Valentine's Playdate OOTD

Yesterday after school I took my daughter to a Valentine's playdate at my best friend's. It was nice to sip champagne with grown-ups while the kids were entertained by someone else, I need more of these playdates!

Anyway, I broke out my merino bronzed leopard cardigan for the occasion. This purchase was quite the ordeal since the first that I had ordered during the recent 40% off craziness arrived with a strong smell of another woman's perfume (that I even recognized as Gio by Giorgio Armani) and fitting a size smaller that what it was supposed to (which I knew from having tried it in store). So I reluctantly called CS (they very nice on the phone and they apologized profusely) and could return it even if it was a final sale purchase and patiently waited for another occasion to buy it, which came around pretty quickly I must say. The second one was my size (yay) and in almost perfect conditions, excepted for a tiny hole at the seam around the collar. I thought about returning this one too but it isn't really visible unless you stretch the fabric (and unless I am going to transform into the incredible Hulk at menopause, it is quite unlikely that the collar is going to stretch out while I am wearing it) and I was quite sick of the whole thing (not to mention that now the 40% off is gone), so I decided to live with it.

I immediately loved this cardigan when I saw it in store but it was too expensive for the wear that I was going to get out of it (I know myself and I am not really a cardi-party girl, especially a printed one), but for $29.99 I think it's a nice addition to my closet. The thing that I liked best is that the colors will transition very well into spring (it has splashes of a light blue that go very well with a light wash denim).
Yesterday I wore it with my Victoria cami in white, my relaxed-fit Seven jeans and my second pair of Chalet boots (I love the brown ones so much that when the grey ones popped back in my size for half the price I grabbed them), my bronze jeans belt from last year and my crystal colletto necklace in pale buff (that I added at the last minute so it is not in the pics):




I topped the outfit with my favorite coat, the Script coat from last year, and my Juice Couture earmuffs, which are my best ally against the cold (best purchase EVER. I can't tell you how many people stop me in the street EACH DAY to ask me about the earmuffs or only to make a comment about them. I would even say that if you are single this is the best not-so-secret weapon to get the attention of men. Minis and push-up bras are overrated).
Anyway, this is my ideal winter outfit, if I can say so, warm and elegant at the same time:




Have a nice pre-Valentine's Day weekend (get a pair of those earmuffs)!

OOTD (Casual Cobblestone)

This post is for mrs.anketell who requested some outfit ideas for the Dream draped v-neck sweater (aka "Yoga" sweater) in heather cobblestone. I posted a couple of outfits here (it looks really nice with the carmichael popover) but I wore it today for the first time in the real world (the world outside my bedroom where I actually need to wear clothes). I have to say that if I still LOVE the cobblestone color, I realized that there aren't so many colors that I can pair with it (at least in my closet) as it's not quite grey and it's not quite brown. In the end I chose the semplicity of a white painter tee.

In my opinion, if you are going to wear this sweater with a simple tee you need a necklace to prevent it from going totally casual (not that there is anything wrong with casual. As you know I am casual most of the days). I decided to try the Northern Lights necklace in gunmental, that I bought a few weeks back when the stores were running a 25% off promo on jewelry (after seeing it on Andrea from The closet chronicles. Glear blog BTW, check it out if you haven't yet). I had a hard time in choosing betwen the golden one and the gunmetal and I went with the gunmetal because I have a lot of grey sweaters/tees for the winter.
Anyway, I think it looks great with this sweater:




For a look a little bit more sophisticated, you can wear a Victoria cami or other ruffled-neckline cami. I love the Victorias because they add some pizazz (is it really a word?) without adding bulk (but I don't wear them alone, only under cardigans). They still popback on the website and if you happen on one in your size I wouldn't hesitate to grab it, especially in a light color (they are even worth paying the shipping IMO if you don't have anything else to add to your cart):



While I am at it, I wanted to show you the Cashmere zip cardigan that I got yesterday with that crazy sweater promo that the stores are running (must resist buying 42 cashmere sweaters). I got it in the heather saddle color (which is as camel as you can get at JCrew this season) and I love it. I am happy to announce that this one doesn't suffer from tight sleeves syndrome and it hits me below my hips. This is my usual XS and I can even conceive wearing a long-sleeved shirt under it, yay:





Are you taking advantage of the sweater promo? Are you buying JCrew cashmere this season?

Saturday Shopping Outfit (Papaya, Ruffles and Giraffe)

Saturday morning I had plans to go to Bloomingdales to take advantage of their Family&Friends event (20% off fashion) a it was the right occasion to finally spend a gift card that I have received for my 40th birthday last summer.

It was a cold but very sunny day so I was in the mood for some color. I also wanted my outfit to be easy to take on and off in case of try-ons (so no shirts/skirts/boots). I picked my cashmere cardigan in bright papaya from last year and I paired it with the Victoria tissue cami. I have to say, I am quite satisfied of how this outfit turned out. In fact I felt great and "ready to shop":



You have probably noticed the change of locale: I took these pics in the living room, unseen by my husband who was in the bedroom. In the background you can see the typical mess that our living room is on Saturday mornings, after my daughter has spread the pages of the New York Times, especially the ads, all over (we subscribe to the weekend edition).
I was wearing a Crewcuts "giraffe" pendant necklace that I stole from my daughter. I bought this necklace around Thanksgiving: we were in the store and my daughter made me a scene about the necklace so I indulged her and bought it. Of course five minutes later the necklace had already lost all of its interest but I couldn't return it because the SA had cut the tag off. Then it disappeared for months, as things can disappear in a household with children and it resurfaced in a drawer a few days ago. I have to say, I quite like it for myself, especially with this cardigan (I had to hide it from her because of course had she seen it, she would have wanted to wear it):



The color of the cardigan reminded me of something. Papaya, papaya, what else do I have in papaya? The potpourri scarf, of course:



Actually I wore it over my script coat, because as I said it was cold:



I had a lot of fun at Bloomingdales, I hadn't been in a department store in a very long time and it was refreshing to see other brands than Jcrew.
BTW, I found a solution to my bag dilemma, so stay tuned!

Have a great start of the week!

Weekend Recap (and OOTD with the Victoria Tissue Cami)

I know that I'm a little bit late in posting my weekend recap but am I the only one who's running late this week? I'm still trying to make up for the hour that was stolen from us this past Sunday (where idi that hour go?) I never like day savings time at the beginning: it feels weird to have dinner when there is still light outside, after all those months (but are they really many?) of darkness.

Anyway, there weren't joking when they said that it would rain all the weekend. Saturday morning we had a birthday party of one of my daughter's girlfriends, so out in the rain we went. It wasn't that bad yet and my husband was pushing the stroller while I was holding the umbrella (two things that I can't do at the same time while I'm alone and that make any rainy school day a nightmare). I wore the pink striped bateau tee to cheer me up and also because pink is a good color to wear at a kid's party (I didn't take pics because the outfit was exactly the same that you have seen in another post).
In the afternoon I went for a quick tour in the neighborhood (I had some errands to do, including a Jcrew return, that could have really waited a week) and that's when things got really bad weather-wise because the wind was just too strong to keep an umbrella open (and boy, it was raining). At same point I saw a lady who was almost BLOWN away with her umbrella, Mary-Poppins style, while she was crossing 3d Avenue). Anyway I made it home, even if the outfit below got its share of rain, especially the Minnie pants:





I was proud of the black henley cashmere and Victoria tissue cami pairing until I realized that this is exctly how the the henley is styled on the website. Oh well, I can live with that. I had been eyeing the cashmere henley forever, waiting for it to drop below my self-imposed threshold of $100 for a cashmere sweater. With the 30% off promo the price was even lower ($83 something), so I grabbed two (I was very grabby last week).
The Victoria cami is in a (I think) store-only heather grey (very sheer). I bought three colors of the cami when it went on sale and I finally decided to keep only this one to wear under cardigans. I realized that I don't like it worn alone, it has a weird semi-halter style that makes my shoulders look very wide. BTW, in case you have the Scalloped zipper cardigan you might need this cami. It was the only thing that I could possibly think of to wear with this (otherwise beautiful) cardigan, besides a plain tank or tee:


I ended up returning the cardigan (I had paid FP) which is now back-ordered until July! I regret it a little bit but if I came across it on sale, I will buy it for sure (it was so "me").

That's it for now. I will be back soon with a post n some of the new Jcrew jackets and the long over-due post on the Tory Burch shoes!