Poncho

I still love my white Michael Kors poncho. It's perfect for those days when it's not that cold. I like to pair it with my Burberry scarf, Bottega Veneta bag, and Target jeans.

Thankful

I love Thanksgiving. It is my favorite Holiday because it's so low pressure..just good food, lots of it, and spending quality time with the family. My one rule of thumb is that we have to keep the guests down to a number that we can still sit around our table, and eat from the "good" plates (that pretty much limits us to 12 people). Yesterday we had 11 around the table. I've hosted Thanksgiving for so many years that I've got my routine together, which also reduces the stress of it. And of course me and hubby love to cook. Our menu is pretty much the same traditional fare of turkey and trimmings from year to year, with some new additions or swaps based on whatever inspires us (this year's new thing was stuffed mushrooms for starters). A tradition is also to go around the table for everyone to say what they are thankful for.  However, this year we did that with a little twist. The kids had prepared paper slips cut in the shapes of leaves and painted pretty on one side. Everyone got one leaf and wrote on it what they were thankful. Then the leaves were handed out randomly and everyone got to read another person's note. It was very sweet and funny.

Tiny Cupcakes

Who doesn't love cupcakes? I don't know anyone that doesn't. New York is home to a few bakeries that make amazing cupcakes, like Magnolia and Crumbs. But cupcakes have a lot of calories..which may explain the huge success of the teeny tiny cupcakes from "Baked by Melissa". My daughter has been begging me for months to bring home these cupcakes (they're only available in the City). We finally had a chance to go pick up some, and boy were they worth the wait. So yummmmyyyyy. 

  

Leather Skirt

Leather has been a big trend lately, bigger than it has been for years. Leather sleeves, leather pants, leather skirts. Leather is everywhere. Quilted leather a la Rag and Bone, short swingy leather skirts a la Ralph Lauren, and everything in between.. So of course I've been thinking about getting in on the action. I've got a couple of jackets with leather sleeves, and a coat with quilted leather sleeves. But I'm not a less is more kind a person. So I wanted to get a leather skirt. I was chatting about this fact the other day describing what I would like to find, and meanwhile my husband was listening. So a couple of days later, a leather skirt was waiting for me on my bed when I got home. It looked vaguely familiar. Yes, it actually was my old leather skirt from circa ten years ago (or something like that). My hubby had gone to my clothing storage in the attic closet and found the leather skirt. He says he was rummaging for something else when the leather skirt caught his eye. But I have a feeling that he found it on purpose and is trying to teach me a lesson. I mean, he is always harping on my shopping habits… Anyway, I don't really care, I was happy to have the skirt and been already wearing it a couple of times. Here's one office outfit where I paired the skirt with a cashmere swather, silk scarf, leather boots and the old and trusty Chloe bag.

 

The Fall in Long Island is Beautiful

I love the fall in Long Island. The island is full of beautiful colors, the weather is mostly mild and it's really great to be outdoors wearing warm sweaters, big cozy scarves, and comfortable boots. Our house, and the whole neighborhood is surrounded by big beautiful trees that shed an unbelievable amount of leaves. We sometimes rake them for fun, but the best thing is that we don't have to unless we want to..the gardener comes every other week to blow the leaves away anyway. The kids love to jump in the leaf piles, and of course Coco is right there jumping along.. 

The view from a friend's house in Huntington. So lovely! 

Another Take on Gray and Beige

This is my take on gray and beige.. An old gray wool jacket with some not-too-blingy embroidery, combined with a beige rabbit fur scarf, dark blue jeans, cheapo shoes, Stella McCartney bag. Very comfy and warm, exactly what a fall outfit should be.

The Genesis

It's amazing how quickly the fast fashion chains can turn around designer looks and make them into trends. This fall I've seen lots of winter white, quilted leather, soft shoulders, big knits, pajamas, plaid, leather skirts (the Ralph Lauren short full leather skirt must be one of the most ripped off styles of this fall!). The pictures speak for themselves. I'm sure you recognize the current trends from these pictures of the fall 2013 runway shows that showed last spring...

pajamas at Marc Jacobs

Winter white and a cozy knit at the Row

Plaid at Celine

Black and white, and soft shoulders, midi length skirt at Proenza Schouler

Quilted leather at Rag and Bone

The full short leather skirt at Ralph Lauren

Winter white, over the knee boots, and turtleneck at Reed Krakoff

Entertaining

We are the kind of people who are always entertaining for one reason or another. Must be because we like to party ;-)  Most of the time we keep the number of guests to a number that is still doable to cook for at home. My husband is a good cook, and I have a couple of specialities that I like to make too. 

You always need a nice bunch of flowers at a party. I never buy expensive bouquets, instead I just grab something cheap at the supermarket, and then cut branches and stuff from the back yard and make my own arrangement. This time I outsourced the arrangement making to my au pair who did a super job!

One of my specialities is pumpkin soup. Easy as pie, when you make it in the Vitamix hot soup setting... I got the idea of carving a pumpkin and serving the soup in the pumpkin bowl from the Pioneer Woman blog.

 Looks like I spent $50 for these flowers, when in fact it was just $6.99!

There can be a party without cheese, but what's the point?

At ease boys, you will be filled up soon!

Yummy pumpkin soup... I'm making this for Thanksgiving too. Just not sure of the pumpkin bowl. Maybe my soup tureen will have to do.