Ebony and Ivory

...go together in perfect harmony, side by side on my piano keyboard, oh Lord, why don't we....

Oh this song has been stuck in my head all day today, all because of my outfit.

I look better in ivory than white (or at least I think I do) and I adore the pairing of black and ivory - it always seems so chic to me:

 a little sweater and black pants...

...or glossy kitchen cupboards

How about lovely chessboards, that make me think of the iconic song "One Night in Bangkok"?

The toile wallpaper in my bathroom (more creamy than ivory I grant you!):

There is just something so chic about this combination in its simplicity.

Today I was having lunch out with a friend and then was off to get my teeth cleaned.  It was a gorgeous day and my friend and I were able to sit out on a patio, which in my humble opinion, can elevate any meal to new heights, what with the fresh air, the warm sun and the people watching.

I dug out my cafe capris in "natural" from a year or two ago, a creamy luisa cerano blouse and my new black featherweight cotton cardigan.  I paired it with a pair of black and cream j crew ballet slippers from two years ago - the ones with the big floppy flowers on them.

The shoes are a bit over the top, but I am very partial to them...

And cascading pearly drop earrings that you can see below:

You are all going to start calling me Joan of Arcadia - I am not a master of this sort of picture taking and I swear, they all look like I am getting a message from God! (buy more shoes, wendy...)

I loved this outfit and felt like a million bucks all day long.  If I was going to a more dressy event, I would have just traded out the shoes for nude or black pumps and would be good to go.

So does black and ivory speak to you?  Do you wear the combination much? Any colour combinations that are especially speaking to you this spring?

Have a happy Tuesday and stay safe out there!

The Allure of All Things French

Ah the French.  For some of us, France is a siren call; wooing us with dreams of champagne, macarons, brie and that certain je ne sais quoi that defies all understanding vis-à-vis fashion.

I am somewhat bored by the plethora of books that would teach the rest of the world how to be more French; the french woman is a product of her culture just as  surely as is the American, Canadian, Italian, British, Scottish (insert own country here please and thank you) woman is a product of hers.

But that said, there is something delightful about France and its lifestyle and beauty.  Others hear her siren call as well.  Why just yesterday, that little scamp Kiera Knightly went and got herself wed in France, near her country home there.  Two things bothered me about the wedding: 1) why don't I have a country home in France? and 2) how could any bride be any cuter or carefree than our Kiera?

Fresh off boring me in Anna Karenina, Kiera does not bore in real life!  Look at this little dress and funky ray-bans?

And the quintessential southern France town hall where they married...

Well I was with the French on Saturday night, though they were French Canadians (and enterntaining with the same aplomb here in Canada as their European french cousins!).  So this morning I got up, feeling slightly worse for wear after the champers, wine and brandy.  But I thought I would don my own little homage to France this morning.  So out came my little cotton MEXX dress, purchased last summer in advance of my trip to France (but sadly not taken as it takes up a bit of room in a suitcase):

Not my typical colour story, this dress is wearable by me if I pair it with navy, so that there is a flattering colour up by my face.  The skirt is fuller than my typical skirt choices, but has pockets and it is quite comfy.  On my feet: espadrilles purchased at a supermarket in France that I often wear as a summer slipper around the house.  A close-up below:

And as is the case of all things, when a colour story is somewhat drab (okay - qualifier - drab for ME), i just put on the old red lipstick:

It was a glorious day here, but the garden is also kind of drab.  Thank goodness for the Magnolias, which are serving as a bright stripe of yellow or lipstick red in an otherwise brown world...

 The primroses are very helpful, too...

and the Sorrel and the Lovage in the potager!

So I will continue to love France, though I will be a wee Canadian woman.  Our friend Dani BP has a lovely post here that is what a lot of women in Canada wear in the summer when out canoeing or at the camp or cottage.  You gotta cover up - not just that it can get cool in the evening, but frankly, the mosquitoes will carry you off, a problem they do not have in France.

How about you, what did you think of Keira's wedding attire and do you ever rock your own inner french woman?

Have a great Monday and Stay Safe out there!

Book Review: Cooking with Flowers

A few weeks ago, I did a book review called Flower Recipes, about arranging flowers in new and creative ways.  If you missed it, by all means, head back here.

So imagine my delight when I stopped into our local Chapters bookstore and found this delightful newly released cookbook:

you can buy yours at Amazon or Chapters

This delightful cookbook is chock-a-block with over 100 recipes for cooking with flowers.  They all look very yummy:

How about little tea sandwiches with little violets, pansies and nasturtiums?

or:

Stuffed zuchinni flowers?  These are reason I actually grow zuchinni....

or:

candied violets on cupcakes:

There are recipes using roses, lilacs, elderflower, calendulas, nasturtiums, herb flowers, etc.  Of course the key is to grow these flowers from scratch or buy from an organic grower so that you can be assured that they have no pesticides.  I am fortunate; most of the flowers in this book I already grow and I am most definitely an organic gardener.  It has inspired me to plant a few more from seed that I don't have.  And while I have eaten dandelion greens for years, I have never used the flowers, but will now!

We have used flowers in our cooking before - my kids have always gotten a kick out of finding a nasturtium or chive flower in their salad or topping a dish.  But this book takes it to a whole new level and the pictures - as they should be - are drool-worthy in this cookbook.

What's on for today?  Well I have some summer bulbs to plant, some dusting to do, a bit of writing to get done and there will be a good walk in there at some point.   What are you up to today?  Oh and grilled pizza - yum!

How about you?  do you cook with flowers?  Does this cookbook interest you?

Have a great day and stay safe out there!

Random Saturday Musings

Can you believe it is already Saturday?

It has been a busy week Chez WMM - LOTS of yardwork and pruning and digging (yesterday I went womano-a-womano with Virginia Creeper and won the battle, but likely not the war!) and we have a busy weekend planned as well.  But it is Saturday and you know what that means: musings, musings, musings...

1) Linen.

I got all in a dither of happiness thinking about linen after our Miss Dani did a wonderful post about linen here.  Dani has such great taste.  However, I snorted when I read this quote: I love linen for summer but not the fancy sort.  Forget about trying to wear linen suits or trousers, you'll end up a rumpled mess.

I laughed because I was wearing fancy linen trousers at that very moment, recreating another of my style looks, so I rushed to the bathroom with my camera (really - WHO does this besides bloggers? - and took a picture as I was thinking "am I a rumpled mess?" )

Here was the original picture that had precipitated my outfit:

My eyesight is bad, and I suspect that Ines' pants are not linen.  But I had linen trousers and decided I should try a similar look:

These are old ivory linen trousers from JCrew from a couple of years ago.  I had to wear a cardigan because of how cool it was in the morning and I forgot to run and take a picture of myself  holding my market bag!  Took a close-up:

Yup - kind of rumpled.  Luckily for me, I am blithely impervious to the worry of looking rumply, because I kind of look rumply a lot!  Thought you might like a look at the little espadrilles from Franco Sarto that I found downtown this week for a song and which are soooo cute!

And how they appear on the zappos website:

comfy, comfy (there is a padded insole) and fun, fun, fun, with the animal print and cheeky sequins. You  can find yours here.

I have decided that a woman like myself can afford to be rumply, since it implies a certain je ne sais quoi!  But I could be delusional!  What do you think?

2) Iron Man 3

Oh I have a dreadful crush on Robert Downey Jr., speaking of cheeky.

I imagine sometime in the next couple of weeks, Barry and I will make our way to the local movie theatre and take part in the beginning of the summer blockbuster season.  I like the Iron Man series okay, though I must confess, I enjoyed The Avengers movie, with all of those lovely men together, a little more..No matter.  On Thursday evening, my daughter and I went to the mall so that i could order my new glasses.  The lineup for the midnight showing of Iron Man 3 was long and 95% comprised of young men under the age of 25.  It was like a midnight showing of Twilight, but in reverse.  One fellow was wearing a black cape (I wondered if he was confused and thought he was in a Harry Potter lineup?).  When I saw this fellow - hanging out with his friends - I had a thought: I know that bullying is terrible and pervasive.  But in 2013 where I live, you can wear a cape to a movie premiere and not get harassed.  If we went back to 1973 and where I grew up, that would not have been the case.  So I saluted this chap in my head and the others in the line and in the mall, who all seemed to think it was neat that he was wearing his cape.

3) What are YOU doing with YOUR life?

Sometimes, I read stories about what scientists are up to and I think: "Huh, Wendy you have got to get going!"  This week, scientists created the worlds smallest movie, manipulating atoms to tell a story.  You can see the movie here.  These particular scientists want to show how far the technology has come and show the capability that IBM has to store data.  I could tell you more, but honestly, the BBC article does a much better job than I would!

The funny thing was: I wasn't all that excited.  The film reminded me of the old Pac Man games and was a little dull.  We are getting so immune to the wonders of science; it is moving at a dizzying pace, but at the same time, we think that so many of the discoveries already exist anyway, because we watch movies like Iron Man 3!

Were you wowed by the movie?

4) Every time I think I'm out, the Crew pulls me back in...

I had checked the Crew site a couple of times this week for something very sedate and classic to pick up in the 30% off sale.  But then I saw these:

The Cafe Capris in silk foulard in the pattern Anastasia's Flowers.  Would any of you know what THAT name would refer to?  Anywho, they popped onto the site in my size on sale.  I said "no Wendy - where the hell would you where those? " and let them go.  And felt badly that I let them go.  And then, dammit, they popped back a couple of days later in my size again.  It is like Mickey was calling to me: "Wendy, I kept these pants aside just for you...."  And yes I ordered them.  I have comforted myself that they are not final sale and therefore can be returned.  What have we learned from this?

1) Wendy bad
2) Wendy should NOT visit the sale site, even if she is innocently looking for tshirts  (is there really any innocence involved in on-line shopping?)
3) Wendy is destined to live a life of cocktail parties, champagne, etc, because if not, why am I drawn to these pants, like a moth to a shiny, sparkly flame?

You know I will share when they arrive.  And no, the sale is no justification.  Sigh.  But they remind me of what Marie Antoinette would wear if she was running around today and made me think of the wonderful, visually stunning Sofia Coppola movie.

Yes, that will be me, world-weary in my fancy pants.  Tiffany Rose, come visit, ASAP!!!  I will need company!

So leopard print sequin espadrilles and Marie Antoinette-esque fancy pants.  I am starting to see a pattern.....

Have a wonderful Saturday!!!  Stay safe out there!

Miller Time Friday:

Happy Friday!

Thanks so much everyone for your great comments yesterday about connecting and reconnecting with friends.  I am always so impressed by your willingness to share your thoughts and experiences with everyone!

Today, thought I would start first by sharing my spring/summer outfit with the new Nougat London top, featherweight cashmere cardigan in nectar and my white jeans.  It was much cooler today, so no sandals for me yet - instead, i wore little pink nike walking shoes.  So comfy!  But below, are my own tender tootsies!

You can see it has been a long day - my flowers are drooping...

I went to the mall this evening as I am ordering new glasses.  Yup - the old doll needs them full-time now.  Since I am so devilishly spunky, and as my daughter said so succinctly "you are between jobs"(!), I can get something a little bit more funky.  So I have ordered a reddish pair (no, NOT like Sally Jesse Raphael) and a pair of Raybans for driving and outdoor work (told you Tabs!).  I am at the delightful bifocal stage.  Welcome 50s.  I will save my varicose vein stories for another day!

While at the mall I noticed a LOT of tshirts and things with pictures of travel destinations.  One in particular caught my eye as it is a destination soon to be seen by a friend of mine:

The Positano sleeveless chiffon blouse at RW&Co.  You can take a closer look here.  I am thinking of buying it just so I can wear it around the house and pretend I am there!

Of course when I got home I wanted to see more tshirts like this.  Instead, I found an academic paper entitled "The role of tshirts in the creation of tourist destination images".  You can read the entire paper here, which appeared in the 1998 Latin American Journal  Estudios y perspectivas en Turismo.  And then I read the article.  And then I realized that my daughter was indeed right: I am between jobs.  It can only be a matter of time before I become EXTREMELY eccentric, as opposed to just slightly eccentric.

The tshirt above is evocative of a beautiful sea and fine wines and glamour.  It makes me want to go to there.  I wonder if they sell tshirts as nice as this in Positano, or if you just find the equivalent of this:

cause I don't think an I Positano would be quite as sexy...

What about you - got any good souvenir tshirts? The only one I have in my closet right now is my Coldplay tshirt from last summer's concert.  Would love to hear about yours!

In honour of Positano, my friend, and well, Friday, let's mix an Amalfi Cocktail, shall we?  I have never had one of these, but then I have never been to Italy, either...I really should be ready, in case George calls...

Amalfi Cocktail

Instructions

Mix all ingredients except club soda in a shaker or blender with cracked ice. Pour into a chilled glass. Fill with soda.

Ingredients

• 0.5 Oz Galliano
• 1 Oz Lemon Juice
• 1 Tsp Orgeat Syrup
•  Water - Soda
• 1.5 Oz Whiskey - Bourbon

I had to look up what Orgeat Syrup is:  Orgeat syrup is a sweet syrup made from almonds, sugar and rose water or orange flower water.

So let's have it!  Cheers Big Ears, Happy Friday and Stay Safe out there!

Thursday: An Update from Yesterday and Reconnecting

Hi All!

I am testing various blog template looks right now, so don't be surprised if we run through a few before I get done.  I have enlisted Miss Get Fresh in this Great Campaign of 2013, but she had nothing to do with today's look, so if you don't like it, blame me!  When it starts looking really good, it will be because of her!

So first things first.  You recall my pinterest post of yesterday?  if you do not, never fear, you didn't really miss anything..But you should know that I was talking about using pinterest to help me hone in on my style.  I threatened to recreate a particularly colourful outfit that I loved and gosh darn if I didn't go and do it!

The original:

The Wendy version.  Yippee!  I am actually shopping my closet!  It is all old (even my undies I think!):

Now really, how many of you would have the parts of this outfit in your closet already?  Some of you are off to go make a garlic necklace to ward off the gaudy colour vampire.  Never mind, I have good self-esteem!

Where did I go in this outfit?  Well to get the dog his summer clipping.  I am going on record right now in saying that I am certain that I was the most colourful customer of the day!

To be comfy and to wear them, the 2008 Normandy espadrilles:

There is no purpose for the next picture except that it is a nice one of me and I always feel I need to share those as I post so many bad ones!

There, the ego god is done and actually humbled as I can see my toilet - it definitely looks like I need a new roll of toilet paper and now that this is enlarged it looks like I am looking off into the distance in some kind of trance-like state.  Let's just let this go, shall we?

The subject i really wanted to talk about today is reconnecting.  Many of you will know that for the last several years, I was working almost constantly.  When I wasn't working I was taking care of my children.  That left no time for me and no time for friends.  I think I saw my best friend 12 times last year, maybe less.

As I transition into this new life, I have to remind myself to pick up the phone and make plans.  Days will still go by when I realized that apart from my husband, my children and you all (all of whom are very important!) I am not connecting outside of the home.  It is also difficult as I am the only 50 year old non-worker I know around here right now.  I do have a couple of friends who have retired and one who is about to, but I see that I have almost completely gotten out of the habit of being social for play reasons.

I can't be the only one in this boat.  For some of us, this isolation begins when we have young children - we are so busy and it is hard to balance it all.  When we do socialize we tend to look for people with kids the age of ours so that we can bring them along because a) we can't find a babysitter b) we can't afford a babysitter c) we are trying to socialize the little mites!

Then you seem to outgrow those friends a bit once your children decide they don't want to play with THOSE children anymore.  And then you can go out again because your oldest is now able to babysit your youngest, but then they get their  drivers licenses and sometimes you all flip a coin as to who really needs the car the most and it doesn't matter by then because you are working all the time as you have been promoted and you are too tired to go out anyway.  Phew!

So I am now in the process of reminding myself to reconnect with my friends and hopefully will begin to make new friends along the way as well, since I will have more time to nurture those friendships.  But it doesn't seem as easy at age 50 as it was at age 30 and I find I am also picky.  I don't want friendships to be work; I want them to be about having fun and enjoying myself and them.

So how about you - are your friendships in transition?  Are you rekindling old friendships or making new ones?

Would love your thoughts on this issue of evolving friendships as we age!  And as always: stay safe out there!

Style Question Wednesday: Does Pinterest Help You Get Dressed in the Morning?

Happy Wednesday!

I am feeling quite chipper this am.  I am the proud owner of a new laptop, which is bigger, brighter, bolder.  It is the Bionic Woman of laptops in my estimation - very shiny and bright and with superhuman capabilities.  Whether these extra capabilities impact the quality of these posts or my writing, well, I leave that to others to judge!

And for all of my comrades in the ethernet: Happy May Day!  Workers of the World Unite!  For the rest of us, Happy Spring!  Find yourself a MayPole and have at it!

When I was young, we used to gather up whatever flowers we could find on May 1st and leave them in little baskets on the doors of houses and ring the doorbell and run away.  How sweet was that?

Okay - a confession - I am loving pinterest.  I am not good at polyvore yet - I may get there, but I don't buy enough to make it easy for me.  But pinterest allows me to find and save images of outfits that I do like and has proven to be a source of great inspiration to me as I refine my style.

For instance, I recently pinned this image to my "Styles I Love" board:

as well as this image:

Put them together, and what do you have?  Why you have me, this morning!

J crew white linen blouse, j crew ballet flats, joe fresh boyfriend jeans.

The jeans are one size too large for an even slouchier fit.  This was a comfy outfit and completely inspired by the looks above.  When I went out this am, I paired it with my navy blazer/coat.  Tres jolie!

What I have discovered is that pinterest is helping me narrow down the styles that I love and is giving me inspiration as to how to recreate them at home.  I can look through a whole page of photos and only want to pin one or two at max.  You start to recognize your style. When I recreate the outfit, I feel great as it is the look I want to project.

My favourite pinterest looks right now:

and

Without the feathers part....

and because I will always love me some colour:

My outfit will be a slight variation of this - my pink linen blouse and my  j crew Gauguin orange linen trousers from a couple of years ago.

So how about you - where are you getting your style inspiration these days - pinterest, polyvore, other bloggers, your own innate sense of style?  Do tell!

And unlike Good Queen Beatrix, I do not plan to abdicate for awhile!  Stay safe out there!