TEN FOR THE WEEKEND

In my mind, I'm vacationing in the tropical paradise of Turks and Caicos, lounging near the pool, awaiting my next margarita under a massive umbrella. In reality, I'm stranded in a generic airport hotel by my airline, which cited weather/goats/days-ending-in-day/mechanicals/pollen/and ocean currents as the reasons for cancellation. At least it wasn't sun spots. Or a pirate attack! ("If your cutlass will not fit in the overhead compartment, please press the attendant call button. In the event of a water exit, do not attempt to take your chests of gold with you.")

So enough about my ACTUAL trip. Actual things, as Anne of Green Gables pointed out so many decades ago, are rarely as fun as imagined things. And my imagined trip is marvelous. And of course, I packed well - here's what I'm wearing and carrying this weekend!

Images: iPad, Apple. LV case, ipadforums. com. Kebede clothes, lemlem.com. Kebede image, Vogue. Turks and Caicos, Expressions Holidays. All other images, companies as attributed.

Light and Lovely

An Alexis Bittar statement ring, available at Nordstrom.

As I mentioned last week, I'm in love with resort wear (this year, every year). For Southern gals, resort wear just makes a lot of sense. We're always trying to dress like it's 70 degrees outside (whether or not we're in the South. It's a mental thing). And as Averill over at Odi et Amo pointed out, winter sweaters are pretty much useless in some parts of the country! September to March can thus be a very dull shopping season. Over the next few weeks I'm going to do several posts on my favorite parts of the resort collections, and other fun, bright new things arriving in stores. In this current weather deep freeze, we'll try to prove that cold is just a state of mind! (With the heat on high, of course.)

Today, it's lucite jewelry and bright beach pieces - orange and navy at Kate Spade, nautical at Urban Outfitters, lucite at Alexis Bittar, and ocean inspiration available from Vivre!

Images, sourced as listed above.

Resorting to Style

Ralph Lauren Resort 2009.

My favorite collection each year - every year - is Resort. It's psychological: mere moments after the last exhausted glitter-cardigan has been pulled from the Christmas shelves, the bright candy colors of Resort are on hand to cheer. Even if you're trapped in the drab grays of January, St. Bart's is no farther away than the nearest store. Spring can't be far behind!

Photo, polo.com.