Someone Spiked the Punch and It Punched a Spike

Looks like I spoke too soon in my last post. In the last two weeks, things have gone crazy. Due to the combination of Memorial Day, the BLM protests, and things opening up, the number of COVID cases has skyrocketed. Most of the new cases are younger people who have relatives/roommates that are positive, are healthcare workers, or have gone to bars and gyms. It's sad.

So let's move on to something more fun - what did I wear? Back on June 16th:

I don't remember if I told you, but I had two Nordstrom gift cards burning a hole in my pocket. So during the short period of calm, I went over to the Rack because they had a sale on top of a sale. Everything ended up being 90% off. So for $50, I got 3 dresses, a pair of shoes, 3 pantyhose, socks and a candle. This is one of the dresses, by Sharagano. It has pirate type lacing detail at the shoulders and pockets.

 The next day, I wore a jungle inspired outfit, so I could wear the new shoes. They are Steve Madden, and are ankle wrap sandals in black, brown and snakeskin with a block heel.

My top is from INC and my skirt is Bisou Bisou.

On Wednesday, June 18th, I wore another Nordy Rack score. This is a knit dress from Betsey Johnson with a pearl embellished collar.

These pearl sandals that I got at the after Christmas sales matched perfectly. I also wore a pink surgical mask at work. Gotta match everything!!!

On Thursday, June 19th, I wore an outfit of old items that hadn't seen much lovin' lately. The pants are from Bebe, and lace up the sides. The chiffon top is from ECI. I will wash it and offer it up to my friends.

Then I had a few days off. On Monday, June 22nd, I wore a sweater dress from Neiman Marcus. It's their in-house brand. The gray shooties are Ivanka Trump.

 
On the 23rd, I wore a purple/tan lace skirt from Lelis and a sweater from Joseph A. I used to always wear this sweater with a blue turtleneck and pants. It turns out that the sweater is actually purple.
This is disturbing because I pride myself on exactly matching, every time !!!

Well, I matched today, anyway.

The next day I wore another fancy skirt, this time made of black ruffles. On top, I wore a tiered tank from Ann Taylor. It is burgundy with a black floral print.

My fancy shoes are Valentino, and are black suede with floral trim. Must. Match.

On top, I wore an eyelet swing jacket from Ann Taylor.

The next day I had to give two back to back presentations, so I decided to try and look like an angel.

This gorgeous top is ivory slub knit with a satin border, made by Ivanka Trump. I got it in Philadelphia last year, at a nice store called Boyd's. The slacks are also really nice and are from a brand called Semantiks.

I was flexing off on Fridays to help with the budget, but due to the surge I am back full time. So on Friday the 26th, I wore a casual Friday look.

The joggers are from Old Navy, and the bolero sweater is from INC. The rust tank is a WalMart purchase, made as I was supposed to be getting dog food.

Since Doc and I feel that it is not safe to eat in restaurants, I have been cooking my little heart out. I have been buying these big bags of boneless, skinless chicken breasts at Aldi and I found the best breaded cutlet recipe in my Betty Crocker cookbook. They are double dipped - flour, egg, breadcrumb, and then pan fried. Aldi is also the only store that always has three bean salad, which Doc loves. I make homemade dressing, also from the BC cookbook.

One Sunday, I made a breakfast feast - bangers, eggs, bacon, hash browns and biscuits. Yum.

My flowers have been doing well, so I made this bouquet.

Doc accidentally kicked our baby Money Tree last month and broke a branch. I retrieved it, put it in a bottle of water, and waited. It grew roots, and so I planted it. Grand Money tree. Now we have Mama, Baby, and Grand Baby.

On one of my runs through HB Central Park (still open thank goodness) I saw this magnificent Great Blue Heron.

I also saw my favorite flock - the sweet little Egyptian Geese. They don't squawk and chase you like the giant white ones.

I saw this sign at work - I think it's cute.

One afternoon, as I was pulling up in front of Casa de Holtzman, I noticed that I had a little stowaway on the front of my car.

It's one of our beautiful giant grasshoppers!!

Our grandson Preston also turned 11 on June 20th. We decided not to attend his beach party, because we are both in healthcare and do not want to risk infecting anyone else. But we sent a check and he will buy either a surfboard or a paddle board with it. He posed in front of his wall of weapons.

More flowers from this weekend.

Well, that's about all for now. I am getting our little galley kitchen remodeled in July. It was a trendy black color, but now I am going to the bright side. I am having the cabinets redone in white, and getting Black Galaxy granite for the counters. We are also redoing the garden window and the lighting. Stay tuned for this project - after that, our little beach bungalow will be completely redone!!

2020 is Halfway Over - The Worst Year Ever Is Passing By

Things are getting back to the new "normal" in life. Stores are open, you can go to the beach, and only the library remains out of reach. We still wear masks, gloves, and eyewear whenever we go anywhere that involves other people, but for us, that's really the only change since we don't go out that much anyway. I still have little bouts of anxiety about getting COVID and the whole situation in general, but they aren't as bad or as frequent as they were at the beginning of all this. At the hospital, we are flexing off to help the budget, so I have been taking Fridays off, and I do like that part.

Onto the duds. After the long Memorial Day weekend, on May 26th,

I wore a very old outfit - the pants have been around for probably 20 years. I got the embellished tank top in La Jolla a long time ago, and the sweater is also ancient.

The sweater has a silk front. This necklace is brown and white diamonds in a teardrop shape.

This cord belt is also very old - I think these were last popular in the 1980s.

The next day, another old sweater - I cleaned out my closet again and several of the things I wore this week were in the "Keep or Donate" category. This one is Misook, and I got a lot of comments that it looked very nautical. I guess so, since I paired it with all white.

Some gold jewelry finished it all up.

The next day, more pants. I hardly ever wear pants three days in a row. These printed pants are from a store called Cache that went out of business long ago. But their clothes were nice and good quality, so I still have many of them. Nice expression on my face.

They have a wide band of lace around the bottom of the legs. On top, a crepe top from Nordstrom.

Two necklaces - one thick costume chain, and the other, a gold coin from the Vatican which belonged to my mom.

Finally, my legs make an appearance!! I didn't feel like ironing, so this jersey knit skirt was the answer.

The top is a sweatshirt type material and is embellished with crystals at the neckline.

On June the 1st, a lot of ironing was needed. This silk top is from Escada, and these pants are from a boutique in Newport Beach called A'Maree's. They are Italian wool. The boutique closed and is now a restaurant called Cano's. Weird transition.

On top, a pale mango colored jacket. It's from Barami and is ottoman knit.

You can see the baroque print on the top in this shot. My necklace is actually a Swarovski piece that has fastenings on the back so it can be worn as a necklace, a pin, or a hair ornament. I always wear it as a necklace - my hair is very fine and since this thing weighs a lot it would just slide right out of my hair.

On June 2nd, an outfit that is probably going to be donated. I wasn't really feeling it. The pants are pale yellow and are actually men's golfing pants if you can believe it.

I don't know what man would wear them, but golfing clothes can be kind of weird.

Once again, I doubled up on the necklaces - the top one is costume, and the bottom one is a rose gold locket that I got for my mom one Mother's Day.

On June 3rd, a dress from H&M. I usually don't try stuff on in the store - I am a pretty regular size, and if it doesn't fit, I just return it. I hardly ever have to do that. In this case, there was a snag in that plan.

This dress was really short. But I have a plain black skirt that I wear under dresses like this. It worked.

I spiffed it up with Dior shoes - everybody likes these shoes.

I got this necklace a long time ago at JC Penney - it still looks nice after many years.

On June 4th, I wore a sweater from Joseph A with plain navy slinky knit slacks. Very comfy.

Two necklaces seems to be my thing. This time, a shorter costume piece with a long gold chain and a miniature Faberge egg pendant from a museum exhibition in San Francisco - my mom and I went up there to see the real Faberge eggs.

On June 8th, I started this work week with an outfit made of pieces that I purchased during my travels all over the place. Except for the dress from Theory. On top, a suede jacket that I got in Hawaii.

My scarf came from a souvenir shop in Truckee, and my shoes were purchased in Las Vegas. They are leopard fabric booties - that sure does sound like shoes from Las Vegas.

On June 9th, I went for comfort again. More slinky knit pants, this time black, and a top of similar material.

A Versace belt and Gucci mules finished this off.

On June 10th, my latest acquisition. I desperately needed new workout pants, so I went to Macy's. They were having a huge sale. I paid a whole $4.93 for this nice heavyweight cardigan.

It has pleather trim at the slash pockets and down the front. No buttons or zipper, but the pockets have zippers. It was worth five bucks. It will replace the Misook that you saw above - that will be donated.

So how about some non-clothing related stuff? Let's get to the cosmetic boxes, since both of them arrived a little early this month. We will start with the June Birchbox:

I guess that tie-dye is back in style. This month's box was yellow tie-dye - my favorite color. Inside, from top to bottom:
1) Daily Concepts Your Facial Microscrubber - a mini loofah that has a pocket for your fingers in the back. I have been using it and I like it.
2) IBY Beauty Radiant Glow Highlighter in Prosecco - a rose gold shade
3) Amika Flash Instant Shine Hair Mask
4) Benefit Chachatint Lip and Cheek Stain
5) Arrow Color Enhancing Lip Balm in Blush - this is the tube that says Boost (I couldn't figure out why). It's like a mood ring - it reacts to your skin's pH and makes a unique shade on everyone.
6) Briogeo Color Me Brilliant Mushroom and Bamboo Color Protect Primer - use before styling.

My Ipsy bag also came and it also features a summery theme.

From top to bottom:
1) Sur Medic Azulene Soothing Creme
2) Pacifica Cheery Gold Highliter and Blush palette
3) Sugar Kohl of Honour Intense Kajal eyeliner in Black Out
4) Eddie Funkhouser Domed Blendign Brush
5) Malin + Goetz Grapefruit Face Cleanser - I have gotten this before and I like it.

On the night of June 1st, the sunset had the most beautiful colors. It was amazing.

On June 3rd, my coworkers gave me the nicest surprise !!! To cheer people up and give them recognition, I have been making an anagram of a particular department and bringing them donuts for the past couple of years. I call it the Performance Improvement Pastry Series. This was put on hold because of all the COVID foofarah.

So they did the same for me !!!

And the front porch got its spring spruce up !!

On May 31st, I got some flowers from the local flower shop to help out their little local business.

I got two bouquets, and split them up around the house.

I also ordered some candles from IKEA months ago, and they finally came. I love their candles.

And that's about it for this episode of my life. Let's hope that things get better in our world, in all ways.