Matching The Morning Fog

It's supposed to be a nice warm weekend here in SoCal, but today, the marine layer is still thick and gray. So I dressed to match the morning dew:

The gray slacks are by Express, the collared shirt is by Clio, and the sweater by Betty Paige. Here's a close up look :

It is solid through the middle, then crochet at the hem and on the sleeves. It's pretty old, so there are some areas of destruction here and there. This may be the end of its life.  I wore a purple Austrian crystal necklace along with this outfit.

On my right arm, a tanzanite ring and a bracelet of amethyst, agate, and sugilite.

On my left arm, a wedding set with a pear diamond, a silver cuff, and a silver bracelet that has a rainbow of semi-precious stones.

Since my pants and the sky are gray, I went with my new gray Sam and Libby boots.

Let's do some linking !!! First, Dawn Lucy of www.fashionshouldbefun.com is hosting Fun Fashion Friday. Then, Jolynne of www.jolynneshane.com is having Fashion Friday. Join these ladies and others, and let's have some fun with our fashion!!!

The Color of the Rose, and the Color of Passion

We'll start today with the meaning of this title. I am, of course, wearing red.

I wanted to squeeze in one more wearing of this beautiful Calvin Klein dress before it gets dry cleaned and packed away for the summer. I also brought my Escada blazer to wear on top in case I need it. Of course, I wore my David Aaron shoes.

For a necklace, Joan Rivers to the rescue.

Here's a better look at the pendants that are interchangeable on this pearl strand. It also has a gold neck ring that any of the charms can be strung on.

On my right arm, I have a stretchy crystal bracelet from Saks, and an emerald and diamond ring.

On my left, my newly repaired wedding set, a gold bracelet, and a diamond tennis bracelet.

The tennis bracelet was also "repaired". They charged me $120, and they didn't replace the safety clasp.

That would be the long clasp on the bottom. It still opens up on it's own, making me nervous about losing a 7 carat bracelet. When I picked it up, the owner's mom was keeping shop, and she wasn't budging - she was pretty insistent that it was fine. So I left, and called the owner later. I explained that the clasp was still loose, and for $120 it should be secure. I was looking at taking it somewhere else and paying AGAIN to get it fixed. So he said to bring it back and he will do it for free. Not for free, my friend, I already paid $120. Anyway, I will bring it back, and I won't be going back there again. It's kind of like the shoe repair, who kept changing his price when I questioned it.

So onto last night. This was the scene when I got home:

I donated blood again yesterday. I didn't feel like working out, and they told me not to. I got another T shirt for my precious blood.

SO we just walked the dogs, and then I did some grocery shopping. I still got 15,598 steps in. I bought a bunch of fruit. Even with the horrible drought, the fruit is inexpensive and tasty.

I ate way too many grapes. They were scrumptious. So let's link!!! Of course, on Thursday, we have Alice from www.happinessatmidlife.com for Throwback Thursday. Then Tara at www.mixmatchfashion.com hosts What I Wore to Work. Lastly, I missed Liz yesterday for Style Me Wednesday at www.shoppingnmycloset.com, so I'm joining in today. Have a great day!!

Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves

Yesterday, I took Elli for a walk over to the mall next door, since that's her favorite walk. She gets to interact with a lot of people. So we're crossing the parking lot and this nice white convertible pulls up. The driver says to me, "My daughter could feel your aura!!! It's so strong." Then she sees Elli and says that SHE is a dog psychic and can feel Elli's aura.

She grabs Elli and then tells me that Elli has been sexually violated against her will. (Actually, what female dog hasn't?) Then she tells me that her puppies were taken from her and she has a block that she can't get past. I asked her why Elli hates to have her feet touched, and she said that another dog used to bite Elli's feet.

Then, the kicker. She says that she will burn a candle and pray for Elli. Then she asked for $95. I told her that I didn't have any money. Then she asked for $50. I told her I didn't have any money. Then she asked me to go to the bank. I said I didn't have my bank card. Then she asked for my phone number, so I pretended to look it up in my phone. Then it hit me. The teenage girl in the front seat had gobs of makeup and the lady herself had a bunch of blingy items on, including a T shirt that was cut down to her navel, almost. They were gypsies. So I said good bye, but as I walked home, I kept an eye out for them following me. They didn't. They probably gave up. When I told Doc, he said that they probably saw me walking through the parking lot, kissing my Chihuahua in her dress, and figured that I was a pretty good dopey mark. My friend was walking her dog, and she said that they're always over there at the mall. Lesson learned.

So that's the gypsies. Now for the tramps. My boss was (as usual) mocking me as I took my daily photo. He asked me to photograph his new belt.

Geez. Har de har, Chris.  Onto vital matters - what am I wearing?

Once again, my new Bar III lace jacket. This time, I have an Ann Taylor top and a Limited skirt underneath.

The skirt has a wide band of lace at the hem.

The top is black and white tweed, with green specks throughout. So I wore all green jewelry.

Two emerald necklaces. On my right arm, three gold bracelets and my Nordstrom green creepy ring.

On my left, a wedding set, and a metal stretch bracelet that was part of the Macy's Memorial Day sale haul.

I busted out a rarely worn pair of Hale Bob shoes.

They are black patent, with a gold tweed platform and heel, and a lovely ornament on the top.
I am really comfy, which is good, since I will be donating blood later today.

Onto the links!!! Wednesday has Lindsey from www.thepleatedpoppy.com for What I Wore. then, Tameka at www.pastirepumpsandpi.blogspot.com has What I Wore Wednesday. Sense a trend? Lastly, Allison at www.sydneyfashionhunter.com has a pants linkup. Well, I'm gonna join that one too, but I will leave a thumbprint of my Iman palazzo pants there. Have a great day, avoid all gypsies, and I will tell you about the thieves later!!!

A Shopper, Then A Whopper

So it's Memorial Day, and I just got back from Florida. Then I worked a hectic 3 days. Then, I will have 4 days off. What to do, what to do. Feeling a little monastic since I didn't buy myself more presents in Orlando, I decided to go to South Coast Plaza. I also had two home décor projects in mind.

So I went to Macy's first. They were having a 75% off clearance. Plus, I had a 20% coupon that I got in the mail. Nobody was there. The entire store had maybe 20 shoppers. So I cruised around all the departments, liberally grabbing anything that looked cute. I ended up with 5 dresses and two jackets to try on. I bought one dress and one jacket. Here is the dress:

It's a fine gauge flat knit skater style dress by Rachel Roy. It's navy with a black band at the hem.

The transition between colors is smooth. it has 3/4 length sleeves and a deep U neck. It fits like  a dream.

It has an exposed zipper in the back. At 75% off, it was a steal. At regular price, I may have choked.
I also got a jacket. it is made by Bar III and it's made of black lace.

 

 

 

It's a classic baseball style, with a knit collar, cuffs, and waistband. The rest is sheer Chantilly lace.

 

 

I got a GOB of pretty costume jewelry. It was so reasonably priced. I will point each piece out as I debut them. There were two necklaces, three bracelets, and three pair of earrings.

Then I stopped at a couple of furniture consignment shops. None of them had what I was looking for. Then I went to Home Goods, and they had one of the pieces I wanted.

 

 

I had an old black metal table with an outdated home entertainment system that we never used. So I took it apart, packed it up, and took it to the Salvation Armani. Someone else will want it.I took the little mosaic table,put it in place, and organized a few tsotchskes on it.

It fits nicely next to the little leather sofa. Here's a better look at the mosaic top.

Then I came home, ran a nice loooong run, then walked dogs with Doc, and watched TV.

In the morning, I got up and went to Hobby Lobby with my other bright idea. If HobLob doesn't have it, then NOBODY does. And they did not disappoint.

 

 

 

Here's Elli, checking out the redecorating supplies from Hob Lob. I got a bench that is black, distressed with deep red. That's the color of my kitchen cabinets. I also got two black and jute colored geometric patterned burlap baskets. Elli and I  consulted about our "vision" for the living room giant TV, and here is the result.

The TV looks so much more streamlined. and my gigantic collection of workout tapes fits in the burlap bins. I am pleased.

So then, we got hungry and Doc and I went to Free Birds, and got food to go. I got a Freedom Salad with tempeh and guacamole. Doc got a monster burrito with tempeh, beans, guac and sour cream. Halfway through the process, the girl dropped the burrito on to the pizza pan they hold beneath it as they make it. It was huge, so it splatted all over than pan.. In order to salvage it, she asked us if she could just wrap it up in two tortillas, and she would give us a free scoop of tempeh and a free scoop of guac. It ended up huger than huge. We brought it home. Here's Elli, welcoming the new family member,

This doesn't realistically depict the enormosity. So Doc placed a $100 bill next to it.

Take out a bill and see how big it is. Even Doc couldn't eat the whole thing at once.

Then we went to Jon's international Market. That's my favorite grocery store. I got a lot of imported food, which I will tell you about as I cook over the next two days. Right now I am getting ready to watch Miami Vice. We walked the dogs, and I did a little housework, and now I am kicking back.

On Sunday, I got up and went running again. Then I prepared the feast from the groceries we bought at Jon's the day before. First. I sautéed chopped Fuji apple with butter, cinnamon, and sugar.

 

 

I mixed it into a jar of Mott's apple sauce and let it blend.

We also got four giant, thick pork steaks.

I fired up the Smoky Joe and grilled those babies to perfection. The marinade is soy sauce, olive oil, garlic flakes and dark brown sugar.

In the meantime, I chopped zucchini, broccoli, red,orange, and yellow bell peppers, carrots, and onions, and sautéed them in olive oil. The Good Housekeeping cookbook said to add salt, sugar, and garlic, so I did, and they were delicious.

Here is the feast - grilled pork steaks, broccoli-cheese Rice a Roni, stir fry veggies, and applesauce.

 

 

 

Yummy. Then we went shoe shopping for Doc. We went to A Snail's Pace running shop first, but all their shoes were very pricy, and no sales. So we went over to the Skechers outlet and got him a pair of Memory Foam walking shoes.

 

 

 

 

 

He hates shopping. Then we went to Sit N'Sleep and OC Mattress and picked one out. We got a San Clemente all organic memory foam blah blah blah. I am doing this while I wait for them to deliver it.

On Monday, I got up and did some stuff around the house that needed work. Then I took a car load of crap to the Salvation Army. Then I cooked another lunch with basically the same food. First, I chopped up the pork into one inch chunks, egged and breaded it, and fried it.

 

 

Then I mixed the chunks with Panda Express Orange Sauce. They sell it by the bottle in the Asian foods section. Then I made another batch of stir fry - this time cabbage, red, orange, and yellow bell pepper, and zucchini.

 

 

 

You cook them a long time and the cabbage shrinks down. Here they are, steaming away. 

 

 

 

It fogged my camera. Then I made old fashioned fried rice. I beat three eggs and fried them in the oil left over from the veggies. Then I added 3 cups of cooked rice, bacon, scallions and soy sauce, and fried it all up. Here is the spread, with everything.

 

 

MMMMM MMMMMM.

 

 

 

So today, it's back to work. In order to cheer myself up, I wore my new dress and jacket.

They go together well. Here is the look, without the jacket.

That lump on the right is my pedometer. That was the best I could do to conceal it. The necklace was also one of my Memorial Day Macy's purchases. It is made by INC.

Here's a better look at it.

I wore navy tights and deep purple shoes. They are from Payless.

On my right arm, two sapphire bracelets, and a London Blue topaz ring.

On my left, a stretchy crystal bracelet from Saks, and my wedding ring. I took the band in to have an opal replaced, and I'll go pick it up later today.

We ended up getting a new mattress. It is sooooo soft and luxurious. It was also badly needed. We ended up choosing one from OC Mattress, called the San Clemente.

It is a firm, with memory foam and a pillow top. It's made of organic cotton.

It's really tall, and also really deeply fluffy. Here it is, left in place.

It reminds me of the clouds when viewed from an airplane.

Anyway, onto the multitude of links. I'm not really back in the swing of blogging yet, but soon, my friends. First, Rachelle, at www.pinksole.com is having How I Spring. Then Rhea, from www.rheaetcetera.com is having Style to Inspire. Next, lovely Cherie at www.stylenudge.com is hosting Shoe and Tell. Last, but never least, Jess from www.elegantlydressedandstylish.com is hosting Turning Heads Tuesday. Hop over, and see these sweet ladies and all their friends.

Ugh. Back to work. Boo.