Cheryl Shops

It's been a minute since I've done a Get the Look post, and I'm happy to report that spring is in full swing—on my Outfits for Ageless Style Pinterest board at least—because this week's most-repinned look is perfect for transitional weather. (And there's no winter coat in sight!) I have a feeling the headless lady in this photo is Sincerely Jules, one of my favorite bloggers, so let's channel her for this casual but classic look.

Real talk: I gained five pounds on my various vacations of the last two months, and I'm having a rather hard time losing it. (Welcome to your 40s, Cheryl!) I know I am not alone in struggling with my weight, especially at this age, so hopefully this post will come in handy. While I would prefer to lose said weight, I refuse to fat-shame myself, and I'm trying to be as patient with myself as possible (and not beat myself up for, say, having more than one glass of wine or more than a few bites of chocolate). In the meantime, I'm wearing some of my more forgiving outfits, because being uncomfortable—and thinking you look like crap—isn't going to help anyone's confidence. Here's my new favorite way to dress in a body-positive way.

After five glorious days in Moorea, we set off for Bora Bora. As I mentioned in the previous post, Bora Bora was the intended destination for this trip, and while I had a blast with my friends in Moorea, I was really looking forward to three days of chill-out time in paradise. Unlike with Moorea, I had done very little research for Bora Bora, which ended up being a good thing. And while I had seen countless photos of this little island, I had no idea how special and beautiful beyond words it would actually be.

Saturday was our anniversary, so we decided to take a trip down memory lane to the site of our first date, a cozy little wine bar in Hayes Valley called Hotel Biron. We'd both had first dates there before, but thankfully none as good as the one we had with each other—neither of us had been back since! But given that this was our anniversary, I wanted to wear something feminine and special, however it's been raining for the last week in San Francisco, so the weather was not on my side. Also, to be honest, I really wanted to wear my new shoes, and they look better with pants, but more on those later. So while my instinctual anniversary outfit would have been a dress that showed a little leg, I decided to take a risk and wear trousers. Offset with a bit of cleavage, of course—this was a major date night, after all. ;)

I don't know exactly when, but several years ago, I decided that I needed to do something big for my 40th birthday, and that something was a trip to Bora Bora, which I'd always wanted to visit. Really, I just wanted to stay in one of those overwater bungalows and wake up every morning and jump right into that warm, aquamarine water. For years, I'd invite everyone who showed even the slightest amount of interst on my trip (which I referred to as #BoraBora2018), so when it came time to actually plan it, I think 20 or 30 people were initially on the invite. Of course, not everyone could make it—we ended up with eight people, which was the perfect number—and after some research, I discovered Bora Bora was rather expensive and I felt uncomfortable asking everybody to spend that much money to celebrate my birthday, so we made some slight modifications to the plan, electing to spend a week all together in Moorea, another island in French Polynesia (my boyfriend and I then went on to Bora Bora, just the two of us, but more on that later). The trip was everything I had hoped for and more. Here's everything we did, saw, ate, and more.

That may have been the most humble-braggy (or just braggy) blog title I've written to date, but I went to Bora Bora last week for my 40th birthday, and I'm just going to own it. The trip was years in the making, and I can't wait to show and tell you all about it in my very first travel diary post, coming later this week. But in the meantime, this very special outfit post is coming to you from the St. Regis Bora Bora, where we spent four way-too-short days in paradise. My daytime uniform was bikinis, sunglasses, and flip-flops, but by night, I was all about a simple sundress and barely-there sandals.

Last month, I was out with friends who I hadn't seen in awhile and one asked me how blogging was going. I said great and that I love creating Cheryl Shops, so I hope you, dear reader, enjoy perusing it. She then asked me if brands are sending me clothes to wear. My answer was not yet—but if you're a brand and you're reading this and would like to work with me, please check out my Contact page! Anyway, since nearly everything I wear here is something I've bought for myself, I wanted to create an outfit post featuring pieces that I've already worn in other posts. I was so happy with the result, I wore it to the San Francisco Ballet a few weeks ago. Here's how it all came together.

Of all the things I've been blessed with in life, thick hair has not been one of them. This includes my eyelashes. I've tried every mascara and lash serum (I have a favorite, but more on that later) and while I've had some success, nothing ever gives me the lashes I want—think Audrey Hepburn, not Kim Kardashian. I've even tried false lashes, both the strip and cluster kind, and I am completely inept that those. So for my upcoming birthday, I decided to treat myself to a set of lash extensions. I was a little apprehensive—I've heard the lashes start falling out right away, and I was slightly worried I'd come out looking like, well, a Kardashian—but I decided to take a chance, and I'm so happy I did.

It's been cold in San Francisco. Really cold. Like, record-breaking, close-to-freezing cold. I know those of you who don't live in California may be playing the world's tiniest violin right now, but considering we're used to pretty consistent temperatures that take a slight dip in the winter, the weather lately has been a bit alarming. Case in point: it's usually about 10 degrees warmer in Napa than in the city (and even more in the summer), so I when I left my house last weekend in a thick, long sweater and scarf, I thought I'd be nice and cozy up in wine country. And while it was rather sunny—the weird thing about California is that the skies are oddly crystal clear when it's this cold—it was windy, and I spent most of the day wrapped in blankets, fighting off the chill. So before I get into my outfit, I should add a disclaimer that if you are going to Napa in the winter, you should add a warm coat to a look like this. But if the weather were totally ideal...

I've been a fan of her style for years, so I was delighted to see that this week's most-saved look on my Outfit ideas for ageless style Pinterest board was a photo of Sienna Miller strolling down the street and looking chic as always. And thus we have a very special celebrity edition of get the look, this time called get her look! 

When I'm in the city, which is most of the time, I stick to blazers, tees, jeans...most of what you see here on my outfit posts. It's a uniform of sorts, and it works. When I'm on vacation, however, I go full-on boho: embroidery, tassels, fringe...the whole nine yards. I have a bunch of hippie tops and dresses, and they linger in my closet for most of the year, except when I'm vacation, when I break them out like European trust-fund brat on a yacht in Ibiza. I love my vacation alter ego (she also lets her hair go au naturel, i.e. curly) because it's fun to play around with a totally different style of dressing than what I'm used to.

I am a big weirdo, because I don't like to get my nails done. There are a few exceptions—Ten Over Ten in NYC being one of them—but I tend to feel incredibly awkward, I'm not sure if I'm supposed to make conversation, and I am really OCD about the disinfection of tools (here's a story that will scare the crap out of you). Most importantly, I think I do a better job on my own nails—I file them in the exact shape I want, and if I get a chip, I can fix it easily myself. And, to point out the obvious, it saves a lot of money! But because I do my nails myself, I've never had a gel manicure (and also, to be honest, they seem a little scary and potentially toxic to me). I know there are at-home kits you can invest in, but still, that seems like too much work. But one day I decided to buy a bottle of Essie Gel Couture polish and my nails have never been the same since.

As I mentioned back in December, I've been looking for a leopard-print coat for what feels like forever, and this is a problem of my own making, because I'm very, very picky about my leopard prints. I also didn't want a faux-fur coat (I already have one, and it's rarely cold enough in California to warrant it), which really narrows one's options. I'd had my eye on a particular Ganni coat as a contender, and when it went on sale at Net-a-Porter, I jumped on it. And I'm so glad I did, because I've been wearing it pretty much nonstop. For those of you who don't believe leopard is a neutral, I'm going to try my best to convince you.

I know the rest of the country is getting snow dumped on them at the moment, but it's been 70 and sunny for the last week in Northern California, and all of a sudden, spring is here. So it feels a little weird to still be posting winter looks, but then again, this cozy-looking outfit was my most-repinned style of the last few weeks on my outfit ideas for ageless style Pinterest board, so here we are.  And it is a great look—it reminds me of a butterscotch sundae, which is a compliment, because butterscotch is delicious. Let's call this one winter's just desserts.

This is the time of year when my Instagram feed gets flooded with red and pink dresses for Valentine's Day. Now, I am all about red dresses—and so are men, if that's who you're really dressing for—but they just seem a bit obvious to me. And can you imagine walking into a restaurant on Valentine's Day (that is, if you choose not to follow my hygge plan!) and every woman is wearing a red dress? That would be just a bit awkward. So for those of you who wish to move to the beat of your own drummer, here's my take on sexy dressing for Valentine's Day.

Valentine's Day gifts have always been a little weird and unnecessary to me, unless you want to get me a Chanel bag, in which case, I prefer the medium lambskin in black with gold hardware. Anyhoo, I like the spirit of Valentine's Day, in that you should spend some quality time with your sweetie, but the "holiday" can also be awkward, especially when you're seated next to a couple that fights or barely talks throughout a three-course dinner. I also hate being forced to have an overpriced three-course meal with bad service, so I tend to stay home for Valentine's Day. Thus, in the spirit of Hygge, here are some gifts that the two of you can enjoy together...at home.

I've found the things in my closet that get the most compliments are often the things I was most on the fence about buying. Case in point: this dress. It sat in my bag at Net-a-Porter for over a week, until it went on sale again and I decided to pull the trigger. Even when it arrived, I was like, "Whoa! Is this cute? Is this ugly?" I went back and forth about it. I asked my boo what he thought and after a long pause, he said, "It's very colorful." I still am not totally sure about it, and I wasn't Sunday morning when I first wore it, but after getting several compliment's from my boo's friends—who are very into vintage cars and, by proxy, into design—I realized that, of course, it's one of those boundary-pushing pieces. It may be polarizing, but I love it. So, without further ado...

Decluttering is a big New Year's resolution for a lot of folks, and while it's not one for me personally this year, I made a big push a few years ago after reading the Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo (and yes, it is indeed life-changing, so I'd recommend reading it if you haven't already). That said, I am constantly getting rid of clothes—with a name like Cheryl Shops, it goes with the territory—and while donating them all to charity is by far the most noble option, I prefer to donate cash and instead sell my gently-used clothes and accessories…so I can by new ones. Here are my favorite ways to do it.

I've just returned from a fantastic long weekend with some of my oldest, dearest friends in the world. They're all moms, and they all joked about having a mom uniform, which more or less sounds like skinny jeans and a flowy, forgiving top. As a fashion blogger, it's practically my job to show a variety of looks, but I too have a uniform of sorts, especially in the winter. It's built around my favorite pair of pants: these leather leggings, which I should almost apologize to my IRL friends for wearing too much...except I won't, because I love them, and I'm a firm believer in wearing what you love.

The holidays are over but we still have several months of winter left, which explains why coat-based looks are trending on my Outfit Ideas for Ageless Style Pinterest board. This week's pick is still very wintry but brightens things up with a strong helping of color.