All That Glitters Is Not Gold !!!

In this case, it just might be. We will get to that. First, however, a sad little tale. Yesterday, Isabel came to clean. Usually when that happens, I open the front door and the house smells wonderful. But it didn't. It smelled HORRID. I traced the odor to my little Mexican sweetheart's crate. She had a huge colonic disturbance. I let her out, checked her over (nothing on HER) and found the mess that she had tried to conceal by rolling her pink towel around it. So I cleaned the disgusting mess up and figured that maybe I shouldn't change both the wet and dry food brands simultaneously anymore. Then I put her on the bed because she still looked like she had a tummy ache. Behold.

Have you ever seen anything more pathetic? She did wolf down a fish taco later on, so she is on the mend. Lesson learned.

One of my coworkers gave me a delicate little mug for Christmas. I wisely foresaw that I would break it if I used it for coffee, so I did something else with it.

A teeny, tiny prickle pear lives there now. Isn't it cute? Now, onto the gold.

I am head to toe gold and black, my favorite color combo. The metallic gold leather jacket is from Stein Mart, the gold lurex sweater dress is from Macy's, and the purse is Baby Phat. One layer off :

I have had the gold and black scarf forever. Once that is off :

The lump on my side is my pedometer. I am still counting steps. Let's get a closer look at the necklace I am wearing.

I got the art glass pendant at Hobby Lobby. The leather strip is from a Cookie Lee necklace - I use it to hang different things from. And of course, you know what boots I am wearing.

Since the dress has long sleeves with elastic wrists, only rings again today. On the left, a costume ring that was a souvenir from Baltimore, and on the right, a crystal ring from Saks.

So that's about it. After this morning, I am off for 4 glorious days. I am going to the Clipper game on Christmas day, and having some tree trimming done on Saturday. Other than that, rest and relaxation will abound.
Here's to a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone from the Holtzmans - Rosie, Doc, Kenni, Elli, and Vinni !!!!

Plum Pudding

When I got to work this morning, this is what it looked like through my office window:

A slight bit of fog, I'd say. But I should have listened to the weather report, because it is forecast to get to 77 degrees today. I'm a bit overdressed, and I predict that there will be some sweating going on later. Here is the culprit.

A rayon, nylon and angora sweater dress by San Souci, with an INC cardigan on top. The cardigan has a floral pattern that is embellished with clear crystals.

I thought that it was pale gray, but it turns out to be oatmeal colored. So I attempted to coordinate the two colors in my buffalo turquoise statement necklace.

I like it. Then, for more plummy goodness, I busted out my new Joan Boyce boots. I bought them in the summer on clearance, and haven't worn them yet. This is their maiden voyage.

I managed to snag two pairs of tights on the rhinestones. One pair already had a hole that would have been covered by the boots, but the others were a total waste. I have to remember to keep my legs uncrossed. On the plus side, these boots are super comfy and have a deeply padded footbed.
I decided to wear my hair up again. It's just so easy, and I don't look like Sideshow Bob by the end of the day.

As far as jewelry on my arms goes, I am only wearing two rings. One sapphire/diamond and one amethyst/opal.

Today, I am linking up with Lauren at www.stylelixir.com for Style Sessions Tuesday. That's always a lot of fun and a good source of inspiration. Until tomorrow, your sweatiness (me) is signing off!!!

A Wonderful Winter Weekend

At least, it was as wintry as it gets in Huntington Beach. On Friday, our neighbors had a party complete with faux snow and a faux Santa. I ended up getting in a snowball fight with Weston, Vince, Kevin, and other assorted neighbor kids. I was greatly outnumbered, and defeat was imminent. But it was fun!!!

On Saturday, we had the Holtzman family party. Here's what I wore:

Since you can't see in this picture, I will break it down for you.

My Carlisle purple and black pants, a black Peck and Peck sweater, my trusty Escada blazer, and Sam and Libby boots. It was very comfy. But the focus was on the kids. They all started by making rice krispy treats crafts. Poor Benjy was a tad bewildered, but he soldiered on.

Our niece and nephew from Arizona brought their two little girls, Emma and Lily.

Emma is 4, and Lily will be 1 on the 26th. We gave them each a bag of toys, complete with fairy outfits.

Of course, our grandson Preston was there. He got a bag full of toys as well.

Here he is, holding up one of his treasures.

Little Calista was there - she is 7 months old. She had a little cold, and was a little out of it, but she did about as good as a kid her age can do. In other words, zero meltdowns.

 

 

Her big brothers loved their gift bags too. Joseph is a big fan of Frozen. He knows all the songs. All 6 of the kids got Frozen stickers in their bags.

Benjamin is a big fan of hats. So he and Joseph both got one. I asked Joseph to model it for me.

We had the party in the nursery at the LDS hall. It comes complete with a fully stocked kitchen and gobs of toys for the kids to borrow and play with. Benjy particularly liked the telephone.

He also loved his bag of toys.

So that was the Holtzman Christmas. Yesterday, after cleaning the yard and having one of Doc's famous omelets for lunch, we took the dogs down to Farquhar Park for a romp.

After they ran around there for a while, we headed down one of the streets to Dwyer Middle School. It shares an athletic field with Smith Elementary.

That person is Doc, and the tiny black speck is Elli. I was across the field with Kenni and Vinni.

It was T shirt and shorts weather. Today will be around 74 degrees, and Xmas day will be 66. Not bad. After that, we watched a movie, then I worked out for the first time in 4 days (due to my cold) and then got ready for 2 1/2 days of work before I am off for 4 1/2. So here is what I wore:

More brocade pants, this time in green. I topped them with a gold lurex cowlneck. Here's a closeup of the pants.

You can see a bit of my Ann Marino shoes here. They are on their last legs.

I topped this outfit with a safari jacket by Cache.

It's sort of an olive color, all shot through with gold lurex. It has big shiny gold buttons. Here is a closeup of the fabric.

For my necklace, I wore an emerald and diamond necklace.

On my arms : on the right, an emerald and diamond ring, and my J Crew crystal link bracelet.

 

On the left, my Montana green peridot and a costume crystal stretch bracelet from Saks.

So that's about it for this marathon post, except for the linkup. Today, it's Jen from www.fashionablyemployed.com. She looks a lot chillier than we do !!! Hop over and take a peek!!

Baby, It's Cold......Inside!!!

Aargh. I started to get the cold that has been going around these parts. So I tried Doc's proven remedy course.

1) Sambucol black elderberry syrup.
2) Oscillococcinum crystals - place under tongue and let it dissolve.
4) Echinacea Plus Elderberry tea.

I feel a million times better. All that's left is a slight sore throat.

So I told you that Doc wanted 3 bean salad for Christmas dinner. I went to Costco and to Smart and Final, and neither store had it. So I got the ingredients, whipped out my Good Housekeeping cookbook, and made a big batch.

I also finished decorating the cookies for the party tonight. I used 4 different decorating schemes - coconut with dried cranberries, Hanukah M&Ms, regular M&Ms, and crushed candy canes. The frosting is cream cheese.

Some of the cookies are huge. The stars are much smaller.

So onto today's outfit. It is a mélange of blue tones. The skirt is Misook and the blouse came from Kohl's. A good example of mixing high and low end.

 

 

 

 

Under the semi-sheer chiffon blouse, I have a bright royal tank covered in sequins. The sparkle comes through the chiffon, and adds a nice special effect. I decided to also go for a mixture of blues in my necklaces.

The shorter one is Liz Claiborne, and the longer lariat was a souvenir from Las Vegas this summer.

My shoes were another story. I originally had on a black suede pair of pumps with gold embroidery, but they seemed uncomfortable, so I changed to black suede Maryjanes by Isaac Mizrahi. I have had them for a long time. I have pretty big feet, and when I wear pointy toed shoes that need extra room for the toes, I literally have clown sized feet. Well, there are worse things in this world to bear than giant feet.

For my arms. I went with a costume blue enamel ring with a green stone, and a diamond dust bracelet on my left arm.

On the right, another costume ring, and a gold bracelet with light blue topaz.

 

Today, I am linking up with Tara at www.pennilesssocialite.blogspot.com for Favorite Fashion Friday. There are lots of holiday and other outfits posted there. Have a great end to the work week!!!