My Entry to the Seventh Decade!!!

So, I turned the big 60 yesterday. Go me!!! Despite colonoscopies, fire alarms at work, and the stupidity of the Homeowners Association of the condo I rent out to a long term tenant, I have made it alive!!!

Let's start with last week. On Monday, this is what I wore:

This is a pearl trimmed cardigan from INC. I have had it for about 10 years, but it hasn't gotten much love lately. I am wearing it over a black INC sleeveless sheath dress.

Here's a better look at the trim. It is pretty lush, and no necklace is needed.

My crystal trimmed shoes are Badgely Mischka.

On Tuesday, I went to a postponed holiday party. I wore another INC outfit. The skirt had vertical lurex stripes, and the top has cold shoulders.

The necklaces are both costume. I bought the maroon one for another outfit, but it really matched this one well.

On Wednesday, it was time to donate another unit of blood. I wore this wrap dress. Although it looks very nice, the wrap doesn't go all the way around like the pricier ones do, so I had to be extra careful getting up and down.

I wore my black coral necklace, another gold necklace, my Hermes CDC, and some garnet bracelets.

 On Thursday, Doc was at work, so I made a rather sad attempt to prop my phone up to take a selfie. Obviously, more practice is needed. I wore a cashmere sweater dress and my favorite grey suede boots, which have also been ignored this year.

Along with this, a silver herringbone chain and a garnet cluster necklace.

The office had a little party for me - balloons on the ceiling, food from Fortune Cookie, and a gigantic chocolate cake.

Here was their gift to me - a giant bottle of vodka.

When I got home, Doc had gotten me another gigantic gift - a huge bunch of flowers.

Yesterday, we had dinner at Maggiano's, an Italian restaurant. They still have the buy one, take one home deal. I had spaghetti with meat sauce (their sauce is my all time favorite) and Doc had Beef Al Forno. We also had a Maggiano's salad - lettuce, blue cheese, red onions and creamy Italian drssing.

We took home another spaghetti with meat sauce and chicken alfredo. They also gave us a giant piece of chocolate fudge and caramel cake.

I did my hair on Saturday, and although it's darker than I wanted, it is something different for a change. Today, it's back to work - I am wearing a Tommy Hilfiger knit dress.

In the closeup, you can see that it's navy, with horizontal textured lurex stripes.  I wore three necklaces - two were sapphire and one was a KJL miniature Faberge egg.

On top, I wore my Bloomingdale's warmup jacket - it has white trim and gold hardware.

My first Birchbox of 2019 arrived on Friday.

From top to bottom:
1) Estee Lauder Revitalizing Supreme Plus Global Anti-Aging Cell Power Creme
2) Model Co Baked Highlighter in Moonshine
3) Sand and Sky Australian Pink Clay Pore Refining Mask
4) Beautaniq Nourishing Mascara
5) Manna Kandar Lip Oil
6) Fab Me - The Mother of All Hair Treatments


And that's about it for this episode. I Kon Mari'd my workout tape collection this weekend. Whenever I have a few minutes, I am going to Kon Mari more of my excess of possessions and give away the stuff I don't use or wear anymore. I have so much, mostly because I like shopping and my size hasn't changed much. So some will no longer spark joy and gots to go.


See you all soon !!!

The Most Horrible Time of the Year !!!

Please sing this just like the Christmas carol, "The Most Wonderful Time of The Year". I am about to go on a rant. I had my colonoscopy last Tuesday. It went well, but I was so terrified of the anesthesia that I was sobbing uncontrollably while awake, and the poor doctors kept asking me why my blood pressure was so high. Terror will do that to you. Even though my family is wrapped around the medical profession, I am so OVER the routine exams and testing. Not to mention the prep for the colonoscopy - the capacity of the human body never ceases to amaze me.

So this is what I wore for my liquid diet - I made it until 2PM, at which point I had to go home and finish the agony.

I got this designer-inspired Carole Little jacket at a charity shop while waiting for Doc in San Diego last week. The sparkly things are square silver studs.

This is a dress by Donna Morgan - the inset is satin, and it has a satin bow at the empire waist.

I wore my mom's jet and clear crystal KJL necklace. It was a perfect match.

I was not at work on Tuesday, obviously. I did an experiment, and I lost 6 pounds due to the testing prep. My abdomen was concave. My first meal was egg noodles with butter and Parmesan cheese. It was heaven. But nothing beats that first cup of water when you wake up.

So this is what I wore the next day, Wednesday:

This dress is from INC and I love it - it is perfect for those days when comfort is key.

I always wear garnets or rubies with this. My velvet belt from Talbot's was perfect. I could actually spin it around my waist. A few burritos later, I am back to fighting form.

The weekend was quiet. But one of my coworkers brought a king cake to work. If you get a baby in your piece, then you have to bring a Mexican dish on February 2. I am going to make chilaquiles, since I got a baby.

I had a couple of pieces of my mom's jewelry that had broken and needed to be repaired. I could not find the supplies at Hobby Lobby, but I did find them Michael's.

This Joan Rivers convertible piece needed a new strand of pearls.

This sweet costume bracelet was missing a few crystals. The color was hard to match, but I finally found some.

Back to work on Monday. This is what I wore on January 14:

This suede jacket is one of those washable numbers that were so popular at Nordstrom a long time ago. I have another suede jacket that is the same color, from Pamela McCoy, and I usually reach for that one, due to the cut. But I picked this one today, to see if I should keep it. Lo and behold, these super cool pants were hanging on the same hanger with it. More details below.

Underneath, I wore my trusty black cashmere turtleneck and a chiffon top that is meant for summer, but it worked in this getup.

I wore my purple Austrian crystals and a round diamond solitaire that is encircled by a gold bezel.

Shoot - I wish this picture had come out better. The pants have lace insets from the knees down, and the lining is hot pink.

So this week, it has been pouring rain in SoCal. We need it soooo bad, but with the fires of last year and several years of drought, there is lots of flooding and leaking roofs. Fortunately, not at Casa de Holtzman. This is what I wore on Tuesday;

This is a purple wool jacket from Saville that my MIL, Mimi, gave me. I wore it with plain black ponte slacks, a maroon turtleneck (that has shrunk so it's too short), and a polyester scarf print top.

I didn't have to iron any of these items, and that's more than okay with me. I wore two large light purple amethyst pendants.

Yesterday, it poured all day long. But that did me a chance to wear my two Christmas gifts to myself:

These are the famous pirate boots that I wore to my brother's Christmas dinner, only this time, uncuffed to that my legs were completely covered in leather.

I wore a Liz Claiborne dress with a pleated hem that is about 8" on the bottom of the shift. It has a low waist.

 Here's how the boots look cuffed. I was nice and warm and dry.

On top, the softest sweater ever!! It is a baseball style, from Fendi. I am a huge lover of logo wear.

Here's an outfit from last week that I forgot to include. It is tried and true.

This is a Gucci skirt that is sort of a tiny houndstooth. It has a gold tone horsebit and a strip of leather at the waist.

The jacket is St John Santana knit. It has flat silver studs all along the lapels and the pocket flaps. It also has gorgeous buttons. They are pearl with rhinestones all around. I need to take it to the tailor to get them secured - they weigh a lot, and the threads are stretching. 

Today, Doc is at work, so I don't have a photographer. But I am wearing another Donna Morgan dress that is a black and tan paisley with ruching. It's fully lined, and it's very flattering.

On top, my trusty Escada blazer. The body is fine wool, and the sleeves are ribbed knit.

Speaking of gifts, one of my friends gave me a belated Xmas gift:

Chocolates and cherry peppers!!! Doc loves the peppers - they are the Italian type that aren't super hot.

I also got myself something - when I rearranged the furniture a couple of weeks ago, it turned out that I had a few little pots with no plants in them.

So I got an anthurium, an aloe, a cactus and a succulent. I think it's adorable.

I also got my Ipsy bag :

From left to right:
1) Tarte Amazonian Clay 12 Hour Full Coverage Foundation - I had used Chanel Les Beiges for a few years, then I cheaped out and got some L'Oreal. It's not the same. But I will try this one before I go back to my beloved Chanel.
2) The Balm Alternative Rock combination blush an shadow in Stevie Nickel - it can be used as either blush or shadow. I have used it as both. I like it better than the bright red cream one I have been using.
3) Hempz Lips Ultra Moisturizing Herbal Lip Balm
4) hola neon Long Lasting Matte lipgloss. We'll try this later. I just opened a new lipstick, so it will take me a while to get around to this.
5) Billion Dollar Brushes Blender - sooooo soft!!

And that's about all - tonight, I am going to the Board meeting at my rental condo - they are still stalling over fixing my floor that they damaged. I will be raging. It should be fun.