Outfit of the Day: Spooktacular Separates!

I had a super busy weekend last weekend in the best of ways!

Outfit of the Day (Saturday):

On Saturday I went out with a friend to the newly reestablished Dancing Cat Cat Cafe in San Jose (welcome back Dancing Cat!) where we spend the morning taking a watercoloring workshop and painted some cats! (More about that in my next post ;) ). Later that evening, after the watercoloring workshop I went out with Tim to our local Halloween haunted house, Fear Overload, and got our Halloween fix for the day. After that we went to the local 80's arcade to end the evening playing some games.

It was expected to rain off and on that day and I wasn't really in the mood to don on a dress for the watercoloring workshop so instead I opted for a sweater and ankle trouser set. I just got this Lucy Fur Halloween cat sweater by Sourpuss from Cats Like Us a few weeks ago. They had initially sold out in my size and one of the owners, Julie Ann, was super awesome enough to notify me when they got my size back in stock after someone returned one. And for those that missed it and have been looking, Cats Like Us recently got a full shipment of reorders of this sweater in stock! I paired this sweater with a pair of ankle trousers by Myrtlewood which I bought several years ago from Modcloth. I wore this with a pair of basic black flats and for a finishing touch, a pair of cat earrings by Rosita Bonita which I bought from Trashy Diva last year.

Sourpuss Lucy Fur Vintage Cat sweater and Myrtlewood ankle trousers- Front View

Sourpuss Lucy Fur Vintage Cat sweater and Myrtlewood ankle trousers- Side View

Rosita Bonita cat earrings- Close Up

Outfit of the Day (Sunday):

On Sunday another friend and I had plans to go out for tea at one of my favorite tea places, Tyme For Tea in Fremont-- look out for that post coming soon! :)

It was another rainy day, this time pouring raining, but I didn't let that stop me from getting dolled up in a fun creepy theme for October tea. For the occasion I knew I wanted to wear my Venus Fly Trap skirt by Pinup Girl Clothing which I bought from them earlier in the year. To give the skirt extra fullness I also added a crinoline under my skirt which I got for cheap from Amazon last year. I wore this with a basic black sweater which I got from a small boutique shop in Australia several years ago, an Elvira cardigan by Kreepsville which I got as a gift from my husband last week, and a pair of trusty basic black flats. For a finishing touch I wore this with a pair of spider web tights which I've had for several years but forgot where I bought them from (maybe Hot Topic?). I also wore this with a black hair flower I bought a couple years from our local vintage shop, Vintage Alley, and a pair of spider stud earrings, also bought from Vintage Alley a couple years ago.

Pinup Girl Clothing Venus Fly Trap skirt and Kreepsville Elvira cardigan- Front View

Pinup Girl Clothing Venus Fly Trap skirt and Kreepsville Elvira cardigan- Front View

Pinup Girl Clothing Venus Fly Trap skirt and Kreepsville Elvira cardigan- Side View

Pinup Girl Clothing Venus Fly Trap skirt and Kreepsville Elvira cardigan- Back View

Pinup Girl Clothing Venus Fly Trap skirt and black sweater- Front View

Pinup Girl Clothing Venus Fly Trap skirt and black sweater- Front View

Pinup Girl Clothing Venus Fly Trap skirt and black sweater- Side View

Spider stud earrings- Close Up

Pinup Girl Clothing Venus Fly Trap skirt and spider web tights- Close Up

Fox- Close Up

Outfit of the Day: A Walk in the Woods and A Day With Keanu

Last weekend was a well spent one

On Saturday Tim and I took a walk around one of our nearby lakes, Don Castro Lake. This is one of my favorite lakes to walk around because the footpath becomes very narrow in places and is little more than a patch of worn bare dirt surrounded by trees and lush undergrowth for the better part of the path. Walking along this quiet lake, tramping through this densely grown footpath, it is easy to forget we are so close to civilization, and not hard to image we are deep in a forest somewhere.

On Sunday, we changed it up a bit by going to the nearby historic waterfront town of Alameda where we met up with a friend and saw the new Key and Peele cat comedy movie, Keanu, at the newly renovated historic Alameda theater. We all enjoyed the movie a lot. And then, for an extra treat, enjoyed playing at the 80's arcade, High Score, across the street.

It was a great weekend and was definitely good to get out in a relaxed kind of way.


Outfit of the Day (Saturday):
For the walk around the lake I picked my Trashy Diva Dorothy dress in Irish Polka. I love how easy to wear and how comfortable this dress is. Because we were going to do a lot of walking, I paired this with black Sketcher Go Walks, my go to shoes for heavy walking while in a dress.

Trashy Diva Dorothy dress in Irish Polka- Front View

Trashy Diva Dorothy dress in Irish Polka- Front View

Trashy Diva Dorothy dress in Irish Polka- Side View

Outfit of the Day (Sunday):
Because we were off to see a cat comedy I knew I had to dress in cat theme. I figured my Trashy Diva Cage dress in Smoke Leopard would be the perfect dress. After all, it was a gangster themed cat comedy. ;) I paired this with a black knit bolero by Elle which I got from Kohl's a couple years ago, and a pair of basic black flats. For a finishing touch, and to add some fun little cat details, I also wore this with a pair of oversized cat cameo stud earrings I got a couple years ago from a local retro shop, Vintage Alley, and a cute kitty brooch by Lumpy Buttons which I got c/o Cats Like Us last year. I also added a black sequin headband to my outfit to jazz things up even more.

Trashy Diva Cage dress in Smoke Leopard- Front View

Trashy Diva Cage dress in Smoke Leopard- Front View

Trashy Diva Cage dress in Smoke Leopard- Side View

Trashy Diva Cage dress in Smoke Leopard- Front View

Trashy Diva Cage dress in Smoke Leopard- Front View

Trashy Diva Cage dress in Smoke Leopard- Side View

Trashy Diva Cage dress in Smoke Leopard- Close Up

 

Outfit of the Day: First Three Outfits Of The Year

I hope you all had a wonderful New Years celebration!

After my flurry of posts around Christmas time I've been a bit quiet on the blog. It was just too good to enjoy the peace and quiet at home, vegging out to Netflix, and even being super productive one day cleaning out the garage! Anyhow, now I have a bit of catch up to do!

My outfits are from a couple days after Christmas going out for Chilli's for lunch, New Years Eve spending a quiet and cold evening on a friend's sail boat on the San Francisco Bay to watch the fireworks, and from New Years Day going out for lunch at a new Italian place nearby that Tim and I haven't tried yet.


Outfit of the Day:
A Few Days After Christmas:

Going out for Chilli's for lunch a few days after Christmas I decided to wear my Trashy Diva Bonita dress in Catcus Rouge. I thought it would be fitting as it has cactus all over and has a strong southwestern feel to it. Not ready to shed the Christmas feel just yet I dressed it up with lots of red: a red overcoat from Target I got a couple years ago, a red cardigan I got from Nordstrom Rack also a couple years, and red velvet mary janes I got recently from ebay. To keep warm I also paired this with beige Vera Wang sweater tights I got from Kohl's a couple years ago. For a finishing touch, to continue with the southwester theme, I paired this with a pair of multi stone small hoop earrings which include turquoise, a stone often associated with the desert of the southwest.

Trashy Diva Bonita dress in Cactus Rouge- Front View

Trashy Diva Bonita dress in Cactus Rouge- Side View

Trashy Diva Bonita dress in Cactus Rouge- Front View

Trashy Diva Bonita dress in Cactus Rouge- Front View

Trashy Diva Bonita dress in Cactus Rouge- Side View

Trashy Diva Bonita dress in Cactus Rouge- Close Up

New Years Eve:

For New Years Eve Tim and I got invited to a sunset sail on one of our friend's sail boats. It was a low key boat party with a few friends where we stopped at Jack London Square for dinner just before continuing to sail to San Francisco to watch the fireworks show on the water. I knew this was going to be a super cold event being outside on the water so I was sure to dress ultra warm!

For this event I picked out my Heart of Haute Monique dress in Peacock Royal. To keep extra warm I paired this with black fleece lined tights I got a couple weeks ago from Nordstrom Rack, black fleece lined velvet mary janes I got from Urban Outfitters a couple years ago, a black cardigan from the Gap from several years ago, a large wool Betsey Johnson overcoat I got a few years ago from Nordstrom Rack and a thick black wool beret by San Diego Hat Company which I got from Amazon last year. While on the boat I was sure to wear my gloves as well! For a finishing touch I wore a sparkly pair of blue crystal earrings I've had since high school.

Heart of Haute Monique dress in Peacock Royal- Front View

Heart of Haute Monique dress in Peacock Royal- Side View

Heart of Haute Monique dress in Peacock Royal- Front View

Heart of Haute Monique dress in Peacock Royal- Front View

Heart of Haute Monique dress in Peacock Royal- Side View

Heart of Haute Monique dress in Peacock Royal- Close Up

New Years Day:

On New Years Day Tim took me out to lunch at a new Italian place in town which I've been wanting to try. Originally the plan was to go out for dinner and I had a much fancier dress planned for the occasion (my peacock Lilian by Trashy Diva). But when the day rolled around I wasn't much in a super fancy mood. Instead, I decided it was the perfect day to dress cozy and wear a pair of separates I've been wanting to pair together!

I got the idea to wear this dog sweater paired with a skirt when I saw Lauren of Prefer to be Demure, a blogger I just recently started following, wear one of her dog sweaters paired with a skirt in her post, Woof from some weeks ago. I got this sweater from my mom several years ago. My mom is so cute. I paired this with a black skirt by Steady, grey tights I got just a couple weeks ago from Nordstrom, burgundy and white Chelsea Crew heels, a wool cape I got from Modcloth last year, the Charming on the Quad Cape. For a finishing touch I wore this with a maroon beret I got from Forever 21 last year and a pair of sparkly silver earrings I got from a local retro style shop, Vintage Alley. I was surprised and happy to find that these earrings went so perfectly with grey.

Modcloth Charming on the Quad cape with Steady skirt- Front View

Modcloth Charming on the Quad cape with Steady skirt- Side View

Gifted Dog Sweater with black Steady skirt- Front View

Gifted Dog Sweater with black Steady skirt- Front View

Gifted Dog Sweater with black Steady skirt- Side View

Vintage Alley earrings- Close Up

Local Shop In The Spotlight: Vintage Alley!!

A vintage style clothing store in Hayward?! How awesome is that!

Vintage Alley, Hayward, CA

I was so surprised and elated when I heard about Vintage Alley opening in downtown Hayward a couple years ago. In fact, when I first heard the news, I thought it was a hoax. I mean, really, things like that are too good to be true! Lucky for me, though, it absolutely was true!

This place is run by a husband and wife team, the super awesome and charismatic Alfred and ever wonderful and beautiful Alicia. These people know how to run a true mom and pop shop too! It didn't take long for them to know me by name and greet me personally whenever I come into the shop. They also never fail to ask how my mother-in-law is doing after her pop into the shop last summer. I'm sure this personalized attention goes out to all their regular and semi-regular customers.

Vintage Alley, Hayward, CA

Not only do they run an awesome shop but they also have a chic hair salon at the same location where yours truly loves to get a vintage do done by the friendly, stunning, and talented Leilani.

Vintage Alley Salon Waiting Area

At The Vintage Alley Salon

On top of their hard work in running their shop and salon they also get involved in community events. For the past two years they have participated in Hayward's Walk of Wine, and this year, they even hosted their first annual car show in downtown Hayward!

Speaking of Haward's Walk of Wine Tour, while I blogged about it a few weeks ago, what I didn't tell you in that post (at least in length) was the behind the scenes of that day!

I started my morning by going into the shop for a hair appointment. While I was there the owner Alicia let me know I could pick our any item for 20% off! What an excellent surprise. But with the hair appointment done and the Walk of Wine about to start I was already running late so she let me take a rain check to come back later that day. When I came back later in the day for one of the wine pours I took advantage of the 20% off one item but ended up getting not just one item but two (though only one was 20% off). My ever wonderful husband bought them for me! He said, as a extra special treat and last present for my birthday this year. <3


So what did I get? Let's do a clothing review!

Heart of Haute Estelle Blouse in Black:

The Heart of Haute Estelle Blouse is my favorite top by Heart of Haute. When they first released this top earlier this year I knew I was going to love it. It has a cute and full pussy bow at the neck, lots of pleating, cute little puff sleeves that don't bulk you up, and a fitted design. I did find with the wrong bra that I got some button gaping but with the right bra, it was minimal. Still, I think I might want to invest in some fashion tape for this top to keep the gaping away or just do my usual fix and safety pin it from the inside.



   
Steady High Waisted Thrill Skirt in Red:

This is the prefect skirt! I've been stalking this one forever online going back and forth between convincing myself that I don't need it, and then telling myself that I really wanted it. I'm so happy I was able to pick this one up. It is just the right length, the right shade of red, the right amount of flare, and sits just right on my waist. And with it being a separate, it's very versatile... you can see it with another Heart of Haute Estelle Blouse here. I also can't wait to start wearing it with some sweater tops when the weather starts to get a little cooler.

Heart of Haute Estelle Blouse Black With Steady High Waisted Thrills Skirt- Front View

Heart of Haute Estelle Blouse Black With Steady High Waisted Thrills Skirt- Front View

Heart of Haute Estelle Blouse Black With Steady High Waisted Thrills Skirt- Side View

Heart of Haute Estelle Blouse Black With Steady High Waisted Thrills Skirt- Back View

Heart of Haute Estelle Blouse Black- Close Up

If you're ever in the Hayward area be sure to check out this shop! They carry a huge selection of Stop Starting dresses, a good amount of Heart of Haute, Steady, as well as a pretty large selection of men's clothing, some baby's clothing, tons of hats, and so many beautiful accessories and hair flowers!