Blue Blue Electric Blue

As I looked at the cover page of my Lucky magazine for April, I knew cobalt blue would be my color choice for the season. I have since followed this trend by sewing myself a blue plaid dress, a blue shirt, and purchased blue ballet flats. Obsessive? maybe.

Over the last 2 weeks, I managed to squeeze a few more blue projects out. Lucky for me, the predictions for fall are bright jewel tones, which bright blue clearly exemplifies.

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This skirt is a rip off I saw in a boutique while I was in Chicago. The price was well over $300, and I knew if I found a simple skirt pattern I could adjust it and maybe pull it off. I couldn't find a decent picture of the skirt anywhere online, so I emailed the company, and asked for it. It couldn't have been better, I was able to copy every last detail.

Although this dress isn't all blue, it captures it in the details. I made it as an unbirthday present for my sister Tara, who is a very dedicated Brooklyn Bean reader and commenter. Hope you like it Tara, you should get it today!

And of course, I couldn't resist making another turban in blue, and I also didn't feel so great about how the first one turned out. I made some adjustments and this one seems to be a bit closer to the real thing.

A letter (email)

Yesterday I wrote an email that went something like this.

Do I have high hopes, yes. But we all dream right?

How we spent our rainy Monday

I love rainy days. I love the sound of the rain hitting the sidewalks, I love how our apartment gets dark with the hovering clouds, and I love the excuse to stay inside without feeling guilty about it.

Yesterday was a perfect rainy day. My day started with an early morning run through my neighborhood. I love getting soaked by the rain and how it disguises my red face and sweat. I love watching everyone go to work with their umbrellas trying to stay dry, and being thankful I am wet and going home to spend the day with my son. And I did just that, spent the day hanging out with him, indoors, with various activities that were just as fulfilling as spending it at the park or the pool.

The rest of it went something like this.

Staying in our pj's all day, well Luke did at least.

Reading lots of good books

Art projects including the medium of paper and crayons.

Making a healthy lunch for Luke consisting of Quinoa & chicken instead of the usual on the run PB & J.

Luke taking lots of these...

So I could begin making this dress

from this pattern, with major adjustments

while watching this.

After naps, Luke practiced his dancing skills while I practiced this piece for Sunday's church meeting.

And finally, we welcomed Tom home with dinner and a messy home, Luke then finished his day up with bath time and bed.

Tom and I spent the rest of our night cleaning the aftermath, doing laundry, and watching more Veronica Mars. Perfect!

Some looks for less

Anyone that has known me for some time, knows I love, as much as I hate to use the word, "fashion". It gets over used and in my opinion most people that claim to love it, really don't have a sense for it. Most hard core fashionista's however would most likely argue that I am not a true representation of the term, but I am ok with that, I prefer landing somewhere in the middle. Most days you can catch me at the park in my salt water sandals and if you are lucky, some skinny jeans, but when I feel up to it, and I know I won't get covered in dirt or food, I try to keep up with most budding trends.

I am just like any other girl on the subway reading her US weekly, a friend told me to pronounce it U.S. Weekly so I sound smarter, however I look at it just for the celebrity fashion. I love the quirky ways they put things together, of course they being their stylists they pay thousands of dollars for. I of course then try to find my own ways to put some of the looks together, sometimes splurging for the real thing (handbags, denim,& marc jacobs), or now making my own similar pieces.

These are a few things I knew would be simple to make but very expensive to buy.

My $20 version, in grey. When I saw it last fall, I knew I had to make it even though I hadn't made anything for myself in over 10 years and I didn't have a pattern for it.

Prada's spring silk turban

My $2 version, good enough for me.

Next up, this black vest. Kinda wished I kept my one from middle school.

I also waste time browsing some good fashion sites for inspiration. I usually begin my day here then go here then here and finish up here. 

donuts and squishees

I am no super duper Simpson's fan, & I probably won't see the movie in the theater, but I couldn't pass up the once in a lifetime opportunity to go to a Kwik E Mart. I have to hand it to the marketing team who worked on this campaign, it got us there. After a week of going back and forth as to when I would head into the city, (nothing is easy in New York), we decided to stop there sans Luke, after the Yankees game on Wednesday night. It would have been an easy trip but at 86th street, they stopped all service downtown, avoiding the pipe explosion at Grand Central Station. We hailed the first cab we saw and asked him to take us to the Kwik E Mart, of course he had no idea what we were talking about nor did he know the location of the 7 eleven it was occupying. On a side note we accidentally told the cab driver we were just at the Yankees game and consequently the entire ride went like this,  us saying "yeah", "no kidding", "really?" while he rattled off Yankee jibberish most of which we didn't understand.

It was worth the $14 cab ride and the 4 block walk for pink donuts and squishees. We even got to hang out with the family for a while.