I Want!

I had never heard of Lesley Evers up until very recently. Somehow I came across an article saying that those who like Jules Reid or Kate Spade would like Lesley Evers dresses. I went to her website and - wow! I was like a kid in a candy store. She makes cute tunics and skirts, but there are so many dresses that look both polished and very comfortable. I am especially wanting this one, called the Riley:


I like it the way it is, but I think it would look adorable belted as well. And I have cute 60s style black flats that would be perfect with it!

It would be a little cold for this one in Virginia in fall, but I like it, too:

Megan


And I absolutely love this Kylie skirt!




And, since there is a summer sale on, this little number may soon be mine to hold onto for next year. I'm not sure how long my self-control with regard to the Margaret will last:


And don't get me started on Miss Laura here:


You can find all the goodies here.

August Craziness - and pictures!

Do you ever have times where it just seems like your job ate your life? I've been going through one of those lately. For some reason, all of my cases just decided to blow up and need immediate attention over the past two weeks. And I realized that I never did post my promised report back from tax-free weekend. I hit some great sales and had fantastic luck!

At The Pink Palm in Richmond, I got to check out the new fall Lilly collection. I'm drooling over several of the pieces, but this cute dress really caught my eye. They had it in two prints, and I'm loving both! This is the one that was on the mannequin and ready for its close-up, though:



I made myself be good, and stick to sales for now, though. Given that they had the gorgeous Lovell shift in my size, this wasn't exactly a hardship. I tend to wear lots of greens and blues, but this cheery yellow is a lovely change. I wore it to church last Sunday, and I felt so sunny!



I had lunch at a very yummy cafe next to Pink Palm. It's called Mosaic and they pride themselves on cooking dishes with local ingredients. The salad tasted out-of-the-backyard-garden fresh, and I had a very good dish of pasta with fresh cherry tomatoes. I will definitely keep this little place in mind for my next Richmond jaunt.

At Talbots, I managed to break my "sales only" rule. Still, I think the shoes were worth it. I will wear these all fall. Aren't they cute?


I also found this fun blouse that will brighten up my navy suits for work. I wore it to court today, and it looked great. It was a nice change from my usual button-down shirts.



At the venerable Levy's, I have to admit that I was somewhat surprised. I haven't been to Levy's in Virginia Beach very often, but I remember them having cute beachy clothes. The Levy's in Charlottesville was, if not as cool as the Corner, still definitely quite the preppy shop when I was in college - and known for years as a great place to find dresses. However, the Richmond store seems to cater to an older crowd. Many of the items in the front of the store were things my grandmother's more flamboyant friends would go for. Think comfortable knits and elastic waist pants in a variety of animal prints. It's not my thing, but I know some ladies who would love it. This Levy's still had a small dress rack, though, and in the very back of the store, they had some of the well-made basic shirts, polos, droolworthy cable knits, etc.. that their other stores are known for stocking.

It was there that I struck gold. Levy's was having its fantastic 3 for 1 sale (buy 1 piece and get 2 free). I managed to pick up a really flattering pair of khakis, some white jeans and a khaki skirt. Not exciting, but very necessary. And since they're all well-made pieces, I was happy.

Phew! It was quite the expedition - and I also ended up cashing in all my various Ann Taylor coupons to order the suit I showed in my last post. I can't believe it took me two weeks to recover, but there you go.

Hope everyone has a good weekend! I'm off to lunch with family tomorrow, but otherwise no major plans. How about you?

Random Thoughts and Links

It's so hot here that the sun has fried my brain. Rather than posting about one thing, I keep thinking in dribs and drabs.

- First of all, the blackberries have been really delicious this year so I've eaten lots of them. One of my friends pointed me to this yummy blackberry syrup recipe. I think I need to make waffles tomorrow just so I can try it out!

- It's a little too warm for a fleece blanket right now, but later on, the blanket Brown Eyed Belle is giving away looks like it would be so cozy!

- Also, be sure to check out The Company She Keeps for a cute Lilly tote giveaway. I'm heading further south for a little getaway later this month and as I think of heading toward the sun, I'm craving the Lilly to take with me. I know folks wear Lilly year-round now, but I still have that childhood association of Lilly and madras + vacation.

- I've been watching World Cup and even though the mourning over USA's ouster in my house was matched only by the disappointment of Germany losing (DH went to a German boarding school), we're still watching the finals this weekend. I decided to get festive and serve tapas and sangria. So far, this looks like a promising sangria recipe, but if you know a better one, please do share!

-Since it's Friday, I have to have something funny to get me through that last work day. Even though they've been around for ages, LOLCats still do the trick for me.

Hope everyone has a good weekend!

Fashion Dilemma Resolved

I posted recently about my hunt for a white eyelet skirt. I did try to resurrect my much-loved older skirt, but no such luck. I tried the RIT as recommended, and while some of the yellow came out, the skirt still doesn't look wearable. However, Lilly Pulitzer to the rescue! I did some more digging around online and found a lovely Magnolia skirt in my size on EBay. It just came in today's mail, and I think it will be exactly what I wanted. It's not too overly dressy, but it's still very pretty and feminine. If you'd like a better idea of what the lace pattern looks like close-up, here is the same skirt in pink:



I'm going out to dinner with extended family tomorrow, and I think that will be the perfect occasion to debut my new skirt.

A Fashion Dilemma - White Eyelet Skirt Edition

So, here's my problem. I have an old J.Crew skirt that I love. It's white eyelet lace with a thin gauzy white underskirt. It hits just below the knee, and is a lovely full/A-line skirt. However, since it's old, it's starting to yellow and get too dingy to wear. I've been looking for a replacement, but most of the white eyelet skirts I see are short, flouncy minis like the Banana Republic one in the picture up top. Some of them are cute, but not really what I'm looking for.

I've been hunting around online, but haven't found too many possible replacements. I saw this pretty skirt from Lafayette 148 at Bloomingdales.




However, it's made of linen. I like linen in the abstract, but when I wear it, I have a tendency to look like I've been sleeping in my clothes. Some people look adorably rumpled in linen. I, on the other hand, look like a moderately well-groomed vagrant.

The other skirt I saw online, which I actually like a lot, is from Garnet Hill.



I think that lace is just breathtakingly pretty. I'm seriously tempted to splurge on this skirt, but it's more formal and more lacey than what I had in mind. Eyelet can be dressed up or down, but this seems a little more dressy and it doesn't have that charming quality eyelet often does. Lilly Pulitzer sometimes has cute white dresses and skirts, but I didn't see any white eyelet skirts when I checked the website this time around.

So, if it's not too presumptuous for a new blogger to ask a favor, has anyone seen a good eyelet skirt out there? Thanks and happy Friday!