Summer or Fall?

I may be out of the country, but that doesn't mean we can't still talk about one of my favorite subjects - J Crew!

This is another favorite of mine from the J Crew fall arrivals:

Anton Sweater in heather dusk

I have a dark gray sweater from last winter in a similar style that I picked up in Marshalls with a Christmas giftcard and I have to say I got so much use out of it. This style is so versatile. It can be dressed up or down and has the advantage of being a cardigan, and thus so great for layering, without being your run-of-the-mill button-up cardigan.

And in case we start to forget that it is, in fact, still JULY and that fall is still quite far away - here is a cute find from J Crew's sale section. A comfy tee with a bit of fashionable flare? Definitely a good wardrobe addition!

Tissue Ruffle-Sleeve Tee in papaya

Are you still shopping for summer clothes? Or is it fall fashion time for you?

p.s. I will be back to regular posting duty on Sunday! Enjoy your week and weekend!

I'm Off!

Tomorrow after work I'm off for a week's vacation in Nova Scotia, Canada. My father has aunts, uncles, and cousins there so we'll spend our time visiting relatives, eating delicious local specialties, relaxing in the sun on the deck of our cottage, and taking day trips to quaint towns and historical sites.

Nova Scotia is one of those places that looks quite close to Massachusetts on the map, but is actually a bit of a pain to get there. We'll be driving up just past the Canadian border tomorrow when I leave work and stay overnight in New Brunswick, then take a 3-hr ferry to Nova Scotia the next morning. If you live in New England, you've probably seen the many commercials for The Cat which claim that you'll "fly across the ocean" to scenic Yarmouth for a perfect weekend trip. If a 2 hour drive to Portland, ME, followed by a six hour bumpy and rather nauseating catameran ride, followed by more hours' drives to Nova Scotia's bigger tourist towns is not my idea of a good weekend getaway! Definitely rather false advertising! (The commercial shows Cape Breton, the province's biggest scenic area, which is a 4-5 hr drive from where The Cat docks.) I should note that there are flights from Boston to Nova Scotia's capital, Halifax - a lovely town to explore - but not really an option for us as our relatives live on the opposite side of Nova Scotia. It is one of those modern anomolies that I can leave my house at 7am in the morning and pretty much be in the pool at a Florida hotel by lunchtime, but it takes a day, plus, to visit our relatives where their local cable carrier gets Boston tv stations because they consider it so close!!

Enjoy your Friday and weekend! (We're staying in the countryside where cell service is a bit spotty, but I may try to sneak in a post or two via my Blackberry if I can.)

What is green and pretty?

I won a giveaway for the first time a while back and received this lovely bracelet in green by A. Tierney from Cricket of Pearls are a Girl's Best Friend yesterday. It will go perfectly with a number of my summer tops! What's nice about the style of this bracelet is that it snaps shut around your wrist, rather than sliding over your hand, so it doesn't bang around as much as a typical bangle. I think Cricket has been on a bit of a hiatus from her blog this summer, but be sure to stop by when she returns!

p.s. On the subject of jewelry, thank you for your kind comments about the ring I posted last week! You are all too nice!

Vacation Reading

I have my books all packed and ready to go for my vacation next week, here's a peek at my "reading list." I've packed more than I'll probably read, but you never know as we'll be sitting on a ferry for 3 hours each way so I want to be prepared!

Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella - I think I've mentioned before that I am a huge fan of Ms. Kinsella and have read all her books. You really can't beat British humor for making you laugh out loud while reading! This book just came out today and I headed right to Borders at lunch to pick it up for 30% off. (Actually, I tried to buy it last night while running errands at Target, but they had put it out on the shelves early by mistake and weren't actually permitted to sell it yet - rather strange!)

Julie and Julia by Julie Powell - I finished My Life in France by Julia Child last week so once I read this memoir I will be all set to watch the movie when it premieres in August! I cannot recommend My Life in France enough. Julia Child led an enormously fascinating life, living with her diplomat husband in Paris and Marseille, France; Germany; and Norway - then settling in Cambridge, Mass. and southern France upon his retirement. This was the rare memoir that truly manages to keep the reader engaged on every page. Although beware if you are a vegetarian, Mrs. Child loved all sorts of unusual meats and described their cooking and eating in vivid detail!!

sTori Telling by Tori Spelling - I have recently become addicted to Tori and her husband Dean's reality show on Oxygen (hey, can you blame me? I needed something to replace the Real Housewives). My mother spotted this book for a bargain at Costco earlier this week and got it for both us of as a guilty pleasure to indulge in.

I've also put aside my latest issues of Elle and Condé Naste Traveler that just arrived in my mailbox. I decided to refrain from buying any magazines as Canada tends to get more unusual British and French magazines than you sometimes find in the U.S., so I thought I'd wait until I get there and read those.

Do you have any favorite summer books? In college I used to take a walk to the local off-campus bookstore as a study break during finals and would force myself to wait to read it until summer officially began. It always felt like such a treat to actually be able to read a book for fun!

p.s. I've added a number of reading widgets on the left side of my blog, check them out and getting some book ideas!

Sunday night already?

My weekend went by in a flash! I did a bit of shopping, errands, got a much-needed haircut, enjoyed some delicious frozen yogurt, and started packing for my trip to Nova Scotia next Friday.

I also recently picked up a Lilly Pulitzer mousepad. The "mumsie" print was just what I needed to add a little color to my new office at work!



Find these lovely mousepads online at the Preppy Princess! At just $15, they are a great way to brighten your workday!

What I've been working on . . .

Last week I finished a custom ring order for a client through Etsy. The ring, in fuschia, peridot, and hyacinth Swarovski crystal on a sterling band, is for the maid-of-honor in a fall wedding. The bridesmaids will be wearing dresses in this color:


I love the fun color combo of orange, pink, and green don't you?

A Little Black Dress

I love this new dress from J Crew (Super 120's Papillion Dress). I love the little satin detailing - it definitely turns an average black work dress into something a little more fun and fashionable. I'm in need of a new dress for work, but I think I'll wait a bit before I buy and see if it goes on sale!

A Quick Pic

My friend L and I at the wedding over the weekend, we both grew up with the bride and have remained close friends for years!


L recently launched a fantastic website selling her handmade retro glam aprons, you must check it out: marimode.com (I'll be posting my favorites from the site later this week, because frankly I love them all and can't choose which styles to feature yet!)

Whirlwind Weekend

It was a whirlwind weekend for my friend's wedding! The weekend in numbers:

- 5 Bridesmaids
- 6 Groomsmen
- 290 Guests
- 1 reading said successfully by me at the wedding mass
- 47 bobby pins removed from my hair at the end of the evening
- 1 Bride and 1 Groom now happily married!

Today I am resting up as my new job starts tomorrow! I will post a few photos from the wedding later in the week.

Wedding Bells

Wedding bells will be ringing this weekend for one of my oldest and closet friends when she ties the knot on Saturday afternoon. We first met in ballet class in 4th grade, I think the bride's dress and my bridesmaid dress will be a bit of a step up from the green tulle tutus we wore back then!

I have a full weekend of events ahead! First, on Friday I'll join the other bridesmaids for manicures, then we'll head to the wedding rehearsal and dinner. Other than make sure I neither walk down the aisle too fast nor too slow, I'm also doing a reading at the wedding mass so I do have something to rehearse! I'm wearing the same dress to the rehearsal and dinner that I wore to my other friend's wedding last month (click here to see). Yes, I know, rather boring of me to repeat dresses but as I won't have time to change between getting manicures and the rehearsal I thought a wrinkle-free dress was the right choice - and well, my alternative, was a favorite navy blue Marc Jacobs dress that I wouldn't want to chance getting nail polish on!!

Saturday morning I'll be up early for an 8:30 am hair appointment and afterward head home to put on my makeup, then the half hour drive to the reception location where I'll check into my hotel room, slip into my dress and start the day's festivities with bridesmaid pictures at noon.

Fellow New Englanders: let's hope for some sunshine on Saturday for the bride's sake!

Eye Perfection

This post was scheduled for June 24th, but for some reason never published! Given that I'm in another friend's wedding this weekend, I thought it would be an appropriate time to highlight long-lasting beauty products:

I must give a big thumb's up to Trish McEvoy eye products. I did my eye makeup for my friend's wedding at about 1:00 on Saturday afternoon and when I checked it in the mirror at midnight(!) it was still on and perfectly creaseless! Yes, folks - that is 11 hours! Although it may seem like a needless extra, I think Eyebase Essentials, a lipgloss size foundation for your eyes, made the difference in keeping the eyeshadow on and freshlooking for such a long length of time.

I have always been a huge fan of Stila eyeshadows, but now I have to add Trish McEvoy to my favorites too!

Keep Calm and . . .

Way back in February I posted about the British WWII Keep Calm and Carry On poster after seeing it in a photo spread in Domino Magazine (oh how I still miss that magazine!!). Sunday's New York Times Magazine had an article about all the various "re-imaginations" of the classic poster. My favorite is this one, available in all sorts of colors on Etsy:

in the Everyday is a Holiday etsy shop

Wouldn't this be so fun in a kitchen? Especially this black and white version on a wooden plaque:


I can picture it in an industrial-chic kitchen with gleaming stainless steel appliances and marble countertops. And it would make a great gift for an avid baker.

DIY: Easy Bracelets

The rain returned today, so after a few hours running errands outside in the gloom I decided some crafting time was in order. A very simple project caught my eye yesterday while browsing through Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Crafts that I checked out of the library: chain bracelets (at page 165 of the book for any of you out there who may have a copy). These bracelets are ever so easy and require only a few materials:

- Chain: You can find all different styles of fashion jewelry-quality chain at your local craft store or bead shops typically carry a wide variety as well, including sterling and gold-filled chain. Look for chunkier chain that is at least 1/2 inch wide. You'll need about 2 to 4 inches depending on how far you'd like the chain to go around your wrist.

- Ribbon: Grosgrain is probably best for this project as satin ribbon can be slippery and may not stay securely tied on your wrist. Get ribbon that is at least as wide as the chain you selected. Martha's version in the book uses chain and ribbon that are the same width. For my version, I used 1/2 inch chain and 1 inch ribbon because that was what I had lying around. I used a little less than 2 feet.

- Clear Nail polish: or you can buy Fray Check if you prefer, but nail polish works well and you probably have one in your makeup bag already.


1. Wrap the chain around your wrist and cut it to your preferred length with a wire-cutter or heavy scissors. If you buy the chain at a bead shop, size it to your wrist there and have the salesperson cut it for you - that will save you some trouble if you don't have a wire-cutter. The length is completely up to you, I liked having the chain go almost all the way around my wrist, but you may like the look of just 2 inches or so along the top of your wrist.

2. Wrap ribbon around your wrist and tie in a bow - trim the excess and coat the edges with nail polish to avoid fraying. This is where having a crafting partner comes in handy as it's kind of hard to tie a bow on your own wrist!

3. Thread the end loop on each end of the chain through the ribbon.

4. Adjust as you like it. You're done!


There are all sorts of easy variations on this project. If you are a sewer, you can add a little snap or piece of velcro at the ends of the ribbon to save you the trouble of tying a bow each time you wear the bracelet. The Martha book shows chain with ribbon just at the ends as a clasp for the bracelet as well as chain belts with ribbon woven in and out through the chain and tied in a bow to close. I was also thinking of a long chain with ribbon woven in and out and worn as a necklace (very J Crew I think??).

Sunshine At Last!

Here in New England, summer truly started this past weekend with gorgeous sunshine finally arriving on Friday! On the 4th of July, I enjoyed a cookout near the beach - feasting on hot dogs, hamburgers, my mother's special eggplant parmesan, and gigantic chocolate and vanilla cupcakes. We also got to take in some fireworks and sun and sand at the beach.

This afternoon I stopped into my local library and was happy to find Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Crafts. This book has instructions for virtually every craft project imaginable!! I checked it out of the library intending to just make a few photocopies of my favorite projects, but there were too many to count! I think I'll have to wait for the next Borders Rewards coupon and buy it for myself. If you've ever had the impulse to craft or know someone who loves a good DIY project, this book is a must!

Happy Independence Day

Last night I went to the Red Sox game. Although they lost, it was still a perfect way to start the Fourth of July holiday weekend! This is a photo I took last night of a flag presented by Boy Scout troop members during the National Anthem. The flag was badly damaged at the World Trade Center on September 11th and repaired by being sewn together with other flags by residents of a Kansas town that had been struck by a tornado.

Whether you are heading to a family cookout, enjoying a swim at the beach or a lake, watching fireworks, or just relaxing at home - have a great day!

Thursday Random Thoughts

Yet more rain! Très depressing! Yesterday I took a drive up to the nearest LL Bean outlet in southern New Hampshire to look for a rain jacket. I got one similar to the one pictured above. The entire store was 20% off for the holiday weekend. They had a few Coastal Macintosh jackets (see my post from Tuesday) marked down from $99 to $69, but unfortunately none were in my size.

When I returned home, a portion of my recent Amazon.com order was waiting on my doorstep - Lilly Pulitzer, A Guide to Colorful Entertaining and My Life in France by Julia Child. After reading just a few pages of My Life in France I am already hooked on Julia Child's fascinating life. And while browsing the Lilly book, one of the first things that struck me was her front door: hunter green with a monogrammed letter "L." Click here to see what I'm talking about and scroll down to the third page of the book preview. What a simple and chic front door decoration! You can find large initials in wood at almost any craft store and paint it yourself to match your home's paint colors or find finished letters at places like Anthropologie.