Gold Gardens

Brooklyn Botanical Gardens

Shirt: Loomstate, Tank: American Eagle, Shorts: American Eagle, Sandals: Franco Starto, Bag: Juicy Couture 

The weather in NYC has been just beautiful the past few days.  Perfect days have included wandering around the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens and just sitting in Bryant Park.  Add some fresh fruit, rosemary and lemon sorbet from the farmer's market and some good friends and you've got the best afternoons of your life.

Eat Me, Drink Me

1 & 2.  The Regency Cafe Almond Iced Latte and Almond Cupcake with Cherry Frosting

3 & 4. El Rinconcito Veggie Burrito and Horchata 

Because I enjoy procrastinating, reminding myself how I need to stop eating incredibly delicious and fattening foods so I can fit into my new pants,  reminiscing, and because my Mac is finally free of technical difficulties (trying saying all of that in on breath) I am posting these photos of this week's culinary conquests.  Tuesday a friend and I visited my favorite cafe, the Regency, and I had the most delicious cupcake. The icing on these cupcakes is always so good and I often have to convince my self not to buy one of these since they are so big.  But, since I won't be back for a while I let myself get one.  And of course, the Regency makes the best lattes I've ever tasted and this one was no exception.  The next day one of my friends took me to her favorite Mexican restaurant, El Rinconcito, where we both had veggie burritos.  They were huge (just like my stomach).   For those of you who might not have been to sure about drink what was in the photo, I would never wash down my burrito with milk!  The horchata that I did have was very refreshing.  Well, I best be going back to work.  I hope I didn't make you too hungry! 

The View from Here

Center City, Philadelphia 8/14/10

A Week in the Life

1. Jean Jacket: Hydraulic, Shirt: Blue Camel, Shorts: Loomstate for Target, Sandals: Sam Edelman, Bag: Hype, Earrings: A shop in Toledo Spain

2. Vibrant flowers in Rittenhouse Square Farmer's Market

3. Baguettes in Rittenhouse Square Farmer's Market

4. Ring: A New Creation

5. Steaz and A New Creation Ring from Lansdowne Farmer's Market

It's been a while since I've shown you anything I have been wearing lately because to be honest with you if I did post a photo of me in ripped short shorts and a tank top you really wouldn't care would you?  Yes, I must admit that I have dropped the ball style-wise this summer and I really don't like any of my attempts to pick it up (this attempt included).   But hey, that's what yesterday, a couple days in the last 2 weeks, and possibly another this next week are for.  Hopefully by the time I reach the Big Apple and fall starts rearing its impeccably good looking head I will be back to my usual self style wise.  Until then you can amuse yourself by looking at these memories of a day of shopping in Philly.  After a successful stop at Zara I took a stroll to the farmer's market in Rittenhouse Square where vibrant fresh flowers and flour of fresh baguettes caught my eye.  Last week I scored a lovely freshwater pearl cluster ring by Liz Steele-Coats's A New Creation and a delicious Steaz drink at the Lansdowne farmer's market.  Nothing beats a sunny Saturday to shop when the temp's just right.

Jeaneology

Jeanius by mainstreammisfit4 featuring Siwy jeans

Old Navy Womens Western Chambray Shirts, $25
Siwy Hannah Cropped Jean, $208
Helmut lang jeans WHITE, 128 GBP
Nicholas Kirkwood Shoe Boots with Kiltie, 710 GBP
AMBROSE Cuff Lace-Up Boots, $135
Large Leather PS1 - Smokey Grey, $1,995
Urban Decay Cosmetics - 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil
Painted Tee Shirt, $34

jeaneology by mainstreammisfit4 featuring Acne jeans

One thing I essential to my fall wardrobe is jeans.  I wear jeans practically everyday in the fall and winter months so it is important that I have a wide variety of styles to keep my look unique everyday.  I recently bought a pair of medium and a pair of dark rinse skinny jeans but my denim wardrobe for this fall will not be complete unless I get a pair of jeggings (honestly I kinda hate this word but it is so much faster to say than denim leggings), a pair of motocross skinnies, a pair of black skinnies, a pair of barely boot cut jeans, and a chambray or denim shirt.  I was a bit skeptical of the denim-on-denim trend but I have seen it pulled off very nicely and I intend to try it when the weather is right.  I love jeans so much and I will continue to wear my colored, tie-dyed, and wide leg trouser jeans this fall.  If I had unlimited funds for jean purchases I would buy these but since I don't, I think I might have a DIY project on my hands shortly.

Proenza Schouler F/W 2010 Hand painted jeans

Room for Squares

1. House by: Claude Parent   2. DKNY F/W 2010 3. Herve Leger F/W 2010 4. Versace F/W 2010 5. Balenciaga F/W 2010 

1: Architectural Digest 

Just your daily dose of fashion and architecture inspiration!

Changes

1. Dries Van Noten F/W 10,  2. Burberry Prorsum F/W 10,  3. Zero + Maria Cornejo F/W 10,  4. Thakoon F/W 10

Well, change is upon me and many of my friends and those who went to school with me may be gawking at the difficult task of having to look perfectly put together everyday of the week.  While this will surely be challenging I have decided on the uniform that I will be wearing next year.  So I'll basically be combining comfy oversized tops with skinny pants, jeggings, leggings, or tights (I might try harem pants but don't hold your breath) and swingy short skirts.  I'll be all about comfort and proportion and I'll probably stick with my favorite fall colors of grey, navy, and black while incorporating pops of color and shine where appropriate.  This may sound a bit boring to you but trust me I have great ideas for the fall season.  And if I had to choose what to carry my books in they would be nice and snug inside this J. Crew Exhibitor Mega Tote:

J.Crew.com 

Heavens, waiting

Left: American Eagle Outfitters, Right: Steve Madden

Answer me this simple question, which shoe do you think would be more comfortable: Exhibit A, the American Eagle rope wedge with a low platform heel, leather ankle strap and fabric peep toe, or the Exhibit B, the Steve Madden cork wedge with a high heel and a suede T-strap?  If you chose Exhibit B you are correct!  Looks can be deceiving; I kind of wanted to make that the title of this post but it lacked the mystery of a Temper Trap lyric so I refrained from doing so.   Fashion is a funny thing, many things are not always what they seem.  In what I believe to be the [paraphrased] words of a shoe designer (Guiseppe Zanotti?), "a shoe should always be more comfortable than it looks."  I wore these Steve Maddens for the first time yesterday for about 7 hours.  I wore the other shoes for the umpteenth time last Saturday and I think I might have almost broke them in except they began to cut into my ankles.  I received the AEs from my mom before my 16th birthday and have worn them every summer since then.  Although they are leather which doesn't take too long for me to break in, I have experienced pain in these shoes if I walk in them for even a short period of time.  I made the mistake of wearing them on a shopping trip to Saks 5th Ave in NYC a short time after they were given to me.  At first they weren't giving me any trouble, but when I made it to the shoe salon I was feeling the pain.  As I entered the room I noticed a small, white piece of cardboard-like material toward the right corner of the room.  As my eyes took in the beauty of the words, "Sale in progress" I let out a sigh of joy.  I let my eyes wander over the myriad of shoes, all on sale and all waiting to adorn my aching feet.  I bet now you're thinking, "this story has a happy ending because Caroline bought an amazing pair of dangerous looking yet comfy designer shoes for a steal!"  Unfortunately for me, the only benefit of Gucci booties being 30% off was that I could go from staring at an ad for those unaffordable shoes in my copy of Vogue while drooling all over the page, to staring at an actual, slightly less unaffordable shoe and even touching it (while attempting to stop the spit from creeping out of my mouth).  Instead of switching my common, mass produced espadrilles for finely crafted Italian stilettos, I left Saks and made the painful journey back to my hotel room to change into my silver gladiator sandals (much more practical).  These silver gladiators had the misfortune of encountering the slivery slickness that is (more than 5) New York puddles during a downpour last summer but that's another story. Yesterday I walked all over my house, up and down stairs, on grass, hardwood, and linoleum in my new wedges and all I had to show for it were some small red marks that faded 10 minutes after I changed into flip flops.  Sometimes, what seems practical can't be perfect and what seems deceptively perfect is.