Back on the east coast and back at it at work. Doesn’t really feel like work at all when you get to be with great women and do things that empower others.
Three weeks ago put together a small runway show in support of the WNY Women’s Foundation, its’ mission is to invest in innovative solutions to issues and needs of special significance to women and girls in Western New York. It was their 11th annual Fall in Fashion Luncheon, and we were there.
Bonus? Not only got to work with amazing women and in support of a very special not-for-profit, third daughter was off from school and her being there made everything that much better.
Every day dress, three weeks ago, black sweater, black and gold belt, black pants, current go-to all day long outfit. Daughter seems to like the all-black too. 🙂
Went to the Canyon Ranch in Tuscon AZ for two days and two nights and honestly barely left the room. Needed some grounding and it was there.
Alcohol free? Check. No wine induced self slide into night at the end of a long day.
Healthy, delicious food? Check. Kind of funny but was actually looking at the posted calorie counts and ordering the highest on the menu. 🙂 Sweet potato pancakes for breakfast two mornings in a row.
Gym? Multiple, never went. Ditto for hiking, swimming, and anything else exerting. Did do a couple of yoga poses while waiting for the clairvoyant. Read a fiction book, was an hour late to a two-hour cooking class, never once turned on the television or even took a photo until here, at the end when waiting curbside for the airport shuttle. Bought not one thing new.
Modern life can wear you out. Was gifted this getaway for good performance by the company I work for. Wasn’t going to go, Tuscon is a hell of a long way from upstate NY for a deep tissue massage and an anti-aging facial. Turns out it was just what was needed: a lot of nothing. Sure, the moon and the stars and pretty much anything that was health enriching could be experienced, it was not having an experience was what I liked best.
Here’s an intimate thought: when having babies there were times I couldn’t wait to deliver to be in that room and to have three meals a day delivered on trays. No thinking, no getting, no doing.
Love life and all its bigness. Love too two days of nothing. Canyon Ranch and Worth New York, thank you. Wishing everyone everywhere a bit of soul now and again.
Simple style notes and play on words: Packed light for this getaway, some exercise clothes that get worn all the time back home and that are going back clean, sneakers, one black blouse worn both nights to dinner. For travel both ways, blue jeans, of course, same cashmere sweater and black leather jacket. Yes, needed all those layers in the desert in December. No jewelry, minimum makeup, and one fancy belt. The black boots with fringe? Sole me: took those pre-trip to the cobbler for rubber soles. It’s good to be grounded. While a beautiful leather sole on a good shoe or boot is luxurious, taking the time when you live in the northeast to protect that beauty from modern runaround is a very good thing. Damage control, ha, clairvoyant said you can end up stripped.
For Monday night business banking dinner with the husband, (he with the stellar credit), went into the wardrobe after a day in denim and chose a six or seven-year old black white tweed dress. Yeah, looking a little curvy, tell all my women curvy is good.
Really had no time, it was an in-office and domestic day so a dress was best. This one still works as it’s sheath shaped, cap-sleeved, crew-necked, and classic  fabric. A little kick pleat in the back, some sheer black stockings, it was a bank dinner after all, and out the door.
The shoes? Fifteen year-old Chanel illusion heel, almost an art piece I’m kind of thinking. Bought those things for the 35th birthday and they’re still hanging around as we close in on the 50. Initially had on suede platform ankle boots, husband nixed those in favor of the more lady-like look. The dinner was held at a gallery, so why not, even if they’re kind of un-walkable. Normally not the every day dress style, we need to move, but sometimes going into the wardrobe for a Monday night out is worth the hard walk. 🙂
Writing this while en route to a quick work trip to Canyon Ranch in Tuscon AZ. Carry-on contents resemble this look here not at all. Looking forward to connecting with women of Worth.
Tweed Dress | Worth New York
Shoe | Chanel
Bag | Dior
Watch | Hermes
(no hyper-linking today, Gogo In Air Online challenges me).
After a full-out four-day weekend of merriment, with more yet to come, the best way to deal, besides being back in the office, is to go to the gym.
Whatever that may be for you, and yes it does change over time, to get to the gym is a very good thing.
Happy Monday, December 1.
Simple style note: first time out with the leather culottes, really kind of liking the shape in a sea of skinny leather legs. Kind of fun to wear an unexpected shape.
Every day dress, go to the gym, whatever it may be for you.
From now until about the second week of January, it’s all systems go. Family, friends, food, home, we’re all about it in one way another, thinking that one of life’s greatest pleasures is sitting at table with those we hold close.
And so it begins, knowing to have great moments we need to put the time in up front. Creating special times can be hard work, therapeutic, often expensive, and sometimes downright exhausting. We had ten yesterday, not the biggest and not the smallest, simply right for this time. Celebrated second daughter’s twenty-second birthday as well, remembering that special day pushing three babies among the two of us down Delaware Ave in Buffalo NY, in America’s oldest foot race, the Turkey Trot, a 5k race/run/walk that now closes out at 14,000 participants. That day is like many of these days, long walks outdoors to nourish the body, mind, soul, spending time with loved ones, and cooking and breaking bread at table. Except that day twenty-two years ago finished with a trip to the delivery room to greet our fourth child, now there are six. Good habits. 🙂
Wishing everyone special days and special nights, with all those you hold close.
Thanksgiving Eve, gathering the goods is done, prep work in process.
To keep things going have decided that when something is good, and works, double up. Mid-week cooked up some beef stew, added double vegetables, although not with the potatoes, kind of wondering why potatoes have such a bad rap with the husband, he refuses to eat them. Apple tart, times two, yet single crust, no need to double up that deliciousness, right?
Denim on denim, yup, that’s me. Double up, kitchen and wardrobe. If it works, do it twice.
Happy Thanksgiving all.
xoxo, every day dress.
The two beautiful blondes? Gwyneth and Lisa (Lisa Gersh, you can google her, no wikipedia page yet), in last week’s New York Times Sunday Styles. As this is fashion and lifestyle, still so miss Alexis’s blog, www.alexisstewart.com, even though she hasn’t posted since 2012, (Martha’s daughter), have to say we read and love Goop, even if it’s a bit commercialized, best wishes, world domination, good luck with that.
Everything’s been closed for about four days now, and neighbors in the south towns have joined together and getting through all this snow. Best wishes to everyone.
In the city of Buffalo we’ve been like a little hideaway: to brighten things up have gone to totally red lip and nail color and into roasting sweet potato fries. What you make at home can be better than what you get out. So want to tuck into a bag of chips and dip, doing the drive around without any cash to stay away from the quick mart, instead of that ditching the nude lip color and going bold and red, you’ve got to watch what you eat and drink. Sweet and red, every day dress.
Buffalo NY and close neighbors, like Hamburg, and Orchard Park, on national news with record snow fall, low temps, roads and schools closed, three days now.
Wouldn’t you know that while UPS was closed, needed to send a few dresses back for a very good client, sorry Josephine, the local grocer, Wegman’s, was open, and the fish came in today.
Roasted some halibut and some leftover counter-top tomatoes, quickly boiled up some sugar snap peas. Red, white, and green, are you feeling it too?
Note on the wine: really loving this Butternut Chardonnay, 90 point rating on some sites, and it’s less than $15. Check it out here at Bounty Hunter, one of our favorite stops in Napa CA. at Thinking we need to buy a case or three with two daughters coming home for the Thanksgiving holiday.
Stay warm and safe everyone, every day dress. xoxo
With Upstate New York blanketed in a blizzard, let’s make it quick, and keep it safe. Record low temperatures reported almost everywhere, again, let’s make it quick.
Wishing everyone a safe trip to wherever they may be going, hopefully home. Sharing here a recipe for best banana bread ever, and, you can make it quick. Perfect antidote to a snow day. Have been baking and gifting these loaves for years, one of our very fit friends calls it crack, in good jest. Almost everyone has 2 or 3 overripe bananas on the countertop, photos shown we had 6, yielding 2 cups of mashed, and 2 full-sized loaves. Should you not have sour cream on hand, simply use vanilla or plain yogurt, thinking you probably have that in the fridge.
Banana Bread | The Martha Stewart Cookbook | Collected Recipes for Every Day (love how the title divides the every day, just like here)
makes 1 large loaf of 4 small loaves
1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup mashed very ripe bananas
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan or several smaller pans.
With an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, beating well.
Sift the dry ingredients together and combine with the butter mixture. Blend well. Add the bananas, sour cream, and vanilla. Stir well. Stir in the nuts and pour into the prepared pan.
Bake 1 hour, until a cake tester comes out clean. Turn out onto a rack to cool.
ps. These loaves freeze well. Sometimes I substitute and/or add unsweetened chocolate chips, 1/2 cup per loaf. Recipe doubles well in a KitchenAid stand mixer. Photos shown I baked two.
pss. School closed again tomorrow, let’s make it quick, :).
psss. my copy here is dog-eared, even has scribbles, it’s so well-loved.
Every day dress has been busy at work dressing others and putting on a local runway show to benefit women and children in our community. It’s a good gig.
Here’s some behind the scenes shots taken yesterday with the lovely iPhone. Brought the good camera, simply couldn’t get to it with all the activity, and there were professional photographers on site so better photos on their way. Made friends with one of them, Joe, by ordering him a Bloody Mary at the bar and a burger and fries. In addition to beautiful clothing we’re all about feeding others and providing food and drink, too. He was busy all day and he’s got the good photos. Can’t wait to see the upload.
Event was completely sold-out with a waiting list, way to go WNY Women’s Foundation. Two runways were needed, and these pictures are from the ‘overflow’ room, so funny that this event is so successful that the ‘overflow’ room is actually the down-low kind of place to be. 🙂
Morning of the event baked cookies for client/guests and put some nice ‘dress’ labels on the wine bottles. Underage models, there were two, got the new Essie Holiday Nail Collection instead.
Cinched the wardrobe addition of some great fur cuffs for a client that has thought about a winter white dress coat combo since July. Finally put the coat on, it was a sample brought in for a special Trunk Show, added the cuffs, had a colleague take the picture and texted her and said, Susan, you need these, they are so you and you will have them forever. Sold. She will be beautiful in them. Thinking we are all now feeling that yes it truly does get cold in winter and yes there are places to go and oh, boy, what are we going to wear.
Every day dress, more hours please. Thank you models and clients, love what I do.
