Looming large: the 14th century belfry in the center of town. (This photo feels a bit Hitchcockian to me, like I’m oblivious to the sinister storm clouds gathering.)

Soaring heights: Saint Bavo Cathedral where the Ghent Altarpiece is housed in the chapel—and where you feel very, very small.

The world’s masterpiece from 1432: it looked pretty darn good, given its harrowing history. I won’t even try to describe the realistic details, vibrant colors, or Catholic mysticism depicted. (Btw, in case you were wondering, Hubert and Jan van Eyck didn’t run out of pigments while working on Adam and Eve; the black and white images are placeholders for the panels undergoing restoration.)

Heavenly sky: Saint Nicholas Cathedral with Andrew in the bottom left-hand corner. (Notice how his green Nano Puff jacket blends right in with the color scheme.)

Peaceful alley near Pakhuis restaurant: I liked how the red, green, and blue in this composition sort of echo the hues in the Altarpiece painting.

Four dudes under white nudes: Andrew chatting up strangers. This quirky photo makes me smile.

New meets old: fresh graffiti in the foreground with the Ghent train station’s century-old clock tower in the back. Nothing stands still.

We had planned on heading back to our Brussels home base but decided to make a detour to Bruges. When would we ever find ourselves in this part of the world again? Having never seen the 2008 movie “In Bruges,” I knew the town was famous for artisanal lace but not much else. Although I was bracing myself for an annoyingly touristy experience like Quebec, it was in fact pleasant and charming.

Panoramic shot of the Markt (“Market Square”), a UNESCO World Heritage site with the 13th century bell tower on the left.

Selective slice: here’s my Instagram of a cropped portion of the panorama above. It looks like a snow globe with figurines.

Darkness and light: ominous clouds over the sunbathed Provincial Court on the Markt. The contrast shows off the building’s architectural details.

For whom the bell tolls: the medieval belfry and Bruges landmark. I liked the little pocket of blue sky that opened up right on time.

Courtyard in the belfry complex: the light installations say Mind, Wealth, Belief, and Life (not pictured). They should add Love, Peace, and Happiness—and Chocolate.

Ta-da! Presenting a Wealth…of opportunities? experiences? Delvaux bags?

Capturing Andrew: we breathlessly climbed the 366 narrow, creaky, claustrophobic spiral stairs to the top of the tower. Andrew hates having his picture taken so this was the best I could do.

Steep, crisp lines: high above Bruges with the Church of Our Lady rising on the right.

From a different angle: Burg Square and Town Hall. And I think that’s a glimpse of the North Sea on the horizon.

Red accents and gray roofs.

Slipping through the canal: oh you know, just your typical, postcard-perfect kind of day in Bruges.

Check out my Pinterest board for more info and resources.

Next up: Antwerp, hotbed of the coolest fashion…

When it comes to running shoes, I’ve always longed to wear Nike. Duh. Unfortunately, since none of their stability models ever fit my overpronating feet just right, I was forced to choose function over form. So up until about a year ago, my go-to running shoes were the Brooks Adrenaline GTS. In 2006, I ran my first race, the Quantico Half-Marathon (the venue has since moved to Fredericksburg), in them. I also wore them for a bunch of ten-milers and my first full marathon in 2010. While they protected my tootsies, the Adrenalines weren’t exactly the most appealing eye candy:

Brooks Adrenaline GTS.

I admit that I had to swallow my fashionista pride every time I went out in them. They looked and felt like bulky contraptions. What was with all those diagonal lines criss-crossing the sides? Were they supposed to make them look cool and futuristic? Ugh! Instead, their design reminded me of the Transformers:

Optimus Prime.

Brooks then tweaked the Adrenaline model and added stitching to its sock liner which rubbed my foot so much that I developed a huge blood blister after thirty minutes. I had to ditch them and find something else–fast. My local running store fitted me with the Asics GT-2170:

Asics GT-2170 in storm/carbon/electric apple.

These felt more streamlined than the Brooks, and I liked the bright green accents.

The lateral part of the Asics.

The overall look-and-feel, though, was still a bit chunky and heavy—like this Kawasaki motorcycle:

Kawasaki 2012 Ninja® 1000 ABS Sport Motorcycle.

I mean, if I were forced to ride a two-wheeled motor vehicle, the Vespa would be more my speed. At any rate, I had to abandon the Asics after discovering that the toe box was a tad too narrow for my wide, flat feet. I soon developed a large, uncomfortable callous on the side of my big toe. (My two other beefs with the Asics: the shoelaces were ridiculously too short, and it was a monumental pain to get your foot in and out of the shoe.)

Well, as luck would have it, Nike recently launched their LunarGlide+ 4. It’s a lightweight shoe that offers stability. Could this be The One? Could my dream of wearing Nike running shoes finally be realized? I hightailed it over to that same running store and sat nervously as the salesgirl emerged from the stockroom with a bright orange shoebox. My Cinderella moment would have to be delayed, though. The store only had a size 8. But I tried them on anyway. They were springy and light with a glove-like fit, wide-enough toe box, and minimal seams. I went straight home, logged onto nike.com and ordered a size 8.5:

My LunarGlides.

Aah, hooray for simplicity:

Close-up of the white breathable fabric, lime-green Flywire, and green laces.

It reminds me of artist Lisa Rodden’s amazing paper creations:

Lisa Rodden, Urban Spring I, handcut paper and gouache.

In the end, my little dream did come true. And when anyone asks why I smile so much when running, I say, “It’s the shoes.”

Images via brooksrunning.com, wikipedia.org, kawasaki.com, and art2muse.com.au

That doesn’t prevent me from devouring fashion magazines and style feeds via Flipboard and Twitter though. One day while catching up on some issues of Vogue, I saw this photo:

Vogue, March 2012. Photographed by Raymond Maier. Clothing by Marc Jacobs.

The combo of mint and dove gray feels fresh, and I love the fact that powdery pastels are a big color story this season.

If you go to pantone.com and type “m-i-n-t” in the search box, here’s the range of hues that come up:

“Mint” search results.

They make me think of pistachio, toothpaste, sea foam, sea green, and Clinique skincare.

So I’ve been combing through my closet to see what mint-colored things I already own:

J.Crew elastic bracelet. One of my favorites.

My friend “M” gave me this bangle several years ago.

Brooks Brothers cotton polo. I like its lavender details.

BUT, a girl can’t live on leftovers alone…so this is my one minty new purchase:

Tolix Marais Stool made of perforated steel.

Why was this a necessary purchase? Because after moving in, we soon discovered the need for a chair with a small footprint where we can sit and put on shoes near the patio doors. And costing only $93 (which is 70% off the original price) at Design Within Reach, this stylish number didn’t cost me a mint!

P.S. Have you all read about Justin Timberlake‘s new home accessories collection? (By the way, is there a limit to this man’s talents?) It’s called HomeMint.

And have you seen the Chanel Cruise 2013 collection? Two words: pastel hair.

Frank Gehry is arguably America’s most renowned living architect. Yes, his design for the Eisenhower Memorial on the National Mall is currently the subject of debate but visiting the stunning Guggenheim Bilbao remains on my bucket list (duh). Besides his small jewelry collection for Tiffany (which doesn’t appeal to me at all), I have realized that my opportunities to own a piece of Frank Gehry are few and very far between…

And then one day, I was trying to figure out how to decorate our finished basement. (My practical fashionista ethos* applies to my approach to home decorating too.) Since we’re going to use the space as a laid-back TV room, I definitely wanted some fun, durable furniture. I ended up reusing stuff from our apartment but we still needed a coffee table. I didn’t want anything traditional so here’s what I came up with:

Orange sofa bed from cb2 (I bought it back in 2005); metal end tables from Urban Outfitters (I think those were only $25 each several years ago); green and magenta Frank Gehry Twist Cubes from Design Within Reach.

You want details?  The new Frank Gehry cubes that I bought from Design Within Reach are made from virtually indestructible “rotational-molded polymer” and can support up to 300 lbs. They are made in the USA, UV protected, weatherproof and versatile. We can use them as end tables, for seating outdoors or in, etc. And of course, the preppy colors of pink and green make me happy.

The basement also features built-in shelves.  You can see a bit of them in this shot:

And here’s a close-up of some of our books on display:

 Adding some accessories like throw pillows and artwork comes next.  Stay tuned…

* The orange sofa is treated with Scotchgard and its cover zips off (with a lot of effort) and can be dry cleaned.  The colorful end tables were so cheap that I don’t care what spills on them.

Update on April 17, 2012: I’m noticing these Gehry cubes in a lot of different places these days—check out this post on Design Milk.

Gourds and fresh tomatoes by the kitchen window

Yellow pepper plant in the kitchen

Orange pepper plant on the kitchen table

Close-up of a delicately-patterned orchid in the family room

A different orchid in the dining room

Can you tell that my mom is a health nut and a green thumb with artistic talent?

Welcoming wreath on the front door

Red and green accents on the mantel

Lush poinsettia in the family room

Twinkling lights flanking the entrance

Bright lights at night

Our visit was too short but very sweet. Thanks, Mom.

These orange, green and dark pink leaves…

…reminded me of this bold outfit from Blumarine’s Spring 2012 Ready-to-Wear Collection:

I know, this look is definitely a bit garish, but it screams “tropical” which happily takes me back to Turks and Caicos.

Runway photo from style.com

]]> http://jenrocksfashion.com/2011/11/21/inspired-by-nature-blumarine/feed/ 0 http://jenrocksfashion.com/2011/10/19/color-aflutter/ http://jenrocksfashion.com/2011/10/19/color-aflutter/#comments Wed, 19 Oct 2011 12:08:41 +0000 http://jenrocksfashion.com/?p=2172 This past weekend while walking along Georgetown Waterfront Park (which is quite a lovely destination in DC and reminds me just a teensy bit of NYC’s phenomenal High Line), I saw this Monarch butterfly among fluffy purple New England aster:

A Monarch butterfly attracted to New England aster

The colors and textures inspired me to create my own composition:

Anyi Lu black suede loafers with contrast stitching, J.Crew cashmere sweater in Bright Dahlia, barrette by Anthropologie, Time Will Tell watch

It’s my sartorial homage to Mother Nature at her best.

For a detailed description of how much I love those Anyi Lu flats, read this post.

My real point is this: I fully believe that color has the power to affect how we feel. Many experts “agree that every color we encounter has some sort of psychological impact, whether it’s soothing our mood, exciting our appetite or rejuvenating our spirit.” Maybe that’s why vibrant Thai food is so wonderfully satisfying:

Yummy Thai food for your tummy: yum mama talae, a mixed seafood salad

Anyway, as an antidote to my emotional slump induced by incessantly overcast skies, I improvised a little color therapy. I went through my apartment, collected a bunch of eye-catching artifacts and arranged them in a simple composition:

Clockwise from top left: Hirshhorn Museum program, Virgo button from Opening Ceremony, “Ni Hao” notecard, Moleskine notebook, cheongsam-printed notecard, another Moleskine notebook, Time Will Tell watch

A colorful close-up

Did it work? Was I smiling again? Through the process and the final product, I got a jolt of Technicolor after living in gray for days. I felt cheery again. It’s sort of like how light therapy helps to alleviate seasonal affective disorder, but in my case, being exposed to visible light’s spectral plus non-spectral colors is key.

So I’m gonna wear a bright yellow cardigan, eat some more larb gai and be on my merry way. And guess what? Tomorrow’s forecast calls for sun!

Seen in the Meatpacking District

Seen on the High Line near 14th Street in Chelsea

Seen at Eataly in the Flatiron District