Photo spam

As promised, here is a random photo spam to tide you over while I think up some new content. This is for Lorena, Shelley and Diana, who could not conceive of ice and snow on a beach. The series of photos was taken in Wilmette Illinois back in 2007, during a particularly brutal winter. At one point, Lake Michigan practically resembles an alien planet.

January 16
 

January 21, after a snow storm


January 26


February 7


February 21, after another storm


March 5


The next photo spam will be warmer and prettier, promise!

Birthday trip recap, Part 1

The end of my birthday staycation was so great, I have been in denial all this week that is over. Ha!

The trip to New Buffalo was fantastic, exactly the break I needed. We stayed in the Four Winds casino hotel, which is done in a wooden beam/cozy furniture style. Very pretty!





Hubby joined me on Wednesday night, my actual birthday. We had cocktails at the martini bar in the casino, then a late dinner at the steakhouse.



I do love a good dirty martini; they gave me extra stuffed olives for my birthday. Yum!
I was also excited because my Christmas jacket from my mom got a good wearing again; the silky fabric with the lacy pattern is just perfect for a night out.



And look, Rose! Turns out I actually don't need an evening clutch -- I totally forgot I had this one from White House/Black Market -- another Christmas gift from my mom during our trip to Vegas a couple years back. It's got all the style elements I love in a clutch -- it's quilted, studded, sparkly material without being made of spangles, and is big enough to hold a wallet, phone, lipstick and even keys.

Hubby left the next day and went to work, while I drove around exploring my favorites spots in the area. First up was the New Buffalo beach. Beaches in winter are lovely, lovely places -- bleak and empty, with sharp contrasts in the elements and colors.



The parking lot is never empty in the summer.



Red beams on the benches are more eye-catching than usual.



Not a lot of humans, but the birds leave their mark.





The lighthouse stands tall, waiting for the summer visitors to return.



Hard to believe it's 30 degrees out looking at this view, isn't it?



I always wonder what they do to keep the sand from moving too much in the storms. Looks like they use a series of temporary fences.



Ice chunks line the edge of the water.






After that, I headed over to Sawyer for my long-awaited lunch. The Greenbush Brewery is well worth a stop if you are in that area. The beers are pretty good, but OMG the food is outstanding.




Just look at those options for snacks and soups! Blue cheese and cauliflower, are you kidding me? Bring a vat of that, please!!

I had my trusty Country Ham & Cheese and it was as fantastic as the last time. I cannot believe all the magic happens in that tiny space back behind the braided garlic.



They are expanding the kitchen now during the "slow" season. The place was still pretty full of hipsters, even for a random Thursday in March.



It's like Cheers, if Cliff Clavin owned a laptop. ;-D

Of course my next stop was right next door, to the Sawyer Garden Center. But this post is already pretty long so I will leave that for my next entry. I will give a sneak peek of some of the delights they had there: shamrocks!



P.S. Happy belated St. Patrick's Day!

Part 2 coming tomorrow. Promise.

Goldilocks

You guys, I am absolutely LOVING my wardrobe these days. I had no idea that getting rid of the clutter, allowing myself to routinely weed out items that aren't working, and cutting back on the shopping would be so darned freeing. Instead of constantly trying to outdo myself in terms of being fashion-foward, I am finding it is more satisfying to find ways to wear what I already have.

Of course, they don't all work -- at least not when I look at the photos sometimes -- but that too helps further hone my closet.



I liked the idea of this -- two versions of grey with a cobalt blue tee and a scarf for visual interest -- and for the most part it worked. But it's one that when I look at the photo, I realized it didn't. I think it's finally time to concede defeat on these dark grey Gap straight legs; there is just something about the fabric or the color that makes it look frumpy and dated, like they were black and now have faded to this grey. It drives me nuts!



This I liked a little better, even though it is just a whole lot of black. I have two of these "blogger" necklaces, but this cobalt blue one gets almost no wear. (Maybe I should have gotten it in red instead.) I don't have a lot of good contrasting colors for it, so it really only work against black or white. I thought it worked pretty well here, playing on that idea with a patterned B&W tank from Target, black cascading cardigan, and my trusty black Gap modern bootcuts.

This one, from yesterday, was Goldilocks approved, as it was just right.



Also lots of black but it doesn't feel that way. The purple skirt and knit jacket are two purchases from the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale that I have been waiting to wear (patiently, for months!!) and it is finally cold enough to do so. See how the turquoise bloger necklace works just so much better than the cobalt one does? I think it might be just a more flattering color for me.

The top is from Gwynnie Bee, and it might just be the best one I have gotten from them yet. It's a simple INC black knit long sleeve top, but it fits and drapes PERFECTLY. It is the Holy Grail of black tops. I am taking it to Macys tomorrow to see if they still have any in stock; I need to own this to complete so many other looks. Assets tights and my Franco Sarto Deer shooties finish the look.



I had my doubts about that skirt, but now that it is cold enough to wear, I expect it is going to get lots of mileage. It's the first skirt or dress that I have had in a long while that looks good on my dupa.

Coincidentally, I got a couple of questions about that leather-trimmed tweed jacket from my last post; it was also from the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale (and is out of stock now, sorry). It in fact inspired the color combo of this outfit. I may try the skirt and necklace again with the jacket next time!

If you are interested in Gwynnie Bee, anytime during the month of November,  you can sign up for a free 30-day trial. Leave me your email (or email it to me) and I will send you an invite. I really cannot speak more highly of this service. It's rejuvenating my closet!

Fashion Flasher

I still haven't gotten back into the rhythm of daily outfit photos, but I have been trying to do a quick partial shot here or there to at least capture the flavor of what I am wearing.  So here are a few flashes of the last week.



One of the prettiest Gwynnie Bee tops, with a tie-dyed pattern draped cowl that I just adored. I wore this a few times before shipping it back, my favorite being when I wore it on Halloween with this cobalt blazer at work and then with a simple black sweater in the evening to highlight the "spookiness" of the pattern when we took Babyfriend out trick-or-treating. This version was with a short-sleeved royal blue sweater, which worked well with our in-between weather.



Not an outfit, I just thought that was a clever carving. :)



I was undecided about this pattern-mixing so I emailed the photo to my girlfriends and my mom. Mom thought it was chic, but my girlfriends were on the fence, not really being fans of pattern-mixing. But I got their replies too late, and I had decided for myself that I liked it so I wore it anyway. And got a surprising number of compliments!



What made it work for me is that they were all in the same color tone, and because that tone was grey, black and white it allowed for a little more creativity. Plus I just love love love that Target blouse with the buttefly pattern and pussybow. It is the one cheap-fashion shirt I do not regret buying whatsoever.

That said, I tried a more subtle outfit with that jacket later in the week.



Keeping the necklace grey kept it nicely subtle; there's a lot going on with the jacket trim and zippers, so it doesn't look as good if I contrast with a colored top.

So all that ruckus over trying to find the perfect bag for fall? (None of the booties worked so they were returned too.) I walked into the new Michael Kors store at my mall last Friday and fell in love with The One.



Medium sized tote, simple and clean, but with just the right details: a lovely chestnut/luggage color in a just-soft-enough leather, contrasting lighter handles, and best of all two side outside pockets where I can slip my phones in and be able to reach them without having to dig under my arm when the bag is on my shoulder.

So far, it is my one purchase for November. I LOVE LOVE LOVE it. It was already in rotation the next day, and I was ready for the weekend.



The boots and jacket are October purchases. First is a much-needed casual anorak jacket from Old Navy, with a removable lining and is surprisingly well made. Second are a pair of faux-suede nude booties from Target; I had seen them months ago online but since most Target shoes are crazy uncomfortable I resisted. Saw them on clearance in the store last week and gave them a try. They've been worn all day for several days now and are more comfortable than the $200 Munro ones were.

Sometimes cheap fashion is confusing, you guys. Obviously they won't last 4 winters like my Franco Sarto Deers have, but they're a nice addition for this year.

This is what was under my jacket.



Usually with a patterned top like this one (Target, of course), I wear a sweater over it to break it up visually. But since it was Saturday I spent most of the day in my jacket anyway running errands, which served the same purpose.

One of those errands? Getting my hair cut and colored. I went a little dark on the color so it matches better with the silvery-greys that are exponentially sprouting up. (That seems counter-intuitive, but it's true.)

This was how it looked on Sunday.




I went with a Sheila look, a tissue-weight short-sleeved tee over a long-sleeved tee, and added that weird blue-grey jacket I often have trouble working into an outfit. (Told you I was cycling through more unworn items, thanks to the Great Closet Purge.) Comfy and a little tough, I liked it!





Lastly, we get to Monday. The flash was in use outside because it was dark out so my hair already looks blonder again. So weird!






This other Gwynnie Bee top -- a rich pink cowl neck from Tablots -- breathed new life into this striped cascading cardigan from White House Black Market (remember when we bought this in Vegas, Mom?), black Gap straight legs, and my trusty Naturalizer folded cuff booties.

And that's all I got today! Have a lovely Wednesday, my friends. Off to back-to-back meetings, UGH.

My hair is bouncin' and behavin'

I dub Day/Night 1 of the Night-Shower Experiment a success.



All I had to do was brush it in the morning. !! Apparently bed head is a good look for me. I did make one mistake in letting it air dry the first night; it was a little flat on the top of my head, which a good volumizer and a quick blow would have fixed. I will work on that.

I also liked the outfit; the pants are a grey pinstripe, so it's not as all-black as the photo would indicate. You guys know me, I'm not a all-black person so it feels like when I do wear it, it packs a punch. The turquoise Blogger Necklace helps soften it up around my face, too, which I need.

The shoes are Circa Joan & David kitten heels from several years back. Shopping Friend will remember them; they're the first "heels" she convinced me to buy! When the pointy-toe look faded the last few years, I tucked them into the back of my closet, but now that it is making a comeback -- and frankly I needed the kitten heel height for the pants, and these were all I had -- I pulled them back out. They've held up well; guess spending a few extra dollars on quality shoes instead of Target/Payless cheapies pays off.

Speaking of spending, this is now following me around the internet.



The two-tone brown booties are the ones I was talking about the other day, and the wedge casual booties on the left are a fabulous find from Angie at YLF. Now that I can wear jeans a few other days besides the weekend, and I do have a good number of said jeans with long hems for heels, I think I can justify a fun bootie like that.

I may scrap the fall/winter purse idea for another year -- since none are jumping out at me as The One -- and go for some solid bootie additions instead.  And maybe a smart daytime clutch -- it's very on-trend, and the only clutches I have are summer woven ones.

Dammit, the ads win again.

Fall Style: Blazers and pants

I may have mentioned in my Closet Purge post that I am wearing a lot of blazers and suit-like outfits these days; mostly it's due to having so many meetings these days at work, but blazers are also an easy cop-out on weekends to having to buy more fall jackets.

This is what I wore yesterday:



Pretty much everything is from Gap or Old Navy. The cobalt blazer is this one, the pants are the modern bootcuts, and the button-down is actually this military style jersey. I've decided I like this better than a stiffer cotton button-down, which tends to square my torso off in terrible ways.

But the parts of this outfit that make it interesting, IMO, are the necklace and the shoes. The necklace is what Gracie over at Fashion for Giants teasingly (and affectionately) calls the "blogger necklace", the colorful statement style that has definitely been making the rounds on many blogs. I picked two of them up as part of a Groopz deal that Kimberly from Fab Finds under $50 linked to a while back, and I've been wearing both all summer, and getting many real-life compliments on them. Even though the turquoise is a summer color, I used the inspiration from a Nordstrom display to wear it for fall too.




(Next time, I am going to try it with my trusty striped blazer.)

The other item of note are my flats. I have been thoroughly unimpressed with the shoes out for this fall; I've bought many and returned just about all of them, only keeping one pair of black studded flats so far. But these flats have been sitting in my closet for a few years now, an impulse purchase from the Ann Taylor Factory outlet, picked up for about $10. They've been mostly unworn because their style hasn't quite fit with my dress obsession or any casual looks on the weekends. But since hurting my back last week I've been wearing mostly flats with shorter-length pants, so I pulled them out and gave them a try. Good thing I didn't purge them; they look professional and cute with my new blazers look.



All in all, I thought this worked well for the season. I was actually one of the better dressed people at my meeting!



(Our new fish doormat says hello. A birthday gift from my parents to my fisherman-husband, heehee.)