Snow Day

As I mentioned in my previous posts, my family went to Vail, Colorado a few weeks ago, and while I don't like to ski, I did have fun just playing in the snow, watching movies in the cabin, and walking around the ski village. One of the days it wasn't that cold for Vail in the winter, so I didn't need to wear a coat and I took full advantage of the relative "warmth" by playing in the snow! Since I was coatless, I opted to wear a warm vest. I got this vest from Nordstrom earlier this season, and I absolutely love it. It's reddish burgundy and navy plaid, but it's not a sharp plaid, the lines of plaid are more faded and blend into each other. It's 100% cotton, so it has a cloth texture on the outside, instead of that shiny/slippery feel that some vests have. It's quilted, which gives it a lovely classic texture, and one of my favorite things about it is that the inside lining is polka dotted, and you can see the pattern peaking out when I fold the collar over. I paired the vest with a classic Ralph Lauren gray cable knit sweater. The one I'm wearing is a few years old, but Ralph Lauren puts out basically the same style of sweater every year, because it's such a timeless look. Since the vest is plaid, I typically wear it with a solid colored sweater underneath so that the vest is the center of attention. I often wear it with this gray sweater, but it also looks great with cream, beige, and navy sweaters.

I love wearing a statement necklace with a vest partially unzipped. The collar of the vest frames statement necklaces so nicely. With this outfit I chose the Perry Street Elenora Necklace. The stones that make up the petals of the jeweled flowers are a navy/dark gray color and they bring together the gray of the sweater and the navy in the plaid print of the vest. The necklace adds a fun dash of sparkle to an otherwise very classic, but simple outfit.

I don't get very many snow days in Durham, North Carolina, so I took advantage of the Colorado weather and wore my favorite Kate Spade Hi-5 mittens. My grandmother got them for me for Christmas three years ago, and I try to find some excuse to wear them every year. They're incredibly warm and soft, and the Hi-5 print adds such a lovely touch of whimsy to the mittens. Kate Spade had darling mittens every year, and they add a touch of fun to any outfit. In the time since I originally drafted this post, Durham actually got a good bit of snow due to the "bomb-cyclone" and I got another chance to wear my mittens!

Since I was playing in the snow, I had to wear my L.L. Bean Boots. They are my go-to all-weather boots. They are sturdy, dependable, classic boots. I reach for them whenever it rains in Durham, and they keep my feet completely dry. While I was walking around the snow in Vail my toes stayed warm. They also have great traction, which is a must in Durham, because on the rare occasion that it does snow, it melts and refreezes as ice very quickly, and these boots have prevented me from slipping on the ice many times. I got my Bean Boots in navy because that's my primary neutral color and I wanted them to go with everything that I own, but I think the camel/brown color is also a great neutral color that doesn't clash with anything.

Vest: Nordstrom, unfortunately it's sold out at Nordstrom, but there are some available in select sizes from Nordstrom Rack, and similar ones at Macy's and Talbots.

Sweater: Ralph Lauren from a few years ago, similar one available this season.

Necklace: Perry Street, similar available from BaubleBar and Kate Spade.

Mittens: Kate Spade three years ago, similar ones from this season and from Draper James.

Boots: L.L. Bean.

2016 Folly of the Beast Pinot Noir

This week, being back at home, I tried one of the Winc wines that I received in my box last month. In my first wine post I wrote about Winc and how much I like my subscription, it's a great way to try new styles of wine.

Pinot Noir is one of my favorite grape varietals, so I was really looking forward to trying this wine. However, I generally prefer French and Italian Pinot Noir over ones from California and the Pacific Northwest. Generally, I find that Pinot Noir from France and Italy are a bit more balanced than those from California and Oregon/Washington, and that the former are more fruit-forward, while the latter tend to be smokier and spicier. This particular Pinot Noir is from the Central Coast of California. California Pinot Noirs are often from the Central Coast, because the morning fog and cooler evenings provide favorable conditions for the grape.

After opening the bottle and pouring a glass, I spent quite a bit of time smelling the wine before drinking it. I'm constantly trying to improve my ability to smell notes in wine before I taste it. Here, I smelled a strong pepper note, with an undercurrent of black cherry, tobacco, and oak. This smell seemed consistent to me with other California Pinot Noirs that I've tried.

When I eventually tasted the wine, it was pretty consistent with the smell, but I picked up additional notes of plum and clove. The plum, dark cherry, and clove flavors seem to come first, but are quickly over-powered by the pepper, and the wine finishes off with subtle notes of oak and tobacco. The tannins were very mild and light, and the wine was medium-dry. This wine was consistent with my previous thought on California Pinot Noir. The pepperiness was a bit over-powering for my taste, I would have preferred the plum and dark cherry to shine through more, and to have gotten other dark berry notes as well, but I still thoroughly enjoyed the wine, and if you like a spicier Pinot Noir, I would definitely recommend this one. It was a good wine, just not my favorite location for a Pinot Noir to come from.

I drank this wine while eating a relatively mild Gouda cheese on multi-grain crackers. I think the wine paired decently well with the cheese, but the pepperiness slightly overwhelmed the Gouda, because it was a more mild cheese. I think this wine would've gone even better with a sharp cheddar that could have held it's own more up to the wine. I also think this wine would go great with brussels sprouts cooked with bacon and a little bit of balsamic vinegar. This wine is a more robust Pinot Noir, so it can pair well with food that has a strong flavor.

This wine is currently available from Winc for $18.

Mountain Village

Happy New Year everyone! As I mentioned in a previous post, my family went to Vail, Colorado for the week in between Christmas and New Year's Eve, and I just got back home yesterday. My mom and I don't ski, but I love walking around Vail Village, people-watching and window-shopping, and meeting the boys for apres-ski drinks and snacks.

One of the afternoons spent walking around the village was the perfect opportunity to break out my new J. Crew velvet bow back sweater that I received for Christmas. This sweater is incredibly soft and cozy. Wearing it feels like getting a warm hug. From the front this sweater doesn't look all that special. It just looks like a basic cozy gray sweater, a great closet staple that can go with anything, but not the star of the outfit. That changes when you see the sweater from behind. It has a slight open back and a gorgeous velvet bow tie across the back. Sometimes I worry that back details will be itchy or uncomfortable, but this bow is almost as soft as the sweater itself, and it lays nicely so that it doesn't cause any discomfort. I'm so pleased by the look and feel of this sweater, it's going to get a lot of wear this winter.

I love bow details, and my sweater wasn't the only thing I was wearing with a bow on it. I also received my black wool coat for Christmas, and it has a more subtle bow detail along the back. The coat is Kate Spade, so the bow detail wasn't surprising. I love how Kate Spade frequently adds bows to bags, jewelry, and clothing. It's the perfect girly and classic detail. This coat is incredibly warm and has substantial weight to it. It's a solid, well-made coat, not some flimsy thing that will only last one season. I love that it hits me at about knee length, it's long enough to keep me warm, but not so long that I can only wear it for special occasions or nights out, it's still an every-day coat. Along with the bow across the back, the lining of the coat adds some signature Kate Spade fun. It's ivory with gold polka dots, and even if no one else can see the lining, it makes me smile just knowing that the polka dots are there, and doesn't everyone want a coat that makes them smile? I feel very classy in this coat, and the black color will make it a wardrobe staple in the winter.

For added warmth, and a splash or color/print, I added a cream, gray, and red plaid scarf that I got from J. Crew two years ago. It's a wool scarf so it's very warm, my neck didn't get cold at all while wearing it. The gray on the scarf and on the sweater tied the piece into the rest of my outfit. When I wear patterned accessories, I like to make sure that one of the colors on the pattern is a color that's featured elsewhere in my outfit. I feel like that really helps make an accessory work with an outfit. When it's really cold, I like to wear scarves underneath my coat, with just a bit of the scarf popping out at the neckline so that you can still see the fun print or color.

Since the top of my outfit had lots of fun details and patterns, I kept the bottom half of my outfit pretty simple. My jeans are Madewell jeans that I've written about in a previous post. I only brought one pair of jeans to Vail, and these were the obvious choice for me. My shoes are basic suede black booties from Steve Madden that I got about five years ago. I wear them all the time because they go with everything, and the chunky heel makes them easy to walk in. They're starting to get a bit faded on the toe, so I may be in the market for a new pair of black booties if anyone has any recommendations. I love how this outfit ended up coming together, and it will likely get worn again on a chilly day in Durham.

Coat: Kate Spade, available at Macy's and Lorde & Taylor, similar available at Nordstrom and Bloomingdale's.

Sweater: J. Crew, also available at Nordstrom.

Scarf: J. Crew two years ago, similar from this season, similar from Tuckernuck.

Jeans: Madewell.

Shoes: Steve Madden five years ago, similar from this season.