It all started with the Marc by Marc Jacobs dress at top right. It’s made of silk and I can picture the swoosh of it and how fun it is to wear. But mostly it’s the colours that have me gaga. And then I FLIPPED OUT at the Kate Spade bag and flats. How FUN is the mix of linen and bright patent leather? And then I went nuts clicking around the web for the most colourful, cutest pieces I could find. And this my friends is the result. It makes me happy and it makes me excited for SPRING!

Shopping links: 1) Kate Spade umbrella, 2) Marc by Marc Jacobs dress, 3) Topshop oversized BFF tee, 4) Kate Spade iPhone cover, 5) Kate Spade flats 6) Trina Turk top, 7) Kate Spade tote

Of note: a) This is my 500th post on Red Glasses. Woohoo! b) I write this from my newly-dented MacBook Pro. Unfortunately I had a run-in with the sidewalk this morning. While I wasn’t personally injured – except perhaps my ego – my poor laptop wasn’t as lucky.

I wanted to share a few pieces I’m coveting. The Montreal-made Harakiri coral pendant is so beautiful and delicate.  The Marc by Marc Jacobs bag is a classic you could use for years. And the Chloe flats with the scallops add a delicate touch that makes the shoe anything but ordinary.

Shopping links: 1 Harakiri pendant / 2 Michael Kors watch / 3 Marlene Birger top / 4 Marc by Marc Jacobs bag / 5 Chloe scalloped ballerina flats / 6 Twenty8Twelve dress

This fascinating book about the 30-year dictatorship in the Dominican Republic was written by this year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner, Peruvian author Mario Vargas Llosa. This book difficult to read (Trujillo was a truly evil dictator!) and it’s quite long, but I would highly recommend it if you’re interested in the history of Latin America.

Get the book: The Feast of the Goat by Mario Vargas Llosa

Get the look: Natalie Brown fern shaped neck piece, Henrik Vibskov dress, Balenciaga bag & Marc by Marc Jacobs thong sandals

Tom Rachman’s The Imperfectionists charts the downward spiral of a Herald Tribune-esque newspaper based in Rome from its creation in the heyday of newspapers to today’s circulation-reduced, digitally-oriented times. Each chapter features a different employee of the newspaper and their personal and professional lives. As a journalism grad who ended up working in marketing and business, I get a bit sentimental about what my life would have been had I followed that path. This book was fascinating to me for that reason but I think just anybody who loves a good novel would love The Imperfectionists. What I especially loved were the characters and how well-developed and interesting they and their stories were.

I pictured the outfit as something a busy reporter would wear; practical without being plain. I mean, after all, the book is set in Rome, one of the fashion capitals of the world, right?

Get the book: The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman

Get the look: Topshop shirt, Kate Spade iPad cover, Marc by Marc Jacobs watch, Topshop skirt, Topshop shoe boots & Ileana Makri earrings