Dear Creatures Autumn 2012

It just hit me that the end of this week will bring us the official first day of Autumn. I am so excited, because Autumn is hands down my favorite time of year. I love the colors of the leaves as they change and layering up my outfits. Lately, to prepare for the upcoming cooling down I've been perusing many websites in order to plan my closet updates. Dear Creatures has really outdone themselves with their Autumn looks and these are just a few of my favorite pieces that I want to incorporate into my wardrobe. Are you all looking forward to the upcoming season. I am also looking forward to my return to the states and being back in New York City (24 more days to go and I will be back home)! Also, wanted to let you know I started a twitter, so it would be great if you all could follow me. Have a great week!

 



End of Summer and Freak Outs

It's been awhile since my last post, but things have been a bit overwhelming these last few weeks. I've been wanting to post, actually these pictures were taken ages ago for a post I had planned but I've completely forgotten about. Work has been extra busy with deadlines and reports. Also, I've started job hunting again since I will be back in the states in 5 weeks. Trying to figure out my next step in life is always a stressful thing for me to do. As days go by and October inches its way closer, the idea of heading back to New York unemployed and living off of my savings scares me. I know I'll eventually find something, but the thought of not finding a job that I will actually like freaks me out even more. I know I shouldn't be worrying and stressing out doesn't accomplish anything, but that's just how I'm wired.

 

 

Anyway, onto other things. Lately I've been looking forward to Autumn and planning my shopping list for the upcoming season. I've already marked a few items on some of my favorite sites to prepare me for October in New York. I can't wait till I am back in the city heading to my favorite coffee shop wrapped up in a warm cardigan. Summer heat and palm trees are nice, but I truly love that time of year when the leaves start to change and cool breezes take over. I'm a New England girl through and through and sure do love my Autumn's.

Outfit Details:

Skirt: mango

Blouse: Anthropologie

Shoes: Steve Madden

Work Trip (Part 3)

Today my post is heavy on nature and scenery. Since living in Africa, I haven't really had the chance to leave the city but during my work trip that's exactly what I did. These are the last set of pictures I will be posting, so I hope you like. These were taken during the three hour drive from one city to the next and from different views around Yamoussoukro. Today officially make it 4 months since I've been in Cote d'Ivoire, which means I only have 2 more months left and then back to New York. While I'm here I am enjoying the vast open spaces and random crocodiles hanging out in the middle of parks. Hope you all enjoy and have a great weekend!

Work Trip (part 2)

Here's the second set of pictures from my work trip last week to Yamoussoukro. I only have one more set of pictures to show and then I will be back to my regular outfit pictures. These were taken on a trip to visit the Basilique Notre-Dame de la Paix. I've been to my share of churches around Europe and never expected to see something like this in West Africa. I was blown away buy the size and artistry in this beautiful cathedral. Another amazing this was the quietness I experienced. Usually when visiting big cathedrals, there are long lines and crowds and non-stop camera flashing. Well on my tour there were only six of us and the guide really took his time to explain everything and we also had time to explore on our own. I have to say this was probably one of my favorite tourist trips I've taken while I've been in Cote d'Ivoire.



Work Trip (part 1)

This week was such an amazing as well as super exhausting week for me. I got the opportunity to go on a trip with my work and stay at a very nice hotel. This was my first trip outside of the city of Abidjan and I was really happy about being included. I finally got the chance to see more of the Ivory Coast and visit its capital city, Yamoussoukro. What was great about the trip was the fact that I got the chance to do some sightseeing and act the total tourist instead of sitting in conference rooms for meetings. These are just a few pictures I took during my mini trip. It took about three hours to get there but the drive was amazing and I spent the whole time staring out the window. Hope you enjoy these, I will be adding more next week. 

hotel pool

Cathedral in Yamoussoukro

Statue at one of the sites

Driving by the crocidile pond

 The view from the cathedral

Lunch: Fish in a sauce with a side of rice

Fast Times

Is it just me or is time flying by really fast? I mean, in less than two weeks it's going to be August. Autumn is just around the corner and I'm very happy about that. With days either filled with heavy rains or extreme heat, I tend to spend a lot of time indoors. My summer hasn't been my usual summer of balancing work, beach time, outings, road trips, and friends. Instead it's been filled with long days at the office and weekends filled with loads of laundry and hoping for the sun to come out so my clothes can dry. Not having a Laundromat or washer/dryer has been something I've had to get used to. Being in a foreign country and having no access to those things and doing my laundry by hand has been an adventure of not ruining my clothes and actually getting them clean. Hand washing is hard work! Anyway, it's finally Friday and it's raining, but I am looking forward to a weekend filled with catching up on some sleep and movies. Hope your weekends are filled with fun and relaxing!!!

Outfit Details:

Top: Anthropologie

Skirt: Anthropologie

Haziness of Summer

Surviving the summer heat as well as the summer humidity has been something for me to get used to. Living in West Africa these past three months has really changed my love of layering and made me rely more on light some dresses and just adding an accessory to my outfits to make them more me. I'm a layers kind of girl, but when the heat rolls around, that's no longer an option. The day I took these pictures, it was extra hot and humid, by that afternoon we had a full on thunderstorm that lasted a few days. As I type this up it's getting pretty cloudy today, so I am foreseeing a weekend indoors in my air conditioned apartment watching some movies. What are your plans this weekend?

Outfit Details:

Dress: Urban Outfitters

Shoes: Coach

Belt: Uniqlo

Cloudy Day At The Beach

I wanted to share some more pictures taken on a trip to the beach. This was and still is my only trip to the beach while I've been living in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire. As you can see it was a cloudy day, which has become the norm over here since it's currently the rainy season. The good thing is that the whole day it was just cloudy, but no rain! My boss was kind enough to take me to one of their beaches called Grande-Bassam. I had taste of pure coconut water and enjoyed a late lunch of fresh fish and rice. One of the interesting things about this trip was how warm the water was. I'm more used to the Atlantic being freezing cold, growing up in Massachusetts, so feeling the warm water was pretty nice. I didn't even mind when a giant wave soaked half my clothes. I hope I get to visit more beaches during my last three months over here.

Outfit Details:

Shorts: Corey Lynn Calter for Anthropologie

Shirt: Mango

Happy 4th

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Happy Fourth of July everyone!!! I hope you are all having a wonderful and fun filled Independence Day. I am currently stuck at work, since I am living in a foreign country where 4th of July is just another day of the week. Enjoy the food, beach, and fireworks!!! Happy 4th!

It's the Weekend

Just wanted to pop in and say have a nice weekend. It's still pretty dreary on this side of the world with rain every single day. These are a few pictures I took on a beach trip, as you can tell it was cloudy. In my next post I will share more pictures. Have a good weekend!!!

Missing the Sun

These pictures were taken a few weekends ago, one of the last days that I actually saw the sun and right before I came down with a really bad cold. Since then, it's been non-stop rain over here. I usually love rainy days, where I get to sit inside and drink lots of hot tea and read a wonderful book. I also love it when it rains and I get to splash around the puddles with my wellies on and look forward to my return home for a toasty bowl of soup. I'm one of those people who thinks rain is romantic. Well over here in Cote d'Ivoire, I hate the rain. It's so hot and humid that I still have to blast my air conditioner all day, everyday. Also, I forgot my wellies back in New York so I've had a permanent supply of wet and soggy flats to deal with. Sorry about the long complaint, I just needed to get that off my chest. It's just that I never realized how much temperature and weather would impact my mood as much as it has. Now I just long for a few minutes of sunshine to help me get through my days.

Outfit Details:

Sandles: DSW

Dress: MNG



Getting Over Cold's

It's been forever since I last blogged and the reason was because I have been sick the past two weeks. It's been raining non-stop over here in Ivory Coast and it's also been hot and humid during the many days of ran. So all of that together brought about a bad head cold and made my allergies start acting up. So I have been on antibiotics and bed rest for a some time. I'm finally getting back to normal. I never realized how homesick I would get while I was sick. I guess I really starting missing my roommates who always made me feel better whenever I was sick. They once spent a whole night at the hospital with me when I got really sick. It's good to be back to normal again and blogging. I've really missed it. Also, I finally found a place to take outfit pictures, without getting really funny looks from the locals.

Outfit Details:

Skirt: Free People

Blouse: Urban Outfitters