Workwear

Usually around this time of year the dread of going back to school is offset by my excitement of starting with a clean slate. I love buying new school supplies and fancy organizers, but the really great part is buying new fall clothes. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on my mood) I no longer have an excuse to create a fresh start. Instead, I'm working in the same office that I have been for the past 12 months.

So, to right this wrong, I'm dedicating this back-to-school period my wardrobe-redo-time-of-the-year. Not quite as catchy, but there you have it.

My office isn't extremely formal, so I decided to get some inspiration from The Sartorialist and Face Hunter.

I love the cropped, short-sleeve jacket (right), it's lady-like but not stuffy and crop jackets have been in style long enough that I'm sure to find a cheap version. I probably wouldn't wear plaid (middle) to work unless I could find one with a trim cut. I love the way this Asian-Johnny-Depp look alike wears plaid so elegantly. I really like the layering in the left image and the way the sweater hangs.


Face Hunter usually has more edgy fashion, but I could wear some version of the outfits in the pictures below. An elegant tank with high-waisted, wide-leg pants (top left) or a 3/4 fitted skirt with a wrap top (top right). I'd love to find a dress like this navy blue one (bottom left). It looks comfortable and formal enough for an office and pencil skirts (bottom right) are a pain to walk in, but they look great.
Here are some pieces I found at Gap.com. I would layer a thin turtleneck under the trapeze dress (left) and I'd pull my hair back and wear my glasses with the shirt dress (left) for a librarian look.
I found some great stuff at LaRedoute and they're having their fall preview sale so I'm very tempted to actually purchase some of these items. I love the cuts of the clothing in this website and I've never been disappointed with La Redoute. The black dress in the lower right photo is a little conservative, but I love the skirt detailing. Talk about the perfect Little Black Dress!
Of course my materialism doesn't end with clothing. I found some great office supplies at SeeJaneWork.com. It's not really anything I need, but considering that I spend the majority of my day in the office, making it aesthetically pleasing is really not as frivolous as it sounds.
So now I just have to keep working in order to afford these purchases. Hmmm....I'm sensing some type of vicious cycle....

CL

Vacation Shopping

Here's the last batch of our vacation photos. We didn't do too much clothing shopping in Washington, but we did visit a handful of really cute shops.

Olga's is on Orcas Island and reminded me of a small, more elegant Anthropologie. The store was a mix of jewelry, clothing and home decor goods. The dressing room had the most beautiful wallpaper in it - like something you'd see in Domino magazine.


At a nearby shop, Lauren and I fell in love with these Mongolian-inspired Ugg-like boots. If they had been a little cheaper, we would have both gone home with a pair. I really don't know what I would have worn with them, but I'd wear them everywhere. The boots remind me of something that a celebrity would be caught wearing in US Weekly's worst dress section, which makes me like them that much more. In the end, my practical side got the best of me and all I have to remember these Mongolian ugg boots by are these photos.


I think I spent most of my money at Seattle's Pike Market. I couldn't get over the rows and rows of fresh flowers available there. We purchased a bunch of Sweet Peas for $5! That kind of money might get you a few carnations in Atlanta - if you're lucky.

CL

Oh Happy Day!

According to the Atlanta Business Journal, Zara and Lush are slated to open in Lenox! For me, this is almost better than H&M coming to Atlantic Station. Lauren and I use to shop at Zara all the time in Spain (it's the cheapest there b/c it's based out of Spain). It has a great mix of trendy pieces and work wear, which I'm in desperate need of.

Photo from ottogroup.com

Lush is a great UK-based store that we frequented in Scotland. It has wonderful handmade soaps that smell really fresh and all-natural facial and hair products.

Photo from swanseaphoenix.blogspot.com

We try to avoid Lenox for the most part, but a Zara and Lush might change all that...

CL

Vacation Shopping

No matter where we are, we always try to keep an eye out for good, independently-owned bookstores. There wasn't too much time to shop while we were in Washington state, but here are a few bookstores that we enjoyed.

There's a great bookstore/gift shop at Uwajimaya in Seattle. I'm sure if we had been able to spend more time there I would have done a lot of damage to my wallet. I found the craft books especially intriguing - they're so colorful and stylish.
To escape from the crazy crowds at Pike Market, Lauren and I popped into Left Bank Books (top image). I loved the feel of this store. It reminded me of the used bookstores I use to hang out in while I was living in Edinburgh. Darvill's Bookstore in Orcas Island (bottom left) reminded me of the Shop Around the Corner in You've Got Mail (yeah, that's right, I made a Nora Ephron movie reference - so sue me). The pale yellow walls and old-fashion overhead lighting was really enchanting. I could have spent a whole day in Seattle's Elliott Bay Books (bottom right) - it's HUGE. Image New York's Strand, but with more breathing room. There's a giant room just devoted to used books and an upstairs landing filled with travel books. The store feels like it goes on forever.

I'm not bashing Borders and B&N, but if the big box, chain bookstores were to somehow disappear tomorrow, I don't think anyone would miss them with stores like Left Bank, Darvill's and Elliott Bay are around. That's why I have such high hopes for Wordsmiths Books - Atlanta's very own homegrown, independently-owned bookstore.

Happy Bastille Day!

To celebrate French Independence Day, I've assembled a handful of French madames and mademoiselles whom all possess that 'je ne sais quois.'
Eat a baguette with brie (or some lovely paté, mmmm) or a pain au chocolat, drink some wine, and run around in red, white and blue shouting "Vivre La France!" (a good way to burn all those French calories. Merde).

2 Days in Paris style

In addition to looking like a great movie (see previous post for trailer), 2 Days in Paris has amazing style. I couldn't find too many images online - the official website is in German and mostly text. Hopefully the closer it gets to the US release date (sometime in August) more information will be available online - in English. I hope it comes to Atlanta!
Of course it's hard to beat Julie Delpy's black-rimmed glasses - especially since she wears them less self-consciously than Ashley (or is it Mary Kate?) Olsen. Nice purse too - very practical.

I think this dress looks better in the trailer. It seems a little stilted in this image. However, now I'm adding yellow pumps and a Pucci-esque dress to my wish list!
CL

2 DAYS IN PARIS - Trailer

This movie looks so great. We're big fans of Julie Delpy and it has a kind of Before Sunset feel to it.

Eats

One of the best things about going on vacation is trying different types of food. The northwest isn't necessarily an exotic location, but the delicious food we hand certainly deserves to be mentioned in its own blog post.

Of course there is an abundance of coffee shops/cafes in Seattle and the surrounding areas, so we got our fill of the stuff. Lauren enjoyed her iced espresso in downtown Seattle.


Being so close to the ocean meant eating fresh seafood almost everyday - except for our cook-out on the beach where we feasted on hot dogs, chips, hard cider and s'mores. We also filled up on Rainer cherries and golden raspberries.

It was a lot of fun picking oysters then cleaning them, shucking them and eating them at the oyster farm. It was my first time eating raw oysters without a ton of lemon butter or cocktail sauce and I'll admit that I was pleasantly surprised by how delicious they were.



Other meals included mussels and crab cakes - yum.
Even though it was 10:00 in the morning, we stopped by Dick's, a Seattle fast food institution, for strawberry and chocolate milkshakes.

You can't visit Seattle without going to the Pike Place Market. I found it a bit overwhelming because it was so crowded, but it has yet to turn into a really touristy-type place (apart from the original Starbucks, which was a madhouse). We spent a while at the German meat market shop. Maris' green dress complimented the colorful packages of the German baked goods, jams and pickled-things. The Three Girls Bakery has the best chocolate macaroons and ginger cookies. After Pike Place we stopped by Uwajimaya, an amazing Asian market where we bought sushi and my all-time favorite cha siu baau (steamed buns).

Having just returned from Hong Kong, Maris brought back these cute cookie tins for all of us. I love the guy on the front and the cute designs on the back. The little cakes that come inside are separated by flavor. Given my past experiences with Asian desserts, I know they can either be really good or really, really bad - so I have yet to muster up the courage to try a cake. Until then, I'll enjoy the cute packaging.

4th of July would not be complete without pie.
CL

Lavender Fields

One of the best things about Friday Harbor (and there's a lot) is the Pelindaba Lavender field. You can cut your own lavender or go to the gift shop for an endless amount of stuff made with lavender. They have everything from lavender ice cream to lavender all purpose cleaner.



CL

At One With Nature...almost

The views from the islands were amazing. On Orcas Island you get a clear view of Mt. Baker.

The climate of the San Juan Islands is similar to that of the UK. There are flowers everywhere.
We stopped by an alpaca farm on the way to Roche Harbor. Pretty gosh, darn cute.
Frick and Frack. Two baby raccoons by the beach.
An oyster field. We chose to buy the ones that had already been picked, which made for a faster cleaning process.
Having fun with bits of dried-up seaweed.
Have to wonder what the message of this etching is.
CL

Vacation Outfits

We tried to go against our nature and pack lightly for our trip to the northwest. This was a difficult task considering that we had to plan for hot days and cold nights. During the day we wore skirts and shorts with tees and at night we wore skinny jeans with hoodies, jackets and scarves.
We took a couple of ferry rides around the San Juan Islands and passed the time by reading and writing in our journals. Lauren protected her nose from sunburn with a scarf, which resulted in a kind of international waters-pirate look (top right) and Maris relaxed with her large Marc Jacob sunglasses (bottom left).
I didn't realize until after reviewing our photos that we wore mostly blue on the trip.
Lauren's outfits were more colorful than mine with more reds and purples.
Bundled up and eating breakfast on the 7 am ferry to Friday Harbor.

CL

Greetings from Seattle!

Hi Everyone! Sorry for the brief hiatus. We were expecting to have readily available internet access to keep you updated on the ins and outs of Friday Harbor and Seattle. No such luck, but never fear! We will be back in the ATL tomorrow with high-speed internet (I can tell you, I have not missed dail-up... attempting to upload just one photo is driving me insane) and photoshop. Look forward to some gorgeous pictures of the pacific northwest...we're in love.
LL

Outfits

Lauren found this electric blue dress for $10 at a nearby mall. It looks quite nice next to the giant tarp hanging over the southwest side of Wordsmiths Books. The tarp is being used to stop a leak, but it looks very Christo/Jeanne-Claude-esque to me:
Red jersey dress with Target headscarf and doggie bags from Ted's.

Gap cotton tunic, Target necklace, Topshop jeans, Bitten ring, secondhand bracelet, Payless sandals:

CL

Birthday Fun

As much as we loved the presents and cake, we also had a lot of fun decorating for our birthday party. Christmas lights, candles, Mexican street banners and a table full of junk food was all it took to make the apartment look festive. Below are some of the lovely cards we received:

Remains from the party:

Dreamy Birthday Cake

Mmmmm... if you've never been to local sweet-tooth-haven, Southern Sweets Bakery, you've been missing out on the best cake and pie this side of everywhere. They make Amaretto Butter Cake, Keylime Cake, Old Fashion Chocolate, Coconut Layer, German Chocolate, Carrot Spice, Choc. Raspberry Mousse, Red Velvet Raspberry, Golden, Chocolate, Gingerbread layer, Strawberry Layer , Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse, Banana Rum Cake, Orange Marmalade Cake, Tiramisu Layer Cake , Caramel Cake, Bourbon Bread Pudding, and Chocolate Almond Cake just to name a few. A slice of one of these delectables will only set you back $5- which is quite a steal (really, you'll believe me after that first bite). As the great Audrey Hepburn once said "Let's face it, a nice creamy chocolate cake does a lot for a lot of people; it does for me." On the eve of our 24th birthday, well, we couldn't agree more.
LL