Life’s Too Short

When I was younger I remember reading a quote from a male Parisian designer, who will remain nameless, that stayed with me from that point on.  The designer declared that women over 30 should not wear shorts because legs don’t age well.  Although I was probably in my early 20’s when I read that quote, I developed a sensitivity to the length of shorts that I wore from that point on.  I mean, after all if Mr. Famous Fashion Designer declares that the legs don’t age well, then who am I as a young 20-something to question him, right?

Wrong.  Today, I got over my major mental block over wearing short shorts that I have had for years.  Don’t laugh because it’s true.  I’m going to be 33 next week and today I finally wore a pair of cute shorts that didn’t come down to my knees.  After walking around the city and seeing all of these cute girls wearing shorts, I got real with myself and finally admitted that I could and should wear shorts.  My legs are no different than any of those girls that probably don’t even think twice about wearing shorts, so why the hell not wear them too?

Here’s to getting over stupid self judgement and trying something new.  Life’s too short.

It was hot and sunny today, which made it the perfect day to unleash my white legs on New York.  I’m wearing a Madewell white v-neck t-shirt tucked into a pair of Trovata plaid linen/cotton shorts.

A Lanvin knock-off necklace from Forever 21.  Gotta love them for their fabulous knock-offs.

I wore my J.Crew metallic leather espadrilles with my chipped pedicure.  I have to make some time to fix up my toes before the weekend.

***Music today:  The Stone Roses “The Stone Roses”.

My Beautiful Grandmother

My grandmother Mellicent Treadwell was  an exceptionally stylish woman, as you can tell by this photo.  She was born in 1925 to a West Virginia coal miner and his wife.  She lived through untold hardships but if you knew her, you never would have guessed.  She was full of grace and humor.  A true lady.  Everyone who knew her loved her.

She was my best friend when I was little.  The most wonderful Grandmother anyone could have asked for.

After my Grandfather passed twelve years ago, her health began to decline slowly.  Simply said, she lived for him.

She passed a little over a month ago in Missouri, where she lived in a nursing home near my aunt and uncle.  She was cremated and my family held a memorial service for her this past weekend down in Maryland.  We shared beautiful stories and looked at old photos.  My mother insisted that this be a celebration of her life so we all wore bright colors to the service instead of somber black.

I’ll miss you Grammy, but I’m happy that you and Gramps are together again.

***Music today:  One of my Grandmother’s favorite song’s  John Denver “Take Me Home, Country Roads”.

Tracy Reese Dress Day

What a perfect day to wear pretty dresses.  Finally, the sun burned off the clouds and we had a gorgeous afternoon.  I was a little hesitant to wear a dress this morning when I read the weather forecast calling for a storm and saw the grey clouds gathered over the city.  But I had promised Brandi that I would wear one of my Tracy Reese dresses, so on the dress went and with it came a beautiful day.

Brandi and I are always talking about Tracy Reese.  Her feminine details and beautiful silhouettes always make you feel pretty without being fussy.  I have a hand full of pieces but it seems that Brandi has a whole closet full since she is always wearing something from the designer.  Lucky girl.  Anyway, yesterday we were talking about our Tracy dresses and Brandi came up with the idea for us both to wear Tracy Reese today.  And so, our first Tracy Reese dress day was born.

Here we are taking a break from our lunch at The Frying Pan, a very cool bar/restaurant on a pier in the Hudson River.  My dress is cut on the bias and has organic pleats that follow the body around the front to the back of the dress.  Brandi’s floral printed dress is a modern take on a vintage silhouette with a super-cute cut-out back.

Brandi paired two modern silver disk necklaces with her dress.  The simple jewelry complements the busy floral print of the dress.

Her classic chronograph silver watch…

… and smart Cole Haan patent leather sandals.

I chose to wear my jade vintage ring…

…  and my new Cynthia Vincent black leather sandals.
Mind you, neither of us consulted on the specifics of our outfits, but as you see we both had similar ideas to wear flat black sandals and simple jewelry.  Great minds think alike.

***Music today:  Elbow “Cast of Thousands”.

One Track Mind

I have to admit that the only thing on my mind today has been our trip to England, which we’re taking in a month and a half.  We finally booked the tickets last night and I am THRILLED!  I’ve had this weird affinity with all things British since I was a child and yet, I’ve never been to the UK.  The music, the clothes, the movies, the sitcoms, the BBC, the literature, etc.  You name it and I love it.  While I am fully American, both sides of my heritage mostly derive from Wales, so this is a BIG trip for me because I feel as though I’m going back to the mother land.  All of those years of dreaming of this trip and not being able to afford it while I was in school.  Then when I was out of school and could afford it, I didn’t get enough vacation time at my various corporate design jobs.  Now having my own business and freelancing, the stars have finally aligned… It took two friends getting married to make it happen.  (Thank you Marc and Natalie!!!)

The tickets have been purchased and we’re GOING!!!  You couldn’t find a happier person, even if you tried.

Our weather has still been pretty grey, so our apartment was rather dark this morning when this picture was taken.  I’m wearing a Catherine Malandrino top, J.Brand jeans, and a G.Star light weight cotton hooded jacket.

My favorite silver hoops from Istanbul.

Detail of the super feminine top.  The jacket is slightly edgy and masculine, and if you know me you know I like to mix the two.

My Robert Geller painted ring.

J.Crew brown zebra printed flats.

***Music today:  Alexi Murdoch “Time Without Consequence”.

What a Day, What a Day

You know what I love about my life?

I love that every day is different.

Here’s to new and exciting experiences.

For my very eventful Monday, I wore a pair of Hugo Boss linen blend high-waisted, pleated short/pants (because they’re sort of too long to be shorts and too short to be pants), a Madewell medium heather grey cotton ribbed tank, and a Neil Barrett cotton twill blazer.

I love the pink stone beads and the the onyx arrow-shaped beads of this Madewell necklace.

Chance of rain today, and I said scuh-rew it, I want to wear cute shoes.  Luckily, the rain held off until this evening, when I was steps away from my front door.  I wore my beloved Sigerson Morrison patent leather flats.

***Music today:  Violent Femmes “Violent Femmes”.

It’s Not About The Money

Style doesn’t cost money but fashion does.  Cheap Chica Lillian Vasquez has the coolest blog called The Cheap Chica’s Guide to Style which is all about fashion on a budget.  She finds the best deals online and in stores just for all of you girls on a budget.  She also gives ideas on where to find pieces that you see on your favorite celebrities at prices you can afford.  Oh, oh, oh, and get this, she even keeps an updated list of discount codes and coupons to help you save money at your favorite stores!  Love that.  Check her out now and thank me later. 

How cute is she?!

Just some of what you can expect to find on her site.

Music today:  The Gossip “Standing in the Way of Control”.

Please Sun, Shine Your Rays On NYC. I’m Asking Nicely.

Not much has changed here.  Blah, blah, blah, rain.  Blah, blah, blah, more rain.  I think New York is confused and thinks it’s Seattle or something.  The other day I woke up to a gorgeously sunny morning and realized that my mood was instantly better.  I always thought I would love to live in the Pacific Northwest, but after our month of almost non-stop rain, I’m starting to reconsider that.  The sun really does affect my mood, which in turn affects the way I dress.

Case in point:  How cute and feminine do I look when the sun finally came out the other day?  I even got to wear actual sandals instead of wellies!  Oh joy!  Mind you, I think the rain had already started again when this photo was taken and I ended up with wet, grimy city feet on my walk home.  I wore a Toast floral printed top that I believe was intended to be a way-too-short-for-me-wear-in-public dress, so I just wear it as a tunic with jeans or shorts.   I also have on a pair of J.Brand skinny jeans and Pierre Hardy for Gap brown leather sandals.

I love that this Subversive for Target beaded necklace brings out the pinks in the top’s print.

A super close photo of my very lovely sandals that I virtually lived in last summer.  I love that they are so simple they could even appear to be handmade by an artisan in Mexico or some other picturesque place, and yet they are Pierre friggin’ Hardy for Gap.  Love Gap for their designer collaborations.

***Music today:  The Coral Sea “Firelight”.

Glamour Shots

My good friend David Toth is an amazing photographer.  He did a beautiful job with all of the shots on my website.  So, when I recently decided to take out some ad space in a few magazines this fall I turned to Dave again to take some new pictures of me for the ads.  The only time we both had free to take the photos was this past Saturday afternoon.  Unfortunately, the weather didn’t cooperate and the beautiful morning turned into a torrential downpour.  We ended up taking some photos in the rain under a pavilion on the Hudson with two rather interesting dudes fishing right next to us.  It was completely hilarious.  I think this shot was taken right as one of them decided that he had to relieve himself off the pier right next to me.  I couldn’t help but laugh at the whole situation we found ourselves in.

It was friggin’ wet and windy.  I thought this shot was a little to model-y for me, but a good shot none the less.

We decided to head back to my house afterwards and try our luck there.  This was one of my favorite shots from the whole session.

I was wearing a Vivienne Westwood silk dress with very subtle gathered detail at the armhole and the side seam that drapes the fabric slightly across the body.

I’ve been wearing my turquoise earrings a lot recently.

I was inspired by Ms. Iris Apfel and decided to pile on the bangles.  This is one wrist…

… and this is the other wrist.

I’m loving my new Marc Jacobs patent sandals with their silver mirror heels.  They’re actually pretty comfy…  for heels.

***Music today:  Film School “Film School”.

Going Out

As much as I wanted to unleash my girliness when we went out with friends this weekend, it was raining AGAIN!!!  Grr.  Jeans and a blazer won out over a dress or a skirt because I didn’t want to get drenched walking around the city.  We ended up at the posh Cooper Square Hotel for our friends’ engagement party.  Lots of good times.  Congratulations to Natalie and Marc!!!  Can’t wait for the wedding in August!

I’m wearing my favorite Clu heather grey pocket tee, J.Brand skinny jeans, and Neil Barrett blazer with super skinny modern lapels.  The blazer is made of a beautiful cotton twill with a slight sheen to it so it works for evening.

My turquoise drop earrings.

I was feeling a little bracelet deprived the other day, so I headed down to the Manhattan Century 21 and bought a bunch to be mixed and matched together.  These coral and turquoise strands were my favorite finds.

My vintage Guess leather booties that I modified with red leather laces.

***Music today:  Florence & The Machine “Dog Days Are Over”.

Grey, Grey, Grey

Today, we found a secret corner in the fabulous building I freelance in. Tee-hee-hee.

Totally greyed out for another one of our super grey, non-stop rainy days here in NYC. I’m wearing a J.Crew white ribbed tank, a Clu heather grey vest, J.Brand boyfriend jeans, and a men’s G.Star grey surplus jacket that just happens to fit me perfectly.

Next to where I stood, there was this lovely warning scrawled on the wall, which I couldn’t help but chuckle at because…

… it didn’t seem to deter smokers from smoking in this tiny cubby hole in the least. Guhhhhh-rosssss.

Back to the clothes. (Don’t you love how I switch gears between cigarette butts and what I wore?) My Subversive for Target bead cluster necklace which I adore. It adds some much needed girliness to my very tomboy look today.

You knew this was coming. My chipped paint Robert Geller ring.

Ash leather sneaks and rolled up jeans. I sort of got inspired by all the cutie-pies in Stand By Me with their rolled up jeans and Chuck Taylors. What can I say, I have an endless love affair with menswear. When the weather warms and the sun eventually comes out, so will my girliness.

***Music today: Al Green “Greatest Hits”. Oh yeah, I need some uplifting with all this damn rain.