Cornflower Craze

{Coach Madison Audrey convertible shoulder/handbag in cornflower with silver accents, 2010. Photo credit: www.coachhandbagspurses.org }
This past summer, my friend Amy B. and I went to the outlets in Clinton, CT, for shopping and a seafood lunch. We made off with some killer bargain purchases, including a vibrant teal patent bag from Coach for her. While we were in the over-heated and over-crowded Coach store, we happened across an amazing handbag in the softest, prettiest light-periwinkle blue color. I was instantly attracted, and Amy B. encouraged me to buy it, but I resisted based on the fact that I'm not a pastel/light-color girl. However, it haunted me; this was the strongest handbag-lust I had experienced since the infamous green-bag obsession. (The only other purse I'd ever craved so strongly was a tan satchel with lots of brass hardware.) While I'm usually not much of a Coach coveter, I know they often put out incredibly beautiful, unique colored leather in amazing quality, and this cornflower blue was exemplary. The bag I saw in Clinton was a little small, though, so I scoured the Internet for months for the true object of my desire, and was lucky enough to find the Madison Audrey satchel, above, on eBay for half of the original price. Just the right size, just enough detail and hardware, and the shoulder strap can be conveniently clipped underneath. Generally speaking, eBay terrifies me, but I knew this was a one-shot deal, so I went for it. My bag came in 3 days, and is delighting me with its supple, broken-in leather and feminine, seasonless shade.

{The cornflower bag was the perfect unexpected accent to a dark-colored outfit for a steakhouse dinner with our friends Liz and Steve. I finally worked up the cajones to wear this tunic top as a dress, a la Gossip Girl's Serena Van der Woodsen, but I doubt I'd venture it without the stockings. Dress and earrings: Forever21; Fleur-de-lis tights: Marshalls; Bracelets: Target, vintage; Wedges: Aldo.}

{The light blue of the bag reminds me of the slate shade we chose for our house; I've been thrilled with the cold, crisp weather lately. A gamine sweater + skinny jeans +leather boots = my preferred uniform. My bangs were jacked up from a fitful night of sleep and I had no time to wash my hair, so I put on this braided metallic gold headband in the "Greek goddess" style. Kind of ironic.}

{Sweater: Target; Jeggings, headband, and brass hoop earrings: Forever21; "Paige Clovertab" riding boots: Frye.}

Earlier in the day, we had breakfast at one of our favorite spots, which is next door to a cute garden-supplies store (in full fall glory). We had a little comedy on the side; my husband tried to order three (3) of the eggs Benedict instead of the two (2) that were on the menu, but the waitress misunderstood and thought he meant three breakfasts, aka orders. She brought out my sandwich and two orders of what he asked for, reassuring him that the "third is on its way." He was also given an entire pitcher of club soda to "wash down all the food he ordered." I fell apart laughing, and he was more startled than anything else. Turns out the wait staff had been rather taken aback by the miscommunication, too, but assumed he was either a competitive eater (?!?) or just really hungry. He later confessed that he probably could have handled all three orders.

-xoxo