BLUE POLKA DOTS WITH THE GIRL AND THE FIG

Greetings!!!  Omg I am so behind on my Cali posts!  I am writing this as I am having my last dinner here in Miami though this post will probably go up on Friday.  I pulled up my blog and went "oh crap!  I have to catch up!"  I can't wait to share with you my Miami adventure but I obvi have to finish telling you about my NorCal adventure first.  And there is so much to share!

This day was the day we explored Sonoma Square for the first time and also had our first taste of The Girl and The Fig.  We knew we had to check it out because we heard from so many people and locals that it is definitely a place to try.  So off we went with one of our favorite newlyweds, Peter and Ashley.  Without a reservation, we had to wait about an hour and a half for a table so what did we do? We went a couple doors down and had a wine tasting.  There's wine tasting everywhere you go!  The wines were only ooooohhhkaaaay which is probably why I can't remember what it was called.  But it did it's job.  With a pretty good buzz going, I dragged The Hubster out to the square for a little photoshoot in my blue polka dot dress. 

If you didn't know, one of my favorite online stores, ASOS, asked me to put together a few of my fall faves and this definitely made the list.  See the full list HERE.  My homegirl Mich sent me the link to this dress saying that it was totally my style and yep, it totes is!  It's no secret that I am currently obsessed with blues and the fact that the dress matched my baby Bleutigona was a huge plus.  I love how easy it is to wear and the whimsical nature of the details and its shape.  Ashley said I looked like a doll.  Haha.  The dress pairs amazing with a lot of my knee high boots, which by the way is one of my fall staples.  Knee high boots are my jam!!!  This pair by Ash is about 3 years old now but still one of my favorite pairs. So easy to slip on and a great comfortable height so I can last pretty long in them. 

Sonoma Square is sooooooo cute and it's a perfect place to bring a picnic basket and just sip on a bottle of wine... or two... or three, while enjoying the weather and watch tourists being tourist-y.  Or watch a random Asian girl twirling and posing.  Pro Tip:  I guess Sonoma Square is one of the few places where you can drink on public property and bring your own vino. #awesome #winning

Here comes that #foodporn.  I had the duck confit which is one of their signature dishes and it has every right to be.  The duck leg was amazing and juicy without being overly heavy or greasy.  I also had the arugula salad with figs which I LOVED but no one else really did.  Bitter greens is not for everyone I guess but for me it was perfect.  If you want to try out The Girl and The Fig, I suggest going for lunch.  The place is adorable and lively, and sitting out in their patio area feels amazing.  The service is spot on!  Our server was informative and bubbly and we all had a great time.  Try to bring a few people with you so that you can taste more of their amazing menu.  I had bites of everyone's dish and it all was so yummy!  I can't remember what it was all called but I definitely recommend a visit if you are in the Sonoma area.  The lunch price point is very reasonable and each dish in my opinion was worth it.  Highly highly recommend the duck confit and I will definitely go back the next time I am in Sonoma.

I hope you enjoyed the post!  I will frantically be trying to post up the rest of my Cali pics next week!  GAH!  Thanks so much for stopping by and showing the blog some love. 

Dress - THANKS TO ASOS  |  Boots - Ash  |  Bag - Givenchy  |  Accessories - Vita Fede, Stella & Dot, Chanel, Madewell

Photos by The Hubster

xoxo,

DOS

BLEUTIGONA

Heeyyyyyy guys.  Guess who I added to the family?  Her name is Bleutigona and isn't she lovely?  She has two older and bigger sisters that look out for her but I think she can handle herself pretty well.  Okay enough talking like bags are people.  There actually is a story behind this.  So when I initially wanted to make the plunge and get the Givenchy Antigona, the size I really wanted was the small.  But there was so much confusion at that time on what was the small versus the medium.  The small size was a lot harder to find and there weren't very many produced.  I bought my first one thinking it was a small and it turned out to be the luggage size!  OMG.  So that one went back.  It was this really shiny dark teal color.  Very pretty.  So I sought out again and bam, I see a deep purple version at one of my fave international retailers, LUISA VIA ROMA.  What really got me was that this purple color had not yet hit stateside.  Added plus to have it before anyone else no?  And by anyone else, I mean anyone I know or see.  I'm sure Beyonce had one way before I did.  When it came in, I was a little bummed to see that it wasn't the size I wanted.  But I fell so in love with the color so snip went the tag and there was no going back.  But I still really wanted a small one.  So I kept hunting.  

I then come across this black version, with amazing detailed patches on the front.  Some type of croc embossing on the leather patches and it was such a funky but amazing design and it had black/gunmetal hardware.  Like LC always says... nothing beats black on black on black.  (See HERE).  Then it got in the mail and SUNOVA $@%$#^%%$^#%... it was a medium.  But oh did I love everything else about it.  Goodbye tax refund.  You were good to me for the 2 days you were in my bank account.  Safe to say I have a mild obsession with this bag.  I don't think I've felt this happy with a bag purchase since my Chloe Marcie!  Though that never stopped me from increasing my collection.  

So anyway, back to my beautiful Bleutigona.  I never stopped looking at the smaller size Antigona.  Especially now that more has been released and in various colors.  But none really spoke out to me.  Then one day I was just perusing online and I saw that once upon a time, meaning like two seasons ago, a small collection of Moroccan Blue Antigonas in the small size hit the scene and were snapped up faster than when The Hubster sees Lou Malnati's deep dish pizza in the room.  I gushed over the PERFECT color and size and agonized over the fact that it had come and gone.  Then one fateful day, LC and I got into our weekly bag-session chats and I mentioned my dream blue baby again.  She did a search for me just for fun and found someone selling theirs on eBay.  Now I'm totally one of those skeptics where I'd rather buy new than risk being totally swindled.  But it was there, staring me in the face.  So with my honey chu chu as my right hand betch, she scoured the interwebs.  Posted on Purse Forum, trying to get just the right amount of reassurance for me to make the purchase.  Now I'm not as good when it comes to these things so I knew I had the right gal on the job when she told me that she found out the person who runs the Authenticity thread for Givenchy on Purse Forum was actually the person selling on eBay.  After a few emails back and forth, it was clear to me that the seller was very sweet and genuine and also did not f*ck around when it came to her bags  She actually wanted to make sure I would take care of the bag before she accepted my payment.  When she told me she kept going back and forth about selling it and not finding a buyer was maybe a sign to keep it, I thought... "omg that's totally how I think!"  Hahaha.  I'm always trying to find some sort of sign from the universe on making my shopping decisions for me.  We bonded over our craziness and literally within 2 days, my new baby was in my hands.  And she was every bit as gorgeous as I had hoped.  It was the exact shade of blue I had been wanting for months.  And in PRISTINE condition.  So thank you thank you HRH!  I will take very very good care of her.  Thus ends the story of Bleutigona.  I hope you all love her as much as I do.  =D

I tried boppin' around to get some fun shots and almost fell on my face down these steps.  Soooooooooooooo.....

Imma just cop a squat.

Cardigan - Aritzia/Wilfred  |  Tank Dress - Urban Outfitters  |  Bag - Givenchy Antigona (get the purple in the small HERE you will NOT regret this bag)  |  Boots - Aquazzura  |  Necklace - Gorjana  |  Sunnies - Marc by Marc Jacobs

Photos by The Hubster

xoxo,

DOS

NOVEMBER SHOEBSESSION

SET SAIL

Happy Labor day weekend everyone!  I hope everyone has something planned for their extra day off.  Well for those of you that have that extra day off.  For those that don't.  I am soooooooooo sorry.  That totes sux.  This weekend is a little poopy because it has been intermittent rain.  Definitely ruined plans to lay out pool side and bbq.  Friday was great though.  I celebrated a birthday for a very special lady at Bluebird in Bucktown.  No boys allowed at this dinner so definitely nice to have some girly chit chat.  Happy birthday to my darling MP!  I hope you love your new ring.  =)  

Birthday dinners allow me a chance to get dressed up and dolled up.  I thought this dress was perfect for the day.  I knew I wanted to do a shoot today for the blog but I also had to work all day.  I would have had to go straight from work, to a location for our shoot, to stroll through stores for a birthday present (yea I procrastinated and bought her present that same day.. she knows and still loves me anyway), then finally to dinner.  Basically I had to find something appropriate enough for the office, yet something cute for the blog, and dressy enough for dinner and also sassy enough if we decided to find an after party.  I think this dress hit all those points don't you?  I love the way it's sailor inspired and makes me think of boats and sails.  Hehehe... I also had a twitter comment a couple of days ago from someone that works in a corporate environment and she was wondering what kind of things I wear to work.  I hope she sees this post.  =)  Although at work if my skirt is a little above the knee I tend to wear flats.  My old job was a little more used to my sky high heels than my current one.  Sometimes you gotta slowly incorporate that in and not all at once.  Hahaha.  For those of you in corporate America, how do you guys incorporate style into a corporate setting?

Dress - ASOS  |  Shoes - Aldo (similar)  |  Clutch - ASOS  |  Watch - Chanel (similar)  |  Rings - Stella & Dot, David Yurman, Cartier  |  Jewelry - Tiara Love (bracelet similar) (necklace similar), Stella & Dot, Urban Outfitters (similar)

xoxo,

DOS