RAINDROPS WERE FALLING ON MY HEAD

Last Thursday was Community Service Day at work, so we all took a bus to a camp for inner-city kids in the suburbs.    

I was on team woodchips, which was a great job but would've been slightly more pleasant had it not been 50 degrees and raining. 

I knew it would rain, so I unfortunately had to break the clothing fast to purchase a raincoat.  I tried to borrow one first, I swear!  But none of my friends or family own any raingear (apparently the Knuckles clan is not very outdoorsy).

Lest you think I took this opportunity to buy a Burberry trench, let it be known that I went to Target and looked for the cheapest, most utilitarian thing I could find.  It was super slim pickings, but I was determined not to leave without a raincoat so I scoured every department until I found this little number on the clearance rack:

Raincoat, Target.  Note two things in this photo: 1) the price tag, clearance, a mere $8.98; 2) the claim "Water Resistant."  Perhaps this claim is valid if you are running from your car to the movie theater in a light sprinkle, or if you are casually strolling through an outdoor mall during a spring shower.  This claim does NOT apply to 5 hours durations of woodchip shoveling in a hard pour.

There's nothing very cute about this raincoat, but I was pleasantly surprised that I found one in yellow (actually, it was the only raincoat in my size in the entire store).  Mostly because I have been obsessing about yellow and pink this spring:

Illamasqua, Rare, $14; Thakoon for Nars, Anardana, $18; both at Sephora

Trousers, Preen, Net-a-porter.com, $735

Sail dress, Zero + Maria Cornejo, Shopbop.com, $626.50

Becky silk jacket, Rebecca Minkoff, Piperlime.com, $348

Scooter Sporty Platform Shoes, Topshop, $156

On Sunday we took the kids to the Chicago Botanic Garden, and I was feeling inspired by all this color so I pulled out a pair of hi-waisted pants I haven't worn in years:

Pink pants, Judy Rosen, $(I don't remember)

I bought these at the Mini Mini-Market on Bedford Ave ages ago, back when I was still making handbags in my apartment.  I used to sell them to the Mini Mini-Market on consignment and would obsessively check if they'd sold.  Also, Mr. Brass Knuckles (just boyfriend Brass Knuckles then) lived upstairs in the girdle factory, so needless to say I was in the Mini Mini-Market a lot.

I wore the pants with an H&M sweater that has what CoStar calls "Princess Sleeves" because they are puffy, like on a Disney Princess dress:

Extra points if you know all their first names (you think this is easy, but unless you have a 

3-year-old daughter there is no reason why you should know Sleeping Beauty's first name).

Finally, I wore my trusty Dolce Vita for Target sandals and a stack of black jelly bracelets.  I found these bracelets at a Claire's boutique a few years ago.  They remind me of elementary school, and they look surprisingly chic now.

It was a lovely day for frolicking in secret gardens:

and riding in (and pulling) our pimped out canopy wagon:

Have a wonderful evening, little Knuckles!