Fashion Fix: Orla Kiely

{ My apologies to those of you using an RSS feed to get my updates – sometimes I get a little overzealous with the keyboard commands, which can end up with you all receiving a post full of “blah”s and unsourced photos of the Duchess of Cambridge. Normally I’m pretty careful, but the sugar from this morning’s waffles must be wearing off and making me a bit… out of it. This is the actual post I was working on at the time! }

 

Can I interrupt your (Palm) Sunday for a moment and talk about how awesome Orla Kiely has become? I remember being intrigued by the distinctive pear pattern during the temporary retro fashion revival of my high-school days – you know, when those huge bellbottoms and peace-sign-everything were chic again – but completely losing track of the line once the style died down.  Cut to this year, when suddenly my fashion girl crush has stepped out in Orla Kiely dresses not once but twice in the last 6 weeks, and looked stunning both times.

{ Image source. }

First it was this brown collared dress with a bird print that the Duchess of Cambridge wore when visiting The Art Room in February. Paired with brown tights and heeled ankle boots, she looks very stylish yet comfy (and warm!).

{ Image source. }

And then in March, we saw her in this grey 3/4-sleeved dress with a pleated skirt and black detailing at the neckline for a visit to the Dulwich Picture Gallery with her in-laws. Extremely conservative otherwise, this dress becomes more youthful and fitting for the Duchess with the playful floral detail.

These are only two of the gems in the line currently, as evidenced by the fun selections currently available on their website. I combed through and hand-picked eight of my favorites to share with you. I just love the structure, colors, and patterns used for these pieces!

{1. Alpine Grove Flared Dress, via People Tree, $145 ; 2. Silk Georgette Garden Party Raglan Tunic, $565 ; 3. Heavy Crepe Tea Dress in red, $445 ; 4. Crinkle Crepe Tea Dress in navy, $485}

{5. Color Block Reversible Cardigan in Blush & Emerald, $310 ; 6. Ink Georgette Skirt, via Coggles.com, $464 ; 7. Stripy Stem Handbag, $165 ; 8. Patent Scallop Leather Robin Bag in Peony, $450}

Of course anytime someone as well-known as the Duchess of Cambridge adopts your clothing, there’s going to be a higher demand and prices are going to sky-rocket – which I think is evident by the current costs for a pretty (but simple) Orla Kiely dress. Exciting news for those of us in the US, though, is that the first store has opened stateside, which will hopefully translate into wider availability and a bit of a price decrease soon.

In the meantime, keep your eyes peeled for sample sales and online discounts, and I’ll keep putting those quarters in my piggy bank!

Back by popular demand!

… and by popular demand, I mean the demands of 2 out of 3 Rachels in my life (coincidentally, also 2 out of 3 readers of this blog – since husbands don’t count). And even though they share the same name, I swear that they’re two different people.

So what’s been happening in my life this month? I’m not feeling super prose-y, so here’s a bulleted list:

• LAST WEDDING OF THE YEAR OF WEDDINGS. We attended our 6th wedding in the last 9 months a couple of weeks ago. It was a lovely affair in Portland (Oregon) featuring one of the Rachels mentioned above, and a good chance to visit some of our favorite places while we were there. I also realized about 50 miles into the drive down that my camera was still sitting right next to the door to our apartment – and NOT in the car with us – so I have zero photographic evidence of any of this.
• I decided I didn’t have enough HSC (Hipster Street Cred), so I taught myself how to knit! I’m almost done with a green and white scarf I started 2.5 weeks ago, and have been proudly showing it to Matt at the end of every evening so he can pretend to be as excited about it as I am.

What I think my knitting looks like. (Gorgeous bolero from Crochet Butterfly.)

What my knitting actually looks like. (Image from zebra.paperclip’s Flickr).

• By far the biggest development this month has been the following: I was accepted to an awesome graduate school with a great packaged offer, so we’re in the process of moving to Portland (Oregon) sometime in the next few months!  It’s still kind of surreal that I actually achieved something that I’ve been working towards for so long… now I just have to put in the (5 years of) work and get that Ph.D.! I’m also very excited to be getting out of Spokane after having lived here for 9 years – it’ll be nice to have a new city to explore and call home.

Mostly, I’ve been doing a whole lot of nothing this month. I haven’t finished a single book, my camera’s been in its bag for at least 3 weeks, and I’m hopelessly behind on gifts and cards for basically every event so far this year. Pretty much the only things I’ve accomplished are surpassing 1300 pins on Pinterest and developing an unhealthy obsession with this song:

So there ya go! I’m alive, I still think about this place periodically, and my only explanation for my absence is extreme laziness. Feel free to give me a kick in the pants if you’re hankering for an update and I’m not providing.

Menu Plan Monday

Our last wedding for the foreseeable future is this weekend, so once again I’m planning at least two nights of eating out into our lives – and trying to load up on healthy veggies (and, let’s be honest, cheese) to compensate. Broccoli is on sale and Fred Meyer this week, so we’re going to have a week full of my favorite vegetable, because why not? I even managed to find a recipe for Broccoli Beer Cheese soup – Matt requested it, and I said “A-WHA? Broccoli cheese soup, or beer cheese soup? I’ve never heard of the two combined!” But lo and behold, it does exist, and sounds pretty good (re: easy) to boot.

Monday: Broccoli Beer Cheese Soup

Tuesday: Orzo Risotto with baked proteins and steamed veggies

Wednesday: Broccoli and Noodles in Peanut Sauce

Thursday: Vegetarian Split Pea Soup (in the crock pot) with some bread/rolls/biscuits

Friday-Saturday: Dinner out and about for some wedding festivities!

Sunday: Broccoli, Cheese and Rice Casserole

Have a fantastic week!

Wordless Wednesday

{ Flowers in teacups at a friend’s bridal shower }

Menu Plan Monday

I’m back from a whirlwind Northwest trip last week, and ready to get back to some “normal” foods and eating schedules. Or, at least, I’m definitely making it to the grocery store this week. I’m also considering making a big pot of Simple Cabbage Soup to ration and eat for lunch throughout the week as a kind of “detox” to go along with the home-cooked vegetarian dinners I’ve got planned. But either way, dinner’s going to be delicious in my house this week!

Monday: Pumpkin and Black Bean Chili

Tuesday: Sweet Potato and Gruyere Turnovers

Wednesday: Cuban Black Beans and Mexican Rice

Thursday: Polenta with Brussels Sprouts and Mushrooms

Friday: Dinner out!

Saturday: Leftovers

Sunday: Mushroom Risotto

Anatomical Hearts

“I carry your heart with me (I carry it in my heart) I am never without it (anywhere I go you go, my dear; and whatever is done by only me is your doing, my darling)…”

– e. e. Cummings

It’s almost Valentine’s Day, if you couldn’t tell from all the jewelry ads that have been incessantly running on t.v. since the end of Christmas. I’m definitely looking forward to getting my more innocuous commercials back after this holiday is over, especially because I don’t buy into any of those this-is-really-meaningful-because-we-say-it-is jewelry designs… don’t even get me started on the ‘open hearts’ thing (I mean really, it makes me think of open relationships whenever I hear about/see them, and that’s not what I want my jewelry to symbolize).

But this… this I can get behind.

{ White Bronze Anatomical Heart Locket from Peggy Skemp Jewelry, via Etsy. $200 }

There’s something so timeless (and un-fad-y) about the anatomical heart, especially when done as a small token to give to a significant other. I feel like this piece definitely embodies the classic e.e. cummings poem above, especially if it were given with a heart-felt message inside the locket.

{ Anatomical Heart Necklace from Lost Apostle, via Etsy. }

This one has the same thought behind it, but without the locket function – still a fun twist on the traditional Valentine’s Day gift. Lost Apostle also has some other pretty awesome charms and necklaces to offer as well (I’m especially digging the winged pigs) – definitely pop over for a visit!

{ Heart in a Jar from Kiva Ford, via Etsy. $95.00 }

Not in to wearing anatomically correct charms? There are cute versions in miniature cloches from Kiva Ford that would go nicely on a desk at work or a small vignette at home.  They also sell super cute pink brains, too. You could get a collection for your beau – especially pertinent if they’re in the medical field.

{ Anatomical Heart Letterpress Card from Steel Petal Press, via Etsy. $4.00 }

Honestly, I don’t really care about getting Valentine’s Day presents… and don’t really give them. What I appreciate more is a lovely card – handmade is especially awesome – with a personal note from the sender. This anatomical heart card would definitely be a keepsake for my bulletin board, perhaps next to the text of e.e. cummings’ famous poem. You could even buy a rubber stamp and make your own cards with anatomical hearts on them.

So I’m sticking to real hearts for Valentine’s Day this year – as well as real sentiment – for the people I love. They will be able to carry my heart with theirs. And thank goodness for Etsy!

Menu Plan Monday

Well… we survived the Super Bowl, but just barely.  Only one dish was completely ruined, and only one container was completely melted in the oven, so I guess it wasn’t that bad.  I made Jalapeno Popper Wontons, Pulled Pork, Spinach and Artichoke Dip, homemade rolls, Swirled Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bars, and Chocolate Coconut Bars – plus many of our guests brought dishes to contribute also! It was quite the shindig, and as a result I’ve spent most of the day recuperating… and trying to convince myself to do the dishes. Ha!

We’ll be taking it a bit easier on the cooking this week, and throwing a few new recipes in with some tried-and-true (and easy!) favorites.

Monday: Pre-prepared madras lentils over brown rice

Tuesday: Mac and Cheese with Cauliflower and something green on the side

Wednesday: Red curry with tofu and veggies, served over rice

Thursday: Pumpkin and Black Bean Chili

Friday: Mexican Rice and Cuban Black Beans

Saturday & Sunday: I’m not sure what the food sitch is going to be for these days, but hopefully it’ll involve at least one round of Japanese!

If you’re looking for more dinner ideas, check out my Delicious Dinner Ideas and Soups and Stews pinboards for some tasty inspiration!