What I wore today: 11/27/14 (Thanksgiving)

Thanksgiving is always a fun, if somewhat challenging, holiday to dress for. I tend pick out earth-tones, which is a pallet I don't normally wear much of. Add to that the challenges of staying warm, looking nice, and wearing something that facilitates napping on your brother's sofa. 

Our Thanksgiving meal was delicious. My brother made a smoked turkey and a roasted one, and my sister-in-law's mom brought these yams that were cooked with fresh oranges. I made cranberry sauce as usual and two pies. Recipe posts coming next week. 

My niece Claire, who is almost 11 month old now, tried the potatoes, the yams, and even the cranberry sauce. She's an adventurous eater. 

Sweater dress – Missoni for Target

Cardigan – Anthropologie

Boots – Frye

Thanksgiving Recipe: Cranberry Jello Shots

I made these for a potluck friendsgiving-style party that we went to on Friday. It was a fun time. Our friend lives in an apartment building-cum-gallery, and she and some of her artist/art-history-buff friends came up with a game called "Drunk Art History," inspired by the show Drunk History, of course. Everyone picked a piece of famous artwork out of a hat and, after some drinking, we gave 3-minute boozy lectures with the aid of a projector.

I got the recipe here, but I used raspberry Jell-O because I couldn't find cranberry. They were delicious. The cranberry juice combined with the raspberry Jell-O for the perfect cran-raspberry taste.

I wasn't quite sure how to roll the cranberries in honey and sugar, so I just drizzled honey over them in a bowl and stirred, then added a few tablespoons of sugar and stirred again. That method worked well, and I'd recommend it if you give these a try. I was able to get 28 shots out of the recipe, so I only sugared about 40 cranberries, saving the rest of the bag for Thanksgiving cranberry sauce.

Looking for a last-minute Thanksgiving contribution or a quick way to get your family drunk? Look no further.

What I wore today: 11/20/2014 (La Superbe)

I wasn't kidding when I said I could live in Madewell. Lately, I've been loving neutrals and tomboy silhouettes with French-girl feminine details, and Madewell covers all those bases beautifully. 

Neutrals are not only effortlessly cool looking, but they also make getting dressed in the morning so easy since everything goes with everything else. 

"La Superbe" sweatshirt – Madewell et Sézane

Colorblock Streetcar coat – Madewell

Skinny jeans – Gap

Brown leather"Cast & Crew" ankle boots – Jeffrey Campbell, Free People

Wooden collar necklace – Madewell

Dinosaur bone rib cage cuff bracelet – Noir Jewelry 

Mismatch ankle socks – Madewell

What I wore today: 11/11/2014 (Bien Fait)

 

When Ryan and I went to Mood while we were in New York (photos, video), I told him how occasionally I'll see the same textile used for wildly different products from different brands, and I like to imagine that Mood was the source for both. Two different designers, each living in New York and shopping at Mood, see the same textile and give it two separate lives, each as far reaching as the other. 

I once spotted a really lovely pattern I recognized from an Anthro top used on a Crosby record player.  These pants happen to share their fabric with an Anthro top as well. When I first saw the top, I loved the pattern, but I didn't really love the shape. I even thought that I would prefer the fabric as pants. Then, a few months later, there they were at Madewell. Thank you, Mood.

Everly ankle boots – Jeffrey Campbell, Urban Outfitters

"Delancey Slouch Trousers" – Madewell

Lace and leather shirt – Prabal Garung for Target

Necklace – J.Crew Factory

Belt – Madewell

November Wish List

As the weather turns quickly colder, I find myself coveting leather skirts, wool jackets, cashmere scarves, and plaid everything. I've also been on a bit of a skincare and haircare kick lately, no doubt inspired by the ravage of harsh winds and dry air.

01. Anthropologie, 02. Madewell, 03. J.Crew, 04. Madewell, 05. Amazon, 06. Madewell

Our New York Vacation: The Video

When we travel, I sometimes like to make a short video to keep as a souvenir along with all the vacation photos. This one will give you an idea of some of the sights and activities we enjoyed in New York. And, if you're interested, you can check out a video I made last year of a fun day trip Ryan and I took to the very charming Columbus, Indiana. Find it here. 

October Ins and Outs: What I Bought and Read Last Month

Before my Anthropologie discount ended, I scooped up a really cool Scandinavian cookbook and a The Little Prince pop-up book I've thought about buying for years.

The only other book I bought in October was a used collection of Poe stories illustrated for children. It's the perfect Halloween book.

Land of Love and Drowning, and Not that Kind of Girl were both book-club reads. Despite its beautiful language, I found Land of Love and Drowning to be very hard to get through. I think I maybe should have read it more slowly and spent more time just sitting with things, but I had to finish it in time for our meeting.

Lena Dunham's book was about why I expected: very smart and funny in parts and somewhat underwhelming in other parts. 

I absolutely tore through Love Me Back. It's beautifully written, but not for anyone who wants a linear story or a tidy ending.

The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay was hugely enjoyable and quite moving. I'm glad I finally got around to reading this often recommended book. 

Cover, Peter Mendelsund's book about his career designing book covers a big ol' tub of candy for anyone who loves design or books. Since I love both, I absolutely reveled in it. 

This is Where I Leave You was quite funny and moving in places, but left me somewhat unsatisfied. I think it's mainly because none of the female characters felt flushed out well enough. I'm still interested to see the movie. 

The Afterlife with Archie was surprisingly substantive. I knew I'd enjoy the art, but I didn't expect to get so hooked into the story. 

I finally finished Sleep Donation. It's taken me forever to get through this tiny novella because it's only available as an ebook and, for whatever reason, I can't download it on my iPad, which means I had to read the whole thing on my phone. Phone reading has worked for me in the past for simpler stories, but it just wasn't conducive to Karen Russell. But, I really wanted to get through it, so I decided to read in on the plane to New York. It was just lovely: very inventive and thought-provoking, and it put me right to sleep. 

Our New York Trip in Photos

If you follow me on Instagram, you've already glimpsed the world of fun we had in New York a couple weeks ago. Instagram is great for sharing your life in photos in real time. However, I also like to capture some higher quality shots with my DSLR.

So, without further ado, here they are for your viewing pleasure, along with a couple shots of me from Ryan's iPhone, which also missed the Instagram train. 

What I wore today: 10/31/2014 (Clockwork)

I wasn't planning on dressing up for Halloween, but then, a few nights before, I watched The Simpsons' latest Treehouse of Horror episode, which featured an A Clockwork Orange parody, and I realized how easy it would be to put together an Alex costume. 

I've never worn false eyelashes before, and I've always been intimidated by them, so I was surprised by how easy they were to apply. The real secret is to trim them to fit your eye and to actually wait the 15 seconds to let the glue get tacky.