Marimekko and Banana

Like all other Finnish people I too have a special relationship with Marimekko. It's hard to explain to non-Finns, but all other Finnish folks understand the sort of love/hate relationship that we all have with this iconic brand. Their colors, patterns and cuts are almost non-wearable, but somehow it just all works. Of course I too have lots of Marimekko in my closet. The good thing about my Marimekko stuff is that it's so not trendy that nobody knows how old it is. However, you have to be in the right mood to wear it, or it can easily wear you. So given all this, I was really excited when I heard that Marimekko is doing a collaboration with one of my favorites for basics, Banana Republic. They do great cuts, and nice, very wearable, decent quality stuff. The only picture I've seen so far is the short romper below, which is not my thing (maybe my daughters?), but I hope that the collection will have something for me too... I can't wait to see more of this stuff!

Stripes, Numbers and Letters

Here's an outfit from a few days ago. Everything is pretty old, except the new Ellen Tracy boots, and the Lenora Dame necklace which is quite recent. I love scrabble and play it on my iPhone all the time, so the necklace was perfect for me with the scrabble tile. I also have a Lenora Dame key chain which I love. But of course my best accessory is the lovely Coco who just loves to photo bomb my outfit pictures.

The Snow Day Cookie

It's snowing again! And of course when it snows, everything goes haywire. Many areas in New York state, including New York City and Long Island were declared under the state of emergency. Schools closed early yesterday, and are closed today. The kids are happy to have a snow day. And to be honest, I'm pretty happy to have a snow day too. Yesterday I left work early in order to actually make it home, and a good thing I did. It was really treacherous to drive home from the train station. Many cars were abandoned on the side of the road as they got stuck in the snow, and some were slipping and sliding on the hills creating dangerous situations for everyone on the road. When I got home I was in a mood for something comforting, and what could be more comforting than a good cookie!? Luckily the latest In Style magazine had a recipe for the "ultimate" chocolate chip cookie, in three different versions, chewy, crispy and cakey. I let the kids decide which one we'd make and they chose chewy (my favorite too!). Baking with three kids yammering away and wanting to help and lick spoons is a challenge, but the cookies turned out delicious. The recipe was easy to prepare and the little twist was sea salt sprinkled on the top of the cookies, which really enhanced the flavor and made it a bit more complex. All in all, yummy cookies, and the recipe is a keeper.

Let Me Introduce You...

To my latest love - the Fendi 2Jours bag. I've been looking at this bag and its many color schemes for a long time, and had been dropping hints way before Christmas. Well Santa heard those hints loud and clear and on Christmas I unwrapped this dark purple beauty. I love the rich hue, and it seems fitting since the Pantone color of 2014 is the rich dark purple "radiant orchid". My bag is not as reddish purple, but that is a good thing as this darker, bluer purple is surprisingly neutral, and goes especially well with grays.

The White Stuff

Here are a few more pictures from my daughter's camera from the time in early January when it snowed. The white stuff is long gone and the temperatures have been up and down…it's been freezing cold and then downright balmy. One day the change was more than 40 degrees in 24 hours (Fahrenheit, that is!). No wonder everyone's aches and pains are acting up! Hopefully we will still get snow at least once so that the kids could enjoy some more sledding and snow fun.

Dressing up in layers - the fur hat and shearling mittens are the most important, as are the weather proof Uggs. I do love my North Face coat too since it's super warm. And good thing Coco still had lots of fur to keep her nice and warm! 

Blue Chambray & Sequins

This was a sale shopping outfit from about a week ago - and the picture was taken at the Saks Fifth Avenue ladies lounge… Ha! I'm wearing a chambray shirt from TJ Maxx, H&M blue sequin sweater, Banana Republic skinny jeans, boots, dark brown shearling coat, and Fendi 2Jours shopper. The necklace was a Christmas present from my daughters - been wearing it lots!

Radio City Music Hall

Before the year turned we went to see the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular. It's a very New York Christmas thing to do, but I had never been before. This time my mother was visiting, so I thought that it would be a fun thing to do together with the whole family. I didn't have that many expectations, and was very positively surprised at the quality of the show. It was really good - so many little story vignettes, the Rockettes were amazing, and the music was excellent. We all enjoyed, from the 72 year old to the 3 year old :-)  If you're ever in New York around Christmas time I would definitely recommend the show!

Beautiful Beige

Here's another throwback outfit from early December. My gorgeous au pair wearing a beige Zara coat and Acne scarf. Beige on beige has never looked this good!

Throwback

I've got a few outfit pics that I never posted. Probably got too busy and then forgot. This one must be from the end of November. I'm wearing my fur west, Burberry sweater and scarf, felt hat, NYDJ jeans, Bottega Veneta bag and Lucky Brand boots.

I was thinking if I should have any style resolutions for this year. One helpful resolution could be to always snap a selfie in the fitting room before buying anything. I have noticed that it really does reduce the wrong picks. You just see yourself in a completely different light in a picture. Another resolution (the same one I make every year) is to shop more in my closet. I've got tons of stuff that I could wear, but get stuck wearing the same things over and over. And the third resolution should be simply buying less stuff. I should never buy anything unless I'm willing to give up something else. Giving it up for good, and not just moving it to the storage. I have a bad habit of moving my old stuff to the attic when it gets in the way, and then forgetting about it. One of these days I should also make myself go through my drawers which are full of unwearable stuff. I keep putting that one further because just the thought hurts. Is it normal to hate going through your stuff this much? I'd rather go to the dentist…

Winter Wonderland

New York was hit by a snow storm last night - in other words, it snowed (whenever it snows, they call it a "winter storm"). We woke up to a real beautiful winter wonderland. The kids had fun sledding while we got some exercise shoveling the snow. The Long Island Expressway was closed for the night, and even in the morning the traffic was minimal, so it was really calm, quiet and magical.