This post is more about KEVIN!!!!! than fashion.

As I write this post it's November 30, 2009 and I'm feeling a bit forlorn. Not that I didn't enjoy my day of trail hiking with the dog in the cold winter weather and watching TV with The Boy, but at this time LAST year - I was having one of the best days I've ever had.



(See at this time last year I had white/blonde hair! Told you it changed a frequently!)

Let me explain, a few days after Thanksgiving in 2008 - I was jetsetting to Chicago to partake in a week of trainings, meetings and networking at our office there. However, because my company allowed me the liberty to book my own flight, I decided to arrive in Chicago a day early to give me a chance to see a few sites. I went to Wrigley Field, Obama's House, Michigan Ave. but first and foremost... I went to the hap, hap, happiest place on earth:
Yes... the Home Alone house from the biblical (to me at least) movie series starring Macaulay Culkin.
I arrived in Chicago at 5 am after enduring the red-eye flight. Tired but excited, I loaded the Home Alone house address into my GPS in my rental car and headed straight from the airport to the house. I was sweaty and wearing my odd yet comfortable plane outfit but my camera had an empty memory card with full batteries: I was ready!

I parked outside of the Home Alone house at 6:30 AM (after having driven straight from the airport), set my camera to self-timer and just let it do its thang.

The house itself was beautiful as was the entire neighborhood in Winnetka. It was also where Chris Columbus/John Hughes filmed many other of their famed, big-white house, family comedies: Ferris Bueller, Uncle Buck and The Breakfast Club (among others) were also filmed in the area.

After prying myself away from the house for fear of being arrested, I decided to look around Winnetka a bit more.

The Train Station in Winnetka, IL. All decorated for Christmas. I love this picture.The church used in Home Alone - just down the street from the house!

On the streets of Winnetka town mall. So cute!


Anyhoo- I'm sorry to deter so greatly from my Blog centered around fashion but in the spirit of Christmas and recalling such a fun day- I thought it might be appropriate. Also, once I arrived to the Chicago office later that evening, I was elated to tell my coworkers about my fabulous day... if you want to see the insanely dorky video I made to send to my family of me walking up to the house - please feel free to watch below (semi-cringing at this offer!)



2011 post about visit here
My posts about Winnetka here
"Home Alone" thread here

Happy Tuesday!!!

Bye Turkeys, Hello Santa!

Phew!
Sorry for the blog neglect after Turkey day but it was a bit warranted for reasons below:

(RIGHT: my Thanksgiving outfit-
can't go wrong with a pencil skirt & a billowy silk blouse)

• We had company in town
  
  
• I had to cook my part of the meal!
  
  
• Sales at EVERY store
  
  
• Hung out with my little Bro while he's home from College.
  
  
• Plus, due to 2 guests bringing their dogs plus the family dog at my Dad's, there were 3 Puppies joining us for the Thanksgiving weekend. I had to soak up as much Dog time as I could!

(SURROUNDING:
Dog Montage! I was loving the time with the Puppies. Here's me with 2 of the 3 puppies for the weekend. They get a wee bit ornery when you try to cuddle with two at once (as can be seen on the right) but it was beyond fun having a house full of them!!)

But now with Thanksgiving officially behind us, I like to believe it's effectively Winter. Though the Calendar states that this wonderful Season doesn't start until December 21st, I say Bahhhh Hummbug - it's WINTER to me! So buh-bye Pilgrims & Indians and HELLO Angels and Snowflakes.

With the season change into this darker, colder, cozier time of the year - I like to think of outfit evolutions with that as well. If it were up to me, I would spend every day after Thanksgiving up until Christmas dressed like this:
(Above image found here)

The elegance of a "Victorian Christmas Girl" (what I'm naming her) is the quintessential outfit I'm always wearing when I dream about my first Horse Carriage ride through a snowy downtown Manhattan. However, shoving all XXX pounds of me into such an outfit would probably look a little redic'.
(Above image found here)

Just my luck though, the well-known designers I know and love seem to also prefer to envision themselves in a Childlike manner. In contrast to me though, they actually have the materials, means and drive to make this type of look available to the modern lady in a contemporary and sophisticated fashion.

(Above image found here)

Instead of going on a witch hunt and boring you all, I decided to just show one picture to represent my point. Above are 3 looks from DKNY's Winter 2009/2010 look. It has all the lines and color of a "Victorian Christmas Girl" but... let's face it, it wouldn't be creepy if I wore it. By adding a scarf, hand muffler, great jacket and most importantly - a smile (I mean honestly, why must they look so angry?) - one would successfully look absolutely faboosh as a follower of Christmas.

Looking forward to sharing more this Holiday season! Til next time...

THANKFUL FOR...

Good Morning my beautiful fellow bloggers! As it is now Thanksgiving officially, I'm going to do the post that was evidently all the rage yesterday as a lot of gals did it - list a very short amount of things that I'm thankful for!

Fashion

Making your presentation of your body your own work of art is one of the best blessings bestowed upon... sigh, too much? Fine, to put it plainly: I like dressing up!









Friends
Yes, the above picture represents all of you as I can't possibly get a cohesive picture. But whether I'm sitting and talking over wine and dinner with my girlfriends or watching football and eating chips with my guyfriends, I'm always so grateful to have such great, stupid, ridiculous, hilarious people in my life! Thank YOU.

Family
I mean duh, love you all.

Boppers
Boppers is my Teddy Bear (that's not him pictured above, didn't feel like finding a pic of him), and I've had him since I was born. He stays tucked under my covers for nights that I may need him - and they definitely do come around here and there.

The Internet
The Internet actually just may be the love of my life. How else would I meet all you people and take daily joy in writing my blog and reading others. A very great joy and blessing indeed, thank you!

Tights
I mean, they're fun and come in lots of varieties. And, some even make my stomach smaller- God Bless them!

The Boy
Kinda like him... :)

Bio-Silk
I kid you not, I would probably pay a ransom if someone took my BioSilk. A BIG one - I would maybe even go on the air and say "GIVE ME BACK MY BIOSILK" ala mode Mel Gibson.

Animals
Like any good, crazy Cat Lady - I have so many pictures of me with Animals that the above will have to suffice. I love them. They make me smile. I've never seen an animal I didn't want to hold.

Individuality
Finding your own stride is always worth a Ce-le-BRATION!

Being myself
This picture is exactly how I'd like to be remembered. Haha.

So that's just a short sampling of things I'm thankful for, though if I really gave it a lot of thought it would last forever... but, now it's time to prepare my Thanksgiving offering and head down to my Dad's house to be with the rest of the family. I hope that everyone has a great time stuffing their face! Also, my best friend told me yesterday that the average Thanksgiving dinner has 3,000 bloody calories - Oy!

Reminds me of last thing I'm thankful for - EXERCISE!!!!!

Thanks for being a part of my joy this year! Happy, happy, happy, happy Thanksgiving!

When Fashion & Politics join forces, we as a Nation become stronger.

In no way do I plan on making my little blog here a Political one - yes I have my beliefs (as everyone else with a pulse does), but I get bored of discussing them and I am insanely tired of listening to healthy debate between friends quickly morph into mortal combat between enemies. I'm very opinionated but mark my words, you'll never hear me storm off after discussing political issues with people I love. With that said, the extent of my political posts will be geared to clothes (I know my Dad will roll his eyes when he takes in how stupid I sound in that sentence,haha) and I don't plan on divulging where I truly stand on issues.

As most American girls can probably guess now, what will I be discussing today? Perhaps Michelle Obama's State dinner dress??
(The modern first lady looking stellar. Found here)

Ahhh, the glitz and glam she is working towards makes me so happy. Let me clarify that this is not my favorite dress in the history of the world and faced with 5 other equally as glamorous gowns for my own State Dinner (wouldn't that be fun?) I probably wouldn't pick it. But, I do however adore how much effort is going into her presentation especially compared with the First Ladies of the past...
(A head-to-toe 2-piece, metallic blue ensemble?? Who dressed her! Doesn't do her pretty face justice. Found here.)

Love them or hate them, Lord knows they didn't do the best (or their handlers) when it came to putting them into clothes.

(Hillary Clinton could have done better than this boooorrrring look in circa 2000. Found here)

I think they were often in aged outfits and these State Dinner pictures I'm utilizing to clarify my point are even displaying them on their best days! Remember their horrific everyday wear? Ahh, why!?!
(Barbara Bush, I see what the idea was... but could have been executed a bit better. Found here.)

Of course when it comes to Politics or running the world, fashion holds little merit. But, fight it all you want, there is a lot to be said about how one presents themselves. And presenting yourself in a light where you look aware of what it means to be in style and that you take your role seriously - DOES make you look more powerful. Also, as any gal knows when you look beautiful, you feel beautiful.

So harp on Michelle Obama or even Sarah Palin - but hey, a little eye candy in Politics never hurts. Besides when young girls have a beautiful, respectful woman to aspire to - perhaps they will start absorbing her message instead of just wanting to look like Barbie (Not knocking the girl, I love me some Barbies but they are really all style and no substance. Though I suggest you click here to view politcal Barbies). But mainly, I'm pretty sick of looking at snooty, old, white-haired men in suits whenever Political events come up. God bless them but where's the snooozzzzzzeeee button?

Bravo to the evolution of the First Lady.

Sidenote: No matter what I say about American fashion, Jordan has us beat. Queen Rania of Jordan has poise not just in flawless style but in grace, in her passion for helping her people and her elegance in becoming a new, capable face to the world for Middle Eastern women. She's fun not only to look at - but also to listen to.

(Above image found here, Jackie-O picture at beginning of blog found here)

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving-eve!

If I'm going to do a color post, I'm going to want my Muse to go with it!

On my mind today - Fall colors!

First off, all hail Miranda Kerr in Orange. I mean really, is there anything that doesn't look entirely decadent on this girl??

Because I'm a masochist and love to look at how clothes lay on genetically gifted girls, I tend to Google her very much. (Why Miranda Kerr? Explained here.)

A Color Post also seemed totally appropriate (or as my best friend annoyingly but hilariously would say "totes approps!") due to Thanksgiving this week and some colors just deserve to be screamed at right now!
There's not much that I can offer in type to add-on to the experience of looking at the color Orange on her- so I'll keep it minimal: The color seems made for her.
Did any of you read the book "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie..." growing up? The premise was that giving a Mouse one cookie resulted in a domino effect of other items the Mouse wanted. That's how I feel when I see these pretty outfits on her:

If you give Caitlin a pretty dress, she's going to think of shoes to go with it!

Typically I would think of heels to pair with it but because I will be walking around downtown in cold, pretty Portland during the day today- I'm thinking of warmth over fabulosity. Thus, I would imagine an Orange ensemble with my Purple boots!
That's me and the Boy at a Charity event at Wieden+Kennedy a few weeks ago in Portland's trendy Pearl district. Though I loved the Purple boots with the black dress that night... now I'm just envisioning them with one of Miranda Kerr's Orange dresses and perhaps some dark lacy tights and a neutral trench jacket? Drooling.

Now, If I Give a Blog Reader a Picture, I'm going to want a story to go with it...
The picture of me and the Boy is taken inside the room directly shown above me- referred to as the "Nest" in Wieden+Kennedy. I just thought I would share the artchitectural delight with you. It's supposed to be a room where the employees can step away during the day and think... dream... be inspired... which, realistically, probably means a place where they go when they need a break from work to discuss Employee-A's hideous shoe pick with Employee-B.

But as you can see from the three shots directly above here all taken inside the "Nest" - that it really is a beautiful place and the colors go beautifully with my Fall Orange&Purple state of mind today!

So with that said... now that I've given Orange and Purple a field day - I decided to finally respond to the lovely tagging from The Owl's Closet - an adorable blog which helps you find great sales on wonderful products with a little personality attached. Definitely check it out!

As stolen from her blog, to fulfill the requirements of this activity, I had to search for 7 items with the color red or green (I chose red) in my home.

1. What's Black & White & READ all over? :)
2. An old magazine cover framed in my room, love that Red onesie suit!
3. Saltines in the Red box. I live for Saltines.
4. Red packaged ribbon for my Sister's wedding.
5. The Santa Clause -watched it for 1rst time this year last night, I love Tim Allen.
6. Most of my photo albums on my shelves are black&white, but I found a couple red ones!
   
7. My D&G purse.

I'm going to pass this fun post onto 3 gals:

• Jocelyn of Wingin' it Everyday
• Kata of KataWagnerBerg
• Mari of Come Fly w/ Me

Miranda Kerr pictures- in order of appearance can be found here, here, here and here.
All photos on this website are copyrighted material and all rights are reserved. This means you must have permission to use the photos in any way that does not fall under the limited rights granted by the "fair use" clause of the copyright law. "Fair use" does not extend to taking the photos and putting them on your own website, even if modified and for non-commercia
Happy, Happy Tuesday!!! If you're in the States - short work week! Yay! :)

The Lordess of the Rings

Does it ever seem like Monday mornings come before you can say "lazy Sunday" and then without even noticing, you're midway through it? What a busy morning I'm having!

I'm hoping that everyone had a wonderful weekend. As my to-do list right now is rather stacked, I just wanted to take note of my favorite weekend find.

I don't have too many rings. Mainly because I believe I have quite fat fingers - this conclusion made after noticing that my fingers tend to swell around rings, even after they're supposedly "sized". After a few hours, my attempt at either the refined elegance of Princess Diana-inspired or the ghetto fabulousness Lil' Wayne-inspired (some nights just call for one or the other) finger bling ends up looking like a summer sausage with a child's hair elastic around it.

However, despite this grotesque situation- I do have a few rings: Some which probably cost less than a dinner that I wear for fun when headed to a flouncy bar or club and then a few nice ones with actual diamonds that I received from my parents (both the nuclear & the grand type) and I have been trying to find a pretty place to store them.

I almost started cracking up when I started this quest for a ringholder. Why? Because, well - let me show you what the options mainly were.

(Above image found here)

Without going into too much graphic detail on my poor innocent blog - just looking at the ringholders available made me want to start saying "That's what she said!". I didn't like the glass surrounding but I also didn't appreciate the highly phallic symbol protruding from the middle. Nuff said - ick.

So this weekend I was so excited to find this:

I already threw a few bracelets on it and the rings I could immediately find but I really love it. I love the elongated fingers and it's fun to adorn it with your jewelery. I think it's the sweetest alternative to the other options which look like they are sold out of a dimly-lit store in the bad part of town... knowwhatI'msaying????

And where to find neat jewelery holders like the one I purchased? Boutiques, boutiques, boutiques!!!

(ABOVE: My new hand ringholder in my room. Also, my necklace/earring holder to the Left? It's merely a handtowel holder. Works really well!)

And with that said, I must go on with my busy morning. I did search hand ringholders though and found a few other ones - though pretty tacky and I probably wouldn't use, were fun to look at and reminded me of Disney characters- mainly Ursula and Cruella Deville (respectfully).

(Above image found here)

(Above image found here)

(Above image found here)

(First image in blog can be found here)

Happy Monday!