Lia Molly Sweater at Swirl

Swirl by Daily Candy is having sale on their sweaters.  Some Lia Molly items are under $50.   It is a brand anthropologie carries.  I love the beautiful knit of Lia Molly sweater in the past,  but the fit can be problematic at times.  For your reference I am usually a S in their item.  If you are into Lia Molly, those are pretty good price, consider most of their sweater are regular priced at $200 or more.

Happy Shopping!

Shop till you drop

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Did any one participate in the black Friday?  Do share so I don't have to be the only one feeling guilty about spending so much.  :-)  I didn't intend to go to the Anthro store, but relying on the freeshipping online purchase.  Although some got cancelled later, but I still got a pretty good batch.

Anthropologie Black Friday Sale Haul by inkmark featuring lightweight scarves

After mentioning that I might go to lakeshore learning store to pick up some toys on Thursday night for my son's birthday because the stuff I order on line might not arrive on time,  My daughter got overly exited and got up really early.  I wish she does that during school days.  I told her to go back to sleep because that is what I want to do.  She end up just laying next to me quietly and after an hour, she still have her eyes wide open.  It got too uncomfortable sandwiching between her and hubby, even though we have a kind size bed.  After that I gave in.

The toy run didn't take long, and after that there are still plenty of time, I thought I'd venture to Anthro to do some returns. Among the return items are the Feathered Village Skirt I reviewed previously here.  The petite size came and won slightly although the difference is pretty minimal.    The plan was that if the parking is too crazy, we'll just go home.  Suprisingly, parking is extra light,  lighter than a Friday night. The Anthropologie store is a different story.  Boy,  did I pick the wrong time to go for returns.   I have never seen Anthro so packed, not only full of people but also full of  merchandise.  The isle is so tight that I couldn't even get near the popular sale items.   I guess they brought everything they had in the back out.  My daughter tried on a dress there, and it is $45 even after the 50% off and she is almost at the limit of the sizing, but she understands that was just for playing dress up. Not having anything particular in mind, the crowd wasn't too bad.  We just played with the stuff animal while waiting in the line.  After that we went to the nearby pastry shop and I had a large cup of Latte.  And that was a mistake.  I had full intention of taking a nice relaxing nap, but instead, I end up in a zombie state in the afternoon where my brain doesn't quite work, but i cannot fall asleep either.

It has been a while I post any OOTD, but today I want to show off my new favorite purchase. It is Vince's Blanket coat.  It is soft and warm like a sweater but the tight weave makes it wind resistant. It is 50% wool and 50% yak, but it is not itchy.  It has a hood and size pocket.   I like how easy it is to put on and move around and yet look polish enough.

(Outfit detail: Dress: JCREW High Tide Dress,  Scarf: Ann Taylor (buy it here),  Bag: L.A.M.B. Coat: Vince,  Boots: Hush puppy)


I got this sweater from  Nieman  Marcus Last Call when they had the 40% off everything,  but Hautelook has a flash sale on Vince today and the price is even lower than Last Call. Naturally the sale went off the shelf quickly but there are still some left.   Vince's style is total opposite of Anthropologie.  Some seem overly simplistic for such a high price point.  What is your take on vince? Do you think it is over priced? For me I normally don't mind pay extra for a sweater because they last very long time, however for a jersey item that are cotton, would a brand name cotton worth the double for its comfort?

Review: Feathered Village Skirt

If I would buy only 1 skirt this winter, the Feathered Village Skirt would be the choice.

This beauty is even better in real life than the one on the picture.  The fabric has a sateen feel and gives out a soft glow under the light.  I also like the weight on the fabric.  The whimsical print remind me of children's book illustrations, although I can't pin point which one exactly.  Maybe Harold the purple crayon when he was felt lost in the city scrape and wanted to go home.  The background olive tone was a easy color to pair, which is also a big plus.  The print is catchy enough to feel special, but not over the top so it can still be wear in daily life.


I am somewhere between 2 to 6 and size 4 on this one fits perfectly so I'd say it fits true to size.  It does flare out more than the picture even though I don't have much of a hip.  Sits on Natural waist and hits just slightly below my knee. I may want to try out the petite just for comparison.

It is well made.  No complain about the quality.  There were so much details take into consideration even inside of the skirt.  Both the waist and the rim of skirt inside are reinforced by a red satin band.  I think it helps weight down the rim so it doesn't The bottom part of the lining has two layers of ruffles.  That's probably what supports the flare.

Overall, I love the skirt and took it home with me. I also order one on line just to see if I would like the like the petite better, I will let you know once I find out.

Also Zulily has poetic licence shoes sale.  I have not try on Poetic Licence shoes so I can't say how comfortable they are and I don't like some of those over-the-top grandma print, but I do like the polka dot and the love letter pumps.

Anthropolgie Reload

My mac was at the shop.  The phone rang after I had just pour myself a full cup of tea.  The cord tripped the teacup and the Mac was ruined. *Sob, sob....On the other hand, since I have so little reader, I wonder was there anyone even curious about why I was missing in action?

In any case, for quite a few month, Anthropologie has been a meh for me.  JCREW had dominated my interest with their beautiful class color combo's. However, I think partly it is also because the model is super skinny.  A lot of the trends this year is not working for me.  For instance, the shoulder buttons had made my shoulder look extra square.  Or the beautiful and soft camel color completely wash out my face.  The Midi length skirt swallows my petite figure.

The other thing is the change of routines.  Now I have to get up extra early to get my new Kindergartner to school on time and morning is too stressful to even put on anything fancy.  I have been just doing Jeans and Shirt for the most part because I was just too tire to fuzz over what goes with what.

Having said that, I still lust over things. I just don't really wear them.

Recently I discovered a new brand of shoes I really love, other than the price tag: Attilio Giusti Leombruni.  All ballet flats hurts when first put on, whether it is JCREW or Tory Burch, but AGL shoes doesn't to my amazement.  I don't find their style particularly fancy, but they require not breaking in!  Nordstrom had some styles on sale during the half yearly sale and I happened to try a pair of on.  Even at the sale price, they are still too expensive, but if you are willing to buy JCREW ballet flat at full price, the sale price of the AGL shoes are definitely a better option. I debated, but the quick disappearance of those shows on line and at the local store made the decision for me.  There will always be other sales.  Patience, patience....

Another mention worth thing is the new iphone 4S.   My iphone 3 has been really grinding to a halt after upgrade to iphone 4 OS.  It just doesn't have the processing power. I have waited for the iphone 5, but with Steve Jobs passing away, who knows when the iphone 5 is going to happen if that is going to happen.  The biggest new feature is the Siri, voice recognition system.  So I tried train it to write a reminder for me to send the Variety show registration form for my daughter.  I am not sure what the problem was.  It had given me "Where IT show" or "4 Riet show" and so on, and then I call it stupid and it talk back to me, calling me in full name with the most angry and stern tone a robot can have.  Talking to my Autistic son would have been easier.    And it is not bad enough your daughter talks back at you, now the phone talks back to you too?  Confucious says "If this is tolerable, what else is not tolerable!" ( “是可忍，孰不可忍”)  For now I think Siri needs more training and I wll stay with the conventional input of typing the items in.

OK, enough rambling, back to the main topic.  The Nov Anthropologie Catelog really wows me.  All of the sudden there were so many things on the wish list now.  On top of my deseriable list is this page.

Of course the buttoned sweater top wouldn't work for me, but I love the skirt and the coat.  The print on the skirt looks like something just taken out of a children's fairy tale.  It has a sweet and innocent feeling towards it.  Of course Anthropologie is the master in creating something visually appealing, but in the past, many falls short when putting it on.  I  would definitely try it on when I have a chance.

So what do you fancy those days?

OOTD: Autmn Gold

I wish I was in New England this time of the year.  Bay area doesn't get too much fall color, although we still see some color change  especially around Stanford campus where the Chinese Pistache trees are widely planted.  Have you check the airline ticket for the upcoming holidays?  It is scarily expensive.  Trip to Hawaii cost thousands.  How did I find a such good deal on the flight to Hawaii two thanksgiving ago?  Hubbie asked this question multiple times and how am I supposed to know the answer.  The downside living in California is that we are spoiled.  Once a Chinese poet said "Go far far away, familiar places have no scenery."  It is somewhat true.  Although I had never really tour San Diego in detail, somehow it just doesn't feel that exiting for some reason.

autmn gold by inkmark featuring knit tops


I had intended to wear this outfit, but the weather was too warm for a cashmere cardigan. So I switch to the mix tape cardigan of the similar color.

Wrap cardigan

I don't really own a cozy, but I think I own enough of these drapery items, maybe I could use some
idea.

 

A la Mode Paris

Do you remember JCREW's Paris's shot in the past?  Although we love to travel, we have never been to Paris.  Before we had kids,  we did not have much interest.  We are not much of city dweller. But the JCREW Paris 2007 really inspire some romantic thought about biking on the street of Paris, but by then we don't have much traveling freedom any more as our son was so young.  He had traumatized us in his trip to Chicago when he was 1 year old that we did not travel for the next 5 years.





Now the kids are older, we still don't have any luck with Paris. My son cannot have wheat or dairy, and to me, experiencing local food has always been a good part of the travel. So for now we will have to haul that thought. But we can always dream, right?

So when I see this little crewcut tee, I felt it really speak my mind.

A la Mode Paris by inkmark featuring a black messenger bag

So here is the OOTD in real life.