I see London, I see France...

And I had a great time. Below are some photos of my trip...including the goodies I brought home. And please pardon my spacing/bad photos...it took me 24 hours to get home and I'm still tired. Hah.

Some trip highlights:
Finally seeing Abbey Road & The Apple Recording studios
Sticky toffee pudding
Afternoon tea at Fortnam & Mason
Nightly wine near the fireplace in our hotel
Shopping on the Rue St. Honore
Going up the Eiffel Tower at night

View from Buckingham Palace

Dragon Slayer along Embankment

Buckingham Palace

Mind the Gap

Abbey Road

Stamping my initials on my bag at Cambridge Satchel Co

Big Ben

My requisite sticky toffee pudding

Arc d'Triumph with the Eiffel Tower in the background

Roof view at night

Arc view during the day

Another tower shot

I just thought this was cute.

Macarons at Laduree

St. Chappelle

Eiffel Tower on our last night

Final Paris shot

And my goodies... ;)

Cambridge Satchel Company bag with my initials

Limited edition Eiffel Tower Longchamp Le Pliage

And a orange box... My new Hermes Coup de Fouet scarf in black colorway.

Thank you so much for reading along and just being here. :)

Stripes and sequins and plaid

Officially a new favorite combo of mine. Lets take a refresher from day one of TOPIO:

And that turned into yesterday's below:

Again, I think this shirt is going to prove to be more useful than I originally thought. And can we stop for a second and can I tell you how much I adore this plaid blazer? It came to me from a fellow J Crew lover who hadn't used it that much.. so I snapped it up. Blazer wardrobe officially completed. I had on a pair of maroon tassel loafers to tie this all together but ouch, they really hurt while trying to break them in.
Top: Loft
Blazer: J Crew
Jeans: Gap

And today... I mixed plaid with a skirt, plain blouse, and bright colored scarf to get this:

I apologize to you for the wrinkles on my skirt but I've been up since 5:45 (blech). I'm not quite sure if the purple in the scarf is too overpowering for this outfit but hey that's what fashion and experimenting is all about, yeah?

And can I also admit that I'm horrible at scarf tying? I really need to learn to do something other than the one style above.

Blazer, skirt: J Crew
Blouse: H&M
Scarf: Hermes

Do you have any tips on tying scarves? If so...let me hear it!

The honeymoon wishlist

Sometime last year when DH and I decided that we were going to go to Europe for our honeymoon I decided to start stashing a bit of money aside to buy myself something fabulous. Because lets face it - everything is mostly cheaper in Europe (and there's that awesome thing called the VAT that us non-Europeans get to claim on our way home).

I'm torn - part of me wants to get something that I can only get in Italy - but the other part of me wants to use this opportunity to get something grand.

So... for now... here's what I'm considering.

Via Hermes.com

The Hermes enamel bangle. I don't own one. I think they are gorgeous. And why not commemorate my honeymoon with something fantastic and Hermes that I can always wear? I particularly like this one. And it's a savings if I buy it in Italy vs the US. Hermes Grand Apparat enamel bracelet online.

Via Ferragamo.com

One of the first things that comes to mind when I think of Italy (besides the food) is fine Italian shoes. And well, who can beat Ferrgamo? I'm fairly sure I've been eying these for years. These are the Varina flats - I know they also come with a bit of a heel and then a full heeled version. Love. There's bows. And leather. And ribbon. I mean, Ferragamo really knows the way to a woman's heart. Buy here at Ferragamo.com.

It would really be Italian without mentioning Prada. Oh Prada, I really do love you. And since I don't have a nice wallet anymore, this kinda tugs at my heart strings a little big. Saffiano leather plus a tri color interior? LOVE. The only problem with this is .... what color? Purchase at prada.com.

There are some other ideas I have floating around... perhaps a Hermes or Ferragamo silk scarf. Or maybe a small cameo from the Ponte Vecchio. But... I'd love to hear your thoughts! What would you get on your honeymoon?

And so it's not all talk... a few snapshots of the long weekend.

Bride & groom index at City Hall

View of SF from an observation deck

Checking off a new beer for the last day of August

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Scarfapalooza

Wowza, what a week. I was training my replacement at work - and in turn being trained for my new position so I really have no idea where last week went.Thank you all so much for the comments on my green scarf post the other day. :) As a result I've gone ahead and rounded up some of my favorite scarves in my collection to share.

 I got this cute little blue and gold scarf at an arts and crafts fair. It's a little small but it's cute nonetheless. It's so royal feeling to me too.

If I remember correctly this one came from Forever 21 but it's adorable. It has a crinkle to it so it stays wavy when its knotted up around my neck.

 I purchased this one on my last trip to London at Topshop. I fell in love with that store - they have a really awesome accessory section and they sell a lot of vintage items. I snagged this one and I love it. It clearly needs to be steamed but since I don't know how old it is I want to be cautious with it. I adore the dots on it! It looks great with blazers.

My scarf collection wouldn't be complete without something totally badass - hence my McQueen scarf from a good friend for Christmas a few years ago. It's definitely one of the more awesome stop people in their tracks pieces. It's really great to dress up too, and I never feel bad wearing it to the office when I'm wearing something drab.

Another one and only in my collection - my Burberry scarf from FH for a birthday a few years back. I love it because while it is traditional Burberry plaid its not in their normal color scheme. I don't have a lot of orange so I love that it brightens up the piece.

Of course I'm loving my recent H&M additions, too! Jaguar scarf, perfume bottles, and the bright green and gold scarf (and each under 9.99 if you need a pop of color without spending an arm and a leg).

Most definitely can't forget my Jason Wu cat scarf. LOVE this so much!

And of course, my scarf holy grail, my beloved Hermes Cave Felem. I'm fairly convinced that if (or when) Hermes ever re-released this scarf and I had a chance I'd buy every colorway that it came out in. I'm serious. I just honestly adore this patter, and well, I'm a cat lady.

Whew! Hope you enjoyed a look into my scarf wardrobe.... do you have a particular scarf that you always gravitate toward?