Mellow Yellow

It is worth noting that I spent eight and a half hours looking at Voice Over Internet Phone (VOIP) systems WITHOUT LUNCH yesterday. Therefore when I got home I did not fire up the camera and take a picture. Rather, I raced to the refrigerator and snarfed down some delicious leftover tagine with green beans. I wore a yellow cardigan, beige linen pants, and a yellow and russet tank. Note to self: I think that tank will also look good with red pants.

Today was the last day of Yellow Week. It is in the nineties, which ruled out any black or extraneous layers or closed toe shoes. The tie on this top is usually worn in a bow, but I kind of liked the long black line when it was undone. It gave it a certain middy blouse feel. Did you know this phrase comes from midshipman? Perhaps you should read more Patrick O'Brian.

So, yellow voile skirt, Spring Step sandals, Nine West top. And I'm kind of tired of yellow.

The Color of Anxiety?

Yellow is in the running (with orange) to be my favorite color. I don't own many things in yellow, but what I do own gets a lot of wear year-round. I wear orange in the summer, but it tends to be more cantelope and less terracotta.

There was a minor in-joke about yellow making the rounds at work - it is a stimulating color and a psychologist friend suggested that it can promote anxiety. I always understood purple to truly be the color of crazy, but that may have more to do with a certain childhood friend than any demonstrable research.

At any rate, I plan to wear yellow every day this week. Yesterday I wore yellow sandals, a yellow watch and a top with some yellow in it, but the outfit escaped the camera because I had such a headache after my hair appointment. Dangling over the rinse and tone bowl for half an hour does me in.

Tuesday:

Ann Taylor jacket and striped tee, Jones New York linen pants. My headache was still lurking this morning, and I forgot to wear the new bracelet I bought over the weekend. My head looks nice, though.

Heidi and I went to delicious Irazu on Saturday, and then to the Bucktown Arts Festival, where I bought earrings and a bracelet. I would have bought another pair of earrings, but the artist did not accept credit cards. Qu'est-ce que c'est? She did not have a website or an Etsy account either. Her stuff was gorgeous and inexpensive, possibly because she is new to the fest circuit and hasn't realized what kind of prices she could set. Her name is Maggie Joyce, and I'm definitely looking for her work elsewhere. There are a handful of images on Pinterest and Google:

 
Earrings made from recycled optic lens material, very lightweight with a matte finish.

 I don't exactly regret that I didn't spend another forty dollars at the Fest, but  *sigh*, she sure made pretty things.

Pink, White, Black, Sparkly!

Also known as the last days of linen. 

Hot pink Talbot's top, white Ann Taylor skirt, and my fun new black Lucky Brand sandals. Which are exactly like every other pair of sandals I bought this year.

I also wanted to show off my new bracelet, which I wore yesterday with an unmemorable outfit. Seriously, what did I wear? A dress and a cardigan, I think?

 
The bracelet began life as a necklace of six sunflowers (one with a sparkly bee on it) from Talbot's. There was a bracelet to match, but I missed my chance to buy it and was sad enough to take a chance on the necklace. I gave it to a friend's clever husband, who removed the chains and one sunflower and converted it into a bracelet.

I LOVE IT.

 

Not So Profound

I don't know how other, much more prolific, bloggers manage to write anything meaningful after 5 PM. I've been thinking about the budget all day and cannot say much more than "Fire bad, tree pretty."

After all of those pastels earlier in the week, I went a bit more neutral on Wednesday. Red necklace, beige sweater, red skirt, beige sandals. The big gray lump, lower right, is Riley.

And we're BRIGHT again on Thursday! Orange Ann Taylor dress, cream linen Ann Taylor jacket, gold Aquatalia pumps and a couple of gold necklaces of uncertain provenance. Isn't that a groovy color? I debated for a few weeks, because the dress is sleeveless, and a bit too open to wear without a jacket or sweater. Black seemed kind of harsh, and any other color detracted from the lovely orange-y goodness of the dress. Then I tried it with the linen jacket and was pleased with the result.

The bracelet is basically three cheapie bracelets wound together: rhinestones, ribbon, orange beads. Which is why I only paid five bucks for it. Orange! Sparkly! The ring is a lot classier: an Australian opal that Barry gave me many years ago. See the cute stripes that line the jacket sleeves? I'm always cuffing jackets because of my short little T-Rex arms.

And the really exciting news?!

A dream realized! I am going home to sit on it. But no food or drink, no sir.

Pink and Turquoise

The Starlet dress was a total bust. No pun intended. I should just have a sign on my closet saying "Wrap dresses are NOT FOR YOU." Remember when I commented on an outfit that didn't make me think, "Lose 15 pounds and you'd look great in that?" Well, the Starlet dress gave me the exact opposite feeling. I tried it several different ways, with a camisole, with a jacket, with military-grade underwear. . . The fabric was SO nice and the price was SO good (and it had pockets!) - but back it goes.

But here are three things that make me very happy indeed: the Ann Taylor skirt and blouse and the Miz Mooz shoes. I might buy these shoes in orange before the end of the summer. The rubber sole makes a world of difference in comfort.

I've grown a little addicted to the ankle strap sandal. I bought three pairs this year: blue, brown and cream, and all black (which I haven't worn yet).  I might look at them all next summer and wonder what I was thinking. 

A Good Start

This is how my day began, with a generous thought from a colleague:

So I had cake and coffee for second breakfast. I had a salad for lunch.

This is what I was wearing:

I'm laughing because Riley kept insisting on being in the picture. "Where's my dinner?!" The outfit is not particularly notable, though I like the red and turquoise together. My earrings have red and turquoise stones as well. The flats, despite being Born, killed my feet and I was very happy to take them off at the end of the day. They have some arch support, but the lack of any heel is the real problem.

As far as clothes go, I'm not seeing anything I want to buy online or in the stores. I weeded my closet a bit over the weekend, and bought some lingerie on sale. I always have shoes that I am admiring, and of course I am pinning fancy things here and there.

Oh, I tell a lie - I forgot I ordered this "Starlet" dress from Garnet Hill. It was $24, so it was worth taking a chance on. Their Sale of the Day feature is very enticing. Half the time sleeveless dresses are cut too wide at the armhole; I'm really happier in a sheath style. We'll see! 

Pleats and Pleats

This crystal pleat pink blouse is on the way out - I noticed this morning that it was pilling. I didn't even know polyester could pill. I won't carry it over to next spring, but it looked OK to wear today. I wore it with my pleated (in the other direction) linen skirt. Such a useful neutral, this skirt.

Turquoise necklace and shoes bookend the pale colors. I love these shoes more every time I put them on. 

Work Those Pastels

It won't be summer for long, people. Soon we will all be in navy and camel and burgundy and longing for light colors and fabrics. At least I will.

The cardigan is new from Ann Taylor. It will look smashing with the AT coral pink skirt I bought last month. The yellow is somewhere between lemon yellow and lime green, in the citrus family, at least. I'm wearing my Miz Mooz sandals, though you can't see them very well. 

It's time to replace some of my go-to tees like this one, so I went to the Talbot's "we're giving it away" sale and bought short-sleeved tees in yellow, red, pale pink and white. That will last me another year, and the current rotation can be washed and given to goodwill.  I always feel that I waited just a wearing or two too long before replacing them.  I give them a dubious sniff and roll my eyes. This time, I will be proactive and toss four of them at a time.

More pale yellow below, worn with my beloved polka-dot top which I am definitely trying to make last forever. I also have fantastic hair as I have just come from the salon. How luxurious it would be to have a shampoo and blowout every week like rich ladies.
 

I have orange finger tips:

This particular polish (the same brand as my blue nails last month) is cheap as chips and utterly fantastic. The brand is Walgreen's specific (Sinful Colors, in-store only) and about $3.00 a bottle. It wears like IRON - this nail job is a week old. I can only have long nails if I polish them; they're very soft, and split and flake like croissants otherwise. I like having polished nails, but I also get a little obsessed with them when I do, and that feels fussy to me, so after a week or two I cut them short and breathe a little sigh of relief.  

Ben was here and it was great!

Irazu on Milwaukee Avenue - yum!

 We ate and drank and visited the Ba'hai Temple in Wilmette. I hugged him many times. Then he went back to Rhode Island.

My boss is on an exceedingly well-earned vacation, so I am very busy being her and being myself as well. Hence no blog entries and no pictures. Two days ago I had pretzels and Nutella for dinner.

I tried to wear orange every day this week and nearly succeeded. Does orange nail polish count?