Thanksgiving Highlights

Thanksgiving morning was dreary with a slight mist…but filled with warm hearts ready to celebrate the holiday.

EAS & JCW

The ground was very soft after three days of rain.

Mom & SAS

The table...of course there was blue and white.

EAS & SAS

After a glutinous weekend…I will be sure to make some lengthy appointments with the elliptical in the upcoming weeks.

Special thanks to everyone for working together to make a delicious Thanksgiving dinner. It was truly wonderful to spend the holiday in Maryland. xx

Thanksgiving Traditions

Every year we head to the country for the blessing of the hounds and the send off of the Thanksgiving Day hunt.

Tally-ho

For the past several years we have had dinner with JCW's family...this entailed hopping in the car with full stomachs and driving to New York.

Tuxedo Park, NY

The food was always delicious...sometimes a little too healthy for JCW's likings!

EAS & JCW

JCW's sister always did a phenomenal job with the flowers.

The house was minutes from Woodbury Commons. If we didn't go for midnight madness, I usually got there in the am. You would see lines for the stores that didn't open for midnight madness. The line for Gucci was always unbelievable...it actually started the night before!

The traffic on the way back to Baltimore was always a nightmare! This year we decided to stay in Maryland with my family.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving! xx

Neiman Marcus Popovers

After working at Neiman Marcus for a year and a half...I am no stranger to NM Cafe's popovers and strawberry butter.

Ingredients
3 1/2 Cups whole milk
4 Cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 Tsp salt
1 Tsp baking powder
6 Large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 Cups butter, room temperature
1 Cup strawberry preserves

Directions
-Place milk in bowl and microwave on high for two minutes, or warm to touch.
-Sift flour, salt and baking powder in a large mixing bowl.
-Crack eggs in another large bowl with an electric mixer and whisk for on medium for about 3 minutes, until foamy. Turn down mixer speed to low and add warm milk.
-Gradually add flour mixture and beat for about 2 minutes.
-Let batter rest at room temperature for about 1 hour.
-Preheat oven to 450.
-Spray popover pan generously with nonstick spray.
-Fill popover cups almost to the top with batter and place popover pan on cookie sheet.
-Transfer to oven and bake for 15 minutes.
-Turn oven down to 375 and bake for 30 to 35 minutes longer, until popovers are deep golden brown.
-Remove from oven and pop out popovers on a cool rack.
-Serve with the Strawberry Butter: To make butter, place in bowl and beat until smooth, add preserves and beat until fluffy.

If you don't have a popover pan you can use a muffin pan. Instead of making the strawberry butter I added shredded sharp cheddar cheese to some of the popover cups before baking.

The cheese popovers turned out great! I may need to make them for Thanksgiving.

Lilly Pulitzer Warehouse Sale 2009

We had a fantastic time at the Lilly Pulitzer Jubilee warehouse sale. The car ride was virtually stress free...aside from a slight derailment in York, PA. We were exhausted by the end of the day...but it was worth it.

Scott Beaumont, Lilly CEO

SAS did better then I did at the sale. I had boots and button downs on the brain...so I was happy the KOP mall was nearby.

Special thanks to my wonderful mother for driving and my beautiful sister for navigating...it was such a fun day! xx

Vineyard Vines Accessories

Great stocking stuffers...These Vineyard Vines trinkets have yet to make it to the website...they would make such cute gifts. The snow crab cosmetic bags is adorable...love the crabs! The pocket journal in the turtle print is too cute. I can't live without a pocket journal...lists are crucial to life!

KOP Bound

Today I am headed to King of Prussia with my mom and sister...I am sure the laughs will outweigh the bickering! We are going to the Lilly Pulitzer warehouse sale and then hitting up the mall, so if I don't do well at the sale I can redeem myself afterwards. I am going to have to resist the urge to buy Lilly merely because it's on sale. It's so easy to get wrapped up in the sale, later to realize that you aren't in love with any of your purchases. Sometimes I prefer paying full price for a few to die for pieces, that I can't live without.

Red Rocker Candy

Red Rocker Candy is the creator of Front Porch Mix. This candy company is located in the small town of Troy, Virginia. All of their candy is handmade.

This white chocolate confection of cereal, nuts, and pretzels is sheer heaven. It's the perfect combination of salty and sweet. The package says "You'd walk a country mile for our mix!" and I most defiantly would. Red Rocker Candy also carries toffees, brittles, and barks. The pistachio, cranberry, milk chocolate bark sounds amazing.

Special thanks to my mom for spotting this and insisting I try it. She didn't even make it out of the store before tearing the package open! xx

Goyard

La Maison Goyard, a French luggage company since 1853.

The iconic three chevrons hand painted on canvas.

When I was trying to decide which Goyard style/color bag to purchase I studied the above image from an article in The Business of Fashion online newsletter. I also contemplated whether to personalize? or not to personalize? I worked with someone at Barneys and settled on the St. Louis Tote. I figured out what letters, colors and size stripes I wanted, but changed my mind. I love the way the personalization looks and the fact that you can show some creativity, but I didn’t want to limit the bag. I didn't want to feel like I couldn't use the bag because I was wearing a busy top or a lot of accessories. I have a friend that got her initials with three stripes and then the paint started to chip and she was told the bag would have to be sent back to Paris for repainting. After heavy contemplation I figured the personalization was too high maintenance for a tote that I wanted to throw around and I am way to anal to have my bag start chipping... so until these bags come with touch up paint there will be no personalization for this Goyard girl.

Go-Green Goyard St. Louis Tote, special edition

For the past two years my New Years resolution has been to be more green...however I think this is taking it a little too far.

I spotted this Goyard cosmetic case in the latest Barneys catalog. I like the mustard yellow and navy combination.

Goyard Bois Clutch

I am smitten by this clutch. The only thing stopping me from making this clutch mine (besides the lofty price tag...lets say money is no object) is the hardware and the size. I am very picky about hardware on bags and these days I find myself not even wanting to carry any of my bags with silver hardware. I hate when clutches are too narrow for a camera and if a clutch can’t house my camera...total deal breaker!

EAS & SAS

The Goyard St. Louis PM is the same size as the Louis Vuitton Neverfull MM...both mighty fine bags!

Recent Finds

Searching antique stores for knick knacks is one of my favorite pastimes. I recently found this bowl with an image of Favonius the 1871 English Epsom Derby winner. I am drawn to anything equestrian. Growing up my parents had a horse farm and riding was my life. I showed every weekend for several years and then became interested in hunting. I gave up riding when I discovered lacrosse and boys, but I will always have a special place in my heart for all of my ponies.

I finally took my first trip to HomeGoods and was not disappointed. I was looking for a basket to store books. JCW is getting his BMA and constantly leaving his school books lying around. One of my many pet peeves is books, magazines, and stray papers not being put away. I love organized clutter but not messy chaos. I found a large basket which is perfect for keeping things tidy.

Legacy Chase III

After leaving the vendor tent I was able to enjoy a day of horse races...until the rains came.

Future Roanoker (my alma mater)

Thank you baby sister for giving us a ride back to my car...I can't imagine if we had to walk in the rain.

I met him at the petting zoo.