For those of you outside the US, this
Thursday we'll be celebrating our Thanksgiving. Here, the day is
marked by excess: we Americans almost always set out to deliberately
over-indulge in our favorite seasonal foods and beverages with
family. We may not like our relatives, or particularly care for
turkey, but celebrate together we do. The feast itself is usually
scheduled for early afternoon. That's to allow for the traditional
nap that follows and/or our other national tradition-obsession; hours
and hours and hours of college or pro football. And that is usually
accompanied by grazing on leftovers, and extra servings of dessert.
But at its best and in its deeper
meaning, it's a national day of gratitude. We're supposed to spend
at least a portion of the day counting our personal and collective
blessings. I am first grateful for my Darling Dan and the rest of
our very small and peculiar family. That absolutely includes all our
four- legged and furry or big, hairy, hoofed "children" as
well as our wild and domestic winged babies. I celebrate the health
of all the above, and the health and happiness of our immediate and
extended two-legged family and friends.
It's just the two of us here, so I'm
grateful that Dan doesn't want the whole traditional demonstration of
excess for dinner on the big day. We just make lots of only our very
favorites dishes and enjoy them with a good bottle (or two) of better
wine than we usually drink, and a bottle of cheap champagne to finish
the evening. (We find the bubbles nice on a full tummy.) I'm also
grateful that he doesn't watch football ... and that brings me to
another thing I'm especially grateful for. Satellite television
allows us to save marathons of favorite series we've missed on the
DVR, or movies.
I have a whole list of important and
serious things to be grateful for but, as you see, I'm also grateful
for many of the less high-minded elements and fun parts of my life.
And since this is (ostensibly) a style blog, I have some gratitude to
express about the style and sartorial life as well.
To start, I'm grateful that Dan and I
just dress up our best jammies or jammie-equivalents on Turkey Day,
and call it good. It's all about the food anyway at our house. I
might or might not wear mascara, but will absolutely brush my hair.
I'll lounge and help cook in cozy black leggings and a new, black and
pink lace print sweatshirt in ... ahem ... "French terry"
that sports a different, silkier front panel.
Speaking of Target* ... I'm grateful
that we finally got one in our Big City. I have fun at our Target.
And because of their designer collaborations, it's one of the few
places where I can have at least some of the same kind of fun as
women in more urban areas have.
Another Target thing I am grateful for
this year is Sonia Kashuck's new line of fragrances with companion
creams and other body-care yummies. There are four different scents
in the line but I'm enchanted with her Pink Innocencia. I'm a
little bit of a fragrance snob. I have standards -- they're low, but
I do have them -- and I generally try to step it up a bit from Big
Box perfumes with celebrity names. However, Kashuck has some serious
design and quality chops, and this tuberose, magnolia and amber
fragrance is right up my alley.
It comes on pretty intensely right
out of the bottle, but settles down quickly and just glows softly all
afternoon. Great for layering too, with hand and body creams, all
inexpensively available. Lovely for everyday, especially when I'm
here all by myself all day with the dogs, cats and horses. They
don't care much if I smell good, but I do.
As much as I love Target, I won't be
anywhere near it on Black Friday. Which starts as early as Thursday
evening, right after dinners. It has become the most insane shopping
day here in the US, and I'm grateful that I'm avoiding
this part of the holiday madness. I like a good sale as much as the
next woman, but I'm too little and too old to compete with younger,
or larger, or more determined (or sometimes just meaner) women for
deep sale prices and parking spaces.
I'm grateful that this was the year
that I managed to get all my favorite magazines, including the
fashion glossies, in digital subscriptions on my Kindle Fire. I love
it. I can now carry ALL of them around with me along with my book
collection, sketch pad, music, web browser and a movie or two if I wish.
And I'm grateful for happy style
accidents that sometimes happen. While wandering around JCP (yes,
again ....) I found a brown and black striped boat-neck sweater that
I just love. On sale. And I'm grateful how well it goes with a brown
and black stripped skirt that I've had for a long time. It has
looked okay with other tops, but I think it's now part of an
"outfit" with the two happy pieces together.
And I'm grateful that our recent warm
day has turned to much cooler weather, so I could bring out the
tights and boots and leather and enjoy wearing it
Finally, I return to my list of
important blessings. If you're reading this, I'm thankful for you!
And if you leave a reply, I'm extra thankful. And if you are one of
the great but unsung style-bloggers from all around the world that I
count among my bloggy-friends, bloggers who inspire me daily, weekly
and always, and who share with me your pretty clothes, interesting
lives and smart opinions .... I'm grateful for every one of your
posts this past year. You help bring the world to my door, you
challenge my preconceptions, make me think, let me learn, and keep me
from being as isolated as I might otherwise be. I'm thankful for all
of that and every one of you.
So, where ever you are, have a Happy Thanksgiving!
*This is not a sponsored post by
Target. Or JCP. Or anyone. I'm just a fan.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
This is me, linking up with
the adorable and always charming Seeker
at
Tres Chic Style Bits on Mondays.
Do drop by, and definitely feel free to show
this new Linky Party some love and Link Up!
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