Birthday LOVE!

My official gift was my in-laws coming to Las Vegas to celebrate with us over dinner and a show. In our early dating days my husband and I used to travel to Las Vegas for work frequently. Since we were both in the same industry, our travel often coincided and we would trade off paying for our hotel room and buying show tickets. After a few years and several Cirque Du Soleil Shows (KÁ, Zumanity, Mystère) he declared himself to be Cirqued out.  After that we once watched Blue Man Group and a few other non-Cirque shows, but he held fast to his statement that no more Cirque shows.  Once I stopped working, our travel to Las Vegas became less frequent and we skipped a few years until my 35th birthday.  That was the last time we were in Las Vegas and because it was my birthday, he caved and took me to see O, which was the show I chose because it was the only one that I had never been able to see before as it was always sold out.  This year, he agreed to watch The Beatles LOVE! at The Mirage because we were looking for a show that everyone would enjoy.  I was worried about wearing this cream colored sheath dress to dinner at Portofino because I've never been able to wear white without marinara sauce getting all over me, even when I am not eating Italian! But I loved this dress when I found it a few weeks ago and I was even happier that I fit into it.  I think it would also make an excellent New Year's Eve outfit.  I hope everyone has a wonderful celebration tonight to celebrate the coming year. I don't know about you, but I am over 2016. Bring on the New Year!

I Am Wearing:

Dress: Hugo Boss (similar)

Earrings: c/o BaubleBar (last seen here) (cute option)

Necklace: Rosa De La Cruz

Bracelets: Tiffany & Co and Blue Topaz (similar) (both gifts from my husband)

Clutch: Kate Landry (current)

Pumps: Manolo Blahnik

Las Vegas Mob Museum

We spent the weekend in Las Vegas to celebrate my birthday and spend Christmas with my husband's family. My in-laws wanted to check out a museum and while both the Neon Museum and the Mob Museum were on our list, we made a game-time decision to head to the Mob Museum since we knew we were only going to have time for one or the other with both being closed on Christmas Day. It was so fun! My brother-in-law's wife found some artifacts from her descendants and it was fun to text those pics to her family.  My favorite exhibit was definitely the fashions from the 20's and 30"s.  The dresses are gorgeous and I could totally see myself wearing any of these.  I was so glad that I checked the forecast before I packed and got dressed, because it was really cold and windy during our trip.  This cape-scarf from J. Crew has been such a great buy and I continue to be thrilled I scooped it up as soon as I could. I may or may not have given several away as Christmas gifts.

I Am Wearing:

Top: Zara (similar)

Cardigan: Tory Burch (Splurge | Steal)

Cape-Scarf: J. Crew (mine is sold out, but great dupes by Madewell and AQUA)

Bracelet: Tiffany & Co.

Watch: Apple

Monogram Necklace: c/o Jane Basch Jewelry

Leather Leggings: Paige Premium Denim

Boots: Ugg

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! We are currently out in Fabulous Las Vegas for the weekend to celebrate my birthday and Christmas with my in-laws.  This has been a year of growth for me and my beloved House of Nerds.  I hope many of the improvements we began to make towards bettering our health continue and I am grateful for the friends we've made this year and the love and friendship that surrounds us on an ongoing basis. May your holidays be merry and your dreams for 2017 and beyond come true.  Thank you for your continued support of me and this space.

I Am Wearing:

Sweater: LOFT

Monogram Necklace: c/o Jane Basch Jewelry

Handbag: Sam Edelman (similar)

Skirt: Topshop (cute option)

Tights: Spanx

Boots: Prada (current)

**This is a scheduled post. I will respond to when I return after the holidays**

#TBT: Birthday Looks

I haven't done a flashback post in a while, but I am getting ready for my birthday trip this weekend and my normal photographer (AKA my teenager) is heading out of town today. I thought I would look back at some of my favorite December looks. Some were for my birthday or other holiday parties, but these are some of my faves. The one above was on my birthday, 5 years ago!, when my sister was visiting us and we spent some time at the Dallas Museum of Art. I still love shiny fabrics and I think I am packing my silver sequined skirt for this weekend and I am looking for a cute top in my closet.

This was in December of 2012. Reading this post, it makes me hope that this trip to Las Vegas is just as amazing as the one we took four years ago. That was the last time I got to see a Cirque Du Soleil show and even if my husband has imposed a moratorium on Cirque Shows, we already got tickets to watch the Love Beatles Tribute at The Mirage and except for Zarkana, which is no longer running, this will mean we've seen all the Cirque shows in Vegas that we were interested in.  And considering it will be freezing in the desert all weekend, now might be a good time to pull this Marc Jacobs scarf back out and look for my furry gloves.

I was never into leather pants, much less leather leggings, until I discovered these Paige leather leggings.  Now that I has been so much colder here in the bay than it was last winter, I still have them handy and I think they would be perfect for the forecasted cold this weekend. I am definitely packing these leggings in my suitcase. This outfit includes so many pieces that have stood the test of time. I still pull these items out of my closet on a regular basis.

The last outfit is from last year.  I wore this to show my husband's aunt around Baker Beach before Thanksgiving.  See the Paige leggings again, because I searched EVERYWHERE to get them in black, too. But unfortunately, they died a tragic death by tear just two weeks later in Dallas during a bar crawl with my sister.  Um, should I also pack my Uggs? This is an exercise in futility.

Double Date

I am really excited about the upcoming holidays. My husband is heading out of town soon for his annual Guys' Trip with his brothers and their dad.  Since their trip this year was going to run into my birthday, my husband invited me to join him after their game for a fun weekend getaway.  Well, the weekend literally got away from us after I invited my mother-in-law to join us, too so I could celebrate my birthday with my in-laws over dinner and a show. Then my brother-in-law thought that sounded like a great idea and he invited his wife, too! What was supposed to be a low-key birthday weekend is now a bonafide Birthday/Christmas extravaganza complete with spa treatments!  We took advantage of the last weekend before Christmas to meet up with friends for a holiday double date.  Thanks to the wacky weather, all I want to wear lately are pants.  My compromise was an off-the-shoulder sweater and sky-high heels, but that was because I haven't had these trousers tailored yet.

I Am Wearing:

Sweater: Misguided

Necklace: BaubleBar (spendy option)

Trousers: H&M (also in velvet or lace!)

Clutch: YSL (current)

Pumps: Christian Louboutin (current)

Friday Casual

I bought this cute Friday tee in October before my girls' trip to Texas. I've worn it a couple of times, always on Friday and I always get comments on it, too. I hadn't worn it to work yet, but I decided to wear it last week and it was a hit at the proverbial watercooler.  Since I was wearing it to the office and not to get on a plane or head to the mall, I paired it with a tweed skirt and a sleek bun. I layered the denim jacke over my tee in lieu of a blazer.  After all, it IS Casual Friday!

I Am Wearing:

Graphic Tee: J. Crew on sale!

Denim Jacket: Lauren Ralph Lauren (similar)

Costume Pearl Studs - gift (option)

Skirt: Trina Turk (current)

Tote: Calvin Klein (current)

Flats: Sam Edelman (current)

Listen to the Rain

We used to get so excited anytime it would rain because it was such a rare occurrence out here. Fortunately, lately it seems to be raining frequently. So much so that now I just get dressed and pull on my Hunters if I look outside and it is drizzling.  This weekend it rained all day Saturday and I still had to go out and run my errands.  I threw on this duster that I bought last summer over my camisole and jeans and that was it.  My husband calls it my Stevie Nicks outfit and while I know he thought he was throwing shade at me, the truth is that I love Stevie Nicks!

I Am Wearing:

Duster: Mossimo (current)
Camisole: DKNY (cute option)
Necklace: KeST Etsy Shop

Denim: Pilcro & The Letterpress

Boots: Hunter

Christmas Sparkle at the Office

We had a holiday party at work yesterday and I thought it was the best time to wear a sequined pencil skirt to the office. While I would love for the skirt to taper in just a tad towards the bottom, I do love the way it is just covered in sequins. It was a bit uncomfortable to sit in or bend down to pick up a pen (I could hear a "crunching" sound every time) but it was worth the compliments I got all day long.  I paired it with my really old red cashmere sweater, which I really need to replace and a really tall pair of platform Jimmy Choo pumps to give me a tad of height.  I am thinking of wearing this skirt with a different top for my birthday in a few weeks as well.

I Am Wearing:

Sweater: Banana Republic (current)
Earrings: Blue Nile (similar)
Ring: Custom (option)
Clutch: Proenza Schouler Wallet (similar)
Skirt: J. CrewPumps: Jimmy Choo (current)

Hometown Tourist

The one thing I wanted to make sure my parents got a photo of while visiting was the Golden Gate Bridge. My parents used to live in Central California when I was very young and it was odd that none of us had ever visited San Francisco.  I was so happy that the weather was great and the skies were blue just until we got in our car to leave. Then the skies opened and it just poured down.  They didn't want to wait for a turn to drive down Lombard and my dad had already seen Coit Tower last August when he came out to visit by himself. Instead I took them to the Lyon Street Steps and we took some photos there while it rained and rained and rained. Then we headed to Fisherman's Wharf so my mom could buy souvenirs. We ended up eating there as well and I took my pics at Cannery Row.

I Am Wearing:

Sweater: J. Crew

Coat: J. Crew c/o Nordstrom

Necklace: c/o Jane Basch Jewelry

Denim: J Brand

Handbag: Coach (current)
Brogues: Melrose & Market

Poofs

How cute are these poofs on my hat?!?! Is it horrible that they are for kids and I commandeered a crewcuts hat that I had bought for one of my nieces? I bought two (one for my niece and one for my sister) and when my sister came up last week, I gave her one. She looked so stinking cute that I had to wear the other one!  Sorry, kid! I will get you something else soon!  My mom was so cold the entire time they were here. Winter is knocking on our door and I was happy to pull out my comfy Uggs and warm hat with poofs.  I wore this to breakfast and to go shopping on Black Friday.

I Am Wearing:

Top: J. Crew
Sweater: Banana Republic

Hat: Crewcuts

Handbag: Coach (current)
Denim: Joe's Jeans

Boots: Ugg

Recurring Themes

This is an older outfit. I fell a little behind before the trip to Texas and then I got distracted with the Thanksgiving visit from my family.  Now it is december and I still like this outfit that repeats several trends. There is absolutely nothing new as I've owned all pieces for a long while, but I was happy that I finally lost enough weight that all my clothes is starting to fit properly again.  These shoes are very old, too bad they aren't old enough to be vintage just yet.  And I love the color combination of grey and burgundy. Because let's face it, whether we are calling it oxblood, cabernet, or currant, burgundy is the color we pull out every fall. So it is that last year's black cherry skirt matches my wine patent pumps from 8 years ago.  And I thought grey would still be neutral without being black before noticing that these tuxedo shirts also seem to to reappear year after year.

I Am Wearing:

Top: Express (mine is old, current option here and here)
Necklace: BaubleBar (Splurge | Steal)
Earrings: Costume (Splurge | Steal)
Skirt: Banana Republic (option)
Tote: Calvin Klein (similar)
Shoes: Giorgio Armani (similar)