More Gray

More snowy, gray weather in the Midwest today. Although I am beyond sick of all the winter weather, this is a beautiful powdery snow. It makes me wish I were skiing in Aspen, and not stuck here working and cleaning house all day.

Because my friend, Shiloh asked for some gray purses, and I ALWAYS try to oblige my readers, here is to you dear Shiloh...gray purses.

This is the very cool Botkier Sophie Tote which can be found at BLOOMINGDALE'S . I love the 2 zipper pockes on the sides-perfect for lipgloss, powder, and your cellphone.
I love the taupey gray shade of this Bottega Veneta Woven Hobo bag from OVERSTOCK.COM . The woven hobo by Bottega is a classic. I really love this one.

This insanely beautiful bag is the Zagliani Crocodile Puffy Satchel. I worship this bag. The shape is so classic and feminine. The soft gray crocodile makes me weep. This gorgeous little number is found at SAKS.COM and will cost you a whopping $11,800.00--oh in that case dolls, lets take two.
I blogged about this B&D Tuxedo Bag from NET-A-PORTER last year, so I am not even sure if it is still around for purchase. I happen to love it and it is a beautiful gray so I think it is worthy of double honor. Besides, if you click on the Net-a-Porter link, there are all sorts of lovely things to swoon over.

This is the Tory Burch "T" Contrast Patent Leather Tote. I think it is cool and the patent red looks great with the gray. I must be honest- I love Tory Burch, I really really really do, but I feel that some of her logo stuff is just a BIT over the top. This bag can be found at NORDSTROM .

On a recent trip to New York City, I was going to an event and I needed a clutch-so I went to Saks where I can always find what I need. I fell in love with this Treesje clutch. Check out their beautiful bags here: TREESJE . I almost bought the black one, but the very cool sales associate at Saks talked me into the shiny gray one. I know it looks dark in the photo, but it is really a very nice pewter gray color. This is a picture of me and Fin in all the snow. This is my gray coat, AHEM- FROM TARGET, and a gray cashmere scarf. I love my gray Target coat and I actually get a lot of compliments on it. I love Target. Those are my new Oliver Peoples sunglasses. I love Oliver Peoples, so I wanted to give them a shout out too. OLIVER PEOPLES .

I was looking through old photos this weekend and I came across this picture of Forrest and me when Forrest was 10 weeks old. He is now 12 years old--so this photo is very old. I thought I would post it becasue my baby puppy was very sweet and cute , and because I have on a big GRAY shirt--with leggings. Twelve years ago I could get away with leggings--not so much anymore. Time goes by so quickly.

Beautiful day to all!

(photos from Bloomingdales.com, Overstock.com, Saks.com, Net-a-Porter.com, Nordstrom.com, and MonkeyPosh L.L.C.)

HUGS to Shiloh!

Shades of Gray

The weather around here has been...well...gray. I have been so uninspired to blog lately, and my friend Shiloh from Australia scolded me for having not blogged about anything related to fashion or beauty for a while now. SO--I decided to use the weather as my fashion inspiration and use some beautiful GRAY things for this post.
Gray is the new black...soft gray that is. It is the most popular neutral of the moment...don't blink or the new neutral will be navy, or chocolate brown...but at this moment it is soft gray, so soft gray I will celebrate today.
This is the beautiful Devote Pump by Chinese Laundry found at PIPERLIME. No frills and lovely.
I have not embraced the bootie trend for myself, but I love them on other people...other people being tall , thin, willowy girls with leggings and thin ankles. These are the Corso Como Bootie also found at PIPERLIME . Even though I am not sure about wearing these myself, I think they are beautiful. This is the Mia Viper flat also from PIPERLIME . Flats are still going strong and sure to be in through the Spring and Summer and these are very cool. I love the snake skin and I love flats.
The gray trend is also alive in nail polish. I would not have thought that gray would be a good color for me, but I LOVE this ZOYA Freja.This is Zoya Freja with some cheap glitter polish on top, but I think it looks very cool -and it is my blog, so I am posting a picture of it for your viewing pleasure-HA!

This is the very chic Gray Studio Exclusives Trench from BLOOMINGDALE'S. I love how it is paired with the black derby-very cool. I love Delman shoes. I have been a fan of their funky yet wearable styles for a long time. This is the Gray Flannel Delman Flat from SAKS . This shoe is prim and pretty and totally wearable. I love this French Connection Herringbone Wool Jacket from BLOOMINGDALE'S . I love the shape of the jacket with the bell sleeves, cute collar and the flare of the bodice. Love love love!
This is the gorgeous Robert Rodriguez Side Tie Skirt in gray from SAKS . This skirt is so classic and lovely. I also love the model's shoes in the picture.Last but certainly not least are the Gray Cambio Techno Bermuda Shorts from SAKS . I happen to love Bermuda shorts, or walking shorts depending on where you live. I happen to live in the Midwest where we call them walking shorts. I am going to order these today because they would look so great with a crisp white shirt and a fierce red stiletto. I would also add a scarf to my hair with a splash of red....I digress.

I love these shorts!

I hope whereever you are today that your day is sunny and not gray. As my friend Misto and I talked about just this morning, everything is better when the sun is shining.

Hugs to my Misto.

Lovely day to all!

(photos from Piperlime.com, Saks.com, and Bloomingdales.com** Zoya nail polish photos are property of MonkeyPosh LLC.)

Happy Valentine's Day and TAGGED by Swish Style

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!! I hope all of you have a wonderful V-day full of love and sunshine. This is me in front of the LOVE art sign in NYC on 6th and 55th...or at least I think it is 6th and 55th. I kinda love that sign.

Also-

Nicky over at SWISH STYLE tagged me to answer some media habit questions. Nicky is a lovely lady with a very nice blog and great taste...stop on over and say hello to her.

Here are my answers:

Books-

I love to read. I like all kinds of books except cheesy romance novels and science fiction. I love books that make me laugh. I will read anything by David Sedaris or Anthony Bourdain. I love travel narrative books and I love anything interesting. I like silly chick books from the likes of Jane Green or Amy Drake or Candice Buschnell. I loved "Eat Pray Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert. I love true crime books and I dig Ann Rule. I love Stephen Clarke who writes hateful books about living in Paris. I could go on for days about books I love.

T.V.-

Hmmm..I love the Travel Channel and the Food Network--travel and food are 2 of my favorite things. I love Anthony Bourdain's show called "No Reservations"--which is all about travel and food too. I love a show called "Neat". It is on HGTV and it takes place in Canada. It is a show about clearing clutter and redecorating. I also love Project Runway, Survivor, Top Chef ETC.

I love The Office-( Brit and Us versions), Curb Your Enthusiasm, Extras, Friends reruns, and Sex In The City reruns. I think I am going to like Lipstick Jungle, however Cashmere Mafia did not entertain me in the least. I love all improv shows--Saturday Night Live, Mad TV, etc. I like any TV with witty writing--which there is VERY little of these says--writers strike not withstanding. I am probably forgetting some of my fave shows, but you get the idea.

Music-

I like EVERYTHING except heavy metal. I am really into indie music and although I do not hate everything on conventional/mainstream radio, I do not go out of my way to listen to it either. I like European music and music that moves me. I love jazzy -bluesy stuff too. I love music by true artists and not crap done mostly with machines. I also love old school Rod Stewart and Journey and stuff like that. I wish I could sing or play an instrument. I played the flute when I was in middle school, but I am talking about a real instrument like guitar or drums. You really cannot really jam like a rock star while tooting a flute.

I will be out of town for the next few days, so again, lovely Valentine's Day to all and thanks again for the tag Nicky!

(photo property of MonkeyPosh LLC)

The cooped up cook

I just realized I have not posted in almost a week--where does the time go? I have been feeling uninspired lately. I think all this snow is starting to make me loopy. When I say "all this snow" please know that this has been a VERY snowy winter here in the Chicagoland area. There has been more snow this year than in the past 29 years. The roads have been horrible and most days, I have limited mobility as far as getting out on the streets--so I have been feeling very cooped up. When I get cooped up I cook and nest. I have been obsessed with trying out new recipes and home decorating and cleaning house--which are very good things, but I am so tired of this snow, ice, fog and COLD!

Here is a photo of the FOG that has been around just about every morning for the past week. Spooky. So many flights cancelled out of Chicago airports due to not only the snow, but the fog.

SNOW!

This is Finley in all his glory. He LOVES the snow and he runs and tunnels and digs and frolics over the snow drifts. My husband calls him "Baby Sled Dog". You know how men can go to "Fantasy Baseball Camp" and as a fan they can participate in Spring Training?

Well, my husband wishes they had "Fantasy Sled Dog Camp" for dogs, because he would totally take Fin to the Iditarod Dog Race in Alaska.Fin has been reading up on it. Forrest loathes the cold and snow, so while my husband and Finley dream about dog races, Forrest lays under his Pooh blanket and dreams about food.....which brings me to all the cooking I have been doing.
This is steak with homemade olive tapenade and chopped plum tomatos and rosemary roasted sweet potatos--with butter on top because no matter how fancy you make a potato it always has to have either butter or ketchup.

These are scallpos with a tobasco pepper reduction, carmelized onions, fried pancetta, and fresh chopped basil on top. These were outstanding if I do say so myself...and I do.

There is nothing I like more on cold days than hot soup. Soup is one of my favorite things any time really. So, this night I made a soup duo. The top soup is a butternut squash soup with a dash of cloves, a dollop of creme fresh, fried pancetta, and crispy fried basil leaves. The second is homemade chile with with chorizo and beef, carmelized onions, creme fresh and sharp cheddar cheese. Divine.

This bottom photo is how I cook MOST of the time--hot dog with curly frito things and a cold beer. Thank G_d my husband is not picky. HA.

I hope that where ever you are, you have better weather than me.

Do any of you have any wonderful cold weather recipes or favorite meals? Stay warm, and happy cooking!

(all photos from MonkeyPosh LLC)

Grounded.

Friday was a BAD day.
I was up at 3:00am to be ready to leave for the airport at 5:45am to catch my 8:45am plane to NYC for Fashion Week duties and parties and receptions and shows. We had about 11 inches of snow through the night on Thursday --and it was still snowing--so I dutifully checked my flight status on the internet. Much to my surprise it said my flight was ON TIME. I was surprised considering the tragic weather, but I crossed my fingers and went with it.

It took over 2 hours to get to the airport because NONE of the roads were plowed at that G_d-awful hour of the morning. I get to the airport only to look at the status screen and see that my flight was CANCELLED. Everyone was fighting for the very few flights leaving O'Hare. Over 600 flights were cancelled at O'Hare yesterday. SIX HUNDRED! The best I could hope for would be a 4:00pm flight--however while I was standing in the check in line, that 4:00pm flight quickly got delayed to 5pm, then 6pm, then 6:40pm....then 7:20pm..and so on and so forth.
Because all the bad weather here was supposedly moving towards my destination, my chances of getting out were basically ZERO. I checked to see about flights today, and there are tons of cancellations and delays today too, because of all the cancellations yesterday and the domino effect that causes for the next few days. By the way, the weather is supposed to be 48 degrees and sunny in NYC today.....DAMN YOU CHICAGO WINTER!
One of the things I was going to get to be involved in while in New York was a reception to honor Australian designer Josh Goot. He showed his stuff earlier this week in NYC. So to rub salt in my wounds, I get up this morning to check my e-mail and there is one from Intermix, so I click on it and guess what is highlighted on the Intermix website???? JOSH GOOT ITEMS galore. DAMN SNOW!! DAMN CHICAGO!!!

Oh well.

I hope where ever you are, you have good weather.

Here is hoping all my friends at Fashion Week are having a blast and having better luck than me.

(photos from MonkeyPosh LLC's backyard)