Lilly Pulitzer Backgrounds

I can still remember my very first purchase from J. Crew.  It was a v-neck navy, kelly green, and white argyle sweater vest.  That was when J. Crew was still quintessentially preppy.  We've all witnessed some of our favorite brands begin to conform to changing fashions.  Gap and Tommy Hilfiger each had "sporty" phases, and Abercrombie & Fitch deviated from its original hunting wear and novelty items.  Of course, companies do have to evolve in order to serve consumer tastes, but the issue arises when they deviate too much from what the core brand historically represented. I'll admit to missing the true-to-preppy form that J. Crew once represented, perusing my old catalogues for the ribbon belt, argyle vest, and silk tie headband days long gone.  But I still swoon over the updated and occasionally "hipster" styles present in today's J. Crew style guides. I caught wind of this story from the Huffington Post, and find myself impressed with J. Crew's ...

My coffee addiction is notorious, ridiculous, uncontrollable, somewhat shameful, and part of my identify.  I can't function without 2 cups of coffee first thing in the morning.  I can't survive past 3pm without a caffeine pick-me-up.  And don't ask me to head out for after-work drinks unless the bar serves coffee, or there is a Starbucks on the way. My need for coffee surpasses the drink itself to the establishments that have fed my addiction over the years.  They have become my saviors after long drives along an empty highway or hours stuck mindlessly listening to art history lectures.  From high school, to university, and through to my current job, coffee shops have always been my place of work.  I've written countless papers, studied for countless exams, and put together countless presentations in coffee shops in cities as near and far as Orlando, Burlington (Vermont), Kingston, Warsaw, and Toronto (to name a few).  They are my place of comfort - wh...