Pumpkin Flan

It's holiday season. The smell of the air is even sweet. I can't wait to have my first baking post. Hope it could bring some taste for your holiday.

I learned this from a Japanese friend of mine. Loved it right away. And the most important, it's so healthy that fashionistas don't have to worry about gaining anything. :) You will believe me after you look at the materials I used ( it can serve about 12 people):

Kabocha Pumpkin: 500g

Organic milk: 500ml

Egg: 4

Egg York: 1

Sugar: 50g

Maple Syrup: 25g.

Unfortunately I didn't have time to take more pictures when I baked it. But I can share the recipe to whoever is interested.

Enjoy the Holiday!

xx,

Sahara

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wish my dear readers and friends a sweet  tasteful Thanksgiving! Enjoy my Chocolate Souffle:

XX,

Sahara

Weekend wear and My seven confessions

Tagged by lovely Michelle of Minimaestra to talk about my seven confessions. Everyday my life seems just home to work then home, too simple to even count to the number seven. But good or bad, here are something about me:
1. First of all fashion related, Navy blue and grey are my favorite colors. No matter how much I adore other bold colorful themes, I see those as my colors.
2. Although I enjoy jogging, hiking, ..active life, I'm the kind of person who takes the elevator to gym even when there's only three stairs, and often scream to the husband for not parking at the closest spot of parking lot.
3.I'm obsessed with ice cream and chocolate. A carton of ice cream would be my meal when I'm home alone. Sigh. (PetiteXXS, you have my salute!)
4. I love baking desserts and thought about to have some posts about baking. I'm working on a few french style desserts like Tarte Tatin, and hopefully I can be successful for the Chocolate Soufflé.
5. I love all the greens and  flowers however I'm a plant killer. I almost stop buying them since no matter how very much careful I am, almost no plant could survive me. So once in a while I was too attracted and started thinking to take it home, I was always reminded: Please let it keep alive...
6. As much as I enjoyed the company of my family and friends, I sometimes like  to be alone, for a trip, stroll, or home stay, reading a favorite book, or doing nothing just with slow music and a cup of wine and let my mind be totally free.
7. Last but the most, I'm happy and proud of my darling daughter growing up to a beautiful smart young adult and an outstanding student. I enjoyed the time we could talk and share many interesting topics like friends,  I still wish she could always stay as a little girl and be around forever.

Back to fashion topic, long sweater has been popular for a while. I adore it totally, either in a cozy slouchy  style with skirt, shorts, skinny jeans, or just tights as a sweater dress. How do you like it?



Outfit Details:

Sweater: H&M

Scarves: Loft

Belt: Banana Republic

Tights: Banana Republic( last season)

Boots: Me too, Bakers( last season)

How I Wear Loft To Work

Surprisingly I found  How Blogger's wear Loft to work and How Bloggers wear Loft on the Weekend feature pages on Loft's Facebook from Mechelle's lovely blog Mini Maestra. I'm impressed by so many talented fashion bloggers and thought about joining the party. So I'll just share my version of  Loft to work  here. Actually I should say Loft at work, since the pictures were taken at our campus. Sometimes, it is pleasant to come to work. :)

Outfit Details:
Coat: Loft Melton Wool Military Coat
Skirt: Loft Gold Brocade Skirt
Top: Banana Republic
Boots: Aldo


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Weekend with Loft Riding Pants

 Since my darling Chelsea started the boarding school life, I only get to visit her on weekends. Usually I didn't care much what I wore and I couldn't remember anything but my identity of a mother during the visits. However today the splendid late fall scenery of the beautiful campus and the nice quiet little town made me have to share a few shots with my dear readers. (Fortunately I found one pair of earring from my bag! )When I looked at the pictures, I noticed I was wearing my favorite weekend pants!
Loft presented us many stylish pants this season, dressy and casual, classic and modern. Extra Petite has a recent review of Loft Ponte Motocross Pant, very chic and edge looking style. What I had is a more casual style: Fitted Riding Pants, which I got it during Loft last sale event at about $10. The fitted cut and the stretchy material just make it an effortless yet stylish casual piece.
Hope everyone enjoyed the gorgeous weekend!

Outfit Details:
Jacket Coat: H&M
Sweater, Top: Loft
Pant: Loft
Shoes: Gap
Bag: Michael Kors

Red, Yellow, Orange...

It's been like ages, even though I have always been the kinda when I get a chance blogger, it's still a loooong break for me. One click on the new post, I just realized I miss the blog world. Sorry, my dear readers and friends, hope you will still enjoy my post.

New England's fall is the most beautiful season. Every year I see the stunning foliage view, the vibrant colors, I always hear Chelsea's singing when she was a little girl: Autumn leaves are falling down, falling down... Even better this year, with a few of my favorites are added on for the fall fashion trends : military style, military green, olive. How could I miss all of this?

 Outfit details:
Trench: Zara
Cardigan: Matin & Osa
Skirt & Scarf: Loft
Booties: Aldo
Tights: Jcrew

Canada Trip - Montreal

Montreal was the first stop of our Canada trip. The excellent view of Mount Royal park, breathtaking magnificent Notre Dame, the very European character old montreal and countless places for eat, drink, shopping all make the city a great place for tourists.

A pleasant stroll on a street full of little charming shops, European style buildings.

Many Bistro, cafe places are as interesting as this one.

There are a lot more ALDO stores than Boston. So there was me in front of Aldo, with Aldo.

           

                                                                    Mount Royal Park and the old Montreal. 

A little bit about my outfit, I'm kind the person never leave the sweater roll. :) You could see that from my posts. Loft this season's sweaters are my favorite. The style , the color, all make it very easy to pull of a look with shorts, skirts, dress etc. It could also be edgy with the help of accessories. From their frequent new releases recently, Have you found your favorite one yet?

Outfit:

Sweats: Loft

Skirt: BCBG Maxazria

Shorts: AE

Shoes:  Aldo

Flats: Circa John&David

Bag: coach

The Canada Trip - Quebec City

It has never been so long that I didn't update anything. After a couple of weeks feeling down with a little frustration and disappointment, finally this trip, which my friends in Canada have been talking to me since the beginning of the summer, really got me refreshed and recharged. Life is beautiful with all the loving and caring family and friends!
Quebec City has a very much European sensibility. The so called vieux-Quebec is nothing old to me, everywhere is just neat and charming. Strolling on the cobblestone street, stopping by the small shops, having the most delicious ice cream, just makes me feel, what did I say? Life is so beautiful!

Oh, back on track with what I wore:

Dress: Loft

Cardigan: Ann Taylor

Jacket: Old Navy

Bag: Coach

Shoes: Aldo

Earrings: Forever 21.

The Vibrant Summer

As a skirt, dress lover, I can't enjoy summer more.  Plus what could make you feel better than eating an strawberry ice cream in a sunny hot summer day? :) Loft new color collection attracted us so much and reminded  me of this vibrant silk dress also from LOFT (last summer's final sale for $19.88?), which I think it's designed just for a scorch hot summer day.

But sooner or later, the wind starts to blow and chill us. Fortunately, inspired from many dear creative fellow bloggers, I could just add a pair of tights, boots, cardigan, and wear it all year long. While I was waiting for the arrival of a friend and his family who are just moving to Boston, I randomly threw on three different color cardigans for the early fall. Which one you like the best? Black seems too much contrary to me.

Let's keep enjoying the rest of the summer.

 

Outfits:

Dress: LOFT

Cardigan: blue/red: Loft, Black: target

Sandals: Aldo

Shoes: Michael Kors

Sunglasses: Target

A Weekend Tour

Time flies. I haven't got chance to post many photos I had over the summer, Fall preview already started everywhere.  These pictures are from one weekend tour of taking my friends to my daughter's school and the nearby beach. It was a scorchy hot weekend as I could recall, the breezy light top just fit in the weather. I'm still trying to figure out when did get changed to dress? :)
Another glorious weekend is coming according to the forecast. And even better, the company awarded us a day off tomorrow for finishing a big milestone. So I'm officially in my long weekend now. Hope everyone enjoy yours too.

Outfit details:

Top: Banana Republic

Shorts: Borrowed from my daughter. :)

Dress: Esprit

Hat: gifted

Shoes: Aldo

Animal Prints

I read that in fashion world if there is one perennial pattern to own, it's animal print. From time to time it becomes trendy, as in last spring, or as this and this, which AT added it for the fall items. I always thought wearing animal prints could either be chic and tasteful, or just produce an fashion nightmare. Kind of a dangerous game. Therefore it was not on my list for a daily outfit until I saw this skirt from BR. I 'm very much fond of the brown zebra strips blending with a touch of yellow, as well as the linen fabric. You can also be creative with the belt, front, side, back; bow tie, simple knot... , it just can be so versatile. Oh, did I mention it has pockets too?
Here are a few tips I learned for wearing animal prints:
•Keep your silhouette simple, elegant and sleek. To keep things tasteful, limit the print to one item at a time.
•You are not a lion; don't wear a wild mane. Save big hair for less courageous fashions.
•If your fashion sense is a bit too tame to tackle large blocks of animal print, play it safe and look for animal patterns in smaller items or accessories.
Do you own any animal print? How do you like to wear it?
Have a great weekend!

Outfit Details:
Top: Ann Taylor.
Skirt: Banana Republic, sz P0.
Shoes: Michael Kors
Bracelet: NY & Co.
Necklace: J Crew.

Blue on Blue - LOFT Jacquard Skirt

Wanted to show this skirt a while ago. But haven't got chance to do any post recently. I have been trying to settle the work and life for weeks, working for the deadlines during the weekdays and being the tour guide, shopping guide,.. for visiting friends, friends' friends, during the weekends. Oh well, easily, the blog was put on the back burner.
Many of you probably already saw this skirt from Alterations Needed. Navy blue is always one of "my color". I specially like the very unique quilted pattern with the shimmery finish. The elastic waistband also makes it a cute look with the classic tone. I ordered it online for sz 00 since petite size is too short for me from the store. I wasn't quite sure if it was long enough for work. But I did get so many compliments from my colleagues.

The shine is soft even under the sun.

The  little balloon style at the front differentiate it from the regular pencil, or A-line.

Is it short for work?
Outfit Details:
Top: Ann Taylor
Skirt: Loft
Shoes: Michael Kors
Bracelet: NY.&Co.