Rock

Mirror selfie mostly so I can show off that big ol' rock on my finger. So purty. Happy New Year's!

Loving It

Lately I've been loving...

1. This dapper little boy all dressed up for a holiday party!

2. I definitely had the best looking date there!

3. He also looks amazing as an elf. 

4. And his Santa hat game is on point. 

5. Oh how I love this little boy!

Style Icon: Ebeneezer Scrooge

Happy Christmas Eve! I love Christmas Eve soooo much. You know who didn't love Christmas Eve? Ebeneezer Scrooge. What a Scrooge he was! But he was fabulously dressed. Let's take a look.

The dude is wearing spats. Straight-up spats on the shoes. And a top hat. And a coat and a cane and a fancy suit. Scrooge is looking slick. His day wear is on point.

Scrooge's nightwear is also fabulous. Who doesn't love a long, flowing nightgown and funny looking stocking cap? This look is perfect for looking at your past, present and future and reevaluating your approach to life. Christmas is great, Scrooge! Giving is good!

A generous spirit takes over Scrooge! He's cheerful! He shares! He continues to wear a top hat because top hats are fabulous! Top hats just scream Dickensian Christmas! Top hats are where it's at! God bless us every one!

Christmas polka dots

I've been straight up busy/sick (and also the mom of a sick kid, which is worse, but he's healthy now), and then all of a sudden WHAM, it's Christmas time and people are coming to my house and it is NOT clean (and that's a dog hair tumbleweed that just traveled over the hardwood floors, let's all ignore it together), and I'm all like "Thanks for visiting! Sorry I have no food in the house for you! I realize I should probably have some grown-up food for these visiting grown-ups!"

Luckily, my sister, who was visiting, has met me before and knows that I'm not the best housekeeper in the world (but I'm better than I was!), and while I may not have cream for her coffee, I do have an adorable baby boy and brownie-filled cookies!

So, yes. Merry early Christmas! I received a polka-dot purse (not pictured, but it's Betsey Johnson and amazing) and a polka-dot scarf.

I'm pretty easy to shop for! And I got to see my sister, and she tolerated my mess, and look at that adorable baby boy in his winter coat! It was good times for all!

Fall list

1. Walk in the woods: We walked in a lot of parks. That had woods attached. So I'm going to check this one off. (Look at the pretty lake! I took this picture on a Thanksgiving walk.)

2. Go to a fall festival: We only went to one (shocking!) but it had a food truck rally and a pumpkin patch and was walking distance from home. Success.

3. Make stew: I totally did this at least twice. Who takes pictures of stew? Apparently not me.


4. Visit the mountains: We did. For less than a day because Robert had a work emergency that demanded we go back home. Boo. But we did get to see the foggy fall colors!

5. Go to a food truck rally: See: Fall Festival. Also: Yummy.

6. Dress Thomas up for Halloween: He dressed up as a Pumpkin and  Bunny Rabbit. Who is the cutest?! (Answer: Thomas. Thomas is the cutest.)

7. Visit a brewery, drink a seasonal: I visited a brewery. At a different location, I drank seasonal beer. I planned to do both at the same place, but the Panthers were playing and it was all loud and crowded so me and my friends ended up eating at a Mexican restaurant connected to a Days Inn, which was delicious. So: Half success.

8. Carve a pumpkin: Thomas is a tiny toddler. We painted that pumpkin, instead!

9. Drink a pumpkin spice latte: Yep. Yum.

10. Take Thomas to a farm: This was the most fun! It is definitely going to be an annual fall ritual for us!

Cat Square Christmas Parade

I used to cover the Cat Square Christmas Parade every year when I was a small-town reporter. It was absolutely one of my favorite things to cover. That is one crazy, country parade!

So, of course, it had to be Thomas's first parade, and, man, did he love it! Pictured above: What I wore. I don't have a front picture, but the back was cuter anyway. It was 70 degrees in December here in North Carolina!

Thomas was super into the parade. The marching band was his favorite part. ("It was his mama's favorite part! That's why it was his favorite part!" my friend told me. I do love some aggressive percussion.) Pictured above: Thomas asks himself "Does Santa rock? Or am I being mislead by this onesie?"

This parade is a for-real event. It lasts hours. There is tailgating. And something called "Cat Square Kool-Aide." (Beware of the Kool-Aide!)

And to conclude: Here is a picture of a woman riding a cow dressed up like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Because of Christmas. And Cat Square. An excellent combination!

Style Icon: Linda McCartney

Linda and Paul McCartney shared such a sweet, beautiful, domestic, family-oriented love. I really, really love to look at pictures of them and their family. Sometimes I joke with Robert about how super boring we are because we have zero "drama," but I think Linda and Paul also had very little drama, and that didn't make them boring at all. In fact, I think that's part of the reason I find them so interesting.

Linda was a talented photographer, and as far as I can tell, she was a great mom too. I love that she seems to have two not-so-different styles. She has her groovy style (minis and sunglasses and such) and her farm-mom style (overalls and baby in tow), and they're both awesome.

I like people who have kids, seem kid-focused and are still full on groovilicious.

 Doesn't she make you want to move to the Scottish highlands and raise sheep? That's what that photo makes me want to do.

And if you had successfully resisted the urge to move to Scotland and raise sheep (because Scotland is far away and sheep are probably smelly and what if Internet access is terrible out on the farm?), then this photo will do you in. You cannot look at this photo and not want to put on a fuzzy sweater and boots and go raise some sheep. You cannot. Internet access be damned (besides, it's the farm probably has great wifi).

They make family life look so great. (Hello! Having a family is great!) And another thing: How '90s does Linda McCartney look here? SO '90s! Floral granny dress and denim jacket. Way to be ahead of your time, Linda. Way to be ahead of your time.

But also deliciously in it, you groovy girl, you. Linda McCartney: multi-faceted mommy style icon.

Seeing Santa

 Thomas went to his first concert! And then he saw Santa afterwards. Both events did NOT go smoothly. I kind of saw the disaster coming, but my parents really wanted him to go, and I often "see disasters coming" and in reality everything ends up just fine. With Thomas, I try to take a "We'll try it" approach to public events... which has resulted in some awful brunches, but also some really amazing times.

Anyway, the concert was held in a very cool museum with an adorable kids section, which was great (and a creepy folk art section I did not enjoy because folk art is not at all my thing). Pictured above: adorable kids section of the museum. The concert was sit down, and I thought it was going to be casual, but then all these older ladies arrived in Chanel suits, and I was like "Whoa Nelly." Also: It was bluegrass (yay!) mixed with a string quartet (uh-oh). Thomas, in his flannel and his one-year-oldness, might have been able to hang through some bluegrass, but a classical music concert? Not so much. So he didn't stay long, but we did get to see Santa!

Santa totally scared Thomas, and there was not going to be a one-on-one moment with the Jolly Old Elf, but Thomas was cool with staring at him from my lap. Merry Christmas!

This is what I wore to hang with Santa. That sweater vest situation is my new favorite thing. So graphic! So comfortable! So warm! And the thrifted pants and second-hand clogs are my old favorite things (Love them. Wear them all the time.)

Happy holidays!

Style Icon: Mr. T

As a child of the '80s, I was very aware of Mr. T. I don't think I ever actually watched his show "The A-Team," but he was definitely a pop-culture figure I knew. I understood that he pitied fools. I appreciated his mohawk and love of gold jewelry. Mr. T was a more-is-more kind of guy.

You know, you don't need a shirt if you have that many gold chains (and bracelets and cuffs and rings and earrings -- including a giant feather earring, which is just awesome). Oh Mr. T, you iconic, shiny style will never be forgotten.

Style Icon: Karen Elson

Karen Elson (the model turned musician) is Grace Coddington (the model turned creative editor for Vogue) 2.0. Or she's the sequel to Grace Coddington. Or Grace Coddington Jr.

See? Big red hair. Super pale skin. Superb! I think redheads are just so gorgeous. Just in general. Super red hair is a fashion statement in and of itself.

So she has red hair and pale skin and wears cool vintage clothes and designs shoes and makes music and marries and divorces Jack White. That is what Karen Elson does. (I love that she and Jack White had a party celebrating their divorce... although things seem to have gone south since then between the two.)

She looks so fab with her fancy dresses and guitar singing her songs. In general, I'm unimpressed with models, but there are a few I really enjoy. Karen Elson is one of them. She's not conventional. She's kind of weird looking, and I like that.

And, again, she's all big red hair and pale skin. That's really a winning combo in my book. (And now I sort of want to dye my hair. I've been red before. Should I go red again? Hmm...)

Remix - Denim jacket

Oh the jean jacket. So clean. So classic. So American. So easily remixed. 

I know the jacket was thrifted. I know I found it years ago for about $5 or so. I don't remember what I thought when I found it, but it was probably something like "Everyone needs a jean jacket. I don't have a jean jacket. I am lacking something everyone needs! I will buy this now."

Ever since, whenever I needed a jean jacket, I had one. Going to a Super Bowl party? Throw on your jean jacket! Shopping for a maternity bathing suit? Might as well do that in a jean jacket! Going to a matinee play? Put on that jean jacket, it might get chilly! Hanging out with giant a sculpture by Nikki de Saint Phalle? That sculpture would look really good with a jean jacket! And so on.

Style Icon: Edith Head

Edith Head was such a weirdo. She was also an Oscar-winning, costume-designing genius. 

She's known for creating the costumes and winning Academy Awards for such fab films as "Roman Holiday," "A Place in the Sun" and "Funny Face." She also dressed nearly every screen-goddess icon of her time: Elizabeth Taylor, Veronica Lake, Grace Kelly and Audrey Hepburn to name just a few.

She's also rumored to have taken credit for designs that were not her own. Oh the drama! What do I know? I don't. Maybe she did. Maybe she didn't. It can't be denied she was talented. And her own style was so different from that of her leading ladies. They were these glamazons and she was all about some tiny bangs, round sunglasses and no nonsense suits.

She was a business woman. A career gal. And she had a strange, signature look all her own. Loving it, Edith Head! I'm simply loving it!