Today on Weekend Meanderings, more summer dresses, a garden tour, Lulu and Georgia and a word about my mom.
Happy weekend, friends!
It’s Saturday and I’m joining Kim and Elizabeth for Weekend Meanderings.
Our weekly roundup of inspiration and goings on.
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It’s Mother’s Day weekend!
What are you up to?
I miss the days of hosting Mother’s Day brunch for my mom.
More about her later.
Earlier this week I had lunch with Kim and Sheila from Maison de Cinq.
So fun!
Kim, Moi, Sheila
Today I’m attending a baby girl shower.
For my step-granddaughter.
Okay, my former step-granddaughter … but in the times of modern families is that important?
This means I have a step-great-granddaughter on the way.
And you can be sure a blog post is coming soon!
NORDSTROM’S PERSONAL STYLING SERVICE
I’ve had several events on my calendar recently, and a few more on the horizon. Our Mexico trip (blog post coming), a couple of wine tasting excursions, the Kym Showers Life Coach Retreat that I wrote about last week, today’s baby shower and a wedding in Italy next month. A few weeks ago I decided to book a personal styling appointment at Nordstrom to pull together a few spring and summer outfits. I’ve availed myself of this amazing – AND FREE – service many times in the past when preparing for special events and decided it was time to take advantage of it again. It was a last minute decision but I was able to get an appointment a day in advance. Pansy was assigned to help me (lucky her) and immediately sent me a quick questionnaire so she could pull relevant pieces. When I arrived for my appointment, Pansy had pulled a ton of options for me. Just look at it all.
Overwhelming, right? Once Pansy got me situated she ran off to help another client and I started by going through her selections pulling out pieces I knew I wouldn’t wear. That said, I kept an open mind and tried on many things I would probably not have selected for myself. This is the beauty of personal styling … and over the years some of my favorite purchases have been pieces I would have passed on if left to my own devices.
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- Frame
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- Steve Madden Dress | Vince Jacket
The blue Frame dress was too big, and Pansy ordered a S/P which was delivered to my house a few days later. I hemmed and hawed over the Steve Madden lime pattern dress … but I’m glad I took the risk. And this Vince shirt-style jacket works with both dresses … and pretty much any dress, skirt, pant ensemble.
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- La Ligne
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- LaLigne Dress | Sept de Cinq Blazer
This stripped, smocked top dress is a favorite from La Ligne … a new-to-me brand. They had so many cute summer dresses in the store and it was hard to choose. The ruched sleeve Sept de Cinq blazer may look familiar. I wore the same style in gold to Kyle’s wedding last year.
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- La Ligne
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- A.L.C.
Here’s another La Ligne smocked maxi in a navy and white dot pattern. I didn’t buy it … and now I’m questioning my judgement. This bright yellow mini from A.L.C. is so so cute … but I can’t wear yellow. (Or can I?) It’s offered in coral on the A.L.C. website.
And then I tried on a few tops with a pair of Frame cropped straight leg, white denim. I returned the pants because I just bought this similar pair from J.Crew that are higher waisted and I like better. The thing I prefer about the Frame denim is the finished hem … which sits at a good spot on me (cropped pants are often way too long on my 5’4″ frame). Back to the tops … I love Rails button down shirts and this so-soft chambray is no exception. A striped v-neck tee from Nordstrom’s Caslon brand. And This flutter sleeve blouse from Isabel Marant which was a bit of a splurge. And an example of something I would never have pulled off the rack on my own.
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- Rails Chambray Button Down
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- Carson Striped Tee
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- Isabel Marant Etoile Blouse
By the way, I’m wearing my controversial puffy slides. You either love them or hate them and I think you know where I stand. Pun intended.
Anyhoo, after trying on what seemed like 113 pieces of clothing, I narrowed it down to this rack of possibles.
After culling through the possible, I went home with several fun spring and summer ensembles. All and all I was in the store about 90 minutes … and I’ve got Pansy on speed-dial.
Personal Stylist, Pansy, at Nordstrom Walnut Creek
The next day I tried everything on again, at home. After further review, several pieces were returned because they were similar to things I already owned … or maybe I wasn’t 100% in love with them. That said, here are the pieces I added to my closet … a nice spring summer refresh.
SPRING & SUMMER DRESSES
And speaking of the pieces I kept … I wore two of them at last weekend’s Dream Big retreat and shared photos here. I love both dresses so much I think they’re worthy of a deeper dive … and the collage treatment. The first dress, by Frame, is a no-brainer … I mean just one look and I knew. I’m giving it a non-formal wedding guest look. And don’t come at me about the earrings … yes, they’re pricey, but they’re beautiful and work perfectly. We’re just having fun.
Cashmere Wrap | Frame Dress | Mini Bow Bag | Drop Earrings | Espadrille Sandals
The second dresss, a Steve Madden lime print, was not love at first sight. I reluctantly tried it on and didn’t hate it, but wasn’t sure the colors were for me. That said, I kept coming back to it and after glancing at the tag decided it was priced right for taking a walk on the wild side. Did you know Steve Madden made clothing too? News to me.
Vince Jacket | Lime Pattern Dress | Hoop Earrings | Mini Shoulder Bag | Slide Sandal
Anyway, if I’m going to call myself Make Mine a Spritzer, I shouldn’t shy away from clothes adorned with citrus.
The Vince shirt-style jacket works with both dresses and is a good, light-weight layering piece. I’m going to get a lot of wear out it. Am I repeating myself, I feel like I am.
With Vanessa & Candace, two of my new BFF’s
This Rails tie-front dress wasn’t part of my Nordstrom haul. I purchased it on the Rails website and it arrived last weekend. I wore it to lunch with Kim and Sheila … along with my clunky, inexpensive Zara jute platform slides … I love these shoes so much. Sorry.
Rails Kiki Dress | Sunnies | Hoop Earrings | Straw Tote | Platform Slide
Rails dresses work well on me and I have several. I also recently purchased this pair of Rails wide-leg white denim and this (oh my gosh, so soft) chambray shirt.
Speaking of Rails, our Kim is making an appearance today at the Rails store in Palo Alto (Stanford Shopping Center). It’s a Mother’s Day shopping event. Kim will be there between 11:00-12:30. How cool is that?!
If you’re local … run, don’t walk, to meet her and try on all the latest Rails pieces. By the way, they’re offering 20% off your entire purchase. Woo hoo! If you’re not local, check them out online.
LULU AND GEORGIA
Are you familiar with the online home goods retailer Lulu and Georgia? Their latest catalogue landed in my mailbox last week. I don’t know that I’ve ever purchased anything from them, but I always enjoy and admire their modern, minimalistic, but still warm and cozy, aesthetic. The day after receiving the catalog the latest episode of The Business of Home podcast dropped … featuring Sara Sugarman, founder of Lulu & Georgia. Kismet! I listened immediately and took a second look through the catalog and then dove into their website. On the podcast Sara describes how she started Lulu and Georgia as a side hustle while working at her family’s rug business.
Known for collaborations … they’re currently featuring LA based British interior designer, Ginny Macdonald. I am here for it!
Hello! Look at this modern traditional Topia console table from the Ginny Macdonald x Lulu and Georgia collection. I love it for Snowberry’s foyer … an ongoing, never ending project.
I’m also into the double ottomans (Grasmere Ottoman) underneath. Covered in Brie Velvet or Harbor? Hmmmmm …
Lulu and Georgia doesn’t have a brick and mortar presence, and Sara says they don’t intend to. That said, she see’s the need to offer some sort of styling services. In the meantime, she hopes their catalog and website photography will serve as inspiration and instruction on how to style their pieces in our own homes. Follow their Instagram here.
A few things that caught my eye ~
DANVILLE ALAMO GARDEN TOUR
Last week, while in Avila Beach, I missed two big things. The Coronation (I watched a recording on Sunday) and the Lafayette Juniors Lifestyle Tour. Don’t you hate it when so many good things fall on the same day? This week I’ve been busy helping to organize a baby shower … I’m desserts and wine. Well, I’m desserts, Jim’s wine. It’s a couples shower … and it’s today! Busy as the week’s been, I was determined to squeeze in a quick run through the annual Danville Alamo Garden Tour yesterday afternoon, hosted by the American Association of University Women. They’re showcasing five beautiful garden’s in Danville and Alamo. I made it through four of the five. My iPhone misbehaved (overheated) and I didn’t get many photos before it completely shut down. Ugh. If you’re local, the tour continues today … I’m not sure if tickets are still available online or at the door, but check here.
A LITTLE BIT ABOUT MY MOM
Can I share a tid bit or two about my mom on this Mother’s Day weekend? She passed away 24 years ago. Twenty-four years! It seems impossible it’s been that long. She was only 64 when she died after a several years-long battled with ovarian cancer. I miss her more with each year that goes by, especially on holidays, she loved holidays, and Mother’s Day.
As is often the case with mothers and daughters, we had a fraught relationship. Particularly during my teen years. I thought she was unfeeling and unfairly strict, and she thought I was impossibly defiant and wild. With age I’ve come to better understand my mom and her story.
Her mother, Marjorie, was by all account’s remarkable woman. Raised in Kansas City, at 18 she took the train to New York to attend Columbia University. The first person in her family to attend college. She then got her master’s degree at Columbia’s Teachers College and ran a day nursery for disadvantaged children. Marjorie met and married my grandfather, Hilton, also a Columbia student, from Birmingham, Alabama. They continued to live in New York City and my mother was born four years later. Six weeks after that Margorie died. The cause of her death is thought to be a blood infection resulting from a diaper pin prick.
This occurred in the early 1930’s, during the depression, and Hilton struggled not only with grief but financially. He raised my mother for several years with the help of women from Columbia’s day nursery program. When it was time for my mother to enter school, she went to live with Hilton’s father and stepmother in Birmingham. Hilton’s own mother had also died in the first years of his life. With my mother in Birmingham, Hilton moved to a little room in the Manhattan Y.M.C.A. and sent all his earnings home to his family for my mother. He never remarried, although he did have ‘lady friends,’ and continued to live at the Y.M.C.A. until his death at age 64.
My mom went on to excel academically and socially … doing all the things that she thought her family expected of her. She attended Vanderbilt University and did the sorority thing. Like her mother, she got a teaching credential and stayed on to get her master’s degree. After graduation she accepted a teaching job in Iowa near the family of her then boyfriend or fiancé. He broke off their relationship leaving my mother heartbroken, but she picked herself up and accepted a teaching job in San Diego where she shared an apartment with two other teachers. All three met and married Naval officers within the same year.
My mom in 1948 … age 14.
My mom was hugely relieved to announce her engagement. Her family in Birmingham was worried she was an ‘old maid’ (she was 25!). She was doubly relieved that her fiancé, as a Naval Academy graduate, would meet their high standards. Side note: can I just tell you the horror my mom expressed with some of the boyfriends my sister and I brought home! Anyway, in addition to being a nice man and Naval officer … he drove the right car. A 1957 Thunderbird which she delighted in driving around San Diego while he was off at sea. They had a small wedding in San Diego because my mom felt her grandparents would not be up to a big wedding in Birmingham. In fact, they didn’t attend her wedding at all. But her father was thrilled to be there and escort her down the aisle. My father’s entire family came to San Diego for the wedding and his sister told me that my grandfather Hilton was the most charming man who spoke of his pride in my mom … and of his late wife as if she were still alive. Not long after my parents married, my dad was stationed to the Philippines, where I was born.
Outside her San Diego apartment with the infamous Thunderbird.
It’s hard for me to think about my mom’s story without becoming emotional. I feel so much compassion for her and wish I had been able to show her that understanding compassion when she was still alive.
My mom as a newlywed in San Diego.
Current Favorites ~
And that’s what I have for you this week.
Let’s see what’s inspiring Kim and Elizabeth …
If you missed last weekend’s post, you can catch up here.
On Wednesday I’m joining Kim, Elizabeth and several other creators to discuss what to pack for various vacation destinations. I’m covering the wine country.
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