My week in pictures.....

Earlier in the week, I attended a volunteer recognition/holiday party for volunteers of one of the guardianship organizations that I volunteer for.  This program is based in one hospital that is part of a network of hospitals, and the event took place in one of the event rooms at the main hospital.  

I really love my thrifted holiday outfit.  I'm wearing one of my many LBS's and a black lace jacket I purchased at my favorite consignment shop for $12.00.  I love the details on the jacket. 

The organization managers have a lot of confidence in me and asked me to volunteer to decorate the event. I had a nice big space to work in and a lovely room, but the walls were off-limits and was basically only allowed to create a tablescape.  I had much bigger plans than to just create tablescapes, but even with the limitations, I'm happy with the end result.  I've posted pictures throughout this post.

Preparing for this took five weeks and was quite labor intensive...I put a lot of time and thought into it!

Sleeve detail on the jacket...

Wrist detail.  I didn't snap a good picture of the bottom of the sleeve at the wrist, but there are several layers of scalloped lace.

Another trusty Lia Sophia necklace.  This one is called "Inked"

I found a star template on the internet, printed it and cut stars from some metallic card stock that I had at home.  I attached silver metallic letters to each star to spell out "Thank You Volunteers".

I placed these centerpieces on the tables at 24 inch intervals.  In the picture, you can barely see the glow from within the white lantern....I place battery operated candles inside each one, we dimmed the lights for a lovely soft glow.

I scattered fake "snow" between each centerpiece and I hand free hand cut a couple hundred these little stars from metallic paper to scatter in the snow.  I had a very strict budget to work with, which explains all of the hand made stars.

Paperbag luminaries lined the pathway into the event; Peyton helped me stamp each bag with snowflakes.

.....and he helped me stamp these tags.  Each tag had a number on the back...so we could...YES!....do a "white elephant ornament exchange" mixer! Fun!

The program coordinator, LaVonne brought her three daughters to help with set-up. I could not have pulled this off without them.  They were the most wonderful helpers.  The girls; Jayla, Jada and Joy are all very sweet, polite, helpful and graceful.  The two older girls attend a performance based middle school/high school and are beautiful and talented singers.  They were also our entertainment for the evening, singing three Christmas carols.  LOVELY!

The program executive director, Vanessa, loved the tablescape so much that she brought the president of four of the hospitals in the alliance to see the final result; he gave it two thumbs up.

Earlier in the week, I had a cousin date with Rhonda.  It was super cold that day; the first day of the season that was actually cold.  I dressed very simply, in clothing that would be easy to get in and out of if we were going to try on clothes.  The intention of our trip was to do some thrifting in a nearby town whose thrift shops are new to us, but we actually ended up just exploring the quaint boutiques in Valparaiso, IN.

I bought an lightweight Barbara Lesser jacket/coat to wear for dressy events at a boutique called Bangles.   Bangles sells really unique pieces that are like wearable art. The shop's French boutique theme is very charming.

The coat I bought is very flattering; its simple, tailored at the waist and has a Renaissance feel to it. I was practically squealing with giddiness when she told me it was on sale for 30% off.  I rarely buy retail anymore, but this beautiful piece was very worth it.

 I'll be posting pictures as soon as I have the opportunity to wear it.

There are so many uniques places to check out in 'Valpo', we didn't get to visit them all. We did create a hit list of shops for our next visit.  I can't wait.

A couple of weeks ago, Rhonda gave me this big warm L.L. Bean down coat.  I'm really glad she did because it kept me warm while we walked the shopping district in the bitter cold.  I love this thing; I call it my Chicago coat, because just about everyone there wears one when its super cold.

For some reason, the coat looks navy in this picture, but its actually black; my trousers are navy and they look black.

Thank you Rhonda, for the coat and a wonderful day spent with my dear cousin.

Clearly, I love my Lia Sophia jewelry and chose this piece for our shopping day.  I swear I'm not plugging LS on my blog!  I just reach for this jewelry everyday because its so beautiful and practical.  This necklace is called Endeavor and it is the piece that was designed to support "Dress for Success".  LS donates millions  of pieces of jewelry to "Dress for Success" which helps economically challenged women enter the workforce by providing one interview appropriate outfit.

www.dressforsuccess.org/

...and now their bracelets come in sizes so I can actually wear bangles!  I've always wanted to wear bangles, but I have super tiny wrists and hands and they would fall off.   Finally, bangles!  I also like that these are not as annoyingly noisy as cheaper bangles.  The still jingle, but its a soft, pleasant jingle.

I haven't had as much luck scheduling Lia Sophia shows (LS is a party based company) as I would like to, but I think starting so close to the holiday has been a bit of a deterrent.  I've done two parties so far, and have one prospect for another, but the hostess hasn't fully committed to a date yet, so I'm uneasy.  I just need to get going!

I know many of you would book shows if we lived closer to one another, right?

To close my blog today, I have to share our wonderful meal with you.  Rhonda and I had lunch at a cafe' called Meditrina.  A tiny 10 table cafe' tucked into the corner of a side street, Meditrina features food of the Mediterranean; Greece, Lebanon and Morocco.

What an exquisite treat!

I'm not very adventurous about food, but I asked our waitress lots of questions about the food and she answered knowledgeably. She was able to articulately describe food tastes, textures and ingredients.

I decided to try an appetizer of dates stuffed with Feta and bacon wrapped dates.  They were so delicious that I picked up dates and Feta on the way home to recreated this.

The main course was Paprika Chicken, Falafel (delicious) pita bread with hummus and a tasty salad.

This was the meal of the year for me.  

It was one of those meals that you savor in memory long after the meal is finished.

I can't wait to go back; I can't wait to introduce friends to this special little place.

Thank you again for indulging me by reading my long winded post.  

Enjoy your weekend and stay safe and warm.

Hugs.