Mrs Jack of All Trades Daily

03 June 2012

Summer companion!

Summer is just around the corner and since this year we will spend it here in Dubai mostly, I started planning on things to do.

I have always love reading. I guess it is a habit I picked up growing up with reading parents. We were not well to do and for an average income family with 4 kids, it was tough to keep everybody entertained on a small budget. So, we read! The highlight of each year was the Annual Book Festival when we get to choose 2 books each to read and exchange among us siblings.

So, this summer I planned to read a lot (on top of hitting the pool and investing in my relationship with the kitchen). I have an unread book that I received from Captain recently here and I also pulled out a few that I have read but worth a million more read!

Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt, (1997 Pulitzer Prize winner, The National Book Critics Circle Award and The Royal Society of Literature Award) is a memoir based on the childhood of the author. It is by far the best read ever for me. I have read it a few times and even watched the movie but I can confirm, nothing beats the book. Your heart just ache and reached out for little Frank and his siblings. How he survived his childhood and became who he is today is a miracle! I just love how McCourt worded the book from the point view of a child and that is priceless!
Highly recommended especially if you are feeling sad about an out of reach bag or shoes, this will truly changed your mind. Oh, Kleenex box nearby is a must!

Now if heart wrenching true story of poverty is not for you, maybe something funny, light and close to our hearts instead? I can't decide which of Sophie Kinsella's books is the funniest! They really make me laugh out loud every time I read them! Sophie Kinsella the author of the Shopaholic series, is truly a girl's girl. She knows her stuff, our stuff and you can't help but feeling like she was writing about you! Everytime I read her books I would feel sorry when the pages left gets thinner.. I don't want them to end! I would highly recommend the 2 books above plus Undomestic Goddess with the sexiest male character I've ever come across in my years of reading novels! Eerr, that is including Mills and Boons I have to say.
Warning : Don't read this while travelling alone on a train or plane.. people might look at you strange as you'll be laughing out loud, seriously.

Even if I read and so does Captain, ironically the boys are not big on reading. They are getting better but only with certain types of books. Last year they learned about the World War 1 and 2 and they developed an interest in books about this era. Goodnight Mr Tom and Private Peaceful are the books I bought them and they read it cover to cover! But this particular one, Good Night Mr Tom by Michelle Magorian really tugs the heart. I read it too and it is an excellent moral filled book with the war as background and suffering it created from a different eye, a child's. Heart warming, filled with love and hope. Great for age 11 and up. I planned to read this book again with the boys this summer.
If you like Angela's Ashes or love victory for good people and cause, this book is for you. Make it 2 boxes of Kleenex then.

01 June 2012

3 in 1 Maxi Skirt - Part 2

Hello, everyone! Hope you all had a great week and looking forward for a well deserved weekend. For me it is going to be a busy weekend with final preparation for the boys' exam that starts on Sunday plus celebrating Captain's birthday! Yes, my husband turns 44 today!

Like a good vintage, he has grown to be wiser, cuter ;D (I like the salt and pepper look ala George Clooney haha) and a better person over all. I would like to take this opportunity to wish him all the best life could offer and may God bless him, always.. Ti amo, Amore!

Speaking of birthday celebration, this was me yesterday on the way out for dinner with Captain. As promised in my last post, in this post I styled this maxi skirt as a shorter dress by folding the top part and using a belt to give a better silhouette. The blazer is essential for me since during the summer Dubai can be freezing in door especially in the cinemas and malls. Plus as I explained here, I always try to follow the correct dress protocol when in public.

I don't normally spend a lot of money on shoes as I wrote here but Captain actually splurged on this pair from RODO for me sometimes back. It is a beautiful pair and I normally wear them with dresses. We went to the showroom in Milan and I liked them instantly and brought them home!

Outfit

Maxi skirt worn as shorter dress : Splendid (white version) (slit version on sale)

Blazer : Stradivarius (last styled here)

Belt : Pepe Jeans

Shoes : Rodo (http://www.rodo.it/)

Clutch : Vintage

Accessories : Vintage cuff and choker from H&M

29 May 2012

3 in 1 Maxi skirt - Part 1

Good day, everyone! How's the week so far? Mine has been hectic since the boys will be sitting for their year end exam early next month. Well, as usual, they are sitting for the exam and I am the one who is nervous! So we've been doing a lot of revision, question/answer and tons of exercises. Now, why wasn't I this thorough in my days?

Early this month I purchased this maxi skirt from Splendid and discovered that not only I can wear this maxi one way but 3! On top of that I love how soft the material is and the fact that no alteration needed for my 'super tall' 5'3" frame means an extra plus!

Today I wore this super versatile piece as a long tube dress topped with a chambray shirt for a more casual look. Since the length of the maxi skirt worn this way is not too long, the sandals were perfect. I added the fedora to go hand in hand with spring/summer theme. Actually this is my first fedora. It took me a few days to go around trying all sort of style and I decided to start small and get something that would not make me knock my head silly on the wall if I decided that it is not for me after all.

I will show 2 more ways of how I style this maxi skirt in the next post, so stay tune!