Skyrockets In Flight

As you might remember from last week's blog, I featured my French Quarter dress from Trashy Diva. One of the best things about taking pictures with the Trashy Diva girls in the boutique is that it gave me the opportunity to buy a new TD dress, which I wore on the 4th of July. 

Dress: Trashy Diva "Dixie" in Skyrockets print

Shoes: Unlisted

My sunglasses: Forever 21

Mike's sunglasses: RayBan Wayfarer

Snood: Ebay

Mike (because he is an awesome husband) has wanted me to get this dress for a while. He is a sci-fi aficionado and loves the old-school rocket ship print. Of course, I wanted to wait until it was marked down. I came upon the online sale a little late and was horrified to find my size had sold out! Luckily, when I went to Trashy Diva in person, I tried a different size and it worked!

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I ordered a red snood and watched a few YouTube tutorials on Victory Roll hairstyles, which I'm still trying to perfect. 

You can't help but twirl in a Trashy Diva dress!

I told Mike he was a great husband because he is loving and supportive, and he said, "Yeah, whatever. You just love me because I buy you Trashy Diva dresses." 

And when we kiss.....

Fireworks!

Fun in the French Quarter

Mike and I went over to New Orleans today to hang my featured artist show at the Louisiana Pizza Kitchen. As I have mentioned many times before, we travel a lot and New Orleans is my favorite city in America. Lucky for me, it's only an hour from home. 

We have our favorite agenda each time we go to the city, including breakfast at Croissant d'Or and lunch at the Pizza Kitchen. Today we stopped off at the Junque Shop on Frenchman to browse the vintage goods, including this My Fair Lady-esque hat.   

I'm wearing my brand new dress:

Dress: Trashy Diva "French Quarter"

Hat: Stein-Mart 

Sunglasses: Trashy Diva

Shoes: Via Neroli

Pearls: Mikimoto

The closest I will get to a spider without a rolled-up newspaper in hand. 

I've been searching for cat eye sunglasses for years and finally found them!

The French Quarter dress features a turn-of-the-Century print of the Crescent City, including wrought iron balconies and horse-drawn carriages. The dress is fully lined and the fabric very high quality.  

Guess who?

No visit to NOLA is complete without a visit to the one-and-only Trashy Diva!

                                    


Imagine my surprise finding my long-lost twin sister working inside the boutique!

I also went by the Garden District location and again found my doppelganger! (Love her hat, too!)

The best accessory of all? A cute husband! 

                                                   

Red Hot Christmas

Let me just start by saying I adore the Trashy Diva brand, which makes its home in my (almost) hometown of New Orleans, LA. Ahh, the beignets, the clothes, the jazz music, the beignets....

But I digress. Trashy Diva is a ladies' boutique specializing in 1940s-1960s styles for women of all shapes and sizes. I have wanted the Trashy Diva "Honey" dress since I first saw it in Christmas 2011. But alas, it never went on sale.

My husband and I went to New Orleans a few weeks ago to see the Christmas lights in City Park, but as always, I had ulterior motives. "Let's stop by Trashy Diva after lunch," I said. He and and our good friend Chris sat on the "man bench" while I tried on countless dresses. However, my fashion panel of Mike and Chris agreed the red honey was the best.

Dress: Trashy Diva "Honey"

Shoes: Rampage

Purse: Banana Republic

Pearls: Mikimoto

Slipping into the dress and adding the pearl necklace and earrings just makes you feel instantly like a glamorous movie star.

When the salesgirl said all dresses were 20% off, there was no question it would be mine. And Mike, being the great husband that he is, happily bought it for me for Christmas.

I thanked Chris for his fashion insights and opinions, but he said, "Girl, you already had your mind made up what you wanted before you went into the store."

Mike and I went on a Christmas cruise and so the Trashy Diva dress got to accompany me to Mexico.

Love the Liz Taylor-esque shelf bust!

I couldn't help but twirl in this dress!

Channeling John Singer Sargent's "Madame X"

 

 

Croissant d' or Patisserie, New Orleans

 Croissant d' or on Ursuline

We spent Sunday in New Orleans, LA, picking up my artwork, shopping, and visiting our favorite pastry shop, Croissant d' or on Ursuline. (Their almond croissants and chocolate cappuccino are a must for any visitors to the Big Easy).
It was a hot summer day, and the perfect day to wear my new dress.

Dress: Hell Bunny "Penny"

Shoes: Guess

Sunglasses: Forever 21

Hell Bunny really makes quality clothing. I love the thick, full skirt and the rickrack detailing on the collar, bow and bodice. 

Mike and I had chocolate cappuccino, fragipan, fruit tart, and croissants. Truly the breakfast of champions.

I'll take one of each!

One of my favorite courtyard cafes.

Photography by Mike Mucha.