The short of it...

After many weeks of uploading various haircuts on my Pinterest page, I finally decided on one and made it happen. I love it! 

I will admit, that I immediately had some haircut remorse and sent a few text messages to my sister asking if I had made a mistake. When she didn't answer me right away, I thought she was agreeing with me. Then I realized her phone had died and didn't get the text right away. (whew)

I put the pic on Twitter and had a great response from friends. 

Here are a few bits of inspiration that I had collected on my board. I was looking for the right color, cut & style where I could be happy with all three. 

Hunting for a Rainy Day

Rain isn't very common in Dallas these days and we welcome it when our skies become grey.

It is a good week to bring out the Wellies, if only for a couple of days. When Cameron was born, my dear friend, Shannon in Chicago, gifted him with his first Wellies. She obviously bought them several sizes up so he could wear them while splashing in puddles. Although they are still just a smidge too big, my mini-me and I enjoyed donning our identical boots. 

Speaking of the Chicago area, this is a photo that C. Alexander & I took during our last visit in Winnetka, which also happened to be a Welly day. My niece, Alex, took the photo and it just makes me smile every time I see it.

Sunday stroll in Winnetka, IL

Junior League's 50 Shades of GOLD

Last year, I blogged about my Junior League's huge fundraiser, BLINGO bingo where some fellow Sustainers and I recreated Breakfast at Tiffany's with our Audrey Hepburn costumes.

This year, as some of the League's more seasoned members, we were a bit more edgy!
With "Fifty Shades of Grey" so popular last year, we had a "Fifty Shades of Gold" theme this year.

                            
Keep in mind that the event warrants LOTS of bling. So much, in fact, that they give a prize to the most blinged out person. Yours truly actually took the honors this year, newly chopped golden locks & all.

                                          

                                             
Once again, we were two tables strong, with ladies in head to toe gold! When I say head to toe, I mean it literally. Five of us raided the Target shelves for their deeply discounted gold glitter shoes.

                                                  

 They were platforms with a four-inch heel and will probably never be worn again. Thank goodness, I stashed ballet flats in my bag to wear immediately after the event ended.
                   
                                

Our group leader, Joyce, helped to accessorize everyone.


We donned gold sunglasses, spray-painted books with the "Fifty Shades of Gold" title and yes, even gold handcuffs. If you read the book, you would absolutely understand the cuffs.

The entire room had bling, thanks to ladies in flashing cowboy hats, 

Sunday Best 

And other themes

As the Bingo balls were pulled, ladies at every table eagerly marked off their numbers.

           
       Somehow, I always end up with the "defective" Bingo cards, which rarely have the right numbers!



I did walk away with the prize for Most Bling, which was fun. I won a nice little package of goodies, including an ipod shuffle, earphones with bling and free facials with microderm.

                                       

We may have made a decision about what we already want to do a year from now. Or at least we are on the path for a decision. It was a great day with some incredible women. The event is open to League & non-Junior League members, so be sure to join us this time next year!

Charm City's Super Bowl Champs

                              

      It is a proud time to be a Marylander. 

It was quite a Super Bowl! Many thought the Baltimore Ravens had lost their "mojo" following the major blackout in the stadium after the half, but I never doubted them for a minute-despite the Niners closing the score gap.

I remember when the Ravens arrived in Charm City. Fans questioned their name (an ode to native Baltimorean & famed poet, Edgar Allen Poe) and their colors. You have to keep in mind, that the Ravens' arrival came after the Colts snuck away in the middle of the night on a Mayflower moving truck....then we inherited a Canadian Football team, also named the Colts, but later changed their name to the Stallions (thanks to a NFL lawsuit). Then, the Cleveland Browns moved into "The City that Reads" and became the Ravens. (whew!) If you can follow that, then you know that Baltimore is doubly excited over a World Championship. I think we ALL need to go to Disney World after all of this. 

           Mazel to the BALTIMORE RAVENS!!

Spirit of Children

As many of you know, our Spirit Halloween stores in Houston & Austin raise money through the Spirit of Children program for two hospitals. In Houston, the hospital recipient is Texas Children's Hospital. Austin's hospital is Dell Children's Medical Center. In addition to throwing Halloween parties for the children at both facilities, customers also donate money to help each hospital's Child Life program. Checks are then presented in January or February.

All of the money for both hospitals is 100 % customer donations and was collected over 60 DAYS! The staff in all of the stores work diligently to collect money for the hospitals. This year, we drove from Dallas to Austin to present their check first. Spirit was pleased to present a check for $110, 670.00 to Dell Children's.

Then it was off to Houston (after a one day detour to relax in San Antonio.) At Texas Children's, we presented a check to them for $107, 330. 

Last year, Texas Children's presented us with a Spirit Halloween bench, which was created and painted by some of their pediatric patients. 

It sits in the hallway near a window on the Child Life floor and we have been told that many of the kids enjoy sitting on it. It was an honor to take Cameron upstairs to sit on it too.

                    We look forward to another successful year, raising money for the kids!

Shabbat Shalom

Have a wonderful Shabbos! Someone tweeted this YouTube video. I love it & had to share it for Shabbat-

Sorority fun when there is no sun

Last year I blogged about rain boots that can be personalized with your monogram or sorority letters. Before I could get a pair, I learned about a great alternative that is more economical and versatile.


Sorority boot cuffs are all the rage right now. They are a great way to sport your Greek letters on a pair of boots that you already own!

The cuffs average $30 for the pair and simply slip onto the top of any rain boot. I found that the fit is better on my shorter pair of rain boots, rather than my taller Hunters or Huntress boots. 

What I like the most is that I can remove the cuffs when I want to wear plain black boots. It is a nice way to beam your sorority sunshine on a cloudy day. 

Simply charmed!

I adore charm bracelets. It was about this time last year when I talked about the wonderful vintage charm bracelet that I received from my mother. I don't wear it because I am incredibly afraid of losing it and it means too much to me! Instead, I created one of my own. 

Two of my good friends, Jana, Casey and I have similar bracelets. They are both moms and we see each other all of the time, so it is no wonder that we have a couple of charms in common. I started with my Junior League bracelet, which simply had our JL symbol on it.                                                     From there, I started building. Jana, Casey & I coincidentally have the same Chai charm from James Avery. Given that it is the Jewish symbol for "life," it is only natural for all of us to have one on our bracelets. I used to wear the Magen David charm on a necklace, but moved it to the bracelet. I liked its pairing with the Chai and Hamsa, which protects against the Evil Eye. 

Casey turned 30 this year and her sister-in-law gave her a "30" charm to add to her bracelet. Casey then convinced me to put a "40" on mine, albeit a year late. The "Cameron" silhouette I bought when I was pregnant. Cameron has never had a security blanket or an ultra favorite toy, but has had an affinity to his "bibi" (pacifier). I searched high and low for a pacifier charm that looked like the one he uses and found a vintage one a month ago. Long after his real pacifiers are gone, I will always have this reminder.

The final two charms represent my fraternity, Phi Mu. Although our official mascot is the lion, many Phi Mus have also adopted the ladybug. My husband & I found this one at an antique store a few years ago. It is gold, instead of silver and coupled with the red, provides a nice pop of color among all of the sterling silver. 

I know that I will continue to add more, but I have  a great start to a bracelet that I will one day pass along to one of my children or grandchildren. 

Happy New Year