Investing in Gold

Pinterest is getting to be deadly.  I keep seeing images like these and deciding that I must go out and grab these items myself.  I need gold for Fall.

I've been off gold for a while but this season, it just seems right.  As real gold shoots up, I find myself wanting to add it back in.  But not real gold... I want burnished vintage warm old gold.

I want to wear gold with red, with black, with navy and brown and especially leopard print and tortoiseshell.

So my first and best bargain was this leopard print clutch from ASOS.  With a coupon code, I nabbed it for about $25 (it's only $35 now) and have received tons of compliments on it.  I've been searching for a clutch that grabbed my attention, was the right size and price and this is it.  I've been wearing it to work the past few days and it's funny how a clutch makes you feel instantly more put together.

This even has great metal accents and, on the upside, I don't have to worry about it getting ruined!

I have to admit, I've been wanting this watch for over 4 years.  I finally found a good price on Amazon ($50 off!) and caved.  I love a chunky watch and Michael Kors created the perfect one.  It's acrylic tortoiseshell and just dreamy.

But then Pinterest and my sucker-ness for sequins got me again...

Zara got me with this sequin "wallet" clutch. (They also got me to get this polka-dot jacket but sadly it didn't fit right and had to go back.  Sad face.)

So yes, me and chunk watch-clutch-magic-time is going to be happening all winter long.

To add to my clutch-bracelet soiree, I found some great pieces at my favorite antiques fair.

Not the hex nut bracelet, of course.  I made that during my big craft weekend.  It's amazing how photogenic these are.

Nope, my two vintage pieces were these great mesh bracelets.  They are so comfy to wear.

The teal accent is going to go perfectly with my new mary janes.

Little mesh bracelet... just as sweet.

And my favorite finds were these Volupte cigarette case and compact with a gorgeous Persian enameled motif.

The case is tiny but I'm going to use it as a clutch. Just pop my cards and id and that's it for a night out.  No keys carrying that night. Or I can pop it into one my my new clutches instead of my overstuffed wallet.

I usually default to silver, but this season, it's all about gold.

Perception vs Reality

A few weeks ago I was sighing over these Manolo Blahnik "Erratic" mary janes.  The color. The scalloping.  The mary jane-ness.  And of course the spiky heel.

I loved the stacked wood skinny heel.  Heel shape is kind of my "thing".

So I was kind of surprised when, after tracking them down with the help of my friends at Bergdorf Goodman, that they came with a covered, thicker heel... um, what?!?

I looked back at the product description and it said that it was a stacked heel too.  Strange.

So I considered not keeping them, but they are still pretty stunning shoes...

What do you think when a product doesn't arrive exactly as described.  Do you get annoyed and return it or judge it on it's own merits and evaluate with fresh eyes?

Ensemble du Jour - Oktoberfest Edition

PROST!

Tonight was the official grand opening of the pub we built.  This little pub is built in the old nanny's quarters off of the back of our garage building. My husband and our talented neighbors turned this shell of a room into a pretty sweet pub filled with copper bar top, hand-crafted wrought iron footrest, hex and subway tiling, a vintage wood stove, darts... and a stolen Bavarian flag!

My contribution was the name, (temporary) logo, homemade pretzels and being the bar girl wearing a dirndl straight from Germany for our Oktoberfest.

The hubby in his Trachtenhosen (left) and one of our great neighbors.

Here's the dirndl I wore and a detail shot of the bodice.

As I mentioned the other day, I did more crafts on my Crafty Crafterson day. Two other crafts were the necklace to wear with my dirndl...

And my matching purse.  The traditional Trachten outfit often adds a gingerbread inspired purse to wear with the outfit.  To save some money, since the outfit was a bit pricey, was to make my own! 

I hand stitched the purse using 3 pieces of brown felt and then added embellishments to give it that "iced" look.

I think it turned out pretty snazzy!  Since it took me several hours, I'm glad it did.  We're actually going to another Oktoberfest next weekend, so I'll get my use of it then.  I just hope my stitches hold!

Now, off to play another round of darts...