Santa Barbara Stripes

For our anniversary dinner last week in Santa Barbara I wore heels and a silk blouse, but for walking around during the day it was all about comfort.  My favorite AG Jeans, New Balance sneakers and of course, a striped tee.  This one was customized on National Stripes Day at J. Crew.  My seven year old selected the patches and placement.

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J. Crew Striped Shirt

New Balance for J. Crew 620 Sneakers

J. Crew Piper Sunglasses

AG Prima Denim (on sale!)

Happy Shopping!

XO,

JAE

Sailing through Santa Barbara

My husband and I celebrated our ninth wedding anniversary earlier this week.  We got away for one night to Santa Barbara where we were engaged and married.  We had perfect weather just like we did nine years ago.

I styled my “Hello, Sailor” Tee (a gift from J. Crew for National Stripes Day), with slim boyfriend jeans, Piper Sunglasses, New Balance kicks and a striped clutch.

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Limited Edition National Stripes Day T-shirt in “Hello Sailor” c/o J. Crew

J. Crew Piper Sunglasses

J. Crew Slim Boyfriend Jean

New Balance for J. Crew 620 Sneakers

J. Crew Striped Clutch (similar here and here)

Chanel Rouge Double Intensite Ultra Wear Lip Color in Sensual Rose

Happy Shopping!

XO,

JAE

Casual Stripes

Casual, cozy, cashmere stripes in my favorite blue and white.  Spring in Los Angeles can be warm, but also breezy.  This lightweight cashmere sweater is perfect.  I styled it with high-rise jeans, bright pink loafers and my favorite Legend of Lido clutch.  My seven year old snapped the photos.

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Calypso Striped Cashmere Sweater (similar here and here)

Legend of Lido Jaipur Clutch c/o

J. Crew Lookout High Rise Jeans

Prada Driving Shoes (similar here and here)

Happy Shopping!

XO,

JAE

Stripes Save the Day

“Mommy, come see these underground shops.” my seven year old says.   It’s the last day of our Spring Break in Seattle.

“Underground? Do you mean the tunnels of old Seattle by Pioneer Square?”  “No, these shops.” He points to a hallway with a series of shops outside of Shuckers the restaurant at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel where we just finished lunch. I follow him down the hallway and spot a leopard print lining in a yellow raincoat. I stop in my tracks.

Stripes. It was only two more days until National Stripes Day (a holiday J. Crew created). Truth be told, I’d stop for stripes any time of the year.

In the shop window I see a gorgeous navy and white striped rain jacket. I have been schlepping around Seattle in my perfectly functional black Marmot jacket that I picked up at Costco over 10 years ago. It has served me well, but I have been a little jealous of my son the whole trip because he has been running around Seattle in a stylish St. James navy rain jacket with soft blue and white striped lining (the same fabric as their famous shirts). I bought him the jacket in Paris in 2014.

“Isn’t that lovely?” The store owner walks over “its Saint James.  It’s perfect for you”  Little does she know my son has one upstairs that is a perfect match.  I try it on both hoping it does not fit and wanting it to be perfect at the same time. The arms are too short. Sigh. I try the next size. It’s perfect.

“It’s only $320”

“Of course you think that is a good deal.  It’s surrounded by Bogner and four digit coats.” I text a photo of it to my husband. I’m disappointed it’s the last day and we don’t have all of our photos in this jacket that would look so perfect with my son’s.

I must think about it.   I make it as far as another shop that has Sugarfina candy . My seven year old starts hitting the samples hard and lobbying for multiple candies.

My husband texts back:

“Cool jacket.  For what?”

“I have no decent jackets”

“Anniversary and Mother’s Day?”

“Anniversary”

“Done”

I consider the jacket and picture myself wearing it.  “Mommy can I have three?”  “Three what?  No, you can pick one”  “Really?  Yay!”  He settles on gummy sugar lips and we plan to share them with my nephews that evening.

I head straight back and buy the coat. I really have not had a good rain jacket for a while, besides navy and white stripes go with everything.

We run up to the hotel room to freshen up. I change my Chanel lip stain to one that will pop with the coat and off we go to catch the light rail to the suburbs.

“Look!”

“What?

“The sun is shining”.   We shuffle quickly to the light rail.

“I love your darling matching coats. You look so cute” A woman says as we are almost to the escalator

“Thank you very much”

Suddenly I remember and sigh loudly.

“What mama?”

“We forgot your booster.  Ugh you are almost big enough to go without it”

“We need to go get it.”

We run back to the hotel, all the way up to our floor.  He grabs the room key and runs ahead to get it. He runs back with the booster. We hustle back and just miss a train.

I am exhausted from all the running. My son puts the booster on a bench near the security guard and sits down on it. We ask the security guard “how long until the next 124?”

He responds “A few more minutes.  You just missed one.”

I check my watch and text my brother. We are cutting us close to make school pick up. A combination of light rail trains and buses keep coming. A few minutes later we finally see the light rail we are looking for. We hold hands and step on and find one seat for my son. The doors are painted with penguins and a sign that says “Don’t huddle near the door”.  I snap a photo and smile.

At the next stop it hits me again, the booster. “We forgot your booster.”  He calmly says “Again?  Oh no”.

A well-dressed man is eavesdropping “You should get off and cross over and catch the train to go back for it.”

We leave the train and cross over hoping to catch a train quickly. I approach the security guard. “We left our booster seat at the University Station.  Can you radio them?”

After a few minutes, we are still not sure if it is there. In the meantime he gets us on a bus back by special arrangement as we have only our train tickets.

We arrive and run over to the security officer.  He is holding the booster. He says with a thick Russian accent, “Yes, it is you the lady and the boy in the stripes. A woman with a stroller tried to say it was hers right after you left. I said no that does not belong to you. You are not the fashionable lady with the cute kid in the stripes”.

“Thank you so much.”

We wait only a short time for our train.  This time there are two seats together.  I clutch the booster tightly.  A woman looks at us, smiles and says “Your jackets are so cute.”  “Thank you.” I smile back and think to myself, “Best purchase ever.”

Crewcuts Slim Jeans in Wrinkle Rinse / Crewcuts Slim Jeans in Well-Worn Wash  Crewcuts Sunnies / Lookout Jeans/ Piper Sunglasses / New York Tee/ Stan Smith

XO,

JAE

Triple Stripes

Triple stripes?  Why not?  For this look I styled a shirting striped top with a striped clutch (similar here and here), a striped silk scarf (thank you J. Crew!) as a bracelet, Piper sunglasses in ocean, white denim and denim pom-pom flats.

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J. Crew Striped Shirt

J. Crew Piper Sunglasses

J. Crew Silk Scarf c/o

J. Crew Shoes (older style, these and these would look great)

J. Crew Clutch (older style, similar here and here)

AG Prima Denim

Lipstick Queen Chinatown Glossy Pencil in Pink Bluff

Happy Shopping!

XO,

JAE

Sporty Stripes

“Mommy these shoes have changed my life”, said my seven year old after walking a few steps outside in his new Adidas Stan Smiths.  “It’s like I am walking on pillows.  There is a cushion between me and the concrete.”  His joy over the shoes was palpable.  So I just had to get my own pair of Stan Smiths.  When I went to try them on I had trouble deciding between navy (of course) and gold.

My son wore his on our trip to Seattle even though he told me they were not a rainy day shoe.  They performed well in the rain and are easy to clean.

I recently styled my navy pair with a Indian Voile top, high-rise jeans, a striped clutch and blue sunglasses.  They are so comfortable and gave the look a casual sporty vibe.

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J. Crew Embroidered Tie-Neck top in Indian Voile

J. Crew Piper Sunglasses

J. Crew Lookout High-Rise Denim

Adidas Stan Smith in Navy

J. Crew Striped Clutch older style very similar here

Happy Shopping!

XO,

JAE

Berries, Stripes and Connections

I am counting down the days to my one year anniversary of blogging.  In fact, LinkedIn is already serving up congratulations.  There are times that blogging feels isolating.  I am at the computer editing photos, holding myself to tough deadlines, spending (too much) time on social media.  Then there are moments where a comment or an email from a reader comes through and I feel a sense of connection.  I am so grateful for the community of bloggers, instagrammers and J. Crew fans.

Amy of @howtojcrew fame and I kept missing each other at J. Crew.  We had been following each other on Instagram for a while.  It seemed every time I was shopping she had just been there or was coming later.  Finally one day, we both reached out on Instagram and we met for coffee to “talk shop”.  Then one day we actually did bump into each other in the J. Crew dressing room at the Grove.  Both of us were trying on looks from this berry collection.

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So we decided to meet and swap photographer duty.  My “Instagram” husband was thrilled to be relieved of his duties for a few outfits.  We have taken photos twice together now and both times it rained, but we managed anyway.

We shot these berry looks in the mist.  I love that social media which can be isolating at times actually had a connecting power in real life (IRL).

jcrew berries stripes flatlay

My look:

J. Crew Berries Popover

J. Crew Piper Sunglasses

J. Crew Striped Clutch (similar here)

J. Crew Striped Gemma Flats (similar here)

AG Prima Jeans

Chanel Rouge Double Intensite Ultra Wear Lip Color in Sensual Rose

Amy’s look:

J. Crew Berries Sweater

J. Crew Matchstick Denim

J. Crew Flats (similar here)

Here’s to connecting and friendships.

Happy Shopping!

XO,

JAE

Ring the Bell

Happy National Stripes Day!  Those of us with a stripes addiction can rejoice today.   Thank you J. Crew!  If you are like me, you had a lot of to choose from.  I selected this bell-sleeved top and styled it with a liberty print blazer, lookout jeans, New Balance kicks and my Piper sunglasses.  The look was perfect for walking around Venice in off and on rain.  I love that the top is a new silhouette for me (I featured it recently in pink, here), but it still has my favorite stripes.

jcrew striped bell sleeve liberty flatlay

J. Crew Bell Sleeve Striped Top

J. Crew Liberty Blazer (on sale!)

J. Crew Piper Sunglasses

J. Crew Lookout High-rise jeans

New Balance for J. Crew Shoes

Chanel Rouge Double Intensite Ultra Wear Lip Color in Sensual Rose

Happy National Stripes Day!

XO,

JAE

 

Stripes- Greatest Hits

I am coming up on a year of blogging and I have lost count of the number of posts that included stripes.  As it says in my Instagram profile, I am a lover of stripes.  There always seems to be one more striped shirt that is a need rather than a want.  I use stripes as a neutral often with other patterns.  Here are twenty-four of my favorite looks with stripes. For a look back at these posts see the links below.  The items are linked in the posts.

One more day until J. Crew’s new holiday, National Stripes Day. This may be my favorite new holiday. 

XO,

JAE

Painting Outside the Lines, For Whom the Bell Tolls, Vintage Rainbow, In the Trenches, Jumping into Memories ,All of the StripesPattern Mix Hits the Gym, Broad Stripes, Blue Velvet, New York State of Mind, Easy Elegance, Pink Stories, Doggie Stripes at Georgie, Dinner and Sunset in Montecito, Stripes at the San Diego Auto MuseumMay Liberty Flowers, Pink Lady, Black Watch, Stripes, Sequins and Lace, Shoes Tell the Story and Stripes and Liberty

Mani Monday – National Stripes Day Edition

J.Crew has started a holiday, National Stripes Day, that is this Friday, March 31st.  I am ready to celebrate with a striped mani in one of my favorite pinks with navy stripes (of course).

The  manicure and nail art are by Olive & June.  The color is Kiss Me I’m Brazilian by OPI.

Items in the photos:

J. Crew Bell Sleeve Top in Blue

J. Crew Flower Guy Striped Shirt with Painted Flowers (on sale!)

J. Crew Girls Max the Monster Striped Tee

J. Crew Striped Tunic

J. Crew Striped Bell Sleeve Top in Pink

Jonathan Adler Bath Rug

J. Crew Jane Sunglasses

Rebecca Minkoff Denim Clutch

Have a stripey week!

XO,

JAE