By Elle
We’ve been terrible about keeping up with our blog, but it’s not for lack of interest or enthusiasm. Rather, we’ve been dealing with elderly parents, which naturally gets one thinking about how we age and if there is such a thing as aging gracefully. Continue reading
By Elle
This grey cotton embroidered dress from Uncle Frank has become my official spring dress. I bought it several years ago from Green Roots Collection, wondering at the time if it was maybe a little too funky (this is Cleveland, after all), but that’s how I roll.
I gravitate toward this dress during early spring — probably because of the bright flowers — and at least once a season I wear it to our favorite pancake breakfast spot, at West Geauga High School in Chesterland. Turns out it’s also my official naturalization ceremony dress. Continue reading
By Abby
Whimsical Abby
With so many grey January days upon us, I decided to add a bit of color and whimsy to my look. I was headed to the art museum with the family, and since we’re a funky bunch, I didn’t stand out too much.
The centerpiece of my look was a knit hat, by Steve Madden, that boasts a rainbow of colors, metallic threads and long fringe-y strands of yarn that nicely co-mingle with my long braids. Elle originally bought the hat for my daughter. Lucky for me I have the same size head as a four-year-old, so I’ve been wearing it all winter, and she’s been going bare-headed (just kidding).
To bring out the metallic notes in the hat, I wore my new diffuser pendant necklace, filled with jasmine oil. (At Christmas, Elle received a diffuser pendant necklace from her beloved; I was immediately jealous and had to have one. Goddess Blessed in Lakewood came through for me, and I now have one, too. So there.)
A pair of Rugged Outback boots added to my fun, wintry look, and the faux fur means that no animals were hurt so that my feet can stay warm and dry. (I got these for a steal at a nearby Payless shoe store that was going out of business back in June.)
A pair of giant, gold hoops completed my outfit, proof that you can stay cozy during cold weather and maintain a rosy look (and outlook) with lots of color and whimsy. Take that, January!
By Elle
With the (oddly) cooler temps this week, I was excited to pull this silky Asian-inspired jacket out of my closet. I’ve long loved Asian design, and most rooms in my house feature some piece of Asian art or a Buddha, some of them gifts from our Japanese exchange students we hosted many, many years ago.
I still remember the day our first student, Kumiko, entered our home. She knew about as much English as I currently know Spanish. In other words, I know a lot of random words but am hard pressed to form a sentence any Spanish-speaking person would understand. Dios mio, it was a rough few weeks! We engaged in a lot of hand gestures and arm waving. And it wasn’t until she knew the English words for vacuum cleaner that she could fully explain how her family saved her grandmother from choking to death on a glutinous rice ball. True story. (And if you don’t know how that could happen — the choking part, I mean — you’ve never eaten a glutinous rice ball.) Continue reading
By Abby and Elle
… at times they even talk alike…. And just like Patty Duke and her cousin Cathy (if you’re old enough to remember the Patty Duke Show, you’ll know what we’re talking about), we even, at times, dress alike.
As we mentioned in a previous post, How I’m wearing these classy, colorful cubes, we have been meeting at the Cleveland Museum of Art for the past six Saturdays, so that our little ones can stretch their creative muscles in their respective art classes.
This past weekend we showed up looking twin-like — maybe a little like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito, though way better looking and with more fashion sense. Continue reading
By Elle
One of my colleagues gave me this extraordinary rope scarf for the holidays, and I was immediately smitten. For one, I love the earthy colors, and for two, I love how it gives any outfit a powerful punch of texture and color.
Abby & Elle Upstairs Fashion & Design 