43F Feels like 38F

Up until last week, the weather was really nice and now all of a sudden it seems like England has remembered it’s supposed to be winter soon and London has been FREEZING. Okay, maybe I’m a wuss (I’d like to think otherwise, though!), but yesterday it was 38F, feels like 30F, with a 8mph wind! Brrrr! Needless to say, I’ve quickly swapped my trench coats and leather jacket for some proper jackets. Today wasn’t nearly as cold, thankfully, so I got my pea coat out for the first time in awhile. I love peacoats, thought I’m not sure if they are the most flattering shape on me. Due to having large shoulders, I have to buy my jackets much bigger than I would a shirt or a dress, which means they hang a bit off me, but this coat is so cozy and warm and there is something delightfully rustic about the wool and the plaid. Sometimes I wish I’d gotten a gray coat, but then I see pictures of this jacket and it makes me smile. Perhaps when I’m at home I will do the rusticated country version of this outfit with Wellies instead of over-the-knee boots.

Pea-Coat: Boden, Cardigan: French Connection, Shirt: Kors by Michael Kors, Jeans: Marc by Marc Jacobs, Boots: Steve Madden

I was supposed to lunch with my friends today, but one of them had a horrible hangover, so we postponed it until another day. I’d washed my hair (as you do) before going out, but when I got back in, I decided to put it up and tried out this bun that I read about last night. I mean, buns are pretty no-brainer, but I enjoyed the look so I thought I’d give it a whirl. My hair is getting ridiculously long (this is the longest I’ve ever had it) and desperately needs a trim, especially my fringe which is about 1-2″ longer than it should be and hangs in my eyes like a sheepdog’s.

Mmm, delicious coffee! What could be better then that on a cold day?!

The Ugly Truth: Jeans

I am supposed to be packing and getting ready for London. That headache + work + excessive heat are, in part, to blame for my lack of updates. I have been super stressed about moving. Also, kinda hot and lazy. I promise to do better in the future though, and my current goal, starting possibly next week is to update 3-4 times a week with 2-3 outfits and 1-2 Stuff I Like posts talking about trends or random clothes or collections or bloggers/blogs I like.

Today’s entry is sort of a combination of Stuff I Wore and Stuff I Like. Since I’m jetting off halfway around the world, my very generous mother told me to buy another pair of jeans. I don’t know if it is because I am Californian, American, or just a personal quirk, but I love jeans and I wear them pretty much daily, especially when I feel lazy, which is ironic because jeans are harder to make chic/nice-looking than a cute dress, but old habits die hard. My problem, however, is that I am VERY PICKY about my jeans. I don’t like some cuts. Okay I don’t like MOST cuts. You will rarely see me in anything besides skinny-cut jeans on this blog. I do own one pair of really cute trouser-cut jeans and a pair of bootleg jeans and oh god I am suddenly realizing they may not fit any more as I recently have lost weight. Whoops!

Image: The New York Times

But on to my dilemma. I hate buying jeans. When you have a super-long waist, relatively small-ish hips, and large, musclar thighs it sucks to buy pants. Add short calves into the mix and it’s a reciepe for disaster. The knock I have to make against skinnies is that they have a tendency to give me thunder thighs, which is truly unfortunate and I am wont to look like Tweedledee or Tweedledum in a particularly ill-fitting pair.  However i love the look of them and the bonus fact that you can’t stomp all over the back of the hems and ruin them like boot-cut jeans.

Until recently, I owned a variety of brands of jeans, mostly culled from Nordstrom’s BP Juniors’ department or from Gap. In 2006 Gap had some LOVELY skinny jeans, but they seem to have only stocked them for a short time, and I was, as I will soon be, studying in England so I only had the two pairs I bought at home during Christmas break. Needless to say I quickly wore through them. Last Thanksgiving, however, I girded my loins and begged my mother to buy me some jeans that weren’t full of gaping holes in the thighs and/or from the juniors’ department, whose jeans are cut for twiggy toothpick legs, not, shall we say, a more womanly thigh. I still feel somewhat weird about buying jeans that go upwards into the $200 range, but after several exasperating trips to the mall/Target/wherever, I bit the bullet and ordered some designer jeans.

Best. Plan. Ever. Coincidentally, there were a pair of Marc by Marc Jacobs Chrissie Skinny Jeans on sale only in my size the day I was shopping on Nordstrom’s website in vain hope of getting a pair of un-predistressed, un-bedazzled jeans for less than $150.  I snatched them up, dubious they’d even fit, but oh how they fit! I have expanded my collection now to four pairs (though I must admit the original pair are on their last legs having been worn pretty much daily for 6 months before I bought a second pair).  I have them in three washes, including a light wash that I just received in the mail last week. They are delightful.

I must add a word of warning, though, if you buy these pants, which is to CHECK THEM VERY CAREFULLY FOR FLAWS. One pair I received had flawed threads in the leg and another a flawed button for the fly!

Jeans: Marc by Marc Jacobs, Monocle Necklace: Marc by Marc Jacobs, Chain Necklace: H&M
Tee-Shirt: Hanes Men, Shoes: Nordstrom BP, Sunglasses: Marc Jacobs

Jeans: Marc by Marc Jacobs, Plaid Shirt: Kmart Men’s

As always, click the image to enlarge.

P.S. I bought a remote for $20 for my Digital SLR and OMG WHY DID I WAIT SO LONG TO BUY IT?

P.P.S. Please feel free to share your woes about jeans in the comments. Misery loves company.

at the cemetary

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Shirt: Nordstrom, Vest: Primark, Shorts: Primark, Shoes: Max Studio, Necklace: H&M, Sunglasses: Marc Jacobs

My sister and I went to the Farmers’ Market this morning planning on taking pictures there. We got there around 10 and by 10:20 it was beastly hot, so we took our fruit and ran back to the car. On the way home, we took the scenic route home and stopped at the local cemetary in the next town over. My sister apparently goes on walks there periodically. It’s really old, dating back to the 1850s at least. We had a wander and took some pictures, including hilarious ones of us jumping off huge old tree stumps.

sailing on the deep blue sea

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Top: Kors by Michael Kors, Jeans: Marc by Marc Jacobs, Shoes: Charles by Charles David, Sunglasses: Marc Jacobs

I don’t have much to say about this outfit. I wore it yesterday to hang out with my friend who was baking for a bridal shower she was hosting today. It’s a bit of a lazy outfit, tbqh. I just threw on these old jeans (with a hole in the thigh, woe!) and this top, which is one of my favourites. I like to wear it with white or navy shorts too. There’s something enjoyable about the casual, classic, breezy look of nautical

P.S. That’s my horsie, Tommy.

hey miss girl next door

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Top: Talbots, Shorts: H&M, Necklace: H&M, Shoes: Charles by Charles David, Sunglasses: Nordstrom Men’s

Yeah, you read that right: my top is from Talbots, purveyor to the older professional ladies and grannies a like. My mother works there and so my sister and I end up spending some time in the shop. You might be surprised. Sure, 90% of it you’d never wear in a million years except as a laugh, but once and awhile my sister and I get some real gems. This tank is super soft and sheer and really comfortable and not at all frumpy. Read this blog long enough and you’re sure to see more of my Talbots finds.

On another note, those white shorts have been in my drawers for the past three or four years and are still blindingly white. I am really impressed. They are also one of my first even H&M purchases, from their first West Coast store in San Francisco. My shoes are hot pink satin ballet flats, which you can’t see well in the grass, but I wear them a lot so you’re sure to see them again in the future.

I am thinking about getting an acrylic fill for my nails. Like not tips, just trim my nails back to the quick and get a fill over that to keep them nicer. I have really peeling/splitting nails. Even vitamins hasn’t helped them. Plus I work in a stable. It’s a bad combo.

Expect some interesting hairdos in the next week or two as my fringe is becoming unbearable and I will have to pin it back.

P.S. That is my dog Beans. Expect more pics of her.

Excess Consumption

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Dress: H&M,  Sunglasses: Nordstrom, Belt: Tahari, Booties: Me Too

Ever since I was accepted to graduate school in London, my parent logically asked that I save my summer income so that I can afford, you know, to survive off tinned beans for the next 12 months. This of course means that I have had sudden and insatiable urges to purchase new clothes. Thankfully my local mall recently got a decent sized H&M so I have downgraded from Nordstrom to H&M due to my severely curtailed budget. I actually tried this dress on a week or so ago and liked it a lot, but my sister was iffy on it and I got irritable and ended up leaving H&M without buying anything and guiltily returning a shirt I’d bought at the Nordstrom Pre-Fall Anniversary Sale.

I have been thinking about it since then, so when my mom asked if I wanted to go to Crate and Barrel with her today, I jumped on the chance to run into H&M, which is conveniently located next door. I wasn’t sure if they’d have this dress still; last time I’d been in (when I had tried it on), H&M had just cleared out/put on sale everything I’d bought/tried on the trip previous, much to my chagrin. But they had the dress, and with a minor detour to the necklaces, I left the store $40 poorer but sartorially richer.

I really love the way the skirt looks almost tulip shaped with the addition of a belt. Without it, the dress is sort of an awkward wide-at-the-hip sack. I love the print, which is some kind of weird Warhol-esque/newsprint collage. The armpits are cut really low, which doesn’t particularly bother me, but other members of my family stated they find the manner in which my bra is exposed to be “slatternly”. Ah, well. There’s no pleasing everyone.