dress up files - a chicago fashion blog: August 2010

A Restaurant to Remember...

While we were visiting the Philippines, we went to an amazing restaurant called Antonio's. This restaurant is located in Tagaytay, about an hour from Makati City and it was definitely a hidden gem amidst the woods and mountains in that area. The food was international and Filipino fusion. The food was excellent but what stood out to me the most was the restaurant decor and the exceptional service.

We had to drive forever through these tiny streets and alleys (I seriously thought we were so lost) when we finally came upon this gate!

We read that the chef asked to make the place look like a house so in case the restaurant failed, he could just live here. It was styled and decorated like a traditional Filipino home and it was beautiful!

After an amazing meal!
(The turquoise bracelet was a $3 find in Manila!)

The bathroom had open windows with tree branches literally coming in through the window. Very cool and a bit frightening to hear birds flying very close by as you're conducting business.

After a fulfilling meal, we walked around the beautiful grounds of Antonio's.

Wearing: Madison Marcus silk top, J Brand jeans, Martin & Osa sandals, LV neverfull bag (the best & final diaper bag purchase!)

Summer 2010 Wedding Looks

I love wedding season for 2 reasons.
1. I swoon (and almost always tear) listening to wedding vows and watching people in love commit their lives to each other.
2. Hello! A reason to dress up, of course! ;)

Here are some of my Summer of 2010 wedding looks...

Left: Aritzia floral dress, Chanel bag, bracelets (J.Crew chain, double strand pearls, Rebecca Minkoff studded)

Middle: Not the best facial expression...a friend (Ray Lin) did something funny I think. I paired the dress with the nude Jeffrey Campbell Meshers I wrote about in a previous post.

Milly dress, same bracelets (minus the pearls), LV neverfull bag for the ceremony with baby A and switched to Chanel for the reception w/o baby A.

This Milly purchase (from years ago!) was such a good buy! I usually wear my dresses once but I've worn this at least 4 times and lent it out to friends a couple times as well!

Left: TopShop Dress, Lauren Merkin clutch, chunky plastic bracelet

I am loving animal prints right now!

A group shot with some friends!

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

So this post is a bit (er...6 months) overdue but hey, better late than never, right? I had a blast planning A's 1st birthday party or dohl (in Korean). I had two very special Sarah's help me with this event. One is my sister in law (a former catering maven) and the other, a friend (stationary designer extraordinaire). Everything turned out beautiful and it was such a memorable event!

Truly Smitten's Sarah used A's actual silhouette to create this! I loved the color palette she came up with!

The silhouette was used for the cupcake toppers as well. It pained me a little that the cupcakes didn't color coordinate but we had to get red velvet cupcakes! Yum!

Gorgeous flower arrangements by SIL Sarah!

The dessert table with Korean rice cakes, cupcakes, various yellow candies and lemons for that pop of color!

Close up

Menu cards by Truly Smitten Sarah

Our little doll in her party dress! I searched high and low for an affordable party dress and ended up getting this for $19.99 at TJ Maxx. Steal!!

Picture table (didn't want to overdo it so we just chose 2 pictures we love) and the glimpse of the adults favors on the right.

These held earl grey and chocolate espresso orange tea cookies, baked and packaged by Truly Smiten Sarah!

A's costume change into a traditional Korean dress.

Family pic! This was towards the end of the party and past her nap time so getting her to smile was impossible...poor baby!

Oh and here is the beautiful and hilarious video slideshow the hubbie made for A's birthday! It's a must see!!

If the video's not working, click here for a link to the youtube video.

I had so much fun with our baby's dohl but I have to say, I was exhausted and relieved when it was over!

The Naked Shoe

I got my first pair of nude shoes several years ago. They were patent leather pumps with a chunky heel and comfy as they come for a 4 incher (gotta love cole haan nike air!). I wore those shoes everywhere and they're still in heavy rotation today. Don't you just love when you get good use out of something?

Nude shoes are the perfect addition to your closet for several reasons.

- They blend with the color of your skin and give the illusion of longer legs.

- They go with everything. Seriously, when you're in doubt, you can put on a nude shoe and it will match!

- They are on trend right now, seen on many of the spring/summer 2010 shows.

- This is one of the easiest trends that anyone can pull off!

This summer, I added 3 to my collection. A high heel, a medium heel and a flat. 2 of the 3 were by Jeffrey Campbell....I'm a fan of his on trend, fairly priced shoes!

Jeffrey Campbell Mesher

Such a fun shoe!

Jeffrey Campbell Kara

When I'm chasing my 18 month old around, I can't possibly wear the Meshers no matter how fun they are. That's when these come in to play. Love the ankle wrap, the interesting heel, and the perfect amount of height for running after 1 energetic toddler without tripping all over myself!