Big City Lights

This week I had to work in our Ashdod branch for one of the girls who is moving house and asked me to substitute. (I normally work in Rehovot, if you're familiar with our geography). I like that office, love the change and the fact that I feel like a guest (or a housewife in someone else's kitchen). Work turns into play, no major decisions, no big responsibility.

I wore all black again. But with silver accents this time. Photo taken in my walk-in closet, it's messy but functional. I finally bought a wall-mounted fan to get more floor space (lifting that ancient thing to sweep under it was a real pain).

Look, I'm all matchy-matchy with the pants and the flats!

After work I didn't go down to the parking garage but decided to go outside and check out the progress of construction of the new square. I was pleasantly surprised. It looked really nice with all the lighting and new restaurants. This is "Black Bar'n'Burger". Will have to go there one night.

A passage way between two buildings. Doesn't look like much in the daytime, but now with lights reflections on the tiles it looked nice.

The construction is still going on, but it has moved way up. That's going to be a tall one.

A shot of a shopping mall taken from the car (I stopped at the red light). An ugly building, but inside they have the MAC boutique which I visited the very next day, more on that later. Pardon my dirty windshield.

And this is my town. It's 8 pm and the streets are almost empty. I guess we live in a bedroom community. It's not an upscale town by any stretch. Looks better in the dark as well, you can't see lots of things that spoil the view...

Living in a dirty and unkempt town is a problem. We have raised this questions numerous times with the municipality, some things have been done. I'm afraid it's the mentality, paraphrasing Mad TV show that we used to watch in Canada years ago, this is a "lowered expectations" place. Two years ago I spent 10 days in Paris and coming back was a real shocker for me. Oh well, trying to be happy with what I've got.

Back to Work

So, went to work today. Here I am, back on the kiddie table, posing. True to myself, dressed all in black. Felt "safer" this way.

Salad of accessories - big ass flower ring, Eiffel tower pendant, zebra bracelet and faux pearl earrings that I bought in Vancouver some time around 1995. I forgot I had them and some time ago found them along with another pair.

Here is a close-up of my fat steroids cheeks. 2 weeks left!!! 10 mg and then 5 mg and then I'm done!

You can see my Particuliere nail polish here.

But here is a bigger picture, with the ring. I love this color. Girls at work loved it too.

Ever since I got sick I haven't worn any of my heels. In the beginning it was fever, then half-blindedness, I was afraid to fall over. And now I just have to get used to heels all over again. Two and a half months in flats... These Michael Kors flats are my favorites!

On a slightly more personal note I decided to show you another piece of my balcony. This is where I can sit and contemplate my lemon tree. The table cloth reminds me of a Paris cafe.

This Paris cafe, for some reason. Even though they did not have any table cloths. Don't laugh, it's my memory! It was a beautiful day, I sat there, just like the girl with the scarf. It's not far from the Bastille metro station. See that building in the background? Hang on, I'll find the close-up.

See the blanket in the window? There was a "femme de menage" cleaning that apartment. The weather was beautiful, birds were chirping... OK, where was I?

And here is the view from my balcony. Talk about contrast! Sorry to shock you like that. After a Paris cafe-scene you are looking at the most un-glamorous and un-charming town in Israel. This is to the left...

And this is to the right.

Pretty much the main street of the town. Cross it, walk for 2 minutes (slowly) and you will hit the fields. Where I go with the dog. I grew up in St.Petersburg which in them days had 6 million people. But now, if I go to a city like Tel Aviv, with problem parking and lots of people, and then I come back here, I feel at home and breath a sigh of relief. But I would go live in Paris in a heartbeat.

Whose harem is this?

Over the last year there's been a lot of discussions about harem pants. Some like them, others think that women who wear them should be shot. I tend to wait till I see enough of them to form my own opinion. I have a slim friend, she owns two pair, one in black jersey and the other one is taupe linen. I liked these pants on her but wasn't sure if they'd suit my figure. And then one day I walked into a store that carries "normal" sizes (as opposed to xxxx-small) and tried them on. I was sold. They looked more like a skirt with leggings than a "diaper-bag". I bought them and wore them a lot. With slim-fitting tops, with a belt and without, with heels and flats. They are extremely comfortable and let me tell you, it's a great alternative to track or yoga pants. I wore them on the plane to Turkey, felt great and didn't look too bad either.

Here is my Sunday work outfit.

Harem pants: Crazy Line

Brown sleeveless turtleneck: Marco Polo

Cotton, rayon and linen blend cardi: Casey and Max (thrifted)

Necklace: Crazy Line

Leopart flats: Zara

Here is the closeup of the flats and a bit of the pant showing:

Another version, going shopping yesterday. Black pants, black v-neck tee, watch pendant, pink jacket from Zara and black Michael Kors flats. And a shot of my new haircut. Thank you, Armo!

Where is Autumn?

How do you like this November weather? Most countries would call it the heat of summer.

This is what I wore to get a manicure. I'm going to a colleague's wedding on Thursday. Already have the outfit picked out.

Turquoise pencil skirt: Crazy Line

Top: Ice Cube

Flats: Michael Kors

Bag: Charter Club

Sunglasses on head: Aldo

And here are my manicured nails against the background of a sleeping kitty.

InStyle help

About a year ago I started a scrapbook with my favorite looks from InStyle. Later I started adding to it printed out photographs of blogger outfits that I liked. Some of the looks became my "staples". Here is one of them, from InStyle April 2008:

Of course, I don't have Keit Moss' figure, so I had to adapt the look. Here I tried it with cropped jeans of similar color:

But it didn't look right. So I changed into longer straight-leg jeans.

It's not the same outfit and the look is slightly different, but that's the idea, isn't it?

Jeans: DJ, black sleeveless turtleneck: Marco Polo, jacket: Yumi Mazao, scarf: Crazy Line, silver belt: Bordo, flats: Hush Puppies.

Blog inspiration

Several days ago Sher at Fashion After Forty wore this sweet outfit. I really liked it and then I thought - hey, I have similar stuff in my wardrobe! So here is my version. The oufit was nice, though the quality of pictures - not so much.

Skirt: Mango (twin sister of this one)

Leopart cardi: Mango

Black tank top: Mango

Flats: Michael Kors

Bag: Tignanello

Belt: Bordo

Silver accents instead of gold, mainly because I didn't have a gold color belt. And the shoes have little silver accents on them.

The bag is red, not orange. But then you have an orange cushion there, see?