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.

2014 Costa Di Bussia Tenuta Arnulfo Barbera D'Alba

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend, and spent time with their loved ones. My family is currently on vacation in Vail, Colorado, and since my mom and I don't ski, we will have a lovely vacation of relaxing and drinking wine. This week I tried a 2014 Costa Di Bussia Tenuta Arnulfo Barbera D'Alba that my fiance picked up at a local liquor store in Vail. He was looking for a European Pinot Noir, but got overwhelmed by how the  organization and just grabbed this instead. Barbera grapes are primarily grown in Italy and they are know to produce wine that has high acidity, mild tannins, and a rich deep color. This Barbera comes from the Piemonte region of Italy. Due to the high elevation in this region, Barbera D'Alba tends to be bolder than a typical Barbera, and it has a stronger structure. This Costa Di Bussia Barbera seemed pretty typical of the region.

I typically aerate my wine before I drink it, using a simple aerator pourer that just goes into the top of the bottle like a cork. I personally use the Baen Sendi aerator and have found that it works very well. However, since I'm on vacation right now, I didn't have my aerator with me when I tried this wine, and I could definitely taste that it wasn't aerated, so I left the glass out for half an hour before really drinking it.

When I smelled the wine after opening it I got notes of bright red berries, plums, and oak. I poured a glass almost immediately after opening it and attempted to swirl it around it the glass a bit to aerate it, but that wasn't particularly effective. The glasses were too narrow to get a good swirl going. I tasted it after swirling for a bit and it was very acidic with extremely mild tannins. It didn't taste particularly well-balanced. I tasted raspberries, cherries, ginger, with a bit of a lime and orange peel aftertaste. I didn't taste any of the plum or oak that I had originally smelled. Since it tasted a bit off, and I hadn't aerated it, I left the wine out in the glass while I did some other things around the cabin, and came back to it.

When I came back to the wine about half an hour later, it tasted so much better. It definitely just needed time to breathe. It was still relatively acidic, but less so. I would put it at medium-high acidity instead of high acidity, and the tannins were a bit more powerful. The red berry notes were still there but less powerful, and I also got notes of plum, oak, vanilla, and some earthiness. The orange peel finish was still present, but the lime notes were pretty much gone, which I appreciated, and overall the wine was much more balanced and enjoyable.

My mom and I drank this while snacking on some hummus and pita chips, but that was mainly because we didn't have much other food in the cabin to pair it with. I would recommend drinking this with a Neapolitan style pizza or with a plate of spaghetti and meatballs. It's a solid, enjoyable wine, not too fussy or fancy, and it would go great with some simple, but well-made, Italian food. I would probably buy this again for a casual dinner at home. It was a good value, only $14, for a satisfying Italian red wine.

Christmas Eve

Hey guys, so I'm doing my fashion post a day early this week, because tomorrow is CHRISTMAS!!! I'm so excited to spend time with my family and indulge in Christmas cocktails and cookies. The holiday season brings with it some of the most fun and cozy classic styles of the year. If you're in need of some last minute Christmas Eve/Christmas Day outfit inspiration, look no further. I wore this outfit to the Nutcracker with my girlfriends a few weeks ago. It's the perfect mixture of comfortable, classy, and festive. It would be a great outfit for Christmas mass or if your family likes to dress up a little for Christmas dinner. Nothing says Christmas quite like tartan and sparkles!

This top is from J. Crew and I love it. It's simple enough that I can be a bit more daring with the pants or skirts that I pair it with, but not so simple that it's boring. Ruffled sleeves are very in right now, but sometimes I think that the ruffles can get too large and overwhelming, and winds up looking a bit clown-like. These ruffles are moderate enough that they still look classy while being fun. I really like how close together the two ruffles are, so they create a really pretty waterfall type affect. The sleeves end up being about 3/4 length sleeves with the ruffle, and would look great with a dainty bracelet of a simple watch. Additionally, you can't see it in these pictures, but there's some subtle button detailing on the back of the top. It buttons in the back with three vertically aligned buttons that have about two-inch gaps between the buttons, so at certain angles your back peeks out a bit. It's not a dramatic open-back look, but it's a subtle touch that I really like. This top is available in five different colors, and I'm dying to get it in ivory too. One other detail about the top is that it begs to be paired with a statement necklace. The neckline is so simple and classic that it looks great with some extra drama and flair from a fun necklace.

I chose to pair the top with the Delphine Statement Necklace from Perry Street. I love how this necklace incorporate pearls and crystal stones. It gives a sparkly update to a classic look. When I got this necklace I thought that it was perfect for a holiday look. Since my pants are somewhat brightly colored, I didn't want to wear a necklace with a lot of color because I thought it would be too busy, and this necklace offered the ideal balance between neutral colors, while still being a fun, glamorous look.

I love these pants, but I feel like I can't really wear them very often outside of the holiday season, so I try to wear them as much as possible in December. They're Vineyard Vines from a few years ago, and they're wool so they're so cozy and comfortable, without being too casual. The tartan pattern is primarily blue and green, but if you look closely, there are thin red lines going through them as well, which adds an extra touch of festiveness. I like to pair these pants with more simple tops. Since I'm short, too many patterns or bright colors tend to overwhelm my frame. I've worn them with this top a few times, but I also like to wear them with ivory, gray, and navy blouses and simple sweaters. I think they would also look great with a red top if I could find one in the same shade of red as is in the pants. 

Lastly, I went with simple black ballet flats for this outfit. I really wanted the focus to be on the statement necklace and the tartan pants, so I kept my footwear simple. These are the Tory Burch Minnie Travel ballet flats, and they are incredible comfortable. The leather is incredibly soft, and the back of the heels is elastic, so there's no breaking in period or rubbing against the back of the heel. As I mentioned last week, I prefer my logos to be subtle, so I love that the Tory Burch logo here is a matte black and blends in nicely with the rest of the shoe. These are my go to black shoes when I don't want to wear boots.

Top: J. Crew.

Necklace: Perry Street, similar ones at Baublebar and Kate Spade.

Pants: Vineyard Vines from two years ago, similar ones from Talbots here and here.

Shoes: Tory Burch.