Friday, January 29, 2010

What do we think of this?

Perusing the new arrivals at J.Crew online, I have come across this. No, I am not dating the piece. I'm wondering how wearable this is. I am partial to the Jersey Lomelina boy shorts they are showing, or the French Sailor maillot, realistically speaking. But I keep looking at these, which J.Crew says was inspired by bloomers.

I have to get ready for work, and fix up my baby boy with some breakfast, but I had to drop a line say WTF. Because part of me wishes I was uber skinny enough to pull off a look like this. That's the fashion forward side of me. & the other side is in a conundrum of wearability questions. It's like a catch-22: If you are bottom heavy, you will be attracted to this, because it covers well (obviously). But I think it will look better on a rail thin body, like the model's. The issue is that if you are rail thin, would you wear this? Or would you be in your typical 2 piece, showing off what your momma gave ya?

Just some thoughts for an early Friday morning.

Have a great one, ladies!

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Grrr, Baby, Very Grrr.

What does it say about you, or moi, in this case, that I would prefer to present my OOTD in a blur, rather than clear and crisp? Oh the deep intonations, ladies. I think now that my certification exams are done **crosses fingers and toes** I've gone off the deep end with nothing else to ponder except IRL pics.

Artistic Expression? Or just can't focus the camera before a full cup of coffee? Your guess.

Wearing Today:
Head to Toe J.Crew... Surprise Surprise!
Jackie Cardigan in Champagne
Studded Skinny Belt in that cross between lilac and blush pink that came out recently over the winter roll-out.
Watercolor Leopard Dress ...
A jumble of bangles.. all J.Crew
& the BUG PIN from Fall 08

Ladies, I love me the Bug Pin. I don't wear it often, but I think it is so odd that I simply can't help myself. In a world where we all take ourselves so seriously, I look down at my little bug and think how fabilis it is to have some whimsy in my life. Even if it is in the form of a goofy, ill-sewn and falling apart bug pin.

& while we are talking about bugs, I have to digress onto animal prints. I was never an animal print type of gal. I like my solid colors. I like to play it safe. The only other real "print" I have is the J.Crew Collection Serengeti dress from Fall 08. But this dress is such a cool bunch of shades of purple, I just had to have it. & the material is something so different. It's very structured, which is interesting because the color and the look is so girly. See it reviewed by Dina at My Superfluities.

Closeup of the details - belt, bug, and bangles

Shoes: Charlie Ruffled Heels, J.Crew

Last but not least, I received a wonderful birthday present from my girl Soraya, at The Outfit of the Day. I don't know about you all, but I love stationary. I am a paper ho, if you will. You give me some good paper products and I'll love you long time. In this digital day and age, loving paper is a dying art, I think. Well, I digress. My gift was comprised of note cards from The English Tea Paperie, set with a gorgeous heel and my name at the center. Check out her wonderful blog and see what she has to offer because I can tell you first-hand this made my day. They are gorgeous! On top of that, TOOTD hooked me up with a sweet little Coach wristlet and a book, A Guide to Elegance, in my favorite color, Tiffany Blue. The wristlet will work miracles for moi, who is always traipsing around with my iPod Touch, keys, money, and ID Cards - this is a perfect solution - and the book is something I can't wait to crack open on a lazy Saturday on my deck with a glass of white wine.

What a wonderful finish to my exam day.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Things I Miss About Europe...

Peeps, I say, why study for my certification exam tomorrow when I can procrastinate for fifteen minutes and write this post instead?? Isn't that a good use of my time? To that I lift my cup of Jasmine Tea and say, "Heck, yes!"

No, I don't miss street vendors. But I do miss Paris. & who woulda thunk it. Paris didn't exactly rub me right. It wasn't love at first sight for me the way Rome was. But as I sit here, with hair washed clean with leftover shampoo from the french pharmacy down the street from our little rented apartment, I feel the need to indulge myself in a little list of what I miss about the City of Lights.

1. French pharmacies and their products. OMG. Why even trudge to Sephora when the pharmacy a five-minute walk away holds heavenly products.

2. The boulangerie's daily dose of baguettes and the little grocery stores with their "gourmet" foods. Mais bien sur, the little french grocer on the corner is an American food snob's delight. & I'm not a cook, but I know what's good and I can eat. I miss the greek yogurt, the prosciutto, and everything else in between that was priced so well and tasted so good.

3. The wine bottles for 100 Euro. Yeah, it roughly equates to Two-Buck-Chuck from Trader Joe's. But seriously, I've paid more here for worse rot-gut here. I'm an Italian vino type of gal and can't tell you diddly about French wines anyway. For 100 Euros, I had my fill.

Now...for what I miss about my short stay in Rome.

1. The color of the sky. It was gorgeously clear and blue, with the whitest clouds. I'll never forget it.

2. The streets and the sites. The amount of history that is packed in here is amazing. & life just seems to still go on around it all.

3. The coffee, the wine, the food... need I go on? I ate and drank my way through Rome. I loved the breakfasts, the lunches and the dinners. I was on a permanent Lavazza high, for sheezy.

4. The cobblestones. I hated them and totally cursed them out as I rolled my suitcase over them. Or should I say as I attempted to roll my suit case. Roll-y suitcases don't do well on stones. But at night when the sun has gone down and you're walking along the cobblestones, you can't help but get all romantic about who's walked there before you.

Well, that's my thoughts for tonight. I need to go back to studying now. Yuck.

I've left it a month ago and I'm ready to go back!

Thursday, January 21, 2010

The Case for the Pop-Back Dress

Apologies up front for the blurry photo or two, folks. I used the little Exilim this morning and sometimes that's what I get out of it. I was just too excited to show you the Golden Roses flannel dress I got as a pop-back in FS a few weeks ago. For $59, this dress is a winner (It's currently on eBay for $75-$135). I always feel triumphant in this crazy way when I get a) a pop-back from a previous rollout and b) when it's totally on sale. Why is that? It makes the dress even that more special. It was not offered in my usual size but I remembered from a past purchase last year that anything bought in that heavier flannel should probably be bought sized up. I was thinking this may be too large, but after trying it on I have to say I was pleasantly surprised that the fit was nice, and then I was disgusted that the fit was nice and the size was larger than usual.


I hadn't thought about buying this dress when it was originally offered. This was the dress where the model looks positively emaciated in the photos, and at the time it gave me the impression that I too must be emaciated to fit into it. The silk top part of the dress is very nice and I like how the grey calms down the yellow (because y'all know I fear color and like to live with my neutrals).


I paired the dress with the grey bubble necklace. It is a little much but the bubbles tend to just kind of settle into place against the golden roses / grey background.


I ended up wearing the pewter tartine cardigan with it to work. In my office there is a lot of face time with senior management and one doesn't attempt to do that with bare arms. Alas for that, ladies, because I didn't want to hide the golden roses print. Watch out eBay... I'll be looking for other pieces.


Last but not least, I ordered the Charlie ruffled suede heels with the dress. These werewaaaayyyy marked down and they are so cute. I was very excited to get them. In this order I also got the Tuxedo jacket and the short shearling chalet boots, which I'll share in an upcoming post.


Happy Hump Day, Ladies! It's a short week and it's almost over!

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Spring has Sprung!

Our weather has somehow swung 20 degrees from last week. I went from wearing a coat to work (lows in the 40's and highs in the 50's) with tons of tights and black, black, black - to today's glorious high of 72 and some nice breezes. Okinawa's cherry blossoms bloom pretty early because of our sub-tropical climate and combined with the beautiful weather I was ready to dress all spring-like.

Ignore the Pirate Eye. I'm ordering a remote, finally! I'll actually have a tripod and a little clicker so I take some decent photos.

No tights today! Finally!

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Sunday is for perusing Anthropologie.

A hazy ring I like to call Sunday Perfection surrounds me, peeps (or is that my margarita? I'll never know). Under the influence of too many episodes of The Real Housewives of NYC and its homegirl, Bethany Frankel, I spent the afternoon with Skinny Girl Margaritas and some of my pico de gallo outside on the deck, enjoying the breeze and the sunlight. Knowing I don't have to work tomorrow just indulges my laziness further than it has to go. Hubs hung around the house engulfed in the male soap opera otherwise known as professional football while the baby and I simply enjoyed shooting the breeze.

Pictured:
Pico de Gallo , a fabilis bunch of chips and a Li Hing Margarita. The Li Hing flavoring gives the margarita its orange color.

What's that, you ask? Li Hing Mui is a salty, dried plum from China that is extremely popular in Hawaii amongst everyone. It is salty, but sweet, tangy and very tasty. It's one of those "acquired taste" things where you get it if you're from there but if you're not, it can be a little bit of a transition. The point of all of this is that Li Hing Mui, with its sweet saltiness goes perfect with tequila. In Hawaii, it's perfectly common to find tequila bottles filled with dried, salty, preserved plums. & perfectly commonplace to find Li Hing Margaritas. If you are in Hawaii and are feeling daring, order one anywhere. You will not be sorry.

The view from our little deck . A park next door and the beach across the street.

As a by-product of being under the influence, I answered the siren song from Anthro. Anthropologie was calling my name. I found a few pieces that are now coming home to Momma.



Let me tell you, peeps, I've been such a good girl so far, completely ignoring the 20% off FS at J.Crew and being ultra-good. But the green Emerald Cascade Blouse had me at hello. It was just too cute to give up. I love the cowl neckline and the color. It will look adorable under a black cardi until its warm enough to wear on its own. With pants ofcourse.

The Bouquet of Stripes tee was inspired by an outfit I saw in Paris over Christmas. A popular dress while I was there was an American Apparel t-shirt dress with navy and white stripes. It was a simple, 3/4 sleeve piece that was worn with a red coat over it, black tights and boots. It was nautical, preppy, a little bit edgy (with the boots and tights), and in all, tres chic. Thus seeing this tee, I'm inspired to wear it with a long navy cardigan I picked up from J.Crew last year. I'll wear with the dark toothpick ankle jeans, my Tory Burch black Revas and perhaps cinched with a belt at the waist. The piece is basic enough to dress up and I think I'll get a lot of wear out of it. All in all, worth the price point. & I couldn't resist the red color.

There are a lot of pieces at Anthro that I'm loving right now. The soft edginess they have going on --- loving it.

Saturday, January 16, 2010

A Quiet Day at Home. Finally!

I have nothing going on today, ladies. Nothing at all. It's a little bit on the chilly side for our little dot on the map - a bitter 60 degrees or so, he he - but the sun has been out and it's finally not raining.
I plan to do nothing today except drink some fabilis Mariage Freres tea I brought back from Paris (Vert Provence - heavenly), read my paperback book (Julie and Julia), and hang out with my little guy.
Here a few shots of the lazy day we're reveling in. Enjoying our deck and comfy chairs in some hoodies and sweat pants, watching dvd after dvd. I don't want this day to end! It's going so well and feels so good!