A Belated Halloween

When it comes to holidays I am essentially a creature of habit. I like to do the same things I did when I was a kid. This is especially true with Halloween. My rituals include buying a pumpkin to carve, roasting pumpkin seeds, and watching It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown on TV. The only thing that has changed drastically is that  instead of dressing up in a costume I usually just dress up my dog William instead.

I was planning a cool Halloween outfit of orange and black to wear to celebrate the holiday, but since I was sick I was home all day in sweatpants trying to get my voice back after suffering from laryngitis. Actually, this worked out rather well as I enjoyed all of the Halloween pageantry of daytime TV. This included watching a spooky The Price is Right with Drew Carey as "Drewcula" and the cast of The Chew parading around as The Spice Girls.

Below you will find some of the highlights of the holiday which I thoroughly enjoyed even though I was sick.

The above is one of the lawn decorations of our neighbors. I spied it when we were walking William yesterday and it reminded me so much of my new favorite show American Horror: Coven. To be honest I can't stand the opening credits of the show with all of the weird witches and creatures dancing around, but I am addicted to the "supreme" drama of it all!

This was the end result of my pumpkin carving endeavor. I tried to experiment with a face that I found on Martha Stewart's website and the end result looks a little strange.

William was both a frog and the devil for Halloween thanks to the cheap costumes at Petco. This year it was very difficult to get William to stand still for an extended period of time due to the fact that he was tracking something in our backyard. In the one picture he admittedly looks a bit insane and possessed which I guess is fitting given the circumstances. The last shot is clearly an action shot but I just thought it looked kind of cool, almost like a painting, which is why I am including it.

Last of all are my pumpkin seeds. If you carved a pumpkin I highly recommend making use of the seeds and turning them into a tasty snack. My recipe is very simple. First, combine the seeds of one pumpkin with two tablespoons of butter. Then add salt, paprika and a little garlic powder to taste. Heat in an oven at 300 degrees for 45 minutes until golden brown and eat while hot.

Hope you all had a great Halloween! What are your "rituals" to celebrate this ghoulish holiday?

Bargain Basement

Over the weekend I was overwhelmed by all the bargains to be had, be it for humans or pets. Yesterday, I made a quick sojourn to the nearest outlet mall to return some shoes for my husband at the Off Saks Outlet. While returning the shoes and using the return to justify buying a few goodies for myself, I popped into the Neiman Marcus Last Call outlet only to discover that they had an endless sea of designer shoes. While these shoes included Chanel, Louboutin, Prada and Miu Miu just to name a few favorites, it was easy to see why many of the shoes were on clearance. For example, I spied these spiky Louboutins which I stabbed myself on (I actually did yell out "ouch!" when I tried to pick them up) and a pair of Charlotte Olympia pumps which could easily be mistaken for a Macaw.

A few pairs did pique my interest from this sale and would have found their way home with me if they were not either in ridiculously small or large sizes. They had a gorgeous pair of Valentino Rockstud flats in some sort of stingray looking material and a few of these fun summery Miu Miu smoking slipper from last spring. Each pair would have been around $200 give or take a few bucks. If you have a Neiman Marcus Last Call outlet close by I would just check it out to see if you find a pair of stellar shoes in your size. They did have a purple suede pair of Manolo Blahnik pumps in my size which I passed up because I have a similar J. Crew pair.

Moving on to bargains for the four legged friends. William was nearing the end of his dog food so this Friday after work I went to Petco to buy him some of his favorite food, the Blue Buffalo Wilderness food for "active" dogs. My husband gave me explicit instructions not to buy any toys or Halloween costumes for William (I love to spoil him!) because he destroys toys quickly and we already have a box of pet costumes which, thanks to me, grows every holiday. Well at 75% off I couldn't help myself and I bought William both a toy and two costumes! The pet costumes featured below were  just under $5. Hopefully I will reveal William's costume(s) this Thursday for Halloween on my blog and you will see that the the $10 was well spent.

I also really wanted to go home with the turtle featured below, which looked like he passed out drunk in his dish after a long night of partying. When I was a child I was upset that my parents would not let me have a turtle as a pet. If I had my way I would have had a menagerie of every animal under the sun growing up. Still, I think this little guy would be a great companion for William. He appears to be super mellow while William is high strung, so they'd make the perfect pair!

Did you get any great bargains over the weekend or, like Mr. Turtle here, did you resort to just taking it easy?

Crazy, Comfy, Cool

Is it just me or do the weekends seem to fly by while the work week drags on endlessly? I sense that it is human nature to perceive time this way, but lately it feels like each week drags on longer than the previous one. Anyhow,  I wore the following outfit this weekend which was comfy and cozy all rolled into one. I love the oxymoronic idea of all the fancy sweatshirts this season. I don't know when we will be sick of them, but it's pretty ingenious to have a sweatshirt that is comfy, yet also has a collar and embellishment so that you look just a tad fancy and sophisticated. It's crazy, but it works!

This sweater/sweatshirt is from the LOFT and I think I am going to be living in it this season. I know the market is flooded right now with these bedazzled versions of casual wear, but I say keep them coming! Even though I am pairing it today with jeans I can easily see the sweatshirt working with dress pants or a skirt. For sizing references I took an xs in this particular jeweled collar sweatshirt from LOFT which was the perfect fit. It's no longer available on the website, but if you see it in the store I would snag it.

 

Keeping with my theme of comfort I also wore for the first time my Simply Vera Wang smoking slippers from Kohl's. I was a little skeptical about how comfortable these shoes would be, but they literally felt like wearing your most comfy slippers around all day. I think I paid around $25 for these or less (I used one of those Kohl's Cash coupons), so they were definitely a bargain and will also be getting plenty of rotation in my wardrobe this season.

Sweater/Sweatshirt: Ann Taylor LOFT Jeweled Collar Cotton Sweatshirt here

Jeans: Old Navy "Rock Star" Zip Ankle Skinny Jeans 

Shoes: Simply Vera Wang for Kohl's here

Bracelets: J. Crew Factory Square Stone Bracelet here and Forever 21

Musings on Mustard

I'm not a fan of mustard as a condiment, but in my wardrobe a little adds just the right amount of flavor. The great thing about mustard is that it looks so striking with purple, navy and turquoise which I experiment with in today's outfit. I hope the colors in the photos don't look too "grainy" but I am waiting for my new camera to arrive from Amazon and the iPhone is all I have to go by.

My mustard dress is from a British company named Joules. I knew I was going to love whatever Joules had to sell just from the cover of their catalog which features horses and riders on a fox hunt. I am still essentially a girl who loves horses and anything featuring horses, like most girls do growing up. Believe it or not I've actually participated in a fox hunt. (No foxes were hurt though in case you were concerned.) Anyway, inside, the catalog features preppy, colorful clothing much of which is equestrian themed. The colors of this dress caught my eye and with discount code TWEED I scored it for an extra 15% off and free shipping. (Plus a few other British goodies!)

Today proved to be somewhat cool and overcast, so it was the first time this fall for me to break out the boots and tights. I can't describe how much I love wearing boots and tights! I hope to have more cool days ahead so I can continue to pile on the layers. 

Last of all I accessorized with a pencil necklace from Kate Spade and a pop of turquoise in my new J. Crew factory bracelet which I bought when it was 50% off plus a coupon for another 20% off, bringing it down to an amazing $12 and some change.

Dress: Joules Caramel Bird Leila Dress here

Boots: Christian Louboutin 

Pencil Necklace: Kate Spade

Bracelet: J. Crew Factory Hexagon Bracelet here

Bows on the Brain

I've searched high and low for the perfect gold "costume" watch over the last few months. I thought the Kate Spade Carlyle Bow watch would be an ideal choice as it's gold, it looks more like a bracelet than a watch and of course it has an adorable bow! The bow was really the major selling point for me as you can tell. When I saw that Kate Spade was having a "Friends and Family" sale this weekend I decided it was now or never to buy the watch, as it probably wouldn't get any cheaper. So off I marched to Kate Spade to make my purchase. I was happy that this watch was all I walked away with as so many other temptations were also calling my name at Kate Spade.

All in all I am very happy with my purchase which I wore for the first time today. After taking five links out it fits perfectly. One thing that I wasn't anticipating was that they take the links out of the watches at Kate Spade for you. I was prepared to take my purchases to the watch store nearby, but luckily this was one stop shopping. Overall,  I think this watch will be a nice addition to my wardrobe and will get a lot of use when I wear gold toned jewelery.

While the necklace featured below is not Kate Spade, it does look exactly like one of her designs for this season. The Kate Spade version of this necklace retails for $98, but the Forever 21 version is a mere $6.80 (available here). For the price difference and a scant quality difference as far as my eye can see, I am very happy with the Forever 21 version. The Forever 21 version comes in black, pink and mint so you can buy all three for way less than one Kate Spade necklace.  I wore my bow necklace together with my watch which just goes to show I definitely have bows on the brain!

Watch: Kate Spade Carlyle Watch

Necklace: Forever 21

Shirt: Merona/Target 

A Study in Black and White

I'm starting to notice a pattern and the pattern indicates I like black and white and especially houndstooth. Since I don't have a camera,  I am relying on my iPhone for pictures. I just discovered the picstitch app on my phone and I have been using it to create photo montages .

On a somewhat related note, the person who broke into our house was caught and the police did recover our camera, but nothing else at this point. The camera, much to my surprise, contained pictures of the thief engaged in many nefarious acts. Hopefully when the detectives are done with the case and the camera it will be brought back, although quite frankly I think I am ready for a new one. I needed a new camera anyway so this robbery will serve as the impetus to go camera shopping sometime in the near future.

Getting back to my study in black and white, here are some of my most resent houndstooth acquisitions over the last couple of months. I love that for fall so many classics such as houndstooth are in abundance. One can never have too many hounds! Here are my selections which I hope to feature in more detail later on in by blog: 

Houndstooth-a-palooza:

1.  Rain Boots: Sperry Top-Sider Pelican Too in Houndstooth $39.99 (Found at Nordstrom Rack but also available here)

2. Skirt: J. Crew Factory Leather-Trim Skirt $79.99 (here)

3. Shoes: Houndstooth Flats from Marshall's $19.99

4. Blazer: Houndstooth Merona Oxford Blazer $34.99 (here)

While I might enjoy taking photos of my fashion, houndstooth or otherwise, my favorite subject is most certainly William. He is naturally black and white so that's just perfect for me. William also looks great in every picture as he is also naturally photogenic. I wish I could say that about myself! 

The Grid

Ron Swanson is one of my favorite characters on one of my favorite TV series, Parks and Recreation. In last week's episode, in an effort to prevent the government and people from tracking his every move, Ron commits to what's known as "getting off the grid". To accomplish this he destroys all credit cards, cancels all email accounts and phones, and even attempts to buy a mobile home with cash so that he can live wherever he pleases with no traceable address. Getting off the grid sure would be nice, given the hectic nature of life, but I sense that I wouldn't be too happy this way for too long.

These pictures were taken last week before my camera was stolen and I never got around to publishing them. Now more than ever I would like to get off of the grid, but I thought continuing to publish my blog would be somewhat cathartic. Anyway, this blouse featuring a grid pattern is from Target. Is it just me or is the stuff from Target really spot on this fall? I think they are really nailing many of the trends for the season at price points that are wallet friendly. Now that I am saving up to buy back a couple key items that were stolen, I can use all of the wallet friendly help I can find! 

Top: Target/Merona (here)

Skirt: J. Crew Striped pencil Skirt

Belt: Kate Spade (sim here)

Shoes: Nine West

Sweater: J. Crew Jackie

A Farewell to the Items that Were Stolen "Shopped" From My Closet

“The moment the idea is admitted into society that property is not as sacred as the laws of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence.  If ‘Thou shalt not covet’ and ‘Thou shalt not steal’ were not commandments of Heaven, they must be made inviolable precepts in every society before it can be civilized or made free.” –John Adams, A Defense of the American Constitutions, 1787

This week our home was broken into. This is the second time that something like this has happened to me (the other time was when I was living in NYC), and it never gets easier. While I am infinitely grateful that no one was hurt, including William (who didn't exactly do a great job as a watch dog, as he soiled himself in the house from fear, apparently), I can't help but to feel violated and enraged. The anger stems from the fact that what was stolen can't all be replaced and what was stolen represents much of my hard work and time. (See the above quote from John Adams.)

Despite my mixed emotions, the other thing I will have to say is that things could have been exponentially worse in terms of items stolen. It was very apparent that one of the thieves was female, as she was quite selective when going through my closet. The other good news was that this woman apparently has never heard of Chanel, Hermes or Louis Vuitton, which I find surprising because these companies spend most of the money I spend on their items into advertising. 

Well, in order to help with the grieving process, here are the things that Hello Katie has lost, probably forever, although I am feverishly attempting to track them down as best I can via eBay and other sources.

My Prada Car clutch is probably the one item I am most upset about, mainly due to the fact that it was rare and I have no idea where to find a new one. If you have any leads, please let me know!

My Prada Saffiano tote and matching bunny charm also were stolen. In fact these are the first things I noticed missing as it created a big hole in my closet. (Apparently this person liked Prada, but now I've gone from Prada to nada.) The good news about this is that they still have it available, so it can be replaced.

I am scratching my head over why, instead of taking the other bags I had, this person decided to go for some cheaper J. Crew bags, including the clutches shown here and one Edie bag. Also, I had a Casablanca blue Edie bag next to the Hyacinth one, and I guess she had a liking towards purple, as she left the blue one behind. Purple is my favorite color too, so I guess we have that in common!

Clearly this thief needed some accessories to match her (MY!) bags, so she helped herself to my Louis Vuitton twilly/scarf, but not my Hermes twillies. She also took three pairs of sunglasses, including the ones pictured above. A funny thing is that she took the Ray Bans that I replaced when William ate them, and then I went out today and found the same Ray Bans at the Saks outlet. I have bought the same pair of sunglasses 3 times now! Maybe the third time is the charm?

While these pictures do not encompass all of the things stolen, these are most of the fashion related items, as well as the camera I use to take blog pics of yours truly. On a humorous note, above are some of the random things also taken: a bottle of Patron Añejo Tequila and my hello Kitty first aid kit. I bought two first aid kits from the 99 cent store because they were so awesome and the thief helped herself to one, but left me the other! Well, I guess that was kind of her. Oh, and there is another thing we have in common, a love of Hello Kitty. If she were not a thief I would say we should hang out sometime.

Lusting for Leopard

Who can say where my recent craving for a pair of leopard print smoking slippers/loafers originated from? Perhaps the desire was born somewhere in my subconscious. (Where is Freud when you need him?) But who knows? One day I just found myself desiring a pair of fierce leopard flats and justified my future purchase with the thought of adding an essential basic to my burgeoning collection of shoes.

I thought I would be able to satiate my appetite for leopard with the following loafers featured below. These bowtie loafers are from Anthropologie, but sold out even in pre-order from their website, so I opted to purchase directly from the shoe company's website, Maraisus.com. Thinking I got a good deal by not paying tax or shipping I was soon disappointed upon unleashing these leopards from their cage (box) when they arrived at my doorstep. Are they super cute? Yes! Leopard print with a satin bows? Awesome! But despite the cute exterior of these flats, like a baby leopard with its big eyes and unassuming grin, they are not what they appear.

These bowtie loafers from Marais US  ended up being way too small in my regular size and I suspect if I did size up, judging from the stiff material and sole, they would be massively uncomfortable.  As a result these shoes are now packed up and ready to be shipped out tomorrow. 

Now I am on the hunt again.  Below are the "victims" I am considering. The nice thing is unlike my Marais US shoes, these shoes are all made in Italy. I am pretty sure that I am not going to pop for the Louboutin's or Prada's this time around unless they go on sale because I'm not sure how long my leopard lust is going to last, but what do you think? Are there any other leopard slippers or flats on your radar that I should know about?

"50 Shades" of Leopard featured from top to bottom:

1. Christian Louboutin Gine Leopard Print Slippers

2. Prada Leopard Calf Hair and Bow Smoking Slipper

3. J. Crew Collection Darby Calf Hair Loafers

4. Club Monaco Mackenzie Leopard Slipper

Parisian Details

What's more Parisian, not to mention evocative of mimes, than black and white stripes? Add a pleated skirt with some skunks and a Hermes inspired cuff and you're all set to jet off to France. I was thinking or shall I say salivating over the thought of taking another trip to France during our most recent wine tasting class in which the instructor detailed some delectable places to dine in the countryside. It's been a while since I last visited Paris, but I sure would love to go back now that my palette has "matured" and I've come to appreciate more diverse types of food. I've transformed from a scared caterpillar into a culinary butterfly.

Getting back to the Parisian details, the shirt and cuff I am featuring in today's post were both recent acquisitions to my wardrobe. This weekend, lured in by Ann Taylor's LOFT promotion of 40% off everything, I discovered this shirt along with a few other goodies that will have to wait for cooler weather. On my way out of the mall I happened upon this cuff at Nordstrom. It's a dead ringer for Hermes and although the quality is not the same, at the sale price of $4.95 I couldn't say no. This cuff ranked high on the "detested by husband scale" which I think is the new way I am going to rate my accessories!

Below you will find some close ups of the details including the Hermes inspired cuff (sure to garner grimaces from husband and probably most men who are not in punk rock bands), the embroidery of my shirt, and my patent wedges.

Skirt: J. Crew Collection Little Skunks Skirt

Shirt: LOFT

Belt: J. Crew

Cuff/Bracelet: Nordstroms 

Shoes: Marshall's - Schutz