Meet Me at Congress Hall

I had the unexpected opportunity to go to Cape May last weekend. If you had asked me two weeks ago about Cape May, I could have told you absolutely nothing. However it is absolutely charming and historic to boot. Cape May is one of the country’s oldest vacation resort destinations. The whole town is a a National Historic Landmark because of the concentration of Victorian buildings.

While we stayed in the historic Bradford Cottage on Franklin Street, I spent a day at Congress Hall. Congress Hall is America’s Oldest Seaside Resort. Four different presidents have vacationed there and it was the official Summer White House for President Benjamin Harrison.

I fell in love – mostly with the colors. The outside of the hotel is the perfect shade of yellow and four enormous American flags greet you upon approach. The lobby is a gorgeous shade of green punctuated by a fantastic floral print. The restaurant, The Blue Pig Tavern, where we had lunch has the cutest napkins in a fabulous shade of light blue. Congress Hall also has it’s own farm, Beach Plum Farm, which harvests the most delicious tomatoes I’ve ever tasted. I highly recommend the BLT – perfect for a post beach snack. On the beach, you have the choice of a gorgeous yellow and white striped tent or chaise lounges and umbrellas with a pink star. The hotel definitely has me rethinking my use of color. Often times I tend to favor neutrals, but I was amazed to see how well a multitude of vastly different colors paired so fabulously together.

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Independence Day at Monticello

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 Ray Ban Sunglasses//J.Crew Blazer (similar)//Petit Bateau Tee//Citizens of Humanity Jeans//Steven Madden Wedges//Ithaca Cuff (similar)//Essie ‘Bikini So Teeny’ Nailpolish//Tom Ford ‘Scarlet Rouge’ Lipstick (similar)

It’s become a tradition in our family to go the the Naturalization Ceremony at Monticello on the Fourth of July. There’s just nothing like hearing first hand why new citizens wanted to become Americans to put you in the spirit. The scenery and free coke floats don’t hurt either.

When I was thinking about what I might wear for the ceremony, I knew it needed to strike the balance between the casualness of the holiday and the seriousness of being a witness to 70 people from 40 different countries becoming citizens at an American landmark. For this reason, I chose my most comfortable pair of jeans, walkable wedges, and a sharp blazer to punctuate the look. To make a gesture towards the holiday, I added my favorite red lipstick and painted my toes in my favorite blue polish.

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Entryways: A comparison

One of my favorite things to do is walk around neighborhoods. One of the things I absolutely loved about London was how much fun it was to walk around various different neighborhoods, and it’s part of the reason I fell in love with the city from the get go.

Since being back in the States, I’ve been thinking a lot about what made walking around London so pleasurable, and I’ve decided that Londoner’s think a lot about curb appeal making the streets particularly nice for passersby.

To illustrate my point, I thought I’d do an old-school art history-style slide comparison. On the left, you see a well appointed townhouse in the Chelsea neighboorhood of London. On the right, you see a townhouse from the historic district in the town where I live.

Let’s start with the similarities, first both townhouses have steps with wrought-iron railings that lead up to a dark door with a white, architectural surround. Each surround has faux columns and a transom above the window. Each door is painted and has brass hardware. As you can see, each door is quite similar and both are working with similar bones. However, the Chelsea door is much more inviting.

The first thing that makes the Chelsea door more inviting is the addition of plants. They add a little liveliness to the door that says someone lives here and offers a nice subtle softening to the entrance as well. I like the choice of white planter boxes as it reiterates the white of the walls and the steps. On the right door, there are no plants welcoming you to the front of the house, and as this porch is slightly bigger, it makes the space feel cold and empty.

The second thing to note on the Chelsea entrance is the door itself. First, the high gloss paint serves to catch your attention and give you a focal point as you approach the door. I also like the subtle rivets on the door as they make a traditional door slightly more interesting. Second, the brass hardware is more substantial and more numerous than on the historic home on the left. I think the addition of the doorknocker and the house number are quite important. The door number ensures that guests immediately feel comfortable as their is no confusion that they are in the wrong place. The doorknocker, with it’s lion theme, shows us a little bit about the personality of the owners even before we enter their home. I find the hardware on the Chelsea door to be much more successful, almost like well-chosen jewelry on an outfit. It adds refinement and a subtle sheen that elevates the whole look.

Finally, there is a cohesion to the Chelsea entrance that the historic home just doesn’t have. The Chelsea entrance uses the power of repetition to make the entrance pleasing. The black is repeated on the door, the railings, and the light fixture. The white is repeated on the walls, flowers, planters, and steps. The brass is repeated on the door. On the historic home, there is no sense of repetition and materials seem to be used willy nilly. The steps are different from the landing, which is different from the walls. Another thing that adds to the cohesion of the Chelsea entrance is the use of quality materials across the board. The steps are marble, the railings are thick, the brass is heavy. While you can tell many quality materials were used on the historic home, the cement steps, flimsy railings, and barely-there door hardware take away from the appeal of the beautiful door and surround.

What I ultimately love about the Chelsea entrance is the fact that it seems to welcome you inside. You simultaneously know where you are headed and that you will be taken care of once you get there. There is something that puts you at ease as you approach the London door, whereas there is a slight apprehension as you approach the American home. Are you in the right place? Will you make it up the steps? Are these people friendly? These are not questions you want guests to your home to ask on approach. You want your guests to have a sigh of relief as they have made it to their destination, and they know there is refreshment, relaxation, and friendship waiting for them on the other side of the door.

Have you come across any particularly appealing entryways recently? Is your own entryway more like the one on the left or the right?

The First Secret of Dressing Well

In 1819, Mary Brooks Picken wrote The Secrets of Distinctive Dress and one of her secrets was that “To know happiness we must appreciate beauty, and to appreciate beauty we must develop it within us.” I found this quote resonated with much of my own thinking about how-to dress. I think what is so appealing to me about clothes is that they are one of the ways we can physically embody beauty in our everyday lives. And when I’m wearing something I like, I can’t help but feel a little happier.

About the time I was reading The Secrets of Distinctive Dress, I was looking at one of my favorite blogs, Garance Dore, which tends to focus on what women are wearing today. Garance had an interview with the fashion stylist, Laura Ferrara. When Laura was asked, “Any secrets that you take from the shoot and use in your everyday life??” She says, “Shoots are a beautiful fantasy; it’s not real life – there is lighting, hair, makeup and everyone working as a team to produce a great picture. I think the secret is to know how to be happy in your everyday life and not live like you’re in a fashion shoot.”

I thought it was really intriguing that two women, almost 100 years apart, were discussing the same themes of beauty and happiness. Which made me realize that there is something universal about the female desire to find happiness and create beauty in our everyday lives, yet very few of us know how to do this today. When it comes to clothes, I think there are two barriers to this. The first is that there is a dearth of modern resources that really explain how to dress in a straight-forward and practical way, and second is the unattainable expectations set by the media. While I hope to eventually remove the first barrier, it’s the second I’d like to focus on today. I think the media often produces two kinds of women – women who try to dress like they live in a fashion shoot and then end up looking out of place in their own lives, and women who don’t even try because they think they could never live up to the ideal they see in the media. So we end up with two extremes – women who wear heels to their son’s soccer game and women who wear sweatpants to the very same game. However, I think there is beauty and happiness to be found in appreciating the kinds of things you do in your everyday life and dressing in a way that is appropriate for those activities.

Thus the first “secret” of dressing well is to consult your own life. What kinds of activities do you do on a normal basis? It is not until you know the answer to this question that you can even begin to answer the question of how to dress well.

How-to Dress for a Music Festival

Last weekend, I went to Austin City Limits (ACL) Music Festival. When I went to ACL for the first time in 2004, it wasn’t a huge deal. Now, I feel like it’s blown up and there’s more of an expectation to dress the part. It’s almost as if there is a music festival dress code these days, which can leave a lot of us wondering what to wear.

Have no fear! Here’s the five things you need to know about how to dress for a music festival. Whether you’re headed to weekend two of ACL or Festy in the Old Dominion, you’re sure to look the part.

1) Rule Numero Uno.

  • Embrace the bohemian vibe, yet don’t take it too far. While part of going to a music festival is letting your freak flag fly a little bit, you don’t want to end up with a closet full of clothes you’ll never wear again.

2) Keep your base neutral.

  • The base layer is your blank canvas where you can paint your festival masterpiece, so to speak. While I went with pants paired with tanks and tees for all these looks, you could easily do dresses, shorts, or button-downs depending on where you are headed.

3) Layer fun accessories.

  • I was able to create three distinct looks by using different accessories. The first look has more of an urban rocker thing going  on. The second gets it’s interest from the layers of colorful necklaces. And the third is slightly more polished, but the scarf, which I wore as a turban, keeps it from looking too stiff.

4) Plan your outfits ahead of time.

  • You don’t want to miss the music because you’re fretting about what to wear. For the first time in a long time, I planned out every outfit down to the lipstick I was going to wear before I left for the weekend. This ensured that I could forget about what I was wearing and just dance to Jimmy Cliff. Highly recommended.

5) Rock your own style.

  • At the festival, I got so tired of seeing girls wearing the exact same thing. It almost seemed like a uniform. I highly recommend wearing a few pieces that are uniquely you so you don’t get swallowed in the sea of cut-off shorts. While the outfits I put together have a great bohemian vibe, they aren’t too far outside my wheelhouse because they all contain things I wear on a normal basis.

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[Outfit 1: J.Crew Bag (similar)//Calvin Klein Fedora (similar)//Target Scarf (similar)//Ray-Ban Aviators//Leather Bracelet//Vintage Silver Cuff (similar)//Moroccanoil Treatment//Melissa Joy Manning Hoops//Lucchese Cowboy Boots//Tom Ford Vampire Kiss Lip Color//Arquiste for J. Crew Perfume//Coach Wallet//Citizens of Humanity Jeans (similar)//Motif 56 Belt//Altuzarra for Target Tee//J. Crew Jacket]

[Outfit 2: J Brand Jeans (similar)//CeraVe Sunscreen//Melissa Joy Manning Hoops//Vintage Necklaces//Sanctuary Clothing Tank (similar)//Straw Cowboy Hat//Dooney & Bourke Purse (similar)//Mossimo Supply Co. Sandals]

[Outfit 3: Vintage Belt//Madewell Necklace (similar)//Tom Ford Sahara Pink Ultra Shine Lipgloss//Vintage Adrienne Vittadini Scarf//Dooney & Bourke Purse (similar)//Ray-Ban Aviators//Melissa Joy Manning Hoops//Everlane Tank//Citizens of Humanity Jeans (similar)//Mossimo Co. Sandals]

The Pink Table

Over the summer, my friend Lindsey sent me a link. It was the kickstarter video for the The Yellow Table Cookbook by Anna Watson Carl. In her video, Anna tells a story about seeing a sign that says, “you can make a wish or you can make it happen,” which prompted her to start working on her dream, a cookbook. After I watched the video, I emailed Lindsey and said, “her video makes me want to have a dinner party.” She replied, “do you want to!?” Me: “Yes!!!” It took us several weeks, okay months, to get it together, but here before your very eyes is our own iteration of The Yellow Table. I was responsible for the decor and Lindsey cooked all the food using recipes from The Yellow Table.

The Menu

Rosemary Lemonade with  Thibaut-Janisson Blanc de Chardonnay sparkling wine

Heirloom Tomato Panzanella

Haricots Verts with Dijon-Shallot Vinaigrette

Apricot-Dijon Roasted Chicken with Couscous

Gluten-Free Almond Cake with Lavender Honey

The Decor

For the table, I wanted something girly with a slight Moroccan theme to match the food. My hope was that our friends would feel special and inspired, and I hoped that the calm setting and good food would spark conversation about what we wanted to make happen in our lives. This was the first time I’d thrown a “proper” dinner party with invites, place cards, a signature drink and more than one course! It was definitely worth the extra effort. I felt so proud, and I’m so glad to have these photos to share with you. My favorite part of the evening was when everyone showed up dressed to the nines. We hadn’t put a dress code on the invite, but everyone felt like dressing up and it really added to the festive vibe of the evening.

Have you ever thrown a proper dinner party? What was it like?

 

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[Pier 1 Pillows // Pink Linen Tablecloth // Moroccan Tea Glasses // Pier 1 Bench // Caspari Le Jardin de Mysore Place Cards // World Market Napkin Rings // Pier 1 Yellow Salad Plates // Apilco Tradition Dinner Plates // Caspari Le Jardin de Mysore Paper Guest Towels // Sir Christopher by Wallace Silverware]

What I Learned: Altuzarra for Target

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Did anyone else take Economics 101? About the only thing I remember is the concept of scarcity, which wikipedia nicely reminded me is “the fundamental economic problem of having seemingly unlimited human wants in a world of limited resources.” Well that about sums it up doesn’t it. No matter who we are, this concept applies to us. Whether we work for minimum wage or have a trust fund to our name, we have to decide how to spend our limited resources whether those are time, money or both. That’s what we’re all about here at Kai’li Millner — helping you be more stylish while having you waste the fewest number of resources be they dollars or time. Which finally brings me to the Altuzarra for Target collaboration. The great thing about these collaborations is that you can have a little high fashion in your life without breaking the bank.

What surprised me most about this collaboration, is what I learned from shopping it. As I’m always looking for high quality basics, when I first looked at the lookbook, what I really wanted was the shoes and belts. They looked great on the website, and I could imagine myself using them to pull together any number of great outfits. However, when I saw the pieces in person, I was rather disappointed. I wanted to like them, but if I was being honest with myself in the dressing room, the pieces to have from this collection were not the accessories, but rather the clothes themselves. I was literally stunned when I tried on the skirt because it looked so good, and for $34.99 I could sacrifice not being able to wear it to the office (it has a classic Altuzarra slit, which wouldn’t fly where I work). What made this collection was not necessarily the materials, but how each item was cut. Every piece was literally spot on, and I dare so nobody would realize this was Target material.

So here’s what I learned in a nutshell:

Here’s what I learned:

1. What you see online, is not necessarily what you get in person. The senses don’t lie.

2. Be willing to deviate from your plan and trust your gut in the dressing room.

3. It’s really hard to fake good accessories. Even if they are well-designed, the materials will give them away.

4. A few fun pieces can really inject some style into your wardrobe and elevate those high quality basics.

Did you check out the Altuzarra for Target collaboration? What did you learn?

A Little Happy

IMG_0344I’m a sucker for the sleek packaging of the iphone.

We got six inches of unexpected snow this week coupled with many gray, rainy days, but there was still lots to be excited about. I got a new iphone after two years of the galaxy. Yes I switched back, mostly because the iphone just appeals to my senses more. I also ran my first ten-miler and got an invitation to a good friends wedding.

20140329_112725A nice reward after running ten miles.

IMG_0310Looking forward to using these pickled peaches to make a pie.

IMG_0283I found this invitation so striking – both modern and glamorous.

IMG_0330I’ve been looking for a buddha and this is one of the best I’ve seen yet.

A Little Happy

IMG_0058 My first bouquet of the spring season.

This week contained both the first day of spring and my mother-in-law’s 60th Birthday, so there were plenty of reasons to celebrate. We spent the weekend in Richmond indulging on Birthday cake and eating all kinds of great food. We also made it to the new Wes Anderson movie, The Grand Budapest Hotel, which was worth seeing for the pastries alone. I love spring because I get to ring in another year (my birthday is in a couple of weeks) and it’s the start of patio season which means picnics, wine tasting, rooftops, and generally dining al fresco.

IMG_0132It’s officially Rosé season and this is a gorgeous bottle.

IMG_0187Nothing improves your spirits like an old school carousel. 

IMG_0233My mom always had a gift wrapping box, and this week I started my own complete with fancy tape.

IMG_0096The perfect bag for the farmer’s market from my new favorite sandwich shop.

 

A Little Happy

IMG_9973 Inspiration for doing manicures at home – cuticle oil and neutral nail polish.

I was on Spring Break this week, and it’s the first time I’ve felt really relaxed in a long time. I gave the house a much needed deep clean before my mom came in town Tuesday and spent the rest of the week on some solid girl time. We went hiking, went for a nice lunch at a vineyard and did some shopping. My natural inclination is to go away whenever I can, but it was great to stay close to home and catch up with my mom.

IMG_9979 A Ginger Beer for adults-only.

IMG_0008My first pair of designer heels.

IMG_0027Now that I wear eye makeup, I need this.

IMG_9950Finally a nice makeup bag to keep the essentials corralled.