What I loved this week:

Amy Adams’ light and airy style in the movie “Leap Year”. Aside from clothes, beautiful scenery and one cute actor make this movie an ultimate chick flick and a must see.
Amy’s wardrobe is gorgeous and oh-so-suitable for Spring that I’m going to start looking for that blouse and cardigan combo as soon as I can.

My four strands of colorful freshwater pearls with the total price tag of $20.00. I know! A total bargain! These strands are long and I’m wearing them knitted together or with a knot to make them Y-shape.

Colorful umbrellas. Why everyone is carrying black umbrellas? There are so many interesting colors and designs, florals, dots, geometrics, even logos.

Make your trench casual

Sometimes, it’s that laid back and casual feel you are after. Well, a few little changes and your dear faithful trench can look and act casual. The poor thing is a real work horse!

Rainstorm, tornado alarm and what to wear

These days with the rain pouring and wind lashing, it really doesn’t matter what you are wearing. What is important is having a warm water resistance raincoat over your clothes, a cozy scarf and warm hat protecting your head and a large umbrella shielding you from rain. By raincoat I’m not talking about fancy expensive cotton trenches either, I mean those nylon ones with a quilted lining, with a hemline down to your knees.
Also boots are a necessity. I mean aside from getting splashed by passing cars and falling into puddles, when the rain hits you at 60-45 degree angles; even your umbrella is not much help. A good knee length water proof pair of boots can save you from a lot of wetness and muddiness and calf pain and cold. Knitted slipper boots, fancy suede ones or even authentic Ugg boots are not cutting the custard here. I am even starting to doubt my leather ones. They got so wet, the water was getting into the lining. I guess this is where solid good polyurethane or pleather is the best. Or we should all borrow a leaf from British and buy wellies.
If you are going to walk the length of the campus twice in high heels, struggleing against wind and having your umbrella blown out of your hands a few times; at least make sure that you have your check book with you because Cashier’s office does not accepts credit cards!
Ooh, and your handbag better be of synthetic material with a secure closure and flap over to stop the water from soaking all your notes. A messenger style bag is the best. Carrying your fancy new brown leather handbag is not recommended!

My dream outfit

I guess the “dream dress” or “dream outfit” for most people is something like a gorgeous party dress or a cute top or a head to toe chic look or an awesome designer piece but for the last year and half, my dream outfit has been a simple ruffley skirt and sweater combo. I envision myself wearing it at home, hosting an elegant tea party or lounging on the couch watching a period movie and sipping chamomile tea from a huge mug or sitting in the garden paging through a magazine with a tall glass of lemonade by my side. It’s that kind of outfit. The homey relaxing elegance of mid-century English ladies walking in parallels of their centuries old mansions, looking at acres of green hills wrapped in fog.
It sounds simple, doesn’t it? If so, why I haven’t been able to find it anywhere?! In Fall 2008, I saw this outfit in a magazine. I was in love! I spent six months looking for the perfect pale silk and satin ruffled skirt (on a budget!) and I couldn’t find it. Everything was too coarse, too short or the colors too harsh, not the soft delicate feel I have been dreaming about. The closest I came was a lingerie/slip in lavender chiffon with a ruffled skirt which was too short to wear as a serious skirt.

Then I gave up, got disappointed and start sneering at all floral chiffon miniskirts the whole summer. But as fate had it, I came across this outfit in December 2009 issue of “In Style” and my heart start pitter pattering again. Ooh, my love, where can I find you?

So I’m looking again for that perfect silky ruffley skirt and the softest sweetest sweater ever.
And you know what? I’m not going to give up this time. I’m going to check every store and website I can think of until I find and put together this outfit.

What I loved this week:

Well, this is a new series of posts I’m going to have every Friday.
This week I’ve been truly enamored by my Burt’s Bees Lip Shimmer in Merlot. It is a lip balm/lipstick, slides on creamy and cooling and has a soft color suitable for a daytime lipstick. It is %100 natural, soothing and a good moisturizer.

I’ve been lusting after colorful to coats. Blue, green, yellow, purple,…the more colorful, the better. I love bright intense colors: So eye-catching, so happy!

Have been enjoying my Cranberry crocheted beanie hat with its cute side flower. Hats don’t look good on me in general but I finally found the trick to wearing this one:

And loving color Red the whole week, red skirt, red beret, red coat, red lipstick, red handbag, even a bright red glasses-case! I felt hyper the whole week! And to complete my "RED" collection I’m thinking of this beauty:

The Last Standing Red

I admit, it hasn’t been such a clever idea wearing the same skirt day after day. For next week, I’m going to rotate three skirts in two weeks, wearing each one at least 3 times.
I am fed up with my high waisted skirt, it pinches, my ribs are bruised!
But I wore it this one last day just to prove to myself I can and get at least five times wear out of it.

p.s. I have gone with the “Main Outfit’ these past four days. But have been thinking maybe the “Alternative” on Thursday was the better choice. It was hot and brown on brown is not very flattering on me.

Seeing Red

Attending inter-departmental seminars is a fine art. You should look enthusiastic and interested but not so much because then you can come across as too-eager and an over achiever. You should be able to hide the fact that you don’t understand ¾ of the presentation and be ready to ask clever questions at the right time. You also have to learn to hide your glazed gaze and conceal your daydreaming expression. And it certainly won’t hurt if you are dressed nice and like a professional. People usually take you on the face value!

Chase the blues with red!

For a rainy gray day red is the perfect color: it makes you happy, is warm and it is eye catching so you won’t blend in the sea of grays and blacks!
But imagine getting home and finding out that rain has been very hard on your outfit. Not that it could pass my hat and scarf and trench, but somehow I lost a button and the heel tip of my boot was detached and the corridors become very slippery! Very damaging rains are!

Going Red!

This is my first day of “Skirt challenge” and for this week I have chosen a red high-waisted pencil skirt. The temperature is supposed to be in high sixties to mid seventies today, so my two outfits are covering all the bases. A thick brown cardigan will provide extra warmth if needed.

Holiday's sweets and chocolate, cold weather and neglect have played havoc with my skin. I need to shop for new skin care products. Ulta, here I come! And because it is on the way, I’m going to check my favorite boutique for some Spring-y items.

Dior, je t'aime!

I have been nurturing a huge crush on this handsome species for two years now! I have been whispering sweet nothings whenever I came across its picture. Then a few weeks ago I had a close encounter, it was hanging happily on the arm of a sleek older lady. I was in love! Then last weekend I spend a few minutes looking at it in person when it was sitting aloof on a glass shelf and… well, I can write sonnets and sing lyrics but nothing tells it better than the language of love: Lady Dior, je t'aime!

Back to School is not cool!

Hey, I am back from my virtual vacation. Last couple of months I spent a lot of time surfing the net and reading weblogs and writing, so I thought a couple of weeks without any internet activity would be good for me. Therefore I gave myself a break and even checked my email only once every four days or so. So good, so relaxing!
Now, Happy (belated) New Year everyone, and let’s talk about resolutions!
As I said before I’m going to add illustrations and I’m aiming for at least one per week.
Also, I did a little closet-cleaning last weekend and found out that I have a huge number of winter skirts that have not been worn for two years or so. Now you all remember my wearing dresses this Fall. I admit putting on a dress is much easier than putting together an outfit around skirts. But should I throw away all my skirts because I haven’t worn them in two years? Nauh! Not my style! What I do is: Challenging myself to wear skirts for the next two and half months at least 5 times a week! To make things easier I pick a skirt per week and put together five main outfits and five alternative outfits for five schooldays.
Another resolution is about Belts. I own a lot of belts and I love them. I also admire those outfits with belted jackets or cardigans. So my new outfits are going to have belts on them a lot!
The other new change will be having color analyses on the side as soon as I can figure out a way to add it to photos!
I have a few more ideas for this weblog which will be revealed in good time.
Keep tuned!