Indulge the Birdy's penchant for photos lately -- the springtime blooms and more hospitable weather is inspiring to my shutterbug tendencies.  I know it sounds silly, but I consider the camellia plants in the backyard my Miracle Plants. I put them in YEARS ago, and they have been overdue to bloom, but thankfully over the last couple of years, we've been getting a steady and growing number of flowers. I can see the bright blooms from our bedroom window, it's so very nice, and I like to celebrate that. 

Blame a crazy week, but dammit, this Birdy needs a mini-Spring Break!  I am overly excited to cast off my Workaholic/troll-like existence and get out to have a little fun. Well, between other work stuff. You know... moderation. Looking forward to catching up with some friends and literally sipping the season at this year's Woodinville Reserve: A White and Rosé Affair. Ooh, sounds scandalous, no? ;) Don't worry, it's probably one of the most pleasant springtime events you could treat yourself with.

Well, if you're going to throw flowers at my feet, they may as well be decorating some fabulous heels.  At least that's what the voice said in my Magpie-Mind as I was looking through all the wonderful springtime-fresh fashions starting to emerge. While I'm less able to wear such beautiful but impractical high heels, a girl can still dream and admire the color and over-the-top embellishment on shoes like these. These gorgeous heels range from the wearable to the WOW. 

This Birdy has to admit, a quick wardrobe change and easy choices are the new thing for me, when trying to get out the door. I love complex layering and thinking of new, interesting ways to pair pieces, but lately I find myself relying on the one piece wonder: the dress. 

Can't you tell? I'm totally feeling the springtime greens right now. I know I should be talking about cute dresses, shoes, or jewelry, but it's easy to forget that we are what we eat, and we wear those choices long after the heels pinch our feet and we slip into flats. Why not be as excited about eating our greens as we are wearing something green?

When the weather is nice, sometimes you just have to escape the day and explore. I took full advantage of a sunny spring day in Seattle to wander the neighborhood of Pioneer Square, which, if you're not familiar with the city, it's a little ways south of the Space Needle, just a few blocks down from Pike Place Market. On a pouring-rain miserable day, you don't want to be out and about, but on a day as nice as this was, it was easy to wander the city, from Market to Square, and find yourself at London Plane. 

Hear that sound? I think that was perhaps the door closing as Winter finally left the room.  I may have just jinxed us for a springtime freeze or a freak snowstorm to roll in, during the middle of April, but as I've been noticing on the rare sunny walks, it truly feels like Spring is, at last, in bloom.  

I'm seeing the signs of spring, and it's definitely giving my wardrobe Spring Fever.  Even if I'm still bundling up in the mornings, I'm in the Mood to look at flowy dresses, watercolor floral prints and light, dewy colors. These pretty things might be covered in winter coats for a little bit longer, but it's Springtime, dammit.  

Happy Birthday to Me, Happy Birthday to Me, Happy Birthday dear Maggie-Pie... Happy ALMOST Birthday to Me. Let's just call it my Birthday Week, as it's not important what day I turn the dial on another year come and gone.  

We're technically still in the dearth of winter, but my Jaunty gaze can't help but wander towards pastel hues of Spring. Mint is one of the smartest colors I can think of. It's downright clever. A touch of seafoam, a hint of emerald, just a kiss of cream -- the range of mint green has more variety than you'd think. 

The Birdie refuses silly hats and goofy group seranades that end in "...and many moooore... on Channel Foouuur." Yes, the Bird is celebrating another year of older, but oddly, never any wiser. The biggest gift I gave myself was a little retail therapy after collecting all the "it's your birthday!" discount coupons that stores tempt you with when you sign up for everything under the sun. A nice thing about a springtime birthday is you catch a lot of midseason sales. It had been a while since I really looked for clothes. My latest wardrobe additions have been through clothing swaps, which I have to say are FANTASTIC. I fully embrace the "New to Me" phrase for previously owned goods, because "vintage" just gets overused to the max.

But this was a special shopping trip. I found some truly brand new things to add to the Jaunty Wardrobe. So new, I haven't had a chance to photograph and figure out ways to fully use them to their Inspired potential, but I couldn't wait and am letting the Jaunty Sketchbook give a scribbly sneak peek.

I did have two things on my list of spring must-have's -- colorful, bright denim, and a blousy, loose button down shirt. Colorful denim is everywhere and I like this trend because it's the same idea behind really wild and colorful pedicures. Bright colors are fun to wear and having unusual colors on the lower half, away from the face, is just more flattering, as it won't add or take away a healthy color on your face. I found these great minty bright green pants from Anne Taylor Loft, which are very wearable with just about anything. And I nabbed a simple, oversized button-down cream blouse, which I've been wanting forever. It's such a simple basic, but it's when you realize you have a closet full of crazy, you're reminded basics are a must. Everything was on clearance, even a cute boatneck sailor-striped sweater, and I'm not ashamed to say I got away with everything around $54 total, with the help of the 15% birthday discount. You have to use a store credit card to get the discount, but since it's their card, you can pay the balance off right there, which I did, so no unbirthday balance waiting for you later in the month.

My shopping indulgence was at one of my favorite stores, Anthropologie (of course). They send adorable birthday cards, you should sign up to get their catalogs and offers just to see what they send out every year. This year's card was precious, with a little clock on an orange string with "me" on the face, to imply the idea that it's "me" time. Amen to that. They offer an overall 15% discount off your entire purchase, so it's a good idea if you're getting several things. I considered getting a bunch of small items, but got drawn into a gorgeous orange and mint Twinkle by Wenlan wrap dress with kimono-style sleeves. It's stunning, I totally fell in love with it, and to top it all off, it was on sale. I'm over the moon about this dress, even moreso by the fact I will totally wear it in the fall and winter months with boots and tights, even a thin turtleneck layered underneath -- the print is strong enough to where it won't seem too floaty for autumn. The sketch doesn't even do it justice, but believe me, I felt like Indiana Jones finding the Lost Ark when I discovered this gem. And not a poison-tipped dart or pesky death boulder in sight. Happy Birthday to me. 

So yes, despite getting old(er), I've got a smile on my face and some new things to brighten up the closet.  

Jaunty Fine Print: Illustrations by Denise Sakaki

It's Spring! It's Spring! Get your allergy medication prescriptions filled! Of course that's not the only reason spring is worthy of such J'adore and extra tissues. It's a time of rebirth, renewal, when the winter-swept branches, bare and spindly, suddenly come to life with little buds that unfurl into leaves. Flowers start to bloom. There's color in the world.

I know this is supposedly a blog about style and fashion, but it's not only about what we wear, we need to fully engage our environment and absorb inspiration whenever we can. Style can be about the way we perceive the world, a lens we gaze through to take in the concepts that feel most relevant. On a rare sunny day in mid-spring, I took a walk through our own backyard, just to take stock of what was in bloom and see how the plants were doing. For all the world's aches, pains and itches it just can't scratch, Nature doesn't let it get to her. Maybe it's harder to grow life anew, with more pollutants in the air, more asphalt to hide the soil, but it finds a way, however celebrated or anonymous. One of my favorite poets, Emily Dickenson describes spring best:  

A Light exists in Spring
Not present on the Year
At any other period —
When March is scarcely here

A Color stands abroad
On Solitary Fields
That Science cannot overtake
But Human Nature feels.

It waits upon the Lawn,
It shows the furthest Tree
Upon the furthest Slope you know
It almost speaks to you.

Then as Horizons step
Or Noons report away
Without the Formula of sound
It passes and we stay —

A quality of loss
Affecting our Content
As Trade had suddenly encroached
Upon a Sacrament.

Jaunty Fine Print: Photos of the Le Jardin de Jaunty by Denise Sakaki

On a recent visit to Orcas Island and taking oh... about a gazillion photos, this Bird was struck at how fortunate we are to live in an area that truly embraces each season. Maybe it was because I lived in places like California and Arizona, where the temperatures change, but you don't get dramatic transformation in your surroundings quite like you do in the Pacific Northwest. Spring was most certainly in the air on Orcas, walking through the charming town of Eastsound, and driving through the picturesque valleys of the inland countryside. Even though the bright green of life returning to the land was starting to bloom, I couldn't help but think of how this beautiful place will transform with every season, becoming just as unique and beautiful as it is now. I hope you J'adore this beautiful set of haiku by Japanese poet, Matsuo Basho. They celebrate the divine details hidden in each season, making you stop and take a moment to savor every breath of the day.

Spring:
A hill without a name
Veiled in morning mist.


The beginning of autumn:
Sea and emerald paddy
Both the same green.


The winds of autumn
Blow: yet still green
The chestnut husks.


A flash of lightning:
Into the gloom
Goes the heron’s cry.

Jaunty Fine Print:  photos by Denise Sakaki

 

It's been a record chill factor this April, meaning the annual Tulip Festival up north, in the Skagit County area, has been a little slow to get moving, but as they say -- better late than never! This Bird was able to J'adore the tulips on the second to last weekend of the official festival, so I snapped a few pics of the rows full of bright colors. Even more impressive were the entire fields of a single flower, like the daffodils, which just appear like a giant block of bright yellow from a distance. It's like nothing you've ever seen and it amazes you every time.

I was able to take a few bright bulbs home in the form of a pretty bouquet, thanks to a good friend who took me out there on a blustery Sunday morning. The grey skies were no match for the pretty flowers, though. Even with the cold, how can the world be wrong when you've got fields and fields of tulips before you?

Jaunty Fine Print:  photos by Denise Sakaki

 

If we find ourselves buried in a late winter snowstorm, in the middle of March or April, blame the Magpie. Seeing our garden bulbs starting to sprout up and the early blooms being sold at the florist shops, it put this Birdie in a Mood of, yippee -- Spring is in the air! And again, apologies in advance when the wicked snowstorm shows up and totally ices-out this whole Mood.

Awake, thou wintry earth -
Fling off thy sadness!
Fair vernal flowers, laugh forth
Your ancient gladness!

- Thomas Blackburn, "An Easter Hymn"


Jaunty Fine Print:  photograph by Denise Sakaki

 

Fever! In the morning, fever all through the night... Sorry, this Magpie is channeling the power of Peggy Lee today. Maybe it's a symptom of the total spring fever Mood that's taken hold, making me want to get out and not be behind a computer. I haven't neglected my Magpie Blogger duty of late, but don't be surprised if I fall off the grid over the summer and reduce posts down to one a week, in lieu of sitting outside in our backyard, glass of wine in-hand, a stack of magazines, and just enjoying the nice weather when we're lucky to have it. So consider this an apology in advance and a hope for understanding. For those who live in the Pacific Northwest, you all understand how sun-starved everyone is, and when it's nice out, we feel Catholic-sized guilt for not frolicking in the vitamin-D soaked air.


Jaunty Fine Print: photos by Denise Sakaki

 

So, at the risk of this Birdie looking a total retro/vintage hot mess, I couldn't help but put together an outfit not only inspired by the fashion stylings of Kate Spade, but the bags themselves. Granted, I didn't have the exact-matching cardigan color to match their signature spring style vert, but the trappings of 1940s vintage ivory earrings, bright red tights and patent shoes and a bold print feels just crazy enough to qualify for getting totally Kate Spay-ed, right?

I love how the Kate Spade brand has expanded to clothing. Granted, it sort of forces them to qualify a particular look that fits their overall company image, but since last year, I've been totally loving on their cheeky, young, vintage look. It's both classic and modern-funky, the perfect combination I love so dearly, as the Jaunty Wardrobe is just a giant collection of style insanity that runs the gamut of wearable options, but defintely leans more towards the love of retro styles and silhouettes.

For this outfit, the not-quite-Kate-Spade-green cardigan is from Old Navy, dark purple shirt is from JCPenney, the black and white graphic-print skirt is from J. Crew, grey buckle handbag is from The Limited, red tights from Express, red patent Mary Jane flats are from Nine West, and the clip-on earrings are vintage ivory.

Jaunty Fine Print: Photos of wardrobe pieces by Denise Sakaki, from her own Jaunty wardrobe; photos from Kate Spade