A Wardrobe Staple

There are certain items that are just the building blocks of a wardrobe, at least mine. A navy blazer, a striped boat neck tee, you get the idea. Another absloute staple is the short sleeved cashmere tee. I have several of these but the black one is most certainly the centerpiece. Today I am wearing it over a white turtleneck with gray skirt and tights. Saturday I think I will wear it to pick out our tree over the tartan boy shirt. A short sleeved sweater just can do so many things. Here in Nothern California, where our summers are cool and foggy, they can be worn to the office with skirts and trousers and look polished and puleld together. In the winter they layer over tissue turlenecks and button downs for that extra layer. Truely a cornerstone in my closet. Do you agree?

Gingerbread Hot Chocolate!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Ours was fun and festive. Now however, my thoughts turn to my very favorite holiday of them all. Christmas. When I got to work this morning the office lobby was all decorated and I am looking out my office window at the tree in the Bank of America plaza across the street. Starbucks is filled with their red cups and gingerbread lattes abound. But, having kids, we often experiement with hot choclate recipes. I found this one below for gingerbread hot chocolate in Coastal Living Magazine. Yummy!

Ingredients
1 (1-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
10 whole cloves
2 (3-inch) cinnamon sticks
4 cups whole milk
1/3 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Garnish: mini marshmallows

Preparation
1. Combine first 3 ingredients in an 8- x 10-inch piece of cheesecloth; pull edges together, and tie to secure.
2. Heat milk and spice bundle in a 3-quart heavy saucepan over medium-low heat. Bring just to a simmer. Remove from heat, cover, and steep 30 minutes.
3. Remove spice bundle from milk. Heat milk mixture over medium-low heat until hot. Add brown sugar; cook, stirring constantly, until sugar melts. Add chocolate, stirring until chocolate melts. Stir in vanilla. Serve warm; garnish, if desired.

Being Thankful

I can hardly belive that it is Thanksgiving tomorrow. It seems like this year has just flown by. I have so many things to be truely thankful for. Wishing you all a wonderful holiday and I will see you all next week!

Think Boys, Think

It's 5th grade music time! That's right, yesterday AGB came home with a trumpet. I suppose I shold be thankful, he attends public school and this is not an enrichment program I paid extra for. It's the school 5th grade music program and all 60 5th graders take part. Still, I feel like I need to apologive to my neighbors, "that noise? no there is not a cow in labor in my yard, that's my son and his trumpet". I have visions of Robert Preston in The Music Man standing in front of this group of 5t graders going "think boys, think". Still, learning to play an instrument is a good thing and I also suppose I can think of worse instruments. His best friend was assigned the violin.

My New Favorite Show

I totally love the new ABC series Once Upon a Time. The idea is that the Evil Queen cast a spell that transported the inhabitants of Fairy Tale Land to a small town in the Northeast called Story Brook and none of them remember who they are and none of them are happy. A small boy named Henry, the adopted son of the town's mayor (who happens to be the Evil Queen) is the only one who knows what is going on and how to break the curse. He finds Emma Swan who is his birth mother (and the stolen daughter of Snow White) and tries to convince her to help him break the curse. It's totally fun and fabulous! Have you seen it?

What I decided

In my last post I shared that I was thinking of getting another skirt in the Jcrew 25% off sale. Well, I tohught I would share what I decided. I actually ended up getting none of the skirts I was thinkng about. I received the dreaded cancel email about the green pencil skirt, the blue was just to bright and the camel was sold out in my size. I figured it was the universe's way of telling me I didn't need another skirt. Then, last night as I walked to the train I passed a J Crew store. In the window was a maniquin wearing the flair skirt in the rose print, a red turtleneck sweater and camel coat. I felt faint with desire and rushed home to check the website. The skirt was still there, in my size and I jumped. It's a beautiful print and I can't wait to wear it. I also ordered the cashmere turtleneck in the red to go with it and already have a camel coat. My fall/winter story is really, camel, gray and navy with red touches. This should fit right in.

Decisions, Decisions

I've decided to buy one more skirt during the current J Crew promo. It's 25% off, plu i have my rewards card and 8% with ebates so it seems ot good to pass up. So it's decision time. I'm wanting a great camel skirt since my color story has evloved to be camel, gray, navy and touches of red. So should I get the pencil? It's totally classic

Or should I get the flair. I admit the a-line shape appeals to me more than the pencil which I usually have to buy a size up and have altered because I have hips but a small waist. Still, I worry that this shape will seem dated next year while the pencil will be classic forever. Also, it somehow reminds me of middle school.

Now I totally went nuts and bought the skirt in virideian green. It hasn't shipped yet but I couldn't resist the color.

If I have the green one, do I need the blue one?I missed it the last time it was out and have lusted for it since then. I haven't seen it in person but understand it's really bright. They both seem pretty similar, in that they are statements, in a classic shape. I don't think I can justify both. Which do you like best?

Decisions, Decisions. I may just get the camel pencil and call it good. Do you have any of these? What do you think?

Here puppy, puppy

I've had a rough week at work and thought this might bring a smile to yours (and my) face. Summer is puppy time in hunt kennels. One day during the summer we took CMB's new horse up to our kennel property to ride and start getting him used to hounds. While there we got to play with the new puppies. There are very few things cuter than hound puppies. My daughter, CMB, is in the center with the lemon colored puppy. The other two are our huntsman's kids. Happy Friday!

Manner will Always Matter

Are good old fashion Southern manners going away? The NY Times seems to think so. According to an article found HERE. Although the article was interesting, I refuse to believe it. I think manners will always matter and I am raising my kids with that in mind. Saying "yes, please" and "no, thank you", waiting until everyone is seated before begining a meal, writing a thank you note, standing when a lady leaves the table, and a hundred other small things are what matter. They may seem like an outdated way of behaving but I think how you present yourself and how you treat others is important. The overall mood of the country and the anger I see only serve to reinforce that. Manners and civility are the better course rather than ranting and raving. It's not always easy to do but it always pays off, at least in my experience. I'm going to give you a specific example from my professional life. Two years ago the manager that hired me left for another position and I was shunted about the department and had staff added, then realigned. It was not a good experience. I was always polite and helpful and never refused to do what I was asked. Although it seems like I should have been more angry and forceful the utlimate response was a new manager and a great review commending my positive attitude and grace under a less than ideal situation. Are manners on the way out? Not in my household!

Cousins

I tend to do alot of posts on cousins. My kids have alot of cousins. On Hubby's side they are the youngest and there are 15 cousins older than my kids, the oldest of whom is married with kids. On my side my kids are the oldest and there are only my sisters two. However, we see them the most since we live close. My sister's son and OPB are besties. However, this post is girl cousin based. My daughter, CMB is 8, my sisters little girl E will be 3 next week. They haven't really had alot in common until now. E is finally old enough to ride the pony and CMB loved that. This past weekend we had a race meet on the day before our opening hunt. CMB rode her new horse Dancer and E made her debut on the pony, Baxter. CMB used to ride Baxter but has finally grown to tall. You can see Baxter behind the girls and the trailer. He's totally darling and a great first leadline pony.