Sunday, January 22, 2017

Sneaky

I know I've been overdoing it with the gray lately, but I seem to buy grey anytime I don't end up with black colored clothing.  I don't think I even hesitated when I saw this grey and gold metallic dress at Gap, I just handed them my card.  I love the longer length in the back and the wide neckline, but mostly the gold thread throughout the dress that gives it a bit of shimmer.  As the rain continues to pour down on the bay,  it has been tough to stay warm and dry.  These cute SeaVees sneakers have been just the thing. The grey flannel (which I am obsessed with) make them warm on top of comfy.  They were perfect for a visit to my doctor and to replenish supplies to fight the last of this cold we've been dealing with at home.  Fortunately, we are feeling better and it looks like our weekend plans will not be cancelled after all. This is a scheduled post.  I will respond to any questions or comments after my return.

I Am Wearing:

Sweaterdress: Gap on sale!

Necklace: Dogeared Jewelry

Handbag: Coach (similar)

Sneakers: SeaVees (current)

Thursday, January 19, 2017

Bright & Gloomy

We had what is now a rare dry day last week and I went ahead and ran all my errands and did some shopping around town.  While we may not have had any rain, it was still a cold and gloomy day and I tried to combat the gloom with a bright red sweater and my favorite holiday flats. I wore these a couple of times last month and I feel like I am going to put them away to be my favorite holiday pair, but then I pull them out to wear them again.  And so it goes.
There is nothing but rain in the forecast for the coming week and my husband and I are both feeling under the weather now. I hope we recover quickly as my husband made secret weekend plans for us and I don't want to miss them being stuck in my bed. On another note, I've left my fitness by the wayside and it is more than time to take it back up.  I hope to restart my running program over the next few days if I can get over whatever is making me feel so crummy.

I Am Wearing:

Sweater: H&M Conscious (similar)

Handbag: Rebecca Minkoff (current)

Coated Jeans: Citizens for Humanity

Flats: J. Crew (cute option here and here)

Monday, January 16, 2017

Sweater Maxi

While out in Monterey, we made a pit stop at a local shopping center in search of an umbrella and extra clothing layers.  I picked up this sweater maxi dress at H&M and I've worn it a couple of times since then.  Most recently it was to run errands and go to a school meeting. I was in a huge hurry in the morning and this seemed super easy to throw on a dress, some wedges, and grab a handbag and I was glad for it as the crossbody kept my hands free to carry the dry cleaning and groceries to the car. While we are THRILLED with all the rain, we are also welcoming any and all breaks in the rain.

I Am Wearing:

Dress: H&M (similar)

Handbag: Rebecca Minkoff (option)

Necklace: really old by Express (cute option)

Wedges: Christian Louboutin (Splurge | Steal)

Friday, January 13, 2017

Quick Getaway

My husband traveled for work last week and I gave our teenager a choice of where he wanted to spend some time. He chose between skiing Badger Pass at Yosemite, wandering around Santa Cruz, or visiting the Aquarium in Monterey. We were both surprised when he picked the Aquarium over skiing as he is so good at it and he loves it, but I was secretly glad he skipped the snow and was happy to drive back down to Monterey.  We even had time to do the 17-mile drive at Pebble Beach. He was so cute, he loved it so much and started checking out the homes for sale in the area. Of course, the one he picked costs $19Million dollars and he said, "we might have to save up for that one!" LOL. I wore this cute and warm popover from Gap that I picked up last week during the after Christmas sales and these fleece-lined leggings that I am likely to wear a hole into before the month is out.  It was worth it to stay warm in the crazy wind by the seaside.

I Am Wearing:

Pullover: Gap

Windbreaker: Lucy

Hat: Crewcuts (similar)

Leggings: Hue

Shoes: Melrose & Market

Tuesday, January 10, 2017

Golden Globes 2017: My Best, Worst, & Fave Picks

My Best Dressed Picks

I could not choose between Emma Stone in Valentino or Yvette Nicole Brown in Vince Camuto(!) so I am declaring a tie. Emma has progressively been stepping up her red carpet game and I love her fashion sense.  She looked like a true movie star in her romantic Valentino gown.  I love Yvette's projects, but this is the first time she catches my eye for her red carpet fashion. She looked amazing. The color, the cut, and the drape of her dress flattered her from every direction and her blingy, but understated jewelry made this one of my favorite looks of the evening. Can you believe her dress is by Vince Camuto?!?!

My Worst Dressed Picks

These all hurt. Here are three of my favorite people, two of them are Anna's for pete's sake. But try as I did, I couldn't like their fashion choices on Sunday night.  Anna Kendrick is such a beautiful woman and this corset top looks like it is strangling her chest and doesn't she just look like she knows she should have gone with an alternate pick? Then there is Cuba Gooding, Jr. There is no plaid I love like black watch plaid and I have been in search of a great tuxedo jacket in the fabric for my husband for over a year and I've been looking for the perfect black watch winter coat for myself just as long. But why did Cuba choose such an ill-fitting cut?!? This looks like he waited until the last minute and then looked around his closet only to find the jacket from his high school prom and deciding he could make it work! Sorry, you did NOT make it work, friend. And finally, Anna Chlumsky in what should have been a beautiful green dress but did nothing for her figure and washed her out.  And are we going to ignore those giant hoops that look inspired by 1989's Rhythm Nation?

My Faves: Sunshine Yellow

Can we all agree yellow will be one of the colors of 2017? I loved everyone who wore it on the red carpet Sunday.  Reese Witherspoon always knocks it out of the park and her Versace strapless sheath screamed Old Hollywood Glamour.  Maisie Williams in Ong-Oaj Pairam debuted her best red carpet look ever in canary yellow. Even Emily Ratajkowski's wardrobe malfunction waiting to happen Reem Acra dress looked fantastic when she first arrived.  But my favorite looks were from Viola Davis in Michael Kors and Natalie Portman in Prada. They both looked classically beautiful.

My Faves: Pantsuits

I have been dying to try this pants trend in formalwear since a charity function last year where a friend wore a gorgeous red pantsuit.  I haven't found something suitable for my short and rotund frame yet, but I am hopeful this is my year.  I was so thrilled to see Kathryn Hahn, Felicity Huffman, and Evan Rachel Wood all sporting pantsuits on the Red Carpet on Sunday.  I love all three as actresses and now I've added them to my "fashionista" faves, too. Kathryn Hahn wore a black suit by Brandon Maxwell and Evan Rachel Wood wore a tuxedo by Altuzarra, but of the three, Felicity Huffman's gold sequined jumpsuit from Edition by Georges Chakra was the best one in my opinion. I am probably biased because I think that is the one I would most like to rock. I hope to see more pantsuits on the red carpet because I know that can only mean a greater selection for us mortals going forward.

My Faves: Couples

I picked Sterling K. Brown and Ryan Michelle Bathe as my favorite couple not because they had the best couture, but because they looked happy and relaxed and everything you want to look when you are out for a dressy evening out with your guy.  There is debate about his suit and complaints that her dress is boring, but together, they look fantastic and so, so, well-dressed.
Honorable Mention goes to Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds and Elsa Pataky and Chris Hemsworth. Kinda tough to look bad when everyone is beautiful, right?

Who were your faves? Least fave?

Sunday, January 8, 2017

Something Like Winter

This is the third winter we spend in the Bay Area and I don't know if I blocked it out from my memory, but this seems like a much harsher winter than the previous ones and that is saying a lot because our winters tend to be very mild here.  Maybe it is that this is definitely the rainiest and our hair might never recover from the humidity. In any case, I have upped my cold-weather gear to cope with the cold. Not only have I increased the cashmere in my closet, I have also bought a couple of different fleece-lined leggings to try out.  This Donna Karan New York cashmere tunic has been on repeat for several outings now and if the weather stays cold, I don't know when I will be able to put it away.  I am grateful that we don't have the snow, sleet, and ice that the midwest and eastern parts of the country are experiencing, but I am usually over the cold by the 3rd or 4th day.

I Am Wearing:

Tunic: Donna Karan New York (similar)

Necklace: c/o Jane Basch Jewelry

Rings: Cartier Trinity and Custom Garnet

Bracelet: Tiffany & Co.

Handbag: Chloe (current)

Leggings: Hue

Boots: Frye (on sale!)

Thursday, January 5, 2017

Take a Gamble

This is my last outfit from my birthday weekend in Las Vegas last month.  My husband is back there this week for work and I am heading back next month for one of my bestie's birthday celebration.  I wore this outfit to go get lunch at Nacho Daddy's and wander around The Strip.  Afterwards, we headed back to our hotel and hit the craps tables for a while.  We immediately lost half our money before winning it back double. In the end, we gambled for longer than we meant to and we recouped just a little bit of our money before we headed out to Red Rock Canyon for a hike.  It turned out to be way too cold and we got there with only about an hour before the gates were closed.  We ended up doing a drive around the canyon and stopping every so often to take photos.  I got lucky when this shirtdress came up during a Brooks Brothers sale late last year.  I had previously bought the plaid shirtdress in this post. I love everything about this dress and my only concern now that I've dropped some weight is that if I continue as well as I have until now, I will not be able to replace it as Brooks Brothers and Thom Browne discontinued the Black Fleece collaboration at the end of 2015. I was able to find these pieces on the Brooks Brothers website until last fall before they finally removed that section from their pages. Alas, I will have to baby these as treasured dresses for as long as I can. On the plus side, I did get this one monogrammed as the southern Texas girl I will always be.

I Am Wearing:

Dress: Brooks Brothers Black Fleece (similar)

Cape Scarf: J. Crew (option)

Necklace: c/o Jane Basch Jewelry

Bracelet: Tiffany & Co.

Ring: Cartier

Shoes: Loeffler Randall

Monday, January 2, 2017

Happy New Year!

Man, was it just me or was 2016 just brutal? On a personal level, 2016 started off with a huge loss and that was before all the greats started dying all around us. While there were some good times, I am definitely looking forward to 2017.  One of my favorite quotes is by C.S. Lewis and I was reminded of it this New Year in particular. "There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind."
My husband and I were sans-kids this holiday and we spent a glorious New Year's Eve doing nothing but laying on our couch, binging on Netflix, drinking champagne. It was one of our best holidays ever.  We headed out to Stinson Beach for a quick day trip after sleeping in on New Year's Day.  While we were not expecting to be completely without internet service the whole day, it was so much fun to be truly unplugged.  We picked up coffee at Breakers and headed to the beach for the afternoon. It was so much fun to sit by ourselves near the waves and make our New Year's Resolutions.  Mine were to improve my running and complete a 10k before the end of the year; to spend more time with both my husband and our youngest that still lives at home; to spend more time with my friends who don't live close by; travel more.  So far, one of those is off to a good start as I've got two trips with girlfriends on the books for the first half of the year and we now have TWO upcoming weddings!
Once we got hungry, we scooted over to Parkside Cafe and gorged on their fresh catch. My husband had the fish and chips and I had my old stand-by: fish tacos.  We then walked to the park across the street for a little bit and found the very last Christmas Tree in town.  After a while we made our way back to our car and went to look for a spot to watch the sunset before driving back home.  I love the days I get to spend alone with my husband.  I wish you each a wonderful New Year and hope for peace, love, and friendship for every one of you.

I Am Wearing:

Cashmere Tunic: J. Crew on sale

Earrings: Diamond Hoops (Splurge | Steal)

Denim: Pilcro & The Letterpress

Handbag: Chloe (current)

Boots: J. Crew (current on sale)

Jacket: Nils (similar)