JCA Brunch at Le Chat Noir

The lovely Rosa organized a fab brunch for us at Le Chat Noir in DC last weekend. I'm sure many/most/all of you have read the wonderful recaps by 3-Penny Princess and Slastena.

Like Slastena, I'm not even going to try to compete with 3-PP's writing skills. But it was lovely. Perfect spot for a JCA brunch. Yummy mimosas. Yummy crepes. Love lunching with the ladies because they split dessert...

Since I had to scoot home right after brunch for my parents visiting and soccer games, I stopped by the Friendship Heights J Crew before brunch. Tried on a few things, but didn't actually get anything that day as time was getting short to get over to brunch. (yay me, for once) I did, however, fall positively in love with a new sweater and went back later that week to get it. More on that in another post.

I wore the dark slate Frances cami with white jeans and my spring daisy Jackie cardi. I love this cardi - the color literally goes with everything. Finished off with Danielle sandals and the twisted crystal necklace - which I wore as a bracelet, wrapped 5 times around my wrist. Perfect fit - I'll have to remember that trick, since I hardly wear it during winter because of the sweater-snagging issue.

Group photo because yes, I actually remembered the camera again:

Pictured above left to right:

Me

3-Penny Princess - my fellow Frances friend

Drewablank - totally rocking the dressy jersey ruffle-neck dress

Slastena - even more radiant than usual with her lovely pregnancy glow

Rosa - fab organizer and total smarty, too

CleoP - looking like a movie star - love that dress!

K - I just wish this was a full-length shot because she had to most insanely fab shoes on

Polyvore from Brunch:

9/19/09 by HeidiGblog featuring J Crew

Thanks again to Rosa for organizing!!

Sunday Brunch and Petits Pains Au Chocolat (and the J Crew Cotton Ruffled Scoopneck Tee)

What a lovely day it was for Sunday Brunch. Hubby and I decided it would be fun to kick off Spring Break with brunch for a few families. We have a regular happy hour crew, so the ones who weren't on their way to Florida were invited. Such a fun time! Hubby made crepes - ham & cheese, and cheese & asparagus. Yummy! I love that he loves to cook - and he's so good at it, too!

Lesson #1 - when kids are invited, make many, many packs of bacon. It was cleared out in no time flat. Like how they say piranhas can take a cow down to its skeleton in 3 seconds. That's what the bacon plate looked like. I tried to keep my extremities out of the way.

Our friends brought baked cheese grits, potato-cheese casserole, half a carrot cake, and, for balance, a fruit salad. Mimosas and peach-flavored wine & OJ spritzers created when the champagne was gone. I had dessert, so I made a favorite - Petits Pains Au Chocolat (recipe at end of post). Very good and very easy. And I had hubby pick up some of those fantastic sugar cookies to bake with the shape inside (you know what I mean, right?) - so we had bunny cookies & chick/egg cookies. Plus the requisite jellybeans. I can keep these around because they don't tempt me like chocolate.

I was chilly in the morning, so I headed off to church with the Tartine cardi but by mid-day, had swapped it out for the Slub Cotton Ruffled Scoopneck Tee (#13657, $39.50). Gigi did a review of the tee here. It's a little shorter in length than many of their tees. It's fitted but not lump-revealing (always a plus). The ruffles are very pretty and they have some subtle tonal bead detailing. I got it in navy at our DC JCA outing (10% and 25% off, so just under $27 and totally worth it, IMO).

Polyvore set:

Brunch-04/05/09 by HeidiGblog featuring Old Navy tank tops

Here's the recipe for the Petits Pains Au Chocolat that I made. These are so easy, it's insane! 3 ingredients, not counting water. Try them sometime - they look like something you purchased at a cute little town bakery. BTW, I always forget to put the sugar on top and they are still way yummy.

Petits Pains Au Chocolat (Bon Appetit, April 2004)

2 sheets frozen puff pastry (1 17.3-oz pkg), thawed, each sheet cut into 12 squares
1 large egg beaten to blend with 1 Tbsp water (for glaze)
4 (3.5 oz) bars imported bittersweet or milk chocolate, each cut into six 2 x ¾ inch pieces

Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Brush top of each puff pastry square with egg glaze. Place 1 chocolate piece on edge of 1 pastry square. Roll up dough tightly, enclosing chocolate. Repeat with remaining pastry and chocolate. Place pastry rolls on baking sheet seam side down. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover pastries with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Cover and refrigerate remaining egg glaze.)

Preheat oven to 400. Brush tops of pastry rolls with remaining egg glaze. Sprinkle lightly with sugar. Bake until pastries are golden brown, about 15 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Enjoy!!

Update from DC JCA Event and My 1st Polyvore

Wow, what can I say about the DC JCA Event that 3-Penny Princess arranged? It was so lovely. So fantastic to meet all these fabulous J Crew Aficionadas! 3-Penny Princess posted some great pics, and so did Dinagideon, so check them out if you haven't already. Also check out 3-Penny Princess' post with everyone's Polyvores - and keep checking because she keeps adding!

The Private Shopping Event at the Pentagon City was just amazing. I felt pampered, I felt spoiled, loved loved loved it!! The refreshments were divine - I felt so galm strolling around the store with a mimosa in hand. The sales associates were great - especially Joanne - who was a total doll (literally, she is a size 0, so cute & stylish) and so helpful. More on my purchases later - not sure whether to Polyvore (see note on Polyvore below) or do IRLs and I still have to go through them all. Plus kids are home today and not as much time to post, you know?

I did try on the infamous "hot mess tank top" (see Gigi's post on the tank here) and now I understand the problem. Hellooooo, the XS fit me! And I have to say, I likey! Yes, I said XS. I didn't get it yesterday, but am definitely keeping my eye on it for a future purchase. Definitely too sheer without tank/cami underneath. But would be just a great spring/summer tops with jeans/slacks by itself or under a jacket. But seriously, again, the XS fit me, at 5'10" and a size 10? What were they thinking?

Back to our outing... we had brunch at the Boulvard Wood Grill. In general, I just love brunch. Yummy drinks, yummy food. Eggs Benedict Florentine - yum-yum! (with spinach subbed for the Canadian bacon, you can pretend that it's really, really healthy). And 3-Penny's recommendation for the Grand Mimosa (mimosa with some Grand Marnier) - wow, such a fun little cocktail - glad I had the metro ride home before I got my car.

I *finally* dove in to Polyvore this morning. I've been wanting to, but was postponing until the closet was 100% done. Well, the closet's about 95%, but it was time. Here is a Polyvore of my outfit.


DC J Crew Aficionada Brunch-03/29/09 - by HeidiGblog on Polyvore.com

Yes, it looks familiar because it is pretty much the outfit from this post, with some modifications accessory- and makeup-wise. What can I say? The Lili cardi is my frilliest J Crew piece. And I've been dying to wear my white jeans again, which aren't at all puppy friendly on rainy days. As soon as I got home I had a muddy paw print on 1 leg. So bye-bye pretty outfit, jeans to the wash, and hello sweats for the rest of the evening. Not that I'm complaining, because a great way to end such a fabulous day is hanging out with the family with a puppy in my lap.

So I can't wait to play with all my purchases, and I'm sure you'll be seeing quite a few of them this week. Thanks again to 3-Penny Princess for putting together this amazing event! Hope to see everyone next time...