Bag Lady: Part Seven

141 more days to go...

Oh, Sunday...so much to do, so little time. As always there was a long list of errands for today. The Pups got their shots, we rebuilt our wall in our kitchen, mowed the lawn, shopped for groceries. Getting dressed was an after thought today. I found some jeans on the floor, threw on an old gym t-shirt, and found the same plaid button down I wore earlier this week. My bag today was a present from my mom last year. Although I'm not much of a Coach girl (not really my style), it's nice thinking of my mom when I wear it:)

Bag Lady: Part Six

142 more days to go...

Happy National Museum Day! A bunch of museums around the country today have free admission so Nick and I decided to visit the Academy of Natural Sciences Museum in Philly. I haven't seen a T-Rex in like 10 years...so exciting! For such an adventurous day, I pulled out my mom's old black leather hobo bag. It's black and gold with a leopard print design on the front...very rock and roll..which is something I'm not:) I remember my mom wearing this when I first met her (she's technically my step mom, but I just consider her my mom). I had been eying it ever since. Imagine how psyched I was when she told me I could I have it:)

So what did I learn at the Science Museum today? T-Rex's skulls can't be crushed because of some interlocking system that make them just pop back up. I've never heard of that before so I hope that the 7th grade volunteer kid isn't lying. And with all the screaming kids running wild, I'm pretty sure it'll be awhile before I want any of my own. That thought lasted until I saw an adorable little halfie (half Asian, half Caucasian)...now I want like 20.

Bag Lady: Part Five

143 more days to go...

Friday Night! Nick and I had a date tonight in the city with dinner at Lolita's. When I think Lolita, I think saucy little black lace dress. It just so happens that my LBD matches my new black cut out shoes (for charity, I remind you). Head to toe black can be a bit boring so I brightened it up with my baby blue Balenciaga bag. It's really my only 'lady-like' bag, all my other ones are much more casual and much more gigantic.

Ever seen the show, The Best Thing I Ever Ate? Nick and I watch the Food network show way too much and that happens to be of our favorite shows. Anyways, one of the episodes talked about Lolita's Tiramisu a la Mexicana and how crazy delicious it was... which is why we went there for dinner tonight. Was is crazy delicious? Without a doubt. But definitely not the best thing I ever ate.

Oh, it's my other Mom's birthday:) Happy Birthday, Mom! Love you!

Bag Lady: Part Four

144 more days to go...

Bag four was one of the bags I got for free from that estate rummage last month. The bag is made with a series of leather strips linked together, quite clever. I really liked it when I first saw it, it has a bit of a bohemian hippie anthropologie-ish feel to it. But after wearing it today, I'm pretty sure that the weird smell that it gave off probably won't come out...I mean I cleaned it but it still has this strange scent. In the words of Liz Lemon, it might be a deal breaker. We'll see.

Bag Lady: Part Three

145 more days to go...

Bag number three is a cute little leather drawstring shoulder bag. This is another handbag that I don't use too often because my giant wallet barely fits in there. I'm thinking that I need a smaller wallet. With the spike in temperature today, I wore the handbag with my trusty silk tee and cotton striped skirt. Also wore a metal and silk headband as a necklace....it looked more like a necklace to me anyway.

Nick and I headed back to the Mann Music Center for our date tonight. They were celebrating 75 years of music in Fairmont with music from 1935. It was quite romantic...especially with the fireworks at the end of the show. Not even the downpour could have dampened my mood:)

Bag Lady: Part Two

146 more days to go...

It's funny (at least to me) how certain sounds or smells or things can trigger long lost memories. This leather python bag reminded me of Fall 2006. During that season, I went on this crazy hunt for a pair of black thigh high leather boots (sounds slutty, I know) and a white pea coat (don't ask.) I drove my sister nuts, making her go into every store with me that I came across from LA to NYC. I think I must have tried on like thirty pairs of boots...most of them wouldn't go past my calves ( I have GIANT calves, sigh). I bought five different white pea coats but ended up returning all of them, none of them felt 'right'. So in the end I had no black thigh high boots and no white pea coat, but I did get this great cream leather over-the-shoulder bag. See Jennifer, all that shopping wasn't for nothing:)

I wore it with wide legged trouser jeans and a plaid button-up. The plaid button-up was bought from the salvation army when I was in high school so that I could dress up as a scarecrow for Halloween. So funny, to me:)

Bag Lady: Part One

147 more days to go...

I'm thinking of all the handbags I own (there are lots) and that I don't really change them out all that much. I usually stick to one giant leather bag or a tote. So this week, I thought I'd showcase some of the bags that don't get to see the light of day too often.

My mom got me this cute yellow bag for Christmas last year and I've not used it because my giant wallet has a hard time fitting in there...which is such a silly reason not to use it. Tied around it is an old YSL scarf that I've had since high school....I don't own any Hermes scarves yet (Hint Hint, Nick).

Nobody's Perfect?

148 more days to go...

I knew this day would come. We all knew this was bound to happen. What's a girl to do? Let me start from the beginning. Maybe this isn't as big a deal as I'm making it out to be...? Sunday started out like many a Sundays. I slept in past 8am, cuddling with the pups and my Love. We worked on the house in the morning...then met up with friends for lunch at our usual spot.

After lunch, Nick and I went to finish up some errands around town. We headed to the Garden Center so that I could get some more plants for a new project. As we were walking there, I looked into the front window of an antique store (one of my favorite antique stores) and there they were: beautiful vintage shoes glimmering in the window, softly calling to me. "Just your size", they said. "Take us home", they sang. (Yes, I do have a flare for the dramatic) In a trance, I walked right in and tried them on. Of course they were perfect. For those who don't know me very well..let's just say that I have a slight obsession for shoes. I know most women do, but my obsession is terrible. I own hundreds and hundreds of pairs...they are like individual pieces of art, each and every one of them. I could lie and tell you that I thought hard and long before deciding to buy them, but in reality I knew as soon as I touched them. The shop keeper told me that a local woman in her 80's donated all of them and that all proceeds were going toward her charity. I am SO glad that she told me that because I felt way better not having to make up my own story about why I had to have them. It's for charity. There must be a higher power somewhere:)

The first pair I got: vintage Moschino patent leather pumps with cutout hearts. So me, so perfect, literally looks like they've been worn once for a few hours.

Second pair (stop judging): Vintage Chanel kitten heeled pumps! The best part was that they were denim and patent leather...so cute and so current.

Who ever this woman was, she has amazing taste and a great sense of style. There were gorgeous designer gowns (custom made for her!), incredible accessories, I can't even take it. You should be surprised that I stopped at only 2 pairs of shoes, I am. So now that I've fallen off the wagon, what can I do? I mean, nobody's perfect, right? Well, the only thing to do is to get right back on. Hopefully I can make it to February 2011. Only 148 more days to go... Hope you don't hold on to too much judgment:)

Oh, congrats to Craig and Maria...they just had a baby girl today. Welcome to the world, Madelyn...can't wait to take you shopping!

Sunshine + Saturdays

149 more days to go...

Sunshine + Saturday= what more could you ask for? It was the start of a gorgeous weekend:) Nick and I spent the morning walking around our neighborhoods with some coffee and hot chocolate. We stopped by some yard sales and found some great finds..including some books, some mason jars (I'm always on the hunt for mason jars...need about 20 more to make a light fixture for our dining room), and this amazing vintage Moschino silk dress that Nick got me for a few bucks. We eventually wandered downtown to Chinatown for dinner and a festival. My comfy black slip dress and cashmere cardigan were the perfect Saturday outfit for strolling:)

Casual Friday

150 more days to go...

Friday! Yay! I decided to go quite casual today with just a striped thermal pullover and some denim shorts. It seems that I've been going quite casual a lot lately. It's probably time to step it up, you know, stop wearing my hair in a pony tail everyday, choosing comfy flats over my beloved heels, etc. So starting next week (or maybe the week after?) I'm going to try to put together real outfits again. We'll see what actually happens:) Have I mentioned how much I miss shopping? Sigh.

Scraggledoodle

151 more days to go...

Remember the stray cat in my neighborhood that I can't stand? I had named it Scraggledoodle cause it looks like it's had a hell of a time on Earth. Today, I feel like that cat sounds and I sound like an old man who's smoked a pack a day for the last fifty years....sexy. I thought some hot chocolate and a ginormous cinnamon roll might be just the medication I need to kick this thing, but apparently they don't have any medicinal components. Anyways, comfy tee and comfy pants was the catch of the day.

Date Night (s)

153, 152 more days to go...

Tuesday. Had a long awaited girl date with Garnette tonight. I'm still feeling a bit under the weather but I can't not make it to our date...now that we are both married, these girl-only dates are farther and fewer between. I chose a hot pink frilly silk top and some jeans for our little get together including dinner at Zahav's. It was a good thing the top had a bit of a trapeze shape because we ate so much (who knew Israeli cuisine would be so tasty and filling).

Wednesday. I knew I should have went to bed earlier last night but didn't get home from my date with Garnette until after 11pm (on a Tuesday? I'm usually asleep by 10pm..alright, I'm lying...more like 9pm). So today I feeling even worse. But...I'm not going to admit that I'm sick. Why, you ask? Well, I have another date tonight...with my Love:) I thought I would just meet Nick at the restaurant after work so I wore a cute little denim dress with a ruffle/button detail around the neck. Some comfy flats and a casual leather completed the outfit. Little did I know that I would be heading home early today because I'm quickly coming down with something. So off to bed I go. Dinner plans canceled?! I napped for about 2 hours at home and decided that I didn't want to cancel our reservations so with a long hot shower and a gallon of ginger ale, I got re-dressed and headed to Sampan to meet Nick.

It had gotten quite chilly outside so I wore jeans, suede platform pumps, a floral silk halter and a little cropped jacket I got in Paris with my sister (It's her 21st Birthday today, by the way. Such a big deal!!! I called her at 4am and she didn't seem to appreciate it. oops.)
Dinner was amazing but my favorite part of it was the cute little ice creams for dessert. One was vanilla Swedish fish (so much yummier than it sounded) and chocolate peanut butter (just as yummy as it sounded).

Happy Birthday, Jennifer!!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE you:)
(I have 2 little sisters, Stacey will turn 21 in January....and then, we will all officially be drinking age adults) (do any of us drink?) Night!

Eyes Wide Shut

154 more days to go...

Ever need a vacation from a vacation? Have I talked about this before? I always feel like a zombie the day after I get back from a trip...today would be no different. One day I swear I will learn how to sleep with my eyes open. I know that sweatshirts are a no-go but I tried to find the next best thing...which is a couple of tanks layered together, some rolled up jeans, a utility jacket, and sneakers. It's really not a great picture but I have to say that that fuzzy un-focus-ness totally matches how I feel.

Pop up to Vermont

157, 156, 155 more days to go...

Road trip to Vermont time! Nick and I packed up the car and the pups and headed up to Vermont today for a wedding weekend. I'm looking forward to the leaf peeping, the cool mountain air, and the starry night sky. I picked a cashmere v-neck sweater and some comfy jeans for the seven hour ride up.

Our first stop: the campus of Dartmouth, just a hop and skip away from Nick's hometown of Quechee, VT. We wandered around campus for a long walk with the girls while reminiscing about life when we were in college.

The wedding of Dan and Theresa took place on the banks of the Connecticut river in Hanover. I love seeing my husband around his childhood friends. It immediately brings out his crazy inner dancer...which is hilarious!

I wore a bright yellow strapless silk dress from JCrew. Since I was under the impression that the wedding was going to be low key and casual, I dressed down my frock by under layering a plain white tee and a brown leather belt. (The wedding ended up being dressier than I thought..people wore tuxes...oh, well) I love that dress.

A stop by Dana's is beginning to become an annual thing now. Dana's is the restaurant that Nick's family owned while they were still in Vermont. We grubbed on some Dana Burgers ( since Nick's Golden Fluffies are no longer on the menu), red pepper relish, and OMG good desserts (lemon mousse with raspberry coulis and apple crisp with vanilla ice crea...mmmmmm).

Right across the street from the restaurant is the famous Gorge on Quechee...so a hike down the trail was to be had. The girls loved it:)

So that was the weekend in Vermont. All things I looked forward to: the leaf peeping, the cool mountain air, and the starry night sky, all was accomplished.

The Blues

158 more days to go...

A bit of chill in the air makes me SO happy! It's almost scarf wearing season...hurray. I was in all blue today. Wearing monochromatic colors head to toe is suppose to make you look taller. At five feet flat, I need all the help I can get.

Heading to Vermont tomorrow for a wedding weekend! See you guys next week:)

Crops

159 more days to go...

In going with the theme of wearing things in my closet not worn before, I found this floral cropped cardigan. Let's see, I got this last year but thought it made my shoulders and neck look funny (I know, girl issues). Now that I have it on, not sure if I love it...but whatever, matched it with cropped cargos and called it a day.

All a Flutter

160 more days to go...

Went shopping deep in my closet and found this little silk dress with fluttery sleeves. It still had the tags on it so it feels brand new (technically it is, I guess). I remember buying this almost two years ago because it was such a good deal but never liking the way it fit on me. I have that tendency often...buying things that are cute but not liking the way it looks on me. Now that I have it on, I'm not sure why I didn't like it before. It's totally cute. Ooh, I wonder what else I have?:)

Labor of Love

161 more days to go...

Happy Labor Day. No work, yay! At least no job related work. Nick and I slept in late, went out for some pastries and coffeee, and then headed to home improvement stores. Since it is Labor day, we figured we should do some labor? And who doesn't love working on their house?!? The answer to that question changes with my mood. But today, it was great. We finally mowed our lawn (some bleep stole our lawn mower so we hadn't done it in a while), trimmed up some plants, installed a new flushmount light in the bathroom, rewired a few things, vacuumed, dusted, etc. Our little house looks beautiful:) Who needs to shop when you can concentrate on your home? The answer to that question also changes with my mood:)

Falling for Fall

168, 167, 166, 165, 164, 163, 162 more days to go...

The beginning of the week started out fine. Next week is Labor Day so this is the 'last' week of Summer. It's fun watching all the students move back to campus...I swear that every year they look younger and younger. Usually Back-to-School is my favorite part of the year even though I haven't been a student in quite some time. I love getting all new clothes and I have this thing for school supplies. In eighth grade, my best friend wrote a paper about me and how much I loved calculators because of all the buttons....hilarious then, hilarious to me now when I think about it. Anyways, since I am not going to get a new wardrobe this year I found a little baby doll dress in my closet that has really puffy sleeves, cut them off, and voila! a 'new' dress.

Day two of this week took a stumble. It all started out with my routine morning walk with Astra (my big strong eight year old puppy). For those of you who have never walked her, it can be quite a feat. Usually I have a choke collar on her so that I don't get in any trouble if she decides to turn on her hunting instincts...but today for whatever reason I didn't bother. We have this stray cat in our neighborhood that we've named Scraggledoodle because it looks like a scraggledoodle. Astra wants to eat Scraggles sooo bad and today she decided to take me out to accomplish her mission (Scraggles got away). So with two bloody knees and a bruised up elbow, I thought a dress would be the easiest thing to wear.

Wednesday was a bit of a blur.

Thursday. Another birthday celebration. There has been a lot of birthdays lately! Tonight's celebration was all about our friend, Kristin...who I like to refer as our hot blond friend:) As always, there was lots of food. It was also a crazy hot night so a cotton halter dress was an order.

Friday. A Phillies game! Nick and I went to a Phillies baseball game with Craig and Maria (the best boss ever and his lovely super pregnant wife). I was just noticing to Nick that I have nothing Phillies in my closet. Not a t-shirt, not a baseball cap, not a sweatshirt! I have to admit that I don't care for anything Phillies in my closet but now that I'm not buying anything, I kinda want to buy a little jersey or something.


Saturday. Our romantic date night. Nick and I got all dressed up and had an amazing dinner at James in Queens Village. We've been searching for 'our' spot ever since our old 'spot' (Little Fish) shut down due to building problems. Not sure if we found it yet, but James could be a contender. I bought this LBD (my long black dress) for our honeymoon but never wore it in Hawaii. Oh well, I will wear it here.

Sunday. BBQ with the family. A little plaid shirt dress is perfect for lying around the back yard while eating hamburgers and cupcakes. Yum! Enough said.