Navy Lady: Hue Book Value

Skirt: So, Kohl's

Bag: LC Lauren Conrad, Kohl's

Top: LC Lauren Conrad, Kohl's

As you know, these days I've been shopping my closet instead of the stores, and so far it's been lots of fun.  Above are the three items from my last Kohl's order, which arrived about a month ago.  If the polka dot top looks familiar, then it's because I have the matching skirt.    

That said, I did get a package today.  It was from Amazon, so it was just essentials like packing tape, soap, and printer ink.  Also, books -- because they're the most essential of all.  I was so excited that I took a pic:    

 

Clearly, I misspoke when I said that I was checking out on chick lit, as here are two gems of the genre. Ironically, they're bookending Pay It Forward, which I wanted to read only after reading about it in Love & Other Words.  

It seems that chicks and their lit, pink covers and all, still have a great deal to teach me.

An Alpine Adieu and an Ode to Books Too

Reading a favorite book series is like catching up with an old friend.  They tell you their problems, and you tell them yours.  Maybe you're still processing that Corvette that cut you off, or the look that the lunch lady gave you when you said that your mashed potatoes absolutely, positively could not touch your Salisbury steak.  And the books listen without judging you or spilling your secrets or asking for anything in return.  That's why books make the best friends.  And that goes double for whodunits, where discretion means staying on the right side of the law -- not to mention the cemetery.    

So it was with mixed feelings that I began reading The Alpine Zen, the last book in Mary Daheim's Alpine cozy crime series.  Although I was excited to find out how things would end up for journalist-extraordinaire-slash-sometimes-sleuth Emma Lord, I didn't want to say goodbye to Alpine and all the fun, suspense, and comfort that it's given me over the years.  Because a little intrigue and a familiar cast of characters -- no matter how backward or crotchety -- go a long way toward dissolving those day-to-day doldrums.  

Next up: girls trip with Amelia Earhart. 

Avian Adventure: Winging it This Labor Day

It's not quite a beanstalk . . . but it is a mighty tall coleus plant!  And it's reaching for the stars -- or, rather, the sun -- in my parents' beautiful backyard.  The husband and I were there yesterday and took advantage of the photo op before eating our weight in cheddar.  Which was apropos, because there's a block of cheese on my shirt!  Also a cartoonish bird, topping off a week's worth of winged wardrobe wears:

Skirt: H&M

Pastel Parrot Barrette Brooch

Bunch of Bold Necklace

Belt: Belt is Cool, Amazon; Bag: Zulily; Bangles: B Fabulous; First two bird rings: Macy's; Middle bird ring: Francesca's; Chunky ring: Claire's

Flip flops: LC Lauren Conrad, Kohl's

Caftan: LC Lauren Conrad, Kohl's

Skirt: Dollhouse, Macy's

Yellow Feathered Friend Heart Barrette

Top: Next Era, JCPenney

Wristlet: City Streets, JCPenney; Ring: Making Waves, Ocean City; Shoe: Madden Girl, Kohl's; Yellow and red bangles: B Fabulous; Mint bangle: Decree, JCPenney

Top: Delia's, Dolls Kill

Shoes: Katy Perry Collection

Plenty of Pineapples Necklace

Skirt: Decree, JCPenney

Bag: Delia's, Dolls Kill; Barrette: The Tote Trove; Pink bangle: Mixit, JCPenney; Yellow bangle: B Fabulous; Dark green bracelet: Parade of Shoes; Neon green bracelet: Cloud Nine, Ocean City boardwalk

Top: Ziztar, Zulily

Bag: Xhilaration, Target

Palace Peacock Necklace

Headband and top: LC Lauren Conrad, Kohl's

Shoes: Betsey Johnson, Macy's

Rhinestone turquoise and fish bracelets: Target; Purple bracelet: Wet Seal; friendship bracelet: ZAD, Zulily; Rose bracelet: The Tote Trove

So, this Labor Day, I hope you heed the birdcall of the wild, whether that means rocking an avian outfit, petting a parrot, or wrestling a raptor.  Whatever it takes to spread your style wings. 

And let the feathers fly.

Moving Mountains: Gold Star Stay the Catskills Way

The first Elyssa Friedland book I ever read was The Floating Feldmans, which was a funny family drama set on a cruise ship.  Last Summer at the Golden Hotel is a lot like it, except the cruise ship is a hotel, and the main characters own it.  The Goldmans and the Weingolds have been the proud proprietors of the Golden Hotel for decades.  Nestled in the once-trendy Catskills, or as the locals call them, the Jewish Alps, the Golden Hotel has feted everyone from Joan Rivers to Jerry Seinfeld in its famed theater.  Families have come for generations to bond over brisket and shuffleboard, their happiest moments frozen in time in the hotel's Memory Lane photo gallery.  But time has not been kind to the Golden, and now it's falling apart.  These days, people want organic meals and Wi-Fi, and they're going elsewhere to get it.  Which forces three generations of Goldmans and Weingolds to ask themselves the dreaded question: should they stick it out or sell?  While trying to find the answer, they learn new things about each other -- and themselves.  

Last Summer at the Golden Hotel is fun and nostalgic, harkening back to the days of Dirty Dancing and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, both of which it references.  While reading it, I used the sunflower bookmark I bought at Beyond Van Gogh.  It matched the cover so perfectly that I couldn't stop looking at it. 

As they say, it's the little things.           

Feed a Fever, Starve a Sold: Run Up to Red, White, and Blue

Fabulous Felt Yellow Folk Flowers Barrette

Bag: LC Lauren Conrad, Kohl's

Croquet All Day Necklace

Skirt: LC Lauren Conrad, Kohl's

Top: LC Lauren Conrad, Kohl's

Top: Decree, JCPenney

Fabulous Fall Flowers Barrette

Scarf: A New Day, Target; Shoes: Betsey Johnson, DSW; Yellow necklace: So, Kohl's; Bangles: B Fabulous, Sunglasses: Party City; Ring: Makin Waves, Ocean City

Shoes: Mix No. 6, DSW

All pieces: LC Lauren Conrad, Kohl's

Barrette: The Tote Trove; Necklace: Charming Charlie

Old-fashioned Flowers Barrette Brooch

Dress: LC Lauren Conrad, Kohl's

Bag: Marshalls

Fabulous Felt Balloons Barrette

Dresses: LC Lauren Conrad, Kohl's; Belts: Belt is Cool, Amazon

Yellow Necklace: Sonoma, Kohl's

Ring: Francesca's; Necklace: The Tote Trove; Sunglasses: Mudd, Kohl's; Mint bangle: Decree, JCPenney; Blue bangle: So, Kohl's

Did you know?  Did you hear?  Labor Day is almost here!  

I've hoarded clothes all summer long, and now it's time they join the throng.

Florals and dots in red and blue parade with fruits of every hue.

To weave a wonder, wait and see, Americana's tapestry.

Okay, so there's one fruit-print piece here, and a cornucopia of colors it isn't.  But I couldn't resist writing some bad poetry any more than I could keep from collecting (yes, even more) LC Lauren Conrad clothes.  That said, with the ahem, close of the summer, I'm going on something of a shopping cleanse.  Not the hard-core kind with cayenne pepper and lemon juice and no solid foods (a girl's gotta eat, by which I mean buy the odd spool of jewelry wire or pair of granny panties), but the kind where you don't eat desserts you don't need.  By which I mean all desserts.  By which I mean shoes, bags, blouses, skirts, etc., etc., etc.  I'm going to try to appreciate what I have and also maybe save up for a mattress.  You know, like a grown-up.  

So this haul is my last hurrah for awhile.  Any "new" stuff I post after this won't be so much new as having hung out, unworn, in my closet.  There's so much of it that you probably won't know the difference!  In publishing this, I realize I'm strapping a target to my back, tempting fate to push me off the wagon -- and, predictably, into Target.  But I won't let that stop me, even if I stumble.  Because some broccoli is better than no broccoli at all.  Or whatever it is that sane people say.  

So this Labor Day, I'll be celebrating in something paid for.

While eating a boatload of cupcakes.

Twin Flame Game: Home is Where the Heat Is

My mom and I enjoyed reading and discussing Where the Crawdads Sing so much that we decided to do it again with another novel.  This time I chose, and I went with Kevin Wilson's Nothing to See Here.  I wanted something that could, ahem, spark conversation, so a book about twins who burst into flames seemed perfect.  Upon hearing this, my sister wanted in too, and our book club of two grew to three. 

Nothing to See Here begins with Madison and Lillian.  One rich, one poor.  Best friends and perhaps something more.  Forged in the fire of a Tennessee boarding school in the '80s, their friendship is intense, rendering them twin flames of another kind until an incident nearly snuffs out their fire.  Although they write to each other regularly, they don't meet again until 1995, when they're almost thirty.  And that's only because Madison needs Lillian to do her a favor -- raising her senator husband's combustible stepkids.  

Told in Lillian's irreverent voice, Nothing to See Here is part satire and part southern gothic.  The twins, ten-year-old Bessie and Roland, are nearly feral and young for their age despite having survived their mother's death.  They're banished to a balloon-and-polka-dot-bedecked house behind Madison's mansion, and it's Lillian's job to keep them from burning it down.  It's also up to her to hide their flaming freak flags to protect their father's precious career.  Not that they're igniting all the time.  Only when they get upset.  Or slighted.  Or unsure.  Or lonely.  So yeah, the threat of pyrotechnics is real, although the fire doesn't hurt them and is, weirdly, lovely.  Determined to avoid anti-anxiety meds and forbidden to turn to therapy, Lillian relies on yoga and other homegrown remedies to keep the kids even-keeled.  Sometimes it seems like she's treating their conflagrations like panic attacks.  Which they sort of are, if the tingles that precede them -- not to mention the aforesaid emotional triggers -- are any indication.  As Lillian's relationship with Madison becomes more complicated, her bond with the children deepens.  Because despite the constant threat of third-degree burns and the senator's brand of clean-cut creepiness, Lillian loves taking care of them.

Nothing to See Here is about putting out fires, both literal and figurative.  It's also about the power of appearances and what it takes to get to the top.  But mostly it's about family, reminding us that those who love and accept us will stand by us even when it means getting burned.  And Lillian gets that.  Long wronged by a world where she doesn't belong, she finally steps up to do what's right -- and finds something she never knew she needed. 

This was an unusual book, definitely thought-provoking.  Now I'm reading something that can best be described as a beach book.  I thought that was what I craved after Where the Crawdads Sing, Sicker in the Head, and now Nothing to See Here.  But instead it feels a little too easy, like a place I've already been.  It makes me wonder if these messier narratives have ruined me for chick lit for good.

I guess like Bessie and Roland, I just want to feel my feelings -- with a fire extinguisher at the ready.

An Orchard of Awesome: Some Old, Some New, but All for You (and, Okay, Also Me)

Fabulous Felt Cherry Cheesecake Barrette

Fabulous Felt Cherry Mousse Barrette

It's true.  Of the nine handmade, cherry-themed accessories featured throughout this post, I made four in the past couple of weeks and five in the past couple of years.  There's a cherry pie in it for anyone who can guess which is which.  Just kidding; anything baked by me is more punishment than prize.  

Tights: Poof, Boscov's

Top: Gypsies and Moondust, Macy's

Cherry Charm Necklace

Skirt: Tinseltown, Macy's

Black Cherry Blossom Barrette Brooch

Bag: Royal Monk, Modcloth; Pink bangle: Target; Red bangle: B Fabulous; Black bangle: Mixit, JCPenney; Red rhinestone bangle: XOXO, ROSS; Pink bracelet: Amrita Singh, Zulily; Rose brooch: JCPenney

Skirt: Tinseltown, Macy's

Bag: Olivia Miller, Amazon; Sunglasses: Zulily; Barrettes: SHEIN; Black bangle: Mixit, JCPenney; Yellow bangle: B Fabulous; Maroon bangle: Iris Apfel for INC, Macy's

Tank: Eyeshadow, Macy's

Wild Cherry Necklace

Shoes: Jessica Simpson Collection, DSW

Top: Kingston Grey, Macy's

Black Cherry Bow Necklace

Skirt: Alythea, Modcloth

Bag: Xhilaration, Target; Bow barrette: Carole, JCPenney; Ring: Making Waves, Ocean City NJ; Love bangle: Boscov's

Shoes: Penny Loves Kenny, DSW

Top: Bongo, Sears

Cherry Rose Necklace

Headband: New York & Company

Bag: Betsey Johnson, Modcloth

Skirt: POPSUGAR, Kohl's

Rainbow Cherry Necklace

Top: Candie's, Kohl's

Polka dot and striped bangles: Mixit, JCPenney; Sunglasses: Wild Fable, Target; Purse charm: Carole, JCPenney

Bag: Skinnydip London, Macy's

Fabulous Felt Cherry Pie Barrette

Speaking of prizes (as we just were), earlier this summer, I finally tracked down that elusive Revlon cherry lip gloss at CVS.  It was my reward for going to the gyno.  Still unopened and pristine, some may say that it's the cherry on top of my ensemble sundaes.  Then again, some may say something else.

Fabric: Hobby Lobby

Moving on to actual cherries! 

I purchased these from a grocery store instead of a stand, and they ended up looking better than they tasted.  But then, you can never depend on produce.  Which is why I prefer to get my fruit fix from flip flops:

Flip flops: Katy Perry Collection, Nordstrom Rack

Inedible cherries never go bad.

Or give you diabetes from collateral Cool Whip.