Girls Weekend

I am so excited for this weekend because my friend Jessica and I are going up to Portland to have a girls weekend with our friend Melanie. We are going out for drinks and sushi Friday night. Then Saturday we are having some spa time at the Aveda Institute getting manicures and pedicures and such. Then we are going shopping! Could there be a more perfect girls weekend? I think not.

The shopping is actually needed dress shopping. Jessica needs a dress for our friends wedding and I need a dress for Mr. P's Law School graduation which is a mere 6 weeks away! So here is where I need your help. Dress shopping for me is a little bit of a nightmare. I don't really wear dresses. In fact I think I only own about 4. I would like to wear more but I have a horrible time finding dresses that fit me well. I'm really short, 5:3 and I have an extremely small chest so dresses usually feel too long on me or I can't fill them out. Here are some looks I like that I think might work on me:

These two are from Anthropology and I really like them both. The green one has beautiful detailing which you can't see in the picture. The blue one is nice because I can dress it up for graduation but dress it down for the rest of the summer and get a lot of wear out of it. Since I don't have a lot of dresses I would like to get something I can wear again in the future.

This is from Ann Taylor loft and I really like it but I don't know if it would work on my height very well.

Do you have any dress advise for me? Any great ideas of where to shop for a great dress?

Fashion Staples

I love to shop. We all know this. But this year I am trying to be more purposeful about my shopping. In the past I would just follow sales and pick up pieces at random. I would get new clothes fairly frequently but I never had the staples. I had nothing to wear because although I’d bought a few shirts I still did not have a basic black tee, or the right skinny jeans, or a nice rain coat. You get the picture. This year I made a list of the classic and trendy pieces I’m in need of and bit by bit I have been focusing my shopping on those things. I have to say now that Ihave acquired some of these staples from my list getting dressed is getting easier everyday. So here are my fashion staples that I now can’t live without:

Over sized Sunglasses

Oh how I love my over sized sunglasses. My husband HATES them but that's besides the point. I got them at forever 21 and paid $3 for them. Yet they are wonderful. image found here

Trench coat

This is most recent purchase and I'm in love with it. I have been wanting a trench coat for years, actually since I was 14 years old and first saw this:

It is just so classic. I recently read somewhere that if you put on a classic trench coat and over sized sunglasses you instantly add glamour to whatever else you are wearing. I think I agree. images found here and here

Skinny Jeans


I have had skinny jeans since college but never the right skinny jeans. Finally with my Christmas money I splurged on lucky brand skinny jeans and I am so glad I did. I LOVE these jeans. Skinny jeans are the best cut for me because I am really short and they make my legs look instantly longer without the bother of heals. image found here

Colorful scarves



This summer while we were in San Fransisco my sister and I hit the jackpot on scarves. We found a whole in the wall closet in china town selling gorgeous pashmina scarves in many colors for $3 each. We both got many of them and now they are such a staple. Plain jeans and a tee boring, but with a bright scarf and big sunglasses it's an outfit! image found here

Lip gloss

I really like make up. Eye make up and lip gloss are my favorite. And since eye makeup can take some time and effort it's usually lip gloss that I grab at 7am when I have to run out for eggs. I have three favorite lip glosses right now. 1. Clinique long last glosswear in sunset, this is a more neutral shimmery color for everyday 2. Sonia Kashuk ultra sheer lip gloss in fairy, this is a great pale pink, really summery and light 3. L'Oreal paris clour riche lip gloss in soft wine, this has more color than the other two and is nice for going out if I dont' feel like red. image from clinique

Riding boots


I have blogged about my riding boots before and how much I love them. They are especially wonderful in our rainy wet climate. Perfect for rainy cold days when flats are no good but you don't want to wear converse. image from Ralph Lauren


Boyfriend Cardigan

This is another new purchase. It's really great with leggings and dresses up jeans and a tee on a Saturday afternoon. If I have to run errands early Saturday I throw on this with a scarf with my black lounge pants and I don't feel like I'm out in my PJ's. image from the Gap

Black Audrey Hepburn pants

This was my first fashion staple purchase, actually gift. My Mom got me these from the Gap way back in 2005. I don't know what I'm going to do when they wear out. I love these pants. They are great for when you don't want jeans but you also don't want heals and you really don't want a skirt. A predicament I seem to be in a lot.

So now I wan to know, what are your fashion staples?

My boots and I had a Fabulous Weekend

Lately I have been craving pickled beets. I acknowledge that this is a little bit weird. However before you judge, have you ever had homemade pickled beets? If not I highly recommend you call a some one's Grandmother and see about getting some.

I had a blast shopping in Portland with Lauren this weekend. We both took the plunge and got leggings. We also hit the J. Crew final sale and found some wonderful things with ruffles.

While I was in Portland Mr. P and I visited an amazing church, Imago Dei. If you read Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller, the this is the Church the author talks about.

Mr. P returns from his hiatus in Portland on Thursday.

I am fixing steak in his honor.

This is because I am a very nice wife even if I do put my cold feet on him in bed.

My feet have been consistently cold while he has been away.

Shopping Fail

This weekend we went to Portland and on Saturday I went shopping with my Mother-in-Law, my husband's grandmother and cousin. We went downtown to Pioneer square mall which is my favorite mall in Portland. Within a couple blocks of the mall is an enormous Macy's, Nordrom's, Nordstom Rack, and tons of other stores. At the Nordstrom Rack I found the most perfect booties. They were grey suede with a rounded toe and came just to my ankle. Best of all they were so comfortable. But, they were $70. And as much as I wanted them I could not bring myself to spend $70 on a pair of shoes that trendy and unnecessary.

In hindsight this bout of rational responsible decision making was a giant shopping fail! I have been wanting booties all fall but have been waiting to find the right ones (at a price I can live with). These were exactly but I have been looking for. I'm now doing some more online research and $70 was a steal for these shoes. And of course I can't find the ones I saw at the Rack ANYWHERE on the Internet. Not at nordsrom's, piperline, DSW, ebay--nowhere. And I can't remember the brand. Here are some samples of the styles I like:

These two are at DSW and are under $70.

These are perhaps my favorite but they are way out of my price range at over $200. They are Betsy Johnson.

I found these on Piperline. I love the bow at the ankle. But again these are out of my price range.

J. Crew and perfect. But way to expensive

These are Steve Madden at Macy's and if they went on sale they may be in my price range.

These are at Macy's also, they are Guess.

Perfection! These almost look exactly like what I found at the Rack. But of course they are selling for $135.

Alas, I am now on the look out for booties. I am going back to Portland in a couple of weeks to go Christmas shopping with Lauren, my true shopping soul mate, and we will find the perfect bootie!

Decorating Potter Place

I have mentioned before my quest to decorate Potter Place. The challenge being to work in a very small budget and work around the random college hand me down furniture we have. Lately I have been on a quest for couch pillows. I have determined that couch pillows really may be the most vital piece to decorate the living room. The right mix of pillows can bring together the whole room. It’s definitely a make or break sorta thing. I need pillows to bring together a blah futon with a beige cover, a random vintage wooden coffee table, two very retro yellow and gold patterned arm chairs, a very modern dining room light fixture and classic tiffany lamp. Ideally I need to bring together yellow, gold, red, green, and beige. And I need it to look like all the randomness was perfectly planned. My luck so far has been nil. Every pillow I’ve found that I like costs $40-$60. Since I’m hoping to get 5-7 pillows that is way more money then I want to spend. This morning I hit gold at http://www.pier1.com/. So on my lunch break today I'm going to buy some of these:

Mrs. P

The Perfect Summer Sandal

I have been looking for the perfect summer sandal for years now. In that time I have bought a number of un-perfect sandals but never found the "one". Or more accurately, never found the "one" for under $50. My sister aptly pointed out that for all the money I have spent buying so so sandals I could have bought two pairs of nice J Crew sandals. We'll call theses my reward for completing the 5k race today (pictures to come).

Mrs. P

New Running Clothes for Mrs. P

This past weekend while we were in Portland I got a rare and highly coveted shopping treat: a pass to the Nike Employee Store! Nike's headquarters are in Beaverton, Oregon which is just outside of Portland, Oregon. Besides the Nike Campus which houses corporate offices and state of the art gyms, courts, bike paths etc, there is an employee store. I've been to a few other employee stores before and usually they have good deals but aren't that different from an outlet. Not the case with Nike. This employee store has 50% off of brand new Nike work out clothes, shoes, apparel, accessories and sporting goods. Needless to say it was fairly amazing. My mother-in-law got the pass and let Mr. P and I have it, which was very sweet of her to begin with, but then she gave me birthday money in advance to spend there. Here's what I got on my Nike shopping spree:

Running Shorts

Pink sports bra which you'll notice matches the pink shorts

Inspiration Nike Tee shirt to wear in the 5K on Saturday (also matches blue running shorts

Pants and a jacket for cold weather running

New Running shoes which hold the apple/nike running chip

Oh and I also got socks. Now for the exciting part. The value of these goods: $354 What I paid for these goods: $177 Now I am all set for my 5k race on saturday. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm pretty sure I run better when wearing cute-matching running clothes.

Mrs. P

Wedding Fun!

It is still horribly rainy here. Last night it rained so hard I was really worried about my seeds. Carrot seeds are only planted 1/2 inch deep. But I checked my garden this morning and all seems well. Because of the rain and blah outside I am writing a really fun wedding post!

My favorite cousin, who was also my roommate in college, is getting married this summer. I am the Maid of Honor, or rather as Mr. P likes to remind everyone, the Matron of Honor. Having just gotten married, and having the best Maid of Honor in the world, I am taking my role very seriously. The past months have been so fun for us. Lauren started dating her fiancé, Nick, right before Mr. P and I started dating. We were all pretty close in college. So it's pretty exciting having them get married right after us. Nonna, our grandmother, is having a hay day! Mostly, there has been a lot of shopping. Also there have been a lot of long phone calls about shoes, colors, invitations, cakes, and the bridal shower. Lauren’s colors are yellow and black. Her dress is gorgeous and very classic. The wedding is going to be in an old church and the reception in an old ballroom. Here are some color boards which capture her inspiration:

These two Lauren found and emailed me so I’m not sure where they are from


This one we found on Blue-Eyed Bride’s blog (which we love):

One of my favorite things about this wedding is the elegance. I loved my wedding but I wouldn’t describe it as elegant. It was beautiful but the reception was in a barn so elegant isn’t quite the right adjective. But Lauren’s wedding is full of classic elegance. The brides-maids dresses are beautiful black strapless chiffon dresses.

I have to say this picture doesn't really do the dress justice. But you get an idea.

And these are my shoes.

Both the dress and the shoes are from the White/Black store.

Well that’s all for today but I’m sure there will be more fun wedding notes to come.

Mrs. P