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Very excited and setting my alarm for this weekend. The newest designer collection at Target is from Liberty of London, a company known for its iconic floral prints. I have fond memories of childhood dresses in pink Liberty print, and even teddy bears with the distinctive paisley motif. So, i can’t wait to see what’s on offer with the latest Target designer collaboration. Neither can Apartment Therapy, it seems!
However, rather than struggle against the crowds, think i’ll just do a little couch surfing this time around, inspired by these images:
Rick and I just got back from a ‘mini-moon’ – a long weekend in NYC the week after our wedding. It was great to be on the East Coast in the Fall. I love any chance to wrap up warm in cosy hats and gloves, and go walking, so this was the perfect time of year to do that.
NYC is also one of the rare times i get to bust out an outfit that doesn’t involve flip flops in some way. You know I love the West Coast, and believe me, i’m not complaining about the weather, but San Francisco is just sooooo casual. You can feel over-dressed if you wear proper shoes with no fleece! In NYC, you have to step it up a level, even for casual days. So, i enjoyed the opportunity to play a little ‘dress-up’ and glam it out at a few restaurants and bars we were dying to go to. I also kick started my wardrobe overhaul, finally!
My top NYC spots from this time around?
- CraftBar - yes, i have an obsession with Top Chef, and spent weeks literally drooling in advance after perusing the menus of Tom Colicchio’s various restaurants. CraftBar had this wonderful chicken consomme with home-made tortellini and a fresh farm egg. Delicious! Cool spot too.
- Balthazar - i still love this place! Even though they didn’t have my favorite eggs in red wine and bacon sauce this time around. An NYC classic.
- Spotted Pig – we didn’t get to eat here, but spent a very cozy and late Sunday night propping up the bar. Of course, i felt right at home, as it’s styled like a classic English pub. Albeit a classic English pub full of young New York hipsters, clawing their way to the front of the line.
- Top Shop – you can’t understand the excitement this store causes for an English girl living in the States. When will Top Shop come to San Francisco?? Poor Rick was dragged around 4 floors of fabulous, and fell asleep waiting for me to try things on. Oops! Worth it though.
- City Bakery - I don’t think Rick will ever forget the hot chocolate they serve at this place. Ridiculous. And the candied French toast? Divine. We had to go back twice for the hot chocolate alone.
- Central Park – still wonderful, even when it’s raining!
- Uniqlo – way too busy and overwhelming. But cool, stylish basics. Again, when will SF get a store?
- SoHo – just in general. My favorite part of the city, no doubtt.
Here are a few snaps of the stay – enjoy!
Balthazar
What used to be Buddha Bar
City of contradictions
Again, the contradictions
Coolest revolving door EVER
NYC nights
The elevator at Tiffany. Sigh.
Window dressing
Guess who?
Ugly beautiful
Cental Park
View from our hotel room
Flying the flag in SoHo!
A little macabre in SoHo
I just got back from New York, and while I was there, I attempted to kick start my much-needed wardrobe overhaul, with the selective addition of a few new ‘classics’. More on that in another post.
However, as i was looking around the racks and rails, I noticed that alongside purple, which surely is this season’s hottest hue (I had purple shoes for my wedding!), royal blue is making its presence felt. I love royal blue. It’s bright and stunning, deep enough to look good in Fall and Winter, yet light enough to lend a cheerful accent to any outfit.
Stupidly, I didn’t pick up a great wool scarf in the shade i saw at the SoHo branch of Uniqlo. It was Saturday, the place was a zoo… And i’m still regretting it! But I thought i’d look around on the Web for inspiration and post my favorites here. As if needed motivation to shop!
Enjoy…
Anthropologie
French Connection
Gap
Forever 21
Steve Madden
Reiss
One of the things I love most about San Francisco is its unique take on the ‘neighborhood’. Even more so than London, where I lived in my 20s, SF never fails to charm and amaze me with its raggle-tag collection of districts, cultures, flavors, sights and sounds. Traverse the city and you could cross from Mexico to France to Italy to Russia, all in one afternoon.
It’s hard to pick a favorite, although my current happens to be where i live – a slightly off center section of lower Pacific Heights, near the wonderful street that time and Twitter forgot, Sacramento. Here you can still find Italian food with avocado and prawns as key ingredients (sooo good though!), shop a high-end consignment store for designer cast-offs of the seriously wealthy, and end up with the chicest cocktail of the day, a Fresa Fresca (basil, black pepper, fresh strawberries, cranberry juice and premium tequila – oh my!), at the beautiful restaurant, Spruce. All while walking your dog down a quiet oasis where strangers still say hi to you, you can hear the birds singing and you still kid yourself that you live somewhere with a neighborhood movie theater that only plays one movie at a time (the wonderful Vogue). It’s not trendy, but it’s a welcome respite from all the hipster-ness on display elsewhere and is a great anti-dote to high octane city living.
It seems as if San Francisco bible, 7×7, shares my love of the SF ‘hood. Its most recent issue is dedicated to all things neighborhood and is a great read, especially readers’ love letters and photos to their own particular piece of the city. I submitted mine (see if you can spot it!).
Again, thanks to one of my favorite (if way too infrequent!) bloggers, Anh-Minh, for finding me the perfect transitional coat. Hardy enough to deal with the San Francisco summer – remember that alleged Mark Twain quote? Yeah, it’s true by the way), classic enough to last, light enough to wear as the Indian summer kicks in next month, and frou-frou enough to appeal to all my girlish whims.
Here it is, from J Crew, a store i never visit, as i always forget they have a store in San Francisco. They have such a preppy, East Coast sensibility about them: http://tr.im/v6VN
Hmm, perhaps it can form part of my new ‘cost per wear’ ratio?
