8/14/15 Five For Friday: Books

For this Friday's Five for Friday, I decided to share five books that I've read, and loved, in the past six months or so:

1. The Martian, by Andy Weir - I absolutely love this book.  I'm not a big fan of science fiction (I like it well enough, but I don't often seek it out), but this book blew my mind.  It's so very, very good.  Great even.  It's about an astronaut stranded alone on Mars and how he survives using science.  And, can I just tell you, even all the science-y bits are great.

2. I Capture the Castle, by Dodie Smith - I know I'm about 70 years late getting on this bandwagon, but I have to say, this is one of the best books I've ever read.  I read it months ago and it still makes me happy to think of it.  If you've read it, read it again, I know I will.  And if you haven't, you really, really should.

3. The Paris Wife, by Paula McLain - Like with science fiction, I don't generally seek out a lot of historical fiction, but this book is absolutely fantastic.  It's about Ernest Hemmingway's first wife and was so well written that I forgot that it wasn't written by Hadley, but rather by Paula McLain years later.  She is just a stellar author.

4.  Tell the Wolves I'm Home, by Carol Rifka Brunt - This book is both sad and lovely.  And the lead character is a girl you wish you knew because she is just so interesting.  It's hard for me to explain why I liked this book so much, but it's another one that I can't seem to get out of my head.

5. Brave New World, by Aldoux Huxley - I raved about this book here and here, but it bears repeating that this book is both brilliant and terrifying.  You should read it.


Happy Friday, All!

Gracey

Nubby Studs

Last time I wore this skirt, I wore it with chambray.  This time around, I went with blush:

Given that the eyelet is sort of sweet:

And so is the trim on the skirt, I figured I'd toughen up the look with the addition of nubby orange studs:

Because nothing says tough like nubby studs:

Skirt: thrifted (similar)  Blouse: Banana Republic  Sandals: Lollipops via yoox.com

Happy Friday, All!

Gracey

P.S. Nubby Studs is probably going to be my new band name.  I have no idea what we'll sing about!

Petite Medium

This skirt is two things I am not.  It's both a petite and a size medium:

Given that I'm for darn sure not petite and haven't been a medium since college, I'm surprised that it works.



But, it does work; in part because I'm wearing it as a midi and not the maxi it was intended to be:

And, in part, because LOFT is engaging in some very generous vanity sizing.



In fact, the only reason I even bothered to try it on is because I am physically incapable of resisting the color navy and love a palm print like nobody's business.  And a navy palm print?  Yeah, it was all over:

It is navy, not black.  I swear.

Skirt: sold out LOFT (similar)  Blouse: Old Navy
Belt: thrifted vintage  Sandals: Isola via Nordstrom

And there you have it, Folks.  The day I wore a petite medium.


Happy Wednesday, All!

Gracey

Stripes and Studs

Based on the title of this post, you're probably expecting something cool and a little bit rock n' roll.  Something like this:

Image via Pinterest

For those of you who thought that might be what you're getting, let me welcome you new readers to the blog.  Because if you've read me before, you know that my thighs would use those pre-made tunnels to escape those jeans and try to take over the world.


And you'd know that my version of stripes and studs is neither cool nor rock n' roll, but rather, candy-colored and cheery:

Dress: thrifted, vintage   Shoes: Lollipops via yoox

Because when I buy studs, they're on orange suede sandals:

Lollipop sandals via yoox.com

And then I pair them with the happiest stripes I can my hands on:

Happy stripes, folks.  That's where it's at:

And happy Monday's, of course!


Gracey

more happy stripes

Literary Stylings #21: The City of Falling Angels

As I mentioned on Thursday, I absolutely loved The City of Falling Angels by John Berendt:

The main focus of the book is the fire in the famous Venetian opera house, La Fenice.  But, in writing about the fire, Berendt is, somehow, also able to gain entree into famous Venetian palazzos as well as into the Murano glass studio of the famous Archimede Seguso, and gets the dirt on the Save Venice Foundation.  Like his book, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (also great), Berendt digs into the inner workings of a proud city and a proud people.  And it is fantastic.


It's also the inspiration behind today's outfit:

Now, this skirt wasn't maybe the best choice given the trees in the print.  Apparently Venice doesn't have trees because it's man-made stone and brick.  Hard to grow trees in that.


But, I still maintain that the print has a sort of old-world feel to it:

Top: LOFT  Skirt: gifted vintage
Sandals: FRYE (similar, vegan option)

And the colors are sort of indicative of the sea and the canals and the yellow in the sky reminds me of eye-witness accounts of the Fenice fire from the book.


What about you, Reader Friends?  Were you inspired by any of your July books?  If so, please link up below!

An InLinkz Link-up

Happy Tuesday, All!

Gracey