Well hello! Fancy meetin' you here. I'm sorry for missing out on your company the last week, I've been detained by a nasty case of bronchitis (probably thanks to the croup kid who coughed in my face two weeks ago) and I started my last and possibly most grueling rotation of third year medical school: General Surgery. My typical day goes something like this:

Wake up at 4am, drag self out of bed, brush teeth, slick back hair into ponytail, pull on scrubs, walk in coma out the door to car, somehow make it to the hospital at 4:30, begin long grueling day of taking care of patients and scrubbing in on surgeries which usually last 4 or more hours. At around 6:30pm, am dismissed after 14 hours in the hospital, go home, stuff food in face, take shower, fall into bed at 8pm with wet hair, and do everything all over again the next day.

Notice that nowhere in the above routine did I mention any time for blogging. Eep! It looks like the month of May is going to take its toll on PSS, but like all things it will eventually come to an end. In the meantime, I'm taking this moment of post-call bliss to write to you about one of the cheapest things you can do to stylize yourself: ACCESSORIZE, ACCESSORIZE, ACCESSORIZE! Woo!

Nail Polish

One of my favorite things to accessorize with is nail polish. I've been painting my nails for longer than I can remember: certainly before I even dabbled with makeup. Before Lipsmackers and mascara, came wacked out colors on my fingernails and toenails. You know that I've been obsessing with the chrome "liquid metal" effect look that was hot last spring (so I'm a year late. so what.). Nail polish brands run the gamut when it comes to prices, but most run about $1.99-6.50 at drugstores. My favorite brands are Essie, OPI, and Deborah Lippmann (whose eponymous nail polish line runs at a whopping $20 bucks a pop).

Yes I have the worst cuticles in the world. Please ignore.

Stacking

Some days I just can't drum up the energy to accessorize with jewelry. Let's face it, if you don't have a regular set of favorites, it can be a daunting task. But I'm trying to put that all behind me now, because one trend I'm loving right now is the s0-called stacking technique. Pile on loads and loads of bracelets, watches (yes, you can wear multiples on one wrist) and have fun with it. I love my Shashi bracelets that I got from Shop Bop for my birthday. I'm totally obsessed and wear them all the time. You'll notice I'm not wearing any bangles - they're usually too big for my tiny wrists and admittedly I hate the clanging sound that bangles make - it drives me nuts! My David Yurman cuffs  (seen here & many other outfit posts) are the only exception because they don't make a sound and are perfect for smaller wrists.

Face Time

If you will, please excuse the up-close-and-personal shot that HB took and I subsequently chose not to include in my white out outfit. I did, however, include this shot here because a number of you raved in the comments about my makeup for this post, and it got me thinking. Makeup is such an essential part of my routine (between dressing up, piling on accessories, and painting my nails...sweet jeebus I am a girly girl!) that it is almost preposterous to not consider it a part of my personal style. I think makeup is a really fun thing to buy, even when you're on a budget, because there are so many great products out there that do not cost more than $10 but will give you months and months of use...and happiness.

Makeup is a key part of the fashion equation, in my opinion, because it completes the polished, put-together look you are going for. It doesn't have to "match" your outfit, but it should match you. At first I felt uncomfortable wearing this newly-purchased YSL Pur Rouge lipstick (#22 Pink Celebration) because I felt it was too pale. But after walking around with it on for a while before going out, blotting it a little with tissue paper, and getting a "wow, your makeup looks great!" from my brawny, man's-man boyfriend, I knew I had myself a winner. And so it has become a new favorite, that which was once outside of my comfort zone has opened me up to exploring new looks and thus, updating my personal style.

It's not just about the clothes!

So I hope you feel inspired to play with more than just the cloth in your closet the next time you want to feel stylish! And I hope you enjoyed this peek into my stream-of-consciousness when it comes to what makes my personal style...personal.