Travel with Janice Archives - Page 4 of 17

Notre Dame de Paris

love,

Chic Sighting: Striped Tee Shirt & Floral Skirt

February 22, 2019

this post is dedicated to Hazel...

If you have been making carefully-chosen wardrobe purchases for a while, and you've stuck with a color palette that's reasonably restricted, you might find that you can assemble an outfit like these from your current wardrobe! That's where having a wardrobe plan pays off...

I spotted this combination on a little girl, but I quickly realized that this kind of outfit suits lovely ladies of any age! One of the things I like the most about having a floral skirt is that it often makes clear what your accent color will be for your outfit. The tee shirt and skirt above would also be lovely with white sandals (or a pair of white Keds!) and a white bag...

The touch of sea ... View the Post

Ireland: The Amazing, The Great, and The Less than Perfect…

February 20, 2019

Yes, you really do see things like this all over the country; their history is LONG, and cherished. They haven't been able to preserve absolutely everything in pristine condition, but even when things are a bit mossy and crumbly, they're beautiful!

Much of what we did on our vacation was to drive to someplace beautiful and amazing, and then get out and WALK a ton. Some of the roads aren't quite what you're used to (unless you live in rural West Virginia, maybe), but they're worth braving for the isolated pockets of wonderment that you will find...

And my packing was... overall, great! Getting dressed was easy, and I was pretty comfortable (with 1 exception, which I will share in a minute!)

At the last ... View the Post

Chic Sighting: Printed Dress and Black Cardigan

January 16, 2019

Yes, they were only going out to breakfast as a family, but she considers that a special occasion! So she put on her favorite black, white and red printed dress, with her dressy black cardigan, black tights, and short boots. (it just cracks me up to see people wearing boots here in Florida on days when I personally would be wearing sandals...)

Other people might not be dressed quite as nicely, but that's okay too...

This outfit idea works for hot weather too!

Lunching at a nice restaurant?

This idea works well for work:

There are a lot of places that you could wear this outfit!

You can even get quite dressed up using this idea! (and note the subtly heart-shaped earrings - ... View the Post

Let’s Celebrate the Day with a Look at Paris Holiday Decor!

December 25, 2018

To those of you who celebrate today, I sincerely wish you peace and happiness, today and in the new year. And to all of the rest of us, we can still enjoy the day with our friends who celebrate, and enjoy the beauty that the winter holidays offer to us all!

Paris goes somewhat over the top decorating for Christmas and New Years, and I say HALLELUJAH to that. Chicago feels quite drab in comparison...

The top left photograph below, with the adorable little reindeer, was in the window of a store that sells light bulbs! Yes, bulbs. They used their merchandise nicely to give this window an old-fashioned feeling.

One of the last days that I was in Paris, I found a shop that sells ANY kind of blown glass ornament ... View the Post

Fun Stuff I Saw in Paris

If you've been reading The Vivienne Files for a while, you might have noticed that when I go to Paris, I don't seem to do any of the "normal" things! Nor do I take the normal photographs...

For example, I was amused, and really impressed, to see that a lot of the utility boxes on the streets in Paris were painted with cool, stylized portraits of writers! I'd never heard of Victor Schoelcher - had to look him up... And there was a LOT of attention being paid to Simone Veil - new books about her, re-releases of books by her, etc.

If you come into Paris from the airport in a cab, you will perhaps be startled by how much graffiti there is along the highway. It's all that usual "tagging" kind of thing - big balloon letters spelling out ... View the Post

What They’re Wearing in Paris in December 2018

December 21, 2018

Yes, my trip was lovely...

I made 1 serious miscalculation when I packed - my coat that I wore wasn't quite warm enough! But I knew that Uniqlo carries quite nice long underwear, so I dashed in and grabbed another couple of shirts; that's not really an extravagance when you live in Chicago - I'll be able to use them a lot through the winter.

I had packed the printed top and the black pants to wear as pajamas - they worked out really well. The morning that I left, I had already packed everything except my backpack. I was able to smash my pajamas into a tiny ball and cram them into the bottom of the bag - my toiletries went in on top, and I was good to go! I had purchased the tights in Chicago before ... View the Post

Chic Sighting: Stripes and Prints!?!

July 25, 2018

I was in Pittsburgh for the weekend... it was lovely! Of course I was thinking about you, and The Vivienne Files, while I was there... As I was waiting for my cab to the airport, a woman walked past me wearing a royal blue and white striped tee shirt, with a royal and white paisley print skirt - it was amazing! And it got me to thinking about how this might work for all of us...

If you have a color palette chosen for your wardrobe, it's entirely possible that you already have these kinds of pieces in your closet! Pick a neutral from your wardrobe - or even an accent color - and look for pieces that have prints in "scales" that are compatible. By that, I mean that a teeny floral print skirt might need a smaller, narrower ... View the Post

Part 2: What I Saw Being Worn in Paris (and what was for sale, and what was in the windows, and on the walls…)

June 8, 2018

Let's start with some inspiration, shall we?

One of the first things that I noticed when I got back to Chicago is the absolutely boring way people dress here. Yesterday Belovedest and I walked about 5 miles - from near Wrigley Field to our home in the downtown. The majority of women we saw - of all ages and body types - were wearing workout tights of some embarrassing level of revealing, with a tee shirt and a sweatshirt. I don't for a New York minute believe that all of these women had been working out, or were headed that direction. In a world in which we collectively own more clothing than at any time literally in history, why are we all dressed so much alike, and so unflatteringly? Hmm...

So while I saw some ... View the Post

Part 1: What I Saw Being Worn (and Purchased) in Paris, May 2018

June 4, 2018

One of the advantages of the unexpectedly warm weather in Paris is that I got to see the entire city shifting into their warmer-weather wardrobes!

As I always do when I travel, I tried to keep my eyes open for things that I saw - in stores or on people - that were different from what I would see in Chicago. In Paris, there were LOTS of things that caught me eye - so much that it's going to take me 2 days to tell you about them all!

I can't swear that white eyelet is a trend this year, or if it's just something that everyone pulls out and starts to wear when the weather warms up. It really is more of a classic... But we saw lots of cute little dresses, and PLENTY of tops with eyelet trip being worn with shorts, ... View the Post

When You Pack the WRONG Stuff, or “I Blame Lake Michigan”

May 30, 2018

The vacation was beautiful. Except for an unpleasant, but very brief, encounter with my fibromyalgia, this trip could not have been more perfect...

But I packed... not ALL wrong, but largely wrong. And I blame Lake Michigan!

Hear me out - in Chicago, if you live near the lake (and I live literally 100 meters from it), the weather is always colder than advertised. So when someone tells you that your forecast is... say 75 degrees... you draw a mental picture of what that means. In this neighborhood, it means coolish - a cardigan or light sweater is appropriate.

Which, if course, is NOT how that temperature feels when you're away from a very large body of water that keeps the heat suppressed for much of the ... View the Post

Travel – All Kinds of Random Thoughts…

April 18, 2018 I'm back from Limerick, and my friend has his gold medal in hand! That, in and of itself, makes the trip an unqualified success, because it's the perfect, desired outcome...But as is my way, I was thinking of you all, and trying to observe things that I thought would be useful or interesting for you. Of course I was!

The above photo notwithstanding, Limerick's not the most scenic city in Ireland, but it could easily be the friendliest, or the most fun... I can highly recommend:

Squire McGuire's pub, where I had about the very best pub night humanly possible - singing, dancing, drinking, hugging total strangers...

The Locke Bar, where I had what might be the very best hamburger I've ever devoured in my ... View the Post