Wednesday, April 30, 2014

My Blue, Cubist and Impulsive Period

Picasso went through many phases and periods in his long and fruitful career as an artist. It often amazes me that one man could dabble in so many artistic styles and at the same time be so successful at executing them. Anyway, when I saw this skirt, it sort of looked like a wannabe Picasso and perhaps that was why I was so attracted to it. While I can't really afford a Picasso painting, this might just be the next best thing.

The name of the skirt also gives away the inspiration for print: it is the J. Crew collection pencil wrap skirt in Cubist print. I wonder if it is analytical cubism or synthetic cubism, although I'm a little shaky on the differences between the two. It's also pretty heavy on the blues, so it evokes not only thoughts of Cubism, but also Picasso's Blue period. As I am typing this, I realize that this skirt really was a great deal, as it is like a mini-art history lesson that you can wear!




I bought this skirt last month and I was in a little bit of a rush. I knew I wanted the skirt, I saw that they had it in my size, I tried it on and it looked lovely. Check, check and check. So off to the register I rushed with my Cubist masterpiece in hand.

When I wore this skirt for the first time today I realized that although I find the print to be stunning and the fabric to be exquisite (it is a thick, substantial silk), there are some things left to be desired with its construction. If I was a bit more practical, I would have considered these "angles" of my Cubist skirt before making my purchase. 



My major complaint is that this skirt has a zipper and numerous snap buttons down the front.  This causes a few problems. First, it is difficult to sit down in this skirt.  Second, when sitting down the snaps come undone. Third, going to the bathroom is problematic because you have to unsnap the whole thing plus the two clasps in the waistband and then zip the skirt down just the right amount. If you unzip it too far, the skirt completely comes off into one piece of fabric. By the end of the day I finally got this whole procedure down, but perhaps that is too much information.




So, I guess in the long run I have realized that maybe being more careful before purchasing an item of clothing is something to consider. My husband is my foil in this respect. He hems and haws over every purchase, be it a car or a loaf of bread. I criticized him the other day for spending what seemed like an hour in the bread aisle comparing different loaves of bread based on price, weight, calories, ingredients and who knows what else. Perhaps if I had bothered to sit down in this skirt I would have realized the flaws it had. But then again, it is a pretty skirt! I guess my impulsive period isn't just a phase.


Monday, April 28, 2014

Too Many Options

Sometimes, having too many options is a curse rather than a blessing. Yesterday would be a good example of this. Due to circumstances beyond our control, plans for the day fell through and so my husband and I were both left with much of the day free. A blank slate with so many options!

We were able to decide on one thing: to go out to lunch. But it took us about an hour to decide where to go. I guess this is what would be referred to as a "first world dilemma": the burden of where to stuff one's self for lunch. Ultimately, we decided on a Japanese BBQ place, but yet again we were confronted with so many choices as there were over a dozen different cuts of meat to choose from, different sides aplenty, and then there were combinations of sides and meats and desserts if we didn't want to go à la carte. Well, what we ended up ordering turned out to be yummy.


Getting dressed can be sort of the same thing in regard to having too many options. After over two decades of being a fashion connoisseur, I've acquired a lot of stuff. I am rediscovering many items in my wardrobe from past years, but still coveting new ones that are so tempting. When I look in my closets and am confronted with so many options, it tends to be more difficult to decide what to wear than if I just had a few items to select from. Also, I am always baffled when sometimes I get the feeling that I have nothing to wear when, if you did the math, the combinations are endless. How can that be?


I sort of planned what I wore to our impromptu BBQ feast haphazardly. There are definitely some staples that I keep returning to again and again like my Tilda blouse, which is the perfect way to jazz up any sweater in a pinch. I also find that I am wearing these silver (mirror) ballet flats all the time. I am not sure that I will wear them a decade from now, but they are perfectly on trend for this summer. Actually, I had a silver pair of silver Mary Jane flats in high school. Everyone thought they were a bit odd, but I think I rocked them back in the day. Plus, I was years ahead of my time!



I guess even though options might seem like a burden at face value, we are lucky to have so many in our lives.  Deciding such things as what to wear, where to eat, where to live might turn into a melodrama, but at least we have the choice to begin with, and that's all that counts.





Outfit Reflects all J. Crew Choices: 
Sweater: J. Crew Factory "Clare" Sweater
Shirt: J. Crew Tilda
Skirt: J. Crew Postage Stamp Mini in Scattered Dot or "optic dot"
Shoes: J. Crew Mirror Ballet Flat
Bracelet: J. Crew Stacked Stone Bracelet 
Bag: J. Crew Claremont Purse

Friday, April 25, 2014

A Single Pear

My yellow and striped kate spade Barry skirt happens to be one of my favorite purchases from last spring. It seems to go with everything, which is always helpful, but also overwhelming. So many combinations, so little time! Today I just happened to pair it with a pear. It turned out the be a perfect pear pairing. (Puns, puns!)  Anyway, this t-shirt featuring a sequin-clad pear from the J. Crew Factory was just the right compliment to the vibrant yellow and white stripes of my skirt. I am pretty happy with this current incarnation of my skirt and I look forward to many future pairings!

Hope you have a delicious weekend! 










Skirt: Kate Spade Striped "Barry" Skirt  ( at a pretty good price here)
Shirt: J. Crew Factory Sequin Pear Graphic Tee
Sweater: J. Crew "Jackie"
Belt: J. Crew Bow Belt
Shoes: J. Crew Ballet Flat in Burnt Sienna

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Don't Sweat It!

Today's outfit screams out summer and beach inspired attire. I guess it was inspired by wishful thinking! While summer isn't too far off, the days seem to be slowly inching by at a snail's pace. In addition, each day lately seems to bring with it a new set of trials and tribulations, however I have learned that at the end of the day you can't sweat it.  It's wise to just throw your feet up and watch a good movie or TV show, take the dog for a walk, or pour yourself a generous glass of wine to forget about the world and your problems for a while!

Speaking of making yourself comfy and forgetting your problems, my new sweatshirt from The J. Crew Factory is the perfect cozy, security blanket to get though any tedious day. It's been a little cooler lately and this sweatshirt in a neon pink color is the perfect way to be stylish, comfy and cheery all at the same time. Plus it was under $10 after all discounts, so your wallet isn't going to sweat either!










Sweatshirt: J. Crew Factory Garment-Dyed Sweatshirt (here)
Shirt: Forever 21
Skirt: J. Crew No. 2 Pencil Skirt in Neon-Piped Seersucker (similar here)
Shoes: J. Crew Ballet Flats in Mirror
Bag: J. Crew Tartine

Monday, April 21, 2014

Neon and Citrus Trees

For Easter, I decided to go with a neon palette. The overall effect seemed to go over quite well with my family, one family friend even declared that I looked like "Sex in the City". Well, I guess I try to be fashion forward like the ladies on that series, which is one show that I think I've seen in reruns more times than I can count. In an effort to stay fashion forward I must say that I am really loving the midi trend, which seems to be an instant way to make any outfit look over the top chic. I am also liking, as the name of my post suggests, neon colors, but done in a slightly softer palette than years past.

I think I have mentioned this before, but I'll mention it again: certain members of my family keep telling me that I should take pictures of all of my outfits. They remind me of this during numerous family get togethers.  (They don't know I have a blog, and I'm not sure they know what a blog is!) I always just smile and my husband does too, knowing it's sort of little secret of mine. Blogging is sort of my secret little world, with my secret alter ego.


Speaking of secret worlds, the back yard of my in-laws' house is like its own little citrus world. We have citrus trees in our back yard too, but not to the extent that they do. It's always nice because we don't have to buy orange juice (even though I get lazy and do) or lemons for garnish and recipes. It also makes for some nice blog photos - discrete blog photos that no one is aware of!






I am trying a new look, the "I am looking down at my feet in a nonchalant way like I don't care that I am being photographed look." At least that is what I call it. Blogging has also made me think more about how to pose when being photographed, which is actually something, ironically, I have always loathed. 


Top: H&M
Skirt: ASOS Midi Skirt in Bright Jaquard Here
Shoes: J. Crew Lillian Mirror Low Wedge in Metallic Silver here
Bag: J. Crew Edie in Lilac 
Sunglasses: Ray-Ban

Sunday, April 20, 2014

Eggcellent!

Last night, like the dork I am, I busied myself by hard boiling eggs and dyeing them in festive Easter hues. My husband and his family always dyes eggs in single colors, but since meeting me I think they have become enamored with my more colorful and artistic approach to this task. (Or at least they pretend to like them.) Below are a few pictures of the fruits of my labor for you to enjoy in celebration of Easter.

Whatever you may be doing on this Easter Sunday I hope it is superb! In fact I hope it is eggcellent! Personally, I am looking forward to our annual Easter Egg hunt, which I always win. Wish me luck!










Saturday, April 19, 2014

Sippin' on Gin and Juice...

Gin is probably my favorite spirit, which is why I am pretty sure I am the reincarnate of a flapper from the 1920s. Nothing beats a good gin martini or my personal favorite, a gin and tonic with just a touch of lime. Gin was originally incorporated into various mixed drinks as a result of Prohibition. Some of the gin produced illegally during this period was known as "bathtub gin" because it was literally made in a person's bathtub. This gin was so bad that it simply needed to be mixed with other ingredients in order to be palatable. Well, flash forward to almost a century later and we are still enjoying these cocktails today (thankfully with much better gin) along with other new ones. In fact, we are in the midst of a resurgence in Prohibition era cocktails, thus reviving the Roaring 20s for all to enjoy. And then you just have Snoop Dogg who famously sang about mixing gin with juice in the 90s, which always left me wondering: what juice is best paired with gin?

So why all the talk about gin?  Well, one of our favorite restaurants, The Raymond, was hosting a gin cocktail class sponsored by one of our favorite gins, the deliciously eccentric Hendrick's, which is one of the few Scottish gins. Since the class was complimentary (free drinks and appetizers!), I had to attend.  I love free things. I love gin. Need I say more?


I decided to dress up for the occasion, although this proved to be a mistake as I will explain later. The Raymond restaurant in Pasadena has sort of a cool retro bar called 1886 (pictured below) and I thought it would be nice to dress up with a touch of vintage flair. I wore my new Sunburst skirt from J. Crew and a pair of polka dot kate spade heels.






1886 Bar at the Raymond


A view from the bar looking out at the patio in the back of the restaurant


My sweater (it was California cool that day) from Orla Kiely features sprightly dancing ladies in an endless line. I received many comments on my outfit, likening me to a ballerina, which I guess was sort of the look I was going for in addition to the whole vintage thing. I thought I might do a little dancing too after a cocktail or two. Below you will witness my fun, unusual and very delicious experience at the Hendrick's cocktail class.


First we checked into the Hendrick's Cocktail Academy. They made quite a production of the whole thing and had a fairly elaborate setup for the event. Hendrick's doesn't need to win me over as a customer because I have loved their gin for years, but it's nice that they wanted to put on a show to promote their product.


Next we traveled down the brick path that led straight to the appetizers and cocktails. 


Ah... a nice gin and tonic with a slice of cucumber waiting for me at the end. Hendrick's gin is unique because it is infused with cucumber and rose, which gives it a really distinctive flavor.
 


After enjoying some appetizers and my gin and tonic we were led to the cocktail making station, stocked with everything one might need to construct a refreshing gin drink: simple syrup, tea, club soda, ice, blood orange liquor, Lillet, bitters, lemons and cucumbers to compliment the flavors in Hendrick's.



So this might look like a blissful scene with the pretty and cheerful lemons, however the lemons turned out to be fatal to my outfit. Our host instructed everyone on how to properly use the lemon squeezer and I was thinking to myself that something would go wrong. Well, it did. The couple next to us was, to put it mildly, sauced. All of a sudden I felt a sting in my eye and then lemon juice dripping all over my face, sweater and skirt. Luckily, nothing stained and the host moved us and asked the sauced couple to leave.



My favorite of the three cocktails we made was the punch. They actually brought out a whole punch bowl with a gigantic block of ice! My husband and I had the whole punch bowl to ourselves, thankfully, but we didn't drink it all, because if we did, we would definitely have ended up on the floor!


Below you will see the three drinks that we ended up concocting. They were yummy and very refreshing, prefect for relaxing in the back yard this summer or for a BBQ. As for the punch, this might be the perfect solution to holiday parties and family get togethers in the future. I will definitely have to recreate these at home, plus a bunch more thanks to a gin recipe book Hendrick's gave us. This would, of course, be minus the rather amorous, sauced couple getting lemon juice all over my outfit!


Skirt: J. Crew Sunburst Skirt in here 
Sweater: Orla Kiely De Moda Cardigan from Anthropologie 
  Shirt: H&M
Shoes: Kate Spade Polka Dot Pumps 
Bag: Hollywould for Target
Sunglasses: Marc Jacobs