Twas the Night Before Christmas

Early on Christmas Eve, I got up and prepared to make food for the family party. I asked Elli if she would like to help:

As you can see, the answer was No. She then reconsidered, and stuck with No.

I made a summer fruit salad with strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, green grapes, and pineapple.

Then I made a winter fruit salad with five different apples - Granny Smith, Red Delicious, Fuji, Pink Lady, and Honey Crisp.

It also had D'Anjou pears, pomegranate seeds, dried cranberries, and mandarin segments.

I made Julia Child's dressing with the salads - different fruit juices like lemon, lime, and orange, combined with the secret ingredient - maple syrup. There was also whipped cream topping.

For Kenni and Vinni, I made a big pot of pork neck bones.

So what did I wear to the gala party?

My favorite Calvin Klein sweater dress with the gold and silver embellishments down the sides. I wore my new black suede Style and Co sandals.

Three necklaces - all were my mom's. The top one is a Journey Through Life pendant, the midlle one is a gold herringbone, and the bottom one is a diamond heart.

On my left arm, my yellow gold wedding set, a gold bracelet, and a diamond tennis bracelet.

On my right arm, my Hermes CDC, and a ruby/diamond ring.

We all met at the LDS Ward building. There were a lot of us- roughly 27 people were there. The table was decorated for Christmas, and there were also blue and white balloons for Hanukah, since Win is Jewish.

We set up the book exchange in the corner - the kids loved it.

There was quite a haul in the present corner.

Everyone had fun - we had the salads and tamales, since Mimi is Mexican.

Mimi sang a song - "The Best Things in Life Are Free". The boys and I played dodge ball with the balloons. Tawn brought a nativity set that her mother in law Pat made, and her son Collin read the script.

The characters were made into puppets.

At the end, it was picture time. Here are all the kids, with one unhappy little Kate in the upper left.

 But she perked up quickly when she got to crawl around on the floor.

Here's Emma making a snowman out of home made Play Dough that Kim made.

Here are Benjy, Lily, and Preston:

Here are Win, Doc, Nathan, Joseph and Benjamin - 4 generations.

This time, Luke and Preston joined the 4 generations pictures.

And that's about it, except for some links:
www.notdressedaslamb.com, www.stylelixir.com, www.colorandgrace.com, www.stylediarybyosy.com and www.jolynneshane.com

Stay tuned for the Great Train ride of Christmas Day !!

The Eve of the Eve

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, and our family celebration will be in the morning. I am off for the next few days, and have some fun stuff in store. Before I start in on all the holiday goings on, I have a couple of outfits to share with you.

This is what I wore on Wednesday:

The last pair of fancy silk holiday pants - these are teal and black silk, made by August Silk. The teal lurex top is from Kohl's . Underneath that, I have a fuzzy acrylic sweater with sequin trim.

You can see the sequins here - they are iridescent, mostly blue and purple. I wore my mom's convertible necklace again, this time with the lapis pendant.

Yesterday, I wore a purple and black cashmere dress by Loft.  It has dolman sleeves and a wide elasticized waist. I first tried navy hose, then black tights, then finally decided on nude hose.

But I did wear my new navy suede shoes from INC. The lace up detail is just for show - they zip up the back.

On my left arm, my yellow gold wedding set, a sapphire bracelet, and an amethyst tennis bracelet.

On my right arm, a London Blue Topaz ring, a sapphire bracelet, and another amethyst bracelet.

I wore three necklaces - the longest one is sapphire and diamond, the middle one is a gold herringbone chain, and the shortest one is light blue topaz.

Now it's time to make food for tomorrow morning, do my nails, and get my outfit ready. Stay tuned to see!!!

Linking with: www.nancysfashionstyle.com, www.the-wardrobe-stylist.com, www.fashionshouldbefun.com, www.shoppingmycloset.com, www.highlatitudestyle.com, www.poshclassymom.com, www.sydneyfashionhunter.com, www.pastriespumpsandpi.blogspot.com, and www.thepleatedpoppy.com

Three Times A Lady

You are in luck today - you get three outfits for the price of one !!! That's not much of a discount, since it's all free anyway. But let's get going and go back to Sunday. I met an old friend for lunch, and this is what I wore:

These are my favorite Levi's jeans, combined with a Bloomingdale's heavy jersey warmup jacket and a gold lurex tank top. Here's a better look at the jacket - it has white trim and lots of heavy gold hardware.

Then, yesterday, it was back to work, so I chose my Liz Claiborne dress with the pleated hemline.
On top, I wore an INC cardi with lots of pearl trim around the neckline.

Here's a better look at the sweater, along with one of my favorite pieces of costume jewelry, from Stein Mart.

The pearl theme continues with my jewelry - on my right hand, a mabe pearl ring.

On my left hand, a marquis diamond ring and a sapphire/diamond band.  No bracelets needed, since the sweater has long sleeves, and it was chilly yesterday.

Today is kind of a strange day - I will work until 1 pm or so, then go home and come back at 10 PM for a night shift event. Not a fun one, but a maintenance type thing. For the first half of the day, I am wearing a Michael Kors shift dress and a BCBG knit jacket.

This jacket is black knit with silver studs. You can also see the black, grey and white print of the dress and the inverted pleats at the neckline. I am wearing two of my mom's necklaces - the lacy medallion is a convertible one, and the other chain has bead spacers.

On my right arm, two silver bracelets, one with a toggle closure, and a South Sea pearl ring.

On my left arm, a silver tone costume bracelet with crystals and my Swarovski Trema ring.

And that's it, except for the links, of which there are many:

www.stylenudge.com, www.elegantlydressedandstylish.com, www.shelbeeontheedge.com, www.beautybymissl.com, www.colorandgrace.com, www.northwestblonde.com, www.pinksole.com and www.notdeadyetstyle.com

Hope to see you all soon!!!

Skater's Waltz

You will see what I'm talking about in a minute here. But first, this is what I wore to yesterday's Christmas party:

This is a Catherine Maladrino ivory sweater with gold lurex detail, and silk side zip slacks by Amanda Smith. The lurex goes down the front and stops just below the waist . You can see that in the picture of my necklaces:

The shorter necklace is costume, from Stein Mart, and the longer one is gold/lab created emerald. I wore my Newport News black/ gold lurex coat on top.

My Sole Society sandals were a stylish, if not that comfy, accent to the whole glittery effect.

On my right arm, I wore a cubic zirconia that was my mom's, a thicker gold bracelet, and a thinner, delicate gold bracelet with greenish crystals.

On my left arm , my yellow gold wedding set, and my stretchy costume crystal bracelet from Saks.

Onto today, and the title of this post.Ii wore my Rachel Roy skater's style dress. It's purple, with a wide black band at the bottom.

My BCBG boots were perfect, but I have to get the heels done ASAP, before I ruin them.I wore three necklaces , all sapphire/diamond.

And that's about it!!! Tomorrow, the trees get cut down, and we go shopping and to the library, and then Sunday, I get to see a very old friend, and can't wait!!!


Until then, let's link:
www.nancysfashionstyle.com, www.eleganceandmommyhood.blogspot.com, www.highlatitudestyle.com, www.fashionshouldbefun.com, and www.shelbeeontheedge.com

Cheers and see you all soon!!