"People Dress Up"

A few weeks ago I had to go to Las Vegas for work. Las Vegas is a terrible, terrible, terrible place that I hope none of you ever have to visit (unless of course you like it and then by all means have fun). The upside of Vegas was my proximity to the West Coast. Taking only a few days off of work I was able to sneak in a far too brief visit to some of my favorite people in Los Angeles and the Bay Area, including this one.

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That's me with my best friend Karen. Adorable right? Today is her 31st birthday and I think we have now reached the tipping point where we've been best friends half of our lives. I love her beyond words even if every single thing I wear brings mockery and derision on her part.

While I was out in the Bay Area my friends Tom & Billy suggested a visit to the Alameda Point Antiques Faire. It's this amazing antique market with hundreds of vendors on an old air force landing strip in the middle of the Bay. What is there not to leave about this activity, I was so down. To make it even more enticing Tom told me that "people dress up" for the antique market so if I wanted to I should wear something fun. I had a packed a few crazy dresses that I never got to wear in Las Vegas so Alameda was sounding even better by the minute.

I may have been a bit more dressed up than other folks.

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I was wearing a new dress from Forever 21 with luvees peeking out from underneath. I thought I kind of dressed down the purple lame with some Minnetonka moccasins. Let me just say, they did not dress down the outfit nearly enough.

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I borrowed a necklace from Karen and am wearing Betsey Johnson sunglasses. My frizzy hair is thanks to the wind.

I was beyond overdressed for the market, but it was all good fun because I got to take photos like this.

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Finally here's a group photo of my the 3 lovely hosts who wined me and dined me and successfully made me not hate the Bay Area. Note how they are dressed, including the two men who passed on the advice that "people dress up."

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All photos are courtesy of my beloved, brilliant, beautiful, brainy, birthday bestie Karen. I am a lucky lady indeed.

Sometimes I Wear Pants

Not often, not a lot, but sometimes I wear pants. A fact which can take people by surprise. This afternoon I ran into a friend while running errands who commented "I didn't even know you owned jeans." Ha. In fact I own plenty of pants and plenty of jeans. I am after all, a woman who loves options and large wardrobes.

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The jeans are Not Your Daughter Jeans, purchased for a fraction of their retail price at a Ross in Orlando, Florida. They were this magical, amazing lone pair of jeans in an 18 petite that were just waiting for me to take them home. I've paired the jeans with my beloved purple cowboy boots but it may have been a bad idea. I'm afraid they give me just enough height to make my jeans look an inch too short. Next time I'll stick to flats.

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Almost everything else I'm wearing was a hand-me-down. The t-shirt was from my friend Lauren and the cardigan was from my friend Jamie and both originally came from Anthropologie.

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The crazy necklace once belonged to my Grandmother and I can't quite imagine her ever wearing it. The fascinator was purchased at a Brooklyn street fair.

Jeans are comfortable and keep you warm in the winter, but to me their most fabulous function is that they showcase my ass better than any other article of clothing.

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Happy Valentine's Day

A bit belated, but happy Valentine's Day!

Whether single or in a relationship I always get a kick out of Valentine's Day. I think of it as an opportunity to wear bright colors, eat pastel candy and tell friends, lovers and family how much I adore them. What's not to love?

Getting dressed Tuesday morning I was struck at how little red and pink are to be found in my wardrobe, particularly my winter wardrobe. But I was determined to put together a Valentine's Day outfit and I think I succeeded. Granted I may have succeeded in dressing how a 6 year old would dress on Valentine's Day (especially when you see my nails) but that's often my aesthetic and I've learned to embrace it.

Head to toe, here's how I put together my outfit.





My base is a tank dress from Brooklyn Industries, that I've worn before. Over that I'm wearing a top from Old Navy that I don't really wear very often, topped with a cardigan that I'm betting is about 10 years old from the Gap. The gingham top is long and if I let it hang down, it wouldn't give me the look I wanted so I belted it with a white belt that I got in a Fatshionista sale.



I'm not sure where I got these tights from and my shoes are from Payless.



My necklace says love in Hebrew and it was my sister's present to her bridesmaids over a decade ago. It's a sculpture in Israel that she was married in front of you.

Finally, I give you my nails. It's a good thing I've already admitted that I'm 6. This confirms it.



I used a hot pink base, sparkly pink over it and then a heart nail polish over that.

I hope you all had a lovely Valentine's Day!

Photo credit to my work wife Nicole.

Ugly Boots, Cute Scarf

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We've been having a rough. snowy winter in New York which means that I've been stuck wearing ugly shoes fairly often. I bought these hiking boots a decade ago when my family went on a cruise to Alaska and since then they've basically functioned as ugly, but sufficient winter boots. On the upside they keep my feet nice and dry so I try and focus on that and make the best out of a bad shoe situation. After all I'm wearing a purple scarf with elephants on it, how bad can the outfit be?

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Skirt - Torrid, seen before several times.
T-Shirt - Dorothy Perkins
Cardi - Banana Republic
Tights - Old Navy
Earrings - Mexico
Hiking boots -EMS
Socks - Dad
Scarf - In the pound bin at Spittlefields Market


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And finally I have to give you a close-up of my eyeliner, which is the first time in my life I saw a makeup product reviewed in a magazine and then actually went out and bought it. I don't normally wear eye makeup because I'm too blind to apply it unless I'm wearing contacts and I don't normally wear contacts. I do however wear contacts in snow or rain because those make my glasses fog up making it impossible to see. It was snowing, so I wore contacts and was able to wear my new liquid gold eyeliner from Bobbi Brown. How fun is it!

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Photo credit goes to Miss. A.

Sequins Aren't Just for Saturday

I'm trying not to reserve sparkly clothes just for special occasions so yesterday I wore both sequins and feathers to the office and (at least in my mind) felt like I was still understated, restrained and office appropriate. I think it's because the vast majority of my outfit was black and though the urge to add more color was huge, I managed to resist. What do you think?

A lot of what I'm wearing was brand new. I love when I'm getting dressed and I cut off a clothing tag. Yesterday I got to do that twice.

Top - Evans

Skirt - Forever 21

Tights - Old Navy

Booties - Marks and Spencer

Earrings - Primark

Necklace - Spittlefields Market

Even though I hadn't thought I had a reason to dress up, turns out that I did. Illinois' state Senate voted to repeal the death penalty! It was a big day of celebration in my office and it turns out we had a reason for sparkles after all!

Photo credit goes to the delightful Miss A.

Goodbye 2010, Don Draper is Here to Kick You Out the Door

I hate New Year's. Actually I think despise is a more accurate term. A fact I find fairly ironic since I'm always happy to dress up, and yet New Years Eve - a night made for sequins and dancing and drunken kissing (three of my favorite things) has never been my cup of tea.

But 2010 was a terrible year for me. I mean it was really, really not good, perhaps the worst year of my adult life and I was ready to say goodbye, slam the door on 2010 and start 2011 surrounded by people I love. So I sucked it up, put on an outfit and headed to Manhattan for a party. And in the end I'm really glad I did.

My friends threw a Mad Men party and we were instructed to dress the part. I have never seen a single episode, but I live in the United States so I'm well aware of the characters and the fashion and the clothes. I had a million things to choose from, but in the end I decided to channel Peggy (in full disclosure I kept forgetting her name and calling her the dowdy one). This was a wise move since everyone else used Joan or Betty as inspiration. I was the lone Peggy inspired lady.

I think I did a pretty good job channeling Peggy.

I'm wearing a polka dot dress that I got at Fat Fancy on my recent trip to Portland, with a red DKNY pencil skirt over it. The skirt was a hand-me-down from JLR and I think when I don't have a dress underneath it fits better. The scarf around my neck and my fur shrug are courtesy of my Grandmother. My tights are from Old Navy, my shoes are Sam Edelman and my glasses are an old pair from college which are of course way hipper now than they were when I wore them a decade ago. Candy cigarettes are courtesy of Economy Candy, a store definitely worth checking out the next time you are on the Lower East Side.

Our hosts for the evening went all out with amazing details and almost everyone in attendance was dressed in some amazing outfit. Here is A working the bar. Funnily enough his normal hair worked out just fine for a Mad Men themed party.

Others worked very hard to get their Mad Men hair just right.

I hope 2011 is a wonderful, magical, happy year for all of us. Also I hope all of you had as lovely a night as I did and that you also didn't suffer a 2 day hangover as a result. This is the last shot of the night as I stumbled my way home.

All the amazing, higher quality photos are courtesy of Dr. B and Miss. A. Thank you!

Sundresses and Snowstorms

This is what it looks like outside of my apartment today. We've had 20 inches of snow fall and it's insanity outside.

But I want to take you to a different place, where you don't have to wear ugly shoes and trudge through waist high snow. After London I headed over to Israel for a few days to visit my sister. The temperature rose by 50 degrees and I spent my days either playing with my niece and nephews or lying in the sun, reading trashy magazines. Good times.

It also meant that I got to wear a new dress that I had picked up on the Evans sales rack the week before in London.

Can we have a moment of silence where we appreciate how little clothing I am wearing and how sunny it is. Ok, thank you.

The best part of the dress is the crocheted back. I love details like this and yes, next time I'll wear a black bra.

I have little on, but as for details my dress is from Evans, my flip-flops are Havianna's, my bag is Botkier and I picked up these sunglasses at a market in Turkey.

My hair piece was purchased at the Bust craftacular a few years ago and I think I got these earrings at a NYC street fair. My wonderful sister was both my tour guide and photographer for the day.

And just because I am a woman obsessed, here's a photo of my sister's "baby." It's official, my nephew is cuter than yours.

Layering at London Markets

My first full day in London I headed to East London to hit up some markets and do a bit of shopping. I attempted to dress like an East London hipster but I'm afraid that my smile and hair bow gave me away as a fake.

Because I was packing for an over 50 degree temperature variance on my trip my theory was to layer, layer, layer. I've got on a tank top dress from Brooklyn Industries which you've seen before here, a button down from Debs that I got in Fatshionista sales swap, a cashmere cardigan from Bloomingdales, tights from Target, my new Duo boots that I am beyond obsessed with and a Botkier bag.

I'm also sporting a hair bow from H&M, gloves from Uniqlo and a necklace from the Bust Craftacular.

A hallmark of London is its markets. London is absolutely filled with them and they all have a different feel to them. Some sell antiques, some food, some handmade crafts and while I was visiting last month I tried to hit up as many markets as I could in my limited time.

The first market I visited was Spitalfields on a Sunday (vendors and size of markets vary by the day) where it was in full swing for the holiday season. Spitalfields has a ton of handmade clothes, jewelry and accessories so I was in heaven. Also unlike many markets it is covered, which in the weather we were having is a blessing.

I quickly got sucked into a table which had beautiful, fluffy and feathery winter accessories. I think I tried on every single hat they had on their table.

But it was worth it because in the end I walked away with this beauty. I'm kind of obsessed with it even if I do look creepily like my mother.

Some of the other things that caught my eye at the market were these gorgeous necklaces. I ended up getting a headphone necklace from them. I also purchased a necklace that had a mini set of utensils on it that I've already worn about a dozen times. I'll be sure and show off the both of them to you sometime soon.

I was also taken with this vintage suitcase filled with bits and baubles for only 2 pounds a piece. Sometimes I get a bit taken away with things like that.

I also picked up some scarves for a pound a pop and some of the tastiest tea I've had in ages. While there was a ton of adorable clothes at the market none of it came in my size which was a bit aggravating but also good for my wallet.

Photo credit goes to my friend Elsa.