♫:America – The Shoes
If you follow along on
Twitter &
Facebook, you probably already know that Husband and I had the pleasure of taking a little mini-vacay to Arizona last week to visit his mom and her husband.They are snow birdies in the Phoenix region, and who the heck is going to say no to a trip to some place where it’s 80 degrees with endless sunshine? In March! And to see family! Sign me up anytime, please and thank you.
So we packed our bags and off we went. It was a quick trip, as most of our trips usually unfortunately are, but fun nonetheless. And educational too! Such as:
1. Wearing a tweed jacket + jeans on a plane to Arizona…is…kinda not smart. Get down girl, go ‘head get down etc etc etc.
2. Did you know cuff bracelets used to serve a more functional purpose aside from gettin’ friendly with gravity and sliding off my arms every second they get? They do. We visited the
Heard Museum, which is a bit of a regional mecca for exploring the ancient art & culture of native people. They had an excellent collection of primeval jewelry and according to our cute old lady tour guide, certain tribes would wear them to protect their arms from the stinging snap of the bow as they hunted. Clever?
3. Frank Lloyd Wright had his own versions of crazy-pants ‘lawn decor’. I have long been in love with architecture (I really feel that it is what I want to be when I grow up, you know, if I don’t first make it being an Official Haagen-Dazs Taste-Tester and/or back-up dancer for Lana Del Rey) (‘cuz I believe quite strongly that this Fiona Apple Knock Off needs back-up dancers, a fancy pyrotechnics display, nonsensical snippets of Kanye West’s Twitter feed, something), and while I had before seen plenty of pictures of Taliesin West I had no idea that amidst the clean lines and “deconstructed boxes” are odd Japanese sculptures he had purchased for cheap from Gumps.
{bad i-phone picture of the sculptures–what a dumb time to be without my camera! you can see a better pic, not mine, here.}
According to the tour guide, Mr. Wright purchased the scenes after building the Imperial Hotel, and when they arrived broken in pieces he had his students glue them back together–not always correctly, either. They are sprinkled throughout Taliesin West, most often at the entrance of the various buildings to greet visitors; count my grandma’s voracious pig garden statue collection as being out-shined and officially bacon errr, baking with jealousy.
4. The Duck fat ice cream at Cowboy Ciao does not taste like you’d think that it would taste. You are likely asking–
what did you think it’d taste like, homie? Chicken? Fettuccine Alfredo? That Awful Taste You Get When You Accidentally Lick Your Fingers After Using Hand Sanitizer? The Bitter, Agonizing Tinge Of Regret From Being A Horribly Bad Person For Even Trying? Nope, none of the above. You can read more about this odd little concoction
here.
5. Coincidentally listening to Andrew Bird’s super chill and lulling “Near Death Experience Experience” while in bad turbulence is super-creepy-surreal. And…kind of nightmare inducing? Well played, iPod, well played.
I don’t discuss it much on this blog, but having studied both piano & harp extensively music is apretty big part of my life–perhaps nearly as big as fashion. I love making mixes to listen to when on the road or in a plane, and you can see my latest “roadtrip” playlist right here.
6. Arizona has a lot of In & Outs. Pretty sure we ate at every single one; pretty sure I didn’t regret it at all.
{bug eyes & goofy faces at taliesin west during a quick break in the tour}
7. Last but not least: we do dumb things when we think no one is paying attention. It is the solid foundation of a good marriage and of all fashion blogs, it really is. Trust.
It was a great trip and much love to my mother-in-law & her husband for having us! Since I know that you guys read this–thank you so much. It was brief, but we had a lot of fun. ♥
Now for an outfit. Highs in the 60’s/70’s here during the day (but still-chilly nights) has left the collective population of Colorado a little schizophrenic when it comes to clothing choices, ergo my jacket with shorts.
I will speak honestly when I say that I am not always a fan of the retailer Modcloth. Their aesthetic can be a bit off the mark in regards to my own personal style, and there have been lots of rumblings around the internet about their items being ovepriced and of sketchy quality.
I will say that while I agree with some of those sentiments, but I couldn’t resist giving this faux leather jacket a try anyway, especially when a $10 off code from Birchbox popped up in my mail. I know, I know–a faux leather jacket. I have nothing against faux leather (one of my favorite bags is even made with it) but in a jacket?
Banish your little thoughts of the waxy, squeaky, sweaty, steamy faux-leather jackets of yore; this one is surprisingly well made and doesn’t look at all like faux leather. It is also really soft (weathered, some might say), nicely lined, and has fabulous little details. It’s fitted and slim fitting (I am wearing the small), and the slightly-puffed shoulders help it to stand out without being too over-the-top. I really like it, so you get an A+ on this one Modcloth, BUT THAT’S IT! For now.
