One Trend, Two Generations: Stripes and Lace

It's our second "One Trend, Two Generations" post and this time Tori and I are featuring stripes and lace, a trend that you may or may not have noticed this season.

Admittedly, it's not a hugely popular look that you see everywhere you turn, but it is around. I saw this lace and stripe BCBG top in Familiy Circle magazine this month.

BCBG top available here 

While Tori and I were out shopping in Paris one afternoon last March, we happened upon a little shop in the Marais called Kookai which, like COS, is a big retailer with many locations throughout Europe that I had never heard of before our trip.

We shopped here, the Kookai on rue des Rosiers. 

While browsing through their items separately, we both came across the same striped sweater with an adorable lace panel and zipper up the back. We decided we both wanted one. I have a hard time turning away from stripes, lace panel or not.

The sweater is ideal for warm, comfortable weather with its lightweight knit and airy lace. At 18-years-old, Tori likes to be a little more daring with her clothes than I do, being 45. She wears her sweater's zipper unzipped a few inches while I zip mine down all the way.

We both chose to wear our sweaters with shorts. Tori loves these young and hip denim shorts, as you can probably tell since she wore them in the last One Trend, Two Generations post.

She added some red hot lipstick to incorporate color into her look and put her hair in a bun to better show off the lace panel.

I would easily mistake her for a French college student if I saw her wearing this sitting on the banks of the Seine sunning her legs or shopping with friends in Montmarte, wouldn't you?

I, too, went for a French-ish look and put my hair in a bun.

I chose black trouser shorts by Gap from last year and ballet flats. Instead of wearing red lipstick I carried a red and leopard print bag I bought on my first trip to Paris in '07.

Tori and I will be back again soon for another One Trend, Two Generations!

Have you noticed the stripes and lace trend? 

Is it something you would wear? 

Just a reminder that How I Wear My: Sunglasses is going to be up on July 2nd.

Submit a photo of you in your sunnies with a line or two about them 

by July 1st to be included in the post! 

Printed Shorts, Father's Day and other things

For those of you who celebrated, how was your Father's Day?

My father lives in the other half of California and while I would like to spend the day with him, it's not usually in the cards for either of us. So we talk on the phone and I send him a card and small gift instead.

Yesterday morning, I rifled through old photos and found this one of me and my father when he was about 23-years-old. Such a handsome fella, don't you think? He still is, four and a half decades later. Miss you, Dad! Hope to see you soon.

Every year, our local volunteer fire department holds a Father's Day Pancake Breakfast. My husband, his kids and I attend, eating and socializing with fellow Kenwoodians. It's a fun way to kick Father's Day off.

Shortly after the pancake breakfast concluded, we packed up the dogs and headed to my father-in-law's, about an hour away, for a barbecue. It was a beautiful day out. We had such a great time laughing, talking, eating and catching up. It really was a special day. I think all the dads had a good time.


Since this is Visible Monday after all, allow me to tell you what I wore. I bought these printed shorts at Gap several weeks ago and I love them (and they're on sale right now)!

You know how sometimes a print can be very limiting, and only one or two colors work well with it? Well, these shorts don't have that problem.

White, black, grey, orange and navy all work with this print. And so does one of my favorite colors...cobalt. I bought this Gap cobalt sweater at the tail end of winter and I am so glad I did. I think cobalt is a color that almost anyone can look great in. Do you wear it?

I also wore Lucky Brand black sandals, my COS bag from Paris, a black belt from Large Leather in Sonoma and my everyday pendant I bought in Florence last year.

Even though these shorts have a busy pattern, they are surprisingly easy to style.  

Are you wearing prints this season? 

Do you find them limiting or versatile? 

Be sure to visit Patti's for Visible Monday! 

 And please take a moment to read my latest Skimbaco Lifestyle post. 

While I will still write about my love of wineries and travel from time to time, 

I have transitioned into fashion for Skimbaco. 

Let me know what you think! 

Floral Linen Dress on a Spontaneous Weeknight Date

Have you ever been so excited about a new wardrobe purchase that you wanted to wear it somewhere immediately?

That happened to me yesterday. I dropped by our local Goodwill after my morning workout and found this linen floral dress by JG Hook in pristine condition for $7.00. It's a faux wrap dress with a shirt collar and half sleeves.

Once I got it home I tried it with dressy shoes and a little jewelry. I knew then that I wanted to wear it out asap so I proposed a spontaneous weeknight dinner date to my husband. He happily agreed!

When he arrived home from work, I was ready to go.

I chose to wear Nine West sandals and a hot pink clutch with the dress.  

I tried something new and somewhat retro with my hair by twisting the left side of my part and pinning it back.

I can't remember the last time I felt so ladylike and feminine. It's definitely a big departure from the way I usually dress.

It was such a lovely evening out, we decided to dine al fresco at Kenwood Restaurant, which has a nice big patio. We enjoyed watching the birds fly around and the giant metal wing sculpture in the adjacent field rotate in the wind while we ate.

The view from our table 

After dinner, we noticed the hills and vineyards were bathed in beautiful warm light from the setting sun. Before returning home, we pulled into a side road and got out for some photos of the Kunde Family Estate vineyards.

And I even convinced Bill to take a selfie with me.

Had I not found this dress yesterday, we would have stayed home in front of tv and had leftovers in our lounge pants...which isn't such a bad thing but going out on a weeknight date with the cutest guy in the world is much more fun!

Does a new wardrobe purchase ever motivate you make last minute plans 

just so you can wear it?  

P.S. Please take a moment to check out my latest Skimbaco Lifestyle article, 

featuring more about the Sonoma Valley Wine Country!