"Much Ado About".....Feathers - Part 1

For those that know me, most know I have a mild obsession with feathers - especially of the peacock variety.  My dear friend Wendy at http://southernstuf.blogspot.com/ visited Washington DC zoo this past spring and took an amazing picture of a peacock, doctored it up and printed it on nice paper for me.  This adorned my office cube for months.  My old roommate Mariola gave me a peacock necklace for Christmas.  I have a plum peacock pillow on my couch.  I spent an entire summer a few years ago searching for the perfect feather (preferably peacock) print dress - which ended in great success!

Thankfully for me, there are so many options in terms of feathers now in fashion for myself in terms of clothes and for the home.  Feathers have even trickled down to the major retailers like Topshop, ASOS and Zara so you don't have to spend a small fortune to own a fabulous feather-adorned frock.  One of the things I love is that I have seen them used in formal and casual situations.  It is a trend that people of all ages and sizes can take part in thanks to the numerous options.

I thought I would share some of my favorite uses in terms of fashion in this entry.

First, for the bold at heart - feathered clothing:

Blake Lively in a feathered Marchesa gown.

Jason Wu feathered tank

Haute Hippie Ostrich skirt

Elizabeth and James feathered blazer

ASOS feathered skirt

If you aren't ready for a full-fledged feather piece of apparel, there are still options when it comes to clothing.

  

I have always loved the concept behind this brand called Your Slip is Showing (http://www.yourslipisshowing.com/).  The fact that you can wear a smart black pencil skirt to your corporate job and then add a feathered slip after work to go out with friends is brilliant, in my opinion.  I am not a fan of how costly they are, but I think the concept is a fairly straightforward DIY project.

Your Slip is Showing Ugly Duckling Feathered Slip

Your other apparel option is of course feather print items.  I know for a fact that these are readily available at all price points as I own a Liberty of London for Target peacock print shell that I purchased for around $20.  Here are some other options:

Rachel Pally Rowan Dress

Milly Alessandra Pleat Top

Now, if you are not ready to take the plume plunge full-on in terms of clothing, don't worry - you still have many options.

For shoes, you can go the route of buying shoes that come equipped already with feathers like these:

Manolo Blahnik Feathered Shoes

Jimmy Choo Feathered Sandal

Or you can go the route of these adorable shoe clips that can be found on etsy and other places.  This allows you to take a pair of pumps or flats that you already own and for a reasonable price add clips to the shoes to add some pizzazz:

Feathered shoe clips available at RachelLarraine on Etsy

If shoes aren't your flight of fancy, there are still more options like accessories!!

You can go the jewelry route which includes metal pieces in the shape of feathers, bracelets and necklaces that have a print of a feather (or like my Christmas present - a peacock), actual feathers attached to necklaces and earrings

Alkemie Jewelry feather necklace

You can go the route of feather-adorned clutches and handbags, like this memorable one in Sex and the City:

SJP in Sex in the City with Ferragamo feathered clutch

Then you can go with feathered hair accessories.  With Gossip Girl spurring designer headbands and hair accessory comebacks coupled with the boho trend, feathered hair accessories are easy to find and very on-trend.  Also on trend are hats, like fedoras.  You can easily add a pin or feather to the brim of your hat for some extra style pizzazz.

Lastly is pins, which you could add to blazers or whatever you see fit.  I loved this blazer from Anthropologie, but it went on massive sale before Christmas and sold out quickly.  I received for Christmas a similar blazer, in terms of pattern, from Lucky Brand and purchased some feathers and "make your own pin" supplies from Michael's  and plan to make something similar to this.

Anthropologie Garment District blazer with Peacock Pin

So, there you have it - the fashion world, as I see it, in terms of feathers!  Stay tuned for another post-to-com on feathers in the decorating world.  What is everyone's thoughts on feathers?  Do you love or is it something you wouldn't try?  

Update, update!

I thought I would provide an update that my ankle has started to swell for any interested parties in the area with hopes of snow tomorrow....  Take it for what it is worth.  I know the minute I start predicting these things out here, in writing, my ankle will make me out to be a liar.  I guess we shall see!!

"Blow, blow, thou winter wind"

So winter weather was in the forecast for the area yesterday and several upcoming days.  All day yesterday husband would ask if I had any weather update.  Unfortunately, much to my heart's dismay there was nothing to update him on.  My ankle was not swollen or in any abnormal amount of pain.  I wasn't going to post on anything about this, but husband kept making comments that I should blog an official update.

My comment to him was, "I am not wanting my blog to solely be a weather update blog.  I have plenty of other interests that I would prefer to blog about - like soon-to-come countless blogs and pictures of golden retrievers (namely of Scout and Luna - yes I am bias, but I think they are awesome), fashion, travel, random musings, etc."  His reply was, "I get that, but the blog is named after your superb ability to gauge weather.  You have to blog about the blog namesake."

So since Blogger was down yesterday, I had to wait until today.  So I apologize for the somewhat delayed manner of this blog!

See below for the weather report from www.wral.com about how there is a chance of snow in the area three times over the next seven days.

www.wral.com weather article

Here is the seven day forecast with images, because I don't know about you - but I always enjoy the snow images that show up on days they predict snow.

www.wral.com 7-day weather forecast for Raleigh, NC

So, last night my post was going to be that the verdict from my ankle was no snow for the area for anyone interested.  And it turned out to be correct - the only thing the area got was some cold rain this morning.  They are still calling for snow tomorrow - again no signs from the ankle that there is any clout to this.  As for Tuesday's predictions - stay tuned!!

What's in a Name??

So some of you may think that the name of my blog is an interesting one.  However, if you know me at all - it is a common quote of mine especially when there is snow in the forecast.

I have always been somewhat accident-prone growing up.  I also was one who never seemed to heal from said injuries.  I was fortunate enough at 27 to have a doctor put a name to everything and diagnose me with a disease called ankylosing spondylitis (you can read about it more here: http://www.arthritis.org/disease-center.php?disease_id=2)  Thank goodness for great rheumatologists, awesome advances in medication and amazing family and friends that have helped me through everything.  (Here is my little plug for the Arthritis Organization - they are a great group and if you ever have the chance to participate in any of their walks, please do!)

Anyway, to go back to things, I had ankle surgery in college from numerous sports injuries.  It never seemed to heal.  Now I know it's because of having AS.  So from all of this, I know have basically doppler in my ankle.  I have a 100% accurate track record in terms of predicting snow versus any meteorologist.  I wish I could patent this.  It used to be, prior to starting my medicine that I am currently on, that I could actually gauge the amount of snow we would have.

I remember one year I was at my job and the weathermen were calling for this awful blizzard.  As anyone who has ever experienced snow in North Carolina knows, just talk of this results in schools being shut down and companies going on delays.  I always laugh at this compared to winters in Ohio.  Anyway, they were making these predictions and my ankle had not swollen any.  One co-worker was saying well I am not coming in because of snow.  I told my boss that if it did snow, it would only be flurries and nothing would stick.  He laughed me off.  The next day - I was 100% right.  The roads were perfectly fine and there was a small snowing that melted off by the time I got to work.  After that day, my boss would always consult me on any potential closings and snow.

Just Christmas Eve this year, they were calling for snow.  We were in Hickory at my husband's parent's house.  They had been talking it up quite a bit there.  So my mother-in-law was saying there is no way we will get anything because whenever they talk it up this much, nothing happens.  By 8 PM on Christmas Eve, my ankle was the size of a grapefruit.  My mother-in-law still didn't believe.  My husband said, "Kelly's ankle never lies.  It is the best predictor of snow that I have ever seen.  We are having a white Christmas!"

It's a blessing and a curse - it is never fun to have a swollen, bruised ankle in the winter.  But on those rare snowy days in North Carolina, I will take that with the wintry goodness that is soon to come!!

So there you have it, the reason behind the name of this blog.  Stay tuned for any further snow predictions - I am sure I can verify or debunk!

Does anyone else have any fun weather-related ailments?

Happy New Year

Here is wishing everyone a GOLDEN start to their 2011!!!  Happy New Year!!!

Resolutions

So since it is the closing of 2010, I thought I would create a New Year's resolution of taking a stab at blogging.  So here goes the start of my resolutions:

- I am knocking off one with this blog - I have always enjoyed writing and taken stabs at writing a novel.  I have lots of thoughts and opinions, so what better way to get those down than on a blog.
- Getting back in to shape - Two back surgeries later and I am down quite a bit, but still not back to my "fighting shape" (aka pre-surgery weight).  My goal is to get back down to that this year.  I know everyone has the resolution of losing weight, but I kept to that one this year and lost about 30 pounds.  Now to lose those last 30 pounds.
- Spend more time with family and friends and loved ones.
- Don't sweat the small stuff.  I am a worrier, I admit it.  I get caught up in the daily grind, I worry about small things, I get stressed over things that in the long run, don't mean a lot.  With as busy as I am going to be this coming year, my goal is to not stress over the house being impeccable and other things like that.
- Make more time for me.  Between a full-time job, teaching several college courses, taking care of the dogs, spending time with the husband and family, I sometimes fall on the low end of the list.  I want to take more time each week to devote to myself - whether it be reading, writing or just watching television.

So, there you have it - my resolutions.  What are some of your resolutions?