Birthday Party Pics (Meow!)

What a weekend! It was the craziest weekend ever with my daughter's birthday party, my best friend anniversary party the same day and Mother's Day. I am officially partied-out (except my husband's birthday is coming up soon).

This year my daughter's bday party was a bigger deal than usual, probably because 6 is an age when kids actually start to have their say on things and also start to build memories. I remember things that happened when I was 6 so I wanted to do something that my daughter will remember.
The theme of the party was kitties, because my daughter wants a kitty cat very badly. She even says that she doesn't want to get married because "men don't like kitties and I want a kitty" (I don't know where she got the idea that men don't like cats. Maybe in the books the cat owner is always a lady/girl?) In any case she seems to be OK with the idea that she needs to wait until she is a grown-up to get a real one, as we travel too much as a family to have a kitty.
As usual we rented a gym and I decorated it with kitties party supplies and favors. I even bought cat whiskers that I thought the kids could wear to dress-up as cats for the cake but those didn't work as they were costume adds-on. I was trying to find something to do with them and I thought that I could stick them to kitty cat masks that I would hand out, but I couldn't find any on the Internet that didn't look like a bad Halloween/Mardi Gras/Superhero costume.
So I decided to make them. At the last minute (the day before the party). I had the cutest kitty mask that I had bought at H&M for my daughter, so I used it as a pattern. I bought some sheets of felt, rhinestones and craft glue and got started. The first mask came out great and got me motivated but I didn't realize that I had spent almost an hour on it and I had 24 to make. You do the math; even if the other ones took less time they were still very time-consuming (I had to cut one by one with kitchen scissors). Around mask 9 I almost gave up. I managed to finish the cutting and details before dinner but the worst was to come, as I still had to sew an elastic in each of them so they could be worn. I had bought elastic thread but it was too big for the biggest of my needles. I couldn't really make holes in the felt with anything else than a needle, so I run to the store again (they were closing) to buy a smaller elastic. They had none! In the end, out of desperation I bought some inexpensive beads that came with 12 yards of exactly what I needed so I was saved. It would have been to silly to give up when I was so close. I finished at midnight but I was proud of myself. This is my creation (I made three black for the boys, as there were 21 girls and 3 boys):



They were a huge success (I was actually surprised that they didn't fall apart, besides some whiskers that fell out) and most importantly I can say that I made something for my daughter's party. I know there are a lot of moms out there who are very crafty but as you know I am the most un-crafty person in the whole world and I never finished a project in my life so this was a big deal for me. I am not sure I will do it again! I kept one for the memories, I hope it will stick with my daughter!

Did I mention the kitty cake? I found the cutest idea for a kitty cake on the Internet and I found a bakery that could make it for a decent price (but next time I will make it myself, ah!):



As for my outfit I did get that BR tunic-dress in a 4P. As I said it is more of a tunic on me in this size but it was actually better like that because it was too cold to wear it as a dress anyway, so I wore my Loft grey skinnies under it (they were perfect. What did we do before skinnies?) It was a great and comfy birthday party outfit. I didn't take pics of the outfit itself but here are some from the party:





My daughter was wearing Crewcuts (the skirt) and a "birthday tee" with cat that I found at the Children's Place (where I never shop but went to buy cartwheel shorts after a mom tipped me). It was the cutest birthday girl outfit (here is at the end of the party while we were coming home):



I think this photo says "It is great to be 6!".

I will come back soon with my Mother's Day outfit (that one was quite the hit).

OOTD: Field Trip (Navy And Stormy Blue)

Yesterday I was one of the mom chaperoning my daughter's class field trip to a theater. It was the first time for me chaperoning a field trip and as I realized later, my first time ever on a school bus! When I was little I could walk to school by myself and for the field trips in Italy we used private bus companies. I don't think there is something like the yellow school buses in Italy, it is something very American to me.

Anyway, I wanted to be comfortable but also a bit pulled together so I decided to wear a linen cable over a shirt and my Tory Burch Alexa cropped skinnies in lieu of jeans.
I was preppier than my usual self in this outfit but I liked it a lot, especially for the occasion. The linen cable is from last year and while I like it I am happy that I only paid $17 on final sale for it as the first time that I wore it (granted, I was sweating in it in July) I was covered in blue shreds (I still got a few yesterdays). As you might remember the nice detail on this sweater (that makes it less Brooks Brother-esque) is that it has two slits on the side at the hem, so it doesn't blouse at the hem like a regular sweater but goes down straight.





My matchy-matchy self loves how the color of the shirt (the contrast-stiches perfect shirt from a few years ago) is almost the same than the Alexa. I bought the Alexa during the recent Tory F&F event. They are more refined than denim but less casual than chinos (it's a twill) and I looove this color for summer (it is called "manatee" but in case like me you don't know what a manatee is I would describe it as a stormy blue). I got a 27, which seems to be my pants size at TB (I don't own any other pair but I tried a pair of board shorts last year in the same size). The SA adviced to go with my smaller size (a 26) because he had feedback that they stretch out but the 26 was really too tight. They stretched out a bit but not like crazy so I think it was the good decision.
While they are expensive for casual pants, I've already worn them a lot. This is another outfit that I really liked:





That's the tie-end shirt that I bought at Banana for a song. I really love it, it is very summery. You can get it here with 30% off the sale price today until 2 pm your time (but it is much cheaper in store). People on the website complain about the gaping but it doesn't gape on me in my regular size (unless the white one fits differently, which I will discover soon as I just ordered it).
Speaking of Banana, I regretted not getting that circle dress in coral with one of those 40% coupons. My store had only a 4P left and even if I have only a 20% off coupon I might get it to wear at my daughter's bday (but the 0 looked better because slightly longer).

That's it! I will try to do another post on Friday before the crazy weekend.

OOTD: New Black

Saturday I took my daughter to a birthday party that had a "rockstar" theme, so even if there was no dress code (and especially not for the moms) I had a little fun in creating an outfit I would be comfortable in but with a little something that would remind the theme of the party.
I decided to wear a tee that I bought a while ago on Gilt. It is by Sandro and can be appropriately described as "slouchy". The tee has "New Black" written on it and to be honest I am not sure if it refers to the color or what. The color was called "white" and it looked white on the Gilt website but because it is white linen on the front and black linen in the back, the color tends to read more as marled grey when I am not wearing it because the black shows through, which when I took it out of the package was a bit disappointing. However, once on, it is definitely white (hope this makes sense) and I liked the graphism a lot so I decided to keep it. As a side note, this was my first Gilt purchase ever and I am not a fan. First of all, when you start to understand how it works, you realize that the stuff they sell is often two years old so not THAT cheap (except when they do blowout sales); second, they don't offer free shipping, which sucks; third more often than not they don't offer refunds on but only store credit, which double sucks. I am much happier with MYHABIT, which is the Amazon flash sale site: they have a great selection, prices are lower compared to Gilt and they offer free shipping and refunds in 14 days.
You might ask what pushed me to break my years-long resistance to Gilt to buy this tee, in particular. Well, this tee is what I would call a "rebound tee". I had just bought the "Ooh Chic!" Zoe Karssen tee on shopbop.com, after lusting over her tees for more than a year. When the tee arrived I was disappointed to find it to be VERY oversized. I was expecting it to be a bit slouchy but it has a cropped fit that makes it look just big (I bought the smaller size available). Also, I thought that for the money ($75), it wasn't THAT special (it was very thin and half or rayon and actually I thought it was overpriced crap) so I returned it and that's when I happened on the Sandro tee on Gilt, that seemed a good substitute. I took a few pics of outfits that I was planning around it though and kind of regret it when I look at them (except, it is now sold-out). This one for example:



Anyway, back to my Saturday outfit, this is the Sandro tee (incidentally, when I cut off the tag I saw that the original price was $150. I love Sandro but they are out of their mind):




I started to work on adding some "rockstar" touches to this simple "jeans and a tee" outfit. I really didn't feel like wearing black (that would have made the task easier), because it was a gorgeous day (if a bit chilly), so accessories had to be the key. My studded Sam Edelman Frankie ballet flats from last year really give any outfit a tough-chic look. I tend to forget that I have these (their season is somehow short as your foot is so close to the ground that any amount of rain could ruin them but I don't wear closed toe shoes in the heat of the summer) but really I should wear them more often, also because they are the most comfortable ballet flats ever, it's like wearing slippers (I walked for hours in Paris last summer in these).



The belt, that is from JCrew and I think was called "crystalline" something, has little rhinestones that you can't see well in the pics.
I thought that this outfit missed a necklace but I couldn't find any necklace for the look I was going for, sparkly baubles really added nothing in this case. Then I realized that I didn't need sparkles, my black resin link necklace (last year birthday present from mother in law that I picked myself) would do it. In fact I think it looks great and I received a lot of compliments on it:





I think you could mistake me for ina in these pics, except she would be wearing heels! She is also a fan of Zoe Karseen as you can see in one of her recent post (sorry, I am in a hurry and cannot link!)

I have a busy week ahead that is going to culminate in the busiest weekend ever (my little girl 6th bday party, my best friend anniversary party the same night and mother's day), so I could suddenly disappear without notice!

Most Worn Item of The Week: The Rebecca Taylor Tweed Moto Vest

The Rebecca Taylor Tweed Moto Vest had me obsessed since January, when I first tried it in store. It was expensive and I was afraid that before I could actually wear it in the late spring it would go on sale so I decided to wait. Not only it didn't go on sale but it sold out at RT (way before their recent F&F event). For a while I thought about getting a cheap version (this H&M one in particular) but in the end I realized that what I loved about this vest is the twist on the fabric. A leather or faux-leather moto vest is something that throws me back to the 80s while a moto vest in a refined fabric like white summer tweed is a sophisticated take on the moto vest that is right up my alley. This moto vest has some leather details like the tabs on the side and the epaulettes but the rest is tweed.
I finally got it during the Bloomingdales F&F, with 20% off that took a little bit the sting out of it. I thought that if I didn't buy any other jacket and I wore it enough it would be money well spent. I wanted it to be my "signature" jacket for spring.

The weather didn't cooperate in my plan (as you know we had a very cold spring) but we are finally having the right weather to wear it as a topper without freezing and I wore it non stop this week. I was right in my idea that this would be something easy to incorporate in my casual life, it goes with pretty much everything so I can easily throw it on in lieu of a cardigan in the morning to walk my daughter to school.
These are a couple of outfits from this past week:

Vest: Rebecca Taylor
Pants: Tory Burch Alexa cropped
Shirt: Joe Fresh

Vest: Rebecca Taylor
Shirt: Joe Fresh
Jeans and shoes: JCrew (old)

I even wore it to a girl's night out last Tuesday (I wore pumps, so it was dressier than in the pics):

And finally the try-on that started it all. I went to RT to try this dress (on sale) for Miami:





And I had the idea of throwing on the vest:



which made me think that this jacket can spice up anything. Incidentally I got the dress.

What do you think of the Rebecca Taylor tweed moto vest? Did you buy a moto vest/jacket this season?

Emerson Fry A-line Mod Top in Big Geo

I have been looking at the Emerson Fry new collection and in particular at the A-line mod top in big geo since the day it rolled out but besides the fact that I didn't really need it, it has been sold-out for quite a while.



Now, three things happened, almost at the same time: first, my blog pal AJC put out a review of the black version of this top and it looked terrific on her (see her review here); second, I have a fabulous occasion coming up that might or might not happen (it is a bit complicated to organize, so it might fall through) for which I need something special (and for which I bought something very special at Tory Burch that I will show you soon, but depending on the travel plans I might need something more travel-friendly); third, the top came back in stock a few days ago. These three simultaneous conditions prompted me to order the top before it sold out again. They also have free shipping and free returns with pre-paid label, which I love.

I ordered it on Monday, it shipped the same day and yesterday was already at my door! It came beautifully packaged in a box and with a wooden hanger (you can see pics of the package in ajc's post), very impressive.
I will tell you from the start that the top is beautiful but didn't work on my body type and it is already back in its beautiful box (it was almost harder to let the box go than the top!)
One of the things I was concerned about after seeing the top on ajc is that it would be too A-line on me. Well, it isn't the case, and I find it almost too straight.
I ordered a XS and it fits well. The armholes are a bit big but I think that they are meant to be like that since they are cut square (BTW, this cut highlights the triceps and pectorals, so if you have some loose skin there it might be an issue). The real problem is that it is too long for my figure and since I don't have the long legs that ajc has to offset it, it makes them look even short(er).
When you look at it per se, it looks nice (if a bit sac-like, as I have already said):



But when you look at my entire figure you can see that it is too long and not particularly flattering:





Granted, I don't have the ideal pants for it, like the ones that the model is wearing. I tried it with my curator pants just to see if I liked it better with black pants. I wouldn't wear this top with them anyway because the cropped leg of the curator accentuates the short half issue:



The only way this top would possibly work on me is worn with long pants a bit flared at the bottom and high heels but that's too limiting and I don't have the flared pants in the equation.

Last but now least, while I liked the print on the model, when I put it on it immediately reminded me of this, for some reason (look, she is even in the same pose than the EF model):



I swear that while I grew up watching "Space: 1999" (yes, it aired in Italy too!), I haven't thought about it since and I was shocked to find out that I actually remembered the character's name, which is Maya (she is the one that comes from another planet).
I don't want to make too much fun of this top, because it is a beautiful top and if you can pull it off like our ajc you should give it a try, but I take this sudden remembrance as a sign that the top is not for me! On the other hand, now I want to watch all the reruns of Space:1999!

If my fantasy occasion becomes a reality I will stick to my first plan, the Tory Burch one. In case you want to know about the occasion, I am dying to tell you but it is too early. I will show you the Tory purchase soon though!

Have you tried anything at EF this season? Were you a fan of Space:1999?

OOTD And More JCrew (Hawaiian sunset shorts, Another Carrie and Collage Earrings)

I loved, loved, loved the outfit that I wore this past Saturday so I have to share. It was definitely getting warmer but it wasn't yet as warm as to go short sleeves or with only a shirt on. It was a (rare) cotton sweater weather day so I wore one of my favorite sweaters, the fisherman shrunken cable from two summers ago. I think the color was called aged driftwood and it's a beige with grey undertones. It goes perfectly with my Loft "greige" jeans and I added an old ombre scarf in exactly the same tones (plus, I just switched bags for spring and took out my TB City hobo which is grey as well):




The stripe canvas and satin Seville wedges are from last year but because I bought them for cheap late in the summer I didn't get a lot of use out of them (when it starts to be 90 degrees, closed shoes aren't the best for your feet). Their season is really now to June and after walking in them for two days in a row, I was surprised at how comfortable they are (I wore them without socks and they didn't give me blisters nor did they hurt my feet in the least). So since I have been looking at the chambray version since it came out but didn't know if I really needed another pair at full price, I decided that I'd better get them with the 25% off and start to wear them now instead of waiting for them to go on sale and not wear them for the season. Last year I was sized out in the solid Sevilles but this year they introduced half sizes so I sized down half a size and they fit perfectly (for some strange reason the striped canvas and satin ones that I am wearing in these pics were more TTS than the canvas). Yesterday afternoon I sneaked out literally a few minutes before the store closing and luckily they had my size in stock as I didn't want to buy more stuff online to get the free shipping.

So this morning I tried them on with a couple of other new purchases that I meant to show you (I told you I am going broke with this promo). Some of you might have already heard that the Hawaiian sunset print (that comes in the linen tank) also comes in linen shorts that for the time being are only available in store (and not in all the stores, only Fifth Avenue has them so far). I love the print and the tank was my favorite item in the entire Spring Lookbook but for some reason I was holding off because I owned a similar tank (I think it was H&M from many years ago) that I ended up giving away, so it had a little bit of deja vu for me. But when I saw the shorts in store I immediately grabbed them, trying to divert my eyes from the price tag. I was bracing for $79.50 and hoping for $59.50 but they are right in the middle at $69.50. With the promo they came down to $52 which isn't too bad.
My regular short size (2) fits perfectly. They feel a little bit longer on than my other 3" shorts but it is probably because of the linen fabric. They have a zip in the front like chinos (which I prefer to the side zip) and they are lined in cotton (yes, you read right). These are the fitting room pics:




And here are styled with the Seville wedges in chambray and my short-sleeve selvedge denim shirt (which is the same color than the Sevilles BTW):




If you remember I had ordered the Carrie cami in ivory a while ago, during a similar promo but ended up returning it because of its impraticality. But I really, really love that cami and I happened to try a few other colors in store. It turns out that while I usually shy away from red, especially in the summer, this particular shade of red looks great on my skin and it seemed easier to wear (in terms of the bra issue) than the white one. Plus, I have a specific rescue mission for it, that I will show you another time.
I am also glad that I tried a 0 in store because I really need a 2 in this one to accommodate my boobies. So this is the 2:



I don't know if you can't tell but I am wearing it with a new strapless bra by Natori and because the red is not sheer and the silk is quite substantial it doesn't show. I reordered the white too, to see if this bra solves the problem of what to wear under it, I will keep you posted, I might keep both if it works.

Last I bought the Color collage earrings to wear with the cami in lieu of a necklace. The color of the earrings is more pink but because the red of the cami doesn't have orange undertones I think they work well together. I don't have any "dangling" earrings and I thought that these were fun for the summer:



I am really pleased with these purchases, I love everything and I can't wait to wear them, but now I really need to stay put for a while, even if they extended the promo.

What do you think of these items? Anything that you are considering as well? Please share! If you are interested in calling a store for the shorts before the promo ends, the style number is #59008.

Collection New Arrivals: Cafe Capri and Postage Mini in Embroidered Neon Floral, Silk-Wool Skirt in Punk Floral, Collection Cafe Capri in Organza

This SPRINGBEST promo really got me to go the stores and spend way more money on new arrivals than I had envisioned when looking at them on the website. What can I say? Summer is my favorite season.
Anyway, I stopped at the Collection store the other day and tried a few things for the blog (as they didn't have what I was looking for). As you know I have the silk top in punk floral already so I am not interested in anything else in the same print but they had the skirt and since it has been popular I tried it on (it appears to be sold out on the website).
It is a fun skirt in a substantial weigh (the color is a bit darker in the silk-wool fabric than in the silk top and dress) but a bit too voluminous for my taste. I think they should have done it in a midi or knee length to balance the volume out. Instead it is above the knee, which makes it a bit little-girly and poufy. I am 5'2" but if you are taller it will look more like a mini on you.
This is the 0 and it was the right size, it was already sitting a bit below my waist so I wouldn't size up (it would add even more volume):





One of the SAs was trying on the Collection café capri in organza (weren't they called "pagoda" two days ago?) so I decided to try them too. I waited forever for these because they were still in boxes and after all that time they told me that they hadn't received the size 0 (what?). So I tried a 2 and because they were giant a tried a 00. The 00 was definitely too small in the waist (I could barely button them) and too tight on my derriere, while the legs were OK. I would really need a size 0 in these but I don't think they are flattering pants plus the detail at the hem is a bit lost on me as I am not tall enough to showcase it. They are lined, BTW, so not sheer:




This is the side view (and yes, they gave me a case of big booty):


The same SA was wearing the Café capri in neon floral and since I am a sucker for café capris and they looked fun, I gave them a try (that was before seeing the price, I thought that these were below $200, not $300).
The 0 fit perfectly (they are lined as well):




In reality I was interested in the mini but they didn't have it. I wanted to order it with the promo but it is waistlisted until mid-May on the website and I never know what size to order in minis, if a 0 or a 2.
Later that day I also stopped at the other Collection store (the one closer to my place) and asked them if they were going to receive it. They told me that they didn't know but certainly not before the end of the promo. Well, yesterday the VPS there called me because they had received a return of the mini in a size 0 and she had put it on hold for me!
I was almost sure it would be too tight/short but if fit perfectly. I have lost a bit of weight compared to last winter so I am probably a real 0 again, while I was fluctuating between a 0 and a 2. Anyway, the neon yellow really works on my coloring (the color IRL is closer to the pics of the pants) and it is a great skirt for the summer (and a good alternative to a white mini, if you have one already). I trust the SAs at this store to tell me the truth and they were all "you have to get this one", which I did:





I have more pics to share from the regular Collection. What do you think of these Collection pieces? Interested in any of these?
Have a great Sunday!