Summer Breeze, Makes Me Feel Fine (In A Dress)

As East Coasters know, the weather has been, well, unseasonably warm. 90+ degrees in May? Thunderstorms? Humidity reaching 90%? Being forced to leave my air conditioning unit has me kicking and screaming, but also scratching my head when it comes to outfitting.

This slideshow from the New York Times would have benefited me two weeks ago and since. Aside from picking up some nosegays to protect my delicate olfactory sensors from the pungent aromas of garbage dumpsters, the only way I seem to figure out how to beat back my sweat glands is to revert to wearing a dress.

I love a good dress. The weight, the color, the length. Everything about it screams “easy chic”, which is what I strive for (but rarely achieve, it seems). The trick to a dress is garnering the right accessories. A cute belt, cute shoes, a bracelet or two, boho earrings.

While I love a dress, I never experiment and get the perfect outcome. It’s always missing something. That’s why the women in the slideshow make me so happy (especially Ms. Trump, from who I will soon gather inspiration!). They are simpe, not laden down with anything heavy, obtuse or ornate, just easy chic. And that’s how summer should be. So I shouldn’t have a heart attack when I’m getting dressed in the morning. I’ll slip on my havaianas, throw on some gold eyeshadow & be out the door in 5 minutes flat. When there are busted fire hydrants outside your apartment, you run!

Here are two gorgeous examples from ModCloth.com

Move-Ment

I’m moving out of Harlem today!! Into a lovely location on the Upper West Side, a block from the Museum and the Park. It’s much smaller overall, but there are certain perks that are well worth the massive headache.

1. My closet. In the brownstone, there were two big closets. 1 in the bedroom, 1 in the main room. 1 closet for the bedroom? My thoughts exactly. Alex doesn’t take up much space, but I often fretted and huffed about where to put my beloved shoes - which were banished to the main closet! The new Closet (it deserves the C) is my own. It even has shelves in the back for all my shoes! It seems a little empty, so I’ve bought a pair of Christian Dior white patent leather pumps and a gauzy Malandrino to try to fill more of it.

2. Big Living Room. I love to entertain, so a dealbreaker is a bad living room. My bedroom is half the size of my old one, but I’m never in the bedroom! What do I care? The living room fits our massive, comfy couch, the TV, the bookcase (which I never got a good look at before because it was in the kitchen, but it is a beautiful and massive piece - and FULL of books!), my desk, Alex’s desk, our DVDs, and gave us the opportunity to purchase a bench - something I’ve always wanted! It’s from the Island Collection by Target (which, apart from our horrible TV stand, isn’t too too bad on the affordable home furnishing end).

3. Greenflea. Alex & I discovered this farmer’s/flea market browsing the interwebs and it stole our hearts. We used to venture “downtown” (for us anyway) and shop, buy produce and then go to Jacques-Imo’s Cafe on the corner of 77th & Columbus to chat up the bartenders, nosh on fried green tomatoes and shrimps, eat po’boys and drink the best Bloody Marys this side of the Mis’ip. Sadly, Jacques-Imo’s is no more (broke my heart!) and I have yet to go to Bourbon Street Bar. But…50 cent beer is almost as good as the Marys are. Almost.

There’s probably plenty more - what with my new gym (Jewish Community Center), my amazing gold BCBG strappy heels REPAIRED (after going to 5 different shoe places no less!) at Planas, my new laudromat, new dry cleaners…I could go on and on. And there’s sushi. A Planet of Sushi.

Now if only I could get this pesky recession to work itself out…