Burgundy Overload

Warning, this is a picture heavy post. We finally had a sprinkling of rain and I just had to wear my burgundy top. I bought it at H&M over a month ago but up to now it's been too hot to wear it.

 

Anyway, I wore it twice already to compensate for the delay. And this is what I came up with so far.

 

Here it is, worn with brown pants and golden Hush Puppies. And the Rebel lipstick from MAC.

 

Never mind the pile of clothing in the background, I finally put away some of my summer tops. Wishful thinking really, it's still hot over here.

I'm glad I sized up when buying this top. My usual size was a bit snug in the shoulders.

Got this necklace at Zara not so long ago, I love it.

Another shot of my leopard bag. I's a bit "hairy" so not a summer bag. I'll have to wear the hell out of it in the winter.

And this is what I wore yesterday. I met up with my friend from ex-work. We had breakfast and a stroll around the shops. I wore the same top with my dalmatian print H&M skirt. And finally wore my Ivanka Trump shoes. They are very comfortable.

By the way, last time I wore this skirt it was too tight. Not this time. I managed to lose about 6 pounds over last three weeks and the skirt fit perfectly. I'm sticking to my food plan!

And what is that pretty bag, you ask? I found it at the usual secondhand store on Sunday. I think it's vintage but it's new with labels.

Here are the labels (the picture went sideways for some reason). They don't look overly modern.

I tried to look this company up on the internet but couldn't find a thing. Plus it doesn't say "made in Israel", it says "Holyland". I haven't seen labels like this in local stores. Maybe it was made outside of the Green line, who knows.

Anyway, this is a beautiful bag. Not too roomy but oh so stylish. Perfect to dangle off a lady's arm.

I'll be home for the next two days, working away. I have a cold and all I want to do is snuggle up in bed with Snooker. Maybe I'll do that later.

Wishing everyone who's on the Sandy's path to be safe, warm and dry.

Trendy Kettle

Hey look, I have an oxblood kettle!

 

Yesterday my old stainless steel kettle gave up the ghost (I saw the ghost going up and smelled it too - luckily I was home and the house was saved). So I had to run off in search of the new tea-machine. I decided to get a plastic kettle this time. The so called stainless steel had some rusty spots on it, go figure.

 

So now I have an oxblood kettle. Yeah!

 

Got a last chance to wear this dress before the rainy season. The pictures are dark but at least the dress is visible. And my comfy Steve Madden wedges.

By the way, I've been trying to lose some weight in order to fit into my jeans this winter. So far I've lost 3 kg in 2 weeks. I feel lighter already. If anybody is interested, I used Dr. Phil's Rapid Start Plan. It works for me. I'll keep going until I get used to live this way. Because the older you get, the tougher it is to lose those pounds. So I better keep it up.

On a slightly sadder note, my beloved wedge sandals from Nine West fell apart. I don't think they can be fixed. My shoe collection gets some balance, I mean, some of them have to go eventually.

And a happy note - I found and bought boyfriend jeans at the GAP. The label says "original fit" but they are basically boyfriend style. Now I just have to search the blogosphere and figure out how to style them on my not-so-slender (yet) body.

Horse and Lizard

Doesn't the name of this post remind you of old English pub names?

 

I loved my new horse necklace so much, I couldn't wait to wear it the very next day. Obviously, I paired it with my horse dress from Zara.

 

Took my own picture in the car.

Norman has grown another centimeter and the top layer of his skin came off. He seems even brighter green now.

We were at a petshop yesterday, getting some stuff for Norm, and we saw this guy just snoozing there. I asked if I could pet him, the salesgirl opened the terrarium door and he didn't even flinch. I hope Norman grows up to be so cool and relaxed.

Here the Husband put his fist next to the iguana for comparison.

I've been out and about this week, and tomorrow I'll be going out again. But today I'm home. I'll be working that is watching a movie. That's work too, the best part (it's even better when the movie is good).

A Day Trip

I finally managed to get out of the house and into civilization. Yesterday we went to Tel Aviv with my Mom and her BFF visiting from New York. They have been friends since the age of 14 and her daughter was and still is my best friend even though we don't really talk that much. Last night we reconnected via Skype and decided to put an end to silence.

 

But I digress.

 

Tel Aviv was busy, loud (for us country folk) and all city-like. We walked from the train station to the Arts Museum.

 

Metal sculptures in front of the museum.

The entrance.

The other side of the museum. Lots of open space and fun looking buildings.

Loved the view through the arch.

A whole metal composition in front of the museum.

We walked through the halls and looked at the paintings from various private collections that people donated. Claude Monet, Renoir, Cezanne, Pissarro, Seurat, Pablo Picasso - I can't name all of them but it was a real pleasure. Just like the old days in St. Petersburg (Russia) where we had so many wonderful museums. We always had where to go on weekends.

Afterwards we went for a cup of coffee with apple-cinnamon crumble with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream (we all shared one).

A nice shot of Mom's Michael Kors watch - my birthday gift to her a couple of years ago. Not your traditional heavy metal style that can be seen on the internet these days, this watch is very ladylike.

This is what I wore. My birdie dress and walking shoes with a new handbag that I received from the girls at my ex-job as a parting gift (they knew me well).

A good day trip must involve some shopping. We found a jewelry stall at the train station. As it turned out, I knew the designer/vendor from the artisan fair at the Rehovot mall. So we stopped for a while. Mom bought some earrings, Anna got a bracelet for her granddaughter and I walked away with these earrings.

And this horse necklace. It doesn't look like much here but there was something about it that I liked. And the price was not crazy either.

I liked walking around in Tel Aviv and I'll try not to wait years before I go back. There is stuff to do in the city. Here is a picture of a billboard that I took. There is a designer clothes fair on 2-3 of November. Alanis Morisette concert is December 3d. And there is a circus course for those who are brave enough (not me).

All in all, a perfect day out.

Happy Fridge

There won't be any outfit pictures today. I've been home all day translating. I'm wearing H&M snake print dress which I bought in size L. Should have bought size M. You get the idea.

 

No, today I want to share something I discovered over a year ago. Look at these pretty "fresh pods" from the Canadian company Joie. I have all of them except the strawberry pod, I missed that one but I'll get it as soon as I hunt it down. I didn't order them online, I saw them in a shop and grabbed immediately.

 

Since then lots of my friends and relatives either bought these pods or expressed a wish to have them which made a task of finding them birthday or Christmas gifts much easier.

So I have the pods for onions, tomatoes, avocados, bell peppers and lemons. Bell pepper pod also comes in green or red, and there is a lime pod in dark green.

Why do I like them so much? Three reasons. First of all, you open the fridge and see all these boxes, it's like a party in there.

Second of all, you never have to search for your veggie leftovers because you see them right away.

And the third and a very important reason. Your fridge doesn't smell like onion. This little guy keeps all the smells contained.

I did not receive any endorsement from the company (to tell you the truth, I wouldn't even know how to get one). I just wanted to share something that I like so much.

Here is the link to the Joie Shop. These little pods are in the Novelties section and in my opinion they are not expensive (they are pricier here in Israel but then I don't pay the shipping costs and get instant gratification).

Great stocking stuffers, don't you think?

Animal News

A short non-human post just because I love them and I cannot stress enough how important these guys are in our lives.

 

First of all, here is a better shot of Norman with a "full blown" beard. He is trying to scare off the cat. Snooker has been stalking Norman on and off ever since we brought him home.

 

And I just had to take this picture late at night. Look at that gut!!! Someone's been eating salad!
By the way, his neck is resting on the stick and his butt and tail are on the ladder but there is nothing supporting him in the middle. Must be comfortable.

And here is "The Balcony Standoff" that happened this morning. My guys against the Neighbor's Red. The Red was making really indecent noises, he was about to wake up the whole neighborhood, so in the end I had to threaten him with a broom and he ran off. Snooker was so pissed off, he had to go walk it off on the roof of the house. And Boomer just went back to sleep.

These are the latest animal news from The Ville.
Have a great weekend, everybody.

This and that. And Shopping.



I escaped The Ville today (I like calling my tiny little town "The Ville" so much that I decided to drop the quotation marks). Didn't do anything overly exciting, just some chores and a bit of shopping. Just a little. Gosh, I feel like an addict. Sitting here all week, doing this and that, working and planning the next shopping trip! At least I'm planning it and not just run around like a crazy person grabbing everything. I'm exaggerating of course, but you know...

 

As a sidenote, I'm not too happy about the fact that this blog turned out to be all about shopping. But at the moment it happens to be my main entertainment. We don't go out much (that is, pretty much don't go out), I get out "in the open" once or twice a week, mostly to the supermarket or some other chore. I'm not complaining, I do have friends, we do meet and chat, but I don't write about it too much. So let this be a shopping \ OOTD kind of blog, why not.

 

Anyway, a short visit to H&M yielded first of all the pictures of what I was wearing at the time. Which was the ever so popular floral H&M pants, my black Magashoni blouse which is much easier to wear now, after I added the hidden clips that hold the bra straps firmly attached to the fabric of the top. That's also the reason why I didn't try on any shirts today - too much hassle to unhook and so on.

 



These pants with this top is my favorite combination. And I wore black flats with bows today, because I had to walk around a lot.

My bugs necklace from Zara attracted some attention. People looked, some of them smiled.

I loved these pink pants but didn't get them this week. I have to think about them. I might get them next week if they're still available in my size.

I did get these pants. They were really cheap. And I saw them on Marie a la Mode blog (I'm linking here but for some reason, Marie's blog appears on the Israeli blogger site and I'm sure it's not supposed to be on it because Marie is from Canada! I don't know what's going on). And I saw them on Fashionista Next Door and I love the combination of pale pink, white and print. I have a pale pink blazer so might recreate this look.

And I bought a leopard blouse. I don't wear as much leopard as I used to, but I've always wanted a basic leopard shirt just in case. So I can cross this off my list.

A trip to Mango resulted in these lovely booties at 50% off. Rough conversion: 75 bucks instead of 150. I've been looking for low-heeled boots like these for quite some time, so crossed that one off the list as well.

The last purchase of the day was MAC Rebel lipstick. I went into the store to buy a compact from their new Marilyn collection but it was sold out. I was disappointed of course, but I didn't really need a highlighting powder anyway, I just wanted the box. So I got this lipstick instead. And then I cheated a bit. I went and bought a cheap lip-liner to go with it (The MAC "Currant" was out of stock anyway). This is Maybelline Colorsensational in Midnight Plum.

Here is Rebel and Revlon Black Cherry side by side. Rebel is much lighter meaning is much more wearable. I'll save the Black Cherry for evenings or goth days (I have those sometimes. Tamed goth though).

Well, the shopping was satisfying, I accomplished almost everything I needed to accomplish today. Something very important did not get done but there was nothing I could do about it. Let's hope for better results next week.

Winter Shades

In spite of being a homebody these days and going out of the "ville" into the real world about once a week, I managed to get ready for the upcoming winter with the latest color trend - oxblood or burgundy. A last month trip to H&M yielded two oxbloody items that I haven't been able to wear yet. Too hot.

 

This top looks shapeless on a hanger but it's nice when you put it on. I can't prove it with my own pictures, so here it is on Melanie of the Bornlippy blog. 

 

I have 5 pairs of jeans in this cut! Grass green, fuchsia, mint, snake print and now these. I think they are quite flattering on me. And the best part (or the worst, as I already have too many)? I don't have to try them on anymore, I just grab my size and go.

Essie nail polish in "Bordeaux" and Revlon "Black cherry" lipstick are part of the winter collection.

This is me with burgundy nails and lips. Eye makeup was quite neutral.
Not used to see myself with lips so dark. I used to wear Chanel "Vamp" back in the day, but it was some 15 years ago. I don't think I'm going to wear this lipstick too often. But it is different and "out of my comfort zone" which is good.

I dressed in neutral colors that day. This skirt is older than my Kid!

I miss the thrill of shopping but at the same time happy not to do it so much. The fact that I don't get to the mall nearly as much helps me to avoid impulse purchases.

Have you seen the new Marilyn collection from MAC? I received an email last night that it finally hit the stores. I don't really need any new eyeshadows and I have lots of lipsticks, but I might get their beauty powder just for the box. As far as lipsticks, I'm thinking of getting MAC Rebel for winter. It's a rich berry color, not as dark as the Revlon I have, more daytime. I'll be at the mall on Thursday and go try it out.

Till then :)