a day in my hood

This day started off as a day strolling with the hubs in our Lakeview/Lincoln Park neighborhood.  There is a stretch of Halsted Street that has some shops and it's just a fun area to take a stroll.  But in my 6 inch platforms, we didn't get very far.  Ha!  There are tons of sales going on right now so I thought I'd take a gander.  But really I just wanted to enjoy the weather and my neighborhood with my favorite person, blog nazi.  

But first things first.  FroYo!  

We went to a place called StarFruit by Halsted and Webster for a much needed sweet fix.  Actually it's not just the typical FroYo.  They have smoothies and parfaits.  And I guess what makes this FroYo different is that it is made with Lifeway Kefir.  What's Kefir you ask?  I didn't know either.  Apparently it has "four times the healthy-boosting probiotics of yogurt."  Okay.  Good enough for me.  One large please!

After the FroYo, I got distracted by an outdoor display of accessories.  Oooooh... shiny.

Made my usual stops to BCBG, Club Monaco and Barneys Co-op.  So many sales!  So tempting!

Outfit today

Top - DvF  |  Jeans - Citizens of Humanity  |  Sunglasses - Oliver Peoples Apollonia  |  Shoes - Gucci  |  Bag - Felix Ray

The hubs wanted to check out some jeans from True Religion.  He's so cute when he knows his designers.  Took the opportunity to try on some petite denim.  True Religion has some flares that are a 31" inseam.  But with my heels they were too short.  Their regular inseam is 34" which is too long.  What I really need is a 32.5" inseam.  Does anyone make those?!  Sigh.  It was a nice wash though.  These were the petite Carrie jean.  If you are a shorty like me, go check them out.  The store is on Halsted as well.

Their fitting room was pretty interesting.  All the wood made me feel like I was in a western movie while I was trying on jeans.  Hehehe.

Why hello there cutie doggy!  You are such a good boy waiting for your owner as she gets her Starbucks coffee fix.  Wrigles usually screams bloody murder when I do this to him to get my Dunkin Donuts coffee fix.  This doggy was so calm and was totally focused.  All I got from him was a sideways glance.

Our little stroll on Halsted ended pretty cool.  I went to the Calvin Tran boutique to check out some of the new items.  Calvin Tran is a Chicago designer that has expanded to New York where he spends most of his time expanding his line.  His work is really cool because there is usually more than one way to wear his pieces.  I picked up one skirt I wanted to try on and the guy that was there started pulling more items for me to try on.  He showed me all the different ways I could wear it and how transformative some of the clothes were.

After about 3 or 4 outfits, I say to him "Wow, you are really good at this.  Wait... are you the designer?" He says, "Usually I say no, but my face is on that T-shirt over there so I guess I am."  LOL.  Insert foot in mouth DOS.

I have always loved his transformative style but some of the things at his store are a little big on me.  Like this awesome skirt and dress.  I loved the patterns but were pretty loose on me.

He was really funny and super nice.  And for another dumdum moment.  When I was making my purchase, a few guys came in and asked to take his picture.  I thought it was a little weird since he only does womens wear.  The sales girl started chatting with me saying "It's so funny when guys come in and they are huge fans of him.  He gets recognized so much now."  Finally it hits me.  "Omg, was he on a TV show or something?"  And yes, yes he was.  He was actually a finalist on The Fashion Show on Bravo.  I definitely felt out of the loop and super silly.  But I guess now I can say that Calvin Tran from Bravo TV's The Fashion Show dressed me like I was a Barbie doll.  That was pretty cool.  If you are looking for something to wear that has super unique design and you probably won't find someone else wearing it, come check out Calvin Tran's store on Halsted and Webster.  You won't be disappointed.

-DOS