Commotion over Cos

I've been dying to see inside a Cos ever since I saw some of my fellow fashion bloggers going on about it. I'm not lucky enough to live near one so you can imagine my excitement when it's online store opened.

Home Is Where the Heart Is...

{25 Beautiful Homes: Feature Nicky Owen/ Photography Mark Bolton}

There's this fabulous fashion blogger over at The Signature Bow. Her outfits are always cute, her photos really great and she takes the time to connect with her readers. Her last post about Autumn and Kitchens, got me even more nostalgic than I usually get around this time of year. Now, I find myself picking through online interior design sites and even picking up amazing mags like 25 Beautiful Homes.

Too cute...

 

{ Photo: J.B Nicholas/Splash News}

I don't normally post stuff like this but I couldn't resist. This picture of Suri Cruise was just too cute. She's a true fashionista in the making.  I'm sure she'll continue to be a fun source of fashion to watch for a long time to come. That hat is right on trend and super cute. Don't you think?

Ciao,

xoxo

Get the look...

Cameron Diaz always manages to look cute, effortless, and above all else, comfy (can I get a "hallelujah" my friends?) I've admired her street style for years. In this particular photo, Cameron was making her way through an airport.

Cheeky!

 

This is probably the weirdest post I've done so far. Sorry for the poor quality of the photo but let me explain. I was out and about, taking care of things when suddenly - I lost my mind. No one is safe any longer.

Homage to D&G

There's nothing I can say about the Spring/Summer collection for 2012 by D&G that hasn't already been said by so many true fashion aficionados. I can only sit back in awe and admire the masterful print mixes, the bohemian cuts and materials, and color choices that automatically make me smile.

Rain, rain, go away...

Short post! (I know. I can practically hear the sighs of relief from everyone after the past couple of posts :D)The past 2 years have seemed like a never ending deluge of rain. Intellectually, I know there have been sunny moments/days. But it seems like there has been so much rain, that those moments and days have been way too few and far between.  Yesterday, was no exception. It rained most of the day until evening started setting in. I was so excited to see the sun, that I took my camera along to run errands. I thought I'd share a glimpse of what I saw in those brief moments of sun with everyone!

Ciao,

xoxo

Mary Katrantzou SS12

These are some of my favorite picks from Mary Katrantzou's SS12 collection. For me, there is nothing quite like a Mary Katrantzou piece. They're always an amazing execution of print mixing that I long to be able to recreate.

With that said, it's confession time everyone. I have a problem and I've struggled with it my whole life. I'm addicted to clean, classic and chic designs. I adored the style of Audrey Hepburn and Jackie Kennedy. It took a lot of experimentation before I figured out my body type was more suited to the styles of Mae West or Marilyn Monroe. My mother often told me I dressed way too old for my age or that I was born in the wrong decade because of how often I emulated the 20's, 40's and 60's styles. If I ever tried to go beyond my comfort zone with patterns, things tend to go horribly wrong. Pattern mixing, in a way that's reminiscent of Mary Katrantzou's designs just seems beyond my grasp and yet, I still strive to achieve it. Have you ever shopped for a Mary Katrantzou design? Brace yourselves:

My Version Of...

Remember those picks from the Paul Smith collection that we talked about a few days ago?*  I love fashion shows because they can be so inspirational. What I love in particular, is the use of dark colors with the brighter happier colors. It seems like a perfect transitional look from warmer to cooler temperatures or vice versa. I loved the color pairing so much from the Paul Smith collection, that I got curious about how hard it would be to find things and create it as a fall look for now.

With that in mind, I decided to do a little mining on the internet and these are what I came up with:

H&M shirt: £34.99, Top Shop Leather front Tee: Price: £50.00, Dorothy Perkins Wool roll neck top: £15.00, Dorothy Perkins Short sleeve top: £15.00

Top Shop Velvet Trim Boucle Jacket: £65.00, Dorothy Perkins Cobalt Blue Jacket: £49.00

Torquoise Belted Trousers: £17.00, Aqua Peg Trousers: £10.00

Teal and brown platform loafers: £42.00, Teal T-bar bow pumps: £23.00

There were tons of stores that had lots of stuff in these colors, but Dorothy Perkins had the most options by far when we're talking one stop shopping convenience and affordability. From £97 and up, you could completely pull off the look and there wasn't a single item priced high enough to make me want to wretch, (although the leather front tee from Top Shop did come close. What can I say? I'm cheap :D).

What do you think? Would any of these pieces work for you to recreate Paul Smith's look? Do you ever try to recreate a look you see on the runways for less?

Ciao,

xoxo

*Paul Smith image from Style.com

Paul Smith

all images from Style.com

I love the simplicity of this collection. The lightweight silky look of the materials and the color pairings, are all great inspiration for next years spring/summer season. All of the looks are so casual and chic and seem so versatile to me. Are you inspired by any of these color combinations and stylings for next year? 

Anna Sui

all images from nymag.com

There are so many designers doing wonderful things during fashion week. It's easy to drown a blog's readers with favorite picks from each. I just couldn't go without giving my picks for Anna Sui's collection. Anna Sui has been one of my favorite designers ever since I started following fashion. She's never been one to follow the crowd and every interview I've ever read about her gave me the idea that she's a little eccentric in a way I feel like I can relate to. This collection, she managed to tap into one of my favorite era's with touches from the 40's. There were so many wonderful pieces in this collection. Would any of my picks make the cut for you?

Ciao,

xoxo

My Son's Stories

My son has no notion of fashion weeks around the world and continue's to make up some wonderful tales. So I don't miss a thing, I've jotted it down, worked on an illustration for it and am now sharing it with you just as before.

The Mad Magician Jordan's rubber decked ship scooped Carowyn up just behind her knee's, and sent her bouncing along before unceremoniously dumping her at Jordan's feet. 

Jordan had barely blinked at her arrival. Instead he kept his bright green eyes fixed on some distant point of the horizon. 

"If you wanted a lift to the Palace, you only needed to ask." Jordan spoke without looking away from the horizon. 

"A ride to the Palace? To Prince Winchester's Palace? Wait. A ride? What are we talking about? What is this thing?" Carowyn's mind was still bouncing and skipping just as her body had, trying to keep up with things that seemed to be slipping by all too quickly. 

"Prince who? And you speak as if you've never seen a land rover before. Careful!" Jordan's long fingers quickly closed around the petals of a flower that escaped from Carowyn's fingers. "You wouldn't want to lose one of those now would you?"

Carowyn gently took back the small blue green flower that almost seemed to glow. "It's just a flower. I was collecting them for my wedding to the Prince. Surely everyone for miles around has heard about it."

Jordan's heavy peaked brows raised only slightly as he looked at Carowyn for the first time since her arrival. "Flowers?" With a small sigh, Jordan removed his wand from a pocket Carowyn hadn't noticed in his flowing robes. "Haltiminium Momenicus." A quick flick of his wrist  and Jordan's wand was once again out of sight and the land rover glided to a stop. "My dear, those aren't flowers. They're souls. Only a guardian can even see a tree of souls and it is a guardian's job to nurture and protect those souls. If those souls aren't soon grafted to a tree of their own, their light will fade and the souls will be lost in the void."

xoxo

Oscar de la Renta Spring 2012

all photos from thefashionspot.com

Beautiful, fun, elegant and flirty. The color palette had a lot to offer but my favorites of the collection were all in these neutral tones. There was a touch of the 70's and 80's in some of the pieces but it didn't run rampant over the collection. What did you guys think of Oscar de la Renta's newest collection? 

Ciao,

xoxo

Betsey Johnson Spring 2012

All images from thefashionspot.com

I love Betsey Johnson's designs. She brings fun, laughter, color, and sexiness to the runways every time. She seems like such a fun character as she does cartwheels up and down the catwalk. There's always an inevitable debate about the body sizes of the models walking the catwalks at the shows and Betsey Johnson is reported as celebrating women's curves with this collection. I'll be honest, I don't care what body image a designer is celebrating as long as all body sizes are being designed for. Women are beautiful and that's all that matters. 

What do you think of Betsey Johnson's designs? Are you tired of the body image debate that can be spurred by fashion week/month or do you think it's good and important to have that kind of discussion? 

Ciao,

xoxo

Moonlit experiments

So I had to run an errand this evening and I was captivated by how large the moon seemed. I set up my camera and worked on trying to capture the moon with these amazing clouds. I'm definitely nothing more than an amateur when it comes to photography but it's a lot of fun trying to learn. If you'd like to see any of the other photo's please take a look at my photostream on Flikr. If you have any comments or suggestions I'd love to hear them!

Ciao,

xoxo

The Southern cook in me comes out...

Prepare yourself. This is going to be a long post people. 

A couple of days ago, someone sent me an email about the little quirks of Southerner's that had me cracking up. It was something you truly have to be a southerner to appreciate as was proven when I read it out loud to my daughter who would chuckle quietly in an effort to be polite but then go, "I don't get it." She didn't have the privilege of growing up in the south of the US as I did so she's forgiven. The email has put me in a very nostalgic frame of mind and with today's schizophrenic weather which includes much cooler temperatures I began craving a soup.

Whenever I think of making soups to keep warm and that stick to your ribs, I think of my Nourishing Traditions cookbook by Sally Fallon. I thumbed through to the soups section and found a recipe that sounded really close to a dish my grandmother used to make, Sauerkraut and bean soup on page 210. Here's their original recipe:

3 cups basic small white beans (page 496), cooked

1 quart beef or chicken stock (pages 122 or 124)

2 cloves garlic, peeled and mashed

pinch red pepper flakes

1 pound spicy chicken or beef sausage, slice into rounds

sea salt or fish sauce (page 157) and pepper

2 cups sauerkraut (page 92)

Bring stock to a boil and skim. Add garlic, red pepper and sausage and simmer for 15 minutes or until sausage is cooked. Season to taste. Let cool until the soup can be touched without burning and stir in sauerkraut. Ladle into heated bowls and serve.

All those lovely page numbers they include in their recipe, link back to these really time consumptive processes to produce what it is they're talking about. It's really great when you have the time, energy, and ability to do all that but that's not always the case for me. 

I'm too lazy to run out to the store every time I'm taken by the whim to make something I didn't plan on making, when I did my grocery store run for the week. Therefore, I'm a big believer in making do with what I have on hand. That lead me to modifying their recipe. 

Earlier this week, when I did the grocery shopping for the week, I'd noticed just how much more expensive lunchmeat is than just buying the same meat, cooking, and slicing it up myself. When I got home from the store, I threw all the meats into Big Bertha and roasted them up for the week. 

Big Bertha

I don't know who was thinking what when they outfitted this home with an 8 burner cooker and a double oven. I'm just grateful they did. It makes my life a lot simpler sometimes. 

Fortunately, because I've read Nourishing Traditions thoroughly, I had the forethought to reserve the liquids and yes, brace yourselves, the fats from the roasted meats. Often, people consider "fat" a dirty word but when we're talking cooking I'm not one of them. 

I didn't have sauerkraut laying around but I did have 3 heads of cabbages. I don't think it really matters all that much which types you have on hand as long as they're fresh and ones you like. I sliced up 2 sweetheart cabbages and 1 curly leafed, into thin strips and started cooking them down. I remembered the reserved stock and fat from the chicken I'd cooked earlier in the week and just added all of it. If you don't have any of that on hand, bouillon and some butter will work just as well.  

Once there was room in the creuset, I added the two boxes of canellini beans which seems to be about 2 cups. I stirred them down into the cabbage with 3 small chopped cloves of garlic and a small green chili pepper. 

Once the cabbage cooked down enough that it was soft but not falling apart, I threw in about a cup of diced ham, and a cup of sliced chorizo mixed with some shrimp from a left over dinner. Once all of that was heated through, I served it up with some crusty bread. 

I can't even begin to tell you how tasty this rough and rustic soup was. It really hit the spot and I think my grandmother would be proud. And all though it might not be necessary, I thought I would share some photo's of just how schizophrenic the weather is here today. 

From my backdoor

Just outside my backdoor facing the opposite direction. 

And in the time that it's taken me to write this post, every cloud is gone and the sky is an amazing blue. At least I can never be bored with the weather today! What's the weather like where you are and what food is it inspiring in you today?

Ciao,

xoxo

What my husband says about Fashion...

All photo's from thefashionspot.com

As an internet based spectator of all the NYFW shows, I get to shuffle through all the beautiful images as they become available. All the images above, are from the Thakoon Spring 2012 collection. My husband sat down on the couch next to me, and said, "What the heck is that?! Why?....I mean, just why would you want a model, modeling your clothes, to look like that?"

It was then that I realized I no longer looked at the models on the runways. I was only focusing on each outfit as I flicked through the images. What I'm about to say, might sound like heresy to another fashionista and for that, I'm sorry. But, when a designer puts extreme hair or bizarre make up on their models I find it often detracts from the outfits which to be honest, is all I'm really interested in. If I simply take in the model from the neck down, the above outfits are really neat to me. They're colorful, ecclectic, different, and something I can see myself wearing. If I allow myself to take in the full person in any of the photo's above, my attention is drawn to the outrageous hair or odd hat. And I'm just going to go out on a limb here, admit I don't get it, and most often ignore it. 

What do you think of all the extreme looks designers subject models to? Have you ever seen a collection where the make up or hair was so extreme, that it turned you off the entire collection?

Ciao,

xoxo

The Poncho Project

It's design time everyone! I've done some digging and found some appropriate fabrics for the poncho. That was intense. I don't know about you, but when I move, sometimes, my unpacking doesn't go as orderly as I'd like. With the muscle help of my wonderful hubby, we emerged from the attic victorious with my fabric treasure trove. The larger pieces of olive green and magenta pink are a micro fleece. The lavender and denim blue are a brushed flannel. The olive colored fabric is by far the heaviest and largest piece I have. 

All of these pieces were from a great shop back on Bainbridge Island called Esther's Fabrics.  I was insanely lucky about 2 years ago, when I needed to find some material for a project. I stumbled on the shop having a massive clearance week and I stocked up while I could.

Since I have a very limited budget of ummmm...about 0 in any denomination you'd like to use, I really want to think things through before jumping in feet first. Confession time. I'm not what you'd call handy with a needle and thread. On a scale of 1-100, I'm about a 3, maybe a 4 if you stretch it. Since I need to plan this out I tried working up a sketch of the basic idea.

While the olive piece would be far more snugly in winter, I have olive skin so that's not really going to work for me. Besides, taste wise, I just like the magenta better. I think some black or really dark brown toggles would be a great addition on the pink. I don't have those so, I'm going to dig through my button collection and if I don't find something I like, I'll have to dig in the couch cushions and see if I can find enough change to try a thrift store salvage run. I love to have at least one vintage component to an outfit if I can. 

What do you think? 

Ciao,

xoxo