Happy Snapshots: November

This fall season is going by so quickly. I know I keep saying a variation of this, but it must be because I'm getting old and I retain less and less everyday. (There's science behind this! Children experience time more slowly than we adults do. If I've got this right, they're building memories from many more things that they experience during the course of a day; we adults have already done that work and so ignore lots of the minutiae of daily life.) Still, I remember that November was a darn good month overall. There were birthdays, cuddly babies, Thanksgiving, my anniversary, new beautiful dresses, and lots of Fluevog in my life this month! I couldn't ask for anything more. (Well, except to be done with my dissertation already, but I guess you can't have everything.) Without further ado, this month's snapshots:

Post-Halloween silliness

My mom posing in front of the Mark Taper Forum in downtown Los Angeles

Election Tuesday, November 6, 2012. I take my right to vote seriously.

Fluevog Mahalo in the Wearever family: Gorgeous shoes, but I sold these because they're too large for comfort.

Fluevog Elijah in the Earth Angel family: Vintage booties that are sadly too small for comfort. These are still up for sale.

Trying to distract him from the long wait at the restaurant for my mom's birthday brunch. I know I look scary but he actually loves it when I do stuff like this. He gets all baby-ish and cuddly. Funny kid.

Speaking of babies: my twin nephews are getting so big! I can't wait until they start babbling.

One of my favorite autumn dishes to make from the vegetables in my weekly farm box -- a recipe for cruciferous greens, like mustard greens, kale, chard, beet greens, and more. The secret is braising them with a combo of ginger and cumin, and the greens turn wonderfully sweet. Recipe forthcoming.

Another favorite autumn/winter dish, and great for treating colds. This is the Filipino version of chicken soup (with rice). Tons of ginger and onion plus some garlic really make me happy. Recipe forthcoming.

Seeing all of the seat belts in use this way made me smile. From L-R: the kiddo in his car seat, his Thomas the Engine rolling backpack, and his favorite stuffed animal B.B.

Fluevog Raphael in the Earth Angel family: Suede ankle boots that I still wear and love. These were the shoes I wore for my daytime date with the hubby on our 10-year anniversary last week. Not the sexiest pair of shoes, I admit, but they're beautiful and comfortable, and they make me happy. That seems apt, don't you think? :-)

xo, Gladys

Thanksgiving Outfit

Dress: Eva Franco via ModCloth | Gray stockings: ? | Maryjane heels: Fluevog Malibran (Operetta family)
Photo courtesy of my aunt E

These were our Thanksgiving outfits. I'm quite enamored with the dress I wore. It's another splurge from ModCloth -- an Eva Franco dress on final clearance that is still available in the smaller sizes as of this writing. I love the fabric design, and the dress fits me perfectly at the shoulders, bust, and waist, which is rare for a shorty like me (I'm 5'1"). It's almost as if it was tailored for a petite size. The only thing is, the hem hits me at the knees, so I think it looks more formal on me than it would on someone who's, say, 5'7". Anyway, once I tried it on, I knew I had to wear it to our Thanksgiving family party last week. (Happy belated Thanksgiving to those who celebrated.) I also considered wearing it to the upcoming company Xmas party I mentioned a couple of posts ago, but decided the green Elizabeth shoes wouldn't go as well with the mint green of this dress.

By the way, did you notice my new haircut? No more crazy bangs with split ends, hooray!

Finally, I apologize for the quality of these photos. My DSLR camera has been a little neglected lately. I swear I've been wearing some cute outfits the past couple of weeks, but I simply haven't been able to catch good natural light to take proper photos. It gets dark so early now. But I'll try to find a hack around the lighting issue; if not, I'll just take indoor pictures and edit the photos as needed. Bottom line, I'll try to do better in December. :-)

xo, Gladys

Ten Years Ago

We look so young!

For this special day, I took out my scanner. This photo was taken ten years ago, on the day we said our I-do's in front of a judge with the most penetrating gaze I've ever encountered. She reminded me a little bit of my 8th-grade English teacher. I think that was part of the reason I started crying while reciting my vows.

Just 'cuz this is part fashion blog, I'll note that the dress came from a wedding shop in Urbana or Champaign, Illinois, called Duckie's. The wrap (and my silver-gray flats, not pictured) came from JC Penney's somewhere in Los Angeles. The necklace was a birthday gift from my soon-to-be parents-in-law. My husband wore the suit he'd had since high school.

Happy 10th Anniversary to my other half! Whew, we're getting old. Here's to another decade of growing old together, hopefully gracefully.

xo, Gladys

Holiday Dress Shopping

This isn't much of an outfit, but more of a preview. I think I've found my holiday dress, which I plan to wear with my new Fluevog Elizabeth heels.

Dress: Tulle Los Angeles via ModCloth | Sandals: Worishofer via Amazon

I tried to blur out some of the crazy mess of my bedroom, just to save your eyes (and my dignity, haha).

Anyway, this dress was among a couple of armfuls of dresses that I ordered specifically to match the Fluevogs (theme: green, or red). Of the whole bunch, this was the dress I gravitated to the most. The others will be returned to ModCloth without any pangs of regret. I am a big fan of the brand Tulle. I seem to end up buying their clothes, even when I don't know they're the brand, because their design aesthetic just pleases me. Most of their dresses also have pockets, which is a major plus for me if you don't already know that. Thus far I have four dresses and one awesome purple plaid coat. This new green-and-black dress will make five (and yes, it has hidden pockets at the hips!). The fabric is a stiff polyester with the lacy black scallops embedded into the outside of the fabric, but it is smooth (no lace) inside. This is what it looks like on the dress form:

Even though the shape on the dress form is retro 1950s or 1960s, the fact that the waist is loose-fitting and higher than my natural waist, though not empire, prevents it from taking that classic shape. Instead, the overall pear shape of the dress when worn makes it seem less "Mad Men" and more "modern company holiday dinner and dance party" (with the right shoes, of course ;-) ).

However, the thing about ordering from ModCloth is that you end up putting things in your cart just to try them on. I've been drooling over Trollied Dolly dresses for a long while now, but they rarely go on sale. Well, when two recently went on sale for less than $65, I went ahead and ordered them both just to try them on, and *gulp* I think I'm keeping this navy-and-candy-dots one.

This definitely fits the way it does on the dress form. So flattering! And I love all the details -- peter pan collar, narrow white piping for definition, button accents, and pockets! It's 100% cotton and very comfortable. It can be worn with or without the belt since it's quite structured. The candy-colored polka dots make me really happy, and I plan to wear this for Xmas day celebrations at my house when my family come to visit for the day.

Holiday dress shopping: MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. :-D

xo, Gladys

Blue and Orange at Brunch

This is what I wore to celebrate my mom's birthday. We went to a fancy brunch buffet that she loves, Castaway in Burbank. The restaurant is situated on the Par 3 of a golf course way up in the hills, and the view of the valley below is pretty spectacular.

Dress: Style & Co. via Macy's | Cardi: Cherry Knit USA via ModCloth | Tights: Sockdreams | Boots: Fluevog Volunteer (Prepare family)

I bought this dress online last winter and have worn it maybe once or twice. I think the weather last year warmed up pretty quickly soon after the purchase. Now, however, is the perfect time to wear it in this desert climate. After the lingering summer heat, we basically skipped fall weather and landed in winter. The dress is warm and very comfortable, and I like how the shift style can be dressed up or down. And hey, it's got pockets, not to mention some nice button accents. I almost wore it with a different pair of Fluevog clogs, my lovely blue Guide sandals (see here), but I'm glad that I changed my mind. It would have been too matchy-matchy and formal; instead the gorgeous boots kept things a little more casual, and it worked because the blue of the dress was neutral enough for the contrasting bright color (like wearing the boots with jeans).

Here's a family photo. My mom, seated with my kiddo on her lap, was really happy that day, as you can see. :-) I'm holding one of the twins, N, and my sister-in-law is holding her other twin son, R. (Does she look like she's barely had any sleep? I couldn't tell. She's still glowing!) Anyway, those two baby boys are humongous now after only 7 weeks of life. It was wonderful to hang out with them and hold them all day after the yummy brunch.

Here's my little family. It's not a very good portrait -- the sun was pretty bright and the kiddo was restless -- but it's the best one we have of the three of us that day. All in all, a great way to spend Sunday.

xo, Gladys

P.S. Another happy coincidence with this month's Everybody, Everywear theme: BOOTS!