Groovin' On a Wednesday Afternoon

When we last met, I promised to do the reveal on my latest trinket.

Wait no more, my friends. It's the Platinum Cuff, by Swarovski.

 

It is so much more beautiful in person. The metal is gunmetal toned, and the crystals range from clear all the way to Black Diamond, which is the ring I have. I wore them together today.

It's a breathtaking combo. So, what outfit did I choose to wear along with my new bauble? Well, the title of this post gives you a clue.

Although I do have a couple of vintage Gunne Sax dresses, this isn't one of them. This 70s style knit dress is actually made by Moda International, a brand put out by Victoria's Secret. It's black with tan Venice lace trim. Here's a closer shot of the trim.

If I really wanted to go all groovy on everyone, I would have worn a choker with this. I have done that before, but it's a little close to Halloween to wear such a costumy outfit. I went with my buffalo turquoise and smoky topaz statement necklace.

On my other arm, I only wore one ring - my veiny boulder that I got at Nordstorm.

I did go costumy enough, however. I wore my black suede and bronze nailhead boots from Forever 21.

And since it's Wednesday, I am linking at www.thepleatedpoppy.com. Go over and have some fun!!!

A Momentous Occasion

Today is a special day - Doc's birthday !!! He got an even bigger bunch of bananas than usual this morning. It's a momentous occasion for me as well - another of my big meetings where I am doing quite the presentation. Here's what I picked to wear today:

The dress is by Kenzie, and the jacket is Spenser Jeremy. Here's how it looks without the jacket.

It's kind of a sheath style. It's made of a nice stretchy wool fabric. Here's a closeup of the pattern - it's a dark grey and dark red plaid.

For the meeting, I will have my exam jacket over it. And for their first outing of the year, my grey Worthington boots.

I have already replaced the heels on these beauties once. To complement the dark grey in the dress, I went with garnet jewelry for the most part. Here is my necklace - I am also wearing the matching earrings.

On my left hand, I have a pear shape diamond, a ruby/diamond band and two bracelets, one with garnets. On my right hand, a marcasite ring that was a Xmas gift and a garnet/ruby bracelet that was a birthday gift.

Speaking of gifts, this came in the mail yesterday. Stay tuned for the big reveal later!!

As I do every Tuesday, I am linking up with www.stylelixir.com for Fall Fashion Favorites. My boots definitely fit that bill - I absolutely love them, and will get them repaired again and again until they disintergrate.

Gettin' All Ghoulish

So Halloween is upon us next weekend. I am too old to go to parties, and likewise, our kids are too old to go anywhere, but our grandkids are all over it. So this weekend, we got them Halloween presents. For little Calista (6.5 months)

A felt cat bucket with socks, a bib, and a butterfly glow stick. For her two brothers (2 and 4)

A cauldron with fruit snacks, a fuzzy spider, a glow in the dark skeleton, some window clings and a glow necklace. For our other grandson (age 5)

A plastic pumpkin pail with a glow necklace, wall clings, a glow in the dark skeleton arm, a big plastic rat, some toy zombies (for his collection) and some zombie gummies. Then for the neighborhood kids, we got big marshmallow pops. And my MIL Mimi, also got me a gift:

Two bath mats that can be bleached when they are dirty. I am notorious for getting my bath mats filthy. Isn't that what they are for?

So we decided to treat ourselves good on Saturday, and went to lunch at the Waterfront Hilton. It was a beautiful day out, and we figured out why people like to come to HB:

A beachfront pool, with the sparkling Pacific ocean right across the street. Gorgeous. I had sloppy joe fries - fries with pulled pork in sloppy joe sauce with cheese curds on top. It was even better than it sounds, but very rich, so I took half home for Doc to eat later.

So onto today's outfit. Doc watches Dr Who, and on that show, there is a character named Clara. There are blogs devoted to dressing like Clara. Even though I am decades older than Clara, I like her United Kingdom with a twist outfits. So here is my rendition.

The skirt is from Stacy's Closet. Underneath, I have a black sleeveless turtleneck by Apostrophe, and on top, I am wearing my vintage Bullock's jacket that I got last weekend. The skirt has a cool detail - there is a zipper below the waistband that you can unzip as much or as little as you want to make a waterfall down the front.

The material is a plaid that has been overdyed with tie dye. It's so cool. With this ensemble, I decided to wear my flea market stone necklace.

On my right arm, I have a garnet and opal tennis style bracelet, and a South Sea pearl ring. On my left arm, I have a mobe pearl ring and a Brighton bracelet.

The bracelet inspired me to bust out my Brighton purse. I don't carry it too often, because it is a little on the small side for all the junk I lug around. But I managed to use it today.

I also figured that my Calvin Klein pilgrim shoes would make a nice addition to this look.

Today, I am linking up with Molly at www.stillbeingmolly.com for Let It Shine blog hop. There are a lot of pretty ladies there who are shining away!!! See you tomorrow.

Bordetella update: Elli is still coughing. She coughs in bursts that last about 3 minutes, and occur every couple of hours. But she is active, hungry, and still loves to be carried around the neighborhood. I don't put her down on the ground because I don't want to expose other dogs. But she's getting better!!!

Falling For Fall Colors

When we were back east a couple of weeks ago, I got a taste of the beauty of the changing fall colors. This inspired me to create some outfit ideas using this beautiful range of hues.

Here is the outfit I came up with, and all the items were pulled from my enormous closet.

The skirt is made by Uniform, and is crisp cotton. The cami is silk, made by Banana Republic. The cardigan is a silk blend, made by Joseph A. I love the result. Here is a closeup of my strange, hideous, wonderful green resin necklace.

And of course, I have the perfect shoes for this getup - my Charles David maryjanes.

I went even deeper and nerdier with matching jewelry on both arms.

On my left, I have a brown and green metal cuff, and my Nordstrom green creepy ring. On my right, my copper Indian souvenir cuff and my Montana green peridot ring.

I had a minor anxiety attack last night. I had a lot of errands to run, since all of my free time has been consumed by Ebola prep for the hospital that I work for. So I got dog food, went to the bank, went to the store for hairspray and deodorant, went home and fed Elli her medicated food for her kennel cough, then changed clothes. Then, when I went to get my phone, I couldn't find it. I panicked, thinking that I left it somewhere along the line. But never fear, it was on my desk right where I left it. Whew.

So this weekend, we will be making Halloween gifts for our grandkids and some of the neighbor kids. Then I will be generally relaxing, or so I hope. Also, today I am linking up with www.pennilesssocialite.blogspot.com for Favorite Fashion Friday. Have some fun browsing some cool blogs!!

I'm Not a Cougar, I am a Leopard!!!

The last of our Ebola preparatory seminars was given yesterday, so that means that I can once again be a glamour puss.But first, let's recap what I wore for the last day.

I wanted to sport my new Escada bellhop jacket. I decided to pair it with plaid trousers by Ann Taylor, since they have some rose in the plaid. Underneath, I wore a Joseph A sweater. It has a knit bodice, with a long ribbed waist and chiffon trim on the neckline and around the shoulders. Here's a closeup.

This was a very classic outfit, so I chose a pair of classic shoes with a twist. They are by Steve Madden, and are tan suede with a lug sole and a strap made of webbing with large grommet trim.I have had them for about 10 years or so.

For my necklace, I also went with another oldie but goodie. I probably got it at Macy's, because that's where I buy most of my costume pieces. It's a cameo on a rose velvet ribbon. Some dude in the parking lot really loved it, because his wife wore chokers in the 70s.

I kept my jewelry somewhat limited, so I could easily take it off and stash it in my shoes while giving the Ebola seminars. I went with my rose gold RJ Graziano set. I wore the watch, along with 3 of the bangles that have crystals in them.

I wore one small ring on each hand. I put them both on one hand for picture purposes. One is pink tourmaline, and one is tanzanite.

Now for the punch line. Here's my outfit for today.

This skirt is my favorite of all time. It's gold pearlized leather, made by INC. It is so classy and I have had it a long time, and it still looks great. It's very well made, so it was worth the price. I broke out my first pair of boots of the season.

They are from Forever 21. They are faux suede with bronze studs. When they came in the mail, they smelled REALLY bad. I had to air them out for quite a while. But now, I love them, and will be getting them reheeled at some point. I think I have had them for 4 years.

I busted out the bling and glam today. First, a new necklace that I got at a consignment shop down the street that was recommended by a friend. I got this and a Kate Spade purse there.

It's a matte gold collar with assorted gem cabochons. The top is by XOXO and I got it last year to wear on Christmas day. It's black knit with a gold foil animal pattern. On my left arm, I wore a black leather and crystal bracelet, and my Swarovski Nirvana in Black Diamond.

On my right arm, my new crystal bracelet from Saks.

And now, the piece de resistance - my Baby Phat purse. I have had it since 2003. I remember the day I bought it at Macy's in South Coast Plaza. A lady had it in her hands, and was considering it carefully. It was the only one. It cost about $200. I lurked and waited, and she finally put it back on the display. I immediately pounced, and have been enjoying it since then.

Isn't it rad? I had another Baby Phat purse later on, but it was definitely lesser quality. It died a horrible death from rotting faux leather disease.

Onto an Elli update. I got her antibiotics and a cough supressant. The organism that causes kennel cough is Bordetella brochioseptica. Humans cannot get it, but we do get Bordetella pertussis, or whooping cough. Fortunately, I am vaccinated for pertussis due to my grandchildren, so I can contuinue to splash lovin' on Elli without fear. It was hard to get her to eat the food that I put the antibiotic drops on. I finally resorted to her favorite honey ham. I dissolved the cough supressant tablet in beef broth. She seems to be on the mend. My poor sick sweetheart. I am sure that she is pissed at me, since I sent her to jail and then she got the creeping crud. Bad dog mommy.

Today, I am linking with Erin at www.simplyjustlovelyblog.com for Working Girl With Style. Go take a peep!!

Blue Moon, You Saw Me Standing Alone

Especially if I am all suited up in PPE for Ebola. Thankfully, that hasn't happened yet, and the outlook for the US is good. In the meantime, our prevention and preparation seminars continue. Do you know what else continues? Elli's kennel cough. I am waiting for a call back from Dr Lizardo to see if there is any thing like doggy cough syrup that I can give her.

So, onto today's outfit. I wanted to wear this dress today, so I brought a pair of shorts to wear underneath for the PPE demonstration.

This dress is by Mossimo, a Target brand. It is very soft. I wanted to wear navy hose with it, but I settled for gray, since I don't have any navy without holes in them. The boots that I chose to wear coordinate perfectly.

I got them at Forever 21 last winter. I wore them a lot, and will do so again this winter. For acessories, I continued to work in some colors that don't match, but they go together well. I doubled up on the necklaces. First, I wore my weird lapis number.

Then I wore a longer locket with a costume onyx stone. In this shot, you can also see my rockabilly studded belt.

On my arms, I went with silver and gemstones. On the left, my "tin can" cuff, and a tanzanite ring. On my right, a silver bangle and a ring of amethyst and opal.

This outfit is really comfy and cozy. The kicker will be how well it comes out of the wash. I am always concerned about that with the bargain brands. Today, I am linking up with www.walkinginmemphisinhighheels.com for Trend Spin. Today's trend? Comfy knits!!! Perfect for this outfit. Hop over and browse around. Until tomorrow.