Sunday, March 31, 2013

It's the Easter Springer, William Van Winkle!

Happy Easter! William is having a bit of an identity crisis today. Is he a dog or is he a bunny? His shadow in the picture below portrays a rabbit hopping down the bunny trail, but his ferocious teeth are all dog. Regardless, William is very excited to be celebrating his first Easter, even if he has to be humiliated by wearing a pair of bunny ears. (He did earn a piece of chicken luncheon meat for posing!) Strike a pose William Van Winkle!




Yesterday, in preparation of the holiday, I also colored some Easter eggs with my husband's grandmother. My husband/his family and I have different philosophies when it comes to decorating egg. They go for monochromatic eggs, while I like to create pattern and layer colors (much like I try to do with my fashion sense). It turns out that my husband's family was actually impressed by my creative interpretation of Easter egg decorating. Perhaps you can spot my inspiration from artist such as Mark Rothko and Cy Twombly? Below are the eggs decorated as team effort by my grandmother and me.



Last, here are some roses, perfect for spring. They are from my husband's grandmother's garden and I thought their blooms would make a nice addition to this post in celebration of spring and Easter.


Friday, March 29, 2013

Making a Spectacle of Myself

It's great that there are places to buy cheaper versions of things. You can play around a bit and make a "spectacle" without feeling too guilty when the item you coveted is no longer "en vogue." Shopping at Forever 21 affords one this option. I feel a bit odd shopping there sometimes because I am ten years older than the name suggests and many pieces they offer probably shouldn't be worn by anyone regardless of age, but it provides a cheap thrill every once in a while.

Lately I have really enjoyed the jewelry at Forever 21 because I wanted to acquire some trendy pieces without paying an arm and a leg. This necklace featuring spectacles (glasses) was only $1.80. Given this very low price I also sprung for the same necklace in silver. These pieces remind me of some of the offerings of another designer, Kate Spade, but for a small fraction of the price.

I paired these "specs" with a classic, lady like tweed jacket from J. Crew and silk blouse, also from J. Crew of last year. The glasses kept knocking against one of the brass buttons on my jacket, making a rather cute clinking noise throughout the day. Looking down I couldn't help but smile at the "specs" around my neck!





Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Treat Yourself Tuesday

While rolling up to the drive through window today at Del Taco, I noticed a sign which read "Treat Yourself." Below it featured a slew of tasty dessert items offered by the fast food chain. Treat yourself has long been a favorite motto of mine. I'm trying to do it a little less lately, mostly due to the realization that I have all I will ever need for the next 100 years or so in regards to clothing and shoes, however if something is truly special then I don't see the harm in treating myself. 

One such treat was waiting for me on my doorstep today. Tacos in hand (from Del Taco) I unwrapped the following, gorgeous J. Crew Collection Contessa Pumps in Vivid Aqua . These sold out in this color a little while ago and then came back in stock just in time for J. Crew's latest 25% off any purchase promo. I snatched them up just before they became sold out again. I fancy the juxtaposition of snakeskin with the soft pastel colors. They remind me of cotton candy.

Anyway, I sized up 1/2 a size for these, which is what I normally do with pointy toed shoes. I like the sort of Manolo Blahnik-esque look of the silhouette. I had a bad experience with Manolos (sorry Carrie) and therefore I love the fact that J. Crew offers a similar style (also made in Italy) for a fraction of the price.

These are definitely winners in my book and my imagination is running wild with all of the possibilities of what to pair them with. My only concern is they are a little high. I just hope I don't topple over lest I become fashion roadkill. (This is an allusion to a Sex in the City episode, just in case you were scratching your head.) Never the less, I am head over heels for this tasty treat for my feet.

Have you treated yourself to anything "tasty" lately? 

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Strolling Down Memory Lane

It's been a few years, but my husband and I made a pilgrimage back to our Alma Mater, Occidental College for an alumni event this weekend. It is hard to believe that it's been ten years since we graduated and it made me feel a little old and nostalgic to visit.  Every time I go back to the campus something is always a little different, but the memories are still the same. They always tell you that college will be the best years of your life, and who could argue? I would gladly switch places with my "college self" in a second. What were my biggest concerns in college? Perhaps something like writing a ten page paper on Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit, but that was more fun than anything. (In case you didn't already know I was a philosophy major.)


Even if you have never heard of Occidental College, which celebrated its 125th anniversary last year, you've probably seen it. It's a very popular place for filming movies and TV shows, as it's in Los Angeles. For example, the majority of Clueless was filmed on the Oxy campus. Movies dating back to the 30's were also filmed on campus. Chances are you've seen a movie or TV show featuring some building or feature of the campus. Oh, and our current president also attended Occidental...but I don't want to get into politics.

The picture below is taken by a notable Oxy landmark, the Gilman Fountain, better known as the Star Trek fountain which appeared in the 1983 movie Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (which I haven't yet seen). It is a tradition to throw people into the fountain for their birthdays, which only happened to me once.

I am wearing orange (J. Crew mini in "Big Apple")  due to the fact that it's our school color, along with black. (I think they borrowed their colors and mascot, the Tiger, from Princeton.) Luckily no one threw me in the fountain today because J. Crew and Prada don't mix well with water in my opinion.  




Often in college I could be found eating my lunch or reading a book outside on one of the benches in the quad. As you can see, on a beautiful Californian day like today it is the perfect place to be.



One of the reasons Occidental is such a lovely place is the architecture. Notable architect Myron Hunt, who also designed buildings for Caltech, Pomona College, the Pasadena Public Library, the Huntington Hotel, the Huntington Library, Huntington Hospital, the Rose Bowl, and many other buildings in Southern California, designed the original buildings on Oxy's (second) campus beginning in 1912. Some of the other buildings you will find on campus reek of the 60's and 70's so I decided not to include them here. Below are a few glimpses of Hunt's original buildings. The first two are Johnson Hall and the last is Swan Hall




And what girl wouldn't need an incredible pair of shoes to stroll (strut) down memory lane in? I thought the J. Crew Valencia pumps in leopard would be perfect because our school mascot is the tiger and while a leopard isn't exactly the same they're both big cats, right?



Thursday, March 21, 2013

Fashion Vernacular

The language of fashion is sometimes like a foreign language to outsiders, such as well-meaning husbands who have fashion obsessed wives. Lately I have been expanding the vocabulary and horizons of my husband with words and expressions such as "ombre" or "color-blocking". Amazingly enough, my husband has been absorbing the vernacular of fashion like a sponge. For example, today he told me that my outfit was "on trend" with the "mixing of patterns" and addition of a "statement necklace".  In case it wasn't clear, the tone of these statements was mocking, but at least he is listening to me.

He also added that I was like Norma Bates from the new A&E series Bates Motel (a prequel to Psycho), because while watching the show I pointed out that much of her wardrobe consisted of matching disparate patterns. I found it peculiar that someone so obsessed with her son, starting a new motel that is doomed to fail, and murder had time to flip through the latest J. Crew style guide or Anthropologie catalog, but who doesn't love to be fashionable?

My mixing of patterns for today's outfit includes the Jolie Bow skirt from Kate Spade. I mixed it with a striped shirt (H&M) and cashmere cardigan (J. Crew) in green to add a "pop" of color.  I don't think Norma Bates would wear it, as silk is hard to get blood out of, but it is "on trend"!






Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Spots and Splotches

Today's outfit contains a wardrobe staple: polka-dots.  This outfit actually came right "out of the box" so to speak, as I ordered the belt, polka dot blouse and Cafe Capri pants from J. Crew all in the same order. I wasn't planning on wearing it together, but when I tried it all on together it all looked pretty good, and an outfit was born.

The wool Cafe Capri pants featured here are actually size "tall" as opposed to regular. This was all that was available and they ended up being a little over $20 so I couldn't pass them up. I thought since I am relatively tall (about 5' 9") these would be a good fit. They look more like full length pants as opposed to capri pants which is fine by me.




Now on to the splotches, raspberry splotches that is. The raspberry swirls on this cheesecake are a good match for the color of my pants. Yesterday for William's birthday I made this very rich cheesecake. It called for a raspberry swirl which I decided to interpret as splotchy dots. One can have artistic licence after all. The recipe for this cheesecake is from Martha Stewart and can be found here.

The most difficult part was straining the pureed raspberries to get the seeds out. I didn't have a sieve and so I used my ingenuity to find some strange Hello Kitty dumpling thing (I don't know what to call it) which I bought in little Tokyo last year. It didn't work all that great and therefore it took me about 1/2 an hour to get it strained. Raspberry juice was also all over the kitchen much to my husbands chagrin when he got home!

William was very happy with the end result, even though he didn't have any, except for stealing a lick from off of our plates.





Monday, March 18, 2013

Happy Birthday William Van Winkle!

It's William's one year birthday today, and as you can see from the picture below he couldn't be any happier. Donning his conical party hat, he's all set to celebrate! We are throwing him a small party tonight and serving beef Bourbon stew (in honor of his Old Kentucky Home) and giving him a couple of gifts.  I am aware of the fact that people who have birthday parties for pets are typically perceived as being insane, but that's fine with me. Even my husband told me that buying a cake candle featuring the number one and these party hats was a little crazy.



I still remember waking up in the morning one year ago and finding an email from his breeder in Kentucky featuring 8 little new born Springer Spaniel blobs and one tired looking mommy. Yesterday my husband and I looked through all of William's baby (puppy) pictures trying to figure out which one he was, which is still kind of tough.

Where in the world is William Van Winkle? I think he is the one in the middle, right next to the liver and white puppy near the bottom.


Again, I'm not 100% positive, but I think the picture below is William the day he was born. If it is not William, it is one of his very adorable siblings. It is hard to believe that he was so tinny!


This is William the day we picked him out in Kentucky. At first it was difficult to choose only one from all of the adorable puppies in the litter. With several of these black and white rambunctious puppies running about and tumbling over one another it was like being a lion looking at a herd of zebras; they all start to blend together! Finally we picked William as he was the most devastatingly handsome of all of the very handsome puppies of the litter.

I am not sure William knew quite what to think (as you can tell from his expression), especially on the plane ride home. He slept on my husband's lap the whole ride back to California. He's been a great pal ever since and we hope to have many, many more happy healthy years together!


Friday, March 15, 2013

Wild Horses

Wild horses couldn't drag me away from the following "banter" tee from Anthropologie. I love horses so I couldn't resist them galloping across the navy stripes of this cotton tee. These tees which came in a variety of patterns are no longer available at Anthropologie, but they do have a similar short sleeved version called the "Here and There" tee which is available here. I am in love with all of the cute prints on the summer version including the birds and large Scottie dog. At $48 the price is a little steep, but these usually get reduced. The long sleeved version went on sale for $29 this winter which is a bit more reasonable for what is essentially a T-shirt, albeit a very cute T-shirt.

In addition to the adorable prints and patterns, these tees are great for layering or pairing with a funky necklace. I added this necklace from J. Crew because it has the look of turquoise which I thought was fitting for this slightly Southwest ensemble. I'm now ready to gallop off into the sunset and enjoy a nice long weekend! 




Thursday, March 14, 2013

Popular Pants

Some items released by designers are so popular they just "fly" off the racks. This seemed to be the case with anything and everything in the collection hummingbird floral print at J. Crew. The day these items were released on the J. Crew website almost every piece seemed to sell out within hours. My first choice was to purchase the pencil skirt in the hummingbird print, but this was already sold out in every size when I discovered it. I opted for the silk Cafe Capri pants in the hummingbird print instead, which were rapidly selling out. Luckily I had the coupon for an extra 20% off any purchase which made the price a little more palatable.

Just in case these pop back up on the website and you're curious about sizes, I think these are fairly TTS. I usually size down to a 0 in the Cafe Capri pants, but they didn't have that size left, so I went for the 2 which is my normal size. These seemed to be the right fit, not too tight, but not loose.

I always love to comment on the stories concocted around each print featured at J. Crew. Apparently these pants were based on illustrations from a Time Life nature book. I can definitely see the influence here. My only question is where are the hummingbirds? I was looking very carefully at the details in the print and I see butterflies and parrots, but the hummingbirds are nowhere to be seen. Maybe they flew off the shelves too!




 

 Here's my proof about the print. Below you will see a parrot and a butterfly, but where's the hummingbird?

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Pastel Peplum and Ice Cream Cones

Today was a perfect day for peplum and a scoop of ice cream. While I didn't actually eat any ice cream (although maybe I'll have some later!) I did wear one around my neck. The charm adorning my neck today is part of my Tiffany charm collection. My charm collection usually grows with each new holiday as it is somewhat of a tradition for my husband to buy me one for Christmas or Valentine's Day. I believe he gave me this one for my birthday last year. With all of these charms you would think I would opt to put them on a bracelet, but instead I decided to get a charm bracelet from Fossil and keep these for necklaces to prevent them from being damaged or banged up.

This peplum top from H&M has the perfect pastel colors to match my delicious scoop of ice cream. At $17.95 the top was a great deal, plus I also used a coupon on it for 20% off. I think I've given this tip before, but H&M sends out coupons if you join their mailing list. I guess I saved enough on this top to buy a real ice cream cone! The pastel sweater is also from H&M and I believe it was only $14.95. I always love H&M for trendy items or items in colors that are very "of the moment." My husband thought this top was from J. Crew at first, but upon closer inspection and feeling the fabric he realized it wasn't. That's okay with me, as I think it still looks good, and I don't think anyone else will be touching it except for him!