Who's That Lady

Molly Young: A Young Achiever

Most of us have claimed to be just like Carrie Bradshaw at one point or another, but are any of us successfully sustaining ourselves with a writing career in New York City? Few can claim such a way of life (much to the dismay of English majors everywhere) and that's why Molly Young, who has already achieved this at age 25, is so inspirational to me.

Think of her as a younger, more intellectual Carrie Bradshaw. She's a copywriter and freelance writer living in New York who's written for GQ, New York Magazine, The Believer, and Vice to name a few. I've followed her writing for the last few years as she's established a solid writing career, which is no easy feat with the state of journalism and the economy. To get a sense of her style and personality, check out her blog, where she illuminates the idiosyncrasies of the human experience with excerpts of overheard conversations.

A true academic, she provides book reviews with a tone beyond her years for brainy publications like Stop Smiling. But I especially enjoy her lighter commentaries, specifically her pieces on fashion and Hollywood. She observes the absurdity of these entities with humor, wit, and a keen eye for B.S. Read her hilarious take on the styling game as she follows a Hollywood stylist in this article she wrote for GQ.

The literary world has many witty non-fiction writers and pop culture commentators, but many of them are male. Molly Young has provided for me far more than literary entertainment, she's given me hope that it's possible, as Carrie Bradshaw ponders, to have it all!

Tangerine Dream and a Peanut Butter Cookie

Tangerine Dream by vanessy137 on Polyvore

Recently I've been into playing with colors in different ways. I think part of it is that the color wheel has been trending lately as a means to plot out the color scheme for one's outfit. My current favorite color combination is one that uses two or three colors directly next to each other on the color wheel, i.e. the same shade of color in various gradients (like the water melon and light creamy coral pictured above).

The outfit below is a sorry example of the aforementioned color combining technique since I thought of collaging my love for the combo after the fact, but there's a tiny element of it in this outfit that I threw on for lunch today. Humor me!

Top: Emma and Sam, shorts: Car Mar, sandals: Sam Edelman, bracelets: Urban Outfitters, clutch: Scout Living, nails: OPI Mod-ern Girl.

I went to Magpie for lunch and sealed it all off with a vegan peanut butter whoopie pie. Super noms.

P.S. I scored Tina Fey's Bossy Pants for half price today at Beer's Books! I've been meaning to buy it ever since I found myself laughing out loud as I browsed through it in bookstore earlier this year. Isn't the cover genius?

Gwyneth's Ivy Chopped Salad

With summer coming to a close (dramatically clenches air while exclaiming 'noooo!'), I figured I might as well make one of my favorite summer salad recipes. You might see a lot of those on here. Like I mentioned in this  Five Things post, I can't get enough freaking salad.

This recipe from Gwyneth Paltrow is so tasty and flavorful it tastes like a restaurant dish. Maybe that's because it sort of is. Gwyneth derived her own version from the famous grilled vegetable salad at The Ivy restaurant in Los Angeles. Grilling the vegetables and salmon fillets take a little more time than usual for a salad, but it creates the incredible taste that sets it apart from the rest. I made mine with wasabi arugula instead of butter lettuce, which gives it a little extra kick.

It's made with all summer vegetables so make this salad while they're still in season!

Napa Lady Day

Yesterday was one of those perfect days that left us without a "low" to speak of when at the end of the day we went around sharing our highs and lows of the trip. Our itinerary, organized by my Napa pro sister, Michelle, was a non-stop relax-athon full of pinot, greasy-good diner food, perfect weather, and general girly debauchery. Classy debauchery. 'Cause it's Napa, y'all. We's ever so classy.

I was tempted to wear white as an homage to the saying, "no white after Labor Day," but instead I opted for a springy pink ensemble so bright and sunny that it aggressively resisted any sort of transition into a fall wardrobe. I liked to think I was scaring fall away with my blindingly pink shorts. Viva summer!

Sheer blouse: LF, shorts: Anthropologie, Sunset sandal: Madewell.

If you take a trip to the Napa/Sonoma Valley, feel free to steal our schedule:

1. Oxbow Market: This indoor mecca of artisinal goods and counter-service restaurants is a great place to start your day to stock up on cheese and grapes and grab a coffee at Ritual. It also serves as a great meeting place if you're meeting other bay area buddies for the day.
2. Scribe Winery: Book a reservation at the hilltop picnic tables or bring your own blanket to sit on while overlooking the linear stretch of grapevines and palm trees. Pet the dog, marvel at the rustic decor upstairs, and swing on the adorable tree swing for a shameless photo-opp.
3. Fremont Diner: Lounge on the turquoise tables, attempt to pet the stray wiener dog (he'll accept food but not pats on the head), and get the burger with a side of baked beans.
4. Bocce ball at The Carneros Inn: We were pretty sure we were the rowdiest bocce ball players ever to grace the courts of this peaceful hotel, but no one shushed us, so go ahead, have a ball. Oh yeah, and you should still have a glass of wine in your hand at this point. Bocce ball's totally a one-handed sport. We chose rosé for this activity.
5. Dinner at Redd Wood: Order the summer vegetable salad and the ricotta-corn-bacon pizza. Or the margherita pizza. You can never go wrong with that.

Sometimes the populations of certain neighborhoods are so stylish or distinctive that the whole scene looks like it was ripped from the pages of a catalog. So Gina and I were brainstorming which catalog the people of Napa belonged, and we settled on a fictitious collaboration between J. Crew and North Face. Except for the occasional pair of stuffy chino shorts, people were pretty on top of their fashion game.

The hilltop landscape at Scribe.

 

Bright denim and taupe wedges: we're sisters through and through.

"So spicy it'll set a cheatin' man straight."



Team photo.



Black Tie Affair

This outfit is the product of rifling through the bottom of my drawers in an effort to give new life to items I rarely (or in this vest's case, never) wear. There's a pretty good reason for not wearing this mini tube dress, however, namely that it's SUPER mini, hence the (necessary) lace shorts underneath. It's funny, I distinctly remember the sales girls ever-so-subtly suggesting that I size up, but for some I was dead set on the skanky extra small.

This vest was recently in the pile to take to Crossroads, but I had a last-second change of heart and saved it from consignment. I'm glad I did, because I like how the back tie coordinates with these lace-up espadrilles.

I wore this outfit to the movies with my bestie to see Celeste and Jesse Forever, which i loved. Indie romantic comedy + smart writing and humor + Andy Samberg + passion project + likeable central character + great soundtrack = my idea of the perfect movie.

Dress: Motel, vest: Quicksilver Women, shorts: H&M, shoes: Ugg, purse: Forever 21.

Tuesday Shoesday: 5 Pairs to Transition You From Summer to Fall

Today, because I'm shamelessly taking a page from fellow Sacramento blog, Good Day Howard, and because I'm a sucker for rhyming, I'm logging my own "Tuesday Shoesday" entry.

When it comes to the fashion vendiagram (bear with me and pretend such a thing exists), it's ideal for summer and fall shoes to overlap in that little sliver in the middle. With temperature, comfort, and general seasonal appropriateness as factors, it can be a challenge to find shoes that can be worn both now and in chilly November. Well, consider said challenge accepted. Is it premature to douchily exclaim, "Nailed it!"? Nope, I'm gonna say it's not.

1. Madewell's Sandstorm Fringe Boot



Wear them now with: a ditsy floral print dress.
Wear them later with: skinny, pastel-colored cords.

2. Marais USA's Studded T-Bar Flat



Wear them now with: high-waisted shorts and a top with frilly details.
Wear them later with: tights, a leather skirt, and a silk blouse.

3. DV Dolce Vita's Leopard/Pebble Print "Mini" Oxfords 



Wear them now with: a color blocked tunic.
Wear them later with: trousers and a collared chambray shirt.

4. Jeffrey Campbell's Rum Moto Boot



Wear them now with: a sheer, boho maxi dress.
Wear them later with: skinny jeans and an oversized knit.

5. Top Shop's Mini Stud Slippers



Wear now with: a casual skirt and loose tank or a structured romper.
Wear later with: laid back slacks and a blazer.

Do you guys have any go-to transitional shoes you rely on? I'd love to hear your shoe moves!

Music Mondays

 Inspired By: Alexis Krauss

Alexis Krauss Inspiration Board (version 2) by vanessy137 featuring ray-ban eyewear

There's something sort of cool about having a style uniform, about having a look so distinctive and consistent that a comic artist could easily scribble out a caricature of you if he needed to, or a Barbie manufacturer could easily spit out your mini clone. Alexis Krauss, on the music scene as one half of the noise pop duo Sleigh Bells since just 2010, has already established a singular look: jet black hair with bangs, Ray-Ban's original wayfarers, red lips, a denim or leather jacket, and rock n' roll accents like studs, spikes, and bleach splatters.

Beyond the career perks of establishing your style as a recognizable brand, it must be nice to have a closet with one cohesive thread running through it. Shopping must be so much easier with one homogenous style! Of course, the drawback is that it's limiting; everyone likes to mix it up every now and then!

Krauss stuck to her denim jacket/Ray-Ban uniform for the video for "End of the Line" - which was just released today - in the scenes where she bikes through sun-spackled streets. But she did expose a softer side in the moody rural scenes in which she dons a vintage floor-length gown (pajama?) accented with Victorian-style lace. The femininity of the dress is especially beautiful against the striking red lip. Given the piece's mumu siluouette however, it doesn't translate to the every day. But lose the length and keep the lace and frills, and you've got the same effect. Check out the links below my collage for some variations on the look.

The video itself, directed by the band's Derek Miller, leaves something to be desired, however. The aimless bike riding falls flat against the darker scenes with Krauss. I would've liked to see some sort of narrative accompanying the sexy, melancholy shots of her.

I do really like the song though, so much so that it heads my Sugar Beats playlist on Spotify. Check it out below.