Fields of Rainbows and Vines

I feel like lately I've been spending a lot of time in vineyards, which definitely isn't a bad thing! Last week, my husband and I took our annual trip to Paso Robles before Thanksgiving. I love going to Paso Robles because the scenery is beautiful, the weather is cool, and the wine is exceptional. As the weather is usually on the crisp side, this trip often marks the first time I can break out some of my fall/winter wardrobe for the year. I recently purchased a few sweaters and flannel shirts that I was anxious to wear, such as this rainbow sweater from J. Crew Factory. I do have a lot of striped, rainbow colored sweaters, but why not add one more to my collection? In my opinion, when it comes to rainbow sweaters and wine, one can never have enough!

Sweater: J. Crew Factory here and here
Skirt: Brooks Brothers similar here
Boots: J. Crew similar here
Bag: Coach
Sunglasses: Prada

Linking Up With: On The Edge, Fabulous Friday, Fun Fashion Friday
,Flashback Friday, Passion for Fashion

Boyfriends and Ballerinas

I was pretty good on the actual day of Black Friday, but over the last week or so I've been taking advantage of the sales going on at stores such as J. Crew, Old Navy and Kate Spade. It seemed to me that this year retailers, at least at the stores I mentioned above, offered pretty much the same discounts a few days before Black Friday both online and in stores, so there was no need to rush out early in the morning and risk life and limb dealing with crowds!

In this post I am wearing some of my latest sale finds, including this really cute tee shirt from J. Crew. For the last few months or so, J. Crew has come out with some really adorable graphic tees, including ones featuring different cities, such as Paris, Rome, and New York. I am usually not a huge fan of J. Crew's tees because they tend not to hold up as well as others I've owned, but we will see how this one does. Besides, the pink elephants were too cute to pass up!

Another new item I am featuring in this post, which I am just head over heals in love with, are these velvet ballerina shoe with gold glitter heels from Kate Spade. My husband wasn't too thrilled about these, but I know they are fabulous, so that's all that counts! (One fun factoid about this photo shoot is that it started to rain while we were taking these pictures and I ended up putting plastic bags with rubber bands around my feet to protect my shoes; that's how much I love them!) I paired the shoes with a pair of boyfriend style jeans for a contrast between masculine and feminine. Skinny jeans are still my fit of choice, but it's fun to switch things up a little bit. Plus, the jeans were on clearance for $14 at Old Navy, so the price was right!

Tee: J. Crew Pink Elephant Tee here
Jeans: Old Navy boyfriend jeans here
Sweater: Target
Clutch: Clare V. here
Shoes: Kate Spade Marcellina here, here, and same version in black on sale here
Sunglasses: Stella McCartney here

Linking Up With: Let It Shine,Bloggers Who Have Inspired Me, Turning Heads

It's a Tradition!

Happy Thanksgiving! One of the things that make the holidays so special are the traditions that you start or continue as a family. For us, those Thanksgiving traditions include things like watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and the National Dog show with William while I prep food (and William tries to eat it!), such as my incredible mashed potatoes that are so good because they contain more sticks of butter than I will disclose to my family members! Sometimes traditions also include wearing certain items of clothing. Last year I wore this vintage Anthropologie duck skirt to dinner and although I'm not going to wear it again this year, I love to wear it around the week of Thanksgiving. Yes, I realize that they're ducks and not turkeys, but there's something about it that seems very fitting for this time of year!

Last year it was quite cold and I paired the skirt with a cashmere sweater and a red wool coat. This year it was just a little chilly and I wanted to be more casual, so I went with this bow sweatshirt. I had actually forgotten about the sweatshirt (this happens a lot!) until I found myself cleaning out my closet. It's a great neutral, so I will definitely be able to pair it with many things in the future. Perhaps it too will become a staple in my Thanksgiving wardrobe!

Skirt: Anthropologie

Sweatshirt: Kohl's

Shirt: J. Crew Factory

Shoes: Banana Republic

Bag: J. Crew

Sunglasses: Prada

Colonel Mustard in the Navy

Truth be told, these pictures are from at least a month ago, or maybe longer. They've just been sitting "in the can", so to speak. I'm breaking them out now because I thought the color palette of navy and mustard would be somewhat appropriate for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, now that it less than a week away. On a side note, let me just lament the metaphorical "death" of Thanksgiving. For example, this weekend I went out to the stores to try to find some Thanksgiving decorations only to find absolutely nothing that was Thanksgiving-themed. Instead, everything was in full gear for Christmas and has been for pretty much a month now. Thanksgiving truly has become a forgotten holiday, which is a shame. It would be wonderful to savor the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving and then move on to Christmas.

Getting back to my wardrobe, this skirt is something that I tracked down on eBay. It was originally released about 4-5 years ago from Anthropologie, but somehow I missed out on my opportunity to purchase it at the time. I put a watch for it on eBay about a year ago and it finally came up in my size at a fantastic price. I'm not a huge fan of buying secondhand clothing from places like eBay, but if it's something specific that I am searching for or at a stellar price, I don't mind too much. Currently, I am using eBay to track down a bunch of ornaments to replace some of the ones that broke when our Christmas tree fell over last year, so I guess, as you can see, I am also somewhat guilty of having Christmas on the brain too!

Skirt: Anthropologie
Tee: Target
Shoes: J. Crew similar here
Bag: Clare V. here
Belt: Target
Sunglasses: Prada here

Linking Up With: Still Being Molly, How I Fall, Hello Monday, Shoe and Tell 

Vineyard Remix

Do you frequently buy things on Groupon? I am guilty of this and it has only led me to the conclusion that Groupon is both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, I've gone to a lot of new places and experienced a number of new things that I would not have normally as well as saving a lot of money on restaurants and other things that I love, but at the same time I am one of those people who waits until the last minute to use the Groupon and then I'm rushing to use it before the expiration date.

Last summer, my husband and I bought a few Groupons for wine tastings in Temecula's wine country. We used most of them up in a timely fashion during one day during the summer, but one Groupon was from a vineyard that required us to set up an appointment and then neglected to respond to our phone messages and e-mails to schedule the appointment.  Well, after a lot of work on our behalf, which pretty much negated the savings from the coupon, we finally set up a visit to said winery last weekend and took a day trip to Temecula.

For our trip to Temecula's wine country, I decided to wear one of my favorite skirts from last summer, which is this pleated J. Crew Brushstroke print skirt.  A couple months ago, I featured the skirt in a post entitled Betty Brushstroke. I decided to take this look and keep the same color palette, but remix it for "fall". (I am defiantly putting fall in quotation marks because it has yet to feel like fall here!) My "fall" remix of this skirt included adding a denim jacket, suede flats and, of course, my latest obsession: a vintage inspired brooch. 

As you can see, these photos were taken during the afternoon's "magic hour" and I was, for the first time in a while, really happy with the lighting for my photos! (To understand this, just look at my last two posts!) I was also very happy that after doing a couple wine tastings, I still looked relatively put together! I think we may be taking a trip soon to Paso Robles for, again, more wine tasting, so stay tuned for more photos of me in vineyards! As you can see, Groupon or no Groupon, I'm always game for wine tastings!

Jacket: H&M similar here

Skirt: J. Crew

Tee: J. Crew here

Shoes: J.Crew here

Bag: Louis Vuitton Epi Alma

Sunglasses: Prada here

Linking Up With: Fun Fashion Friday, Fabulous Friday, On The Edge

Flash Back Friday ,Weekend Wear, Passion for Fashion

Still Being Molly, How I Fall, Hello Monday, Shoe and Tell 

Blinded by the Bright

In my last post, I went on a rant about how thanks to daylight savings it's too dark for photos when I get home from work, but in this post I am complaining about how it's often too bright for photos! I feel like I am constantly caught between lighting conditions that are too dark or too blindingly bright. I suppose in California we live in a land of extremes and you just can't win. While most areas of the country are experiencing cool weather, cloudy skies, and turning leaves, we have heat, cloudless skies with blinding sun, and bright pink bougainvillea. If I were a better photographer, I would be able to adjust to these conditions, but alas I am just an amateur. I tried to watch a YouTube video about how to adjust the settings of my DSLR camera to compensate for different lighting conditions, but all my pictures ended up looking washed out and awful. If you have any recommendations, such as a video for DSRLs for dummies, let me know!

Speaking of awkward transitions between extremes, did anyone notice how, this year, as soon as we hit November 1st we transitioned immediately from Halloween to Christmas? It's a little bit off-putting, but I do like it when retailers start rolling out apparel that's geared toward the holiday season. This is because such apparel usually features all my favorites: glitter, sequins, embellishments and bows. For the last few years, Target has released a line of embellished holiday sweaters that are always so cute. I picked up this turquoise one a couple weeks ago. I imagine wearing it all year long, but for today I am wearing it with vibrant houndstooth, which is a perfect compliment to the bright bougainvillea that serves as the backdrop for today's post.

Sweater: Target here

Skirt: J. Crew  similar here

Shoes: ASOS here

Bag: Prada

Sunglasses: Prada similar here

Linking Up With: Mid Week Inspo,Thursday Fashion Files, Thursday Moda

Rage Against the Dying of the Light

As a firm rule, I don't discuss my views concerning politics on my blog or as a teacher in my classroom with students. I think that if you're visiting my blog, it's to see what I am wearing as opposed to reading about politics. It is a fact, however, that the nation seems to be deeply divided, not only as a result of this election cycle, but also over a number of issues that have separated us for years now. So here's my proposal: let's find something we all dislike and use that to help unite us! Take, for example, daylight saving time. Does anybody still think this is a good idea? If I were running for office, I think I'd run on a platform that would vow to abolish daylight saving time for good! Now that's something we could all get behind, I think!

Let me give you an example of why I loathe daylight savings. Last week, my husband and I went to a concert in Downtown Los Angeles. Since there are a plethora of awesome walls there, I wanted to get in some quick photos before dinner and the concert. According to my phone, sunset was going to take place at exactly 4:51 pm, so I hoped to arrive Downtown at around 4:00 to catch the last bit of daylight. But, alas, the best laid plans of mice and men (and bloggers!) often go awry. Unfortunately, my husband was running late and there was traffic and then parking issues. When we came out of the parking garage with only 10 minutes until sunset, we immediately saw this mural right outside. It wasn't the one I originally wanted to use, but we didn't have time to be picky and I thought it worked well with my outfit. So I brushed my hair, threw the camera at my husband and made it work before sunset. All of this could have been avoided if it was not for daylight savings!

So, I hope you enjoy my photos, which were taken in much haste and not in ideal lighting. They are my attempt to rage against the dying of the light. Again, it's always strange to me to watch the sun go down as I am driving home from work at 4:00 in the fall and just when I get used to the time change, it's time to change back again, which is why I think we should definitely take strides to get rid of the tyranny that is daylight saving time!

Sweater: J. Crew Factory here
Shirt: J. Crew "Tilda"
Jeans" J. Crew similar here
Bag: Clair V. Alistair here
Shoes: ASOS here and similar here
Sunglasses: Prada here
Brooch: Banana Republic here

Linking Up With: Let it Shine, How I Fall, Shoe and Tell ,Hello Monday, Trend Spin 
Turning Heads, Bloggers Who Have Inspired Me