First Fall Snow

Currently we are under a winter storm warning here in Minnie. I am not really ready for it, but if I am going to enjoy it, this is exactly how I would.

Curled up under a nice cozy cable throw in one of our new chairs in the sitting room.

Having a nice glass of mulled red wine reading one of my new book purchases which arrived last week from Amazon (planning for the holiday season of course).

Wearing some great Lands End slippers which also just arrived, and just in the nick of time I might add.

While my Pumpkin Chai candle from Nest flickers and Stella sits quietly (okay that part may not be true) and we watch the snow cover the beautifully colored trees.

Things I Have Been Reading!

I love to flip, pretty much all of the time. I usually need to be doing two things at once, so if I am watching tv or getting ready for bed, or a passenger in the car, I always have a stack of reading material with me. Carried in one of my canvas L.L. Bean bags usually, if not a cute bag that has come my way. Here are some of things that are stacked in the living room at the moment if not next to my bed.

I did a lot of planning going into the holidays. . .in case you can't tell. . . .

 

 

 

There are so many great ideas and inspiration in each of these books. They have ideas for decorating your tree, adding small touches to your home, wrapping gifts, making gifts as well as fabulous recipe ideas for entertaining and special holiday meals.

The Phyllis Hoffman Celebrate magazines I think are by far my favorite. We do a lot of entertaining, and I like to plan it in advance.These magazines are wonderful and are full of inspiration.

I keep track of all of the entertaining we do, the guests we invite, the food we serve and the way we do the inviting as well as any details in a table in One Note (which I absolutely love). In 2009 we hosted and planned 9 theme parties, 13 dinner parties, 10 themed wine club events and three Junior League meetings in my home. 35 events in a year, hmmm, and why am I not a full time event planner? No but really I enjoy it so much, everything from the invitations to the food, to the clean up and rehashing the night the next morning with the boy.

Next year there are two BIG events on the calendar. A big birthday for me (which I keep going back and forth on as far as how I feel and what the theme should be, I may be putting it to a vote soon!) as well as a big anniversary for the boys parents in November. I have already started the planning for both, invitations for the boys anniversary have been purchased. . . a place still needs to be determined, I would like to go with something a little more upscale, but they would like to do something closer to where they live and there is just not a lot up that way, it will take some research that is for sure!

Back to planning. One dinner party left this year, and I have a tablescape to put together as well as the menu to finalize and a shopping list to make. Better get on that!

Book Review - Choosing Happiness - Keys to a Joyful Life - Alexandra Stoddard

I am a big fan of Alexandra Stoddard, I have been for a number of years. I picked this up over the weekend, and didn't put it down.

I love some of the advice and quotes, here are some of my favorites.

Clothes: day and night
"Clothes have a profound effect on our mood and spirit. When we select our clothes with care and an eye to enriching our personal sense of style, what we choose to wear is an enhancement of every day."

I think this is so true. I love to wear color, hence my fondness for anything Lilly. I can actually feel a difference in my mood and the way I carry myself when I wear something that has a lot of color and style. I heard a teacher talking about back to school and how all of the kids on the first day of school come in dressed in all of their new clothes and shoes. Why is that? And why have we been doing that since we were very young? My thought is that we wear our best outfit on the first day to assert our sense of pride and accomplishment.

I work with very very few women, which can prove to be challenging, especially when it comes to attire. I often get comments from the men that I work with, like, "I don't know how you can walk in those shoes" "do you ever wear the same thing twice?" and others. The few (total of 12 out of 328, in my office 7 out of 209) women in my office, don't seem to take a great deal of pride in their appearance and not only do they not wear make-up or do their hair, but they typically will wear tee shirts, khakis and what I call chunky or thick shoes, never a pointy toed heel. Fridays are always jeans for them. And while we do work in a business casual environment, I do not believe that a Friday is any different than any other day of the week when it comes to work, so I do not get the whole jeans on Fridays drill. I also have always been taught, "dress for the job you want, not the one you have". I take my time to plan out my outfits every day, right down to my accessories and pocketbooks.

Here is today's outfit -

There are some great quotes and lessons in this book, if you have a chance, pick it up, I highly recommend it!

A Hunting We Will Go!

So this past weekend, the boy and I joined my sister at 6:30 am for what has become an annual outing. It was the annual sale for the Children's Cancer Research Fund. I can usually find one or two treasures along with some good books, but I hit the jackpot this year. Look what I found,
along with this, which reverses to pink
and this, which reverses to green.

I was so excited, $10 for the bag and extra covers. And the bonus part, I have three covers at home that I had bought at Marshall Fields when they were going out of business and turning over to Macy's. I bought them thinking that the wooden frame would not be that hard to find. I have had a watch on eBay on them for over two years, but they usually go pretty high at around $45 and I just could not bring myself to pay that for a cloth pocketbook.

This was my book haul. Looks like I got some pretty good titles of things I have been wanting to read and for $1 each! But we won't discuss how little reading I have been doing lately. Or how I did on my summer reading list. I guess I shouldn't even post a fall list. I want to, but I just know that right now it is not realistic. I will make more time though, the boy and I have discussed it.
After we left the sale, we decided to hit up an estate sale. I just love these adorable bags, and $12 each? I could not go wrong.
The detail of the needlework on this I just love.
I have cute little strappy silver heels that go perfectly with this one, can't you just see it with a LBD?
Later on in the day, while the boy was mowing his lawn, I decided to check into a consignment shop in his neighborhood. Occasionally people will bring in some interesting stuff, so sometimes I stop in to see what they have.

I was so excited to see these, like new, still in the box! I had all three of these when I was a kid and played with them like crazy. I would always take them with me to my paternal grandmothers house because she would always play with them with me. The stands and all of the clothes are all there and they are all in perfect condition. I am hoping my niece will play with them while she is at my house like I did. What a find.
I just love a successful day of hunting! Such a sense of satisfaction.

Friends T & G for dinner tonight. I am making the chicken enchiladas from the JLM cookbook "Always Superb" I will post the recipe and let you know how they turn out.

Movie (and Book) Review! "Julie & Julia"

Last night the boy and I grabbed a quick bite to eat and then headed out to see a screening of the new movie with Amy Adams and Meryl Streep, "Julie & Julia". It was also on my summer read list and I finished the book over the weekend. I loved both the book and the movie.

I am not sure if I liked the book or the movie more. The movie actually had Julia Child playing a main role in the movie, where while she did play a large role in the book, it was more in the background, and it had some of her letters as well as her husband Paul's in it. The movie showed her living in Paris as well as other places and really took you through her trials and tribulations of getting "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" published.

The boy enjoyed it as well, and it truly is a love story as well. Julia and Paul's love, Julie and her husband Eric's love as well as both of their loves of food. There are some wonderful scenes in the movie, and if you have ever been to Paris, it will definitely take you back.
We were talking last night about the book\movie and the premise of the book is that Julie cooks all of Julia Child's recipes from MTAFC in one year. The boy said, I am not sure if I would like something different every day. I looked at him and said, how often do we even eat the same thing, he agreed of course, but it was pretty funny. Whenever I make something that he really likes, if anyone is joining us he always says, enjoy it while you can, we may never see it again.
I do love to cook and come up with new recipes as well, so this made the book\movie that much better for me. I am also a huge Julia Child fan. Guess I need to break out my book and get to cooking. Go see it, it was a fabulous film, and I will say that I think the entire audience enjoyed it. There were a group of Red Hat Ladies sitting in the entire row behind us, at a quiet part during the movie, one of them said quite loudly, "Oh I am SO enjoying this film" the whole audience cracked up! I know my mom would have loved this film as well.

My Julia books (did you know that Julia Child published 17 cookbooks but did not even publish MTAFC until she was 54? Impressive).

This is Today!

Hopefully I am doing a lot of this right now

and this

reading this

this

and this

I picked the Lauren Lipton books up and added them to my queue. They looked really good and I saw a couple other bloggers had read them and enjoyed. Did you know our very own MCM contributed to "Mating Rituals of the North American WASP"?

Keeping the reads pretty light at the moment, I will have plenty of time coming up for more complex reading. I have a couple of trips to Boston for work that I have to do, one for a week in July, the other late August for another week. The boy will be accompanying me on the later trip and we will make a mini vacation out of it spending the first weekend in Newport and the second at the Cape. These are rough plans at the moment as the dates for the second trip have not been set.

Of course I have a huge stack of these to flip through as well!

Book Review #1 & #2

So I have been getting through my summer reading list and I recently finished a couple up. The first one I read off of my list was Jen Lancaster "Bitter is the New Black" and I LOVED it! I am actually bummed that I missed Jen on her stop through the Twin Cities! I do read and keep up with her website, she is a hoot! I actually would love to just dive into her next books, but, I am going to do my best to stick with my summer reading list and once I have gotten through it, then I will pick up her other books.

I also just finished "Baby Proof" by Emily Giffin which I also loved. I found the subject matter to be very interesting since it isn't very often that you come across women who choose not to have children and simply do not want them. I always wonder if people judge me because I don't have kids and I always feel as though I have to explain myself. I know that this is something that I personally put upon myself, but at the same time, I do think that society judges women who do not have children. I know that for me, this was something that I needed to talk about with the boy right away in our relationship. I was very lucky in the fact that he did not want children, but again, I don't think this is very common. I have a couple of friends who don't want children too, a few actually, and it makes me wonder if we gravitate to one another. I did think it was a very good book though. Next up, "Julie & Julia" I can't wait!

Summer Reading!

I have picked up a few books over the past few weeks, and I am going to actually do my best to try to get through my Summer Reading List this year. There are so many books that I have been wanting to read and not had the chance, but this is going to be the time. One of my all time favorite things to do is sit on the beach with a book and read. So calming, so relaxing.

I have had a really bad habit in the past of falling asleep with the TV on, usually Law and Order which I love. But for the past couple of weeks, I have been reading before bed, which I think is probably better for me. The boy is a big reader as well, and I think he likes that better too. I have already started with my first book, and so far I love it! I just stacked these up to take the picture, but the order I have them listed below is the order I am going to try to read them in. Mainly chic lit and light reading which is what I like for the Summer. I will post reviews when I finish!

Bitter is the New Black-Jen Lancaster
I think I am the only one who has not read any of Jen Lancasters books. So, I am starting at the beginning and will try to get through a few more in the Fall. I have already started reading this, and so far, I love it!

Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously
Julie Powell I am really looking forward to the movie later this summer and want to make sure I get it read first!

Baby Proof-Emily Griffin
I loved Something Borrowed and Something Blue, so I am looking forward to this one as well.

Change of Heart-Jodi Picoult
I just finished The Pact, she is one of my favorite authors, and I am looking forward to seeing My Sisters Keeper in a couple of weeks. We have passes for the screening on June 23rd, so there are a few of us who will be making it a girls night!

Summer People-Brian Groh
This just sounded like the perfect Summer read!

Misery Loves Cabernet-Kim Gruenenfelder
My love of wine is what drove me to this one! It looks like a good one to pass along as well.

The Lost Recipe for Happiness-Barbara O'Neal
This did not get great reviews, but the story line looked interesting.

The Beach House-Jane Green
There is a B & B involved in this one, and I love staying at them!

Shoe Addicts Annonymous-Beth Harbison
This sounds like a group I should join, but it also looks like a very good read, the fact that they describe it "Like eating a slice of cake" is very appealing!

Love the One You're With-Emily Griffin
Looks like another great follow up!

It Must've Been Something I Ate-Jeffrey Steingarten
This was recommended by a friend and given to me, so I am looking forward to this!

Secrets of a Shoe Addict-Beth Harbison
This is the follow up to the other one, and looks hysterical. I can't wait to read this, I may have to bump this one up with the other one!

Spring Reading Thing 2008

I meant to get this posted last week, but. . .anyway. Jill got me going on this, and I really do want to read more than I have been.

Here is what is on my agenda, and yes, I think I am the last person on Earth to read Eat, Pray, Love. . .

Here are my selections in no particular order
Until the Day You Die by Tina Wainscott
Fast Women by Jennifer Crusie
Trying to Save Piggy Sneed by John Irving
The Fourth Hand by John Irving
Goodbye, Jimmy Choo by Annie Sanders
The Memory Keepers Daughter by Kim Edwards
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
We Are All Fine Here by Mary Guterson
Room for Love by Andrea Meyer
Tart by Jody Gehrman
A Wedding in December by Anita Shreve
Blue Diary by Alice Hoffman
Open House by Elizabeth Berg
Night Fall by Nelson DeMille

So there we have it. I figure I shouldn't have a problem getting through these with plenty of upcoming plane rides and heading up to the lake. Have you read any of these? What is on your list?

I will still be reading my regular magazines, as well as a few cookbooks here and there. How about you?