Full Disclosure

I have a formula for clothes shopping/getting dressed.  It's really more of a color theory, but let me tell you, it's genius.  And it makes packing for vacation really, really easy.

The secret is I only buy clothes of a certain color so they all go together. 

I have my building blocks of neutrals, which are denim and khaki and sometimes army green.

Then, basically everything else I buy is navy or grey, with occasional yellow and orange accents.  Most of my tee shirts are navy or grey.  I have some special silk blouses that are gold.  A striped shirt in cheerful orange.

To be fair, the navy and grey kind of act as neutrals, too, but take one from each category and you have a complete palette.  So it's goes something like this: khaki + navy + gold = outfit. 

This spring I was inspired by Pantone's Spring 2013 color report and I expanded a bit.  See, the Linen is my neutral and the Nectarine and Lemon Zest are already there.

So, I added two new colors to the rotation!!! Pantone calls them Princess Blue and Kelly Green.

I know, crazy, right?  But what about the formula?? How will I ever get dressed in the morning?! 
Let me fill you in on another little trick.  I use the color wheel.  It may seem really silly (or crazy), but if you ever feel paralyzed facing a rack of clothes, this will help.  I find that if I stick to Complimentary or Analogous colors, then I can always come up with a perfect combo. 

Complimentary colors are across from each other on the wheel and Analogous colors are next to each other.  So, by following my new formula, Princess Blue and orange are Complimentary and Kelly Green and yellow are Analogous.

Here are some ways I plan to use my new spring palette.

 

Neutral khaki shorts + blue checked shirt + cute orange bag

 

Neutral denim jeans + bright blue sweater + dotty orange scarf

Neutral denim tee + kelly green skinnies + yellow sandals

Neutral grey tee + kelly green skirt + yellow flats

I'm super excited about my new spring palette!  Do you use a formula when shopping or getting dressed in the morning?  Have you ever resorted to something like the color wheel? Or am I the only (OCD) one out there?

Spring is right around the corner

Can you feel it?

 

I bought daffodils last week and I was so happy that I did a little dance.  Seriously.  Is there anything I love more than Springtime flowers?  The blousy roses that bloom in Sunnyside during the summer are plain lovely, but nothing get my heart going pitter-patter like daffodils.  

The first sight of them at bodegas and in the tiny gardens in my neighborhood mean one thing, and one thing only:  Spring is coming.  You can feel it, that slight shift in temperature where 40 degrees suddenly feels warm and not cold.  Where the wind seems balmy and chilling.  Spring is coming.  It's daffodils first and then tulips and sweet, sweet hyacinth and then it's official.  Spring is in the air! 

The above photo was taken from bed with my iPhone.  Lord those flowers made me so happy all week! 

This is a better representation of my bedroom:

The moody gray walls and the mint-iness of the bedside table are all pretty accurate.  (The glass lamps are impossible to keep free of dust.  I look at it every night when I go to sleep.  "Goodnight dust!")

Oh dear.  So do you have any Springtime plans?  I for one cannot wait to start going on bike rides again.  Also on my list is a visit to The Cloisters, which is heavenly when the trees start to bloom and The Brooklyn Botanical Gardens for the Cherry Blossom Festival!

Springtime has come to Sunnyside and I couldn't be happier! This is what I've been waiting for all winter long. Slowly, I've been watching little sprouts fight their way through the frozen earth and suddenly- daffodils! Tulips! Cherry blossoms!

I'm leaving you, dear readers, for 10 glorious days in Tuscany. Be well, without me. I've armed myself with a Berlitz phrase book, some travel essays and a book on Tuscan cuisine. Hopefully, I'll be a changed woman when I return.

Arrivederci!!

I saved these roses from what was going to be a long, sad, lonely death in our flower refrigerator at work and stashed them in what is my new favorite Winter-Spring transitional handbag.

It's actually a tool bag from Klein Tools, but I loved the unbleached, heavy-weight canvas and metal and leather buckles, so I ordered one. They also have some all leather bags with which I am only mildly obsessed. They're pretty reasonable and oh, so sturdy! And I only feel a little silly carrying it when I run into one of the many construction workers buying their morning coffee at the corner bodega.

(I was so smitten with the roses/bag combo that I didn't even notice the tacky ad for laser hair removal on the newspaper that I used to wrap them up. Nice.)