Erika S. outfits

print rage

glasses: warby parker – tank: anthropologie – belt: j.crew – skirt: dkny – bag: freitag – shoes: worishofer

These pics were taken a little while ago during my first ever trip to Central Park.  I’ve been on a “aztec” or “tribal” print rager lately and there isn’t an end in sight.  I hate the pseudo ethnic naming of these uber trendy prints, but I’ll use them for a lack of a better descriptor.  Cue top above, which I got on sale from Anthro last month, this clutch I got last week, and my favorite freebee bag ever from beauty.com.  (I’m a huge sucker for gift with purchases).  

Erika S. outfits

Smocks of Michelle

There’s no way to start this post without sounding stalker-ish so here goes:  I’m so semi-obsessed (oxymoron, I know) with Michelle Williams, I feel the need to emulate her style as a neighbor of her neighborhood.  I mean, who doesn’t want to copy this?

On a less stalker-ish note, I’ve also been semi-obsessed with finding the perfect summer smock dress.  I’ve always loved smock dresses.  To me they exude comfort, style, simplicity and minimalism, all while being sexy in a very subversive way.  Great examples here, here and here.

B on the other hand, strongly disagrees with me on the subtly sexy bit.  I brought this dress home the other day, and he instantly called it the B.W.G.D. — “big white grandma dress”.  He likens it to a large shapeless sack-ish grandma’s nightgown, the type his grandmother in Minnesota wears.  He thinks Grandma, I think Michelle – grandma shoes and everything.  thoughts?

dress: gap – sandals: worishofer – bag: target – glasses: warby parker – lips: nars heat wave

Erika S. outfits, parties

I Love College

Many of my former students are starting their first years of college in the next few weeks, and I’m super excited for them.  This excitement (fueled by their updates on FB) is often mixed with fear that I didn’t help prepare them enough… lots of should haves and could haves.  Are they going to be screwed in freshman Bio because I didn’t make them memorize all the steps and intermediate molecules involved in the Kreb’s cycle?  Oh my god I ran out of time and never covered phylogenetic trees/cladograms!!!  Will they remember that hypo=under/below, iso=equal and hyper=over?  Are they going to maintain the self control needed to keep from partying themselves into hungover dropouts?!?!?  Will they remember my lesson on the benefits of delaying gratification?  O.M.G!

My fears for the impressionable young minds of my students were revisited the other evening when B and I went on a booze cruise down the East River hosted by coed.com (probably/most likely NSFW).  Coed.com is hosted on WordPress.com VIP (B is a developer at Automattic) and thus our invite and our free swag – blue sunglasses.  For the record, B and I held it together, there was no vomiting over the side, all staggering was due to the choppy waves on the river and we exercised self control and moderation.

I bought this dress (called the Shore House Shift dress) from Anthropologie over a year ago on sale.  It was a great buy because of the massive markdown, the high quality silk material and the cute little anchor buttons at the shoulder.  It’s held up pretty well too, but I’ve only worn it about 3 times.  This last time may be the last though, as I managed to get ketchup, pickle juice and just about every other condiment all over the front of it that night.  I’m not known as the family klutz for nothing, here’s hoping that I don’t ruin it totally trying to get the stains out.

dress and bag: anthropologie – shoes: madewell also seen here – mustache necklace: purchased the renegade craft fair

I had to throw in this shot of B, because he’s cute and the glasses matched the lining of my bag.

Erika S. outfits

Willoughby

Dip dye stuff has been a huge trend this past year, and I’m jumping on the bandwagon.  I dig the dip dye, and I’m starting to come around to the dip bleach, as long as it’s not so severe.  I really liked this¹ look and even this² one (though I would lump it in the severe category).  I definitely plan on trying out this³ DIY dip dye and this one too eventually.  And just for reference here is a dip bleach.

¹ I love this look (and this blog) and I’m seriously going to recreate it one day.  ² Amazing blog and I want to steal her design sensibilities. ³ I love Wit & Whistle paper goods and now I love the blog.  I bought B this card for Valentines day this past year, and I really love this one also.  Super cheeky and “awww” inducing stuff.

This dip dye tank is by a label called Willoughby.  As in John Willoughby (Maybe not, but who cares) from Sense and Sensibility, one of my favorite book to movie adaptations of all time.  When I tried this on at Anthropiologie, all I could think about was this scene:

tank: anthropologie (on sale now) – skirt: hella old DKNY – tote: freitag – sandals: worishofer (I swear they were just on sale, but not anymore)

Erika S. fun stuffs, outfits

Dekalb Market

B and I rode our bikes over to Dekalb Market today.  The weather has cooled a bit and I’m getting used to riding my single-speed (no more jello legs).  I know I need to stop comparing NY to SF, but the Dekalb market is a larger version of the Proxy Project in Hayes Valley.  It’s pretty cool and I love the design sensibilities of a “mall” out of old shipping containers.  Salvaged materials, an urban farm, artisanal foods, an Etsy pop-up with a vintage tool shop and you’ve got yourself a thriving hipster mecca.  We overheard some dude with an epic beard lamenting the presence of a jump-house and screaming kids–> “there should be an adults only hour or something if they’re going to make this cool”.  Like B says, at least they’re in a cage.  I really wanted to buy a bike basket/Bambi holder from this shop (seriously cute stuff), but alas, the weight limit is 12lbs.  Bambi is a fatty.

I have been on the search for a great pair of denim shorts for a while.  Granted, I need another pair of shorts like I need a hole in my head, but I want a good fit with a high waist to offset my freakish long torso/short appendages proportions.  These fit the bill, and they’re not ridiculously expensive.  Normally BDG stuff is made for stick-like teenage girls and aren’t made to fit my birthing hips.  Surprisingly enough though, these do.

sunnies: f21 – tank: madewell (on super sale last weekend, similar here) – shorts: BDG from UO – shoes: vans – bag: freitag – nails: revlon scandalous

Erika S. fun stuffs

DC again

I took the Bolt bus down to DC again this past weekend.  B was in Berlin for a work meet-up, so I figured it would be a good time to visit again, and before I start working again.  That’s right folks, I got a job!!  I’m super excited to be joining the team at Expeditionary Learning School for Community Leaders this fall.  Things are happening fast though…I’m heading to a week long training program in Boston next week, then immediately into teaching a summer intensive program for my new school’s ELL (English language leaders) students.  So I’m waving goodbye to my summer this week.

While in DC, we celebrated my brother in law Dave’s birthday with cake and a family brunch.  Isn’t my sister’s dog ridiculously cute?  Woody is such a cuddle bug.  Army is camera shy, but I managed to get her in the background with her tongue hanging out as usual.

We also managed to get in a lot of shopping, so I have more than a few new additions to my closet.  Madewell was having a major (extra 50% off!!) sale!  I got this dress right before I left, when J.Crew had an extra 30% off sale items (still going on at jcrew.com).  A great deal at $24.50.  Whenever B goes out of town, I go shopping.  This time I did quite a lot of damage, so I need to start a new shopping ban…after I buy myself a birthday present of course!

dress: j.crew (mine is sold out, but solids are still available) – purse: f21 – sandals: worishofer

Erika S. outfits

Dev!

My friend Devon is here!  She’s here for some Physical Therapist conference, getting smarter in her field.  That stuff all starts tomorrow, so today we got out our walking shoes and made our way all around midtown Manhattan.  I got to check off some touristy stuff such as the Empire State Building and Rockefeller Center.

I started the day off wearing black booties.  Big mistake, as I ended up with a big blister very soon after I got off the subway in Manhattan.  Shoulda known that heat –> sweat –> rubbing on feet –> blister = horrid pain.  So I popped into a shoe store and picked up these lovelies, which coincidentally I’ve been eyeing lately anyway. It was a fantastic excuse to finally buy them, as I was approaching to hobbling mode.  My new granny-chic shoes.  By the way, the skirt I’m wearing is made by my mom.  She sewed it for me right before I moved.  She came home one day after spotting a skirt at J. Crew determined to copy the design.  So she dug out some random fabric and sewed it up in a few hours, adding in a couple folds to make it special.  I love it.  It’s my mommy skirt now.

tank: f21 – skirt: mommy – shoes: worishofer – bag: freitag and baggu – belt: j.crew

The view from the office of Dev’s friend.  72nd floor of the Empire State Building.

Insane red ball of plasma setting behind us.  It was pretty.

Erika S. outfits

summer uniform

New York is HOT.  Today it was like 100˚F out (it’s now 11pm, and it’s 83˚ outside).  I’m used to 50˚-65˚F weather every single day in SF.  This whole summer/fall/winter/spring weather thing was foreign to me, till now.  So now I have a summer uniform.  Every morning, I throw on one of two pairs of denim cut-offs, a tank, sunnies, and I’m done. Granted it’s not very exciting, but it’s functional on my bike, maximizes ventilation, and provides enough surface area for sweat evaporation without making me feel like I’m a stripper too naked.

These jeans used to belong to B till I saved them from the Goodwill pile and chopped the legs off.  There is a hole in the back pocket created from years of packing his “daily carry” knife, so I almost lost my current favorite lipbalm the other day.  I’m planning on stealing patiently waiting for B to get rid of another pair of jeans so I can stop wearing these everyday.  

sunnies: f21 – tank: h&m – shorts: levis 501’s from b – bag: freitag – sandals: dv by dolce vita – watch: marc by marc

Erika S. fun stuffs, outfits

horsie

There’s my favorite horsie shirt again.

B and I live in Brooklyn now, about 3 (Avenue) blocks from Prospect park, which I would say is roughly the size half the size of Golden Gate park in SF.  We’ve been in and out of this park already, checking out the farmer’s market and riding around the loop on our new bikes.  B snapped these photos the last time we strolled over to the Farmer’s market at Grand Army Plaza.  The park is such a nice reprieve from the noises of the city (even with the 200 family BBQs that happen all the time there, and the crazy screaming little kids on their razors).  I’m thankful to have an apartment close to park.  I plan on getting a lot of use out of my new super awesome park ready timbuk2 bag.

By the way, Saltwater Sandals are seriously the best summer sandal ever.  Super comfy, never rubs, never pinches, lasts forever and super affordable.  Same can be said for these new Native shoes that B and I bought.  They’re like crocs, but way cooler looking.  And, they’re beast free, which I know would please a few of my friends.  They’re squishy (absorbs impact), waterproof (perfect for the NY summer rains), breathable (lots of holes for ventilation) and grippy (great for bike riding).

sunnies and tote: f21 – horsie shirt: urban outfitters (hella old) – shorts: j.crew – my shoes: saltwater sandals – b’s shoes: native