OOTD: Catmint

Have you ladies been on the Anthro website today?! The outfit tours with video are UH-MAZING! I was falling in love, especially with this hat. My jaw just about dropped on the floor when I saw the price. Sadly, this hat would have to be on sale and get a second cut before it ever got into my hot little hands. Sigh.
Anyway, I had a LONG day today. I had my first physical therapy session and I'm hoping that it will help me heal faster from my car accident. I have been in physical therapy two other times: both were for horseback riding injuries. So, I know how PT works...if you don't do what they tell you to do, it will not do any good for you. I am dying to get back to a normal exercise and yoga routine.

Tuesdays, are an Anthro day! When I was on my way to the studio today, a lady at the bus stop was enamored with my outfit. She was so cute! She told me I looked just like a fashion model! Totally not true, but it was adorable and it made me feel good. A win for Anthro for sure!

Anthropologie: Catmint Dress over a Gap Tee, Fastened and Knotted Belt (now $19.95), J.Crew Scarf (old), Anthropologie: Shawl Collar Sweatercoat - on the hanger to the left (now $79.95)

My Catmint Dress hadn't seen much attention since I wore it in Vancouver a couple of months ago and it transitioned nicely into fall. It wasn't a favorite dress in the blogsphere, but I adore it. It's one of the most comfortable Maeve dresses I own and the pattern is to die for. The tie that came with it is pretty boring, so pizazzing it up with a belt is a must!

I hope everyone is having a good Tuesday back at work!

OOTD: Refined Cord Love

So, I broke down and bought my Refined Cord Shirtdress the other day. I just felt like it was worth it and since things had been so tough for me the past couple of weeks, I wanted to give myself a little treat. I've decided to embrace the fact that Autumn is indeed here and it's only going to get colder for the next 6 months. I could not resist taking the dress out for a spin!

Anthro: Refined Cord Shirtdress $128, High Prairie Belt (now $19.95!) J.Crew Scarf (old)

This dress kept me warm while we ventured out for burritos after last night's broadcast! We had fun last night and I loved rocking this dress! I WILL be getting a lot of use out of it! It was totally worth the money to me. So...that's 2 dresses at full-price for me this season...OY.

In other news, after I got home last night, I found a cute little envelope in the mail pile for me that I must have missed. It was an invitation to Anthropologie Harvard Square's opening party! Hooray! I'm going to have a blast picking out an outfit for this one! 

Happy Columbus Day everyone!

10.10.10 Sunday Reviews and an OOTD

Happy Sunday, all! I hope everyone is enjoying the Columbus Day weekend! AAAAAAAND...

It's 10/10/10! Holy Moly! I love when dates like this happen! I got married on 07/07/07 and part of me believes that dates like this are good luck! Hope you are doing something fun today!

I stopped into Anthro on my way to work yesterday and had exactly 8 minutes to try on some things in the dressing room (I stopped by specifically to purchase the Refined Cord Shirtdress since I could NOT stop thinking about it since trying it on a month ago). Here's what I grabbed for you guys:

Mystery Moulinette Soeurs Dress $168 (??)

Hm. Okay. This dress seems very....um...like something I would have grabbed to wear to a party or a school dance in 7th grade. The material is nice and the fit is okay, but something about it doesn't seem very Anthro. It just makes me think about 7th grade, which for me was in the late 80's. Pass.


Switching Sides Sweater $118 Moth & Wall Street Skirt $88 Moulinette Soeurs

First off, the sweater: How adorable! This is a very "me" sweater, so when I saw it hit the website, I just had to try it on. It's simply adorable. The fabric is soft all around and the different colorways are just so cute. This is the gray colorway and it's darling and fits awesome. $118 is a little high for me, so I'll pick it up when it hits sale.

Now for the skirt...meh. I'm not quite sure who came up with the name Wall Street Skirt? It looks really cute with the sweater, but if you are petite, you should order the petite size online. Hemming this will ruin the beautiful design on the front. Otherwise, it's a cute skirt, that fits TTS. It's a thin wale corduroy and $88 is a good price for a skirt at Anthro! I think it's cute, but it's not really my style. Pass.


Peppered & Striped Skirt $128 Tracy Reese

I know this skirt has been reviewed to death, but I decided to throw my .02 in. It's a cute skirt and well-made (Tracy Reese for goodness sake), but I'm not quite sure it's a winner for a petite frame. On me, I think it's making me look a bit dowdy. If you love this and you are 5'2 or smaller, wait for the sale and get this altered a few inches. It would probably be super cutie-cute if it were 3"-4" shorter.

And here's my OOTD...my beloved High Tea Blouse and me are finally together. We've come a long way to get here and I had to call many Anthros, but finally tracked down this pretty in Harvard Square. Yay!

It's Sunday night, so we'll be broadcasting a brand-new, live Dereck and Kay Show tonight at 6pm on Blog Talk Radio! Please join us live or listen to an archived episode on the website! Happy Weekend everyone!

Concert Black, Anthro Style

It's concert season again and it's time for me to consider new clothes for the stage for ensemble gigs. I am not a big fan of wearing all black, actually, but it comes with the territory of being a musician. Luckily, there are some lovely pieces at Anthro that are tempting me and would perhaps cause me to loathe wearing black less!

French Bustle Jacket $188 Mise En Scene by Ruffian

Gorgeous.This is like #2 on my concert wear list. With a great pair of black pants or a trumpet skirt, perfection. The $188 price stings a bit. Sale?


Dollhouse Jacket $118 Elevenses

It's so cute! The "bow" is really just ruffles. The little flare at the bottom is precious. I love it.

Falling In Love Vest $118 Tabitha  &   Finessed Turtleneck $58 C. Keer

Cute together maybe? Who knows.

Deuxhill Cowlneck $88 Odille

I already love this little top so much. Sold out online right now in every size. Totally worth full price. Ya.

Soleares Silk Blouse $198 Leifsdottir

Oh my. I have to admit, I'm not much of a Leifsdottir girl. None of the pieces appealed to me before and I thought the price points were just ridiculous. This pretty little blouse is making me reconsider. The little tulle accents are slaying me (I'm a sucker for tulle). I've never seen this in person and the 0 is sold out online, but I'm hoping for a sale soon, I'll snatch that sucker up.

I am leaning towards one of these pieces for my first concert next month!

Reviews: A Few Dresses. My New Obsession & OOTD

Good evening, Ladies! Wow! What a sale today! Tons of markdowns on awesome stuff and second cuts! Most notably, the Doubly Adorned Dress at $30!? Wow!!! I FINALLY scored my beloved High Tea Blouse which has been sold out in my size on the website for weeks. I tracked one down in one of my local stores and they have put it on hold for me to pick up tomorrow. I am sooooo excited! I have been lusting after this blouse for months and finally, it will be mine! Did you guys score anything good today?

I stopped at Anthro today to check out the scene and to try a few things on. I noticed a few things that were not on the website yet, but one particular thing caught my eye. A gorgeous Tracy Reese dress. Ladies...I am in FULL-ON love with this dress.

*Edit 10/27/10 - This dress is now identified as the Spinning Lace Dress 

OH. EM. GEE. I. must. have. this.

This is the most amazing dress I've ever tried on. Oh, by the way; it's $288. I didn't get the style number, because I was in a hurry. This is the extra small or the "petite", which is....<Drumroll> A PERFECT FIT. That NEVER HAPPENS. I was so bummed about the Mullany Dress not fitting me, but this more than makes up for it. It's so well-made. The bodice comes with a tank cami attached to it, so it's lined quite nicely. The cream color is so delicious. The black ribbon is perfect. I am hopelessly infatuated with this dress and it killed me to give it back to the sales associate when I left the dressing room. At $288, the price is just too high to buy it without budgeting for it. I'll pay full-price for this at some point. LOVE.  WISHLISTED. HARDCORE. Here is the link to the dress on the Tracy Reese Website. It also comes in a blue colorway. Cheers for it being cheaper at Anthro!

*Sigh* Anyway...moving on...

Evening Enchantment Dress $188 Floreat

 

What a cute dress! I love the color detail in the middle and it fits! (It must be everything fits day) It's interesting to try on a black dress at Anthro. It's well made and the bodice is actually really nicely constructed. I normally stay away from strapless dresses, but this one seems like the top won't fall off. It's a little long for a petite gal, so if you're short, you may want to have this hemmed a few inches. Pass for me, as it's not working any magic for me. I try not to wear too much black unless I'm on stage.

And now for the OOTD! It's me, teaching music...with my Chopsticks Cardi on (plus the Scalinata Top which got a second cut today!). Can it get any more cliché???

A few Monday Morning Reviews

Hello, everyone! It's rainy again here in Boston and I'm feeling kind of icky. We'll see what the doctor says about my poor back that's been aching for the last few days. In the meantime, I have some little reviews!

Dried Leaves Dress $158 Girls from Savoy

 

Being a super skinny-minny, I have nothing going on in a hip department, so this dress looks a little funny on me. Maybe with a belt, it would rock. I like the way it's styled in the model shot. It's a pullover, so this is the first part about it that kind of turned me off. However, the wool is SUPER soft and not itchy in the slightest. It's a really cute little dress. The pricetag seems fair as it feels well-made. Maybe, if you are petite like me, you might want to get this hemmed a few inches. I normally love gray and this has shades of gray, but it's not really calling out to me.


Beaded Eglantine Cardigan $128 Tabitha

This is the orange colorway since I think the xs gray colorway was on the dressform and I just didn't want to bother. This sweater is pretty cute and I think I love it! If you are looking for a basic gray (or orange) cardi, here it is. The embellishments on it are subtle, but nice and it's really soft. I would have preferred that it wasn't a 3/4 sleeve, but that's a small thing. I have the gray colorway wishlisted for sale as I don't think it's worth $128. I'd buy it for $50 maybe. We'll see.

Past & Present Tank $78 one.september

Confession: This is a totally biased review because this little top won me over in late August when it appeared on the website. But it could have been disappointing on, but it was far from it! I mean, seriously: How stunning is it!?!? The way the straps are twisted, and the way the fabric is wrapped in the middle gives this top an elegant Grecian feel. And I love the colors! It fits like a dream (this is the xs of course) and when I had it on, it was hard to believe it was jersey. It is so unbelievably soft and graceful a fabric. I don't know why this one hasn't been getting more blog love, it's AMAZING. Wishlisted!!! I would be tempted to buy this at full price, I love it that bad.

Time Gone By Dress  $128 Maeve

I missed trying on this dress in the other colorway the first time around and it's honestly not the type of dress I would gravitate to. It's pretty. I wish it came in a different color because this gray is reminding me of overcooked oatmeal. It's honestly very pretty. I still think the bust is pretty big, but seems to fit TTS. If this is your thing, I say go for it. It's just not for me.

Easy Keeper Skirt $138 Tract Reese & Volante Tee $58 Deletta

The Volante Tee is very cute. It's a wrinkled mess in the store, so it will need to be steamed. I would be tempted to get this now. The beautiful gray and bordeaux colors are gorgeous and rich for fall. The Easy Keeper Skirt is one I've had my eye on for a while. While perusing the sale room, I noticed at least 4 or 5 hanging out there because of broken zippers and this one was broken too (but wasn't in the sale room yet). I don't know if that's been a problem for this skirt in general or maybe for one batch. It's gorgeous and has all kinds of things going for it. I think, however, I am too petite for it. It was a little loose in the waist and it's a little long for me. If you are taller and this fits you well, I say go for it. Definitely try on because the waistband seems a little strange. The $138 price seems a little steep, but if you want to splurge, I don't think you'll feel bad about it as it's a beautiful, well-made piece AND it's Tracy Reese which adds points.

Spectre Dreams Dress $248 McGinn

Wow. Honestly, I have to confess that I tried on this dress just to review it because it's definitely not something I would try on under non-blog circumstances. On a positive note, it's an extremely well-made dress. The fabric is flowy and lace details are really soft. Criticism? Oh my...first off...there's that unflattering, weird gray color again, which is a problem for me personally. The lace details on the collar/sleeves are strange to me. The bodice is baggy and unflattering and I don't enjoy the pointy ruffling on the skirt. Can you tell that I hate this? If this fits you and you love it, then wait for the sale. $248 is a high price point. If you see me on the street wearing this, then you know I lost a bet.


Van Wrinkle Sweater $118 Moth

Sleeper Hit!! I saw Roxy from Effortless Anthropologie try this on and it piqued my curiosity. I am absolutely in love with it! The ruffles are totally flattering! The sweater consists of a vest and some ruffle-y bits in front you can hook via hook-and-eye clasp. Plus, it's a yummy mustard yellow that always slays me. It's amazingly soft and I love the polka dots. Don't you hate/love when you grab something that doesn't do anything for you on the hanger, but when it's on your person, it transforms into something you absolutely NEED to own. Yeah...my wallet hates that too. WISHLISTED!!!

Anyway, I just have one more thing: I picked up this Odille Dress from a consignment shop and I wonder if anyone knows anything about it!?

It's silk and has buttons up the side. It's super cute and I was wondering if anyone knew what year it came out and what it's called! I hope everyone's having a great Monday! I'll be off to the doctor's office today to get checked out for whiplash. Boo. Thanks to everyone who's been so supportive during my tough week. You ladies are the best :)

A Tough Couple of Days and OOTD

Happy Saturday, Ladies! I hope everyone is taking it easy today. Thank you so much for your thoughts on my audition outfit choices! It helped a lot!

Well, I have some weird news for you guys. So, after my post on Thursday morning, I was on my way to work and whilst I was in unfortunately involved in an auto accident! There was a State Trooper (quite luckily) on the scene and I didn't even have to deal with the other driver (who was cited). I wasn't hurt really, but my back and neck are a little sore from suddenly tensing up and probably from the impact (my car was struck on the rear side and it spun around, scary!!!). It's the first time that I've been in an accident and I was super shaken up. For some reason, I had the brilliant idea to keep on going to work (I was almost there anyway) and I didn't really have time to emotionally react. I spent 6 hours at work just, yanno...working and then my poor back started to hurt. I'm feeling better today.

I still had to audition for Super Amazing Conductor™ yesterday afternoon. It was kind of hard for me to keep focused since I was super traumatized by...oh, I dunno...being in a freaking car crash! But, I woke up yesterday and sounded decent, so I was ready to go and YES, I did wear the gray Dreamy Drape dress with the Foxy Tights! They looked so good together and that dress is just so soft, it almost makes you feel like you have nothing on, which is cool and creepy at the same time. I was feeling so good!!!! It was kind of rainy and windy but it was HOT! I got to the venue on time and I was ready to go and here's what they had asked me to prepare:

• 2 Arias from the BAROQUE repertoire, at least one of which is in English
• sight reading

Sweet! I was ready! When I singing my first aria, I suddenly became super nervous, but it manifested itself in my left leg shaking out of control! How embarrassing!  Regardless, I thought I sang well. My second aria wasn't as good, but it was decent. At that point, I was given some advice and was told; "Thank you." NO SIGHT-READING. Even though, I could see some stuff on a music stand right to my left.

I made the assumption that this meant, it wasn't even worth their time to see how well I sightread and I proceeded to have a full-on, emotional, opera-diva breakdown. I kept my composure until I was outside the building and then I let loose! I cried in front of the building, I cried on the train on the way home, I cried in the street and I cried back at my apartment! I think I had a delayed reaction from the car accident or maybe I had some pent-up frustration, but let me tell you ladies, I was inconsolable for about 3 hours.

After I got back to reality, I saw more clearly. As a musician or any performing artist, you never know WHAT to takeaway from an audition, until you get the results about the gig. The ones you think you rocked, you don't get the gig and they never want to hear you again and the ones you feel like were kind of sucky, you get the gig. You cannot predict whether or not you get hired from what you experience at the audition because it's a weird situation. I definitely over-reacted. I will patiently wait for either a "Thank you, but no" letter or a contract. Either way, it's not the end of the world. This was my first full on Diva Breakdown™. I think I'm fully inducted into my field now...wearing Anthro and all.

Anyway, I needed to be with my best friends last night, so I went to my good friend's performance and afterward, we went to dinner and cocktails! I of course was wearing Anthro! Here's what a post-breakdown, post-car crash, Anthropologie addict looks like at midnight!

Anthro: Dagmar Shirtdress, Anthro: High Prairie Belt (The Black colorway has quietly disappeared from the wesbite?), Nine West Boots (old)

Boo, there's some smooge on the camera lens. I LOVE the Dagmar Shirtdress! It's so flattering and the pattern is so bold and feminine at the same time. It was fine for this cool autumn evening and I got lots of compliments on it! I hope to get some Anthro therapy today and I'll be back with some reviews! I hope you all are having a great and safe weekend!!!