A Disastrous Day!!!

Not really. All is well in the land of Holtzman. Our hospital participated in a statewide medical surge disaster drill. Although these drills are extremely important, they are also very time consuming. You basically get nothing else done that day. But it's over, we practiced how to help our community and our patients in the event of a disaster, and now we are back to our regular programming.

On the plus side, today you get to see two outfits - today and yesterday. Let's start with yesterday.

This picture was taken in the morning, before the drill started. My gray slacks are from Nordstrom, the pale blue sweater is a mystery, and the blouse is from Spiegel. I have had this outfit, minus the sweater coat, since the 90s. Here's a picture from after the drill - note the lumps, bumps, and general disarray.

It is actually a very cute outfit. Here's a closeup of the sweater coat. It's made by Style and Co, and I got it at the Macy's in Philadelphia. It has a ribbed waist inset, and a self ruffle all the way around. Once coupons were deducted, it was less than $20.

The pale blue sweater has a very nice detail on the front. It has a vertical panel with three rows of crystals.

Just enough sparkle. I also use the satin sash that came with the pants as a belt around the top of the sweater.

I forget which shoes I wore back in the day. But I was poking through my closet and found these needlepoint maryjanes, and so I wore them.

So that's yesterday. Today, I am copying an outfit that I saw a very chic lady wearing at Harvard. I copied every detail, down to the colors she used and the infinity scarf because she looked so great.

Here's a picture without the red pleather jacket.

The dress is by Pink Rose, and the jacket is a genuine Members Only. There's some nostalgia for you. Of course, I wore grey boots just like my doppelganger. Mine are the now famous Worthington boots from JCP.

I got the infinity scarf at Target. It's a black and white lace print.

On my left arm, I have a pear solitaire with a ruby band, and a costume bracelet with crystals.

On my right arm, I made a matching set of onyx ring and faux onyx cuff. I like how it looks.

Try to ignore those nasty fingernails. They shall be fixed this weekend, along with my nasty hair.

So since I missed linking yesterday, today you get a mega link. First, Alice at www.happinessatmidlife.com is hosting Throwback Thursday. My Members Only definitely qualifies me for that!!! Then Tara at www.mixmatchfashion.com is hosting What I Wore to Work, and I did wear these outfits to work, so I am in on that as well. Lastly, another Tara is hosting Look What I Got at www.pennilesssocialite.blogspot.com. I always like to see what other ladies got!!. So go visit these blogs and have a fun weekend browsing the web!!

All Good Things Must Come To An End

But....one bad thing has also come to an end. I FINALLY found a place that will make reproductions of my portrait of Elli. I tried Kinko's, Art Supply Warehouse, Michael's, and Aaron Brothers. Finally, the ASW suggested that I go to a commercial printer and I found one here in HB. Stay tuned for that.

Now, onto my outfit of the day. Behold.

This jacket is made by Charter Club. It's a swing style with an ombre reptile pattern. The slacks are made by Ralph Lauren. They are rayon and wool and are fully lined. They fit like a dream - now I have black, white, and brown trousers that are top notch in terms of fit and quality. The pictures today all turned out very dark, I guess because of the color. So I had one more shot where I am holding my jacket open (and mildly flashing you) to show more detail.

I was searching for a belt in the wee hours of the morning today, and ended up with this coordinating animal print by Banana Republic.

You can also see my burnout T shirt here. I won't be removing my jacket at work, so this is all you will see of it. It's a tad transparent between the cloudy-looking things. For my necklace, I wore a piece that I sadly, yet unintentionally ignore. It's a freshwater pearl torsade, also in ombre tones of brown.

In this shot, you can see the jacket pattern better, and also the cool clasp - it's a gold ring with a tortoise bar that fits through it. And of course, my Swarovski duo looks fabulous with this, so of course, I wore it. I will wear this anytime I can, because I love it so much.

On my left hand, I have my wedding rings and a bracelet that I got as a souvenir in Truckee.

Now, the reason for the title of this post. One of my favorite pairs of shoes is biting the dust, and it's obvious that they can't be fixed. They are my brown 9 West maryjanes that I got at JC Penney probably 7 years ago.

I have worn them alot, but now they have a rip on the side of one, and a rip on the top of the other. So I will be looking for a replacement pair this Black Friday.

Enough mourning, onto the links. First, www.thepleatedpoppy.com for What I Wore, then www.cappucinoandfashion.com for another What I Wore. So what did you wear??? Go over to these cool sites and let everyone know!!! Until later, my friends.

So Let's Bungle In the Jungle !!!

Where to start?? Well, let's start with last Friday. It was payday, and sometimes you just get an itch to buy someone a present. So I did.

I got all 3 puppers new Xmas stockings. I need to get some puff paint and put their names on them. I also got Elli two shirts, one of which you see here. The baby bottle is for Calista, given to me by a coworker who had a baby boy, and didn't want the pink bottle. I convinced Elli to model her other new shirt.

Try to ignore the fact that she's standing on the toilet. That was the entire excitement for Friday. $6 at the Dollar Tree - I guess it doesn't take much to excite me. But, on Saturday, oh boy. We went to lunch with my mom. She wanted to take us out for Doc's belated birthday. We went to King's Fish House. I had wedge salad and a hand roll trio. They both had fish and chips. For this gala event, I dressed like a stumpy midget cossack.

The sweater is by Peck and Peck (Stein Mart), the pants are part of a satin warmup set by White House, Black Market, and the boots are the Target/Sam and Libby boots of awesomeness. Of course, I wore my black coral necklace.

So after that thrill, we just went home and relaxed, since Doc is still recovering. Then, during the night, the Santa Ana winds kicked up big time. I woke up with a HUGE mess on the lawn. I filled up 7 bags of pine needles. It happens about once a year, and I figure it's nature's way of trimming the trees.

Now for the real excitement. Yesterday, I played hooky, and we went for a little road trip. Guess where we went?

You can't really see, but it's the Dr Phil show studio!!! There is a big mural on the wall. It's by Robert Wyland.

We were VIP guests, since my friend's son is a casting manager at CBS, and he got tickets for us. We sat in the front row for one show, but in the back for the first show, since we arrived late due to traffic. It was very interesting, and I will be looking a the site to see when the shows air. In the meantime, I dressed up the office crow with some goodies.

So onto today, and the theme of this post. Oh yes, I am once again wearing animal print. Take a peek.

This plastic reptile jacket was purchased in Vancouver. We went there for vacation in August one year, and since I didn't bring a jacket, I bought one. The dress underneath is by Theory. Here are two detail shots of this cute little number, which can be worn alone, or as a jumper, as I have done here with a bronze lurex turtleneck under it.

It has some very intricate seaming along the sides and front, which give it a darling bell shape. It is thick ponte knit with an ottoman texture. When I saw it in the store, it struck me as boring, but once I tried it on, the deal was sealed. The neutral color allowed me to wear my Forever 21 booties. I got them for $5.98 at last year's Black Friday sales. This is why I love Black Friday.

I also wore my Austrian crystal pin/hairclip/pendant that I got at Nordstrom. It has clips in the back so you can use it in several ways.

So that's it for today, except for the links. As always, www.stylelixir.com for Style Sessions. Then, also like I have been doing for the last several weeks, www.induffinitely.blogspot for Tremendous Tuesday. Give these gals some luvin'!!! And here's Vinni, giving us some luvin' to pass along!!

Reminders of Catholic School Uniform Trauma

I went to Catholic school all the way from first grade to the end of high school. Although many things changed over those 12 years, one thing remained constant - it was a guarantee that each year we would get the latest design in dowdy plaid pleated jumpers. As a result, I have always been slightly traumatized by plaid. However, I do like it for winter in small doses and with a twist. This skirt fits that formula.

The plaid skirt is by Bisou Bisou. The red sweater underneath is by INC and has bugle bead trim around the U neckline, which you will see in the necklace shot. The knit vest is by Peck and Peck, and is trimmed in studs. And for the twist, so is the skirt.

It's drizzly here today, so I wore my black leather Clio jacket on top.

Now let's take a peek at the necklace. It's made of resin. The stripes are different colors, and when they chip off (which they sometimes do), I fill the white parts in with different color Sharpies.

With this, I wore brown tights with a vertical pinstripe, and my suede desert boots with the lug soles. I am very comfy.

I wore only one ring, and NO bracelets!! What has gotten into me? The ring is rubies and diamonds.

Well, this weekend should be nice and relaxing. I will continue to bond with Vinni, and lavish extra attention on Kenni so he doesn't feel neglected. Elli, as usual, will get loads of Lovin'. Today, I am linking up with two more lovely ladies - Lisa at www.dailystylefinds.com, and www.rachelthehat.com for Passion For Fashion. Both of these blogs are new to me, so I am gonna do some explorin'. Have a good Friday, payday, Shabbat, and anything else you feel like celebrating!!

Every Cloud Has a Silver Lining

Here in HB, we may actually get a little bit of rain tonight. It has been cloudy and gloomy the last couple of days. But I'm okay with that, because I have to work anyway, and I get to bust out some of my fall/winter clothes. Today is a perfect example - The clouds may be gray, but I'm all silver!!

This silver and black brocade coat is by Amanda Stevens. I have had it for several years, and I still love it. It's a lab coat shape. Underneath it, I have even more silver.

This pencil skirt is from J Crew, the suede vest was thrifted, and the turtleneck is by Bebe. Here's a closeup of the material of the coat and the skirt.

Pretty sparkly, right? One of my coworkers has the same skirt. We actually have a few of the same items. I usually wear a grey turtleneck and grey boots with this, but today I went for a black turtle and my black elf boots from Payless. I love these things, and even though they were inexpensive, I am going to have them reheeled if I can't find a similar pair at this year's Black Friday sales.

For my necklace, I chose the black quartz number that I got at the flea market last month. It perfectly combines grey and black.

It took me three tries to get this picture. In the first two, I was looking down, so I had a gigantic neck roll. It skeeved me out. Also, in this pic, you can see that the turtle has sheer panels that alternate with the solid ones. So I have to keep it covered at work. Since I have long sleeves again, only one bracelet. Two days in a row without two bracelets may be a world's record for me. I am sporting the twin silver rings - one onyx and one MOP.

Doc has been sick. One of our grandsons generously shared his cold. So I have had to walk the dogs by myself. I'm not yet confident with taking Kenni and Vinni together yet, so I do 2 rounds of 30 minutes each. First I RatPin (Elli and Kenni) then I RatPie (Elli and Vinni). More exercise for me.

And today, I am linking up again. First, with beautiful Alice at www.happinessatmidlife.com for Throwback Thursday. I think that she lives near me in SoCal. Then, with gorgeous Tara at www.mixmatchfashion.com for What I Wore to Work. Have fun visiting these lovely ladies!!

This Leopard Changed Her Spots

Ugh. When I went to feed Vinni Barbarino and Kenni this morning, Vinni's turtleneck sweater had been shredded. All that was left was the turtleneck part. I guess he doesn't like sweaters. Or Kenni was jealous. And to think, I even took those little ingrates on an extra long walk last night because they missed it the day before when I was at the Clipper game.

Enough about my spendthrift ungrateful mutts. Onto me. Here is my outfit of the day.

This getup is as comfy as jammies. The pants are ponte knit, made by Express, and have lasted years, through many washings and wearings. The tunic is by Bob Mackie. It's leopard with gold lurex shot through it. Then, I got a new coat. I received an email from Speigel that their Newport News division was having a preseason sale. I took one look at this coat and placed an order. It also comes in ivory with gold lurex, and let me tell you, I had a hard time deciding. But I wnet with the black, because I know it will get more wear.

It's a plain sheath shape with a stand up collar and a flounce at the bottom. Sooooo cute. And get a load of the chain trim down the front and around the neckline.

Now let's get to the title of the post. For you see, I am also wearing another leopard item, only the spots are a little different. I have had these boots for a long time. They have black fur around the tops.

Then, since I wanted at least a little shape, I wore a wide black elastic belt that also has gold chain trim.

The necklace I picked came from Macy's. A couple of years ago, they did a promotion where all the jewelry was "globally themed". I'm guessing it didn't go over too well, because a lot of the items ended up on the clearance table, which is where I always go first. Anyway, it's black and gold seed beads and bugle beads with 4 large stations. One time I wore it with a tank top, and the stations (which are heavy) banged on my bony chest. So now I only wear it with a higher neckline. One of the strands broke this morning, and seed beads sprayed all over the master bedroom floor. Hopefully, Elli won't eat too many of them.

Since the top has long sleeves, I went without bracelets today. Shocking behavior for me. Here are the two costume rings I did wear.

And then, just to be exciting, I am carrying a bag that I got in the 80s from HSN. It's made by La Cocina. Arriba!!! It is pretty, and now I guess it's vintage.

Two more linkups today. As always on Wednesday, www.thepleatedpoppy.com for What I Wore, and then, Lisa at www.lisalamode.com for Fashion A La Mode linkup. Have fun - Lisa is new to me, and she looks awesome. More tomorrow - hopefully that won't include a story about how I took my chihuahua who was impacted with seed beads to Dr Lizardo's.