Happy Thanksgiving

To all my American friends and family!!

Marcel and I are truly thankful for you all!

 

Marcel would like you all to know that he caught a mouse today, but that he let it go. He's just keeping up his skills.

missing unicorn

When fall starts to feel like winter I start missing the warmth of the sun and the buoyancy of the water. Now the boat has come out of the water and I'm also missing my swans, the green of the trees, nights of dancing on the island, the easyness of get togethers and great meals, roasting marshmallows at the camp fire ...

I'm feeling wistful for spring already but right now just counting down to the solstice and slightly longer days is something to look forward to.

My friend Chamomile in NYC is missing her unicorn - maybe you've seen it?

time to break up with ebay again

Because I really do have an unhealthy attachment. I mean, I already bought two pairs of boots when I was in New York, but for some reason I felt like my new coat still needed something else ...

and what did I find on ebay ...

oh my, perfect Fryes for $50! Well I hope they're perfect; ebay hasn't let me down yet!

shopping in New York

Believe it or not I don't always do a lot of shopping when I visit. And this time I only had one thing I really wanted on my list. Of course that one thing required me to enter a shoe store. This shoe store - Infinity Shoes:

which happens to be the home of Miz Mooz - one of my favourite brands. I really wanted these! The colour is actually much warmer and they are surprisingly comfortable - love!!

Emi loves Anthropologie house stuff even more than I do so we almost always find time to pop in there. And I found this lovely number (Blurred Fresco by Elevenses) marked down from $230 to $99.99!!

I'd been wanting something with more colour in it to combat the dreary winter and I got a cute little hat to go with it. I love it, but wondered what boots shall I wear with this ensemble?

So I went back to Infinity Shoes thinking I might try something on in a nice shade of cherry. They must have known I was coming because they announced BOGO when I walked in the door. Yes, buy one, get one half off, and this is what I got:

A gorgeous pair of Fryes (for less than they are charging online) and then ...

these Miz Mooz beauties were half off for $75!!! It was a good thing I brought my big suitcase!

what do I do in the Big Apple?

People seem to think that I have some kind of crazy glamorous life because I come to New York a couple of times a year. But really all I do is hang out with my best friend and chase around after her kids. I try to spend as much time with them as I can because a couple of weeks out of the year just is not enough.

Julia has just started calling me "auntie Jess". She's 7 now and likes the idea that I am "real" family - but it makes me feel a bit old. Tomio, for some un-known reason has started to call me "Jessie" which I used to refuse to allow anyone to call me. But fair enough given that I call him anything from "Tio" to "hunny-bunny" (which he has yet to complain about).

 

They like it when I drop them off and pick them up from school. They like it when we have pillow fights. Julia likes to wake me up with the loudest noise-maker she can find - this time was a toy coffee grinder with fake beans that makes a serious racket. They like to snuggle up in bed and watch movies - I got them hooked on Xena, ai ai ai ai ai ai ai!!!

I always like to try and do something with them in Central Park. Over x-mas we went skating, which was kinda nutty since the place was jam-packed. This time we went for a bike ride! Little did I know that it's 6 miles all the way around the park and there aren't very many places to cross over with the bikes. Thank goodness Tomio has an iPhone so we could figure out where we were! So we just had to dismount and cross over on the foot path by the Jakie O reservior to catch the uptown bike path back home since it was getting dark fast. It was quite the adventure and no injuries!!

Tomio rightly noted that we always go out and have sushi together and he desperately wanted us to go to Morimoto (the restaurant owned by one of the Iron Chefs) but that's not in anybody's budget. We did have lots yumminess at Momoya - Tomio had his favourite uni and everyone loved the miso black cod I ordered!

I also make a point to visit my friend David and his daughter Sophia who is now 3. She has recently started calling all of their female friends "auntie" so I guess I'd better get used to this moniker. This summer they went to several weddings and she didn't get off the dance floor until the music stopped. Apparently she gets this from her auntie Jess. She is such a sweet-petite delight!

And Emi and I always have at least one breakfast at Cafe Lalo (yes, from You've Got Mail). This time we had 2 - they make the yummiest steamed eggs! And I got the fine fellow a great t-shirt for his collection. We also had a couple of great lunches at Peacefood Cafe. They make amazing salads & soups and have lots of choices for wheat & dairy-free me.

And yes, there was some, ahem, shoe shopping ....

Tomio is 10

I've been going to NYC at least once a year since Tomio was born. He was my first baby, you know, the first of my friends babies, and I love this kid like crazy. Sometimes he drives me a little crazy but he and I have a bond with each other that is very special and we have lots of silly, koo-koo, crazy times when we're together.

He's always been tall for his age and he was creeping up on me at x-mas, but look at this - he's officially taller!! And this photo was taken as we picked him up from his first school dance. I know it's a ridiculous cliche, but he really is growing up so fast. His doctor recently told him he could be as tall as 6'7" - that's just nuts!

Fall swans

The fine fellow sent me a lovely photo of Dougie feeding the swans (and the ducks)!!

So glad the gang is all still together and I can't wait to see them when I get back. Just hoping the leaves haven't all fallen. They are so glorious right now!

in NYC this week

With my favourite goof-balls!

We may even do this again!

I'm just happy to see their faces and hear their laughter and see how much they've grown!

I'll be back next week!

well hello again ebay

So my friend Sabrina calls me earlier in the week and says "it's time". Time for what? Time for cowboy boots!! She knows of my recent obsession and she knew she'd come to the right place. What did we find for she of the dainty size 5 1/2 feet?

Well she fell in love with these Fryes and wanted them the most. There was a serious bidding war on these babies, but she got them for just under $50 bucks!

And then we saw these little darlings - also Fryes. Our friend Siobhan felt they were a little too similar, but Sabrina loves grey and I think the two are very different. In fact, if these had been in my size I never would have shown them to her.

And guess what? Scored for $9.99 - that's correct, under $10 dollars!

But I was feeling very strongly that as a very fair blond she needed a good summer neutral and these were on sale from $150.00 for $45 "buy it now" - so she did!!

These are actually the same as my red dingo's, which she's tried on so we both knew they'd be super comfy!

I'm so proud of her. And she still has her eye on these red ones!!

I think they would round out the collection just perfectly!!

pumpkins are pretty

I haven't carved a pumpkin in ages and I've missed the boat on it this year, but wow am I inspired to try this next time. Martha Stewart comes up with the craziest things!

(from Raina at If The Lamp Shade Fits)

But I've gotta head over to Connie and Sebastian's next time they do theirs and take a lesson.

Apparently Sebastian always wins in the carving department.

Sebastian on the left and Connie on the right.

But in this case I gotta say ...

Connie for the WIN!

Mad Hatter Marcel

He would like the Dormouse to come for tea!

Halloween!

Perry invited me to a Halloween party at the Spoke Club where he is a member (la di dah!) and people always show up in amazing costumes. But I just really wanted to wear this wig and hat and tried to come up with something to make that stuff work.

He showed up as Bettlejuice only to tell me that there was in fact a theme: Alice in Wonderland / Tim Burton.

Which explained the multitude of Mad Hatters, Jokers and Corpse Brides.

It did not explain the large numbers of sex-pot cops and nurses, but that's the Spoke Club for ya. And I have no idea which movie this is from but I thought the face painting was amazing!

I haven't even seen Alice in Wonderland, but I got lots of lovely compliments on my get up and I sure had fun wearing it and dancing the night away!

Hope you all had a fun Halloween!

my favourite wig

I had incredibly short hair for many many years.

And often as a swing dancing performer I need to look a bit more girly and vintage - so I'd wear a wig.

I think blond works on me, but it never really feels like me. So although I acquired my big blond afro wig a while ago, it sat in the costume closet for years. And then last year I was invited to a Halloween wedding with a circus theme.

(that's Penny - the bride on the left, and Connie in the middle)

And I couldn't find my red clown wig, but I thought this would do the trick.

And now I just want to wear it all the time! So of course I wore it for the disco party ...

which inspired the look for that TV show that I can't tell you about ...

 

and then I was at a loss for what to wear for Halloween because I didn't think I could wear it again, but then I found this little hat!

I'll show you the rest of the get up tomorrow!