Channeling Giovanna Battaglia

I've made myself clear that I love Giovanna's style.  So this morning I thought I'd try my hand at re-creating one of her looks.

I know.  My version brought me out of color and back to black yet again but the play on textures makes it fun and interesting.

Zara dress, St John jacket, Spanx tights, Tiziana handbag

I grabbed this Zara dress that I've had for years.  It's not just any old little black dress because it has this lovely pleating at the skirt.  I topped the dress with my old faithful St. John jacket (you've seen it before here).

Spanx lace tights, Me Too booties

Then I threw on these Spanx lace tights and they are fantastic.  I love fun tights but the Spanx ones are the best.  I wore some fun Kate Spade tights recently (seen in the same post you saw the jacket above) and while I beyond adore just about anything from Kate Spade, their tights just don't measure up for me.  The day I wore them I found myself constantly tugging at them.  But the Spanx, oh they suck and tuck in all the right places (and I need that!). 

You may want to try your hand at this too. Here are some similar items.

Casual Jackets by Moschino Cheap & Chic
Boots by Me Too

I have the white boucle Moschino jacket above on my wish list for Santa and it's way pricey.  But the BCBG version above is much more reasonable ($168). By the way, in the short time since I bought the Me Too booties, I've worn them almost every day.  Not only do I love the way they look, but they are quite comfortable even with all the trotting around town I do on my feet.

Obsessed with: Giovanna Battaglia

Giovanna Battaglia.  Style Icon.  Fashion Director, Vogue Gioiello & Vogue Pelle and freelance stylist.  There's nothing that Giovanna wears that I wouldn't die to own, wear or somehow reproduce from my closet.

I especially love this Valentino scalloped dress and these studded t strap kitten heels that I've been coveting for some time (see post here).

Cocktail Dresses by Valentino
Pumps by Valentino

Cocktail Dresses by Valentino
Pumps by Valentino

And if you have a spare $4500 laying around, you can have this look too!  But a girl's gotta have dreams right?  I've still got my eyes on those fab shoes.

Here Comes the Sun

It was grey and overcast today and I woke up exhausted after another night of little sleep.  I was tempted to go the easy route and stick with my black and grey color palette.  But I decided to buck my dark trend and brighten up my day with my outfit.  Today I'm a vision in yellow.

Everything from my coat to my sweater to my skirt was yellow today.  I bought this Charles Grey coat several years ago at Nordstrom.  It's been stuffed in the back of my coat closet and I finally pulled it out today after a long hiatus.

Nanette Lepore skirt, Chanel earrings and necklace

The best part of this outfit is the skirt which I bought on sale at Nanette Lepore and it is seasonless.  The bright colors make it perfect for spring but the tweedy material works for the fall.  I love the detailing of the crochet waist and the ribbon weave fabric. 

 

I wore my trusty Cole Haan booties and LV bag that fits everything I could possibly need for the day.  So as I type this, this grey, dreary day is coming to an end but I had my own version of sunshine today.  Here's to hoping you did too!

Sunday Supper: Stuffed Peppers with Orzo

For tonight's dinner, I decided I would make stuffed peppers.  I remember having made a version of these years and years ago and for some reason they popped into my head.  I made these with ground turkey and with all the other flavors and seasonings, they were utterly delicious.  But you could really make these with anything you like.  If you wanted to go for the full meaty version, I'd do a combo of beef, pork and veal.

First order of business I chopped up an onion.  I sauteed a little more than half of it in olive oil.  Once the onion was translucent, I added in a chopped clove of garlic and some sliced mushrooms.  I used the regular old white variety but any kind of mushroom you like will do.  I let those cook for a few minutes and then added in the ground turkey (about one pound) and kept it going until the turkey was cooked through.

I put the cooked meat mixture in a bowl and added in some pine nuts, Dijon mustard (a few teaspoons) and a wee bit of sour cream.  I grated some nutmeg and then mixed it all together and used this to stuff the peppers.  I just stuffed two but there's plenty of meat for about 5 peppers.

Put the stuffed peppers in a baking dish, cover them with the top of the peppers and bake them for about 1/2 hour at 350-400.

While the peppers were cooking, I whipped up some orzo risotto style though you could serve these with rice too.  Here's how I made the orzo.  I sauteed the rest of the onion in olive oil in the same pan that I made the meat so not to waste one bit of the flavor.  Once translucent, I added in the orzo to coat it with the oil.  On medium low heat, I cooked the orzo while continually ladling in warm chicken broth and occasionally stirring.  Be sure the broth is warm.  Cold broth just doesn't do the trick.  Once the broth reduced, I would add more broth.  This went on for about 20-25 minutes or so until the orzo was cooked.    Then I finished it off with a generous handful of grated pecorino romano. 

I also happened to have some brussel sprouts from the farmers market so I trimmed the ends, cut them in half and roasted them with some olive oil and kosher salt in the oven while the peppers were cooking.

Once the peppers were done, I served them up atop the orzo.

Since I made a pound of meat and a pound of orzo, I'm going to eat the meat with the orzo as leftovers this week.   The mustard and nutmeg made the meat so full of flavor, it was so very tasty.  

Mangia, bon appetit and all that yada yada.

Shopping My Closet: Day and Night

DVF top, Aris Geldis necklace

In keeping with my shopping my own closet of late, I thought I'd pull out some things to wear today that I've had for some time.  I spent the day doing next to nothing other than hitting the gym, the grocery and getting a mani.  Well obviously no one cares what I wore to the gym.  And given the fact that I went straight to the grocery from the gym, I'll spare you those details.  But at the very least, I spiffed up a bit to venture out for my mani. 

Rogan jeans, Chanel bag

I have this super comfy DVF top that I've had for years and it's one of my very favorites.  I think it works especially well with these Rogan jeans since they're super skinny and I wouldn't be able to pull them off with anything that didn't have a bit of volume. 

Rogan jeans, D&G watch, Chanel bag

I know that lately you've seen this other Aris Geldis necklace I have that I wear to death.  But I bought this one years ago at Looc around the time it first opened and I figured it was high time it made another appearance.  Also I have this chocolate brown lambskin Chanel bag that I can't remember the last time I wore that just deserves better than being cooped up in my closet all the time. 

Morgenthal Frederics sunglasses

For the night out tonight, it was still relatively warm so I thought I could throw on a jacket without having to worry about a proper coat.

Marc Jacobs jacket

This Marc Jacobs jacket is one of my very favorite things ever.  I could wear it over and over again, and in fact, I do.

Chanel pins, Banana Republic necklace, ABS ring

I went with the pile it on mentality for the jewels tonight and I topped the jacket with two sparkly Chanel pins and this Banana Republic necklace that drew me into the store a few years ago at a time when I had stopped even going in there. And I'm glad because I love this necklace.