Holiday Fashion Guide

The month of December is most obviously one of the busiest times of the year, where my social calendar is packed with festive get-togethers, holiday shopping, and spiked eggnog around every turn.  The last thing I want to worry about is what to wear at the last minute, so I’ve put together some holiday fashion inspiration, to keep me focused despite the chaos.

Holiday Lunch:
Whether it’s an upscale lunch with friends downtown, or a swanky client lunch for work, a head to toe look with winter white is chic, and simple to pull together.  Look for a creamy white in luxe fabrics like silk, silk-cashmere blends, and cashmere.  These fabrics will keep you warm in chilly weather, and the fabric will drape in a really pretty way.  One thing to be cautious of is cheap fabrics – since it’s a monocromatic look, poor quality will be very easy to spot.  Also, when doing all white, do not go for anything too form fitting.  It will accentuate every flaw, and nothing looks cheaper than tight, white clothing.

Holiday Lunch

Moschino wool shirt / Tulle Clothing / 3.1 Phillip Lim / Vince Camuto taupe high heels / Estée Lauder lip makeup, $29

Office Holiday Party:
You may be attending a fancy dinner or cocktail hour for your Office holiday party, but do not forget for a moment that you are with co-workers, and you are still essentially “at work.”  This means, if you wouldn’t wear it in front of your grandmother, then you shouldn’t be wearing it at all.  A good rule of thumb: nothing too low (ie: cleavage bearing), nothing too short (your skirt shouldn’t be more than 3″ above the knee), and nothing too tight (this is pretty self explanatory).  A classic red sheath dress is still festive and feminine, classic pearl accessories will pop against the bright color, and a little leopard clutch never hurt anyone.  Trust me when I say, nearly every office has that one person who is going to break out the too short, backless ensemble – do not be that person!

Office Holiday Party

Roksanda Ilincic wool crepe dress, $1,255 / Forever New , $94 / B Brian Atwood peep toe pumps / Dorothy Perkins clutch handbag / Kate Spade pearl necklace / Majorica pearl jewelry

Christmas Shopping
I think we’ve all made this mistake before – wearing your very cutest “It’s Christmas-time in the City” outfit to hit the stores, only to regret those stiletto boots an hour into your shopping expedition.  If you haven’t, you are one of the lucky ones, but take it from me – there is NOTHING worse than aching feet, when tromping from store to store.  Comfort is key – flat or nearly flat boots with good support will be your best friend, and I am a huge fan of leggings with a long tunic sweater or sweater dress.  You will be super comfortable, and chic enough to stop into Nieman’s for a quick latte mid-day.

Christmas Shopping

Fat Face knit top, $72 / Green coat / Oasis legging, $18 / Clarks high heel shoes / Barbour leather satchel handbag, $320 / Dolce&Gabbana dolce gabbana, $515 / Estée Lauder lip makeup, $29

Christmas Dinner
I know a lot of people who spend Christmas Day in their pajamas, and everyone wears their elastic waist pants to dinner.  If that’s your family, you can skip this part, because I am a firm believer in making Christmas dinner a special event.  Evening gowns not required, but I think a cute sweater dress, patterned lace tights, and a pair of these gold capped pumps would make the perfect ensemble to gather with family, open gifts, and eat a delicious meal together.  It’s church appropriate, comfortable enough to get through plenty of that roast, and the tights will help save your legs from the cold during the annual after dinner walk through the neighborhood to see the lights.

Christmas Dinner

rag & bone long sleeve dress / Hooded cape coat / Forever 21 patterned tight / Mango cap toe pumps, $115 / Hermès yellow gold bangle bracelet / Alexis Bittar gold bangle / Love Rocks chunky necklace / Enamel jewelry

Weekend Recap

The holidays have arrived at our house – at least partially!

I had grand plans to get all of our holiday decor up over the weekend, but that changed as soon as the stormy weather hit.  Like a spell, all I wanted to do was hibernate under a blanket with my new US Magazine (Jessica Simpson is pregnant again?!) and a marathon of Honey BooBoo.  It was amazing.

Despite the fact that I stayed in sweats for the vast majority of the weekend, I did manage to get SOME of the Christmas decorations put up.

Case in point – my pretty boxwood wreath!

Isn’t it just lovely??

I got some pretty gold ribbon, and hung the wreath from the curtain rod to avoid putting more holes in the wall.  As a side note, wouldn’t it be lovely if our dining room had beautiful double windows like this? Alas, it’s just a reflection from our floor to ceiling mirror.

While most of my ornaments are still in storage, I had a few new ones from my mama, that have made their way into a few small bowls in the living room.  And if you look REAL close, you can see the reflection of me… in my sweats.  Shocking, eh?

My honey came home on Friday with some red roses, that looked very Christmas-y next to the ornaments and some greenery.  The greenery is actually from a tree on our street that blew down in the storm – it was REALLY windy, to say the least.

And our tree – we managed to get out of the house after the storm passed. We get our tree from the school around the corner from our house, and walk it back home like true city dwellers.

Now, I’m not sure if the Noble Fir weighs significantly more than the Douglas Fir that we normally get, or if this tree was completely waterlogged after three days of rain, but it was HEAVY.  No joke – this thing is probably close to 100 lbs.  Luckily we got it home, up the stairs, and into our apartment without killing each other, and after a few tries, finally got it straight in the stand.  Fingers crossed I don’t come home tonight to find it toppled over like last year.

I am happy that the rain has passed, and that our house is starting to look (and feel) like Christmas!

Happy Monday!

Frugal Finds – Live Boxwood Wreath

On the note of Christmas decor, look what I found today at Trader Joes…

A beautiful live boxwood wreath!!

And guess how much this cost??  Ten bucks!  Can you believe it??  They were selling live boxwood wreaths at the Christmas Tree lot near my house, and they were going for $50.  I think I’ll go back tomorrow and grab a few more before they are all gone!

The photo above is the inspiration for how I plan to hang the wreath… perhaps it will hang inside our dining room window, or against the large mirror in the living room…. I am so excited to find some pretty velvet ribbon and hang this bad boy up!!

Hurry, go snatch up all the $10 boxwood wreaths you can find!

Christmas Decor

It’s going to be pouring buckets of rain for the next few days, so my grand plan this weekend is to decorate for the holidays.  Aside from getting a tree, I want to swap out all the fall decor for wintery accessories that look like the holidays while keeping an organic feel.

Where else did I turn for inspiration than Pinterest, that is brimming with crafty, creative ideas.  Some of my favorites??

Well, for starters, I just LOVE these burlap pillows.  I would imagine that these would be fairly easy to replicate with a few letter stencils, fabric paint, and a sponge brush… and Ikea has fabulous linen pillow covers (20″x20″) for just $6!

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I also love the look of these gifts, wrapped up in plain brown butcher paper, and decked out with red ribben, buttons, bows, and berries.  Unique, and pretty.

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These paper wrapped ornaments are another simple project, and could also double as gift tags on a present!  Tear up yesterday’s newspaper, bust out the modge podge, and finish with glitter!  Easy!

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I imagine that this pretty boxwood wreath would be much easier to buy than to make, and I love the simplicity of it.  I envision a few of these hanging in our windows this year.

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And finally, how pretty and simple is this winter white vignette.  I may head out to the store right now for a pair of mini Christmas trees, and fake snow!

The Smells of Christmas

Now that Thanksgiving has passed, I can really focus on getting excited for the holidays!

We don’t have a tree yet, and all our Christmas decor is still packed away in boxes, but it already smells like Christmas at our house!  You know what smell I am talking about… cinnamon, and spice (and everything nice).

Williams Sonoma has mastered this smell – walk into any of their stores and you’ll know what I’m talking about.  Luckily, the recipe could not be easier!

Boil a pot of water, add two sliced lemons, three tablespoons of vanilla, one teaspoon of cinnamon, and half a teaspoon of all spice.  Bring this concoction down to a simmer, and let it go all day (or night) long, adding water as needed!

You can also vary the recipe, and include rosemary (as I do sometimes) for a really fresh, clean scent.

Tis the Season!

Fa la la lala, la la laa laaaa!

I have been inundated with holiday parties this year and am just plain worn out (poor me, I know)!  Tonight I am heading home from work early to do laundry and clean the apartment, and honestly I could not be more excited!!  Is that insanely sad?  Oh well!

The above picture is from the Salesforce 2011 Christmas party from last Friday night which proved yet again to be the ultimate in over-the-top, fabulous parties.  Each year, they try to out-do themselves for the most outlandish, original ideas, and this year was nothing short of swanky, urban perfection.

There was such a fabulous bar set up with fiber-optic light sculptures, back-lit bars, and ever flowing champagne poured from none other than the most talented performers Cirque du Soile could spare for the evening.  What party wouldn’t be complete without a performance from Hootie and the Blowfish, or endless platters of corn-dogs?!  Overall, a magical evening – so fun!

Enjoy these gorgeous photos from Orange Photography!


Baby it’s cold outside

I have been so slammed with work this week, and have been out late most nights.  Tonight I am looking forward to getting home, turning the Christmas tree lights on, popping a bottle of wine, and writing out my Christmas cards next to the fire (aka the yule log channel on Kris’s massive big screen).

Doesn’t it just sound delish?!