Sunday at Ikea-by-the-Water

Last Sunday we decided to go to Ikea to check out the "big girl" beds for our daughter. Her crib is from Ikea and we have been very happy with it, so we thought that we would look at their Junior beds before ordering one from another company.
We don't have a car so getting there by public transportation is such a hassle (especially with daughter in tow) that it usually discourages us from going. But the (relatively) new IKEA in Brooklyn has a boat shuttle service (a watertaxi actually) that takes you from the Seaport (reachable by an easy, even if long, subway ride for us) and leaves you directly at the IKEA in Brooklyn, that is directly across the dock (then it's only a very short walk through the parking lot). So we thought that it would be a fun outing for a summer Sunday.

Now I don't know what I was thinking when I get dressed on Sunday morning. I wore the worst outfit for this kind of trip. For starters I thought that the weather would be nice and sunny (clearly I didn't check weather.com) while it started to rain as soon as we arrived at the Seaport (linen shorts and leather flip-flops are notoriously not waterproof). Second, my outfit was completely wrinkled by the time we got off the subway. Third, a delicate embroided blouse is not the best choice when you have to schlep a huge IKEA bag (not to mention a bed) on your shoulder all the way back home (because you all know that it's impossible to go to IKEA and not buy anything. Even for my husband!)

I guess that I really wanted to wear my starfish shorts, that I haven't worn that much since I bought them (I took them to the Hamptons but never had the occasion to wear them there). I really like the print on these, it's so summery, and after trying them with a few tee-shirts without being satisfied, I put on my Fiesta tunic and I felt ready to go (or that's what I thought):




(The Fiesta tunic and the shorts appear wrinkled in the pics above because I took them AFTER our trip).

Besides the rain (that stopped after 45 minutes or so and gave us a good excuse to have lunch before "embarking"), it was a fun trip. The boat ride is short but interesting and you get to see the Brooklyn docks from an unusual point of view and very close (and of course you still have the Manhattan skyline and the Statue of Liberty on the other side). Actually the architecture of the docks reminded me a little bit of the Venice docks (NB: my husband doesn't agree).
I didn't have my camera with me and the battery of my phone was slowly dying and I really regret not taking a pic of IKEA-by-the-Water as we were approaching it (it looked a little bit like a mirage), but I managed to take a few pics in front of the watertaxi after disembarking at the Seaport. You will notice the huge IKEA blue bag hanging from my shoulder. I was carrying it because my daughter fell asleep in my husband's arms on our ride back to the Seaport (as you can see she is sleeping in the stroller), but after these pics HE carried it (too late for my blouse though):




We didn't buy the bed but we bought two cute bedding sets for her future bed, a pillow, a stool and a stuffed animal. As I said, impossible to leave IKEA with free hands.

Have you ever taken the boat to go to the IKEA? Do you own the starfish shorts or the the Fiesta tunic?

A Lady Who Launches (but also Goes Out for Dinner)

Thank you for all the birthday wishes that you have left in your comments to my last post. They surely had some effect because my birthday was a perfect day from start to end. First, I had free unlimited babysitting (thanks to my mother in law who is still here) and that's really a luxury for me as we normally don't have our families around here to help. Second, I got to launch with my girlfriends in a nice restaurant in the neighborhood and to dress for the occasion. Third, one of my girlfriends had a gift for me, which I didn't expect, and it was a JCrew jewelry box (after years of spreading the word and hoping that someone would give me JCrew as a present, someone finally did)! Fourth, I spent the rest of the afternoon shopping with the same girlfriend (while I generally shop alone or worst. And you know what worst is.) and it was a lot of fun, even if I didn't buy anything myself (just exchanged something). And last but not least I went out for dinner with my husband and our friends whom I hadn't the chance to see in a very long time and it was just the perfect ending to a beautiful day.

Planning my outfit was part of the fun. When I was organizing the lunch with my girlfriends I had just bought the Embroided Ikat Pencil Skirt. To me, pencil skirts are for the "ladies who launch" and I don't wear them enough to justify a FP purchase but when this one went down to $69 plus 20% off in stores I couldn't resist. It's one wonderfully made pencil skirt, the fabric is just amazing and I love the color and the embroidery, it's very summery (actually more than it shows on the website)without being gaudy. Because I was going to be a lady who launches for one day, I thought that it would be the perfect occasion to wear it.

Someone on the JCA asked me how I was going to style this skirt so I am going to share some ideas here. I must say that the picture on the website isn't very inspirational (just how many times have we seen the "a pencil skirt and a plain tee look" this season? It looks like someone is out of styling ideas at JCrew so I had to go through a styling session myself and see what would work with it. Please note that it was 100 degrees here yesterday so my choices were partially dictated by my personal comfort (I didn't even attempt to put a cardigan on)!

Besides the two colors that are already in it (orange and natural/ivory), this skirt looks very nice with a dark color on top, like shadow, navy or faded black. I get the idea of a wearing a tee with a pencil skirt, but just not a plain one, this skirt deserves better. I tried two combinations, with the sequin necklace tank and the sunray tee (I believe that this was the name and it's now very cheap). I apologize for the messy background in the pics: my daughter had decided to play with her doll just behind me and she wouldn't move.





With another tee, in the same tones:



I really wanted to try it with last year contrast-stitches perfect shirt, so I braced myself and wore a long-sleeved shirt for a few minutes, just to take the pics (and trust me, I was already sweating). I would totally wear it like this when the temperature cools off (I would wear this with pumps instead of my espadrilles):




It looks nice with a fitted jacket in a natural color for work (even if I probably wouldn't wear it like this myself). Hey, it's a pencil skirt after all:



And the last outfit is the one that I wore yesterday. To create this outfit I followed the "JCrew styling rule number one" (now don't look for it everywhere, I am making it up): take two pieces that normally don't go together, say a pencil skirt and a peasant blouse, put them together and belt everything. And if you are supposed to wear heels, wear flats (and viceversa):



The top is the Fiesta embroided tunic which is still FP on the website, but on sale in stores:



I got a compliment from pretty much everyone when I walked in the Collection store like that. The lady at the door, who is usually very nice with my daughter and speaks French, even told me that I was "toute belle", which made smile because it is usually a compliment that I only hear from my husband.

Anyway I told you that after lunch I went shopping with my girlfriend. Actually we checked out the new JCrew wedding store where I hadn't been yet. Because I knew a couple of SAs from the Collection store who now work there, we had a special treatment and we could go downstairs where they keep the wedding gowns and it's normally by appointment only. The store is beautiful and they have special items that you can't find anywhere else (especially very expensive jewelry but also party clutches, stoles and even belts. Oh and I saw the famous sequins pants that Jenna Lyons was sporting in one of the videos). My girlfriend tried an occasion dress and ended up buying it and because she was with me she had free overnight shipping (you can't buy any dress in the store, they only have a sample in each color for try-ons and they have to order everything for you). There was a "Breakfast at Tiffany" or "Women" feeling to the whole experience because it's a wedding store and now I regret not trying on something, just for the sake of it.

For my birthday dinner with hubby and friends I had booked a table at a Greek restaurant because two of the guests were Greek and I know that they love to eat Greek food (and so do I). The restaurant is known for the food, but is kind of low-key so I didn't go over the top. I was actually dying to wear this top from last year that I found at the last sample sale. I had bought it as soon as it came out (in fact I have even a post on it), then returned it to buy something else because I thought that I would find it on sale, then missed it when it went on sale (it never popped back). It was one of my biggest regrets and I have looked for it everywhere ever since (ebay, weekly exchange). When I saw it at the sample sale I almost fainted! The skirt and necklace are also from last year (the clutch is a neighborhood find):





My birthday present has shipped and it will be here tomorrow. Stay tuned to see what I got!