Wednesday Wine Day

I recently decided that I need to keep better notes on my wine drinking as right now, tis the season for wine mailers. I am only on the mailing list for a few of my favorite wineries (mostly pinots): Kosta Browne, Rivers Marie, Sea Smoke and Carlisle, but those are enough to keep us well stocked and satiated, plus they all consistently make great wines. While I would love to purchase my full allocation, my budget and wine fridge space dictates that I must edit, but it's hard to remember annually exactly which single vineyards are my favorite. So to make sure I was making the right choices on the Rivers Marie mailer, we opened a bottle of 2011 Summa Sonoma Coast to go with the latest Downton Abbey. And I am glad we did because we are going to order a few more bottles for 2012, it is a beautiful wine. Lovely nose that you just want to dive into, with that distinctive cherry Pinot character. The taste is a little more delicate than the bigger Rivers Marie wines, but beautifully delicate, with decent acidity and structure and even just a little pepper at the end. Not the longest finish but still lovely. Way too nice of a bottle for an ordinary weekday but a nice way to indulge.

Back to the Future: Fur, Fringe and Zig Zags

Isabel Marant x H&M black and white silk blouse, Isabel Marant x H&M fringe boots, Lanvin x H&M fur vest, Lululemon denim leggings, Prada sunglasses

A casual brunch outfit for Sunday, when we had the P family over. A bit more of a 70's (60's?) vibe than my usual style, with the patterned peasant blouse, fringe and bucket bag, but comfortable and easy. It's actually sorta chilly (in the 60's) so the fur vest was a cozy and necessary touch. Actually both the Lanvin x H&M fur vest and Isabel Marant x H&M black and white silk blouse are borrowed from my mom, not sure I want to give them back!

Italian Date Night Outfit

Isabel Marant x H&M embroidered beaded jacket, Isabel Marant Prescott boots, Chanel purse and Zara Mini Skort

I enjoy any opportunity to dress up, so a last minute date night dinner at Bucato was the perfect occasion to wear my Isabel Marant x H&M embroidered jacket and knee high Isabel Marant Prescott boots. We went to Bucato in Culver City, in the Helms Bakery complex near Fathers Office and Lukshon. Our favorites were the gnocchetti with rabbit, sausage and sprouting broccoli spicy pasta and peas and proscuitto ravioli, as well as the fried squash blossoms with goat cheese. I like the texture and heartiness of the smaller handmade pastas versus the longer pastas like the papperdelle and spaghetti. It was unusually bright in the restaurant, which was a little weird. Any night out for just the two of us feels special, so it was a lovely way to spend an evening.

The Zara Skort: the Reverse Mullet

Black Zara Mini Skort, Helmut Lang tee, Isabel Marant x H&M boots

That's not a typo, I've actually embraced the comeback of the skort. I don't think I've worn a skort since middle school, but leave it to Zara to come up with this versatile update of the reverse mullet of clothes, party in the front, business in the back. Love the origami style folded front, set of pockets and best part is, they are shorts! It's a touch polyestery, with a little bit of shine and wrinkles, which is my only complaint. I guess it's been pretty popular in various blogs, although I haven't really kept up with fashion blogs since little k's arrival. It's the perfect piece of clothing for chasing after a toddler, worry free while sitting on the floor reading books or running around a playground. The black goes with everything and I can even wear it now in the middle of winter here in LA. It's easy to dress down with a sweatshirt and flats or dress up with a structured jacket and boots or heels. This will be a nice replacement for the slightly too big black Vena Cava shorts that I wore to death last summer simply because they matched everything. Update: I picked up the white version for $15.99 today. I like the black better, the white reminds me of a tennis skirt, but at that price, I will figure out how to make it work.

Pockets!

Winter Lite: Layers of Grey

Etoile Isabel Marant Lexy Jacket, Helmut Lang tee, Isabel Marant x H&M kids sweatpants, H&M x Maison Martin Margiela heels, Prada sunglasses

First blog post of 2014! My go to comfortably loose look lately, based around knit sweatpants and a t-shirt. In the absence of true winter weather and being able to embrace my typical winter attire, I haven't been able to muster the effort in getting dressed up; been gravitating towards lots of greys, whites and blacks lately. This bag however is my latest obsession... Been a great start to 2014, lovely family time, tons of shopping, tasty home cooked meals, even some yoga and exercise!

PS11 Tiny

Proenza Schouler PS11 Tiny in Verdena

Braving the mayhem at Saks at 8am on December 26th was worth it for this pretty little find.  We actually got there a little late, at 8:15am when the shelves were pretty bare, but happened to be at the right place at the right time, right next to the sales table when it was replenished by the staff. I grabbed this Proenza Schouler PS11 tiny right away (years of sale experience) and it was love at first sight, and for an extra 50% off the sales price (about 65% off total), it was too good to leave behind. I love little crossbody bags; after over a year of carrying huge and heavy diaper bags, love the freedom of a tiny little bag. I like the structure and polish of the PS11 as well as the lovely teal shade, just the right pop of color for a small bag. The same day, I also bought, but then returned the 3.1 Phillip Lim large Pashli in Cobalt at Barneys, even at 60% off plus a Barneys giftcard, just didn't make my heart race, unlike the PS11. I've seen some really good deals on Proenza Schouler this sale season at 50%+ off; also picked up a PS1 Zip Wallet in Plum and my mom got the Courier. It seemed like not so long ago when the PS1 never went on sale. Pictured below with my new Isabel Marant Dewar booties, love these little flat booties for running around town.

Helmut Lang Tee, Isabel Marant Dewar booties in khaki, Proenza Schouler PS11, Isabel Marant x H&M kids shorts and belt, and K's Raybans

Well Done

Isabel Marant pour H&M ruffled silk skirt, Madewell sweatshirt, Isabel Marant Prescott boots

A black and white outfit for the warm LA winters. I had originally overlooked this Isabel Marant for H&M ruffled skirt at launch as I was focused on the more statement items like the wool cardigans and boots. The tiered ruffle miniskirt is such a signature Marant silhouette though, I was really close to getting the Sandrine skirt last spring, but opted for the Salome shorts for practicality, and this skirt is quite similar even in pattern to the Zelia skirt from the upcoming spring 2014 Etoile line.

I couldn't resist these mainline Isabel Marant Prescott boots when I stopped by Barneys on my way home from Christmas errands last Friday. Always dangerous to just "stop by" Barneys. They aren't the most practical boots, as I don't have that many opportunities to get dressed up with a busy toddler, but couldn't resist them on second markdown... Plus they were the last pair so I had to at least take them home to "contemplate"...