July 4th was rainy and a little dreary but the rest of the long weekend more than made up for it. I suppose the sunny skies may be why I gravitated towards golden hues on both Saturday and Sunday. In typical long weekend fashion I was more tired by Monday after a 3 day weekend than I am after a 2 day weekend.but in my opinion, long weekends in the summer are made for cramming in lots of activity. After a few errands, I spent Saturday wandering galleries in Chelsea before heading over to the East Village to go on a tour organized by the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space. I managed to get a rush ticket that night for The Cripple of Inishmann which was a great way to end a fantastic day. Sunday I spent a little time in Central Park and visited the American Folk Art Museum and the Museum of Art and Design before heading over to Governor's Island to see Third Rail Projects production of Roadside Attraction (brilliant!). I wonder what adventures this coming weekend will bring?
Outfit Details:
Outfit 1:
Dress: Anthropologie via Tradesy
T-shirt: Uniqlo for Laudree
Boots: xoxo
Belt: Bettie Page
Tote: Anthropologie
Necklace: Tatty Devine via MoMA Staff Sale
Outfit 2:
Dress: Anthropologie
T-shirt: Uniqlo
Belt: Anthropologie
Bag: The Stone Flower
Shoes: Suprega
One thing I've noticed since I began writing this blog is that I'm better at using everything in my closet, and not just reaching for old faithfuls or the newest items. I've always been pretty good about only buying things I will actually get a lot of wear out of and/or pieces that I can imagine being in my closet years from now, but I definitely reache for some items more often. It's easy to just pull out the outfits that you know work well rather than experimenting with lesser used items, especially when you are in a rush. Since I began this blog though, I've started to think more about the "forgotten" pieces in my wardrobe, taken a bit more time to style those, and become a bit more fearless in wearing them even when I'm still playing with styling ideas. Two such pieces are the skirt and sweater in these photos.
When I bought these two pieces, years apart, I definitely thought I'd wear them more than I have. They seem like basic pieces that could go with a variety of things and while I still think that's true, I also realize that certain qualities of these items are outside of my comfort zone. My "go to" items tend to be fit and flare dresses, full skirts, dropwaist dresses shirtdresses, blouses and cardigans...not pencil skirts and sweaters. So while most days I may still choose a ladylike dress over a pencil skirt, it's nice to have some variety in my wardrobe for days when I feel like wearing something a little different from my usual fare.
Outfit Details:
Skirt (old): Scalloped Sailor Skirt, Anthropologie
Sweater (old): Kate Hill, purchased from Lord and Taylor
Hat: Tipped Straw Cloche, Anthropologie
Necklace: Target
Bag: The Stone Flower, South Street Seaport
I've been bemoaning the end of summer a lot so I thought I'd focus on some of the things I'm looking forward to this fall/winter. A new season of the New York City Ballet and the Metropolitan Opera are a couple of those things. There's nothing more transformative than going to a live ballet or opera performance. I know there are many people who would say that attending a performance is an inactive or even dull experience but I would strongly disagree with that characterization...in fact, I'd even wonder if they've truly experienced a performance. It's too bad tickets are so expensive...one day when I'm a millionaire (hey, you never know...) I'll buy some season tickets, maybe even have my own seats to both the ballet and opera in whichever city I'm living in.
Until then, I'll study the season's calendars and figure out which performance(s) I most want to see and when the best deals are. And there's also great free events like the Met's Summer HD Festival...it's not exactly live but it's a pretty amazing experience even still. The Lincoln Center Plaza has its own special aura, even more so at night as crowds gather to watch an opera on the big screen. Guess the end of summer isn't such a bad thing after all.
Outfit Details:
Dress (old): Esmeralda Dress by Girls of Savoy, Anthropologie
Hat: Tipped Straw Cloche, Anthropologie
Necklace: Camellia Bib Necklace, Anthropologie
Bag: The Stone Flower, South Street Seaport, NYC
The Plan: To explore Dumbo, Brooklyn Heights and Red Hook
Weather reports the day before suggested that "the plan" might need to be postponed until Friday but then Thursday morning, all reports said that the storms/rain would be over in the morning. So after waiting until noon for the skies to clear up, a friend and I set out as originally planned. Yay, the sun was out again! Or so we thought.
So far, so good. The storms clouds are way in the distance now. This will be the perfect day!
No sooner had we arrived in Dumbo, then the skies opened up and the rain kept coming.
This is how I imagine the sky would look if the clouds ever lifted and the rain stopped.
Grey clouds and puddles that keep growing.....this will pass by soon, right?
Notice something different? Yeah, my umbrella broke. And yes, the only umbrella I could find was this child's one. I didn't realize how small it was (or that it had little turtles on it) until I opened it up outside. Desperate. Um, at least it matches my dress?
Sanctuary! Wait was that lightning? Maybe this isn't such a great place to be.
Weren't we supposed to look for that key lime pie place? Red Hook isn't too far away, right? This will be a piece of cake...or pie.
Well, that was pretty dodgy. But there it is!
Oh, NYC....at least you keep things from ever being dull.
THE END.
Outfit Details:
Dress: Plenty by Tracy Reese Beach Print Dress
T-shirt: J Crew Perfect Fit Tee
Necklace: Camellia Bib Necklace, Anthropologie
Bag: The Stone Flower, South Street Seaport
Hat: Hello Sunshine, Kate Spade
Visiting Fort Tyron and The Cloisters is the perfect escape from all the madness of Midtown Manhattan. I like all the hustle and bustle of city life but every once in awhile you need to escape it, even if only for part of a day. Kind of amazing to get on the subway in one of the busiest stations in the city and then surface in an enormous and otherworldly park less than half an hour later. Last summer I visited The Cloisters several times before now but today was my first visit this season. Where does the time go? I had wanted to see the Search for the Unicorn exhibition at The Cloisters since I first heard about it back in May and finally went to check it out today, the very last day of its installation.
Aside from all the gorgeous Medieval and Renaissance art, including statuary, tapestries, and stained glass, one of the best things about The Cloisters is all the excellent lookouts and vantage points to view the Hudson River and Fort Tyron Park. I love exploring its courtyards and terraces with their varieties of plants and flowers, many of which are labelled to explain how they were used in medieval times. Walking around, there are even moments when you almost feel you have the castle all to yourself - what a luxury to appreciate those moments! It really is such a tranquil and interesting place.
Surrounding the castle, there are countless paths to trek and discover, taking you along the River, to majestic outlooks, "secret" gardens and art installations. There are no shortage of benches to stop at or places to picnic. It really is a lovely way to spend the day and I'm so glad such a place exists within easy reach from the city.
Outfit Details:
Skirt (old) - Hortulan Pencil Skirt from Plenty by Tracy Reese, Anthropologie (similar here)
Blouse (old) - Sheer gauzy blouse with gold embroidery, thrifted/vintage (similar here)
T-shirt (old) - Pilcro, Anthropologie
Scarf (old) - Textile Museum of Canada
Shoes - Suprega in gold lame
Bag - The Stone Flower at South Street Seaport
Unicorn Necklace(old) - gold unicorn with charm, gift from my aunt (similar idea here)
Turquoise Beaded Necklace (old) - from American Eagle (similar idea here)
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