Look of the Day: Winter Neutrals

 The pace of life has really picked up. I have a horrible head cold, so am having trouble keeping up with everything. For instance, I should be packing right now, because I leave for England tomorrow! Instead, I'm blogging and listening to NPR and hoping this grogginess will go away.

Last week I had the chance to do some modeling for a local company. I'm usually a total wreck when someone else is taking my picture, but I like the ladies of Rivet & Sway so much that it just felt like hanging out with friends. I was pretty surprised with how at ease I felt. (There may or may not have been prosecco involved.) One of the photos is up on the Rivet & Sway website now. I'm the face of their holiday sale!

I have a question for you guys. Does anybody know what style of Coach this is? I bought it last week from Crossroads Trading Company in the U District thinking it was the Court Bag. It is not. It has a center pocket and is much wider at the base. I'm curious to find out what style it is!

Before I go, I wanted to give one more shout out to the generous souls at Vivilli. They gifted me this gorgeous white jacket. I love how structured it is, and all the zipper detailing is right up my alley. It come in 2 other colors as well and is a total steal (only $36!).

Wrapped in Merino

It's time for another fun campaign from the Woolmark Company. I'm honored to have been asked to be a part of it and it excited to share it with you! Click here to watch the promo video. You might see a familiar face ;)

 For this campaign, their goal is to wrap the entire World in a scarf! Visit the Wrapped in Merino website to wrap yourself in a scarf, and you will have a chance to win a Merino prize pack as well as a Net-a-Porter voucher!

If you live in the northern hemisphere, it might seem a little silly to be wrapping everyone in a scarf right now, but Woolmark is from Australia, and if you paid attention in school, you'll remember that their seasons are opposite ours. It's pretty chilly down there right now! One thing they didn't teach us in school, though, is that wool is great for all seasons! It's just as good at moisture-wicking as any of those fancy yoga pants, which makes it great for activewear. On top of that, wool is anti-microbial, anti-fungal, and anti-bacterial, which means it stays fresh much longer than most other fabrics. To learn more, visit the Woolmark website, which has a special section on the many features and uses of wool.

Look of the Day: rain or shine

Seattle Spring: rain, sun, wind, hail.

The clouds are amazing, as they always are this time of year. Big, billowy mountains floating across the sky. I get distracted when I drive over one of our many bridges. Hopefully I won't ever have to blame an accident on "pretty clouds". That's a pretty lame explanation. 

 I was really regretting not purchasing this silver purse from Zara a while back, but it just so happens H&M had nearly the exact same thing. I got it for $5! The cape is a treasure I found at a thrift store in Olympia and the Merino wool turtleneck was $2 at the Fremont Sunday Market.

 Vintage cape - Thrifted wool turtleneck - H&M clutch - Forever21 skirt - Cooperative wedges

hearts & candy

Yet another holiday with the purpose of reminding us to tell our loved ones how much we appreciate them. Go buy some chocolates for someone :)

In these photos:

Thrifted Land's End sweater

H&M belt

Forever 21 skirt and shoes

Now, for a delicious recipe! It's always nice to have something special on Valentine's Day, so I came up with this Rose-Pistachio Buttermilk Biscuit recipe, based on one from the Fannie Farmer cookbook.

Rose-Pistachio Buttermilk Biscuits

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 Tbsp sugar

1/2 cup butter or shortening

2/3 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup chopped pistachios (if salted, they should be rinsed first)

Preheat the oven to 425F. Grease to 8-inch cake pans. Put the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and sugar in a bowl. Cut in the butter using two knives, a pastry blender, or your hands until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the buttermilk all at once and stir just until the dough forms a ball around the utensil. Add more buttermilk if it looks to dry, but be careful not to add too much! Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead 14 times (really, that's what it says, it's not just a Valentine's Day thing). Pat or roll until 1/2 inch thick. Use a heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut out biscuits. Place about 1/8th inch apart. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until lightly browned. Serve with raspberry or cherry jam and mint tea.

For the icing:

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1 Tbsp rosewater (Very affordable at Halal markets!)

Optional: Crumbled rose petals

Stir ingredients until well mixed. Drizzle over slightly cooled biscuits.

Fall Brights

Yesss, new clothes! I love getting new clothes, but who doesn't??
I ordered a few things from www.felicee.com and can't wait to style them all! It took a whole 5 days for my package to get here. That's incredibly fast, considering it was shipped internationally.

Isn't this sheer skirt lovely? It's a little see-through, but nothing some spanks won't fix. Other than that, it's perfect! It fits really nicely. I was afraid it would be that really itchy tulle they use under prom dresses and such, but it's not. It's comfortable and light, and is quite nice to wear. Plus, it was under $16!! You can find it here along with a lot of other awesomely affordable things. For instance, the leopard-print belt I'm wearing! It set me back a whole $4.46. Pretty great deal, huh?


The magenta jacket is new too, but it was a lucky find at a thrift store. It's 100% wool! I wish I could have taken more pictures, especially better ones of the detailing, but my feet were killing me, so I had to cut the photo shoot short.


Look at the pin-tucking on that jacket, though. Definitely a quality piece!



In these photos:
Skirt and belt from Felicee.com
GAP merino turtleneck
Chloe flats
Vintage wool jacket

Fashion by Feelings

Ahh, yes, a promotion I can really support! Woolmark has launched the Fashion by Feelings Campaign to promote wool and provide another awesome outlet for posting looks. Visit the Fashion By Feelings website to post a look (or 3, like I did, haha), give Love to other posters, and learn more about the amazing trip to Australia you could win!


I am a huge fan of wool, so I have no shortage of great pieces to style, but I live in Seattle so it makes sense that I own lots of wool. It's warm and it's water proof, but did you know that what makes it waterproof also makes a moisture-wicking material? Yup, that means it's great for warm climates, too! Sheep wear wool in the summer and sheep wear wool in the blazing Australian sun, so why not you?



I can't seem to figure out how to link to my looks via my blog, but, if you have nothing better to do, visit the Fashion By Feelings site and search for "Catie Beatty." I would be happy to return any Loves given!



In these photos:
H&M cardigan
Thrifted oxford shirt
BDG cropped cigarette pants
New Look wedges
Aldo bag
H&M sunglasses
Scarf bought from a street vendor in London

So far so good

I haven't bought any clothes in June! I know it's only June 6th, but that is still a good start! I almost bought a sweater at an estate sale, but it was too much and didn't fit in the arms. I've been thinking I might make an exception for really cheap things at estate sales, since that is my favorite hobby that I rarely get to do, but honestly, I would just be cheating.

Instead, I've been working a lot more lately. I'm not working full time, but it feels like it with all the driving. I might even pick up a little more work at a fifth job! It would just be temp work for a small high-end consignment shop on Queen Anne, but that's if it works with my cafe schedule and if the nice lady will have me.

In these pictures I am wearing a wool sweater. Yes, wool in June. The very next day, the temperature soared above 70 for the first time in 2011. Such a sad city made ridiculously cheerful by a little heat. People waved, actually waved, at me as I drove by in my car. It's amazing what an impact some sun can have.

In these photos:
Forever21 sunglasses
Forever21 skirt
Vintage wool sweater
J.Crew denim shirt
Aldo bag & shoes
H&M scarf

Too much J. Crew

I've been using J.Crew catalogs for a lot of my snowflakes and I think it's starting to get ingrained. I keep having this urge to wear layers of sweaters and baggy things, topped with gaudy jewelry. Sweatpants and heels keep coming to mind as well. You so crazy, J.Crew.

I wore this to my friend's birthday party. We had hors d'oeuvres and everyone brought wine, because after a while you realize it is the cheapest and quickest way to get drunk, while looking classy and grown up the whole time. Wine + Good People= Fantabulous time.



One thing I should point out: my outfit is not vegan. I think I am wearing four different kinds of animals. I just bought the cashmere (goat) hat at J.Crew for $20. Such a great color AND easily seen in the snow, just in case we have another blizzard. The rabbit fur stole has been featured before, as has the sheep's wool jumpsuit, and the leather Vince Camuto boots. Yup, that's four. Thanks Creatures, have a nice evening!

Hopefully, after all this borrowing of fur and hair (I plan to give it all back of course), I will be warm for once. The cold always finds its way under my layers.

In these photos:
Vince Camuto boots
Donna Karan jumpsuit
J.Crew hat
Forever21 skirt