That Working Life

This is for the days when everyone seems to be off drinking margaritas on rooftop bars and you're stuck on a date with Excel in your stuffy cubicle. I recently got this top from Piperlime precisely because I needed a dose of summer and have been obsessed ever since. It's so loud and bright that wearing it instantly makes my day better.  In order to make it appropriate for the office, I threw on a white blazer with a floral lining (I'm really all about the matchy-matchy lately, huh?) to tone down the crazy. 

Since I showed you how to wear a matching top and skirt in a business casual and casual environment, I thought for the last part of this three part series, I would show you how to style it for a business formal setting. 

I don't know about you, but it's been a helluva week and the weekend really can't come soon enough.  So in anticipation for a lazy weekend where time is marked only by the grumblings of my stomach, I thought I'd share my go-to brunch recipe that requires nothing but chopping and mixing. 

Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the mushroom, asparagus, chorizo quiche.  

Recipe and pictorial guide after the break:

Remember how in my last post here I was yammering on about how versatile a matchy-matchy two piece is?  Well, as promised, here is a casual take on that very same top.  Add a baseball cap, backpack and graphic pants, and voila - weekend ready. 

Top: Miu Miu

Pants: J Crew

Shoes: C Wonder

Cap: Club Monaco (On sale in stores!)

Bag: Prada (from when my mom was my age) 

I had a very sad realization the other day that summer is ending soon (what?!). So I thought I'd share a recipe today that makes use of the ultimate summer ingredient - lobster, to help you hold on to those warm summer nights just a little longer. 

I'll admit that this actually took me a little more than 30 minutes to whip up but only because I chose to buy an entire lobster from Chinatown.  For a quick meal you can make during the week, I recommend you get lobster tails and save yourself from figuring out how to kill a lobster (my mom taught me to stick a chopstick from the tail all the way to its head to verbatim "let out the pee" (please don't ask, I don't know)) or how to crack open its claws without the appropriate utensils.

1. Boil the quinoa.

2. In a separate pot, boil the lobster tails. Be careful not to overcook them, once the shell turns red (~8 to 12 min depending on the size) you should fish them out of the pot.

3. Sauté cherry tomatoes until soft but not blistered.

4. Once the quinoa and lobster tails are cooked, chop up the lobster into bite size pieces and mix with the tomatoes. 

5. Top with half an avocado* and enjoy!

*Avocados have become the new poached eggs for me. Slice an avocado over pretty much any dish and voila, your dish magically becomes a cohesive, thought out meal instead of a hodge-podge of random ingredients you pulled from your pantry. 

I used to find matching tops and skirts old fashioned and boringly conservative, but lately I'm realizing that with the right cut, they can be very flattering and oh so versatile. You can wear them together (as pictured here) or dressed down as separates (which I'll be showing you in the next two posts to come, so stay tuned and check back later this week!).

But the best part about this outfit? Even though it's an A-line skirt, the ruffles on the hem ever so slightly weigh down the edges, keeping you from having a Marilyn Monroe moment on your way to work.

Have a wonderful rest of your work week!