The Year Of The Sheep

I have always loved sheep and goats. I know they're not God's smartest creatures, but they are cute as heck!!! I have had some experience with Barbadan Black Sheep in the West Indies, and fuzzy sheep in Ireland, and although irritating, so so  cute!!! This year, the Chinese Zodiac has declared that it is the year of the Sheep. I feel a kindred spirit with the ruminants. I like to graze myself.

So what have we been up to?? Well, we have a tradition here at Casa de Holtzman. We'll get to that. First, on New Year's Eve, we had a sorta impromptu party on the block here. I made a delicious spread of tasty, carby goodies.

 

 

 

I made mini pizzas, pizza bites, potato/bacon pierogies with ranch, and chips n' dip. To wash it down,

 

 

 

A nice bottle of mid priced champers. Hail to 2015!!!!

 

 

 

So I believe we got to bed before midnight (that is not unusual) and then got up to do our yearly trek to see the Manhattan Beach house that belongs to the family. Here's a pic of the sweet little beach cottage.

 

 

One of my coworkers grew up in Manhattan Beach, like Doc did. We took down the address, and found her childhood home for her.

 

 

A very nice man saw me taking the pix, and came out to tell me the history of who lived on the street, and for how long. Then we went to the local Irish Pub for lunch. We took Elli, so we had to find a dog friendly place. I had wedge salad, and Doc had Shepherd's Pie. A very sweet pit bull dog slumbered next to us the entire time, except for when I was petting his big meaty head.

Then we took a hike down to the Manhattan Beach Pier, but Elli was not allowed to go out on it.

 

 

We talked to a nice man with a deer head Chihuahua while we were there. So we did our photo op, and headed down the lovely boardwalk.

 

 

There were many people and families out walking in the chilly sunshine. We walked for three miles, down to the next city, Hermosa Beach.

 

 

Hermosa means "beautiful" in Spanish. It's a trendy beach town, that had a rep for drugs and hippies in the 60s and 70s. Now it's a town of genteel million dollar properties, like all beachfront real estate in SoCal. The sand beach is very wide - the homes are well set back from the high tides.

 

 

If you squint really hard, you can see the MB pier in the background. So we walked up and back, 7 miles in total. By then, Doc was ready for a snack. So we stopped in the Manhattan Beach Sweet Shop, where he got a frozen banana with sprinkles.

That's him in the gray with his back to us, paying for his treat. Then we came home, walked Kenni and Vinni, and went to bed. We got free premium TV channels for 2 years from Verizon, so we watched 8 episodes of The Tudors. It is addicting. I finally fell asleep after Henry cut off the head of his 6th wife. I would never marry Henry, even if it means wine and beef every night. I like my head.

This morning, I got up and went for a nice long run in HB Central Park. Then I came home, and showered while Doc cooked us a delicious lunch. Then I went to see my friend at Happyness Consignment - she is off to help her mom in Russia on January 10th. I got a couple of things from her - I will miss her lovely little shop. But since today is Shoe Shine Saturday with Sheila at www.sheilaephemera.blogspot.com, I will play cuz I like Sheila. I got these delightful Poetic License wedges for $4.

 

 

I got a couple of other steals, too. I'll show you eventually. She is going back to Russia to care for her mom, so I wish her peace and luck. Then I went to the eye doctor for new glasses - I caved, and spent $400 for some awesome Fendi frames. They will take 2-3 weeks, and then I will show you. Then I came home to watch more cable TV, and light the lovely candles that my brother Bob, and his girlfriend Karin, gave us for Christmas. They are made by Ahava.

 

 

The set came with 3 scents. I am currently burning a pine/fir/spruce type scent - so lovely and seasonal!!

 

 

Tomorrow, I am making a special lunch with scallops and bacon. I can't wait!! Then we will do some household shopping and general maintenance of the Casa. Stay tuned !!

Today was a very chillax day. I went for a consult with my plastic surgeon. I am going to get a ViPeel on January 12th. It's a multi-acid peel for fine lines and dark spots. I will be okay for a couple of days, then I will peel like crazy for 3-4 days, then I will be okay. If I turn out half as good as the advertisements, I will be delighted. My doctor told me that since I have not had any procedures yet, the results will be more dramatic. So let's go. I am fine without wearing makeup for a couple of weeks, but I do not want to miss work because of my vanity. So I will be peeling over the weekend.

Then I came home and made Bacon Unwrapped Scallops. It is a Taste of Home 4 star recipe. It was absolutely delicious. I started with a bed of Uncle Bens Rice Pilaf.

 

 

 

 

After that, I sautéed chopped onions, chopped zucchini, and chopped bacon/sausage crumbles.

 

 

I added garlic, thyme, seasoned salt and chicken stock. I cooked it a long time, like 30 minutes, until it was very reduced. I also added celery and mixed stir fry veggies. The recipe calls for tomatoes, but Doc is allergic. I added a little tiny bit of sugar to compensate for the sweetness that the tomatoes would add.

 

 

Then I added a full pound of sea scallops. I cooked the mixture until the scallops were totally white, and carmelized on the edges.

 

 

Then I plated it. I put a full cup of rice pilaf and decorated the top with a carrot. Then I used a soup ladle to put 2 full cups of the scallop mixture beside it. I did not offer salad or bread - we both agreed that the dish was completely satisfying on its own without sides. That's nice to know - I like dishes that stand alone, no salad or bread or side needed.

 

 

 

Upon looking at the plate, I would add a side of sliced beets. How pretty would all those colors be??? And I would go all 60s on you and garnish the beets with an egg. My mom would hard boil eggs and then marinate them in beet juice for about a day. They come out with the white ring an ombre from purple to hot pink. So awesome. So psychedelic. So Zeppelin. Next time, my hard rock friends.

Anyway, tomorrow Doc will be making his famous hamburgers for lunch. They are mouth wateringly deelish, but very very messy and crumbly. So he is modifying his recipe to make them firmer, but no loss of yum. An experiment. We went to the store to get buns and meat and cheese. I was flabbergasted at the prices. Eight buns were $4.99. Pickle relish was $3.99.a pound of bacon was $7.99!!!! We could not support that level of gouging. We got three bakery rolls for the burgers at $0.59 apiece, and got the meat on the half off rack. It would have been almost $10 a pound at full price. I AM SURE. That is absolute robbery. Doc was a little skeeved at the half price meat, but I showed him that prime extra cool beef is half price on Day 2, he saw the light. If it doesn't sell the day it is butchered, it is half price the next day at 7 AM. It is a total score, and I always try that rack first in any store. Ask the butcher - he will gladly show you the best deals. All butchers are nice like that.

Here are the burgers. They had beef, red and green bell peppers, French fried onions, a pinch of Bisquik, beadcrumbs, eggs, worchestershire sauce, and apricot jam. He also cooked up bacon on the side and lightly breaded zucchini slices. I had cheddar cheese and had mine on a sourdough roll. Doc had his on a sesame Kaiser roll.

 

 

Here's another shot. For reference, note Elli standing in the lower right corner, ready to gobble up any morsel that falls.

 

Before the burger fest, I went running. Then as Doc was cooking, I watered the front yard and made a big bouquet of the giant orange roses that are exploding on their bush. They smell really good.

 

 

After lunch, we watched a TV movie called the Eddie Duchin story. It's about a pianist who died in 1951 of myelogenous leukemia - that's still a pretty bad diagnosis today. They called his disease metastenosis and the initial symptom was cramping of his piano playing hand. I had to Google Eddie Duchin to find out what really happened to him. It was corny, but I was sucked in. then we went to Wal Mart for dog food and Dasani water. I got Elli a new thicker winter sweater there.

 

 

We match. As far as how Elli likes her sweater, reviews are mixed.

Well, tomorrow it's back to work. No more long weekends until Memorial Day. Actually, it will be nice to get back to the regular routine. I have a lot of meeting preparation to get done by the end of the day tomorrow, so I will be busy. But back to outfits soon !!! And check out Shoe Shine Saturday at www.sheilaephemera.blogspot.com if you get a chance!!

Fall Fashion Follow Up

I liked doing my Summary of Summer so much, that now I am doing a review of my fall outfits. The 21st of December was the winter solstice, so every day from the Autumnal Equinox until then is a candidate for the favorite outfit (as well as the worst outfit).

So what was the most popular color? No surprise there - it was black, clocking in with 20 appearances. Grey was a distant second.
Black = 20
Grey = 8
Tan/brown = 7
Blue = 5 (summer's winner)
Other colors = 1 or 2.

I had a lot more favorite outfits during fall than I did during summer. I did manage to find five horrible examples. But let's look at the winner first.

The INC dress that I wore for the Epidemiology Holiday breakfast !!!

 

 

It was pretty, comfy, festive, and flattering. I also had the perfect accessories with the leather jacket, the suede boots and the jewelry. I also had a second favorite.

My Moda International (a Victoria's Secret brand) hippie dress. It was also pretty, comfy and flattering. I didn't even mind being called a sexy witch !!!! I wore suede boots, with bronze studs, this time too. It seems as though dresses with boots are my go-to ensembles.

I had seven winners overall. The rest, in no particular order:

The slubby sharkskin slacks and tweed top I wore on December 9. I am so glad that I shamelessly copied Phiphi's blog.

The brown cords, JCP knit poncho and fur scarf that I wore on December 3. It was raining that day, but I was warm and fuzzy, and got so many compliments on this outfit. I have always loved this poncho. I remember seeing it in the Sunday ad, and even dragged Doc to the mall to get it.

 

The grey textured dress and lace trimmed waterfall cardi that I wore on November 7. The dress came from a thrift, and the cardi from Target. With it, I wore my Tahari maryjanes - they were the perfect touch!!!

And who can forget the Copy Zebra outfit? I wore this on November 4.

This is an outfit that I copied from an elegant lady that I saw in Philadelphia. The belt and the shoes made this one a winner.

Black with gold has always been one of my favorite color combos. Last, the all tan outfit of many textures that I wore on November 5.

 

 

That was a stellar week!!! I also loved the shoes that went with this one.

Now for the duds. Drum roll!!! The one that I hated the most?

The green disaster that I wore on November 25. The jacket was too short, and the blouse wouldn't stay buttoned. I like the pants and the jacket, just not together.  Next,

 

The stumpy Cossack outfit that I wore to go to Doc's birthday lunch with my mom. All of these pieces are fine individually. The proportions could not have been worse. I looked 2 feet tall. This one followed the week of winners you saw above. After that,

The fall colors that I wore on November 10. It was okay when I kept the suede jacket on, but when I took it off...

 

Boobs Mc Gee. All saggy and droopy looking. Maybe next time I can find a more flattering top. Then, the outfit I wore on October 22.

 

Another case of bad proportions. And this jacket is Escada - I didn't do this wonderful designer justice. It doesn't look as bad as I felt when wearing it. But I must say, this was in the midst of Ebola training, so I couldn't go all out. Lastly, another Ebola training outfit.

Just not good. These printed pants had a previous success, so I know that they can be done properly.
                                       

They look so much better in this outfit!!!!

So what was my last outfit of 2014? It was the same one that I wore for the Holtzman family Christmas party.

 

My purple and black brocade Carlisle pants, and a sweater by Peck and Peck. News flash!!! Last night, it got so cold here in SoCal that we had SNOW in the inland cities, about an hour away. It got down to the mid forties here at the beach. So on top of this outfit, I wore,

My black brocade jacket with the fur cuffs, and a fur scarf. Here's a closeup:

And of course, I carried my Donna Salyer faux fur purse.

Here's a look at the waist of the pants. They close with a black velvet ribbon.

For my jewelry, I started with an Austrian crystal necklace.

I continued to accent the purple with my jewelry. On my left hand

The same leather and crystal bracelet I wore yesterday, along with a wide Swarovski band and a tanzanite ring. On the right,

More tanzanites!! This time, a wide band and a bracelet. I also wore two more silver bracelets. As for shoes, I wanted to keep my frosty feet entirely encased, so I wore my Sam and Libby booties.

 

 

For my final 2014 linkup, I am joining with Liz at www.shoppingmycloset.com. Take a look - there are a lot of 2014 outfit roundups going on. I hope that everyone has a very happy New Year. I can foresee a few major changes for myself in the coming year - hopefully, all for the good!!!

The Last Tuesday of the Year

It's also the last trash pickup day and my last full day of work. Tomorrow, I will work a half day before jetting off to party at a million dollar a plate black tie celebration at our yacht club. That is, if you consider jetting to be my driving 7 minutes home, a million dollar a plate to be one of Doc's omelets, black tie to be no holes in my socks, and our yacht club to be a plastic boat floating in the pool.  Oh, such a delightful NYE for the unwashed masses such as me !!!

Anyway, according to predictions, it may rain either this afternoon or tonight. It seems accurate - here is the famous corner office view.

I have prepared myself with umbrella in hand. Also, I am wearing one of my warmest jackets. It doesn't look like much, but dang this thing is toasty.

I got it many years ago. It's black satin with gold embroidery, and when I saw it in Vegas, I just HAD to have it. Underneath, we have a real outfit.

 

I am wearing my trusty Express ponte pants with a tunic on top that came from Kohl's - the brand is Elle. It came with a jeweled belt.

The belt is a little big, so I actually stapled it together in the back. It's our secret. The neckline is kind of a combination between U and bateau, so I can wear pretty much any kind of necklace. I went with a silver waterfall with black drops.

The tunic also has elbow length dolman sleeves, which allow me to wear an assortment of arm accessories. On my right,

 

 

I have my leather and crystal cuff from Baltimore and a multi gemstone flower ring. On my left,

 

 

A Swarovksi Nirvana in indigo, a sapphire/diamond dust ring and another cuff, this one a little edgier. For shoes, I went with the Calvin Kleins.

 

 

Today, I am linking twice. First, with Lauren at www.stylelixir.com for the last Style Sessions link up of 2014. The theme is party skirts, but I am at a loss to figure out what kind of party skirt to wear as I pick through the trash in search of cans and bottles with the other people who live under the bridge. Then, I am also linking with Amber at www.induffinitley.blogspot.com for the last Tremendous Tuesday of 2014. Her theme is favorite outfits, so my jacket does qualify me for this one!!

I hope you all have a delightful NYE and a good year ahead !!!!