Harry's New Year's Eve speech

"When Harry Met Sally" is one of my favorite romantic comedies (because both "duh" and "obviously"). I love, love, love the New Year's Eve speech that Harry gives towards the end of the film. 

Spoiler alert! Stay away from this clip if you haven't watched "When Harry Met Sally"! (And then immediately go watch "When Harry Met Sally" because it is so good!)



This is the best New Year's Eve scene ever, and it's the sweetest speech ever too. I love Billy Crystal so much in this movie. How can a girl say no to him? She simply cannot!

2013 Top 5

My top five favorite outfits from 2013:

5. The time my outfit matched my environment. 

4. Romping around in a romper is as fun as it sounds. 

3. My dress has letters. Learning is fun, kids!

2. I heart this dress.

1. Polka-dotted gown (thrifted with the tags still on it!) for the win. I wore this to the theater and Halloween. The best dress ever.

The Apartment

The Apartment was named one of the 100 best movies of all time by the American Film Institute. It stars Jack Lemmon and the adorable Shirley MacLaine, and it's set during the days between Christmas and New Year's Eve! Now is the perfect time to watch it!

I love this movie so much. Jack Lemmon! Shirley McClain! Tennis racket colanders! Love! Hilarity! (Also some really dark stuff like infidelity and suicide attempts... because all really great movies have both light and dark, right?) Really, it's such a fantastic film. You can't go wrong with something directed by Billy Wilder and starring those two superstars.

Lots of lace

I bought this dress to wear to my in-law's Christmas party, but then I was too sick to go... so it ended up being my "Book of Mormon" dress. And, hey, look! I took a photo of it in a parking garage! But it's a parking garage with an exceptionally cute background. Look at those hats!

The elevator at the parking garage is also rather exceptional. I took the time to show off my lacy sleeves and giant necklace. Love them both. And that coat? That coat is faux fur and fabulous.

Robert and I have season tickets this year, and I love gussying up and going out on the town. The show was pretty good. I'm not a big South Park fan, and it was very South Park (a lot of humor I can imagine my guy friends in high school cracking up at), but I'm glad I went and I definitely laughed a lot.

I have so many things to say about this dress. The lace is Victorian. The shape is '60s. Part of it screams Stevie Nicks. Am I a witchy woman in it? Yes. A little. And a glamazon. But that might be the giant necklace and coat. Also, my clutch is awesome -- the perfect place for theater tickets and red lipstick.

One more parking garage shot -- look at my new hat! What is with this parking garage? Why is it so cute?

And finally, a beautiful Christmas tree shot that I failed to get for "The Nutcracker." It's a couple of days after Christmas, but I'd say the holiday spirit is still in the air!

Dog Park

Just hanging out in a sweatshirt with a giant M at the dog park.

The dog park is one of the happiest places on Earth. Sunshine loves, loves, loves it. There's a big one near our house that has lots of room to run around.

I've been a little under the weather thanks to a flu-type thing I caught from my adorable nephew. (At least I think that precious little kidlet is the culprit.) The dog park was my first venture out. I dressed like a 15-year-old who goes to a high school that starts with the letter M.

Sunshine sported her adorable Christmas sweater scarf gifted to her by our dog sitter. Isn't she a stylish puppy dog?

Merry Day After Christmas!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas filled with family! (How cute are my niece and nephew? So cute!)

Style Icon: Father Christmas

Father Christmas is so stylin'. Santa Claus sticks to his red suit, but Father Christmas really mixes it up. 

Look at the diversity of color and cut, but there's a consistency to it too. Like all style icons, he has his signature style -- big white beard, fur trim somewhere and a long/coat robe situation. He's also a fan of Christmas trees and toys. Those are great additions to any wintertime look!

Christmastime is Here

So if you're married to me (and you're not unless you're Robert), then you have to endure my singing "Christmaaaaaaastime is Heeeeeere" in a high-pitched voice on an hourly basis for the month of December.

I love this song so much. Even though I know only three words from it and then just repeat those three words over and over again. But those three words so apply to life! Christmastime is here, people! It is right here. 

What a pretty parking garage

 I went to "The Nutcracker Ballet" last night in downtown Charlotte and there were gorgeous, lighted, extravagant Christmas trees everywhere, but where did I snag an outfit photo? In the parking garage. That's right -- the parking garage. Isn't it just stunning?

That's a thrifted cardigan that I refer to as my "grandma sweater." I never, ever wear it, but I can't give it away because I love it too much. Last night proved to be the perfect occasion! Trust me, it looks better in front of a Christmas tree than a parking garage wall, but really, it's grandma-licious no matter what the location.

Before "The Nutcracker Ballet," we caught another show. This one starred animatronic bears singing Christmas carols. It was kind of the best.

And to conclude this post, I have a picture of a festive, Christmas doughnut. That makes up for the parking garage shot, doesn't it?

Love Actually is all around

I saw Love Actually for the first time in the theater with my best friend Sherrie right after I had been unceremoniously dumped by the alleged love of my life. By "right after" I also might mean "three-to-six months after"" because that breakup took me a while to get over. It was 2003. I was 22. I wasn't sure I wanted to see a feel-good romance. 

So yes, the breakup still felt very fresh, and I had found that "love of my life" everyone always talks about -- that one person who is it for you (and as we all know I watched way too many MGM movie musicals in my youth, and that just messes with your head a bit in the idealistic expectations department). Anyway, Love Actually ended up being a healing movie. It actually made me feel like I might want to date again some day. I started to feel hopeful about my romantic future. Movies starring Colin Firth are powerful that way. 

The next time I watched it was with a group of friends on Valentines Day. I can't remember if I was single or not. I think I was, but I think I was in a good place. I definitely remember my friend Maggie (name changed to protect the innocent) was not in a good place. She was in her 50s, and she had semi-recently split up with her husband in a way that was pretty messy. I remember her lying on the floor after watching the movie just feeling monstrously depressed. I think the movie actually made her feel worse, sadly. The power of Colin Firth cannot overcome all heart break, I suppose. 

 Then "Love Actually" sort of morphed into a Christmas movie, didn't it? I never thought of it that way until they started playing it at Christmas time every year. (And I was like "What's up, Love Actually! I love seeing you!") I'm not sure it was a big hit in the theaters, but it is slowly but surely becoming a Christmas classic! I'll take it. I think it's a great movie about love -- love for a brother, stepfather and late mother, love for friends, for your friend's wife and straight-up romantical love. And it has Colin Firth. He is a dreamy, dreamy man. (And so are the rest of the men/women in that movie! Liam Neeson! Emma Thompson! Snape!)

So go ahead, enjoy a piece of this Christmas classic for yourself. 

Rudolph the Misfit

The movie "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" is all about being a misfit and being bullied, meeting people who accept you just the way you are and then becoming successful. It's a movie every awkward pre-teen needs to watch. (And what pre-teen doesn't feel kind of awkward at some point, right?)

"What's the matter with misfits? That's where we fit in!"

It makes me happy that it's a classic because it reminds me that we all root for the underdog, and we all empathize with Rudolph. Rudolph reminds us of our misfit selves, plus he's so adorable. So super adorable with that nose so bright.

Style Icon: Donna Reed in "It's a Wonderful Life"

Donna Reed doesn't get enough credit, just in general. She's seen as the stereotypical, impossible-to-live-up-to, 1950s housewife (with good reason, I suppose), but I remember her more from "It's a Wonderful Life" where she is one full-on hot hottie.

Donna Reed is a movie star. She has to be with that movie star face of hers. What else is she going to do with that face? Also: I love how films of this time are lighted. Everyone looks so luminous.

She's the perfect girl-next-door in this film. She's very approachable, but she's also so stunningly beautiful, and she wears great clothes. Look at that dress! I would love to rock that today. But where would I wear it? I need a dance party on top of a swimming pool to attend...

While her dancing dress is nice, she's much more entertaining in the robe post her and Jimmy's surprise dip in the pool. Here, he's telling her he'll lasso the moon for her. (I think Jimmy might be over promising on that one.)

Funny, funny naked-in-the-bushes humor! I love it!

Okay, let's get back to a clothed Donna Reed. There she is with her full skirt and cinched waist looking every bit the lady.

And here she is sporting an eclectic-librarian kind of look, but not really in a good way. Thank goodness Jimmy Stewart is alive! He saved her from a life of very, very high-necked shirts! (This outfit actually speaks to my schoolmarm style, and the more I look at it, the more I like it.)

It's a Wonderful Life is a holiday classic with good reason. We all get down, don't we? I think many of us sell ourselves short and underestimate the impact we have on others. It's kind of weird that a movie that starts with a man seriously considering suicide is a holiday classic, but it also makes sense. The holidays can bring you down with their insistence on cheer (but I don't feel cheerful). This movie acknowledges the darkness of life, and then brings you back into the light. Plus Donna Reed wears pearls! What's not to like?

What Does the Fox Say?

Oh yeah. I went there. 

When I wear this sweater to school, I get a lot of "What Does the Fox Say?" comments/ full-blown renditions from my students. They have that song memorized!

(What does this fox say?)

But the love of that kooky song doesn't belong only to my young students, my mom showed it to me at Thanksgiving. It is a song whose appeal spans generations.

I feel like it's a song you either love or hate, but I can't really defend that stance since I neither love nor hate it. But you want to know what? I really, really love how much other people love it. Like, the fact my mother loves that song makes me so happy for some reason.

And I love foxes. And fox sweaters. And fuzzy hats. And Christmastime. And gray days. And kids singing silly songs. All of those things, I love.

The Nutcracker

When I was little, I watched "The Nutcracker" all the time, not just during the Christmas season. We had the Baryshnikov version from 1977 on VHS tape, taped straight off the television, and I adored it, despite Baryshinikov's tights (found those a little alarming), because of the music and ballerinas and all the beautiful dancing. I especially loved the party scene, and after watching the ballet, I remember sitting under a table creating long lists with my dolls of all the things we needed to make our giant Christmas party just right. I guess I did grow up to be a bit of a party thrower, but I've never done anything as elaborate as I imagined when I was sitting under that table with thoughts of the Sugarplum Fairy dancing through my head. Even our wedding was pretty low-key. I guess there's still time, isn't there? I'll put that on my life list: Throw a ridiculous, extravagant holiday party complete with signature drinks and fancy outfits. Maybe I'll make Robert dress up as the Nutcracker Prince! No tights though. We'll definitely skip the tights.

Style Icons: The Cast of White Christmas

Full disclosure: I found "White Christmas" to be a terribly tedious movie, and I love all kinds of movies other people think are boring so that's not a good sign. Not so into this movie, not so into it. But I do love the full-on Christmas/1950s styles they are sporting. Let's get a look, shall we?

This is classic, classic, classic Christmas. This is Santa Claus if he was slim and full of song and presented in Technicolor.

And it's not all Santa suits. The guys look dapper in bow ties and top hats, and look at that sexy sequined dress! Sparkles and fanciness speak of Christmas too.

The movie came out in the '50s, but it's set in the '40s so there's a support-our-troops World War II song. The whole movie is based around these four people performing together and fighting and getting together. The best moment: When Bing Crosby sings "White Christmas." Obviously. Nothing can beat that, really.

Although giant, blue-feather fans compete for the best moment...

Especially when the fellows do the number! Oh gender bending, 1950s style, you are such a specific, silly thing.

So yes: Not so into this movie, but it's such a Christmas movie, and its fashions are so fabulous I thought I'd post about it anyway. And really, writing this post almost makes me want to give it another try. Almost, but not quite!