If Only All Emails Were This Dreamy

Holidays emails are the always the best of the year . . .

 Makes me want to subscribe to more emails.  

MZ Wallace

LoveGold

Urban Outfitters

Free People

Anthropologie

Jimmy Choo

Cartier

BRIKA

Madewell

United Bamboo

Soia & Kyo

Saks

Uniqlo

The Land of Nod

Journelle

Montaigne Market

Inspired by the Dreamiest Editor of All

When Magic Man and I first got married I was a new step-mom to four little kids and I didn't have anything kid related - toys, movies, etc.  One rainy day we were desperate to entertain the kiddies and that's when the Audrey Hepburn DVD set came in handy.  

I put on Funny Face and the girls 

(at the time aged 3, 5, and 7) were mesmerized. 

They were so captivated by the 'Think Pink' 

number they started to refer to the movie 

as 'Think Pink' and not 'Funny Face.'  

I loved that they loved Maggie Prescott, 

the Editor as much as Jo, the Model.

Also being obsessed with all things Diana Vreeland I loved how they'd repeat Maggie's catch phrases that were based on Diana, like 'Pizazz.' 

All girls need to learn about Diana Vreeland, right? 

"This world without a leopard . . .

I mean, who would want to be here?"  - DV

  

Argh! Such a genius!

Now that we are in Austin, I acquiesced to some of the local traditions, like decorating trees on the side of Capital of TX Hwy for Christmas. 

But I didn't want to just throw tinsel on a tree so I decided we would decorate a small tree inspired by Diane Vreeland: 

Meaning Red and Leopard and we could shout 'That's got pizazz!' as we dressed the tree. 

However, with four kids (the youngest being a 2 yr old boy), and with a very limited budget, things did not go as planned.  And I'm not just saying that because I ended up going in my pajamas.

First, we decided we would not even attempt to pull over on the highway, so we chose a tree close to the girl's school on a quiet street - so not the 360 Hwy where everyone can see. 

I was hoping we would concentrate all the beads, ribbon and faux red berries in a tight cluster for just a pop of 'pizazz,' but the girls wanted to string the beads and ribbon over a few trees, spreading out the limited decor and diluting the design.  

You could hardly see the end product, but we were doing this for them so I was not going to tell them 'no,' -- we were in it for the memories, not appearances. 

There were no shouts of 'Pizazz!' or singing''S Wonderful' or dancing around, but we did leave in one piece with no fights or meltdowns so I was pleased.

twig and tree

My Dream Portraits

I love the idea of formal portraits that look stiff and fake. 

And I am a sucker for images of Carolina Herrera and her daughters.

So many ball gowns and skirts.

Even their casual photos looks formal, swoon.

Magic Man is not a fan of portraits, let alone anything stiff and formal.  So bless his heart for indulging me once a year (and no one more that that).

I suppose if we want to do it right, next year we (READ: the adults) will ditch the smiles.  At least the kids figured that part out.    

Twig and Tree

My Dream In-Laws in LA

One of my favorite things to do is visit my In-Laws.  It's true- they're so funny and from the first time I met them they treated me like family.  In November they moved from Meridian, MS to West Monroe, LA so we road-tripped out to see them and check out their new home.

I know very little about Duck Dynasty, 

but apparently it takes place there.

 I usually get teased by my whole In-Law family about my wardrobe and what I chose to wear when, but I think I finally got it.  It was balmy and sprinkling on and off and my lightweight Free People dress (love those sales on sale) and my Melissa oxfords (best rain shoes ever) fit all situations I found myself in.

It proved to be the perfect outfit for checking out one of my new favorite lakes, the Black Bayou.  

 As you can see, we could Not contain ourselves.  

My brother-in-law also drove up which means even more fun.

   

 Can you tell it was windy?

Actually we had tornadoes that night - my first ever!

Magic Man was about to make it rain.

 As was the the sky.  

Magic Man accuses me of having too many 'favorites' or '#1's' but the lake was my first Bayou and I did truly love it.

And I love these guys.

We also checked out the mall, which Magic Man and I had once visited (well, we slept in the parking lot during a road trip).   

Do you miss Walter White too?

We ate non-stop (mostly healthy stuff like Mom's homemade bread  and Five Guys' grilled cheese) and watched The Christmas Story (Do You Like Santa? . . .  I Like the Wizard of Oz) while the tornado tore up part of the town.  

There was a frozen custard place I wanted to visit but we ran out of time.  It's fine, we'll be back to see our family and also so I can visit my most favorite lake ever of all time.