Dreaming of.....Jason Wu for Target

I am not one for waiting in line and all of the frenzy that generally surrounds big designers doing capsule collections for stores like Target, H&M, etc. I didn't buy any of the Missoni stuff at Target or any of the Versace stuff at H&M. To be honest sometimes this stuff up close looks like what it is, cheap. I am sorry if that offends anyone. The two exceptions I have made were the Kate Moss collection for TopShop and the Liberty of London stuff at Target. I actually made my mom buy two Liberty little girl dresses in Chicago because they were sold out here when I was pregnant (of course I ended up having a boy so I gave them to my niece). But have you seen the Jason Wu stuff for Target? It's really lovely, especially the bags. Here are three cute looks.

Dreaming Of.....

drinks with umbrellas in them, toes in the sand, and a tropical getaway. Since having Hank we haven't really done much travel besides visiting our families and little weekend getaways to either Palm Springs and Santa Barbara. I know we are lucky to have had those moments but sometimes you need at least a week somewhere tropical to recharge. Instead we bought our dream house this past year so I guess I can't really complain. But I can dream about such places and maybe a new swimsuit as well. Hopefully we will be at a warm, tropical locale soon. I can hear the steel drums now. 

The above photo was taken on our honeymoon. That is where we actually stayed for part of it. I still can't really believe it either. This is on the island of Mauritius off the coast of Madagascar. It's basically as far away from Los Angeles as you can get. 


 Here are the swimsuits I might bring along on this glorious vacation. You might notice that I only really choose one piece suits. That's what I like in general and what I feel most comfortable in. 

J Crew

Chloe 

3.1 Philip Lim

Diane Von Furstenberg

I Need a "Boyfriend"....

No, not a real one. I have a husband who is wonderful! But I do love a "boyfriend shirt", a "boyfriend button down", a "boyfriend sweater." I have even seen of late a "boyfriend dress" which is weird because let's be honest how often does one borrow a dress from their boyfriend? If you are maybe you should either be worried or think that it's awesome that your man can rock a frock? Who knows.

Of course I ought to simply wear things that belong to my husband to achieve that "boyfriend" look for free,  but that would be too easy. Instead I like to fall head over heels for things that are marketed as being "boyfriend" in cut. Here are a couple good recent examples. I think Steven Alan may be the king of all things boyfriend so I had to include two of his.

J Crew

Lanston

Madwell 

Steven Alan

Milly 

Steven Alan 

This is genius!

I must confess that by the end of my pregnancy with Hank I was a total convert and never wanted to wear pants with zippers again. Why would you? Stretch maternity pants are kind of amazing but seem to be less so the longer you wear them post-baby? But let's face back in the beginning of my pregnancy I wanted to stay in my jeans for as long as possible. I tried the rubber band trick and those belly bands but I often just fell like my pants were going to fall off. If i were pregnant I would definitely consider this. Denim Therapy takes your favorite jeans, you know the ones you found after literally trying on ten other pairs, that make your butt look amazing. And they alter them with stretch so they will last through part of pregnancy and then after baby they will return them to their original state. Utter genius although perhaps realistically maybe more effort than I am willing to put in (yep I can be lazy about stuff like this).

Holiday Sparkle

Let's be honest last year I spent New Years at my in-laws in Bucks County, PA. If memory serves my husband's parents were still keeping it real way past midnight with their friends while Mike and I retired to bed at oh around 11:00 pm (and we only made it to such a late hour because we were tempted by a big dessert spread). Even when we didn't have Hank it was a struggle for us to stay up until midnight. We have never had anything crazy fun and fabulous to do (besides just being with each other which is all the fun and fabulous I need). I think we spent our first New Years together having dinner at Blowfish Sushi on Sunset BLVD (we got a last minute reservation) and the waitresses were in lingerie, house music was pumping and every other table seemed to be a group of super stylish high school girls. You remember those tables of twelve girls dressed to the nines. I wanted to whisper in their ears that this was probably the highlight of the night. Not that awkward party later where their crush would be. But anyway I digress. My point was if I was going to be doing something fun this year I would love to get a fun, sparkly party dress. The kind that you really can only rock on New Years Eve. Here are some of my dream dresses.

Vince

Velvet

Isabel Marant  

Milly

Madewell

Zara

Our Old Stomping Grounds

Warning if you live in LA this post may be old news to you. During my maternity leave it was difficult to imagine walking more then a few short blocks from our apartment. I was nervous that Hank might start crying and then what (I eventually got over this thank goodness). Luckily our apartment was just above the cutest walking street in Silver Lake. While I love our new home and neighborhood Atwater Village I miss that stretch of Silver Lake BLVD between the reservoir and our old street that houses some of the best shops and food options on the East Side. Being able to roll out the door and throw Hank in the Ergo or the stroller and explore this area was the best.

Lake Boutique

Each journey would always include a stop into Lake where I was proud to be on a first name basis with a few of the people who work here (my husband might say this is NOT a good thing). This is truly the best store ever! They have amazing home goods, beautiful jewelry and the coolest clothes around - think Isabel Marant and Rag and Bone and everything else that I love and mostly aspire to own these days. I dare you to not love it. There is also always a cool espadrille direct from Spain in the summer or some cool rachel comey boot to dream about. If you are on Silver Lake BLVD you must stop here if only for the eye candy.

Lawson Fenning

If Lake is the place I dreamed I would purchase all my clothes from thank god there is a store right next to it where I can purchase all of my new home's furniture and accessories. Lawson Fenning is a really great mix of interesting furniture, beautiful strange accessories like wire industrial lamps and agate book ends. They have some beautiful art books in the back and giant canvas bags that seem like you should fill with an easel, canvas and a baguette and head to Giverny to paint some landscapes with a beret on.This store also has a good dose of masculine goods to you can grab something for your man while you are in the midst of all this shopping. This store is just great eye candy. I have yet to purchase anything from here but they don't seem to mind my endless wanderings. Apparently there is one in West Hollywood as well but I have never been to this location. 

Yolk

Since I have already purchased my fall wardrobe and furnished my home (in my head) I now must purchase a few things for Hank. Now yolk has cute gifts and furniture and clothes for adults too but I feel like where they really excel is with cute, amazing children's things. They have just about everything if you need a gift for a little one or a mama to be. They have so many amazing books and adorable clothing and toys and furniture, etc. And they have great ideas if you walk in a bit clueless late for a friend's child's birthday party. If you ask them what should I get a three-year-old little girl they have brilliant suggestions and they wrap everything up so pretty. Now a word of caution like everything else on Silver Lake Boulevard things can add up here quickly.

LAMILL

If all of that shopping or ogling in my case has made you fatigued luckily there is a high end coffee shop with six different choices in just how to brew your coffee alone right down the street. Seriously LAMILL has the most delicious iced coffee I've ever had. Somehow they manage to make a simple iced black coffee taste like it was dipped in chocolate. There food is really good as well. For you foodies out there the menu was designed by the chef at Providence  one of the most delicious and perhaps most aspirational restaurant of all in Los Angeles (there is a theme emerging). You can get a cold pea soup and a panini in the summer and delicious butternut squash soup in the winter and so much more but I usually go for soup for some reason here. After all that shopping and eating luckily there is the gorgeous reservoir just done the street to walk or jog around with your baby in hand. You can dream about all of the beautiful homes that line this little lake and park yourself in the meadow and just soak up the serene setting and wonder to yourself when did Silver Lake become so full of young, hip families? 

This pic is from my husband's bday party we had here last year. It doesn't do it justice. 

Lauren Lauren

Who knew Lauren Bush would have such a stunning wedding gown? I never really considered myself a Ralph Lauren gown kind of gal but this is stunning. I love the Western feel throughout all the pics in Vogue. Wow.

Dreaming of ....

a winter cape. Stylish friends have been rocking thrifted capes for years. I have to say I never thought I could rock one of these until spotting so many cute versions. Here are some lovely versions

top row: 1. pendleton   2.zara  second row: 3. gryphon  third row: 4. see by chloe  5. lanvin bottom row: 6 bird by juicy couture .