To the Pointe

The term "ballet flats" is often used to describe round-toed flats with a little bow on it. They look more like ballet shoes for kindergarteners, not the pretty pointe shoes that ballerinas leap around in.

In the days before my rather short-lived shopping ban, I spotted this pair of flats for half-off at Target. I really like the summery print of the fabric, and with the pink faux-suede toe cap, it really does look like true "ballet flats." I wore them for the first time today with a retro-inspired outfit to drop off some things at the thrift store (which explains the short-lived nature of said shopping ban). Being forced to wear loose, flouncy clothing is the only silver lining to a case of exposure to poison oak during yesterday's outting.

[Paul and Joe for Target top, skirt from college theater department costume sale, Target flats]

Au Contraire

Very few recreational activities are free anymore, and given the bad economy, I take it that a lot of people are cutting back on movies, travel, and such. A New York Times article, which includes a feature on the always-witty Winona of Daddy Likey fame, says it all. Because gas is so expensive, people are either limiting their vacation travel by budget and/or distance, or they're foregoing vacations altogether.

That might explain the inordinate number of people I saw in the Malibu Creek State Park today. My lazy butt was dragged out the door for some exercise today, courtesy of some dedicated friends who planned the outting. It was a really hot day, and the park was packed. Most people were having fun in the sun, either fishing in streams that used to be rivers, doing cannonballs in a lake, or picnicing on sandwiches made with value-packs of white bread (yes, I did see someone carrying it as they walked by). My group, however, "hung around" in the shade. No sun for us, thank you very much. After enduring the exhaustion of "hanging around" (which was tiring indeed, because sometimes we would go around and around and around), it felt really good sit around in the shade, like a lazy summer afternoon should be.


When we picked up/dropped off one member of the group today, I spotted the most curious institution at the corner of the street. There are many outfits that do all of that under one roof, but none with an appellation so striking and contradictory vis a vis its multidisciplinary practice:

Surprisingly, "divorcios" seems to be more prominent than "casamientos." Hmm...

This tidbit has nothing to do with the normal discourse of this blog, but I figured it would be amusing. Enjoy the weekend, folks!

Holding Pattern

It's time to institute another shopping ban for nonessentials. While I've been getting fairly good deals, I need to be more selective with what I decide to buy. There will always be great sales, and I'll always end up finding something I love in place of those I forego, so I'm really not missing out on anything during the seasonal clearances happening now. But before I decided to turn off the spigot, I made one last purchase.

What I do need is matching bottoms to my light-colored suit jacket (also known as my "summer suit"). Since I was wearing the suit jacket the other day, hence acting as a walking color swatch, I figured it was a good time to do so. Alas, none was found at the stores that I would expect to be more of my type. So, I decided to try a place that I normally wouldn't visit--J. Jill.

There are certain stores selling clothing that is a little too "classic" for my tastes, and J. Jill is one of them. This is why I didn't even bother walking into the store before. However, I thought I should give it a chance, because my preconceptions could be wrong. It turns out that my preconceptions were not wrong, but I did find something to my liking. Given my ongoing efforts to stock up on cardigans for work, the Missoni-like knit cardigan caught my eye. I think it would work well as a transitional piece, be it from Spring to Summer or Summer to Fall. I also figured that this would go quite well with darker, more conservative pieces. When I decided to wear it the next day, I unwittingly discovered that it worked very well with my brightly-colored tops, which I would usually wear with dark blazers:

[Forever 21 blouse in kelly green, J. Jill long cardigan, J Brand jeans, Sigerson Morrison sandals]

I love how the patterns really hold the outfit together. The pattern itself is fairly classic, but the colors seem fairly youthful. Instead of going for the de facto blazer or black cardigan, I can now wear this with other colorful tops that would complement the earth-toned pattern. I received a lot of compliments on the day I wore the cardigan. For being just under $25 (about $90 off the original price), it came with a boatload of style.

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The lifespan of some blogs is somewhat like a bell curve: exponential postings and growth in the beginning, then it plateaus at some point. Beyond that, a blog can stagnate or slowly declines into oblivion when the blogger has no time to update, loses interest, etc., or it can take a nosedive plunge into cancellation, self-destruction, whatever you want to call it.

Apparently one of the links on my blogroll turned into some porn-related site. That came at quite a shock to me, as the title of the blog (and the URL) cannot be further away from porn. Thus, if you do click on something that turns out to be a dead link or something of a "surprise," please do let me know. The landscape of Blogland changes so quickly that I can't keep up with it.

Thanks!