Mother's Day

I did not mean to let this blog sit for so long without posting.  The boys' schedule after school has been really hectic lately, plus I added a third day with my fitness trainer.  My mother's day was really awesome.  I spent lunch with my family at Fashion Island at my favorite restaurant, Mariposa in Neiman Marcus.  I've lived here my whole life, but I've never known about this little gem until this year.  It is such a lovely place.  This is going to be my destination every Mother's Day from now on.  After walking around the mall after lunch, we met my family (my mom, dad & sisters) later for dinner near my mom's house.  It was a lovely day!  Get ready for a long post with lots of photos.

This dress has been sitting in my closet waiting for a special occasion.  I bought it in January.  I don't know why I do this.  It's just a wrap dress, no big deal, right?  I should have been wearing it all through this spring, but I never felt I had an opportunity to wear it until I had a nice place to go.  Also, I need the weather to be warm to wear a dress.  There's this particular necklace I wanted to wear with it but I had to wait for it to get fixed.  I didn't even get it fixed in time after all, so I couldn't even wear the necklace until the second wearing of the dress, which is the last photo below.  The wedges I've had for awhile and I could have worn them with other outfits, but they are special and I wanted them to be worn first with this particular dress.  I don't know why I do this, but after a particular piece has been worn with a certain outfit first, then I feel free to wear it all the time.  I know it's crazy.  I feel I have to wait for something special probably because I put so much time and effort in finding a particular piece that is low stock and so difficult to find at the sale price I want to at least wear it to a nice place for the first time.  Does anyone else feel this way???  Probably not.  :/

DVF wrap dress.  The fit and quality of this wrap dress is so amazingly awesome.   Huge thanks to the salesperson at Neiman Marcus who caught this dress right as it was being boxed up to go to the outlet store, Last Call by Neiman Marcus.  She had to search for a while to locate it.  She called me back once to say it couldn't be found, and then she called two hours later to tell me she had it in her hand.  I was so worried the dress would not be in good condition, but it was in perfect condition.  No snag, no stain, no wrinkle, no nothing.  Oh, and she let me have it for the outlet price.  Amazing woman, let me tell you.

Neiman Marcus gave all the mothers a lovely gift of larger sized fragrance samples.  This made me very happy, because Marc Jacobs Daisy is my favorite!

I forget the name of the delicious blood orange champagne cocktail that went perfectly with our prefix lunch, but here it is. 

 Had to include a close-up.  I'll be ordering this drink again.

I'm really happy with how my eyeshadow turned out.

Borrowed my son's balloon.

Very cool and modern decor at Mariposa Restaurant.  The food is divine, too.

My boys.

Outside at Fashion Island.  I thought wearing wedge sandals and carrying a larger handbag would make the outfit more casual.

My mom and two sisters.  What happened to my bangs?

I intended to wear the necklace below for Mother's Day, but it was not ready until a few days later.  I finally got to wear it to a show at the Laguna Playhouse last Wednesday.  I first saw the DVF dress online at Bloomingdale's, the model is shown wearing this necklace.  Here is the model wearing the DVF dress and this  pretty fashion forward necklace.  I would consider this almost a mixing of prints.  Normally I would go a safer route and wear a simple silver or gold pendant to not take away from the print of the dress, but I wanted to go outside my comfort zone and wear one that has pizazz that works with the print.  After a lot of hunting around, I finally learned the name of the brand and found the necklace.   Unfortunately, in reality it is on a long chain, not a short one.  It took two jewelry repair shops to remove the charms and put them on a shorter chain.  I am so glad I went out of my comfort zone in wearing this super-fun necklace!  House of Harlow 1960 is by Nicole Richie.  The collection is awesome.  You can see it here.

I really wanted to copy the exact sandals too, from the model's photo, but after a great deal of searching I could not even get the name brand.  Bloomingdales.com did not know the name brand of the shoe, and they said sometimes the models wear their own shoes.  I gave up searching.

Mother's Day Outfit

Diane von Furstenberg 'New Julian' silk wrap dress, Little Leaves Mint - Neiman Marcus (On clearance for 65% off!! This was a tough find, but worth all the work.  My first ever purchase from Neiman Marcus besides dines at the restaurant!)
Paul Green 'Leslie' wedge sandal, brown - nordstrom.com (Worth every penny of my Nordstrom gift card.  Best quality shoes ever.)
Nordstrom Diamond Collection Heart Pendant Necklace, yellow gold - Nordstrom (gift from my husband for our 7th anniversary in 2008)
kate spade 'Keswick Caning' Lever Back Earrings, white - kate spade
kate spade 'Keswick Caning' bracelet, navy/gold - Nordstrom
B. Makowsky 'Ollie - Large' Crossbody Satchel, white - nordstrom.com
House of Harlow 1960 Double Sunburst Necklace, black - nordstrom.com