Packing a Punch

Here’s a haiku* for you:

My parents have a winter home in Florida. 

They have spent the better part of the past few weeks there. 

I am horribly jealous.

Blarg.  I am so sick of jamming my legs into jeans and boots.  Jeans and boots.  Jeans and boots. Lather, rinse, repeat.  (Although I did manage to recently score these Loeffler Randall wonders on RIDIC sale, so I am not quite as furious about the boots part.) *For my lit ladies out there: I do know that this is not, in the strict sense, a haiku.  FYI.  In case you’re thinking I failed my poetry seminars.  And while I have your attention, have any of you read “Flaubert’s Parrot” by Julian Barnes?  Some thoughts: A) Reading this book has rekindled my love of literature — have not felt so excited about a book in a long time; B) This book led me on an Amazon binge and I wound up with Gustave’s letters, volume 1; Gustave’s “A Simple Heart”; and George Sand’s “Indiana.”  I literally cannot read quickly enough – so excited to digest it all; and C) Am contemplating reading Sartre’s “Family Idiot,” a study of Flaubert, afterward, but almost feel that without the support of a classroom discussion, I’ll drown.  Sartre scares me almost as much as Hegel, who tormented me in graduate school.  If I need to draw diagrams to understand a paragraph of prose, I find myself distressed.  One last footnote, for those of you wondering: “Why Flaubert?”  Well, Barnes will quickly cultivate and nurture a love affair with his genius in his book, which is a curious blend of lit crit, autobiography (presumably), and fiction.  Barnes’ summary of Gustave?

“The hermit of Croisset.  The first modern novelist.  The father of Realism.  The butcher of Romanticism.  The pontoon bridge linking Balzac to Joyce.  The precursor of Proust.  The bear in his lair.  The bourgeois bourgeoisophobe.  In Egypt, ‘the father of the Moustache.’..all these titles were acquired by a man indifferent to ennobling forms of address.  ‘Honours dishonour, titles degrade, employment stupefies.”

I mean — anyone else giddy as a gumdrop reading this?  Barnes packs a powerful punch in  his writing — so dense, so visual.  Not a word out of place — “the pontoon bridge.”  Ah!  In love!

So, from geeking out over a book to geeking out over a different form of artistry: let’s talk about fashion that packs a punch and that I would happily throw in a suitcase on my way to FL.  (Mom and Dad, don’t be surprised if I show up on your doorstep in sunny Naples.)  First: I know it’s pricey but I wantttt this blouse (Simone Rocha, $1,095), and I’d wear it with this tone-on-tone necklace ($128), white skinnies, and some platinum sandals (these are kids’ sized, but they run very large…I can fit into them…$35):

Finish it up with one of these sweetly colored wallets (Cleobella, $161):

I’ve been very into colored lace lately — loveee this sweet skirt in tangerine lace ($80) with a white tank (Rag + Bone, $290) and a splashy statement necklace (T+J Designs, $68)

Finish with these perforated leather wedges from Chloe (on sale for $247), which I’ve literally stalked for years.

Finish with this sleek white cross-body (Loeffler Randall, $395):

And — thoughts on these parfait-colored colorblocked trousers (Camilla + Marc, $495) with an unfussy white silk tee (Phillip Lim, $295)?  I love.  And I’d finish with these smart sandals (Sam Edelman, $125) and this statement necklace (so many good ones out right now!!! — $48):

Or, check out this melon-hued peplum tweed top from hot line SEA NY ($251), paired with skinnies in a deeper coral color and finished with a statement necklace (J. Crew, $148) and some perforated flats (Aerin, $228):

AND, for the beach — MUST have this bikini in this fun yellow color ($15 for bottom, $18 for top)

Cuteee!  Almost as darling as this LemLem cover-up dress ($248), which looks like just the sort of breezy thing I’d live in on vacation.  Along with these lucite shades (Han Kjobenhavn, $134) and these studded sandals ($135):

Aaand one of these Figue clutches ($195 — love the contrasting color tassel!):

Alright, anyone else dying for some sun?!