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Thursday, March 31, 2016

Spring Wardrobe Shopping

   
 20 brilliant color combos for your wardrobe:
When Spring shows it's sunny face we all seem to want to brighten up our wardrobes to match the weather and all the beautiful scenery that surrounds us.

 gingham & pearls:
While my Mom was visiting for Easter week I took her shopping. She recently has lost a bit of weight and was finding that most of her clothes were not fitting.


My Mom is a young 83 and to be honest I chose things that I would gladly wear. Age can place  certain parameters on us in our daily lives, however when choosing clothing there is  a lot more to consider besides our age.


 20 brilliant color combos for your wardrobe:

We did not want to spend a lot of money so for some basics we headed to Target to start her out with some fun basic pieces that she can wear throughout the Spring and Summer.

Target always seems to have a great selection of stylish pieces at great prices.

Good Tip:
Remember proportions and the silhouette you are creating when choosing clothing.
 
I think my main pet peeve with the way most women dress is proportion. It drives me nuts when I see a short legged woman, like myself with cropped pants at the wrong place in their leg and they look as if they are four feet tall and wide. I could go on and on about this one subject, and who knows maybe in the future I will.

In California the weather can get mighty hot in the summer time.

My Mom lives in the valley and it is blasted hot. She is self conscious about her legs and arms. I know we can all relate. 

Since she likes them covered we tried to choose fun basic pieces to start out her new Spring wardrobe.

First thing to think about is what colors do you want to wear! Consider what colors you get compliments when wearing them.

For my Mom who is a natural red head, but now colors her hair she looks great in pretty pinks and brighter blues. 

We decided to use black, white, bright pink and bright blue as our base colors.......



 Since we are almost starting from scratch we bought the basics. Our objective is to stay cool so the first thing  we chose was tank tops in all four colors that she can wear very light weight cardigans over her tank top. (remember she does not want her arms to show)


To cover her arms we chose three light weight cardigans.....

The white one has a bit of an open weave to it, it is darling on her with the black tank underneath.

I would like to bring up a point here....

In the past my Mom would wear a tank and then put a blouse on top of it and let  it remain loose, not buttoned. 

I see many woman doing this. Lets think about the silhouette this creates for a minute.

The tank shows her curves, and then she puts a square blouse on top of it and she looks twice her size and a bit like Bob square pants.

Often ladies of a certain age wear this look thinking it camouflages their tummy or midriff, when in actuality it just makes them broader. 

If you want to wear a blouse, wear a blouse and button it. DON'T use the blouse as a cover-up, or jacket, it is only making you look larger, and wider.
This is the only way I like to see a tank under a blouse, notice she is cool and covered, and yet her silhouette remains slim and she has not added any width to her figure I don't care if you are larger than her, shoot I am larger than her, but I could wear this look and so can you!! Found at Chico's!!
 

GOOD TO REMEMBER!:
Loose bottoms, tight top!
Tight bottom, you can wear a looser bottom.

Next we got her two cute pair of pants at Talbots. Pants are hard for her and for me to find, and the pants at Talbots fit us both well so they are a good purchase. 

Since it is summer we chose a bright cobalt blue and a white pair. We figured  these would be a great base for all the other pieces....


While we were at Talbots we saw a really cute t-shirt with stripes, and a v-neck. It was perfect until we saw another striped option. 

We chose the second option because to be honest the V-neck was pretty typical of a shirt a woman of a certain age would wear, and I wanted to brighten her up so we chose the more current looking stripe that made her smile when she looked at it.

REMEMBER...
When you shop don't settle for the normal options you would normally pick step outside the box, and have a little fun with your wardrobe.

                                    "The Winner!"

She will have so much fun wearing this top of many colors.

We also got her a maxi dress from Target that is cool  to wear, and will hide her legs. 

She will wear it with a light weight black cardigan that fits close to the body, and is NOT too long, keeping her silhouette smaller, and not boxy.

GOOD TO KNOW!......
When wearing a cardigan with a maxi be sure it hits no longer than half way between waist and hip, right around 4-5inches below your waist. If it is any longer it will make you look older and out of proportion.


She will wear some neutral strappy sandals with this a nice bangle bracelet and be cool, calm and collected! 

This dress is really darling on, and at a great price point, plus it is on trend. 

We also took inventory of her shoes.

She needs a shoe that is stable and comfortable. We felt a black ballerina flat for dressy, and a cute platinum sandal for casual, plus a nude pair of ballerina flats would take her wherever she needs to go. 


 AND


 She still needs a few things and I wrote out a 3X5 card for her so when she is out and about she can make some smart purchases.

Her SHOPPING LIST:

 Two Maxi skirts to wear with cute short sleeved t-shirts.

A good pair of dress pants for special occasions.

2 dressy tops to wear with black pants.

Long sleeved white collared blouse, (Talbots) has the best, no iron blouses.)

 We purchased her a short sleeved to wear in the summer, or under a sweater in the winter time.

So whether you are 55, or 85 you can dress stylishly as long as you plan out your purchases, and always keep in mind the proportions and the silhouette you create.
 
 

Tuesday, March 29, 2016

A Night At the Symphony and My Easter Table



Easter week was a fun week for us. The night before Easter Sunday we went to the San Francisco Symphony with my oldest son's family. They gave us the tickets at Christmas as our gift. It was a live orchestra playing the soundtrack for the movie ET as the movie played behind them...



To say it was a wonderful experience would be an understatement. To be able to share it with family made it even that much better.
If you ever get a chance to go to a performance like this I highly recommend it.

It was fun dressing up and going out to a nice dinner in the private dining room, Wallis room right at the symphony hall. The meal was delicious and the service was impeccable.

Before we left we took some pictures......

It was fun to get all dressed up.

My sweet hubby and his antics was making me laugh!


The next day we had a wonderful family day. We missed one of my son's family, he had to work.

I promised I would show you all the finished Easter table so here it is.......

This years table I decided on a pink and black color scheme. I also decided to do a cute table, with pink and white candy on the table and little bunnies with carnation tails as name cards at each placesetting.

I wrote everyone's name in black at an angle on the pink bunny. The bunny template was found on Matthew Mead's blog, here.

 The candy turned out to be a fun addition for everyone that ate pieces throughout dinner.






One of the dishes I fixed was roasted honey carrots. I love to buy the multicolored carrots. I think they are almost as pretty as colored Easter eggs.....



Thank you for following along with me on my journey and I hope you and your family had a wonderful Easter.
 
 

Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Plans For This Years Easter Table In Our New Home

   




If you haven't planned your Easter tablesetting you still have plenty of time to pull it together. This is how I start!..

easter:

FIRST: I look around on pinterest pinning different images that I am attracted to.  I also look at the pins I have pinned from the past. At this point I am looking at color schemes and elements that I like.

I almost always start with a color scheme, I find it helps give me a direction or jumping off point.


Masako Kubo:

Here is a collection of images that caught my eye that helped me lean towards this years color scheme.......



If I were younger I would SO wear this!!


I really love the simplicity of this vignette and the flowers are perfection.


peach & gold & stripes:

   
pink, gold and black-white chevron for a little edge...would also pair perfectly with Mikasa's black-white-gold chevron plates {Confetti Pop}:

Shay Cochrane / #styling #productstyling:



I would imagine you have figured out my color scheme by now!

Black and white with soft pink!!

The next thing I have to decide are the elements that I will use.



First I always shop my home!!


  1. Tablecloth.... black, white, or black and white checked
  2. Dishes... All white
  3. Glassware.... clear goblets
  4. Napkins.... All white
 
Now for the center piece!!
 
I have a darling white bunny that I have used in years past....
 
 
This is the year that I did a soft blue and white color scheme. Mr. Bunny Boy is quite tall, and  he makes a nice statement!

The next step is to incorporate other elements that will tie in with the color scheme, and the main star Mr. Bunny boy!

Egg Hunt Can:

When choosing elements I look for ideas around the internet, and then I  choose a few that will work nicely with the overall look. I find that choosing 3 elements is an easy formula to follow, and that way your table will not look like a  hot mess once it is done. Too many elements will make for a busy look.

 just the bee's knees: Free Easter Watercolor Printables! This would even be cute in a little girls room too.:

Choose one star and then supporting actors for the stage you are about to create.

I  pinned a some ideas a couple of years ago that I loved, and this is the year I will use them.

Chocolate vertical birthday cake with raspberry mascarpone frosting:


Matthew Mead did a beautiful combination of all white and this little guy was among his elements..

Easter menu - bunny printable can be used for decor too.:
 via

I just loved this idea and I will be using this on my table this year and tweak it a bit to go with my over all look.

You can see I am still staying within the bunny theme, and now I have introduced one of the flower choices I will be using. 

Next I saw this idea and it inspired me as well........

  :

When I saw this I immediately thought of my little white egg cups that I already have. Sooooo I bought artificial pink tulips that I will put in an egg cup and I am taking it one step further and adding an egg to the inside of the tulip. 

 Color-coding dots from office supply stores made the polka dots. Get the complete instructions. #Easter:
 via


Since Mr. Bunny boy is tall and thin I will add votive candles around him and I plan on sprinkling pink and white M&M's on the table, fun, festive and a little treat my guest can nibble on too.

So there you have it!! My Easter Table Plan for this year. Let's go over all the elements.......

  1. Black , white or checked cloth
  2. White napkins
  3. White dishes
  4. Clear goblets
  5. Big white Bunny boy with soft pink flowers in his basket
  6. Soft pink bunny silhouette with white carnation as tail on top of napkin
  7. White egg cup with soft pink tulip holding a white egg with guest name in black at each place setting.
  8.  Clear glass votives with soft pink votive candles or plain white.
  9. Pink and White M&M's sprinkled on table
 
I think I am set, or at least my table will be set!
 
If you need more inspiration just type EASTER in the search rectangle on my side bar and it will give you a line up of all my Easter post!!!
 
For more visual inspiration I have some Easter Boards on my Pinterest page. Just click on the titles below...