Rewind to a Warmer Time

These were taken in October during an unseasonably warm spell that prompted a miniskirt.

Shirt: American Eagle | Skirt: Wet Seal | Shoes: Banana Republic | Belt: J. Crew

 My grandma visited us a few months ago so we embarked upon a fun dinner outing at a Chinese restaurant.  I elected to don horses for the occasion.

Dress: Urban Outfitters | Blazer: Talbots | Belt: Forever 21 | Necklace: H&M

New Apartment, Old Clothes

Waah, I let my blog lay completely fallow for the last several months. Needless today, many things have happened. Let's start by looking at pics of my outfits against a backdrop of 'new apartment scenery:'

Here we are in the new bedroom:

Top: AE Outfitters | Pants: Forever 21 | Shoes: Urban Outfitters | Belt: from Maine

Top: UO bunny sweatshirt, green shirt from TJ Maxx | Skirt: J.Crew | Shoes: AE Outfitters (right), Calvin Klein (left)

Ok, let's go to the kitchen:

Shirt: made in Vietnam | Sweater: Target | Skirt: Ann Taylor |  Shoes: Bandolino

As you can see, our kitchen boasts improved cabinetry and a bag of rice. My Kitchenaid approves. This kitchen is at least 3 times roomier than our old one.

And lastly, we will hang out in the living room:

Shirt: H&M | Jeans: Lucky | Shoes: INC from Macy's

And with that succinct tour, I'm back!

Studded Pumps for Weekend Traipsing

I wore my Lola Cruz pumps outside the apartment for the first time over the weekend.  At first I was cautious because I didn't want any harm to befall them. But after about 3 minutes, I had all these errands to complete so I went on my way as if I was not wearing new shoes, clippity clopping through the cityscape. And nothing bad happened. Yay.

Sweater: J.Crew | Pants: J.Crew | Shoes: Lola Cruz

That's a lot of yellow furniture in the background! Stay tuned for my reupholstering adventure.

Out with the Cold, In with the New

Actually, this will mostly be dedicated to the "out with the cold" part. As in, I am not ready to share anything new today. After such a long hiatus in posting, I'm going to have to ease myself back into things. Otherwise I might get blogger-shock and not post again for another 2 months.

First on the agenda, we have what I wore 2-- possibly 3-- months ago!

Top: American Eagle Outfitters | Cardigan: Express | Pants: J.Crew | Boots: Hunter | Necklace: thrifted
The necklace is a seashell and reminds me of Ursula from Little Mermaid.

Top: made in Vietnam | Dress: J.Crew | Boots: Macy's

Here I am showing off a new star bracelet which I actually haven't taken off since the time of this photo.
Otherwise I am wearing a random assortment of Talbots, Loft, and H&M.

This was a moment of sartorial eureka for me so I am including extra photos.

Top: Urban Outfitters dress worn as a top | Cardigan: Gap | Skirt: J.Crew | Necklace: Target | Belt: F12
The shoes I got for $5 from Famous Footwear, huzzah!

  

There, I made a return to posting! In the next few days I will try to summarize my adventures from the last 2 months in visual format. If I made a preview slideshow, it would include, but not be limited to: mousse, anime, the MICU, scallops, taxes, and most importantly: new apartment!

Columns & Seafoam

As we are soaring into the desolate depths of Winter, I often wonder why I bother wearing anything other than scrubs. In these desolate times, I turn to sparkly necklaces. They have been a hardy remedy for the wintry doldrums.

If this necklace looks familiar, it is because I coveted it back in this post.
Along the way, I managed to wade through the snowbanks to the mall and must've taken it home with me.
It was all a blur.

Dress: Anthropologie Column Dress | Cardi & Tights: American Eagle |  Shoes: Target | Necklace: Forever 21 | Earrings: gift from my mom

Hey. The other day, I was making mushroom soup.
As I was cutting up the shrooms, they took on this formation:

I never said these things have to make sense. [shout out to Mike who is making spaghetti right now]

Monochrome: the Red Version

Hey, what goes well with red? More red!

And if you think that is too much red, add a belt! 

I got this belt for something ridiculous like $2 from Forever 21.

Sweater: Ann Taylor | Skirt: Target | Flats: Ulli (?!) viz Zappos | Wedges: Target

Disclaimer: I actually wore the flats to work even though I believe the wedges are infinitely superior.  It was extremely slushy and icy that day (even in the parking garage).  If I was going to take a tumble, I would rather fall from 5'4" than 5' 6.5". Who knows, the extra 2.5" may translate into a smushed nasal bridge.

This picture is silly for 2 reasons:
1. I look like a weirdo.
2. The dwarf Christmas tree lives on...well into late January!!

Target Melinda Wedges and Sparklies

OMG, my hair has been utter ridiculousness lately. Should I list the woes that befell it? 1) In the spring of last year, literally half of my hair fell out after my thyroid died. Luckily I started out with tons of hair to begin with so it did not look obvious. It was extremely awkward when I went for my wedding hair trial appointment and my hairstylist kept having to shake my hair off his mousse-y hands...OY. 2) Then the baby hairs started to come back. By Christmastime, the baby hairs were so dense they  looked like I was attempting to have bangs but doing a really lame job (see picture to right). At least I did a somewhat nice job curling it. 3) I was forced to cut bangs deliberately, which was absolutely NOT in the plan. 4) Now in the dead of wintertime, my hair is super staticky and gets tangled like crazy. I get arm cramps trying to brush it out all the time! But conditioner makes it all greasy. What should I do??

So now, I have bangs, unruly hair, and another necklace from Forever 21! Fun, fun, fun. Necklaces are great for distracting a viewer from one's slovenly coif. 

Top: from Vietnam | Sweatshirt: J.Crew | Pants: Forever 21 | Shoes: Target

Remember when I ranted and raved about these Target wedges in teal suede and proceeded to wear them with everything I own? Turns out, the red wedges embody the same magical ability to look good with everything!

Pros: comfy, flattering, go with everything. Cons: comes in too many colors. Must. Buy. All.

Casual Weekend French Hen

A quick recap of a recent weekend outfit. I recently thought I wouldn't be able to fit the French Hen Sweater over long sleeves, but aha! I did.

Sweater: J.Crew | Top: J.Crew | Jeans: Lucky | Belt: LOFT | Shoes: unknown!

Anyway, I have no further comments besides general remarks about the bitter wintry clime.

I sort of love bow belts so I now have three: this one from LOFT, one from J.Crew (debuted here), and my first bow belt which was from Gap sort of broke but I have devised a makeshift repair out of velcro pieces.  I did not say it was pretty.

In case you didn't get a good look at my new bow belt.

Different Iterations of Neutral

I've been camouflaging to match the weather/how I feel about said weather.  Thus, one may find me in grey, tan, beige tones. Gone are the days of jewel tones. Enter: Neutrals.

Ok, ok, I exaggerate about my greige sentiments toward the weather. But seriously, I love these pants, this shirt, those shoes, and that sweater. They go well with everything else I own, so why not put them all together even if I was trying to match stripes with checkers with leopard?

Shirt: J.Crew | last seen here

Sweater: gift from my aunt

Pants: H&M | last seen here

Belt: J.Crew

Shoes: Fashion Bug

These days I am rotating through Rheumatology. Tonight I will settle the score between me and Behcet's disease. I have managed to survive 3 years without ever really knowing what this entity entails. I hope my reading activity will prove as much fun as putting together an all-neutral outfit. 

Chambray to Work, Chambray to Play

When I decided it was ok to wear chambray to work, I sealed the deal by topping it with a gaudy necklace.

I suppose I took a rather roundabout approach to dressing that day. Typically, chambray shirts are worn to tone down overly dressy bottoms.  Sparkly baubles, conversely, spruce up casual clothing.  So what did I want to achieve? Dressy or casual? We may never know. Oy, my brain hurts trying to understand why I dressed this way.

Well, you see, there's more to it. I started out wearing boring work trousers.  Happily, my day ended early, catapulting me into my beloved Pixie Pants. There was something odd about wearing skinny ponte black pants with black socks (as though I was wearing no pants!) that I felt the need to don my Hunter boots instead of those cute bow flats. Plus, it was slushy outside.

 Shirt: J.Crew Factory | Turtleneck: NY&Co | Blazer: old | Pants: J.Crew | Necklace: Forever 21 | Earrings: Thrifted | Sunglases: via TJ Maxx | Boots: Hunter

Boots last seen here

Pixie pants last seen here, here

I am quite impressed with the necklaces Forever 21 has rolled out recently. In addition to this pink one, I found myself interested in its mint counterpart as well...I will proceed to stalk it over the next few weeks for signs of price reduction..

Lumberjack + No. 2 Pencil Skirt

This year, I resolve to accessorize better--more deliberately and creatively.  Starting small, I rummaged through the jewelry that I've forgotten about and looped this Forever 21 necklace into my lumberjack outfit.

Shirt: Old Navy | Skirt: J.Crew | Shoes: Target | Earrings: via Francesca's | Necklace: Forever 21

Oops, I forgot to wear a fun bracelet or rings.  I usually overlook hand jewelry because of years and years of playing the piano. Even now when I sit down at the piano, I take my wedding ring off because it keeps banging against the keys.  You know, when Herr Beethoven gets stormy, better pack up your bangles and rings, lest he unleash his musical fury upon ye.

I am very happy with my J.Crew skirt after letting out the hem.  You can still see the old hem because I can't seem to iron that out completely.  Oh well, serves as a reminder of the inch of length that I gained, muwahaha!  More outfits with the J.Crew No. 2 skirt in heather acorn here, here.

Watching the Matzo Ball Drop

Happily, I got today off. Naturally, I made matzo ball soup to celebrate the dawning of 2013:

This is a pretty easy soup to make. Ingredients include, but certainly are not limited to:

chicken bones (we used a chicken carcass!)

water

2 onions 

parsley

salt, pepper, dill

pinch of curry powder

1. First I cut up the chicken carcass, then filled the pot with water to cover the bones. 

2. Then I plopped in the onions with the skin on--this imparts a golden color to the broth. 

3. The mixture was simmered for a loooong time until it tasted like broth and not chicken-water. I believe this took about 3-4 hours but I was not watching the clock.  Remember to skim off the scum and excess fat!

[Using chicken carcass actually cut down on a lot of fat, compared to in the past when I used chicken pieces. Fact.]

4. Then I (actually I made Mike do this) fished out the bones, stripped off the chicken pieces and returned that to the broth.
5. The onions get stripped of their skin, and by this time they are soft so I smushed them into bits.

6. I tossed in the seasonings to taste and added chopped parsley, which was the only green thing still left in the fridge. (Had I carrots, parsnips or celery, they would have joined the party, too.  But alas, we ate those already on another occasion.)

7. Then Manischewitz came and provided a matzo ball mix which I diligently made as per instructions.  

Brrrrr, thank goodness for hot chicken soup. In the grand astronomical scheme of things, humans lamentably exist in a pitifully narrow spectrum of temperature.  Just 5-6 months ago, we were installing air conditioners in our windows and melting in the sun. Now we are quaking and shivering every time we set foot near a window and protecting ourselves in layers of down when we venture outdoors.

Anyway, long-winded but I need to explain why I am wearing all these layers, and leggings, and knee socks! All this so that I can wear a skirt to work on New Year's Eve day.

Sweater: Valerie Stevens cashmere (hand-me-down from my mom) | Shirt: H&M s/p studding by moi | Skirt: Anthropologie Trench Coat Skirt | Socks: Gap | Shoes: unknown brand

I am happy to say I remained well-insulated in this get-up. Mission accomplished.

Well...Happy New Year!

J.Crew French Hen Meets Oliver Twist

 I snagged the J.Crew French Hen sweater during a transient pop-back in size XXS. Cluck! or perhaps Clutch! It is so out of stock now that the link to the product no longer exists. This sweater has transgressed into ebay existence, which is kind of like an afterlife.

Sweater: J.Crew | Pants: H&M | Shoes: Target

I am wearing it with a T-shirt underneath so I am rather well-protected from the itch of the wool. The arms of this sweater are strangely tight, therefore I doubt that I could layer a long-sleeved shirt underneath.  But other than that I have no complaints.

The print of these H&M pants evoke Dickensian England to me. I should wear them with a sweater vest and a Sherlock Holmes sleuth cap.

Some details I like about these pants, including the back pockets (mockets), the subtle stitching.  I also like the ankle zippers, which can be seen in another photo.

I've had really good luck with pants from H&M.  These pants are a size 4 and fit with enough room in the hips to be comfortable all day. I usually opt for size 4 in H&M pants for this reason. Did I fail to mention that these pants were only $15? My H&M purchases usually ring in under $20...

I've been searching high and low over the last several months for a neutral colored top that is not white or black.  I found this turtleneck at H&M along with the pant friends.  I believe this color is best described as greige (beige + grey) and I hope to wear it with everything henceforth.

1. Shoes: Blink via Zappos
2. Shoes: Steve Madden

Blazer: Forever 21 | Shoes: Banana Republic
this outfit may involve just a few too many zippers

In summary, I now own Oliver Twist pants and a Hen sweater:

1. In the H&M dressing room.  I did not elect to buy this top even though it is also greige.
2. Greige from top to bottom!
3. Pink works well with greige.
4. So does baby blue. Blazer: Talbots
5. Cluck cluck.

In the future, I would like to devote a post to all of the clothes and accessories I own that feature animals. Stay tuned!