Look of the Day: Yellow Jacket

August is always a month full of celebrations! All my best friends from high school celebrate their birthdays this month. Then I have 3 cousins, 3 aunts, and one uncle who have birthdays. And don't forget my birthday! I just got this white skirt from Oasap so I have a fun party skirt that I can easily mix and match for any celebratory event. For this look, I thought a yellow blazer would be bright and festive paired with stripes.

Oasap Skirt - Chico striped top - Truth & Pride silk blazer (similar) - Vintage beaded purse - Madewell suede flats - Rivet & Sway glasses 

Look of the Day: Spring Patterns

This past weekend, Seattle was blessed with sunny, fair weather. It felt like Spring, despite the chilly breeze. I tried to dress like the wind didn't exist and ended up freezing by the evening on both Friday and Saturday. It's hard not to get overly exited by sun in March. Thank goodness Spring is only a week away!

I took these photos out back, but the very bright photos were shot on the roof again. It was too sunny up there so it was hard to get good shots where my face wasn't all squished up and grumpy-looking. The reflective coating on the roof makes it very warm, as well as bright, so it always feels like summer up there! I'm still experimenting, but I think the roof is going to be a good place to shoot photos on darker days.

My mom made this amazing bracelet for me last year. The beetle is an old clasp of some sort, which she attached to a piece of velvet. I love bugs, especially beetles, so I'm pretty crazy about this bracelet!

Too bright.

I'm so glad I bought this blazer. A blazer is one of those items that every closet needs. It goes with almost everything; even this colorful, pattern-saturated outfit!

H&M striped shirt (similar)- H&M blazer - thrifted skirt (similar)- H&M purse (similar)- handmade bracelet - Banana Republic sling-backs (similar) - Rivet & Sway Spitfire frames

♠

Look of the Day: Madewell dress & Fair Isle mittens

 It's only January, but I'm already sick of layers. They take so much work. You have to make sure you're warm enough and, at the same time, make sure they match well enough. It's easy to look crazy. That's why in the winter I usually end up wearing a lot more blue. It's a good color on me and goes with well with neutrals.  My look is obviously lacking a coat, but I sacrificed my comfort for the photos.

What are some of your tricks for layering?

I can't tell you how happy I am that I spent all that money on Uniqlo heat tech in London. That stuff is a godsend. I wear my t-shirt every day (wish I woulda bought a couple of those!). The leggings I'm wearing are also heat tech, which if you haven't heard, keeps you warm by both preventing heat loss and creating heat. It's pretty amazing stuff.

 Now that I think about it, almost everything in this outfit is new. The fair isle mittens were a lucky find at Value Village. The dress was aquired during a nerve racking purchase at Madewell last week (I wish their stuff wasn't so expensive!) Lastly, even though I've had the glasses for a while, I don't think I've featured them in an outfit until now. You may remember this post where I asked which frames my readers preferred. Well, I ended up with the Spitfires. They were my favorite from the beginning, and seem to be pretty popular with a lot of Rivet & Sway's customers.

Madewell sweatshirt dress - H&M cardigan (similar) - Primark infinity scarf (similar) - Vintage Coach purse - Uniqlo stirrup leggings (similar) - MIA flats - fair isle mittens (similar) - Rivet & Sway Spitfire frames
♠

Look of the Day: Core Strength

As many of you readers may know by now, I've been working with a local eyeglass company, Rivet & Sway. A few weeks back, I got my wits about me and did something smart: I went to the Rivet & Sway pop-up shop at U Village and did some "networking". It's something I rarely do, because, honestly, I'm pretty shy in person. I'm very happy I did because all the people at Rivet & Sway are just as lovely in person as they were over email. The icing on the cake? They asked if I would want to help out with their Holiday campaign!

I said yes, of course, and now have these gorgeous photo to add to my portfolio. We had an amazing photographer, Barbara Kinney, and the fact that she has photographed Hillary Clinton just makes me swoon.

It's sounds funny, but I am the official face of their newest frames, The Core Strength. If you follow the link, you can see what the frames look like from different angles and in different colors. Scroll down for a little mouse-over thingy where you can make me turn my head back and forth!

This image was used in the Rivet & Sway mailer a couple weeks ago. I love their branding so much. Gorgeous typeface, simple colors, and all-around excellent graphic design.

Now to find a camelhair coat like the one Britt let me borrow!

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!).

And the winner is...

I'd like to introduce you to the winner of my Rivet & Sway Pin-To-Win: Tori Radday!

It was a hard decision; there were so many great Fall Focus pinboards! In the end, it was Tori's unique taste that won me over. 

Thank you so much to all who entered. I hope you had fun!

Look of the Day: on repeat

The velvet skirt appears, yet again! Autumn is usually the only time I get to wear it, so I've been wearing it a lot. It's just so much tawny velvet, doesn't seem appropriate in any other season.

 Not to jump subjects too drastically, but... ELECTION DAY IS TOMORROW. Thank the Heavens, we've made it through!! Please, please, please don't let it be "too close to call". At least, even if it is, the ads will stop. Hopefully. Here in Washington, our gubernatorial race is neck-in-neck, so even if the presidential race ends with a clear winner, we might still have to suffer through months of recounts and hearings. It happened in 2008 and it definitely could happen again.

How is your election season? Coming to a sweet, sweet end, I hope.

 A gentle reminder: I'm running a great giveaway, especially if you're need of some stylish new glasses. It's a pin-to-win, so it's a lot of fun, too! GO ENTER!

GAP denim jacket - H&M striped shirt - United Colors of Benetton scarf - Coach bag - vintage skirt - Forever21 sunglasses

♠ 

My biggest giveaway yet!

Ready for it? Rivet & Sway is giving away a set of frames worth $199!

This time, there won't be any boring Rafflecopters involved. Instead, it's going to be a Pin-to-Win and the reader with the most creative and detailed board will win her choice of stylish glasses, complete with prescription lenses! If you don't have a Rx, that's OK, too. Rivet & Sway glasses can also be made with high-quality, non-prescription lenses, and include a 100% UV filter coating.

Here are some images of their gorgeous frames if, for some reason, you need more reasons to enter.

From top to bottom, The Rizzo in Honey Drip, The Faster Pussycat in Jet Black, and The Spitfire in Galapagos Green

Or maybe these will convince you...

The Poetic Justice in Royal Tortoise

 OK, are you ready to enter?

Let's get down to the details:

1. Follow Rivet & Sway on Pinterest

2. Create a pinboard called "Fall Focus". Be creative!

3. Pin your favorite pair of frames from Rivet & Sway

4. Include the hashtag #pintowin on all of your pins
5. Leave a comment here with a link to your board (this is crucial!!)

If you need some ideas for your board, Both Rivet & Sway and I have created a Fall Focus pinboard. Here's mine and here's the one created by Rivet & Sway.

The winner will be chosen by me and Rivet & Sway!

Contest ends NOVEMBER 16th, 2012
 ♠

Rivet & Sway

One of my goals this year has been to work with local Seattle businesses. This city is chalk-full of stylish, talented people who make any proud Seattlite even happier to call this city home.

Rivet & Sway is one of those local businesses that makes me proud to be from Seattle. They're the total package.

The company is staffed by great people and, despite it being an online shopping experience, it doesn't feel that way! Everyone is so helpful and friendly, and the service is so personalized, that it really feels like you're a VIP at a local boutique. They even have a personal stylist who will help you find the perfect pair of frames.

At the moment, I have no need for prescription glasses, but judging by the amount of people who wear them in my family, I will probably need them soon. That's why I only felt a little silly ordering frames from Rivet & Sway. When Ritzy, Rivet & Sway's personal stylist, contacted me about writing a review I thought "Well, say what you want about fake glasses on people who don't need them, I'll at least have a nice pair of frames when my eyesight starts to go!" Plus, as you all probably know, I am not shy about wearing non-prescription lense.

The whole process is pretty simple. 

1. Choose three

If you know what works for your face or what you love, then you can just choose for yourself. If you can't decide, you can use the Personal Styling feature and Ritzy will send you some personalized recommendations based on what you like and face shape.

2. Try them at home

Once you've picked three frames, Rivet & Sway will ship them, both ways, for free! You get 3 days to try them on, ask your friends for input, etc. Ritzy is even available to give advice if you can't decide! When you've decide, you ship all the frames back.

3. Order your favorite

The last step is to order the pair you decided on. This is where you enter your Rx info and they will be ready within a week!

I'm such a sucker for great packaging and graphic design.

I'm rather partial to the Spitfire in Galapagos Green

Which style should I go for?

Check back for a pin-to-win sponsored by Rivet & Sway!