Thursday, January 31, 2013

Chickens that Rock!

In my previous post entitled Just Us Chickens I confessed my love for chickens. I do in fact own several pieces of clothing featuring chickens and a couple of chicken calenders. Below I am wearing one of my favorite pieces of chicken attire. The French Hen silk boyshirt is also one of my favorite pieces from J. Crew's fall collection of last year. This blouse proves to be quite versatile. Here I am wearing it under a crew neck sweater with a ruffly coat from Anthropologie. (Which features its own host of barnyard critters in the lining.) The chickens add just a little bit of visual interest on the collar and peeking or should I say "pecking" out from the sleeves and on my shirttails.

I have a new piece of chicken attire to add to my collection. I acquired it at the Ben Folds Five concert which I went to last weekend. The opening act was an artist by the name of Nataly Dawn. She wasn't half bad as far as opening acts go. I admire her for wearing a sequin dress and cowboy boots on stage. Anyway, at the end of her set she announced that she had CDs and T-shirts for sale and that her T-shirt featured her on a chicken with a rifle. When my husband heard this he rolled his eyes and looked at me with acknowledgment that I would soon be making a bee line to buy it. Well, he was right and I did purchases it at the end of the concert. I can't resist a chicken! I am modeling my new favorite T- shirt below.







Outfit: Sweater: Merona/Target, Blouse: J. Crew, Jean's: Levi's, Shoes: J. Crew Valentina Pumps, Coat: Anthropologie, Chicken T-shirt: Nataly Dawn

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Pears and Plaid

Today I am mixing and matching it up with a fruit salad of an outfit, comprised of the J. Crew pear sweater and the city mini in Dublin Tartan. As I stated previously, I have way too many sweaters with cute critters or images on them, but I really liked this delicious looking pear against the grey wool background in this particular sweater. When it went on sale a few weeks ago I knew it was a ripe deal ready to be picked before it was all gone!

Unfortunately the color of the sweater looks a bit faded in the light in some of my pictures featured here today. Therefore, I'm also including a picture of me outside of my favorite restaurant, The Raymond, to show a bit more of the true to life colors in the sweater and skirt. In this last picture, as well as real life, the color of the pear is more of a vibrant, citrus yellow, which lends itself to many styling combinations.








Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Tic Toc

Both my husband and I love watches and collect them. In fact, this was one of the first common interests that we realized we both had when we started dating.  Naturally, given my love for horology, I was drawn to Anthropologie's Lost in Time skirt. This skirt which goes back a few years features big dramatic clocks layered atop one another. It also has a big layer of poofy tulle underneath to give the skirt some added shape. I really love the addition of tulle to skirts, it makes me feel like a ballerina!

Since it is still a little cool here I paired my skirt with a neutral Tippi sweater from J. Crew and a cashmere scarf from Anthropologie. For something a little different than flats or pumps I paired my skirt with a pair of Frye boots, which I think are sort of 80's inspired due to their scrunched leather effect.







Monday, January 28, 2013

A Case of the Mondays

Office Space is a movie that I never found that funny until I started working.  Now I understand and sympathize with much of the humor behind the comedy including a scene in which the main character is confronted by an all too upbeat coworker who on Monday morning says, "Sounds like someone has a case of the Mondays."

What is the best way to get rid of the "Mondays"? Perhaps the answer is an extra dry martini with a twist. That is what I ordered at the Dal Rae, which is a classic steak house located in Pico Rivera near Los Angeles. While the martini was $13, that was a small price to pay to get rid of the "Mondays." We also had an incredible steak dinner and a slice of cheesecake for dessert which was very delicious.

It has cooled off considerably here in L.A. so I wore I chunky wool sweater and my J. Crew geometric no. 2 pencil skirt. To top it off I paired this outfit with a Dolce and Gabbana clutch and some sort of statement necklace which I purchased over the summer from J. Crew.







Sunday, January 27, 2013

You're the Piano Man

Last night my husband and I went to the Ben Folds Five reunion concert at the historic Wiltern Theater. In case you don't know who the heck Ben Folds Five are, they were/are a sort of alternative/pop band led by an eccentric guy (Ben Folds) who plays the piano with a very unique, rock style which is hard to define. The band was somewhat big in the 90's. Technically they qualify as being a one hit wonder since they only had one commercial hit in their career, "Brick", which was quite popular on the radio. After 2000 they broke up and the lead singer Ben Folds started a successful solo career without the other two members. (Yes, you would think there would be five members in the band given the name, but alas there are only three.)

Ben Folds Five's music has a very quirky and off beat style and writes lyrics such as the following, "And you think Rockford Files is cool /But there are some things that you would change if it were up to you / So think about your masterpiece..." At the end of the concert they played the Rockford Files theme which my husband rather liked. (Even though he owns the DVDs and has seen each episode a dozen times, he likes to record episodes on our DVR and watches them when he gets home from work.) Many a blog entry has been written by me while my husband watches these re-runs, but as always I digress.

Since Ben Folds Five is essentially about a guy who plays the piano,  I couldn't think of a better opportunity to wear my Kate Spade piano clutch. Below you will see some pictures of it, including my pixelated houndstooth blouse from Forever 21. I also am including some pictures of the Wiltern theater which is a fine example of Art Deco architecture. Built by Stiles O. Clements, the theater contains many of the original Art Deco elements from when it originally opened as a Vaudeville theater in 1931. Sadly, one of these elements includes not having a lot of bathrooms. As one woman said while waiting in line for the bathroom which only offered three stalls, "Didn't women have to go to the bathroom in the 1930's?"










Above you can see a picture of the band and its three members. Below you can see me playing "air piano" and rocking along with the band in my seat!


Friday, January 25, 2013

Raining Cats and Dogs

It's raining cats and dogs here and apparently also Parisian women! Today I am completely clad from head to toe in J. Crew (sans rain boots) including the J. Crew La Parisienne sweater. I haven't found a way to resist all of the cute sweaters featuring some sort of quirky icon or critter this season. My collection now includes this Parisian women, a French hen (hanging next to the La Parisienne sweater in my closet because they are both French so I figured they would get along!), a Scottie dog, a pear, a psycho bunny and hearts. My gut instinct told me that this depiction of a very fashionable lady was a mix of cute with a bit of hideousness, but that makes it charming. Last night on Project Runway they featured a guy who finds sweaters at the Salvation Army and screen prints weird cat images onto them. If he can be a success doing this, I don't see the harm in wearing my Parisian lady!

The skirt I am wearing was a product of the epic sale now going on at J. Crew. It is the classic mini in felted wool. It was $21 after all discounts. The color, which is heritage green, is much more vibrant in person than it is on their website or my photos. I was also able to score some other fabulous sale finds including the Everly suede pumps for $31 this week in store. When I went on Monday, the sale was pretty picked over and I assume it is even more so today, but if you rumage through you can still finds some deals.

Usually I don't shop too much at the J. Crew factory, but my clutch today is the Vero clutch from the factory outlet. It is very bright in the neon citrus lime color, adding a bit of color to a bleak, dreary day. It's also perfect for a girl who takes photos next to an orange tree!






Since this post is titled "Raining Cats and Dogs" I thought I would share some rainy day pictures of William. William, like most Springer Spaniels really earns the title of being a "Velcro Dog." He is by your side constantly and will only leave occasionally to go to the bathroom or investigate a noise outside. This morning, however, my husband and I realized that William was missing for about a half hour. I went outside to investigate and lo and behold William had found that the hole dug for a new lime tree was filled with glorious muddy water. William was using this mud hole as his own personal spa and swimming pool. Here are some post-spa pictures of William.


Monday, January 21, 2013

Carousel

I have to admit that I feel a little guilty that it is over 80 degrees here in sunny Southern California. We went from weather that was unusually cold last week (brrr... 50 degrees!) to weather which is unseasonably warm this week. California is a bit bi-polar I suppose when it comes to weather. The sudden wave of heat in the area explains why I am wearing a sleeveless blouse in the middle of January.

The blouse I am wearing, which features a whimsical carousel print is from Anthropologie. It is called the painted carousel shell and it is made by Weston Wear. The thing that I really like about this blouse is that it is made not only in the U.S.A, but right next door in San Fransisco. I really admire companies that continue to produce clothing here in the United States and I try to buy American when I can, but these days it's a rarity to find anything still made here. This blouse, if you are thinking of purchasing it, runs very true to size. Between the nice quality, adorable merry-go-round, and versatile colors in the print you can't go wrong with this blouse!





 Outfit: Top: Anthropologie, Pants: Target, Shoes: Nine West, Clutch: Vince Camuto, Shoe Necklace (if you can spot it) Manolo Blahnik for Tous

Sunday, January 20, 2013

A Simple Kind of Weekend

This weekend was a laid back kind of weekend, which was fine by me because came down with a cold this week, and am still under the weather. This recap of my weekend wraps all of my favorite things into one package including: fashion, food and my puppy William. I realize it might not be the most exciting thing to write about or the most glamorous, but I am going to write about it anyway!

Today my husband and I went out for a nice lunch at a nearby Shabu Shabu restaurant. In case you don't know what Shabu Shabu is, it means "swish swish" in Japanese and it is a form of dinning which involves you cooking your own meat and vegetables in a hot pot. The place we went to features a spicy miso broth which I always crave when I am sick because it really clears your sinuses out!

I wore my Kate Spade lips noelle blouse out to lunch, which I love due to its very cute graphic featuring lips smoking. While I don't smoke, I like the retro, throwback to the 50's vibe of the graphic. I put my napkin on like a bib at the shabu place to avoid any spills or splashes. My husband is the one who tends to be the messiest at shabu, so it was more protection against "second hand splash!"






Yesterday we took William to Petco to pick out some new dog food.  Lately I have been researching a better dog food for William and we finally decided on Blue Buffalo. Researching dog food involved navigating a maze of contradicting information. Everyone has something different to say, and everyone has raves about certain brands and rants about others. It's sort of like humans picking out a new diet, everyone has something to say and really I think it just boils down to the individual. We decided to go with our gut and pick something that seemed sensible and healthy, and something that didn't contain fillers or by-products.

Once we decided on Blue Buffalo as a brand we then had to determine which type and flavor William wanted. William picked out Wilderness Salmon and I heard this helps to give your dog a nice shinny coat, so everyone was happy. William is now transitioning to this brand and is gobbling it down. The trip to Petco was good socialization for him. I was surprised that he was actually on pretty good behavior. We didn't have too much English Springer craziness to contend with and William made friends with some of the Guinea pigs and other dogs.

Below you can William laying on the floor of Petco a little exhausted, as picking out your food is very taxing! Also you can see a picture of him today, full of vim and vigor as a result of his new healthy, yummy diet!



Last of all, the food portion of today's entry. Last night I made a potato leek soup. I always love a nice soup when I am sick, and one can get a little bit tired of the canned stuff. This French classic is so rich and creamy, not to mention yummy! William isn't the only one enjoying his new food! I used the recipe found here from the Food network . I always like to add a little Vermont white cheddar, crumbled bacon and chives on my potato leek soup. Below you will see the finished product of my culinary creation.