Happy New Year!

 

Happy New Years Eve darling readers! I hope you all have fabulous and safe celebrations this evening; I'll see you all back here in 2012. I have a great feeling about the year to come and hope you do as well. XO: Lo

Friday Finds

New Years Dresses! Shopbop is having a great sale on dresses, so I took a peak and rounded up a few great NYE options.

Parker Sequined Camisole Dress

Jill Stuart Ronneby Lesly Dress

Therese Rawsthorne Star Crossed Silk Dress

Rachel Zoe Debbie Grecian Dress

Vince Maxi Dress

Kain Label Simone Dress

Thakoon V Neck Sheath

Shoshanna One Shoulder Dress

Theyskenes' Theory Felda Dress

Obakki Rosa Cross Front Dress

DVF Isadora Dress

Halston Halter Dress

Alice + Olivia Sequin Dress

Alice + Olivia Draped Dress

Ellery Richie Tie Front Dress

Thursday's Tidbit

Um. Can we talk about how awesome Chanel Nail Polish in Peridot is for a minute? Perfect for NYE celebrations.

Exactly

Wed Day

One piece of jewelry you’ll wear everyday - forever - no pressure. Luckily, there are many, many (almost too many) options. My ring is a vintage find from 1920. I was walking home, and wandered past an estate jewelry shop, decided to wander in, and on a whim tried on a bunch of rings. When I tried on the ring that would eventually be mine, my whole hand vibrated, and that was that. I. Needed. That. Ring. It’s funny, I felt stronger about the ring than I did the dress, which I guess is okay since I get to wear it much more often. The next day I dragged the now-hubs down to the shop, in the pouring rain, and showed him the one I liked in case he was maybe-sort-of-thinking of proposing sometime in the near future. Crazy, maybe, but in any case - it worked out. :-)

Good Read

For Christmas I was gifted a Kindle Fire (awesomesauce!) and this first book I bought was "Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?" by Mindy Kaling. I've only just started to read it, but so far it is cleverly written, insightful and entertaining. Mindy presents a wonderfully realistic and funny take on growing up and struggling to met you goals. I completely recommend it.

Tuesday's Tips & Tricks

During the harsh winter months, skin needs a little extra care. I recently discovered this mask by Nude. It's a bit of a splurge, but worth every penny. Use it for soft, smooth moisturized skin. Keeping moisture in your skin is one of the best things you can do to keep a youthful appearance.

Home for the Holidays

Here are a few shots of our Family Christmas in Washington DC with my dad, step-mom and siblings - still in process.

 Tucker - my little sister's hound dog.

 All our stockings, hung by the fire with care.

Our big beautiful tree - do you prefer a real of fake tree?

 Our Christmas Eve Dinner table scape (done by yours truly)

 My dad's cream sauce for the escargot. 

 My little sister's Chess Pie - an old family recipe. 

 Lights on our family's home.

 La Crema Chardonnay - one of my faves - on ice.

 The hubs and I Christmas morning - just woke up, no make up - taking a photo in this "state" seems to have also become a tradition.

Santa after my sister got a hold of him.

Monday's Mantra

Durring this time of excess, I think it can be hard to stay focused of the things that really matter. At the end of the day receiving that perfect ring or gadget doesn't really matter, what matters is having some time set aside each year to spend with those you love. This time of year reminds me how lucky I am, lucky to have a sweet husband, a loving family (including a sister who constantly cracks me up and a brand new baby nephew), and amazing girlfriends that I am always so prod of.

Happy Christmas!

May your days be marry and bright. See you Monday luvies.

I wish it were Christmas today

Friday Finds

It's the night before the night before Christmas! So this Friday I thought I'd share some holiday inspiration I found roaming around the Internets. Happy Holidays!

Travel Tidbit

 

Piazza of Santa Croce, Florence, Italy  decorated for Christmas. I've never been during the holidays, obviously I must go back.

Thursday's Tidbit

The perfect cookie, very important for the holidays - the photo shows examples of not-so perfect cookies and below is an explanation of what causes the problem.

1.  This cookie is done just right. It is pictured to compare with the rest.
2.  This dough was not refrigerated.  It is still good but a little flatter than it should be.
3.  This dough contained too much flour and did not spread much at all. It is interesting to note that the dough looked identical to the correct dough, but was much stiffer and drier.
4.  This dough had too little flour.  It spread too much and didn’t bake evenly.
5.  This dough was over-mixed.  It had a poor color, baked flat and had a strange consistency.
6.  This dough was formed too small.  It was overcooked at eight minutes. It is fine to make smaller cookies, just bake them for less time.
7.  This dough was formed too large.  The outsides were done while the middle was too high and underdone.
8.  This dough was baked in an oven 25 degrees too hot.  The outside was overdone and the inside was slightly underdone.
9.  This dough was baked in an oven 25 degrees too cool.  It fell flat and became too crisp without much of an inside.
10.  This dough was frozen when baked.  It took longer to bake and didn’t cook as evenly.  To use frozen dough, set on cookie sheet at room temperature while oven is preheating, 15-20 minutes.  It takes the frost off and bakes perfectly.

Awe

first dates

Wed Day

Kissing under mistletoe, long walks in crisp air with rosy cheeks, cuddling up under the same blanket, winter is such a romantic time. Maybe even more so than the long hot days of summer. The hubs and I fell in love at this rime of year - it makes the holidays even more special.

Happy Hanukkah

 

This evening is the first night of Hanukkah; families across the globe will be lighting their menorahs, singing the traditional prayers, and exchanging gifts. Having married into a Jewish family, I am now lucky enough to share in this very special time. Being able to celebrate both Hanukkah and Christmas makes this season all the more fulfilling - I look forward to the day when we'll have our own little family and be able to share these traditions with our babies.

 

Quirky decor from Jonathan Adler. 

Lastly, a delicious recipe for latkes.  Yum!

Enjoy :-)

Undergarments

A few more tricks - what to wear under that super cute backless, flimsy, or cut out little number for holiday and NYE parties - courtesy of Refinery29. A great guide here.

Tuesday's Tips & Tricks

 

This is a great demonstration of how to master a smokey eye. The trick is not to be afraid of applying lots of layers - one must just be sure to blend, blend, blend.

Sunday Funday

One of the things I really enjoy is having friends over for sunday brunch. It's a great way to throw a party, imbibe a bit, and still get to bed at a reasonable hour. For brunch this weekend I made a cross between a breakfast casserole and a frittata, it's a go-to crowd pleaser fo sho.

I added greens, onions, goat cheese and bell peppers to a lightly greased pan and seasoned to taste. Then, in a separate dish whip a buch of eggs (the number depends on the amount of folks you'll be serving - I used 8 for this dish), pour eggs over the ingredients in the pan, and bake at 350 degrees until the eggs are no longer runny (15 - 20 minutes ish). You can uses this method with a huge variety of ingredients, last week I whipped up something similar with broccoli, ham, peppers, cheese and green onions.

I also used this brunch to break in our new waffel iron - I'm so happy we registered for one. There is something so comforting and yummy about homemade waffles.

PS: the little snowman jar in the last photo was a gift from my sweet grandma, she painted and fired it herself. It's a holiday decoration that I treasure.

Mondays Mantra

 

Sure is. Happy Monday everybody! 

Happy Weekend

Hope you're having a fantastic weekend. See you Monday; in the meantime, here are a few links I'm loving.

 

A great post on one of my favorite make-up tricks, highlighters!

Such a fun shirt, 'tis the season for sparkles. 

I do love a monogram. 

Mrs. Holiday Punch.

And another holiday toddy.

A hilarious cook book, for the morning after. 

Cheers!

I have a hunch ...

That I might be getting this hot little number for Christmas - I may never take it off.

 Seriously.

Friday Finds

Thirty Dollar Gift Ideas

A beautiful print.

A butterfly.

An hourglass.

Quirky coasters.