Beachwear

Ben and I spent last weekend at the coast.  We had a wonderful time hanging out with friends, walking on the beach, and relaxing.   We enjoyed a beautiful hike on Sunday, and got to see some incredible views of the coastline.  We make numerous trips to the coast every year (it's about an hour and a half from home), but this is the first time we have stayed over.  It was a nice little getaway! 

Switching gears, I want to show off my new top.  After seeing the J. Crew polka dot chambray shirt on AppGal (here) and Molly (here), I decided to take the plunge and buy my very first chambray top.  I'm glad I did.  I love it and I can definitely see  this top getting a lot of wear this fall.   

Cami:  J. Crew
Top:  J. Crew Perfect Shirt in Chambray Polka Dot
Jeans:  AG Stevie via Anthropologie
Shoes:  Chaco

Drinking Vinegar

After seeing this recipe for drinking vinegar, I decided to give it a try.  I have always loved vinegar.  I add lots of it to my collard greens and fried okay, among other things (if you've never had fried okra with vinegar, you are missing out!).  Last year, I discovered apple cider vinegar drinks from Bragg (here).  I not really a fan of soda, so these have become my go-to for those times that I want something other than water or tea.  The grape is my favorite, but all of the flavors are good.       

This is my first attempt at making my own drinking vinegar, and I am very happy with the way it turned out.  Instead of peaches, I decided to go with Cherries.  We have an abundance on local/organic cherries in Portland right now, and I can't get enough.   This recipe was very easy, but it does have to sit/steep for 5 days, so plan ahead!

Here is the recipe, via Blissful Blog:

Ingredients:
1 pound ripe peaches or any other fruit you desire, pears, apples, plums, blackberries
2 cups apple cider vinegar
1 cup fresh herbs such as thyme, basil or tarragon
½ cup sugar or more to taste
soda water
ice

Rinse the fruit and remove any seeds.  Place in a large pot and lightly mash the fruit with a wooden spoon.  Pour in enough vinegar to cover the fruit and cover the top with a lid.  Let the mixture macerate at room temperature for 5 days, stirring once a day.
  
After 5 days, stir in the ½ cup sugar bring the mixture to a boil and then simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.  Add the herbs, let the mixture cool for 20 minutes and then strain. 

To serve add 3 to 4 tablespoons of the syrup to a large glass filled with ice and then fill the rest of the glass with soda water.  If the mixture is too tart add a little more sugar to the syrup mixture.  The syrup will keep indefinitely in the refrigerator.


Perfect for hot summer day!

Darling

Zulily is having a great sale today on items from the London-based company, Darling (thanks for the heads up Breakfast at Anthropologie!).  Anthropologie has carried a few gorgeous pieces from Darling, including the popular Wispy Cirrus Blouse.  That is how I initially discovered Darling and I have been admiring  their pieces ever since. 

Here is what I scored today:

Shadow Pandoro Sleeveless Top

Shadow Julianne Cardigan

Orchid Paula Scarf

Click here to check out the Zulily sale!  Don't forget to go through Ebates for 3.5% cashback.   Also, enter the promo code SAVINGZU82 for an extra 10% off (when spending $50 or more).  Yes, I am an enabler:)

Do you own anything from this brand?  Anything from the sale tempting you? 

Lazy summer day

I hope you all are having a great weekend!  I have been super lazy today.  Aside from going to an acupuncture appointment, checking out a new consignment shop (didn't find anything), and getting this recipe started, I pretty much just lazed around. 

Here is what I wore on this hot, low-key day.

Jeans:  AG Stevies via Anthropologie
Top:  J. Crew outlet
Shoes:  Birkenstocks
Bag:  Anthropologie
Bracelets:  Anthropologie


In out front yard, we have a huge cluster of fennel plants growing (we're talking ~8 feet tall).  They are gorgeous and attract all sorts of lovely bees, spiders, lady bugs, and lots of other little critters.  I love standing in front of all these plants just listening to hundreds of bees buzzing around, doing what they do.  It stirs my soul and makes me happy.  Here are a couple of pictures I snapped today.   

"Quietness has a strange, spongy hum that can nearly break your eardrums"
From The Secret Life of Bees (my most favorite book, which I just started re-reading)

Chie Mihara fall/winter collection - WOW!

Have you guys seen the Chie Mihara fall/winter collection?  Holy cow.  As I mentioned in my last post, I'm not really into  summer fashion, but fall/winter is a different story!  Chie Mihara makes beautiful shoes all of the time, but some of these new styles take the cake.  My wishlist just got a lot longer.

If you haven't already, check out Molly's picks.  She even included a list of online stores where these sometimes very-hard-to-find shoes can be purchased (thanks, Molly!).  Ped Shoes is one of my favorites.  They just added quite a few new styles and they even some some of last years/seasons styles on sale.  See the Chie Mihara section here. 

Here are my favorites (so far!):

BEGME

BICHITO (can be purchased here)

QUIRI

SOSEGO - Such a lovely color!

GUAL (can be purchased here) 

Summer update

In case you didn't notice by my lack of outfit posts :), I don't feel very enthusiastic about summer clothes/fashion.  I don't like the heat very much, and once things reach a certain temperature, I usually just end up wearing whatever will keep me cool.   That usually translates to a simple dress and sandals.

I did recently get some new sandals to show off!  I have plantar fasciitis, so I have to be careful about what shoes I wear.  If it's a pair of shoes that I know I will be wearing for long periods of time, they have to be comfortable and have a lot of support, especially arch support.  I haven't had a lot of luck finding sandals that are structured/supportive.  I've always thought about birkenstocks because they are known for their comfort, and support, but the pair that I wore in high school always comes to mind:

 Yikes!  Not what I really think of as stylish these days:)  This season, I started hearing more and more about birkenstocks.  I wondered, could they actually be "in" this year?  I first saw a post over at Corporette (here) talking about the resurgence of birks.  I took note and started seeing them on other blogs.  That piqued my curiosity and I finally took a look at the styles Birkenstock has to offer right now.  I was pleasantly surprised.  Some of them are actually kind of cute!  Seeing them for sale at my favorite store sealed the deal (see the Gizeh on sale at anthro here).  I wanted a brighter color, so I turned to Amazon and found these for a great price (here): 

So far, I am loving them!



Here are a few recent outfits and some photos from my weekend    

Ice cream from Salt and Straw - one of the best things in Portland right now.  The honey balsamic strawberry with black pepper is FABULOUS.

One of my go-to summer dresses and my freshly pedicured toes

Ben and I went out for lunch and dinner yesterday.  It was too hot to cook!  We had these delicious oysters at the Parish.

Berries!  We went berry picking today.  Our adventure did not last long because it was really, really hot!

Cold apple cider from Ned Ludd

Some beauty from our front yard

A gift from my wonderful husband:)  I LOVE it!