A Touch of Christmas

With two more nights left of Hanukkah, we added a touch of Christmas with the family.

Little Kipster's Chanukah wishes!

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Look to the BEAN!

I have always been a Bean girl. I love LL Bean's clothes and of course, who didn't have a pair of duck boots as a kid (especially if you were a kid of the 80s) and now I run around in my duck boot moccasins.

One day, I strayed from the Bean (gasp). During the height of the UGG craze, I bought this black pair for a chilly trip to Utah. I wore them for a few more consecutive trips there, where we often "Sundanced." They were comfortable and warm...for the most part. One appeal of the Ugg is that you can wear them sockless, thanks to the shearling lining, but I found that my feet were never warm enough.

With an impending trip back home to DC/MD, including a quick jaunt to NYC this winter, I am ready for a new pair of winter footwear. I noticed this pair of PAC boots from Kenetrek, which is said to be a "snug-fitting, totally waterproof and incredibly warm and comfortable" boot.

I have never tried a pair of KC PACS, but was intrigued. Then I couldn't stop thinking about the boots I had as a kid and in college, that never let me down. (My college Beans became too small over time). Like my moccasins, I love the blue & tan combination.

The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to go back to the Bean and decided to order a pair online. But I was too late. Of course, my size was sold out (cue the crocodile tears). As the saying goes, "we always want what we cant have," and now I wanted the boots even MORE.

After a little phone consultation with a LL Bean rep, I am going to order them a little wider than my standard size and hope they are not too wide. If so, then I will simply return them and wait until FEBRUARY when my size is back in stock. I asked the rep to pack a little hope into the box that this pair won't be too big. Thankfully, he had a sense of humor.

Fingers crossed!

update: the boots were a *perfect* fit. I had also ordered them in a size smaller and now I am ready to wear them up & down the east coast.

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Sexy or stupid?

Not too long ago, my Bestie, Jenna, posted a funny link on my facebook page about "duck lips." I couldn't stop laughing. Duck lips refers to the non-sexy pout that many girls today like to do in their photos, and it looks like this:

It looks positively ridiculous, not sexy.

Even I have been guilty of striking this pose...but for good reason. We were in Paris at Châtelet - Les Halles Place Igor Stravinski and it was only natural to do the duck lips in front of the fountain.

Aside from posing with this specific art piece, there really is nothing natural about the pout. More than likely, people are laughing at you and not with you when they see your puckered up photos.

The only time you should have duck lips in your pics is when you are one of these two:

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A Childhood Favorite

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Preppy & Sorority Rain Boots

With all of the rain falling around our region, many of us are eager to grab our Wellies before heading outside. Unless, of course, you are one of my cousins who has relinquished her "Wells", opting instead for her sorority boots by Zou Baby! This is some serious Greek pride when you can don your letters on a rubber boot.

If you are a non-Greek, or a "GDI", as it is called on most campuses, you can have your boots monogrammed. Tres adorable.

Simply choose the font and thread color.

There is nothing better than your little mini-me running around in his or her own pair of boots too, so Zou Baby has little tyke sizes from four through 11.

The boots will run you around $100 and ship rather quickly. Their company site says that you will receive your creation in about 7-10 business days. I foresee some Phi Mus on my feet in the near future.

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Target is a commercial genius

I LOVE Target. Like many shoppers, I could go into a store for a couple of things and find myself there for more than an hour, distracted by hundreds of items. When I lived in the same town as my sister, we would take a couple of late night trips with her daughter just for the fun of it.

Speaking of fun, their holiday commercials are a blast and I think their ad team is brilliant. The "crazy lady" approach is a great way to suck in new and repeat customers. Every spot in the series makes me laugh, and this is the latest to bring tears to my eyes:

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First trip to the Bean

The Little Kipster took his first trip to the Bean at the Old Orchard location in Skokie, IL. As you can see by the smile on his face, he had a great time! Based on the contents in the bag (zip front cable knit sweaters and such), I had a great time too.

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Hand print place cards

Cameron's hand printed place cards were a big hit with our Thanksgiving dinner guests this year.

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Giving Thanks

This holiday, I am thankful for having such a wonderful, loving family & friends. I am also thinking of my Cherokee & Blackfoot ancestors on Thanksgiving and thankful to them for their strength and leadership through ALL of the things Native Americans have endured for generations.

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Now OPEN: Vineyard Vines @ Willow Bend

As some of you know, North Texas Preppies (especially Plano Preps) have long awaited the opening of Vineyard Vines at Willow Bend.

Wait no longer, because the doors opened TODAY.

As a matter of fact, the baby & I walked through the doors about 45 minutes after they opened. The staff was fabulous and of course, excited to be settled in. They are located upstairs directly across from Brooks Brothers near the Neiman's entrance. Talk about a trifecta!

It was nice to get in a little shopping before the crowd hits on Black Friday. I mentally earmarked a few items that I will put on my Hanukkah list,

but I definitely needed to bring these Tumblers home because I am sure they will be sold out by the day's end.

We also received a couple of little goodies that I can put in the home office.

Get your boots on and head on over to the Vine.

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10 Things Not To Say to Your Childfree Friends

This is a repost from Parents.com. I really wish more women had read this when I was childless because it *may* have made them more sensitive before opening their mouths. The one I heard the most was, "You don't know what it is like to have kids." Wow, what a zinger! I am really glad this article was written.

By Jillian Mackenzie My boyfriend and I don't know yet if we're going to have children -- but over the last few years, the majority of our friends have taken the plunge. During that time, I've learned a few things about how to keep friendships strong when you don't have parenthood in common. Here are 10 things not to say to your friends who don't have children.

1. "When will you finally have kids?" Once you have offspring, you want your friends to share the experience. But please don't loudly ask this question across the table at Thanksgiving dinner or at a baby shower. Although many people are happy to be childfree or waiting, the situation may be more complicated. A friend could be facing infertility, in the agonizing position of having a spouse who doesn't want children, or otherwise in a complex struggle over the issue. Bring it up privately with close friends, or wait for them to share with you.

2. "We always wanted to have a family." If you use the expression "have a family" to mean "have children," you inadvertently send a message that people without kids are... family-less. Family comes in many forms: significant others, parents, siblings, nieces, nephews, cousins, neighbors -- happily, the list goes on!

3. "I only invited other parents." Having children is the norm, and people who are childfree can sometimes feel isolated or excluded. So invite us to birthday parties! Sure, there are some people who just don't like kids and have no desire to spend an afternoon surrounded by them. They can decline the invitation, and the rest of us will cheer when the birthday boy takes his first bite of cupcake.

4. "Are you hung-over?" If you had kids when you were on the younger side, you may have transitioned abruptly from staying out bar-hopping to night feedings and Yo Gabba Gabba -- and years later, you may assume that we're still acting like our crazy twentysomething selves. But just because we don't have kids doesn't mean we aren't growing up.

5. "You're so lucky you get to sleep in/shop/travel." We understand that you give up a lot to be the amazing parent you are -- and we do appreciate our extra cash and free time, and god, yes, the sleep. But too many offhand comments like this make us feel like you assume the reason we don't have children is that we're lazy, selfish, or shallow. The decision is never that simple.

6. "This must be birth control for you." Parents often make this joke when their kid is being loud or persistent, and we understand it's because you're worried the situation is bugging the hell out of everyone around you. Don't stress -- a good friend understands that your kid is going to have a meltdown once in a while. We can take it. And, of course, a crying toddler is not actually a tipping point in our decision to have kids. We're not that shortsighted.

7. "Your dog/cat/parakeet is your baby." Pets are a huge part of many people's lives, whether or not those people have children. But it feels like a consolation prize when you put it like this. That said, ask about my cat; I'm happy to pull up my latest photo of her adorableness.

8. "I can't die; I'm a mom." During a recent brief terrorism scare in New York City, a friend said to me, "I have to get out -- I can't die; I'm a mom." We know you have someone depending on you in an unprecedented way, but there are people who love and depend on us, too.

9. "I'm sorry it's taken forever for me to call/email/text you back." Don't start every correspondence with an apology. Your life is insane and letting us know you want to make time for us is appreciated. But don't stress so much: My life is busy too, and more often than not, I didn't even notice a lag.

10. "You wouldn't understand." We know there are many things about parenting you will turn to your mom friends to talk about. And, honestly, with anyone other than a close friend, that's probably best -- I lose interest fast when someone I don't know well talks too much about their kids. But when we're real friends, don't let our relationship fade because you're afraid of boring us with parenting stuff. Just like we used to listen to you talk about your ex, we want to hear about what's important in your life now. And we hope you'll do the same for us.

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Just in time for the holidays

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Santa BABY...literally

Baby Santas are coming to town, with a little help from Huggies.

A month before Cameron was born, I had purchased the denim diapers. Actually I purchased enough denim diapers that he was able to wear them for about four months!

I think today we will use the Huggies coupon that has been sitting on my night stand for a little while. His Santa diapers will be the perfect pairing with his "Happy Hanukkah" shirt!

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NOVEMBER specials

Take a look at the November customer specials at the preppy debutante.

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A Gift for the Preppy Debutante

My bestie, Jenna, gave me the ultimate 40th birthday present! Preppy: Cultivating Ivy Style by Jeffrey Banks was waiting on my doorstep when I returned from my recent trip to Chicago. Just to make sure that she could hear my excitement all the way in Tampa, I called the BFF and squealed on her voicemail-of course, I first warned her to "remove the phone from your ear" before screaming in it.

As if the book alone was not a great surprise, she had Jeffrey Banks include this:

Jenna is consistent, because she had already gifted me with J.Banks' fabulous read of Tartan: Romancing the Plaid

I think I will put away the "Dick & Jane" and the Yiddish version of "The Cat in the Hat" books for a while, because my baby prepster has a new book for bedtime stories for now. Tomorrow night we will read about the "Preppy's Progress."

Don't forget to check out Banks' designs at HSN!

On a side note, I really wish I had jumped on his lobster tote while it was still in stock.

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I want one!

I admit that from the first episode of ABC's Pan Am, I was hooked! I am a true sucker for nostalgia, especially when the era involves the 1960s. Blame it on the fact that I come from an "old" family with two siblings born in the early 60s. My family's fashion during that time period was a reflection of the Kennedys. I, unfortunately, popped into the world wearing bell bottom pants, platform shoes and multi-colored turtlenecks, thanks to the early 70s.

Every time I watch the show, I cannot stop obsessing over the flight attendant's (back then they were stewardesses) BAG!

I could forego the uniform, but the bag is incredible & now I want to get my hands on one.

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