Urban Cowgirl

In case you haven’t noticed, cowboy boots are having a fashion moment. Pardon the pun, but I was kicking myself for consigning a great pair last year until I discovered Target’s new Universal Thread line and these amazing, and amazingly, affordable pair of snakeskin cowboy booties. Best of all, they combine two of Fall’s top trends — cowboy boots with an animal pattern. These booties definitely inspired my overall look from the bottom up, but I have big plans to put them through their paces in lots of other ways.

A Few of My Favorite Spring Things

Here in JC and NYC, Mother Nature continues to be ambivalent about Spring. So while Summer is officially only about a month away, we’re still wishing she’d make up her mind and gift us with some steady sunshine and warmer temps. As you might guess, it’s made it pretty tough to break out my new fashion favorites and share them with you all. Until this past Sunday…

Mother’s Day Musing

When I became pregnant for the first time, the first person (aside from my husband Chris!) I shared the news with was my Mother. Having made it through the teen and college years, we were solidly BFFs. I so looked forward to all the years we would share as Mommy and Nana. But that was not to be. Shortly after my first son Pierre was born, my Mother was given a diagnosis of stage 4 pancreatic cancer. I’ll never know if it was life going and life growing, but I became pregnant with my second son Spencer while Mom was in remission. His birth and her decline were inevitably intertwined.  I was 7 months pregnant with Chanler, my third and last son, when she died. She had suffered so much, for so many months, that we knew she was going to a better place. Still, the huge gaping hole of being Mother-less as a new Mom loomed before me. I mentally and physically struggled to read the 23rd Psalm at her her Memorial Service. And to picture my life, and my children’s lives, without her. I was so used to talking to her every day. Really. But now I had lost my best friend. Not a day, a week, a month, a year goes by without me wishing she could have seen (and supported and hopefully approved of) me as a Mom. And more importantly truly known and enjoyed my three amazing sons. Every year I so wish I could wish her “Happy Mother’s Day” just one more time.

Feeling Kind Of Frida

 

This simple yet sophisticated off-the-shoulder dress is the only new piece in this look, making it a stunning example of how one fashion find can bring new life to the wardrobe you already have. And when it came to shooting this post, I knew the perfect Jersey City mural to be our backdrop. It was almost as if this spot had been waiting for us. 

Red, White & True Blue

IMG_2055Hope everyone had a fabulous 4th of July. We celebrated the day with lots of Adirondack activities. It goes without saying that my outfit of the day (and night) had to be true to this holiday’s color scheme of red, white and blue. While red is not really a color I typically gravitate to, blue and white are. They always feel classic yet fresh to me. And whether it was the flags, the fireworks or even the ketchup at the cookout, I thoroughly enjoyed the pops of red.