In search of a perfect mattress

Finally we have decided it is time for a mattress upgrade. After careful consideration and endless trips to mattress stores and constant tryouts, we have narrowed down our selections to top 3 mattresses:

1) Sleeping Beauty Kristen Luxury Pillowtop - $$$




2) Sleep Options Cool Gel 13 inch Ultra Plush - $$




3) Sleep Number P5 - $$$




I must say, it was a tough choice since all 3 had their advantages and all 3 were heavenly comfortable. The downside for the Sleep Number was many bad reviews and complaints about finding mold on the inside after about 2 years of use. So far I am yet to find complaints about the first two choices so we took Sleep Number off the list, besides, both of us prefer roughly the same firmness so no need for adjustment offered by Sleep Number.

Another thing was that Sleepy's offered free old mattress removal and free delivery, in addition to a frame bed which took weight of our shoulders and a need to get mattress springs.

We finally chose the Sleeping Beauty which is exclusive to Sleepy's, and has better side support than the Sleep Options one.

The mattress was delivered this Saturday and it is indeed heavenly! I would highly recommend both the Sleeping Beauty as well as Cool Sleep Options, definitley the best ones outhere. Worth every penny!

On a Burberry trench quest

So I finally decided to get myself a Burberry trench. I did my research and spent many hours trying on different trenches to find The One.

I wanted the classic cut, mid-length, light khaki in color - Burberry calls this color the trench. Most coats I liked would come in 3 colors: black, honey, and trench. In reality I'd like one in every color but my budged does not allow that, so I've decided to go with my first choice.

Here are some photos of my Burberry trench journey:
















I even tried on the packable trench, hoping it would be perfect for travel but didn't like the material, plus size 2 was way too small.



Other trenches in size 2 were perfect but left little room for a thicker sweater which saleslady graciously provided. So, considering that I need to drive plus chase my 3-year-old, I have decided to go with Marystow in size 4.


This way I can wear it with a sweater and even add a lining if I choose to wear it during winter. Anyways, I am very happy with my new trench and it is going to be perfect addition to my wardrobe for the upcoming trip to Paris this September.

Fall essentials - ankle booties

Just got myself a new pair of gorgeous Ash suede ankle booties. Their sizing is somewhat irregular - normally I am 7.5, sometimes 8, in European sizing it is 39. Ash boots, at least this particular style, do not have half sizes, so it was between 7 (38) or (39). I chose 8 because the measurement listed was closest to the measurement of my foot. Unfortunately when I received size 39, they were way to large and I had to exchange them for size 38 which fitted perfectly.





Today I took the boots for a trial run - went with my family to a Please Touch museum, running after my 3-year-old, climbing a rabbit hole in Alice in Wonderland setup, playing golf with the flamingo's and having tea with the Mad Hatter. Not a blister at the end of the day! Says something about the boots, doesn't it?:)

Cimarron jeans and sizing

I saw online and fell in love with Cimarron jeans. They do not seem to be popular anywhere in North America and it is nearly impossible to find them anywhere and no less possible to get any information on sizing.





So normally i am between sizes 26 and 27, 27 fits a bit loose on me, so I figured I should get Cimarrons in size 27. I waited for July sales in Paris (those jeans are a bit pricey when you pay full price plus shipping) and got myself a pair in size 26 in Burgundy. I am crazy about burgundy and lately have been using it as one of my basic colors. Then, a few days later I read somewhere that Cimarron jeans run small, so I e-mailed the store and asked them to change my order to size up the jeans. They never replied and I was afraid they didn't understand my rather limited French but luckily the pair that arrived was in size 27. Yay!

It took them forever to get here, I started to think it would be a better idea to ask either my sister, who was in Paris at the time, or my father, who was going there later, to pick them up from a store but I felt it was too much to ask since they were there for only shirt periods of time.




The jeans were more like stretchy pants and the color was not as vivid as it was on the website. The burgundy looked more like raspberry to me. In fact, you can see how similar the color is to the color of my raspberry heels on the picture. As for the sizing, Cimarron jeans should be ordered a size up, and if you are between the sizes, go 1.5 sizes up. I usually wear 26 but size 27 Cimarrons fit like a second skin.

Black and white

Top - Ralph Lauren
Skirt - Prabal Gurung
Pumps - Zara
Purse - DKNY

Sunday afternoon

T-Shirt - H&M
Skirt - Anthropogie
Ballet flats - Lucky Brand
Scarf - Echo

At the comedy club

Top - Trina Turk
Pants - Banana Republic
Heels - Rachel Roy






Had a blast at the comedy club with my husband and our drinking buddy Shahbaz, listening to Bert Kreischer.

And here is Bert himself:

Vertical stripes

Top - Lulu Guinness
Jeans- H&M
Purse - DKNY
Ballet flats - Lucky Brand

New finds: Green dress

Dress - Laundry
Shoes - Enzo Angiolini




Saw this on a mannequin in Neiman Marcus and fell in love with the pockets. On the rack there were only sizes 6 and 8, so I checked the mannequin and voila! size 0. So I had to get an unhappy saleslady to get it off the mannequin so I could try that on. Cannot wait to wear it this summer!

Friday:)

Top - Ralph Lauren
Skirt - Prabal Gurung
Shoes - Enzo Angiolini
Belt - INC

More accordion pleats

Sweater - Cashmere Cache
Skirt - American Apparel
Shoes - Cole Haan
Bag - DKNY

Dinner with friends

Marinière - Saint James
Jupe - American Apparel
Chaussures - Enzo Angiolini
Sac - DKNY

Red tights, stripes, and jeans

Marinière - Saint James
Jupe - Twenty-Four Seven
Collants - Asos
Bottes - Ralph Lauren
Sac - DKNY

Easter Sunday

Beret - Amrican Apparel
Army Jacket - J. Crew
T-shirt - Banana Republic
Jeans - America Apparel
Boots - Coach

Paris Street Style

The first part of the books consists of interviews with the designers, trendsetters, art directors and others, mixed in with paragraphs on each classic item, such as trench coat, white shirt, pea coat, tropeziennes, etc.
That was for the first 6 chapters. For me it has gotten interesting around chapter 7 - most trends are broken down how to use them and how not to use them: leggins, capri pants, skinny pants, bermuda shorts,animal prints, cowboy boots, long skirts.








Followed by another wonderful chapter on denim: goes into details on how should each jean style fit, talks about skinny jean, boy jean, flared, white jean and more. Chapter 9 is on handbags, chapter 10 - little black dress. Found nothing new there.

















This page below slightly puzzled me. Since it's a fashion book, I expected the editors to do a bit more censoring. Hint: let paragraph






Loved chapters 11 and 12 on what to wear and not to wear with clear explanations on why or why not, for example not wearing wide pants cut too short and quilted jackets, while pearl necklace or a navy blue blazer is always a go to. Chapter 12 talks about what can you borrow from grandmother's closet, nieces closet or work locker, safely, without damage you your style or reputation. For example borrowing a nice 60s coat from your grandma, a waistcoat from your boyfriend, denim skirt from your niece, from the professional's locker - riding, boots, tango dancer's pumps and my personal favorite - an army jacket.













Two last chapters, 13 and 14 talk about secondhand clothes and age appropriate trends.

Personally I'd buy the book for chapters 7,8, 11 and 12. Overall it was an interesting read.

5 key pieces to try this spring

Here are my favorite 5 pieces for the spring:

1. Shirtdress
   
   
   
2. Nude skinny jeans
   
   
   
3. Over the knee socks
   
   
   
4. Army jacket
   
   
5. Oversized scarf
   
   
   

What are yours?

Valentine's Day

On Valentine's we did not make prior reservations so it was impossible to find a table anywhere, so we ended up grabbing a bottle of one of our favorite wines and going to our favorite little Japanese place. It is always open, there is always a table and the food is time tested:)















Dress - H&M


Tights - Asos


Shoes - Cole Haan

More on Prabal Gurung collaboration

I will begin with saying that this collaboration for the most part the best in quality compared to Jason Wu and other Target and Macy's collaborations from last year. There were some polyester things but at least not all the collection; most pieces are made of decent cotton and are pleasant to the touch.

Now here is my review of each and every one of my pre-selected pieces:





The cardigan above was available in all the stores in all sizes but I have decided against buying it since this type of blue is not really my color plus the quality was average and I figurd it will only collect dust in my closet.



The shirtdress was not available in the nearby stores and I tried looking it up online, saw that it was polyester and at first decided against it. Then I found out a store next to my mom carried it so I packed up my son and got in the car. When I got to the store there were 3 shirt dresses left in XS, M, and XL. Xl was snatched by another woman while I was grabbing XS. Thought of grabbing M as well, just in case XS is too small but didn't.



So even though I was not 100% on getting it, after trying it on I fell in love with it and wanted to get another one for my sister. Even though it is 100% polyester and the solar is made of fake leather, the print is very slimming and elongating and the dress is so elegant and comfortable, you don't want to take it off. By the time I got to the racks, medium was gone:(( I had to go to another store that carried it and managed to grab it in medium. Allelujah!







The black and white dress was all I expected - 98% cotton and 2% elastane, a bit stretchy, just like it should be, waist accentuating, pleasant to the touch, comfortable.







The skirt was adorable as well and fit me perfectly in both size 2 and 4.







This dress was a huge disappointment - the waist sits a bit high, plus the material is rather unpleasant and not for the summer - viscose with polyester lining. The color was the only thing that matched my expectations. Pass...







Both blouses were poor quality. The first one - just unpleasant, harsh to the touch material on the upper part (forgot the name), and peplum top felt rock hard and scratched my skin (not kidding)











The shoes, unfortunately, were not available online, so based on my experiences with other pieces, I have decided not to buy without knowing for sure whether r not they will be up to my standards.







My last pick - the jewelry were considerably larger than looked on the picture and the design of it is such that it needs to be dainty and not chunky.







So, to sum it up, I ended up getting 4 pieces: The black and white skirt and dress, nolita print shirtdress, and one piece I did't pick out originally - flowery shorts. Based on the info on the web site, the shorts were out of stock in my area, but I found them unexpectedly in the same store as the shirtdress. They only had sizes 8 and up left but I managed to find size 6 in returned items bin and got that one. I wish I could get size 2 or at least 4, but maybe it's better that way.



So here are my picks. There is some extensive bruising on my legs - a result of shopping with a toddler. Even though he slept in his stroller most of the time, he managed to throw a small (but vicious) tantrum at the beginning of our trip.