What I love this week: beginning to feel like spring edition
The days are getting longer, the temperatures milder, and I’ve been sneezing my head off. Yes, it’s spring in coastal Southern California! Here I’ve styled a colorful lightweight sweater in a casual outfit.
A colorful casual spring outfit
It’s finally warmed up enough to make it worth investing in a pedicure. (Yes, there is such a thing as sweater-and-sandals weather.) The color I’m wearing here is one of my favorites, Arancio Vibrante, which is a bright orange-ish red.
I purchased these metallic Birkenstocks last year, and they were my go-to for casual outfits. They’re also available in silver and a non-metallic navy.
This lightweight cotton-cashmere sweater in Spring green was also an earlier purchase, and it’s perfect for our current neither-here-nor-there weather. It’s now on sale, also available in a pretty Amethyst color (looks like a good one for Summers!) Most sizes (Petite P to Misses 3X) still available in both colors.
(If it’s already HOT HOT HOT where you are, check out some of my linen picks here.)
Around the house…
We live in a small, older house that tends to distribute and retain cooking smells for days, even when we open windows and run the vent fan the entire time. I’ve tried boiling lemons, air filters, you name it. While googling “remove food odors from house” I saw several mentions of this candle. I love Diptyque candles, so decided to give it a try.
It really does work to dispel those lingering cooking odors (garlic, fish, onions). While the candle itself isn’t odorless, it has a fresh scent like a summer herb garden. I find it works best if you let it burn for several hours, and next time I’ll try it while I’m cooking. It’s not inexpensive, but my experience with these candles is that they provide 60+ hours of burn time.
Hope your week is going well! I’ll be answering some of your requests in my next post, so be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss it…
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That green is definitely your color. Yes, there is definitely such a thing as sweater and sandal weather. I bought the silver Gizeh Birkenstocks last spring. They were my most worn shoe last spring and summer. I’m getting ready to pull them out because we having temperatures in the mid 80’s for a few days . The Gizeh looks a little dressy and the silver, in my opinion ,adds to it.
We have matching toes! Or close enough….a different brand. As I had a Caribbean holiday a month ago, I was happy to shuzz up the feet for sandals and beaches . And now back at water workouts , my feet are ready for the warmer weather. A cold April, here on Vancouver Island, but blossoms nevertheless.
Susan, I am so happy that I researched your previous trip to Milan, especially regarding planning to arrive , if possible, at Linate Airport, the much closer one to central Milan. As I will be arriving in Milan at about 9:45 pm from Vancouver (overnight) via London, this will make it easier to reach my hotel close to the cathedral and galleria . I am coming 2days early to catch up prior to a day trip to Lake Como before travelling with the group via Verona to stay on a river cruise ship in Venice. ( large cruise ships no longer allowed in the Venice lagoon area). I was in Venice in 2017, staying at an island in the lagoon, and knew I would return.
There is an excellent 20th Anniversary discount , no solo supplement, and the benefit of further reduction due to having used Uniworld previously . Many excursions included, so a busy 10 days. Quite the solo adventure, but my bucket list is long and being a healthy 73, I must keep going for the next few years at least.
So fortunate to have your previous travel information to refer to, and great to learn about your travels.
Love that sweater! Have been wearing it all over Italy and can be dressed up or down. Beautiful color for us springs.
Susan, I have another suggestion for your cooking odors. Have you ever heard of Lampe Berger? It’s an interesting product and it really works— check out the website. And it’s right up your alley, it’s French! I love Dyptique candles too. What size did you buy in the green sweater?
Hi Marilyn, thanks! I’m wearing Petite P.
I highly recommend Coway air purifiers for odor removal and allergy control! They automatically sense air quality and adjust accordingly. I have cats and no one would know!
Susan thank you for the candle recommendation! I’m going to give it a try. I’ve got a Votivo candle with red current scent which is very nice also. I love the green EF sweater—is it too bright for a vibrant autumn? Also looking at the JCrew belt and thinking I might need a M/L since I take a 28 jeans —do you think that might be correct?
Hi Sally, I think the sweater is probably the wrong green for an Autumn (it’s close to Apple green in the Spring palette). Regarding the belt, I’m also a 28 and find the XS/S is plenty long enough.
Thank you Susan! Regarding the sweater: you just saved me time/energy/money. I thank you so much for your help!!
This is so your style and colour. Lovely.
Your hair is making me consider to go grey too and that is new to me. Unfortunately my hair style is a lot longer than yours (is and was).. it will take me forever to let it grow out.
Greetje
Thanks, Greetje! It does take a while to grow out, but perhaps your colorist can do some “in between” adjustments to make the grow out a little smoother.
I have been looking at loafers but. I wonder if I should go straight into summer sandals. I have a few pairs of go-to summer sandals (pewter, navy, tan) but I hurt my knee from overuse – no more jumping around in exercise classes for me, ever – and need to really stick to great shoes for supporting my body and movement. Have been wearing a knee brace which is helpful while I recover.
We had snow/sleet here yesterday, a lot of it. I am not ready for a pedi or birks just yet but I am going to try more ankle pants this summer, as I mostly want to keep my legs covered.
How are your metallic Birks holding up? You have the copper? Is it super shiny?
Hi Karen, I’ve found Birks to be incredibly durable and they’re holding up well. A scuff here and there, but not noticeable. I do have the copper and it’s more of a muted metallic, not mirror-shiny.