OOTD with Cecelia Cami and Happy Halloween!

Today I am wearing my cashmere zip cardigan with the Cecelia cami in seawood. I have been eyeing this cami in this particular color since it came out but knowing that it is the destiny of almost all the JCrew camis these days to hit the bottom in matter of weeks, I waited and finally bought it the other day for $19.99.
I love this seaweed color and it goes very well with the color of the season (call it camel, caramel or heather acorn):





We had a few days of indian summer here (with temps in the 70s), but today we are back to a more seasonal weather. I like a Halloween weather for Halloween.
Speaking of Halloween, it turns out that I am going to put my bumble bee costume to good use as a good friend of mine has decided to throw a big party on Halloween (for kids and adults). My husband is going to be Napoleon (Bonaparte, not Dynamite) but shhh! It's a secret.

If you remember last Sunday we went to a Halloween parade and pumpkin sail in the park. The pumkin sail was really cute. Our friends had brought their carved pumpkin that we dropped off at a "pumpkin station" where they prepared it and put it on a floating device. Then we waited until dusk to see the pumpkins floating on the water. What we didn't know was that the pumkin trail was pulled along by a witch on a canoe boat:





And "our" pumpkin (or at least we think):



Happy Halloween to you all!!!

Easy Chic in the Morning, Bumblee Bee in the Afternoon

Yesterday I broke out a Zara skirt that I bought back in July and can be considered my first fall purchase this year (it was on sale thought, it must have been part of their spring collection even if the print is very fallish).

The skirt is a full silk skirt with a Hermes-inspired hound print:




It goes with a lot of colors that I have in my closet (especially gold/yellow/mustard) but yesterday I wore it with a black pair of tights and an old black Zara viscose tee (regretted not wearing a turtleneck because boy, it was cold outside):



The black tights and tee were a strategical choice as I had a very little time in the afternoon to transform into this:



Guess who's going to be a (big) bumble bee for Halloween this year? We had a Halloween party after school and my friend (the mom who was throwing the party) asked the moms to wear a costume too so I decided to be game. I am not a crafty person at all and this was inexpensive and kind of adorable to wear at a kid's party. This costume would have been perfect last year when my daughter was a bumble bee but we didn't have any party to go last year so I didn't wear a costume.
But, look who is here! Is that Minnie Mouse?



The party officially started the Halloween celebrations. Tomorrow we are going to the parade and pumpkin sale in Central Park (where you bring your carved pumpkin and you watch it sail in water the after dusk).

Have a great weekend all!

Abby, oh Abby!

I hope that you all had a great Halloween. Yesterday has been an almost perfect day for me. I say almost because my husband was away and I would have preferred him to be with us but we had a lot of fun nevertheless.
We had the perfect Halloween weather, a little bit stormy and always on the edge of raining but as a matter of fact dry until the evening and really WARM, so the kids could go around in their costumes without a coat and it was very pleasant to be outside.
The streets were packed with people in costume and it was actually the first time that we went trick-or-treating outside. In particular there was a block (78th street between Lexington and Park) were ALL the houses were decked out and it was a giant bloc party with thousands of people in the street. Really it didn't look like New York City but like a little village, I loved it.

It was also my lucky day for another reason. In the morning I went to Jcrew with the excuse of returning something, but basically to show off my daughter (as all the SAs know her) in her bumble bee costume.
When I was at the register to return the Pippa ballet flats that I had purchased during the special event at the Columbus Circle store with the 20% off, the SA asked me if I had seen the "new" flats with the toe cap. Of course I immediately knew that she was talking about the Abby, but I didn't want to mortify her with my clearly superior knowledge of the Jcrew catalog and nomenclature. So I just showed interest without actually screaming "You got the Abby!?". Let me tell you that I regretted not ordering them over the red phone with the 20% off the minute I left the Columbus Circle store. The Pippa are adorable but a little bit too young-looking for me (it's not the bow, it's the shape) and besides they are currently on promo for $98, which is less than what I paid with the 20% off.
Anyway, as soon as I saw the Abby in my feet I fell in love. They are an instant classic and all I look for in a flat: versatility, wearability and chic-ness.
However I had the same issue that I had when I ordered the Marjorie: the 6H was a little bit snug and the 7 was too big. In the end I went with the 6H, because the SA told me that all their flats tend to stretch out and it was really impossible for me to walk in the 7 without an insole.
At the register I tried my chance and explained that I got 20% off on the shoes that I was returning and asked if she could apply it on the new pair because I was basically exchanging them (even if it wasn't what is called an even exchange). And she said yes "Just because I like you" (which I think it's true and also because I'm there every other day or maybe because it was Halloween and my daughter was adorable).
So MAJOR SCORE, because not only I saved on the price but I also saved on the sales tax (that apply only on items above $110 in NY, I know I have already told you plenty of time but please forgive me I'm obsessed with screwing the sales tax), so I saved almost $40. Yay! Well, obviously my husband would tell you that I would have saved even more I had just returned the first pair, but you know that I could not do that, right?

And now some pictures of my new Abby. From above:



Frontal:


Side view:


And detail of the racing stripe on the back:


The SA advised to "try them around the house to see how they fit", but I have hardwood floor everywhere (no carpets) so it's impossible for me to do that without marking the sole. But I found a solution. You know the little plastic bags the shoes generally come in? Well, I have found a new use for them:



Have a Happy Sunday and for those who can, I hope you take advantage of the additional hour of sleep!

OOTD (Orange is for Halloween)

So today was Halloween Parade day at my daughter's school. The parents got to stay for the first hour during the celebrations and the kids had to wear orange and black (not a costume because they would wear paper crown and necklaces that they had made during the last week). I wasn't sure if the parents were supposed to wear black and orange too, but I thought it would be fun anyway so I asked my daughter to look in my closet and find something orange. That was too easy, she immediately found the gateau orange skirt from this summer ("That's orange!"). Yeah, that's definitively orange.
So this is my OOTD:



An below it's IRL, at school (I had to cut my had off because of the mom in the background, it was impossible to keep my face and not hers). I like how the colors of the skirt and my daughter's tee really matched (in the end I was the only parent to wear orange and black but the teacher thanked me for the effort that I had put into it. That helps because normally I'm always late in returning book orders, papers to sign etc.).



This is really a fun skirt to wear at parties, especially kids parties. I had already worn it at a birthday party of one of my daughter's friends back in the summer and took a pic of the outfit that I never got to post, so it's now or never:



I think that I'm going to update this outfit with the Funnelneck cardigan that I have in champagne and of course tights and wear it around the holidays, I just love the tee and the skirt together.

Back to Halloween, yesterday I hosted a Halloween party for my daughter and her best friends (there were seven kids aged 18 months to 2 and half and at some point it got a little bit out of control, but I survived). I didn't wear a costume, but my daughter was just adorable in her bumble bee costume so I wanted to share a pic (I like this one because it looks like she's flying away):



I have to say that being European I never "felt" Halloween like an American but now that I have my daughter is different, I like the tricks or treats and the Halloween parties with her. I'm not going to wear a costume this year as my husband is still travelling and I'm not going to a grown-up party so I'm happy that I have at least pulled off the orange skirt this morning.

Happy Halloween everyone!


PS

Stay tuned for a "I need your help" post later this evening (or maybe two)!