No foolin'

We are outside again! Finally warming up enough to shoot in natural light, hurray. So, you know, enjoy the shots of our electric meter. :)



The jacket was a Gwynnie Bee surprise; I have over 40 items in my virtual closet so I never know what they are going to send me. This python print faux-suede number was a great transition piece for spring, light and fun and fitted. I added a dark green LOFT tee, a multi-metallic circle necklace, and my usual Gap modern bootcuts.

The snow was nearly melted on the patio, which made my husband's latest folly that much more visible. He had purchased a new kind of birdseed for the feeder (flamingos aren't the only birds who hang out on our patio) and discovered, to his dismay, that the birds did not like it. Specifically, they did not like the black seeds that comprised 70% of the mix.

The birds hated the black seed so much they actually spit it out and separated it from the rest of the seed that they did eat. They left PILES of it underneath the feeder.

I am not exaggerating.





So now he has to figure out how to clean it all up when the last of the snow is gone. In the meantime, even the flamingos are staying away from the feeder. Hee!



ANYWAY.

This was my favorite outfit of last week. So much so, I wore it twice. :)



First off, it has my new Longchamp nylon purse, which I am LOVING. The size, weight, durability, and style are exactly what I was looking for in a spring purse, and best of all the sensible look of it is fitting well in my revamped-and-returned "Yalie" look, as Jessie called it.

The real appeal of this outfit, to me, is the simplicity. I was meeting Shopping Friend for wedding-shoe shopping, and I could not find an outfit that was working; I kept trying all these color combinations, and either the shirt showed off too much muffin top, or the sweater was too heavy, or I just looked awful. Then I looked at the combinations I was struggling with, and it occurred to me that I was making  it too hard; my perfect tee, in black, would work just fine. As soon as I put it on and saw how it made the striped sweater pop all on its own, it occurred to me that I had never worn this sweater with a neutral top before. Never. I have no idea what I was waiting for!

The black top gave all the other other elements of the outfit a chance to really shine, in every way.

My hair looked blonder against it.



The cozy ribbed texture of the sweater stood out more.



My beloved embellished animal print Sam Edelman flats got a chance to roar.



My pretty circle pendant from LOFT Outlet shone the most against the neutral background.



Sadly, this was the last wearing of this necklace; it wasn't well-made (no surprise since it was an outlet piece), and the clasp linking the circles to the chain finally gave up the ghost the next day. So it's been "edited" (i.e. thrown away), but it will be fondly remembered!

No jokes or pranks here, but I hope you guys have a good April Fools Day. I always dread this day because it turns out I am super-gullible. Maybe this year I should keep count how many pranks I fall for...

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.

Birthday Stuff I Want

Like I said, I may have killed my impulse shopping habit, but I still like and need to to shop. In a way, it's like dieting; even though I eat less or better food, I still need to eat. I just have to be smarter about it: track what I am spending, make a plan before shopping, and decide if I want to save up for something good or blow it all on small, cheap meals/items.

Hunh, maybe it is EXACTLY like dieting.

Angie at YouLookFab had a great post listing the 4 implicit categories on your shopping list. They were:
1. Wardrobe holes
2. New trends
3. Replenishment items
4. Unexpected delights

This has been very helpful as I have been sorting through what I think I want versus what I need. My birthday is next week, and I am hoping for some gift cards so I can do a little guilt-free shopping. In preparation, I've been doing some online window-shopping, and using these categories has been helping cull away items I added just in the heat of the moment (the "ooh, pretty" impulse items) and winnowing it down to only things that fall into one of these categories.

Sejour roll-sleeve twill jacket. I tried this on at the store, and fell in love. I've really liked my Old Navy lined anorak that I have been wearing like crazy this winter, but the black is kind of faded and dusty and it feels like a lot of coat. This is much trimmer and fitted, and the back flap is longer at the bottom, perfect for sitting and for keeping my butt dry when it rains. I hesitate on the color -- it comes in black, red/orange, olive/khaki and this bright purply-cobalt blue -- but the blue continues to be my top choice. It was the most flattering one when I tried it on, but I usually buy neutral outside jackets because my clothes are so colorful. I think I might have to go for it anyway; it's so pretty and I have a feeling I am going to need a casual coat this spring (I don't have one at all. Sad, right?)

This is a wardrobe hole and a replenishment item, and the color would tip it into the unexpected delights too.

A new spring purse is also on my wishlist. I am bananas about my Longchamp tote bag (I use it for my laptop for work), and I want the small version for a purse; I like the casual look of it, and the nylon means it's easier to carry around when the weather is bad. (I have a weird feeling we are going to be in for a wet spring this year; I don't know why.)

Initially I wanted the dark eggplant "bilberry" color...

...but if I go for the blue anorak, it doesn't work. So I am considering brown or slate. This one I will buy in the store, after I have purchased the jacket. I'll need to put the colors up against each other before I make a final decision.

This would be a wardrobe hole, and an unexpected delight.

The last item on my Nordstrom wishlist is a pair of Kut from the Kloth jeans. I love my boyfriend version, and Kut from the Kloth is just a better brand for my body than NYDJ is (NYDJ is too stretchy.)

Thing is, I don't really need another pair of jeans; my various Dreamers from Old Navy are all still doing fine. I just really want a nice pair of jeans, in a soft, expensive denim.

They're just an impulse purchase, so the only way I will get them is if I have anything left over on a gift card and my Nordstrom bucks. Dang those categories for making me realize where these don't fit! ;-)

I am also looking for a dressy clutch/mini-purse to replace my faux-Chanel. Lucky for me, quilted mini purses are all the rage right now; I just need to find the right one.

This Rebecca Minkoff is a strong possibility. It comes in emerald, tan, mint and a weird red, but I think the black will last me much longer and prove to be far more versatile.

This one is pretty much a nicer duplicate of my old purse, but I don't like the gold studs.

It's a wardrobe hole, but none of these are right yet. The search continues!

A new pair of flats is also on my wishlist, this time at Zappos. I am torn between the pink and the yellow. Mustard is my go-to fun color, but the pink is so unexpected and different for me.

The cap toe makes this a new trend category item, and the color puts it into unexpected delight. Especially if I go with the pink, as I am leaning. They're Clarks, so I am 95% sure they are super--comfortable, and will last for a long while. (I won't order any shoes until I figure out the coat and purse above, and the pants below.)

As long as I am showing off my Zappos wishlist, aren't these awesome? Angie linked them the other day.

It is highly unlikely I would ever buy these -- too pricey especially for something in such a short-lived trendy color. But I do love a good heeled Oxford!

The last item on my shopping list are some colored pants. Aside from my blackberry cords, I haven't seen any colored pants that I want; most are too casual in their cut. My ideal pants would be the Gap modern bootcuts in aubergine, mushroom, and maybe a nice ivory, but Gap stubbornly will not fulfill my personal fantasy of giving me real pants I can wear to the office. So I am trying to warm to the existing colored pants trend, as it is. Maybe I can make ankle pants work? They're better than cropped, at least. Gap was having a 30% off sale last week, so I placed an order to try some different options.

If I keep one of these, I will be surprised and impressed. But I figured I might at least TRY them on, right?

The bright skinny pants have all been disastrous on me, so I am hoping a paler look is better. Bless you, these are "straight khakis" not skinnies. I do hope these work out; Vivienne just did a great set of pink jeans options that I loved.

Lots of bloggers have been extolling the virtues of these skimmer pants, and I would like a cropped pair of white pants for summer, so...we shall see.

Sometimes I like to kid myself that my legs are long and slender like this. Reality will show me otherwise when these get here. I am such a sucker for olive.

A coral jacket. C'mon.

That's like a wardrobe basic, for me. Right? Right? :) Fine, file it under Unexpected Delight. It will be mine.

It will be interesting to me to come back to this post in a month or so and see which if any of these I ended up getting. I've looked back at other Stuff I Want posts, and my purchases end up being pretty few. (Except the Blazer post; three of those have become closet staples.)

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.