Merry (and Warm) Christmas

From my most recent business trip ... the hotel's charming greeting.

Pretty and festive by the elevators.

Not during the most recent but from the February visit with my dad.

I thought it a lovely image for Christmas time.

A snow surprise made pretty of his leafless tree.

That was then and I dreamt of this ...

Or this ...

Or this ...

Or even this for today.

But it was hot.

It felt much warmer than what the temperatures said.

So this is what I wore.

Nope I did not take a pic of me in jammies.

No chance for that visual to go viral.

 

I hope you all had a cozy and wonderful day with your loved ones.

Merry Christmas.

I ♥ These

As I promised to show Jennifer, here's the face care kit I now happily pack when I travel. The kit could be my favorite purchase for cleaning/hydrating/moisturizing. Ever.

As you can see with the credit card size hotel room key for scale, the sample size products are tiny but I've already used them on several trips and I estimate them good for at least three more.

They smell good, they feel good, they make me feel like a princess. :)

Have you been watching The X Factor? Do you love Alex and Sierra? They're so talented and it's easy to fall in love with love watching the two perform. I'm rooting for them.

And it's really easy to fall in love with our weather ... 

look at the forecast for the next five days.

I wish I could share the warmth with folks like xoxo.

 

What would you love to share?



December Dither

 With more couth I would've worn this outfit for Thanksgiving: 

the Collection café capri in antiqued floral, a cambridge crewneck from 2008 and the antique gold mary jane heels so wonderful I no longer pine for the spencer patent trimmed crackle metallic mary janes 

aka Emma Pillsbury's favorite shoes.

I think the antique floral print is rich and splendid. The fabric, 76% silk and 33% cotton, is quite substantial. It feels like two layers woven together. Could very well be since the reverse side barely shows any print show-through and has a different texture.

Highly recommended if you like crazy fancy pants.

Showing the shoes snapped up from Yoox but they are no more there.

Is it wrong to be in love with a pair of shoes?

 As threatened promised, here's what I wore for Thanksgiving:

This year's was a wonderful confluence of Thanksgiving and Hanukkah that I was completely unaware of since I'd been buried in work.

But look what we saw as we're fixin' the candied yams.

Is this one of those signs Jody talked about?

What the weatherman tells us for today.

And what it looks like.

But I'll be planning and packing for a week-long trip to places where the weather is difficult for me to imagine.

This (washable? faux fur) is likely the foundation for my trip.

With apologies in advance to ruth, Naomi, Heidi and anyone else I will likely offend, I will likely wear this on travel days:

With any luck, I may see some ...

That's a surprise snow storm the last time I visited my dad. 
Spending time with him will be the very best part of my trip. :)

 

Stay safe and warm and don't let the stresses take over.

Let me know what you're up to and I'll try to keep up.

See y'all in about a week.

Thank Goodness

I have absolutely no desire to add to my sweater collection.

Or much of anything else so Thanksgiving came early for me.

But I have something on my wish list for being good:

Navy. Blue. Minnie pant in bi-stretch wool.

So what's on your Santa wish list?

A Moment in Time

Spurred on by Heidi's post on renovations and roses,

I clipped these from my garden and brought them to work. Why did I not do this every week all spring and summer long? They've been blooming away at the side of the house where we rarely ever see them.

Now I'm reminded to enjoy their glorious moments
and take more time to smell the roses.

Oh no. I'm dreading a Wally B moment. He recounted that here.

A pair of mine are missing. They did not come back from the wash and I've retraced my steps several times, double-checked the washer and dryer at least three times and shook out and cross-examined every item in that same load of laundry thinking they stuck. Nope.

I was blog surfing and somehow came upon this. I don't know who these ladies are but unlike Kate below who was having a rather pretty time fighting the elements, the one in the pale café au lait dress was captured in an unfortunate moment against the wind.

Kate was attending a forum where experts addressed cyber bullying; self-harm; special education needs; raising aspirations, access and achievements; and preventing addiction to build emotional resilience and strength. While the attention is likely on her Marilyn moment, perhaps some greater awareness will come of the worthy discussion to nurture good mental health in children.

It was a spur-of-the-moment decision to wear the sequin bow pant to work. Can I plead a momentary lapse of good judgment?



Random Winners

This seems to defy logic and it certainly defies intuition!

Goes to show you what they taught in probabilities is true, though I never "got" how flipping coins increases or decreases the probability of heads or tails. Or maybe there's no effect. Told ya I never got that I was lost after advanced algebra. Which I loved BTW.

Alrighty then, ignore my ramble and can we get a drum roll please?

It's an easy one to figure out, our wonderful Wendy of the wonderful blog One can't get over the habit of being a little girl all at once...

gets the $25 gift card to J.Crew!

Next, and I won't bore you with my screen grabs ... ding, ding, ding ...

The bottle of lovely lavender hydrosol goes to dear Dani of

DaniBP Mop Philosopher. I'm fairly certain hers is the first blog I became addicted to a couple years back.

JLacy for the umbrella in the sold-out polka dot pattern. I guess crossing "figures" worked, I must have been on autopilot when I replied, don't even have autocorrect to blame.

I'm leaving you with this funny and wish

I could send a gift to every one of you.

Wendy, Dani and JLacy, I'll be writing you tomorrow, it's really late and I have an early morning meeting. :(

 

Thanks to everyone who entered, 

I loved reading your reasons for an extra entry!



Sequin Saunter

This might be a meander. There are 3 things to talk about with this post but I have no clever ways to sew them together.

1. The anniversary of my blog

2. A little giveaway to say thank you

3. A few things to show if you're considering them at 50% off.

First thing, first. I wore full-on sequins to work.

Sorry if I'm offending your good senses, it's a tradition for my blog anniversary I suppose. Factory draped sequin tee. Factory skinny jean in black. Madewell heartdot boyshirt. Clifton booties also worn here.

Next, let's get to the fun stuff.

To celebrate 2 years with you and 100+1 followers (from what I can tell), I'm giving away a $25 J.Crew gift card.

Second prize is a bottle of lavender hydrosol, one of my most favorite things. Described as sweet and happy, a light spritz (OK even if wearing makeup) makes me calmed and refreshed.

Botanical Insights is the sister-in-law of a colleague and she lives by a field of lavender. Sigh. Sounds lovely.

Third prize is a Factory umbrella that I hope you don't mind me limiting to the U.S. and maybe Canada due to possible shipping challenges. I'll find a good substitute if you're an international winner. 

Here's how to enter ... please leave a comment for each of the following by 11:59 p.m. Pacific Nov. 10:

1. If you're a follower

2. If you add me to your blog roll

3. If you tell me why you should have another entry (1 per person).

Be sure to leave your email if I can't contact you through your profile.

I will generate a couple random numbers for the winners and announce with a post on Nov. 12. (I hope I haven't forgotten anything important that makes a mess of this.)

 Third stop: J.Crew's 50% off end-of-season styles.

Toothpick jean in garment-printed floral - thicker denim,

pattern is more subtle IRL. I like them.

Liberty toothpick jean in Matilda tulip floral- fits like the other Liberty printed jeans, the pattern has a tendency to add some width,

which could be why they are still around?

 Ruffled rhinestone top - I'm wearing petite 00 and with the Collection café capri in Ratti regatta print. I like the top with a jacket,

the Classic schoolboy blazer in navy in this case.

A close-up of the bedazzling. IRL the blue "jewels" are more like sapphires, they don't photograph true.

 

I've come to a dead end so I'll say bye for now. :)