimes we have to realize that most things actually take time to come to fruition. You don’t become a Pulitzer Prize winning writer overnight nor do most creative people find themselves happy with their work 100% of the time.

Here is a kinetic typography video of Ira Glass talking about story-telling and how important it is to create a volume of work. These are important words to hear and see when you’ve just about reached the end of your creative rope and think you should quit. Here’s the thing, most things do not come easily. You have to push through and have the drive and chutzpah to get what you want.

What do you think?

Old Hollywood Actresses: The Young Sisters

There are lots of traits that can be passed down from generation to generation – including style. Some families seem to radiate great fashion sense and recently some of these stylish sisters seem to be infiltrating our pop culture. Now, if you think it’s hard enough be the little sister in general try growing up in the spotlight of a famous older sister. Some baby sisters have managed to cleverly carve out their own niche while others remain forever lost in the shadows of the bigger, brighter personality. Let’s hear it for the younger sisters who are making it on their own accord while sizzling on the style scene. Here are some younger sisters who are either leading or on par with their fashionable older sister(s).

1. ELIZABETH OLSEN

Granted, it’s hard enough when one older sister is fashionable but to be the little sister to the most famous stylish twins in our pop culture has got to be doubly hard. Nevertheless, Elizabeth seems to be holding her own when it comes to personal style. Of course, she gets help from the twins’ fashion line The Row but you have to agree that she rocks it in her own way. It doesn’t hurt that she looks like their lost triplet but she’s definitely making a name for herself in Hollywood as a credible actress. I love Mary-Kate and Ashley but nothing they ever acted in received rave reviews at Sundance. But we’re betting their too busy counting their billions to worry about Tinseltown anyway.

Lizzie has serious style potential. She’s relatively new on the scene – so it may take a while for her to fully blossom into her style. However, to be real, it’s going to be hard to ever top Mary-Kate and Ashley.

Style Grade: B

2. ELLE FANNING

Now, I have to admit Dakota Fanning used to freak me out with her excessively mature intensity when she was running around Hollywood as a budding child actress. To me, overly precocious children belong in horror movies. It’s all just a little bit too much, too soon. However, she’s definitely grown into a lovely young lady and now little sister, Elle has quickly come onto the scene and is becoming a fashion tastemaker in her own right. Designers seem to love the Fanning girls. Dakota has been in several Marc Jacobs ads over the years and Rodarte has embraced Elle as a muse. With the kind of looks reminiscent of The Virgin Suicides, is it any wonder that Sofia Coppola cast her in Somewhere?

Elle is definitely keeping up with big sister in turns of attracting the attention of big name designers. Rubbing elbows with the Rodarte sisters and Sofia Coppola is nothing to yawn at. We’re keeping our eyes on the littlest Fanning – she’s going places – obviously while dressed in a slew of amazing outfits.

Style Grade:  A-

3. SOLANGE KNOWLES

Beyoncé might channel Sasha Fierce when she’s on stage but Solange channels her own amazing fashion taste all day – every day. When it comes to clothes and styling Solange has Beyoncé beat by miles. Homegirl, can rock an outfit – any outfit. And for those who have doubts please reference Destiny’s Child’s early performance outfits and know that Solange would never have been caught dead in that overly matched, gaudy foolishness. Solange manages to upstage Beyoncé style wise which you must admit is an impressive feat. For further evidence, look at the two on vacation where Solange is outshining Bey in the style department.

Solange is at the very top of the stylish younger sisters class. Her fashion sense reigns supreme and she is not afraid to be unabashedly herself. It doesn’t matter if she’s being photographed for a magazine, dj-ing at a party or lounging on a yacht – Solange is in the style game to win.

Style Grade: A++

You can’t help where you fall in the birth pattern. However, all these little sisters are holding their own in comparison to their older, famous sibling(s) and establishing themselves as serious style individuals in families with great stylish genes.

What do you think? Who are some younger sisters’ style that you admire?

At some point in the early 1990s, I first watched The Witches of Eastwick and got completely swept up in the whole concept of witches, magic and what happens when a dangerous man comes into your life. Most important lesson learnt was if you ever sat around with two of your best friends talking about who would be the perfect man and one shows up out of the blue and all three of you are inexplicably drawn to him, grab some holy water and RUN in the opposite direction. Because you are obviously brujas who have just conjured up the deevil.

Looking back, I was way too young to really be watching it but that didn’t stop me from enjoying it nonetheless. Then again, I did watch it on network t.v. so a lot of it was edited and I would get some of the euphemisms here and there. Anyway, I hadn’t seen it in years and watched the unedited version recently with a fresh pair of adult eyes. Good lawd, there were definitely things that had originally gone over my head but I still enjoyed it just as much as I did as a child. The one thing that I find when I watch movies from the late 1980′s is that sometimes the fashion doesn’t hold up. It looks either too time specific but honestly the three main female leads in the movie wear fashions that I still see people wearing and some outfits that I would still rock today.

Lately, I have been OBSESSED with big hair. The bigger the better. Full, wild curls.

Costume designer Aggie Guerard Rogers definitely did a great job. Susan Sarandon’s character Jane undergoes a big transformation from being a mousy music teacher into a va-va vroom sexpot wearing some of my favorite pieces in the movie, including this fabulous gold lamé dress with a plunging sweetheart neckline. Shiny & sexy = is right up my alley.

Then there’s one scene where Jane is strolling through the supermarket in a sleeveless sundress and rocking frilly socks with sandals.

 At one point, Sookie (Michelle Pfieffer) is wearing a pajama set with a Hawaiian shirt motif matching robe but I could definitely wear that robe as some type of flowy jacket over a plain white t-shirt and some jean shorts. It satisfies my inner Golden Girl.

If you want to look through some of the Cinema Aesthetic archives, click here!

Also as a bonus, since I was influenced by the movie I decided to make a quick Heaven & Hell playlist for fun.

Check it out.

Then a picture was posted of her and Jay-Z sitting court side at a Knicks game and not only were they were being cute and affectionate but also wearing co-ordinated colors and patterns. Then more photos started floating around the interwebs of them at the game. Now, usually when I see couples matching outfits, I have an intense visceral reaction. I have been known to roll my eyes so hard that I could potentially create a migraine – but this was done tastefully. Seriously – take a look.

The hint of coral color in their shoes, in my opinion elevated their foot game.

photo source: iam.beyonce.com

Ha. Matching animal prints in an unexpected way. I’m not mad at this, you guys. Separately, they look fine and side-by-side they still keep their individuality. They have managed not to look like desperate carbon copies. I will never full-out match a boyfriend/husband because that’s taking corny to a whole different level. However, I have co-ordinated with a boyfriend in the past with a hint of color or maybe wearing the same type of Air Jordans each of us in a different color pair; but straight up matching outside of Halloween and private school is not and will not ever be cool. It’s barely passable for twins and after the age of two, becomes overbearing.

What happens, is that these loving coordinators tend to think that they are expressing to the world how much they love each other and how in sync they are. All it tells me is that they are unoriginal and boring. 

Case in point:

photo source: YMC S/S 2011

Individually these pieces work but on the BOTH of them at the same time is too, too much. It’s not only the same sweater pattern but the same color scheme and the SAME sandals with socks. Come on?! I know it’s for a ad campaign but I have seen couples like this in real life.

photo source: unknown

I don’t even know what’s happening in the photo above. On one hand, I have the initial urge to think it’s cute but very quickly that changes to a big fat NO.

NO, this is not okay. Bow ties, check. Animal print, check. Chambray shirts, check. Graphic snapbacks, check. Loss of dignity, check.

Listen, if you feel compelled to completely match your significant other sartorially, then by all means, go for it. I just know that it’s something that’s not for me. What do you guys think? Is matching your significant other a yes, no, or who cares?

I’ve been where Charlotte’s been more times than I care to admit. Feeling like I’m drifting out at sea because I’m not sure what it is I’m supposed to be doing with my life.

That’s the problem when you have too many interests and you’re too scared to commit to just one. Because the very thought of committing to just one makes you feel like you’re going to miss out on ALL the other great things you could be doing.

Slowly, you realize that your lack of commitment means that you’re not really doing much of anything at all. Just simply wasting time.

Bob tells Charlotte that it will get easier. Yes, it will. But only because nothing ever changes until you change. Sometimes that wandering sense of ennui rears up and grabs me and wants to bring me back to a more comfortable place of indecision. But I resist; because once you take control of your life that’s when you notice things begin to shift for the better. And you never want to go back to drifting aimlessly again.

Note: The text above is from a post that I wrote on tumblr here.

I felt like I needed to re-post it because this wandering feeling is one that so many people experience and struggle with.

As cliché as it sounds, the one constant in life is change. Part of growing up is recognizing that everything isn’t always going to be sunshine and unicorn kisses but even when things aren’t rosy you can’t let that discourage you. These are lessons that I come back to because sometimes the easiest reaction to a non-ideal situation is to dwell in the negative aspect of it. Yet, that never resolves anything.

So, like Bob says to Charlotte “Keep writing.” Keep drawing, keep creating, keep learning, just keep doing whatever it is that you really want to do. Be passionate about your life and what you are contributing to society. The rest will fall into place.

There is an image that I saw on the cover of New York Magazine last year and I immediately loved and felt drawn to. The issue was about the history of vertical apartment living lifestyle in New York.

And on the cover was a picture of Diane von Furstenberg from the 1970s where she is lounging on the bed in her unapologetically pink bedroom wearing one of her infamous wrap dresses with one leg propped up on the bed. As a result, her wrap dress has opened at her hip/crotch area and you can glimpse white underwear peeking out. However, Diane is unconcerned about whether she is exposed or not because she is preoccupied with a bunch of papers on the bed. In between her fingers, a gold pen is poised – caught in the process of taking notes and near the foot of the bed is a tray filled with a china tea service.

She’s young, glamorous and clearly fabulous. What radiates from that image is a woman who is in complete control of herself. It’s not seductive for the sake of enticing the male gaze. It’s an amazingly powerful image of a woman who is confidence personified. I’ve held on to that issue because it reminds me of one of my favorite quotes from Ms. von Furstenberg that has lingered in my mind ever since first hearing her say it a few years ago:

“I always knew the kind of woman that I wanted to be and I became that woman.” The reason that I have kept referencing this over the years is because even though the sentence is simple in structure it is HUGE in its theory.

Diane von Furstenberg has become a legend within the fashion industry for not only introducing the now ubiquitous wrap dress into our cultural lexicon but for being a woman who has always seemed to know exactly who she is. Here is a short clip of Diane explaining how she became the woman that she is today.

With all the external noise that surrounds us, sometimes it’s very easy to become distracted from our goals and thoughts. What Diane speaks of is something even bigger than just a goal. This woman didn’t just become an iconic fashion designer, she completely recreated herself. Yes, there are many additional factors to be given credit for turning humble beginnings in Belgium into recognition on a global scale; surely, luck, hard work, timing, connections, etc. But at the end of the day, it takes vision and an unwavering belief in oneself that you can manifest what your mind sees.

Here is a video clip of Diane sharing another amazing piece of advice on how the most important relationship you have is with yourself.

Now, our call to action must be tune out all the outside voices and the inner voice that sometimes has us believing that we are less than, not perfect, fat, stupid, ugly, whatever untruth that plays like a loop in your head.

STOP LISTENING TO IT.

The time has come for you to believe in and make yourself – whatever that entails for you. Whether it’s to write a series of novellas, raise a family, paint, be a CEO, whatever vision you have of yourself, hold onto it. Instead of worrying so much about what people think, be satisfied with what you think.

Even though they say that wisdom comes with age, you don’t have to wait until you are older and wiser before you implement these techniques into your life. Seize the moment and embrace the best vision of yourself. This is not to say that it will always be easy and that you’ll never believe a negative thing about you ever, ever again. In fact, it won’t be easy, you’ll slip and lose your way more times than not. When this happens, take comfort in the fact that when you know better, you do better. Which means that the times when you fall back into the negative self-talk pattern, hopefully you can recognize it in the moment and bring yourself out of it.

The same amount of effort that we put into trying to attract someone and wishing and hoping and praying for that special person to like, notice or love you. How about investing that effort into liking, noticing and loving yourself.? It doesn’t matter if you fall asleep to or wake up beside your perfect partner, your thoughts are your own. Your autonomy is your own and you should respect and honor that at all times.

If you want a more detailed timeline of Diane von Furstenberg’s life, clicky- click here.

Ha.

Let me tell you, there are very few DIY’s that I have actually COMPLETED. Not for lack of trying but I tend to get tired of things rather quickly. If I don’t have the materials right on hand, then you can rest assured that the idea is going straight into my never gonna happen file.

But for 2012 I have decided to embrace my creative side that actually likes to make things. So, I’ve done a few projects here and there but I am finally ready to commit to an idea that’s going to require me to get materials and then find the time to make it.

First, let me say that I love Rodarte. If you doubt me, look here, here, here, oh yea and here. I’ve been swooning after them since ’07. So, after seeing these star clips from their Fall ’12 show, I became inspired but it went into that never gonna happen file. That is until I saw Refinery29′s DIY video and decided to challenge myself to complete this project.

So, I’ve given myself a two week deadline to make this and add it to my headwear collection. And because I’m going to show you guys the result I feel a commitment to make sure that’s it’s done on time. Wish me luck guys! Hopefully, I’ll create something similar to this:

Wait, a minute! You’re probably thinking, “Hold up, wasn’t she just talking about spring in her previous post. Is this girl slowly losing it?”

No, I’m simply referring to the return of a tv show that I am HIGHLY anticipating: Game of Thrones. If you know me in my real life, you might have heard me mention once or twice about my love for this little gem on HBO.

The thing is that I never expected to love this show as much as I do. While I do like the fantasy genre in literature and movies, I also tend to be rather picky about what holds my interest. So, I began watching Game of Thrones with some trepidation until I was completely hooked and caught up in the land of Westeros and the politics surrounding the power of the that damned throne.

While, I do find myself lost in this crazy world I also spend a lot of time fawning over the sets and the costumes! Costume designer Michele Clapton has done an amazing job and below there is a short video on the process of the design inspiration.

Here is a short film about the first season and what to expect from the new one.  {Spoiler Alert} Be warned, they fully discuss the first season and if you haven’t seen it yet you should watch at your caution.

What do you think of Game of Thrones?

If you want to look through some of the Cinema Aesthetic archives, click here!

this is pretty much a new start on a different part of stylealchemy.com

for the past 6 years i have been blogging in the ruminations section of this website but over time i have noticed that i lost the spark for writing over there. so after much thought, i’ve decided to revamp stylealchemy and its mission.

so this is our spring cleaning. i’ve made an effort to get back into the groove of blogging and find my way back to the love i used to have for it.

♥ the alchemist