Most of this outfit was a Christmas gift. As I mentioned recently, I spent Easter weekend in Sacramento visiting my parents and sisters who were visiting from Oregon, and the rest of the family who lives in the Sacramento area. As we generally do, we had a very belated exchange of Christmas gifts when we got together. Personally, I like Christmas better in the spring; the weather is better and the flowers are blooming, which seems much more celebratory to me.
The dress, belt, and tights were among my Christmas gifts. It's a good thing having a sister who works in a boutique clothing store; she picks out all the cutest stuff. This dress will make a great summertime piece, but for the rainy day I layered it with a long-sleeved shirt and rain boots.
The bag is a recent score from Crossroads Trading Company. It's almost brand new and even came with its certificate of authenticity; it was also marked down 50% from its already rock-bottom price, so I got what was probably originally a $600 bag for a mere $23.
Bag: Botkier
Dress, belt, tights: gifts from mom and sis
Shirt: Promod
Boots: Aquatalia
The dress, belt, and tights were among my Christmas gifts. It's a good thing having a sister who works in a boutique clothing store; she picks out all the cutest stuff. This dress will make a great summertime piece, but for the rainy day I layered it with a long-sleeved shirt and rain boots.
I leave tomorrow for my trip abroad, but I've got some posts scheduled for while I'm away. My first stop is Lisbon for 5 nights, on to Strasbourg for work for the next 4 nights, then a long weekend in Paris before wrapping up in Boston at a conference. In total it's a 2-week trip with several different types of activities and potentially a couple different climates. Packing for this trip is therefore going to be a particular challenge, so if I'm successful I'll share my strategies after I get back.
I've done shockingly little (for me, anyway) shopping in recent months, mainly because of the consecutive large expenses of throwing a big wedding party and then buying a house. Moreover, because I'm much busier at work I have a lot less time to poke around on the internet and inevitably find pretty things to buy. This is undoubtedly a good thing; at my previous job I often felt that I shopped mainly out of boredom, and waiting for a package to arrive was pretty much the only thing I looked forward to there. 
This dress is one of the only items of clothing I've purchased since May or June. The pattern in particular really appealed to me, because it can work for any season depending on what I pair it with. Pinks and soft greens would make it great for spring and summer, while jewel tones or burgundy will work for fall and winter. For this outfit I added the mustard yellow cardigan and burgundy socks to give it a fall look, but left my legs bare because the weather is still pretty warm.
