Wheeling | WhyDid.com

Why Did You Wear That: A Stroll Down Memory Lane

By Kirsten|May 16th, 2012|Personal Style, Why Did You Wear That?|

Ever since I was a little girl, I always loved dressing up in my mother’s clothes. Much to her chagrin, sometimes that included climbing trees and running barefoot in the backyard. I’m lucky enough that she kept some of her favorite pieces, which also happen to be some of my favorite pieces. I’m also lucky that I didn’t ruin said pieces while playing princess of the jungle with my big brothers. One particular dress is a buttoned up crochet minidress that I once contemplated removing the lining from (glad I didn’t go through with that brilliant move). Though not all of mom’s vintage treasures are quite timeless enough to take to the the street, I think this little number could certainly turn a few modern day heads.

crochet dress

I may be too old for princess of the jungle and make believe, but I’ll never outgrow a good game of dress up.

xx,

WhyDid

Real People, Real Style: She’s the Manns

By Kirsten|March 7th, 2012|Real People Real Style|

I’ve known Whitney longer than I’ve known some of my best friends. She’s what got me through 8th period of my senior year in highschool. Always funny, always positive, she made even the most mundane reading more fun. Little did I know that we had a lot more in common than our navy blue blazers and Mr. Fischer’s senior English class.

Name: Whitney Manns

Wearing: Fitted Red Shift Dress from Asos.com, Stella and Dot Pegasus Necklace, Nude Vince Camuto Pumps

Occupation: Owner and Stylist of WM Wardrobe Consultant

Hometown/Current Town: the small town of Lake Charles, Louisiana

1. I would describe my style as: Sophisticated chic, on the safe side. I love classic lines of outfits and mixing random colors together but never step over the edge to be overly fashion forward because I never want to scare away any potential clients.

2. I can’t leave the house without: Cardigan! Love my cardigans (could be because I’m always cold) even if its stuff in one of my ‘Mary Poppins’ size purses. Oooh- and either one of my silver or gold Michael Kors’ Watches, love the chunky boyfriend watch look.

3. Based on wardrobe alone, if I could live in any time period, it would be: The 50’s with all its body fitting outfits but still classy looks.

4. Best/biggest splurge (worth every penny): My first Milly dress, which I still own and wear. When I was first on my own and making my own money I couldn’t believe I was spending half my rent on a dress. However, I Love this designer with her adorable prints, she can make any simple structured dress look amazing.

5. Best fashion advice I’ve ever received: I don’t really know if I was ever told fashion advice more that i learned things gradually, but I guess the one thing i live by is to not be scared to think outside the box.

6. Biggest fashion pet peeve (a trend that just needs to go away): This isn’t so much a trend but a common mistake with ladies trying too hard to look fashionable but its when someone tries to wear too many trends in one outfit!

7. What I would tell my 13 year old self: To Stop wearing that turquoise track suit everyday because it really isn’t that cute.

8. Weirdest beauty trick that I swear by: I really don’t have any!

9. Don’t care if it ever goes out of style, I’m going to keep wearing: my Skinny jeans!

10. I would love to trade closets with: I admire Katie’s Holmes taste in clothes.

Fun fact: My love for clothes started as a love/hate relationship. When I was younger I was frustrated with not being stylish but wanted to just wear what I thought looked right. This relationship became stronger after all the art classes I took, evolving into the passion I have for clothes now.

Three years ago, I decided to help others with their struggle or desire to build their fashion relationship. WM Wardrobe Consulting now has clients in many states and cities and has helped build the confidence level in many women and men through personal shopping and outfit coordinating.

So, if you’re in need of a little closet overhaul get in touch with Whitney STAT. Not only will she work wonders for your closet, she can also recite E. E. Cummings.

xx,

WhyDid

Photo via Lindsey Janies

Why Did You Eat That: Put Some Pep(peroni) In Your Step

By Kirsten|August 29th, 2011|Recipes, Why Did You Eat That?|

You might have noticed that I’ve been a bit slow with my blogging lately. Well, that’s because I’ve returned to my birthplace. My roots. My home away from home. Wheeling, West by God Virginia. And while I do enjoy laying around lackadaisically, I do not enjoy the fact that my sweet, sweet mother has yet to set up her wireless Internet making me feel as if I am, in fact, in the boondocks.

Anyway, I thought I would share the recipe a little local delicacy known as the pepperoni roll. Here’s the funny thing- I never realized this was a regional delight because while I was born in West Virginia I grew up in Florida. My mom made pepperoni rolls for our school lunches (lot better than a turkey sandwich, eh?) and so I spent my formative years thinking this was a normal thing and everyone’s mom had made them pepperoni rolls at one point or another. That is until I headed to the Big Apple and got the same looks as a person saying, “please” when I mentioned this tasty treat. Upon further research I found that the rest of the world was not privy to pepperoni rolls and so today I’m going to share a wonderfully simple recipe.

Ingredients:

1 8 oz. can of Pillsbury Crescent Rolls
Approximately 5 oz. pepperoni sliced
1 cup marinara sauce
3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and separate dough into triangles on non-stick cookie sheet.
Drizzle center of triangle with sauce and arrange pepperoni and cheese on top of sauce.
Roll into a crescent. Repeat for all dough.
Bake in oven for 10 to 15 minutes.

Now, I’m aware there are probably some pepperoni roll purists out there shaking their heads and scoffing at my simple recipe– but it’s all I got and it’s pretty damn tasty (in my humble opinion). So, the next time you’re traveling through the great state of West Virginia (HA!) be sure to stop for a snack and make sure it’s a pepperoni roll.

xx,

WhyDid

WhyDid Wisdom: Own It, Guuuuuuuuurrrrl.

By Kirsten|December 16th, 2010|WhyDid Wisdom|

The other day, someone asked me how old Ke$ha is and I didn’t know. So, of course, I had to look it up (I hate not knowing). While I found out that Kesha Rose Sebert is a mere 24 years old, I also learned some other fun facts about her. Kesha was raised by a single mother who was just barely able to get by. Kesha’s upbringing was so meager that the family relied on welfare and foodstamps for a period of time. As I kept reading Kesha’s Wikipedia entry, I became more and more intrigued by her. I hadn’t really felt one way or the other about her until I realized that Kesha is not only smarter than she lets on, but she owns who she is and where she came from. She’s strange, vulgar, and a little bit off her rocker, but all of those things make her who she is.

This, of course, got me to thinking. Not many people are very comfortable with who they are. It seems now that our culture is obsessed with being “fabulous” and keeping up the “right” appearance. Our generation has racked up billions in credit card debt trying to “pop bottles” and wear the right shoes, right bags, right jeans. We want to drive the right cares and live in the right zip code. I just have one question: who’s to say what’s “right”?

Thanks to reality shows and people like Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian who are rich and famous for no good reason, people everywhere are just chasing the dream. Heaven forbid you work hard to earn your living. We are all pretending we’re on an episode of MTV Cribs or something. Why can’t we just be happy with what we already have rather than maxing out the plastic trying to buy new identities? I have news for you. You aren’t Lauren Conrad and this isn’t The Hills.

When people ask me where I’m from, I tell them Wheeling, West Virginia. Glamorous? No. But I am proud of it and it’s part of who I am. Believe it or not, most people (who realize that West Virginia is actually a state and not just the western part of Virginia- see diagram below) are intrigued and start asking lots of questions.

It took a while for me to learn to accept all of the things that society tells me aren’t ideal about myself. I’m never going to look like Marisa Miller, I probably will never own my own jet, and not even autotune is going to land me a hit single. My brother, who is an artist, once told me I had a good face for painting because it is “unique.” Before I could smack him, he explained that people with perfectly symmetrical faces are less interesting and easily forgettable. Why do you think the world was so outraged when Jennifer Grey got a nose job? Same thing with Ashley Tisdale. Sometimes, the things that are “wrong” with us are the things that people find most interesting and attractive. Everyone is trying to so hard to be different, yet trying to fit in one mold.

If everyone was the same- looked the same, liked the same things, dressed the same, had the same beliefs, the world would be an incredibly mundane place. So, instead of trying to change all of your so called flaws, why not embrace them? Own it, girl.

xx,

WhyDid

Country Roads

By Kirsten|July 1st, 2010|Uncategorized|

home sweet home

What does one do after having a mini meltdown? Go home, of course. No one can nurse a wounded heart and tired soul like Mom and a little good ol’ fashion TLC. So, I went ahead and packed my things and headed to where I call home, Wheeling, West Virginia.

I took it as a good sign when my Dictionary Word of the Day app was, “hegira: noun 1. A journey to a more desirable or congenial place.” I must have been drunk when I booked my flight seeing as how I’d managed to book a flight with a layover. (It should only take an hour to get from NY to Pittsburgh- I stretched it into three). Upon arrival at Pittsburgh International, I rushed to the bathroom with one too many things in my hands and managed to drop my beloved Blackberry into the toilet. Good work, WhyDid.

This wasn’t the first time I had dropped my phone into some type of body of water so I had high hopes that it would dry out and function after a good session under the blowdryer. Unfortunately, there must be something in the water in Pburgh. No such luck. I was later informed that putting your wet phone in a bag of rice is known to soak out the moisture and get it back up and running. Again, no such luck.

After ordering another phone, I had to come to terms with the fact that I was completely disconnected. Not to mention, my mom’s computer is my computer from college (it’s basically a tin can with wires) and she does not have wireless. The only thing my MacBook Air was good for was iTunes dance parties in the kitchen with mom.

As miserable as this sounds, it actually forced me to focus on having a wholesome good time with my mom. I never talk to her as much as I should or talk to her like the friend that she has become. Not having constant access to BBM, Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare gave me time to appreciate just being quiet and getting back to the basics like simple conversation and … gasp… being quiet.

While home I realized that there were so many simple pleasures that I had overlooked while living the life in NYC- hula hooping, dance parties, lightning bugs, reading, running, getting to know my mom. I spent a week, which never seems long enough, just being myself. There was no need to put on a show and I felt so incredibly relaxed. I understand that I’m incredibly blessed to have a family like mine and if you have something even remotely close, I suggest you do the same. Sometimes you just need to reconnect with your roots in order to move forward in whatever busy city you are living in.

xx,

WhyDid

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