Color-Pop-Goes-My-Brain And I Take On A Project

Let me start by saying I love gray. I love it so much I try to make it seem cooler by spelling it "grey"...

But I have noticed that grey is becoming a default color (or lack thereof) in my wardrobe. Winter dressing is a challenge for me because of all these new acoutrements that freezing temperatures necessitate; how do I make everything work together?! My mornings seem to go like this:
1) Assemble great outfit with colors I like. Yea!
2) Ready myself to leave and remember that I need to wear gloves, hat and coat.
3) Second-guess my outfit because now all the accessories need to coordinate with the existing look.
4) Sigh, change into regular jeans and a grey sweater so that I don't look like a drunken Easter egg.

Not the most positive way to start the day, eh? But this morning I thought, "What's so wrong with looking like an Easter egg?" I have been walking around looking as interesting as a bald Chia head, but I want to sprout into a colorful novelty garden, darn it! The muted tones I have been wearing do nothing to express my personality and they do nothing to alleviate the winter blues. I don't know if wearing neon can prevent S.A.D. but it doesn't depress me, so why wait until spring to bust out the brighter colors?

Fast forward to the current moment and I am looking at collection of goodies that spans the rainbow and in fabrics that range from silk to denim. Anthropologie and Madewell have some of my favorites and since those stores are 4 miles away from my house I think a little reconnaissance mission is in order....

Madewell has great basics in bold colors and what would make you happier than throwing on a cobalt tee and lemon pants?

1. Outfield sweater in bistro blue

2. Skinny colorpop jeans in electric citron

3. Silk singalong top in plum orchid

4. Penfield kasson parka in bistro blue

Anthropologie had lots of cheery colors, but the items with fun prints and patterns were especially eye-catching:

 

1. Other Sands scarf in turquoise

2. Southfork Rancher hat in red

3.Tufted Dots sweater in grey motif and neutral motif 

(I liked both colors too much to choose between them!)

"Okay, lady," you say, "you have colorful inspiration, so what?" Well, now I have to make some outfits with bright pieces. And to make sure I start walking towards the light, I will force myself to wear bright colors all weekend to break my dreary habit. Hopefully by next week I will reserve grey for accent and balance and have lots of colorful outfit snaps to post! (cross your fingers!)
Have you been embracing bright or are you too bogged down in a sea of dark neutrals?

Awards Aftermath: Favorite Trends and Takeaways!

I love awards shows, but could not care less about the awards-- it's all about the fashion! I focus on the looks that I love rather than sling insults at attendees with less-than-stellar ensembles because, after all, it should be the stylist that gets the praise or criticism for a great pull. Well, I guess a little can go to the wear-ee for actually pulling it off :) 

There were a lot of interesting trends and colors at the Globes and I even appreciated looks of which I would not normally be so fond. I was not a big fan of all the nude/pale beige colors, but I admit that it is a personal bias. If I wore a nude dress, I would look like a giant index finger with jaundice. It's just not a good look for my practically see-through skin. That being said, I did like Charlize Theron's look, but it was more blush than beige and I enjoyed her diamond headband (every girl should have one, yes?). Let's take a look at Ms. Theron and a few of my other fav's that I have divided into three categories:

Blushing Beauties:

 

 Charlize Theron wore a Dior dress and Cartier bling, which included the aforementioned diamond headband. This had a bit of a retro vibe and I wasn't put off by the amount of skin displayed. Maybe the lighter color prevented it from looking too vampy?

 Julie Bowen flitted about in this Reem Acra confection. Though I was not wowed by the color, it is beautiful and ethereal and the sparkle on the sleeves is just the right amount. A bit bridal, too, which is probably why it appeals to me :)

Red-Hot(ties): 

Though I am not usually keen on red, I thought Reese Witherspoon rocked her Zac Posen dress. She is showing the right amount of skin, too, which prevents the red from looking garish and cheap and the wild hair made her look like some sort of lava mermaid. Love it ;)

Dianna Agron took a risk in this Giles Deacon number and the reactions have not been wholly positive. I obviously would have preferred a different color, (I am open about my biases!), but I loved the architectural assembly and cut-outs and the details looked amazing up close. A shortened version of this would have looked a little more young and fresh and might have done better at a less formal event.

Midnight Mavens:

 Another mermaid at the event, Sofia Vergara's Vera Wang dress looked amazing on her bod and I loved the swirling texture on the skirt. This deep, dark blue was my favorite color theme of the night and so much more interesting than basic black, yes?
 

Michelle Williams wore a Jason Wu gown to the event and although her headband was not my favorite (how can you compete with Cartier diamonds? It just isn't fair) this might be my favorite look of the night. It lacks the uber-glam wow-factor of other looks, but I love the cut, the cool texture of the velvet and the richly saturated color.

All photos via instyle.com

The takeaway? Pale blush tones are still prominent this winter, but you may want to replace them with a bronze hue this summer (hehe). Don't be scared of making a statement in red, whether it be a bold dress or just a perfectly crimson lip (my favorite color, Russian Red, here). And think about navy instead of basic black, especially if there is texture involved! Oh, and don't forget that headbands are a great accessory for cropped locks, too!

Who wore your favorite look? Who did I miss? And what Golden Globe trends will you be incorporating into your wardrobe?

I Had Mexican Food For Lunch and I Got Something That Wasn't Indigestion!

Love  and delicious Mexican food were on my brain when I was back home in AZ with Mark-a-licious. His mother lives in AZ, but an hour and a half from my parents, so we had separate Christmas celebrations with our respective families and were excited to see each other the following week. We had lunch at a cute Mexican food joint where we had our first date (doesn't look like much, but it's pretty legit, just in case you are ever in Scottsdale and have an enchilada craving!) and then ambled around Old Town Scottsdale for a while. There are so many cheesy, tourist boutiques brimming with bolo ties and kachina dolls and it is quite entertaining to take it all in. I brought my camera in case I saw anything cool, like this giant reproduction of a Marco Polo sheep:

Or ram. Whatever it is.

On our walk, we also stumbled across the giant L.O.V.E statue. It's a reproduction of the classic 60's design by Robert Indiana and several of them around the world (Philly and NYC are the US locations that come to mind). I decided I needed a few snaps of my outfit for this blog because I can't remember the last time I did an outfit post.

You can't really see me, but for once, it wasn't due to my photography skills. Or lack thereof!

And that's the last photo of me as a single lady. He proposed right after he took two photos-- I had to come down and check them out and he happened to be on his knee to get the right sun angle (yeesh, I can't believe I didn't see it coming!) and the rest was a blur of adorableness. It turns out that the whole "aimless" walk was totally orchestrated and I had played into his plans perfectly by requesting a picture near the statue. In retrospect, I think it was the perfect moment because although there were lots of people out walking in the park that day, we were alone at the statue at the moment he popped the question (which was nice because I am shy and fearful of attention in public....which is why I have a blog and not a TV show, hehe).

My only regret about the whole day was that I did not have a passerby take a photo of the two of us together. I was so surprised and excited it slipped my mind until much later. But I do enjoy that the formerly-known-as-cheesy statue makes me smile when I see photos of it now.

Yes, yes, I have learned how this goes, everyone always asks about the ring, so here it is:

It is from the early 1900's and belonged to his great-great aunt. I am very honored to have been entrusted with it and I am nervous about taking care of it! It is funny that the ring was not designed for me, but it is definitely something I would have picked for myself, so I feel very lucky.

Lastly, this won't turn into a wedding blog, don't worry, but I have been going crazy on Pinterest, and my wedding board is growing exponentially. Check it out here!


Any advice for weddings? Did you see the proposal coming? If you did, I want you to pick lotto numbers for me ;) Hehe, have a great weekend and give someone you love a hug today!

Happy New Year!

We're off to a great start! I put off the yoga attending and job seeking today to spend "wif muh man" because he had the day off work. We lunched on rustic pizza at a new (to us) place downtown and walked around in the falling snow until my fingers became numb (which was longer than 30 seconds, just for the record, I'm acclimating!!). It feels like everything is in the right place, and I am glad we had a relaxing day before reality begins again tomorrow.

Snow on the leaves outside. Pretty, until you realize what "windchill" is all about.

 
I hope everyone had a great NYE celebration and that 2012 is the best year yet for you all!!