Emerson Made

I adore Emerson Made. I was hoping to acquire one of their fabulous caftans when it came back into stock, but since I'm on spending lockdown indefinitely, I was not able to buy it.

Instead, I have decided to set my sights on key pieces for fall when I will finally be able to wear jackets and jeans without a. sweating to death, and b. hearing from everyone how I wear jeans so much. I'm loving the silk shirts that are everywhere lately, and I have brought out a peach colored pleated front silk number I bought about three years ago from J.Crew that I never wore. This summer alone I've worn it three times, and I wish I had it in ten other colors. Too bad I spill olive oil on everything I own (this included) and can simply wear things about three times before I ruin it beyond repair. Anyone remember the olive oil stain I left on my Mitchell Gold sofa this summer after falling asleep, and leaving a big old salad to seep into the cushion? Fact is, I am looking forward to wearing it among other silks, tees, denims under jackets this cool season, which for me, can't come fast enough. I simply hate summer.

I'm obsessing over this tuxedo jacket. Last year I bought a cheap one for about $78 from Urban Outfitters and wore it all the time. Not sure what happened to it, but it now appears I have ruined it. Some type of waxy yellow thing all over the back of the jacket. Drats. It was one of those jackets that looked good with anything, and that I always received compliments on. I bought a different tuxedo jacket from ben Sherman for about four times that price in Vegas two years ago, and it just never feels right or comfortable when I wear it. So, when I slim down after I embarrass myself in front of my four skinny girl friends at the beach with my grosser than gross body (which is really why I needed that caftan), I will wear this jacket with skinnies, flairs, bells, you name it all season.

And here she is...

Winehouse Out

I'm not a huge fan of Amy Winehouse, but I stumbled across this video of her performing live, and I must say I was pretty impressed. I think if I could steal a voice, it would be this one, or maybe that of Adele. I love a white chick that pull off a sound mostly reserved for soulful black women. RIP Amy, RIP.

Tom Ford is in the building

I've waited for this moment for a long time. The chance to hold a Tom Ford lipstick in my hands. Well, the time is now. After waiting for my backwards Nordstrom to carry the line with no luck, I broke down and ordered the coveted lip color online.

These are the swatches of all the colors. I usually have bad luck with lip color, so I tried to pick one that would definitely work. I chose smoke red because it seemed less red and more borwn which usually works better for me. When I put it on this morning, I thought it looked good, but when I got in the car I may have looked a bit like the joker. I have small lips, so I can't carry a bold lip very well. It isn't a bold color per se, but everything seems to go on my lips dark.


Anyway, the packaging is simply devine. Old Hollywood glam for sure. It's a heavy tube, probably the weight of a full salt shaker. The smell is so nice you almost want to eat it. But at $45 bucks a pop, I'll savor it for tasting once on my levres. It goes on smooth as silk, like an LV or Hermes scarf. :) Because of that, it is a bit slippery on the lips, and wears off a bit faster than most lipsticks. I just put a bit on now as I write, and it looks decent in the mirror. Maybe when it wears off it makes me look clowny? Maybe my greasy forehead is throwing me off.

If the occasion arises that I am able to browse other colors in-person, I would consider another color as well but I don't want to risk it in case I make a bad decision. I know me, and it would never be sent back. Which reminds me I will have to tell all of you the story of the Carolina Herrera dress I "bought" for a meeting in LA.

Summer Dip

I was going to pop this little number on to take Lyla to the pool, but instead I wore my fully ruched one piece with a skirt, with a dress past my knees over it, a towel around me, a hat, and sunglasses. It's been a while since my last Brazilian too, so...next time...

Rhododendron Chandelier

I wonder where this chandelier from Anthropologie can find a home in our new home?



The lighting is hideous throughout, so there are a few options. It is 32" in diameter, which is pretty big, so maybe over our bed since it has a feminine look to it. Although, I vowed to myself I would buy this lamp from Restoration Hardware and hang it above my bed whenever I had a proper house to do so.


I wonder if it could work in the entryway as soon as you walk in? I'll have to check with my sister, the boss of all things decorating. As she kindly put it to me a few weeks ago, "You have really good taste, and you like a lot of really nice things, but you don't know what you want as a theme, and you like too many different styles of things." She is so very right. I love many things, but I have a hard time sticking to one style. I want the new house to be cohesive, presently I'm in every direction. I am hoping to plan each room one by one, so as we complete them, they work together. Since, we'll be broke anyway, I can really take my time over the next ten years figuring it all out. By that time, everything we will have done will need to be re-done.

Speaking of entryways, I am certainly feeling this one. I'm loving the high strip of wallpaper up on high here. I'm also a sucker for ceiling-covered wallpaper. One thing that is consistent, I never have decorated in predominantly white, and yet, it's always the first color scheme I'm drawn too. We'll have to see what happens...

Do or Don't

There are so many cute things out there right now that I can't wear. I am seeing so many of these short linen wide leg shorts that I just adore. I never had thin legs, and therefore, never wore shorts, even at a much younger age, but now more than ever I hate that I was cursed with horrible, non-muscular, and generally ugly legs. When I'm thin, my calves are ok, save for my gross birth mark that I used to wear a band-aid over (for years) on my right shin. I'm also loving the playful short dresses and short rompers. I will save those for the youthful, and move on to what I can wear...


Bellbottoms? Love the A Cup of Jo blog, and when she posted whether to wear bellbottoms or not, I melted. Finally a post about something I CAN wear! I've ridden the wave on skinnies, but frankly, with my big thighs, they just aren't flattering. I've always carried wider leg bottom pants/jeans way better. I also have short legs (thanks Dad), and therefore, this kind of jean, with a high heel/wedge makes my legs look much longer and thinner than they are. It's all about perception. Since reality is not very pretty, I have to fool the onlooker's eye into thinking I have at least a 32" inseam (I really have about a 29). Now, the girl in this pic is also super cute, pretty, and of course thin, but I can wear this jean. Yes, I said something nice about myself. ha ha.



As it presses into late June, I'm already over summer, and the clothes it brings with it. I do hate summer clothing since it includes things like shorts, skirts with bare legs, open-toed sandals, and strapless/thin-strapped tops. These are all things I'd rather not wear. So, I have been pouring over the new winter collections. I also happened to be at Neiman Marcus last week buying a pair of hotty Louboutin pumps for Rob and Vale's wedding, and they were having a Chanel trunk show. Oh my. The jackets were so, so amazing. All sorts of mixed tweeds with embellishments but in the classic Chanel jacket way. I was in love. I mostly can't see why designers charge so much for stuff, but when I saw these jackets, I about died. They would be worth it. Alas, I held back (yes, it's true). On a much cheaper scale, J. Crew is carrying a sweater called the Eden. I may just have to purchase it for nostalgia's sake.


I'm a big romper fan. I love a one-piece anything. Most are not appropriate for me, but I may be loving this one by J. Crew. This is one of those things that looks great on the model, but you have no idea what it would look like on a real person. I love the criss-cross in front, but this works best for girls with really small or I guess really big boobs. I'm afraid I'd be free-balling a little too much in it. While she looks sexy, I would probably look scandalous. My boobs are just big enough to not be able to wear small boob tops. Not sure how this would look from behind either. High waisted, so it could make my butt look 100 miles long. It's still intriguing. It has a heftier price tag of $495, so I will not be rushing out to experiment with this one.









Lastly, I was reading my fave blog Making It Lovely today, and decided to purchase this gold dress which was in a feature about nursing mothers. A gold dress is something I've always wanted. I'm always attracted to them. It also reminds me of this awesome Chloe dress that I cannot purchase for price tag reasons. This one is much shorter than anything I usually wear, so I'm a bit scared, but I'm going to try it anyway. I love the dark orangey/coral shoes, and (if I could wear it) I would match it with a coral lipstick. I've been searching for a shade I can perhaps wear for summer, but after three attempts, I'm thinking the coral lip rage is better left to the fair skin beauties and the runways.







Other things I've been looking at:


So into online magazines and look books lately.

I'm all about striped wallpaper in small spaces. In fact, I already bought a black and white stripe to put in our first floor powder room at the Summer Hill house (I just love calling it that, it seems like we vacation there doesn't it?) Check here and here.

What to pay to be creative? Yes, it is true. You can actually take a creativity course!

Play Play Play

As we get closer and closer to acquiring a big ass backyard, we have a few things on the list to white trash it up, and one of them is a playground. I told Trent I was very concerned with getting an eco friendly, modernish looking one. They barely exist, and the ones that do are a million dollars. Bah. Trent did find a place called Cedarworks. Apparently, Lyla told Trent that she wanted some princess-themed playset, which I immediately thought would be ugly, but they have some neat looking sets at this site. God knows when you add all the components together how much loot it is, but we sent for the catalog. I'm partial to the smaller sets like the one above left, but the first pic Trent sent me included every piece of everything they make (see right)

I'm also loving their indoor play sets. I love the idea of getting something for Ly and E that allow them to make a fort. A few of these have loungy areas under the slides. We make forts everywhere in the house, so this is actually something I think Ly would use (unlike a swing--ahem). If anyone knows of these guys, or anyone that has their stuff, let me know. Otherwise, enjoy the view.