Thank Goodness

I have absolutely no desire to add to my sweater collection.

Or much of anything else so Thanksgiving came early for me.

But I have something on my wish list for being good:

Navy. Blue. Minnie pant in bi-stretch wool.

So what's on your Santa wish list?

A Moment in Time

Spurred on by Heidi's post on renovations and roses,

I clipped these from my garden and brought them to work. Why did I not do this every week all spring and summer long? They've been blooming away at the side of the house where we rarely ever see them.

Now I'm reminded to enjoy their glorious moments
and take more time to smell the roses.

Oh no. I'm dreading a Wally B moment. He recounted that here.

A pair of mine are missing. They did not come back from the wash and I've retraced my steps several times, double-checked the washer and dryer at least three times and shook out and cross-examined every item in that same load of laundry thinking they stuck. Nope.

I was blog surfing and somehow came upon this. I don't know who these ladies are but unlike Kate below who was having a rather pretty time fighting the elements, the one in the pale café au lait dress was captured in an unfortunate moment against the wind.

Kate was attending a forum where experts addressed cyber bullying; self-harm; special education needs; raising aspirations, access and achievements; and preventing addiction to build emotional resilience and strength. While the attention is likely on her Marilyn moment, perhaps some greater awareness will come of the worthy discussion to nurture good mental health in children.

It was a spur-of-the-moment decision to wear the sequin bow pant to work. Can I plead a momentary lapse of good judgment?



Random Winners

This seems to defy logic and it certainly defies intuition!

Goes to show you what they taught in probabilities is true, though I never "got" how flipping coins increases or decreases the probability of heads or tails. Or maybe there's no effect. Told ya I never got that I was lost after advanced algebra. Which I loved BTW.

Alrighty then, ignore my ramble and can we get a drum roll please?

It's an easy one to figure out, our wonderful Wendy of the wonderful blog One can't get over the habit of being a little girl all at once...

gets the $25 gift card to J.Crew!

Next, and I won't bore you with my screen grabs ... ding, ding, ding ...

The bottle of lovely lavender hydrosol goes to dear Dani of

DaniBP Mop Philosopher. I'm fairly certain hers is the first blog I became addicted to a couple years back.

JLacy for the umbrella in the sold-out polka dot pattern. I guess crossing "figures" worked, I must have been on autopilot when I replied, don't even have autocorrect to blame.

I'm leaving you with this funny and wish

I could send a gift to every one of you.

Wendy, Dani and JLacy, I'll be writing you tomorrow, it's really late and I have an early morning meeting. :(

 

Thanks to everyone who entered, 

I loved reading your reasons for an extra entry!



Sequin Saunter

This might be a meander. There are 3 things to talk about with this post but I have no clever ways to sew them together.

1. The anniversary of my blog

2. A little giveaway to say thank you

3. A few things to show if you're considering them at 50% off.

First thing, first. I wore full-on sequins to work.

Sorry if I'm offending your good senses, it's a tradition for my blog anniversary I suppose. Factory draped sequin tee. Factory skinny jean in black. Madewell heartdot boyshirt. Clifton booties also worn here.

Next, let's get to the fun stuff.

To celebrate 2 years with you and 100+1 followers (from what I can tell), I'm giving away a $25 J.Crew gift card.

Second prize is a bottle of lavender hydrosol, one of my most favorite things. Described as sweet and happy, a light spritz (OK even if wearing makeup) makes me calmed and refreshed.

Botanical Insights is the sister-in-law of a colleague and she lives by a field of lavender. Sigh. Sounds lovely.

Third prize is a Factory umbrella that I hope you don't mind me limiting to the U.S. and maybe Canada due to possible shipping challenges. I'll find a good substitute if you're an international winner. 

Here's how to enter ... please leave a comment for each of the following by 11:59 p.m. Pacific Nov. 10:

1. If you're a follower

2. If you add me to your blog roll

3. If you tell me why you should have another entry (1 per person).

Be sure to leave your email if I can't contact you through your profile.

I will generate a couple random numbers for the winners and announce with a post on Nov. 12. (I hope I haven't forgotten anything important that makes a mess of this.)

 Third stop: J.Crew's 50% off end-of-season styles.

Toothpick jean in garment-printed floral - thicker denim,

pattern is more subtle IRL. I like them.

Liberty toothpick jean in Matilda tulip floral- fits like the other Liberty printed jeans, the pattern has a tendency to add some width,

which could be why they are still around?

 Ruffled rhinestone top - I'm wearing petite 00 and with the Collection café capri in Ratti regatta print. I like the top with a jacket,

the Classic schoolboy blazer in navy in this case.

A close-up of the bedazzling. IRL the blue "jewels" are more like sapphires, they don't photograph true.

 

I've come to a dead end so I'll say bye for now. :)



October Onomatopoeia

Wearing black and orange as a nod to Oct. 31.

The fuzziness (unintentionally captured by my blog photographer) is a tip of the hat to phantoms, spectres and wraiths.

Collection jacket. Factory jeans.

Crewcuts boys' kaboom T-shirt from 2 years ago (I'm wearing size 14).

 

This is how I do high-low fashion, ha.

 

Boo, almost forgot the word of the day.

Wash and Wear

I won't say why or how, except I didn't cause it, but this icon trench was filthy. At first, I thought I'd relegate it for dire circumstances ... like if I knew I had to be packed onto a bus with a football team

that for some reason could not shower after a sweaty game.

But the coat was grungy enough I doubt I'd wear it even then.

Oh, I thought about taking it to the cleaners.

But I don't love the idea of spending a zillion dollars on something that may not come clean and I don't love the idea of dry cleaning chemicals. And since the football team scenario was unlikely, made one of those "what do I have to lose" decisions and threw it in the wash. Delicate cycle, cold water. Tumble dry low.
Surprise, suprise. It came out just fine.

And while it's not as crisp as before and should be lightly pressed,

I now happily wear it for the best situations.

I wore the washed trench over the above outfit when I went to:

With some good friends and we had pre-theater dinner here:

I ate every bit of:

British Columbia King Salmon

eggplant purée, soy bean, tamago, Thai curry and jasmine rice

Carried this:

Kate Spade book clutch.

And was not disappointed in any way. 

The evening far exceeded every expectation.

 

Many have wondered, some have asked and I said I'd try it so

I washed the minnie pant in bi-stretch wool.

Same way: delicate cycle, cold water, tumble dry low.

I measured before and after, the width shrunk by about 3/16".

Like jeans after they're washed and dried, they felt tightened up. 

Still quite wearable but more legging-like.

The bigger difference was the length, they're shorter by about 1/2".

 

 If you study the above carefully, you'll notice the more snug and bunched up washed minnie pant on the right. Slightly shorter.

For reference, I'm 5'2"-ish and wearing the regular length size 00.

Not sure if I prefer them before or after the wash and dry but I sure wish there was a way to shrink the waistband by about 2".

Then they'd be perfect. Like my recent evening out.

 

So have you had wash and wear dastardly disasters or surprise successes?

Views on a Preview

My VPS sent a couple November previews.

This is the Rylan Blazer. The description [with my commentary]said: Sourced from the same heritage UK mills we use for our men's collection [hmm, sounds pricey] -- you're going to love the menswear inspired fit of the Rylan Blazer [It does look to be cut straight and a bit oversized on her, will I really love the fit? I like the purple with touches of ... is it red on the collar and edged along the front with fuchsia? Could be funky, could be fun ... we'll see.]

Part of the description: Yes, you can add another chambray piece to your wardrobe -- especially one with a fun new print. [Mickey knows my addiction and he's not gonna stop. VPS says the print is stars. I love chambray, I love stars. Guess I'll be adding this one. Dammit.]

This is not one of the preview images sent by my VPS but I just noticed it on the header for coats. I don't need another coat and a light colored one is so impractical but gosh that is a deliciously pretty color.

Maybe it will be a bad pink for my coloring. Maybe the cut of the garment will make me look like a linebacker. But at least I won't have to worry about stripes or a plaid pattern lining up correctly across seams.

 

What do you all think, thunk, thank? {excusez-moi, it's late}