Let the countdown begin!

Celebrate what you want to see more of...
- Tom Peters

Celebrate! Family, Friends, Fun, and Food!

Have a Merry Christmas! I know I will; celebrating the holidays with the four "F's" - Family, Friends, Fun, and of course, Food! See you next year!

xoxo C

The Spirit of Christmas...

Christmas is a season for kindling the fire for hospitality in the hall, the genial flame of charity in the heart.
- Washington Irving

image via The Birchwood Inn, Lenox MA

Quote of the Week - Douglas Coupland

Birds are a miracle because they prove to us there is a finer, simpler state of being which we may strive to attain.

- Douglas Coupland

image via birdwatching.com

For Mom and Dad - a love poem

This is a poem I wrote about my mom and dad. She passed away a few years ago, but their love will live on forever. Maybe one day I will write a story about it...

For Mom & Dad - A Love Poem

He is not, she exclaimed, my type at all
I want a man worthy of the belle of the ball

Tall, dark, and handsome is what I want
Strong, wide shoulders; muscles taunt

Not red hair and freckles; lanky and skinny
I want Prince Charming to ride up and win me

But with a shiny red apple, the seduction had begun
His mischievous grin beguiled, and her hand was won

Resistance dissolved; her heart was succumbing
And she loved the one that she never saw coming.

xoxo C

Weekend Inspiration #5 - Books & Chocolate

image via soyouthinkyoucansee.tumblr.com

My niece posted this (below) on Facebook yesterday, and I found it to be quite wonderful. As most of you know, I am a bookworm, and a serious chocoholic, so I think this is the most awesome Christmas tradition ever.  Yay, Iceland!

In Iceland, books are exchanged on Christmas Eve, and you spend the rest of the night reading. People generally take their books to bed along with some chocolate. How cozy and wonderful does that sound?

(More fun facts: Iceland publishes more books per capita than any other country, and new books are typically published only during the Christmas season—the frenzy is called Jólabókaflóð, or the Christmas Book Flood.) 
- via joannagoddard.blogspot.com

Quote of the Week - Coco Chanel

Quilted Leather Beauties - Low, Medium, High

I'm not one of those girls who has a gazillion bags. It's just too much trouble to transfer all of my stuff everyday; besides, most of my wardrobe is either black or neutral, so a roomy, black bag goes with everything. I'm really liking the black quilted leather bags I've been seeing lately. The quilting gives them detail and texture; a little zing; without being too fussy or girly. The quilted bags below are some of my favorites, ranging from, "sure, I'll take it today" to "let me save my money for a few years." Although, I must admit, the Chanel is my favorite...

image via zara.com

Zara Quilted Bowler Bag - approx. 8 x 12 x 7 inches - $79.90 

image via toryburch.com

Tory Burch Marion Quilted Slouchy Tote - 13 x 16 x 5 inches - $635

image via chanel.com

Chanel Grained Calfskin Shopping Bag - 11.6 x 14.8 x 4.3 inches - $5,500

A Retail Worker's Christmas

The holiday season is upon us...

I always experience mixed feelings of joy and melancholy during the holidays. I sing along with the relentlessly cheerful Christmas music; and then tear up over the lone string of twinkle lights, and the sad little sock snowmen on my mantle. For an artistic person such as myself, it’s a pitiful display of non-creativity. However, after years in retail, it’s the best I can do, because by the time I get home in the evening...I’m just over it...

For all of you non-retail people, I know that's hard to understand. "But Christmas is so much fun!" you exclaim. "I adore the bustling crowds! The gaiety! The decorations! The glitter! The festive music!" 

Yeah...spoken like a true civilian. But if you had to cope with those crowds daily...the people who walk in thirty seconds before closing with a shopping list as long as Santa's beard...the glitter in your hair, your socks, and eventually your underwear...

If you had to listen to nine hundred truly dreadful versions of The Twelve Days of Christmas...ten hours a day...seven days a week...beginning the day after Halloween until the end of the year...

For every giddy, power shopper out there in a tacky "HO!HO!HO!" sweater, covered with jingle bells and gaudy plaid ribbon, there's a guy with dead eyes, working in a big box store, wearing felt antlers and a blinking red nose, feeling like a reindeer in the headlights.

You know how Bing Crosby's rendition of White Christmas brings a nostalgic tear to your eye? Well, that's a great warm and fuzzy moment...three or four times during an entire holiday season; but three or four times a day, for two months, can get really depressing.

After years of saying "Merry Christmas," retail workers are now expected to greet customers with the more politically correct, "Happy Holidays." I consider myself to be an open-minded person; and I appreciate and acknowledge the holidays and customs of all cultures. However, I grew up in the fifties and sixties when people said "Merry Christmas." I don't say it with any sense of exclusion, bias, or malice; it's simply the way I was raised. I'm a Christian; I celebrate Christmas. Sometimes, I slip up and say "Merry Christmas." So sue me... 

And then, a few questions...

Why do people assume that, if they saw something in a store last year, or six months ago...it's still there? It's a store. Stores sell stuff. Other people buy stuff. It's not a museum...

Why do people with children think that retail workers are obligated to watch their kids while they shop? Are they really unaware that Junior is racing through the store...screaming at the top of his lungs...climbing on shelves full of heavy, breakable objects? No, I don't want to spank the kids; I want to smack their parents. I want Mom and Dad to stand in the corner with their nose in a bulls-eye...like I had to do for most of my elementary school years...and re-think their parenting skills.

Why do people look at store hours posted on the door, see that the store has just closed, and then rattle the door and mouth, "Are you closed?" Yes! Yes! If the sign says they close at six...and it's five minutes after six...and the doors are locked...they are, in fact, closed. And here's another newsflash; they have a life too. They make plans for after work, just like you do. So while you're poking around after closing time...picking up every item on the shelf...asking if it's on sale, even though you have no intention of buying it...they're another minute late for dinner with their family and friends.

However, at the end of the day...It's cold outside. I'm sitting by the fire...wrapped up in a blanket...admiring my minimally decorated mantle. I'm watching White Christmas, with a cup of Earl Grey, and a box of Kleenex; and I'm experiencing mixed feelings of joy and melancholy as I sing along with Bing and Rosemary and Danny and Vera. I love Christmas...

When Functional Becomes Art

image via simplehomeboheme.tumblr.com

Quote of the Week - Tolstoy

A quiet secluded life in the country, with the possibility of being useful to people to whom it is easy to do good, and who are not accustomed to have it done to them; then work which one hopes may be of some use; then rest, nature, books, music, love for one's neighbor — such is my idea of happiness. 

― Leo Tolstoy

Zara Wool Wrap Coat

I don't really like to wear heavy coats, especially since I spend so much time in my car. I like to be able to maneuver easily behind the wheel, and coats can be so cumbersome. However, I do love this wool wrap coat from Zara. The color is a perfectly undefinable taupe/beige/gray that goes with everything. It reminds me of a really luxurious bathrobe; soft, cozy and unstructured. The shawl collar drapes so beautifully; and I like that it doesn't have buttons and zippers, because I almost never button or zip anything, so why bother having them? Best of all, at 189.00 USD, this coat doesn't bust my budget. Thanks Zara!

Shop Zara | here |

Snickerdoodle Bars

Shara-Lynn Morrison with Cessely Shannon Kelly

SNICKERDOODLE BARS
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 sticks butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 Tbsp cinnamon & 2 Tbsp sugar combined

Glaze
1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
3 Tbsp milk
1/2 tsp vanilla

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter until fluffy. Mix in the sugars and continue creaming. Scrape the bowl and add the eggs and vanilla. Beat for 1-2 minutes. On low speed slowly mix in the flour and baking powder. Spread half of the batter in the bottom of a greased 9x13 pan. Sprinkle the cinnamon/sugar mixture over the batter. Take a small spoon and drop the remaining batter evenly over the cinnamon sugar. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Cool completely. Whisk together the powdered sugar, milk and vanilla for the glaze. Drizzle over the bars.

INDAWO / lifePOD - modular, prefabricated, nano-home

image via elledecor.com

See more photos | here | and read about the fabulous INDAWO/lifePOD, designed by architect Clara Cruz. It's multi-functional, and designed for optimal space-saving, at only 183 square feet! Is this the wave of the future? I would live here in a heartbeat. I wonder if Ralph and Daisy would approve?

Trish Bygott Home

 Photo – Angelita Bonetti via the design files

Weekend Inspiration #4

image via pinterest

Quote of the Week - Paul Simon

I was eating in a Chinese restaurant downtown. There was a dish called Mother and Child Reunion. It's chicken and eggs. And I said, I gotta use that one. 
- Paul Simon

And just for fun, listen to Mother and Child Reunion | here |

Paul Simon - image via www.paulsimon.com

I Wanna Be A Cowboy

Part 2 - continued from yesterday's post...

The truth is, I have no idea what motivates people to make the choices they make. For the most part, I'm referring to choices of a more stylistic nature; not what motivates a person to choose the life of a terrorist, or a serial killer. I leave that to the psychiatric professionals. However, I have my theories about the more frivolous stuff; and I will use myself as a guinea pig...

When I was a kid, I wanted to be a cowboy. Yes; a cowboy. I wanted to ride a horse on the range all day, sing lonely cowboy songs around the campfire in the evening, and sleep under the stars at night. No matter that I was a girl, and that I was born a hundred years too late.

I lived in Memphis TN, and I didn't know any cowboys; so why would I want to grow up to be a cowboy? Two things; my dad used to tell me vivid stories about life in the old West. He was (and still is) an American history buff, and I think being a cowboy must have been on his bucket list too. The other thing was television; Bonanza; Gunsmoke; The Rifleman; Wagon Train; Davy Crockett. Westerns were a popular genre in the fifties and early sixties. With only three channels, there wasn't a lot of variety; and I certainly had no desire to be June Cleaver or Lawrence Welk; so cowboy it was.

Then one day, I hung up my guns and started junior high. On the first day of school, I was feeling quite grown up in my pleated plaid skirt, saddle oxfords and twisted ankle socks. Then a group of "cool" girls walked by. They were wearing pencil skirts, and pointy-toed flats with no socks. Their hair was teased, sleek, and flipped up on the ends. Suddenly, I felt like a five year old.

That evening, I asked Mom to take me shopping. We went to the local department store, where I bought a pencil skirt, pointy-toed flats, and a fuzzy pink mohair sweater; no socks. I got a "ratting" comb, grew my hair longer, and flipped the ends up. By December, I was reading Teen and Glamour magazines, and following the popular trends with the rest of the girls.

The British Invasion brought Mod fashions across the pond. Mini dresses and go-go boots were the rage. Jean Shrimpton became my new style muse. I watched her TV commercials for Yardley and took notes. In 1968, the movie Romeo and Juliet was released; the one with Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting. I began wearing velvet dresses with satin ribbons and puffy "Juliet" sleeves. In the early seventies, I wore my hair long, straight and parted in the middle, like Ali MacGraw's in Love Story; and dreamed of going to an Ivy League college and cruising around Boston in an MG convertible.

In a less superficial vein, I developed a lifelong appreciation for reading, thanks to an enthusiastic school librarian; and my high school art teacher was my first inspiration for pursuing an artistic career. A field trip to the symphony spurred an appreciation for classical music. And the school cafeteria launched an unfortunate love affair with big, fluffy yeast rolls that has confounded my attempts to lose weight later in life; proving that all choices are not necessarily wise ones.

But what about choices of conscience? What motivates us to make choices based on our sense of morality? Good and bad; right or wrong? And why don't we all have the same set of beliefs? Again, this one is fodder for the experts... 

I think for the majority of us, our choices moral and otherwise are greatly influenced by our parents; friends and peers; teachers; people we admire; religion; politics; celebrities; the media; advertising, etc. We are elevated to a higher plane of existence by great literature, art, and music, created by gifted people who are inspired by other gifted people. We are influenced by all of the wonderful, and sometimes not so wonderful, things that life on this planet has to offer. Then we use our abilities to think and reason, combined with our personal life experiences, to develop into the unique individuals that we are.

Our lives are a sum total of the choices we have made.
- Wayne Dyer

Quote of the Week

image via sunfrogshirts.com 

Shop this tee shirt | here | at Sun Frog Shirts

You'll (Probably) Never Find a Camel Living in the Rainforest

While all animals have distinct differences, it is obvious that human beings are distinctly different from other animals; and the two things that distinguish them most from other animals are the ability to choose, and a conscience.

Desert animals live in the desert; they just do. You won't find a camel living in the rain forest unless a human being puts it there. (and why would you do that?) Kangaroos live in Australia; flightless cormorants in the Galapagos. But we humans have the ability to choose where we live. We can be born in Arizona, decide to move to Sweden; and eventually settle down in New Zealand if we want to.

A carnivorous lion will never eat eucalyptus leaves for dinner; nor will a koala ever pass on the eucalyptus leaves to stalk an antelope. On the other hand, some humans choose to eat meat, and others do not. Some feel that their meal is incomplete without a big slab of meat on their plate. Others may choose to be vegetarians because they love animals; or they avoid meat for health reasons; or religious reasons; or because they just prefer vegetables. I know vegetarians who hate green vegetables, but live on potatoes, cereal, ramen noodles, and tofu doused in organic barbeque sauce, simply because they think being a vegetarian is cooler than being a meat eater.

The ability to choose doesn't end with where we live or what we eat. We are the only animals that choose to wear clothing. (Well, I have seen dogs in sweaters, but I don't think they picked them out) And not only do we choose to wear clothing for warmth, and the sake of modesty, we use our clothes to express our personal style. I mean, if we were just dressing to cover our nakedness, we would all be wearing sack dresses and loincloths, right?

But the major difference between human beings and other animals? Humans have a conscience; the ability to distinguish right from wrong. the capacity to feel guilt and remorse. Our conscience informs our moral judgement, based on thinking and reasoning. We can choose to live a moral life; or not. We can choose to adhere to the laws created by society; or not. We can choose to worship a divine power; or not. We choose, because we can.  But what motivates our choices?

This is part one of a two part post. Read part two tomorrow - I Wanna Be A Cowboy.

Vrai & Oro - Quality, Simplicity, Transparency

These delicate, gold rings from Vrai & Oro are so beautiful! Even though the designs are minimal and understated, they pack a powerful punch, stylistically speaking. By the way, Vrai & Oro means truth (in French) and gold (in Spanish and Italian). 

Check out the Vrai & Oro website | here | 

double stacked diamond line ring - 14k gold

diamond line ring - 14k gold

inner truth - tourmaline & 14k gold ring - designed by satsuki shibuya

inner truth - detail

Parisian Apartment - decor by Regis Larroque

photo; Regis Larroque via domainehome.com

How better to display a grouping of small, unframed photographs than to just stick them on the wall in an ever-changing, ever-growing, asymmetric, amorphic mass? This is genius! The entire collection becomes a work of art! 

This fabulous apartment in Paris was designed by Regis Larroque. It's a study in quiet, sophisticated elegance. Do you see a pattern? Like, I love bright, airy, minimally decorated spaces? And I adore Paris? Parisian apartments tend to be artistically curated, and yet totally relaxed and livable at the same time. There's not that overly-thought-out sense of perfectly matched styles, patterns and colors that you often see in US design magazines. They don't look like they were decorated from a big box store in three months. 

Tour the rest of the apartment | here | at domainehome.com. And see more of designer, Regis Larroque's amazing decors | here | at yellowtrace.com.

Killer Queen

click…click…click…she keeps Moet et Chandon…in her pretty cabinet…’Let them eat cake’ she says...just like Marie Antoinette…

And so begins the song Killer Queen, my favorite song by Queen. Why? Because long, long ago, in one of my previous incarnations, in a galaxy far, far away, called New York City, "Killer Queen" was the nickname given to me by my fabulous drag-queen friends. We’d just seen Queen at Madison Square Garden. I was young; I was hot; I was a fox. All of the straight men wanted me, and all of the gay men wanted to be me. Really? I have no idea. But that’s the way I like to remember it..:)

I lived in a minuscule apartment, in a scary neighborhood, with a succession of psycho roommates; knee-deep in sequined dresses and platform shoes. I had quirky parties, and held court wearing a Japanese wedding kimono and a rhinestone tiara. I served goldfish crackers and cheap wine to my guests, by candlelight; because "everyone looks attractive by candlelight.” I didn’t have a pretty cabinet, but I did have a refrigerator painted with hot pink, automotive paint. There wasn't any Moet et Chandon in my fridge, and to be honest, if there was cake, I was probably the one eating it.

I remember those years fondly, albeit, through the misty, watercolored, progressive lenses of middle age. I was so broke; and yet so glamorous. I worked all day at my dull, low-paying job, barely making enough money to make ends meet. But in the evening, I was the Killer Queen. I painted my face with glitter, slipped into silk and feathers and mile high shoes, and hit the dance floor. Sometimes, I literally hit the dance floor; I broke my foot twice.

At the end of the evening, we'd go to Katz's Deli, eat pastrami sandwiches, drink lots of coffee to quell the inevitable hangover, and then watch the sunrise as we limped back to the hood. We thought it would last forever.

But eventually, we grew up, got real jobs and moved on. Still occasionally, like this morning while I was driving to CVS to pick up my Lisinopril, I turn on the radio and hear click…click…click…, and I crank up the volume and sing along with Freddie. Good times...

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

image via dreamywhitesonline.com

Weekend Inspiration #3

Your mind will answer most questions if you learn to relax and wait for the answer.

- William S. Burroughs

image via designsponge.com

Be the change you want to see in the world.

- Mahatma Gandhi

As the new year begins, there are things about myself that I feel I must closely examine. Many of those things are awesome and wonderful, but others are not so appealing. I won't go into it because, if you know me, you already know what I'm like; and if you don't know me, then I'd rather not toot my own horn...or bore you with my shortcomings. Suffice it to say, I'm not perfect...

Because of my faults, I'm not in the position to preach; but then, who really is? People preach and teach and lecture all the time. They write books and make videos about how to behave. Are they without faults? Are they perfect? No.

Quote of the Week - Marcel Proust

No sooner had the warm liquid mixed with the crumbs touched my palate than a shudder ran through me and I stopped, intent upon the extraordinary thing that was happening to me. An exquisite pleasure had invaded my senses, something isolated, detached, with no suggestion of its origin. And at once the vicissitudes of life had become indifferent to me, its disasters innocuous, its brevity illusory – this new sensation having had on me the effect which love has of filling me with a precious essence; or rather this essence was not in me it was me. ... Whence did it come? What did it mean? How could I seize and apprehend it? ... And suddenly the memory revealed itself. The taste was that of the little piece of madeleine which on Sunday mornings at Combray (because on those mornings I did not go out before mass), when I went to say good morning to her in her bedroom, my aunt Léonie used to give me, dipping it first in her own cup of tea or tisane. The sight of the little madeleine had recalled nothing to my mind before I tasted it. And all from my cup of tea.

—Marcel Proust, In Search of Lost Time

image via davidlebovitz.com

Parisian Inspired Kitchen, and Lemon Glazed Madeleines; oui se il vous plaît!

image credit - Byggfabriken

image via davidlebovitz.com

Crisp; clean; white; minimal decor; and those beautiful, herringbone floors. My kind of kitchen, a la Parisian. Perfect for whipping up a batch of David Lebovitz's  glorious, buttery, lemon glazed madeleines!

see more kitchen inspiration | here | at the kitchn

and -

see David Lebovitz's recipe for lemon glazed madeleines | here |

Nili Lotan

image via cnn.com  -  Lotan's dress to celebrate Bob Dylan's 70th birthday features a portrait by Michael Ochs

Nili Lotan in CNN article | here |

See Garance Dore's visit with Nili Lotan | here |

See Nili Lotan's website | here |

image via nililotan.com

image via nililotan.com

Elizabeth Suzann - simple, utilitarian, beautiful!

Elizabeth Suzann is a self-taught clothing designer living and working in Nashville, Tennessee. She started Elizabeth Suzann in 2013, aiming to create the kind of wardrobe staples that are simple, utilitarian and beautiful. Her studio is an old warehouse, and the line is designed and produced in Nashville by a team of eight.

If you know me at all, you know that my personal style is very minimal, and comprised mostly of black and neutrals. Needless to say, these pieces are just my style!

Shop Elizabeth Suzann | here |

Choices vs. Instincts

Basically, every living creature enters the world as a blank slate. I'm no expert on animal behavior, but it seems to me that humans are the only beings that develop using discretionary skills rather than simply relying on natural born instinct. 

I mean, a tiger doesn't wake up one morning, decide to spare the buffalo for humanitarian reasons, and become a vegan. And, dogs instinctively know how to treat mineral deficiencies by eating their poop, whereas, humans have clearly figured out a better way. While other animals just do what they do without questioning why, human beings ponder the possibilities.

I do believe that, even though we are a species that thinks and reasons, we also have "gut" feelings. Some things we just KNOW are right or wrong. However, unlike other species, we often act counter-intuitively to our gut feelings. Interesting, yes? So how and why do we complex beings become who we are?

In the beginning, whether we like it or not, we are influenced by the people we're around most; mainly our parents. Then at some point, usually when we reach puberty, we rebel against everything our parents, and adults in general, represent. We switch our allegiances over to friends, peers, gurus, mentors, celebrities, etc.. Eventually we grow up, mellow out, get our bearings, start thinking for ourselves, and hunker down somewhere between faded youth and fuddy duddy. 

Sometimes I think I have finally become my mother. Don't get me wrong, Mom was a wonderful person, and I loved her very much. But when I was younger we disagreed about, well, almost everything. Now, more often than not, I understand exactly where she was coming from. Curious; did I choose to be like her, or did I instinctively develop into her mini-me? I wonder...

One's philosophy is not best expressed in words; it is expressed in the choices one makes... and the choices we make are ultimately our responsibility. 

- Eleanor Roosevelt

Trust your instinct to the end, though you can render no reason.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Elegance, Class, Sophistication, Glamour, Chic and STYLE

This post is the sixth (and final) in a series about elegance, class, sophistication, glamour, chic, and style; words that are often used interchangeably when referring to attractive, well-dressed people, but which don't necessarily mean the same thing. Today, I'm going to talk about style...

Style: The basic defining characteristics of a person, everything from talk, dress, hairstyle, demeanor, etc.

Finally; something we ALL have. Everybody has some kind of style; and it doesn't have to be elegant, classy, sophisticated, glamorous, or chic. We tend to think of style as something attractive, but it can just as easily be something...well...not so appealing. A few years ago, Chrysler introduced a commercial during the Super Bowl called, "Whatever Happened to Style?" When I watch people playing with their iPhones at the dinner table, or see some of the get-ups that pass for fashion these days, I ask the same question. In my opinion, we have strayed from basic, good etiquette, and are generally way too casual and comfortable in manners of dressing. Do you agree? Or am I just being a fuddy-duddy? 

Watch "Whatever Happened to Style" | here |

All of the women below are known for, among other things, their unique sense of style. As you can see from the photos, style can vary from classy and sublime to ridiculous and vulgar.

Who are your style inspirations? Can you describe your own personal style?

Robin Wright - image via stylebistro.com

Kate Middleton - image via eonline.com

Tilda Swinton - image via nymag.com

Kate Moss - image via glamourmagazine.co.uk

Kim Kardashian - image via eonline.com

Lady Gaga - image via billboard.com

Miley Cyrus - image via examiner.com