happy, happy new year!

fittingly, this new year's message from me--and regina spektor, by way of peggy lee--to you is also my 200th(!) blog post. serendipity? i think so.

i'll be back on monday, jan. 5 (if not sooner), so until then, enjoy these lyrics, love hard and appreciate each other. (by the way, i hope you know how much i appreciate you. really, truly.)

xoxoxo, my dears.

my dear acquaintance (a happy new year)

my dear acquaintance, it's so good to know you
for strength of your hand
that is loving and giving
and a happy new year
with love overflowing
with joy in our hearts
for the blessed new year

raise your glass and we'll have a cheer
for us all who are gathered here
and a happy new year to all that is living
to all that is gentle, kind, and forgiving
raise your glass and we'll have a cheer
my dear acquaintance, a happy new year

all of those who are hither and yonder
with love in our hearts
we grow fonder and fonder
hail to those who we hold so dear
and hail to those who are gathered here

and a happy new year to all that is living
to all that is gentle, young, and forgiving
raise your glass and we'll have a cheer
my dear acquaintance, a happy new year
happy new year.

(p.s. download the song on itunes.)

{ photo above by mrs. french }

a snapshot of my weekend.

my mom's famous (seriously, they're amazing) chocolate chip cookies. good friends. holiday parties.

things are good, my friends.

how were your weekends?

(p.s. i know i've been a terrible blogger. i promise to be better in the new year. my first resolution, perhaps?)

{ photo above taken by moi for this blog }

a thought for the holidays.

"we take our miracles where we find them. we reach across the gap and sometimes, against all odds, against all logic, we touch." (grey's anatomy)

{ image above by photographer i.anton }

oh, come, all ye faithful.

one of my favorite scenes from one of my favorite holiday movies, love actually. tell me this isn't "aww"-inducing. (and the part at the end--"enough. enough now"--gets me every time.) anyway, i just wanted to share a little something holiday-y with you today. happy tuesday, my dears. xo

p.s. my second favorite scene in this movie? hugh grant dancing to the pointer sisters' "jump! (for my love)." amazing.

monday eye candy.

Originally uploaded by i.anton

just a little monday festivity for you by photographer i.anton (check out the entire photostream by clicking on the link above—it’s worth it, i promise).

p.s: i hope you all had fantastic weekends. mine was insane—but that’s a story for another time.

naughty or nice?

you guys, i did something bad.

i bought myself a little pre-christmas present.

i saw this “silvie” dress from j.crew in the pages of marie claire magazine a few months ago and immediately coveted it. the classic shape, the defined waist, the mustard color, the cashmere blend—i just loved it. but at $138, it was far out of my (admittedly limited) price range. car insurance and electricity trump cute dress, as they should.

but then. oh, but then.

i’m not sure whether it was a fellow blogger or just my usual perusal of my favorite retailers’ web sites, but all of the sudden i was alerted to the fact that all j.crew sale items were an extra 30 percent off. “ooh!” i thought. “i should go take a look-see.”

so i started clicking through the pages of dresses on sale, looking for something that caught my eye. and all of a sudden, there it was—my silvie dress, in the mustard color. on sale for more than 50 percent off—plus an extra 30 percent, thanks to the promotion. it was too good to be true. so…

reader, i bought it.

and i think it will look perfect with the brown-and-cream t-strap shoes i already own from target, shown in the image above. not sure how to accessorize otherwise, though—maybe a wooden bangle? what do you think? and please, tell me what your last little present to yourself was!

{ image above from j.crew and target, photoshopped for this blog by moi }

holiday cheer.

so we’re into the first week of december already, and i’m definitely starting to feel merry and bright. in spite of this year’s rough beginning, i have a lot to be grateful for—a wonderful family, the most fantastic friends ever, a stand mixer that’s going to help me with all my holiday baking—and i can’t wait to pile cookies into festive tins and sign holiday cards. i’m also hoping to make last year’s amazing coconut cake again—i’m not sure if there will actually be an occasion for it, but who doesn’t appreciate a 12-pound, three-layer cake frosted in creamy, coconutty goodness, right?

anyway, i also think i want to get a christmas tree this year. because my apartment is so small, i can’t have a big one—well, actually, i could, but i wouldn’t have anywhere to store it post-holiday—so i was excited to discover this champagne-colored beauty at urban outfitters (on sale for $5.99). at just 12 inches tall, it will make a perfect centerpiece for my kitchen table, and i’m going to try to find some clear ball ornaments for decorations. here’s hoping oscar doesn’t eat it.

and i’d love to share my gift ideas with you, but i’m going to have to keep those secret until after the holidays have passed. until then, i ask you: are you buying handmade this year? are you shopping more online than in the mall? (i can tell you right now that i am—shopping in pajamas is much more peaceful than braving the stores, and it frees up more time for the aforementioned fabulous friends and family.) what’s at the top of your wish list?

{ image above from kate spade, who always has the best ads }

signature scent: do i finally have one? do you?

a few weeks ago i was lucky enough to score a ticket to a luncheon and fashion show at the ritz-carlton, sarasota that not only allowed me to eat a small white-chocolate shoe filled with chocolate mousse in the middle of the afternoon, but also skip happily out the door with a fantastic goody bag filled with gift cards to some of my favorite sarasota stores, as well as some great makeup samples—including a miniature lip gloss, mascara and perfume from christian dior.

i’m already in love with the lip gloss (a great pinky-gold color) and the mascara, but it’s the perfume, miss dior cherie, that i’m really loving. let me preface this by saying that i am not really a perfume person. i have a sensitive nose and tend to get perfume headaches fairly easily, which is why i’ll usually only spritz myself with scent if i’m going to a fancy event—otherwise, i stick with deodorant and dove soap. but this perfume—which boasts notes of violet, strawberry and jasmine—is one that i’m going to consider dabbing on every day. it smells almost juicy, it’s a little whimsical, and although it’s a touch girlier than i’d normally wear, i really like it. plus, the glass bottle, with its metal bow, is awfully cute.

what are your signature scents, my dears? (before miss dior cherie, my go-to was a chanel fragrance that i still use—or victoria’s secret’s pear eau de toilette, which i sometimes spray on my shower curtain before i hop in the shower—the scent mixes with the steam from the hot water and makes the bathroom smell delicious.) please share!