Look of the Day: Fancy Date Night

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Between having my sweetheart gone on a business trip for about 5 weeks and me spending the weekend he came back in bed with a cold, we hadn’t had a proper date night in too long. So I was more than happy to realize the weekend we will finally be able to have one was during Restaurant Week. What better way to reinstate date night than with a fancy date night!
For those of you who don’t know about Restaurant Week, it’s an event where many local restaurants offer a 3 course prix-fixe menu for a very reasonable price. Many cities nationwide celebrate Restaurant Week, and here in the Phoenix area they’ve been doing it for several years. It’s a great way to get around and try some of the upscale (and pricier!) restaurants without breaking the bank.
We’ve been doing Restaurant Week for a few years now, and this time we decided to try The Capital Grille. It’s a very nice steakhouse and as most in that category they also offer some great seafood choices. The first two courses were delicious, from the french onion soup and salad to the steak & lobster, the seared citrus salmon, even the mashed potatoes and green beans were extraordinary; the desserts were good but didn’t really impress me, the dark cholocate espresso cake was a bit too rich for me, and the creme brulee was good but I’ve had better. All in all a great meal and a great deal.
Now, one of my favorite things about fancy date nights is of course the opportunity to dress up! It seems like here in Arizona there really aren’t very many opportunities to do so. I don’t know if it’s the weather or just a cultural thing, but most people here are very casual in their dressing, sometimes too casual I would say. I mean, I understand that the weather really does require wearing shorts and flip flops most of the time, but that doesn’t automatically make jeans fancy attire!
Anyway, I decided a long time ago to dress for myself and wear what I like even if that makes me overdressed in other people’s eyes. No more saving my nice clothes and favorite outfits for special occasions because those don’t come around often enough for me. At the end of the day, what’s so bad about being “overdressed”? That I might be the best dressed person there? Better to be overdressed than underdressed, that’s for sure.
So, this time I wore an LBD I scored at the Good Will Store for $10, can’t beat that! I love this dress, the skirt is especially flattering on me, but I hadn’t realized until looking at these pics, that I probably need to have the top part tailor a bit. I think it’s supposed to be slightly loose on top, which it’s why it didn’t bother me that it was, but seeing it in the photos I think it’s too loose on the sleeves and waist for me. The dress came with a belt, but this time I switched it for a sequined belt from H&M. I added gold accesories, and voilà, ready for fancy date night!
What would you wear for a fancy date night?

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What I wore
Black dress: Good Will Store
Black sequined belt: H&M
Statement necklace: Bebe
Black clutch: vintage (my mom's from the early 90's!)
Chain bracelet: from Macy's
Gold sparkly shoes: Guess

Look of the Day: Central Park and More

I can’t think of a better way to spend a beautiful Sunday than to hang out in Central Park, and that’s exactly what we did when we were in New York. After having a nice little brunch on the Upper East Side, we arrived to the park and spend a few hours there. I love everything about this landmark. Bethesda Fountain and the Literary walk are two of my favorite spots within the park, not to mention all the lovely tunnels and bridges. I of course visit the park every time I’m in the city, but this time I got to do another first, take a carriage ride around the park, which was lovely.

After the park, I decided I wanted to check out the iconic Plaza Hotel, and so we did. It is be-a-u-tiful. I can only imagine what staying there and having a room with such a view of Central Park would be like. We got there just in time for tea, and I would’ve loved to sit there for an hour sipping on tea, eating tea sandwiches and scones, but that’s not precisely at the top of the list for a 13 year old boy, so I decided to leave ‘tea at the Plaza’ as something to look forward to on my next trip.

Then we hopped in the car and headed south to downtown and Wall Street area. Because it was a holiday weekend, and so many New Yorkers flee to the beach to say goodbye to summertime, the city didn’t feel as crowded as usual and traffic wasn’t terrible. However Soho was buzzing, there were people everywhere, coming and going and shopping and eating. Chinatown was pretty busy too, but Wall Street area was understandably mostly dead. Except for this tiny corner of the actual Wall Street where there was a movie shooting with none other than hottie Chris Pine. The movie crew obviously didn’t allow people to get close to the scene or the actors, but I did manage to take a picture from across the street showing a glimpse of his good looking face.

Next we headed to South Street Seaport because I was determined to get a picture of the Brooklyn Bridge. I had seen it before and even drove on it on my past trips, but surprisingly I never took a picture of it. South Street Seaport provides a pretty good view of it, and I snapped away as many pictures as I could, because it takes many for me to find one or two that I’m happy with. We hanged out there for a little while, and sat at one of the cafes for a snack, but the food was terrible.

Finally we ended our day right where we started it, in the Upper East Side. We had planned to have dinner at the famous Serendipity 3, but I was so naive as to think I could just walk in and get a table. Turns out you better make a reservation or you might end up waiting over an hour and a half. Which was our actual wait, although we decided to put our names on the list and then walked to a little brasserie on the corner to have dinner there, and we got back just in time to get our table at Serendipity 3 if only just to have one of their infamous desserts. I can see why this place has become so popular, it is quite charming and their desserts are a sight in themselves. I am not particularly a fan of such a sugar overdose but it was nice just to sit there, and enjoy a few bites with loved ones.

As usual, I leave you with the pictures of the day, outfit included. Enjoy!

 

In Central Park
Literary Walk

My actual smile

Favorite sunnies

New statement necklace

Bridge in the park

Saxophone player in tunnel

Light at the end of the tunnel

Bethesda Fountain

New Yorkers at the park

The Plaza Hotel

Flatiron Building

Washington Square Arch

NYSE

Cutie Chris Pine

Brooklyn Bridge

Brooklyn Bridge from the FDR

What I wore
Top: H&M
Skirt: vintage
Belt: H&M
Statement necklace: from Macy's
Neon bracelets: Target and Charming Charlie
Yellow handbag: H&M
Black flats: Crocs
Sunnies: $5 from street vendor in Mexico City

Look of the Day: Hat or No Hat?

Even though today I’m just sharing a simple and comfortable look you may find me wearing on a weekend, it’s still kind of a special post because I’m introducing for the first time on the blog my babies, a.k.a my hats. Just a couple of them, because you should know I own quite a few.

My love affair with this marvelous piece of accessory was born out of my inability to do anything interesting or creative with my hair, which results in more than your average amount of the infamous ‘bad hair days’. So I initially resorted to hats as a sort of  cover up for such sad disastrous days (in hair terms anyway), but soon enough they really grew on me. Not only are they practical and purposeful pieces (they do offer wonderful sun protection), they are quite stylish as well. I love that they come in all shapes, colors and sizes. They offer enough variety for anyone to find the piece that betters suits her features and/or moods. My love of hats has grown so deep I have even become quite taken with the often-ridiculed British fascinators (the extravagant hats commonly worn by British women to weddings and certain events). I would love for that tradition to find its way into the American culture.

Anyway, back to today’s outfit, I present you 3 versions of it: without a hat, with big floppy hat, and with a classic fedora. You can pick your favorite. I, on the other hand, can’t. I like all 3 versions, and will wear them all, depending on my mood and the occasion. The day the pictures were taken I ended up going out without a hat for no particular reason.

Now, besides introducing you to two of my beloved hats, there’s another piece in this ensemble that I am currently enamored with, a large cocktail ring I recently purchased. You see, I love accessories in general, from hats to belts to big chunky jewelry, because I often dress in simple and comfortable clothes, and it’s all these add-on pieces that really end up making the outfit fun and interesting. Plus, like I mentioned before, on most days I don’t wear makeup and I feel like the accessories help dress up the look a bit more; in my opinion, they keep me from looking just plain frumpy.

So, which outfit version is your favorite? Do you wear hats? Do you have a favorite hat style? Please share!

Dress: H&M
Belt: H&M
Tote Bag: Saks Fifth Avenue via Good Will Store
Shoes: Circa Joan & David via Macy's
Necklace: Vintage
Cocktail Ring: BCBG Max Azria
Big Floppy Hat: Target
Fedora: it was a present from Mexico
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