Ugg or Ugh?

This notification received via email. Really? I have no words ...

Marc by Marc Jacobs

Sorry sorry for the absence of posts lately! This Marc by Marc Jacobs (Babylon sweater, $298) has been sitting my queue of things to post for a few weeks now. And what happened between the time I put it in my queue and the time I post it today? Well of course Rachel Zoe blogged the exact same sweater. So now we can lust over it together but never be able to find it, thanks to our dear friend RZ. Sigh.

Celebrity Style - Anne Hathaway

While I do think this girl is painfully ugly, I do admire her sense of style. Airport style pictured below - flawless. What struck me the most was her hair color. I'd love to have my colorist do the same color on me.
Movie premiere style. This dress is fantastic, albeit a dowdy, matronly length. The fabric is incredible!

Shopping Bag - A J. Crew Spree

Dear J. Crew,

I need a coupon code - STAT. Throw me a bone here, I'm just trying to spend a few hundred ...

French Connection on ideeli.com

My closet is filled with plenty of things that I bought because they were a good deal and not because I truly loved them or because they fit me impeccably well. That said, I am trying to (on a go-forward basis) make a conscious effort to only buy things I truly love.

And here is one love. A French Connection sweater I have lusted after many a-time on ideeli.com. It appeared again on last night's sale and will hopefully be arriving soon!

BCBG Max Azria

Dear Max Azria,

Please stop tempting me.

Fondly,

Mrs. K

OK I know it's teeny tiny but I couldnt' find a larger image. Check out the dress on the far right. It is stunning in this picture! A nice cherry red (not a hint of orange), with buttons down the front and a substantial cuff on the sleeve. So elegant!

Similar to the red dress pictured above but definitely different. Doesn't it remind you of something Kate Middleton would rock? LOVE! (BCBGMaxAzria from Saks.com)
This cardigan I'm actually not 100% sure is from BCBGMaxAzria. I can tell you this much - I found it at Bloomingdales.com and I L-O-V-E it.

This too. This one I know for sure is BCBG though. It has a black sash to tie it closed. The kind of thing I could probably live in.

Anniversary

July 25 marked two (!) years of wedded bliss. I took the day off to spend at home with my darling hub since I'd been in California the week prior. I was so surprised that Mr. K got me a fancy white Toy Watch complete with some crystal bling as an anniversary gift! The perfect accessory for rounding out those last few remaining weeks of summer.

Shopping Bag

I suppose this little shopping bag didn't seem so fully until I put everything in one place. AnyHOW! By now I am sure everyone is well aware of my fondness for footwear. Have you been to endless.com? Shame on amazon for powering this site and my addiction.

Kors Odin Wedge in this beautiful cobalt blue. Total impulse buy. I have no clue what I will wear these with but I HAD. TO. HAVE. THEM.

Juicy Couture wedge boot. On sale for like $140 ... at that price I really couldn't resist
Frye Missy wedge boot. These are incredibly practical for weekend wear. And possibly to work as well.

Now this pair is the ultimate steal! Have you signed up for MYHabit? It's one of those sale boutique sites like RueLala, HauteLook, Swirl, ideeli ... you get the point. Anyhow, these shoes were regularly $129 on sale for $59 on MYHabit. The real deal - an additional $25 off with code SUMMER25. $34! Free shipping! I bought them in black and couldn't be happier with my purchase.

Anthropologie

Don't think I haven't been getting my shop on just because I haven't posted in a few weeks! I do apologize for the delay ... business travel to the west coast has hampered my ability to post more frequently (excuses!). Anyhow, here is something yummy to hold you over ... the Anthropologie "dots within" blouse. Love it!

Project: Dining Room Remodel 2011

Now that we're tying up the loose ends of our living room remodel, it's time to move on to the dining room. I have made a little check list and the biggest item will be recovering the chairs. I've already started scouting out some fabric possibilities but I'm not sure what I want to do yet. I am thinking a solid color but I will certainly have to take a trip to Calico Corners soon.





I have made some progress though - Sunday Mr. K and I took a trip to a fabulous HomeGoods store and picked up a mirror to hang in our dining room. While persuing potterybarn.com today, I ordered these vintage chair prints pictured below. We already have a tin fork & spoon hung on one of the walls. I'm hoping I can make it come together as well as the living room did! Before pics coming soon!

PSA: Nordstrom Anniversary Sale

Oh I am literally shaking with excitement because there are only TWO days until the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale! Have you any idea what this means?! This means that we can buy new, fall fashions on sale before fall even arrives!! How wonderful! Here is the full link to the Catalog but I've included my fall favorites below for your viewing pleasure.

This boucle jacket was on the first page of the catalog. How could you not thumb through the whole thing after seeing this? I want more!

If you've been following my blog for a while or perhaps had some free time recently to go through my old posts, you would have seen about a year ago when I was completely smitten with capelets. Well that hasn't gone away. I don't own one yet but I love this one paired with the tie front blouse.
Another capelet. This one is about $300 cheaper than the one pictured above though I don't like it quite as well. This one reads: strictly weekend. I don't think I could get away with this at work.

The picture below is kind of tiny so I'm not sure you can make them out but this whole look is nicely done. I love the open cardigan and the quilted boots. The boots are Corso Como and it will be tough for me to not buy them!

OK, OK. I know. More stripes!

And a perfectly coordinated work look. I think this look was by Halogen but if you like it, you can confirm by checking out the Nordstrom Catalog.

Loafers! You knew there would be shoes on this list sooner or later, right?!

And, of course, no shopping spree is complete without some Tory Burch. While I do love the boots, I am lusting for a TB handbag! This one is beautiful and I can't see what else is on sale once it begins on Friday!

Project: Living Room Remodel 2011 (2nd Update)

The living room is really coming along! Last week my custom pillows arrived. They really tie the whole room together - the wall color, the area rug and the sofas!
Ahh, we also hired a cleaning lady. Piper enjoying her CLEAN casa!

Next up: hanging the curtains. Expect an updated living room photo quite soon!

PSA: J.Crew

Darn inbox keeps filling up with sale notification emails day in and day out! Today's PSA is imminent, as J.Crew is extending an additional 30% off all sale items but it ends today. So, basically, hurry.

I went into the store and bought the Leslie lace shell pictured below. I have no clue what I am going to do with it but it was cute, marked down to $55 from $88 + an additional 30% off. I am thinking of styling it with a black pencil skirt and red patent leather pumps (that I have yet to purchase!).

I also snagged a cute pair of shorts to wear sailing on Thursday. They are a light chambray material and color, pleated in the front, cuffed, with a chambray tie belt on them. I was going to pair them with a navy and white wide stripe tee and my brown sperry topsiders.
OK here is what I was really looking for in the store but unable to find, so I ordered online: turquoise colored khaki shorts! Not sure why I was so drawn to them but I have tons of plans for them!

Christmas List

With less than 6 months until Christmas, I am ready to begin my shopping and start making my own little list!

A new wallet. I've had mine for 3+ years and while it's still functional, frankly I'm sick of it. I like this Marc Jacobs one.

Alex and Ani bangles. Thank you to my dear friend Miss C (soon to be Mrs. J) for turning me on to this Rhode Island jewelry designer.


Aaaand another Alex and Ani bangle.

National "Wear Your Lilly Day"

How did I miss the memo? The first day of summer is apparently Wear Your Lilly Day! Too bad too, I have a brand spankin' new Lilly dress in waiting at home ... just need some cute Jack Rogers wedges to complete my uber prep summer look!

Ban.do

I first got wind of Ban.do a little over 2 years ago when I was in the midst of wedding planning and carefully coordinating my look. I didn't end up purchasing anything but have been lusting after their creations ever since. Today, Swirl is having a Ban.do sale and the prices are great! As usual, I have some top picks:

The one below I was O.B.S.E.S.S.E.D with for my wedding look but didn't end up buying it. My dress was heavily embroidered silk organza and I thought the design might conflict with it. It would've been kind of a lot going on. Mr. K didn't care for this piece because he thought it looked like spiders. Whatever. Men!

Did this one look familiar? Because Taylor Swift was photographed in it practically everywhere she went in spring 2009. Here is Taylor pictured below in the Ban.do design.

Project: Living Room Remodel 2011 (Update)

Last week I wrote about our newest throw pillow to cover our sorry looking sofas. This week our newest living room addition arrived - a new 8x10 area rug! Since I am terrified of decorating in color, this is the perfect rug for me. It is a black rug with tones of beige and taupe accenting. We barely had it rolled out before Piper dragged her Nylabone over and set up shop in the middle of it. Sweet girl!

Once she finally moved (or we forced her to move), we were able to put the room back together. Leave it to Mr. K to kick up his feet while I finished up with all the details. We're still waiting on 3 more custom throw pillows which also have a black background and a pattern in the same color scheme as the rug. I think it will really pull it all together. Next up: new coffee table!

And another mini-makeover project: our office. I did some decorating, cleaned, shredded tons of mail and did some touch up painting. We just need a new chair and it'll be all set!

Kors Vail Wedge

'Memba the Kors Vivan Wedge? Similar to pictured below except a little different? Well I bought them, I wore them 3 times, and they served as a reminder of why I HATE sling backs! I will chock it up to a $195 mistake. The elastic on the sling back stretched out so much I can't really wear them without the left shoe flopping around behind me. Awful! But I do love the shoes so decided to replace them with the d'orsay version - the Kors Vail Wedge - which I probably should've just bought in the first place!

Project: Living Room Remodel 2011

After a little over 3 years in our townhouse, Mr. K and I are ready to upgrade to something with our own yard. We started our big sprucing-up projects last year ('memba the kitchen before & after pics?). In March I started my overhaul of the living room. It's still underway but this is where it's at right now. Mr. K won't let me replace the sofas even though they are completely pathetic and sorry looking so I resorted to covering them with a bazillion throw pillows. The latest addition (center) is from Ballard Designs. In the online description and photo, the bows are on the sides of the pillow but when I received it, the bows were on the top and bottom. I think the monogram might have been stitched on sideways but it's not worth complaining about since now this pillow is on backorder. (Side note: Ballard Designs has worse back orders than Pottery Barn! Simply terrible).

My new area rug will arrive sometime next week so more pics coming soon!

BCBG Max Azria

The thing I love about BCBG is that sometimes they have pieces that bridge well from work to going out directly after work without a wardrobe change. The thing that makes me cringe about BCBG is the full prices. Today I happened to check the website and hundreds of new items have been added to the sale.

These are my top picks for the office and beyond ... I think the middle one is my fave. I do love me some stripes!