Shorts Suit

I wore this outfit to the after-work welcome party that my new group took me out for. Which means I waited 3 whole days before hitting them with a shorts suit that shows off my tattooed arms. I'm sure no one cares; our VP, who I worked with at a previous job, only asked, "Are those new?" Biotech is certainly one of the least conservative of the professional fields.

It occurs to me that I might update the look of this jacket by removing the cap sleeves and turning it into a vest. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? On the one hand the cap sleeves give me a little more shoulder width, which is flattering. On the other hand they're sort of puffy and only look good with just the right top. Would removing the sleeves make this piece more versatile, or is it cuter the way it is?

Jacket: BCBG Max Azria
Top: Max Studio
Brooch: Trifari (vintage)
Shorts: White House Black Market
Shoes: Bettye Muller

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Mixed Up

This was my "last day of work" outfit, which tells you just how old this picture is. I feel it's going to be a long time before I'm truly back in the swing of blogging and can post at my former pace. For now I'm just happy to be posting a couple times a week.

The last week at the old job brought glorious weather, which lasted all through my brief time off and the first weeks at the new job. The seasons are all mixed up here; after a cold, foggy summer we get most of our hot sunny days just before winter starts to set in. So just when I started to think I wouldn't be able to wear my sandals again until next year, the temperature spiked to the 80's and 90's and has mostly stayed that way except for a few days of some crazy rain. This is a great time of year to be a plant.

Dress: Desigual
Cardigan: Solemio
Shoes: Steve Madden
Bracelet: a gift from my sis

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Janet

Recently I had the honor of being featured by the fabulous Sarah Von on her blog Yes and Yes. If you haven't done so already, go check it out!

Looking at these photos, which are now several weeks old, makes me realize how badly I need a haircut. Usually when I get my hair done I make my next appointment then and there, so as not to forget and let too much time slip by before the next cut and color. But for some reason the last time I forgot, and the other morning I realized that my hair has begun to look like Janet from Three's Company. Which was cute... in 1982.


Not exactly the look I'm going for in 2011, though.


Of course making the appointment has been on my to-do list for the last week and a half, but somehow I just haven't managed to remember to call during business hours. I'm hopeful that this is the week I'll actually make it happen.

My aunt gave me this cute top, which has a panel of sequins that show subtly through a layer of sheer chiffon. I like how the soft neutral color looks contrasted against the black shrug.

Top: Express
Shrug: Cenit
Necklace: from a glass shop in Venice
Skirt: Noa Noa
Leggings: Black Market Baby
Boots: All Black

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Statement-Making

How's this for a well accessorized outfit? Or rather it was until I had to go to work and leave these two charming canines at home. I can't say I'd get a whole lot of work done if I could take them with me, cute as they are.

A few months ago something rare happened; I fell hard for a pair of designer sunglasses, and decided to take the risk and buy them, even though I do tend to be hard on my sunnies. I'd seen several other bloggers wearing the Prada 'Baroque' round style and thought they were fabulous, but round glasses don't really work for my face and I gave no thought to buying any until I saw the related cat eye style.

I don't typically put a whole lot of thought into the sunglasses I buy, but something that Peter said when Sal and I met up with him in New York has stuck with me. I was trying on sunglasses and found a pair that was... fine. They would have worked. But Peter looked at them and said something to the effect of, "They aren't really bold enough for your style." And that comment just about knocked me over, because it was so right on the money -- here I put all this effort into creating statement-making outfits, and the accessory that's right there on my face is typically ho-hum and boring.

When I saw this pair, I knew they were the kind of sunglasses that can turn even a jeans and t-shirt outfit into something statement-making. And yes I have to be extra vigilant with them, but they make me feel so glamorous that they're well worth the effort. Thanks to Peter's chance comment, I now feel like I have a pair of sunglasses that can stand up the the boldest of my outfits.

Dress: eShakti
Cardigan: American Eagle Outfitters
Leggings: Black Market Baby
Boots: All Black
Sunglasses: Prada

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Amazon

I felt like an Amazon in this outfit, what with the sky-high heels and the long, floor-skimming skirt. I actually want to hem this skirt to ankle length but I just haven't gotten around to it yet. If I were several inches taller, like the Asos model, it would look like this:



And isn't that cute? The shoes are fully visible even when she's standing relatively straight; i.e., she isn't thrusting one leg out to show off her shoes, like I had to do. Lopping off about 3 inches ought to do the trick; that way if I ever want to wear it with flats it won't be dragging on the ground. I also won't step on it when I climb a flight of stairs. Did I ever mention that falling down a flight of stairs and knocking my teeth out is a huge phobia of mine? Don't think I didn't have visions of that phobia being realized when I wore this outfit.

This was one of my last outfits at the old job, and I got lots of compliments on it. Other than the shoe-hiding and the stair trampling, oh and the rolling over the bottom of the hem with my office chair every time I moved around, and the wind picking up the skirt like a huge sail when I was outside, I really loved the outfit. Yeah. Time to look into that hemming.

Top: Michael Stars
Cardigan: Express (a gift from my aunt)
Necklace: Wendy Brandes
Skirt: Asos
Shoes: Pour la Victoire

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Calm

Whew. You would not believe the swirl of activity, the disasters narrowly averted, and the incredible marathon of manual labor that the last week has been. Last Friday we closed the sale on our house and promptly left town for a wedding at the mysterious and sublimely beautiful Bohemian Grove (the wedding was fabulous, by the way, and I made the hats for the entire wedding party -- in all the spare time I've had lately). We came home early Sunday morning and set to work painting, cleaning, and assembling furniture in the new place, not quitting until late into the evening. For the next 3 days, Mark would spend all day working on the place, and as soon as I got home from work I'd change into my grubby clothes and we'd continue working until close to midnight.

All this effort was because we had already booked our first renter for Thursday, so we had a definite deadline for completing all the work. It was an immense effort but we pulled it off, and despite a couple of near misses with our furniture deliveries, everything worked out in the end and the place looks great.









Last night we finally allowed ourselves to relax a little, cracking open the bottle of champagne that our realtor had given us at closing (which I'm finishing now by way of a mimosa -- ok, my third mimosa). In the meantime the new job has been great so far, and I'm starting to settle in and get a feel for my new responsibilities. I'm looking forward to next week, when I won't be burning the candle at both ends.

Oh, and it's Fleet Week here in San Francisco, which is one of my favorite times of the year. On Thursday my new coworkers and I watched the arrival of the Blue Angels from our office building which sits perched above downtown on the 16th floor, a perfect vantage point that looks out over Telegraph Hill and the bay. This weekend Mark and I will be able to watch them from the window of our living room, or while enjoying the pretty fall weather out on the front deck.

Things are calm again. I'm taking a deep breath and spending a moment enjoying the city again. I spent the morning cuddling the dogs, and now I'm drinking mimosas. Life is good.

Jacket: La Redoute
Top: Ann Taylor
Pants: Cynthia Steffe
Necklace: Rhapsodia
Earrings: Leslie Danzis
Shoes: Bettye Muller
Bag: Foley + Corinna

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