Fanfare and Flowers

I didn't do much to style this particular outfit, but sometimes that is a good thing for a hot summer day like today! My husband and I went out to lunch with his grandma. Her two favorite colors are blue and yellow, so I thought she would appreciate this particular color combination!

I am wearing the J. Crew No. 2 pencil skirt in Fanfare which is another one of my favorite prints offered for their spring/summer collection this year. I am also a "fan" of the No. 2 pencil skirt and my closet is full of this style skirt in various patterns and colors! This is another item that can be picked up for a steal during J. Crew's extra 30% off summer sale.

My bag is the LV Epi Alma in Citron.  To go along with my "citrus theme" I am also wearing a lemon charm designed by Paloma Picasso for Tiffany and Co. Speaking of lemons,  we are growing some lemons right now in the backyard, but the trees are young and not producing fruit yet. That's probably a good thing because William would pick the lemons off and eat them! I would love to see him make a sour face while doing that!

The Dog Days of Summer

William is over three months old now and getting bigger every single day! We are taking him to the vet tomorrow and I am curious to see how he weighs in! He was about eight pounds when we first got him and my guess is that he is about 17 or 18 pounds now!

As is the case with most English Springer Spaniels, William proves to be quite the handful. His hobbies include chasing his frisbee and tennis ball around the yard and using his mommy and daddy as chew toys. He is also quite found of taking oranges from the tree in our backyard and running around the yard with them like a madman. He's a California dog now!

BBQ Attire Plus a J. Crew Rant!

Just because an event is casual, doesn't mean you shouldn't try to look nice and polished! This is what I wore this weekend to a BBQ. The majority of my outfit consists of some awesome bargain finds at J. Crew! The sweater is the featherweight cotton colorblock cardigan from J. Crew. The gingham shorts and belt are also J. Crew. The shirt is from the Ralph Lauren outlet which I bought years ago on the way to Las Vegas.

My sandals pictured here are the J. Crew Capri sandals. I purchased these last year and they were made in Italy. At $50 retail (I bought them on sale for about $25) they seemed expensive. Now, the same sandals are made in China and guess what? They still retail for $50! I ordered a pair this year on sale thinking they were still made in Italy. When I saw that they were made in China and the quality had declined I promptly returned them. On the CNBC special J. Crew the Man who Dressed America it revealed that Mickey Drexler reads blogs and uses them as feedback about his products. Well, if Mikey is reading this I would like to say please continue making your shoes in Italy. I will stop buying J. Crew shoes if they are made in China...and I buy a lot of shoes, as my husband will attest!

What a Deal! (Kind Of)

This is the J.Crew No. 2 pencil skirt in Garden Floral which I bought this weekend for a mere $26. I think it retailed for $134. The shirt is Anthropologie from last year. I think I paid about $15.00 for that, another great deal! 

I wore this to a get together with my husband's family. They don't get very dressed up for anything, but I usually try to make an effort and so does my husband. I am not sure why I love getting dressed up so much, maybe it's because I just really love fashion. I long for the days when people use to wear hats to go out and ladies would wear gloves to go on a plane. Maybe that is a little bit extreme, but it would be nice if we all made more of an effort to dress up!

So my shirt and skirt are the bargain part of my outfit. The handbag is the LV Epi Alma in Figue. My shoes are Louboutin Delico 85mm in yellow. In all fairness, I did get the shoes on sale last year during Barney's summer sale. I think they were 40% off so that isn't too bad, right?  I think they look very glamorous next to the pooper scooper!

I really, really liked the new colors released this year by LV for their Epi Alma line. They reminded me of the colors I used in art class in first grade when I was learning about complementary colors. Back then I painted a picture of a purple squirrel with a yellow background. Purple is still my favorite color and probably always will be. I love the way purple looks against bright yellow or green which is my second favorite color. Well, I guess my love of colors hasn't changed! Anyway, here is my collection of LV Epi Alma Bags. I went a little nuts-o collecting them in various colors! 

Random OOTD and the Jackie Cardigan

I wore this outfit last week at some point. I love this particular color combination of orange/red, turquoise, and black and white. The cardigan I am wearing is the Jackie Cardigan from you guessed it... J.Crew! I have the Jackie Cardigan in more colors than I can count because it is so versatile. Whenever I see a new color go on sale I snatch it up! 

The rest of my outfit is also from J.Crew. The skirt is the button front linen twill skirt and shoes are the classic J.Crew ballet flats. The ballet flats are another staple that I recommend stocking up on from J.Crew. They come in a fun array of colors, they are made in Italy (still) and if you play your cards right you can pick them up for $70-60. My only complaint is since the soles are leather and I wear them so much, they get pretty beat up after a while. 

Here is a picture without the cardigan. The top is from Target! 

Bourbon Even for Dessert

I have been making sugar cookies since before I can remember. This was always a tradition in my family for Christmas. Lately I have been making them for various holidays including Easter and my husband's birthday. Apparently, these are quite addictive. My husband's family will literally eat 10 cookies at a time or more in one sitting. 

For my husband's bourbon themed birthday I made cookies in the shape of Maker's Mark bottles with a cookie cutter I bought at the Maker's Mark gift shop. Maker's Mark has the most beautiful distillery in all of Kentucky! They are know for their distinctive red wax which covers the neck of all of their bottles. I was fortunate enough to watch as they applied the wax coating on bottles during our trip to Kentucky.

Here is a picture of the sugar cookies. I used red sugar sprinkles to "represent" the trade mark red wax. The rest of the cookie is decorated with a traditional sugar cinnamon blend. While these are not made with bourbon, they do contain bourbon vanilla extract!

 

Paula Dean's Beef Bourbon Y'all!

Okay, I love Paula Dean. Why? She loves butter and she isn't afraid to admit it. Let's face it, butter makes everything taste better and you can never use too much! This is my cooking philosophy. The woman also dressed up like a giant stick of butter for Halloween one year. I admire that.

I found this recipe from Paula which is a twist on Julia Child's beef bourguignon recipe. Instead of beef bourguignon it's beef bourbon y'all! Well, it was a delicious and a wonderful stew. As Monsieur Loisel says in "The Necklace" there's nothing better than a good stew. I followed the recipe featured below and added some buttered egg noodles with chopped parsley. My husband, who has become somewhat of an "Bourbonofile" since our Kentuky trip, recommended using Evan Williams Black bourbon for this. We visited this distillery, Heaven Hill, while we were in Kentucky.

Anyway, try this recipe! You will not be disappointed. My husband and I have been having it for left overs the last night or so and it gets better every time!

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 3 pounds beef chuck, cut into 2-inch cubes
• House Seasoning, recipe follows
• 1/2 cup diced green bell pepper
• 1/2 cup diced onions
• 1/2 cup diced celery
• 1/2 cup bourbon
• 1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes with their juice
• 2 to 3 cups beef stock
• 1 cup corn kernels
• 1 cup green beans, trimmed and cut in 1/2
• 2 cups quartered new red potatoes
• Salt and pepper

Directions

Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven or heavy pot with a lid. Season the meat all over with House Seasoning and sear in a single layer. Remove the beef to a plate and add the green bell pepper, onion and celery to the pot and saute until softened. Return the beef back to the pot and add the bourbon, diced tomatoes and enough stock to cover the beef. Bring up to a boil and then lower to a simmer with the lid on ajar. Simmer for 2 hours or until beef is very tender. Then add the corn, green beans and red potatoes. Simmer 10 to 20 minutes until the vegetables are tender. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.

House Seasoning:
1 cup salt
1/4 cup black pepper
1/4 cup garlic powder
Mix ingredients together and store in an airtight container for up to 6 months.

You're Cooking with Bourbon!

For my husband's birthday I decided to make a menu centered around bourbon in honor of our recent trip to Kentucky. Every course was made with bourbon and turned out to be delicious! Did you know that there are more barrels of bourbon in Kentucky than people!

The first course on the menu was Bourbon Bacon Scallops, pictured below with the recipe. I don't eat seafood, but these are yummy!

Ingredients

• 6 slices bacon ( 4-5 ounces, long strips of bacon)
• 3 tablespoons minced scallions ( green onions)
• 2 tablespoons Bourbon
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper or 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground tricolor pepper
• 24 large sea scallops ( about 1 1/2 pounds)
• cooking spray
• 4 (12 inch) metal skewers or 4 (12 inch) water-soaked bamboo skewers

Directions

1. Heat a skillet over high temperature and sauté the bacon for 4-5 minutes, until limp and partially browned; remove from skillet, drain, and set aside to cool.
2. In a bowl, combine the green onions, bourbon, maple syrup, soy sauce, mustard, and pepper, and stir well; remove about 2 tablespoons of marinade to another container and set aside.
3. Add the sea scallops to the marinade in the bowl and toss gently to coat.
4. Cover and place in refrigerator to marinate for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
5. Preheat your oven broiler; pan spray a broiler pan.
6. Cut the partially cooked bacon strips into 4 sections apiece.  

Lots of Orange

My husband and I went to my favorite Indian restaurant this weekend which was yummy! This is what I wore out to lunch.  It consists of the J.Crew Postage Stamp Mini in Big Apple, J.Crew popover shirt and Target Merona Sweater. My shoes are J.Crew Lilibeth Patent Sandals and the bag is the Prada Saffiano Lux tote BN1844.

You might also notice the big orange car I am standing next to. The Dodge Challenger R/T Classic is my husband's "baby" and "weekend" car. It is big and orange as you can probably see. I liked the fact that it sort of matched my skirt, so I told him to take a picture of me next to it!

One thing you might notice about my bag is the bunny charm. I love bunnies and one year ago this week my beloved Sophie passed away. Sophie was grey and white French Lop. I bought this charm because it reminded me of her and the one Halloween when I dressed her up in a sombrero. The charm features a sombrero like hat, although the sales associate at Prada told me that it was not a sombrero and rather some other type of beach straw hat featured at one point in Prada's spring/summer line of clothing. Well, it looks like a sombrero to me! Here is a close up picture of the charm and of my bunny, Sophie wearing her hat.

Work Outfits Part Deux!

So I'm pretty lazy and a true procrastinator when it comes to many things. These are my work outfits from Wednesday and Thursday of last week. I should have posted earlier, but it often takes me a while to upload the files and then post something about the photos. What can I say, better late than never!

This is the J.Crew Jardin skirt in Heart Throb. I heart this skirt! I was lucky enough to get it at an extra 30% off at J.Crew online. They didn't have my size, so I thought I would go for a size 0 which is one size smaller than I usually take. It fit perfectly! I can't wait to wear this skirt on Valentine's day next year!

I'm not really sure what William is doing in the photo. Biting himself I guess. Better him and not me! He is going through a stage where my legs and feet are chew toys to him! If this was a close up pic of my legs you would see my battle scars consisting of various cuts and lacerations! Some people say that having a puppy is like having a baby. I can see the parallels, however I would like to say that babies don't bite with razor sharp fangs like puppies!

I honestly don't know that name of this J.Crew skirt. I like it because it is a little reminiscent of a Gustav Klimt painting in my opinion. The connection might be tenuous, but there is something about the hint of gold and the styling of the flowers which ties together a sense of his portraiture and also the landscapes he was fond of painting later in life. Maybe I am just seeing things!