The Seahorse and the Snowstorm

Sweater: Alfani, Macy's; Boots: Simply Vera, Kohl's

From the library of Charlotte Rose.

Bag: Delia's, Dolls Kill

Sweater: Paper Heart, TJ Maxx 

Bag: Delia's, Dolls Kill; Blouse: Nine West, Kohl's

Shoes: Betsey Johnson, Macy's

Top: Madden Girl, Kohl's; Leggings: Derek Heart, Boscov's

Bag: Olivia Miller, Macy's

Psychedelic Seahorse Necklace

Boots: Nine West, Kohl's

Barrettes: Michaels, Target

Seahorses don't like snow, and neither do I -- the end.  Just kidding!  Well, almost.  Because this will still be a short post.  But I'd be remiss without mentioning that it was the husband who took these pics of Sunday's snowstorm.  Also, that I felt fit to rip apart two old necklaces to make this Frankenstein of a statement piece. Howdy, Psychedelic Seahorse Necklace.  

Just consider it my amulet for warding off more Old Man Winter.   

A Horticulturist's Holiday: Planting Kisses and Kindness

No holiday reading list is complete without a book from Jenny Bayliss.  Last year I enjoyed A Season of Second Chances, and the year before that The Twelve Dates of Christmas.  So when I found Bayliss' Meet Me Under the Mistletoe on Amazon, I was delighted.

When Elinor "Nory" Noel leaves her beloved secondhand London bookshop to attend her friends' wedding in her hometown, it's with mixed emotions.  The week-long celebration is being held in a castle and will put her back in the thick of her private school circle.  Nory attended the prestigious school on scholarship, and despite her bond with the seven students who helped shape her formative years, the disparity in their social standing has always made her feel a little bit less than.  What's more, she comes from a family of proud working-class tree farmers, and part of her has always felt that attending private school created distance between them.  Finally, Nory and her friends are mourning Tristan, whom they lost to suicide last year.  They knew that he suffered from depression, but didn't realize how deeply.  Nory, who has weathered her own bouts of mental instability, feels his absence keenly.  And then she falls into a wheelbarrow of manure and comes face to face with her frenemy, Isaac Malik.  

Isaac is the castle's head gardener.  He's also Nory's brother's best friend.  Yet although Isaac has nothing but disdain for Nory's wealthy pals, he's very taken with Nory.  And the feeling is mutual.  With their shared background in plants and love of reading, the two have a lot in common.  At one point, Nory defends her massive book collection by saying ' "Keeping books is not hoarding!  . . . It's protecting history.  The written word is the key to the secrets of this world and all the worlds that live in our minds." ' (Bayliss 202-203)  As their romance, ahem, blossoms, Isaac trusts Nory enough to tell her that his great-great-grandmother's employer stole her original artwork and passed it off as her own.  Impetuous and passionate about justice, Nory burns to right this wrong.  But Isaac is private and doesn't want help from Nory -- or her influential friends.  What happens next will determine if Nory and Isaac's relationship has the grit of a winter garden, or if it's as fragile as a summer rose.       

Meet Me Under the Mistletoe is so much more than a Christmas romance.  In Nory, Bayliss gives us a multi-dimensional heroine who's dealing with a lot.  Although festive and sometimes very funny, hers isn't a Hallmark world where conflict melts like chocolate chip cookies.  It's a hothouse of holiday expectations haunted by the mental health struggles that people face all year, but especially in December.  You can't help but want good things for Nory, a sensitive bibliophile caught between her roots and the dazzling world of privilege just out of reach.

I don't know about you, but I'll never look at mistletoe the same way again.

So This Was Christmas

Sweater: Mossimo (for men!), Target; Hat: Nine West, Boscov's

Christmas Eve in my tropical snowman sweater.

The half-frozen river in front of the seafood market where we caught (okay, bought) Christmas Eve dinner.

Dress: Who What Wear, Target; Bag: Violet Ray, Kohl's

Maxi-ing out on leopard for Christmas Day at my sister's.  

Two of my PinkBopp rings.  I wear the Christmas one every December, but this year I thought why not wear the rose one too?  It was perfect for the neon Noel vibe I had going, and my three-year-old niece got a kick out of it. 

Sweater: Bar III, Macy's; Jeans: LC Lauren Conrad, Kohl's; Bag: Gap

And, finally, my day-after-Christmas bargain from Michaels.  (And yes, for some reason, more red leopard.)  

Because every house needs a Santa head with candy canes coming out of it.

Just as every winter-averse woman needs to keep the holiday magic going as long as she can.  

Santa's sleigh may be sleeping 'til next year, but here at The Tote Trove, Christmas is just getting started. 😀🎄🍬

Spring Fur Sure, A Lamb at the Door, and Also Sometimes Some Turquoise

Jacket: Sunset & Sixth, JCPenney

Red Planet Janet Necklace

Skirt: I Heart Ronson, JCPenney

Shoes: Chase & Chloe, Zulily

Yellow bangle: B Fabulous; Coral bangle: Silver Lining, Ocean City; Maroon bangle: Iris Apfel for INC, Macy's; Ring: Making Waves, Ocean City; Bag: Betsey Johnson, Amazon

Skirt: Hollister, Marshalls

Get in Gear Necklace

Sweater: GAP

Heart of Hearts Barrette Brooch

Skirt (a dress!): Three Pink Hearts, Kohl's

Bag: TJ Maxx

Top: Jessica Simpson Collection, Amazon

Bangle: Simply Vera, Kohl's

Belts: Hand-me-downs from Mom; Headband: INC, Macy's; Necklace: Betsey Johnson, Amazon; Ring: Mixit, JCPenney

Tights: Xhilaration, Target; Shoes: Nine West, Zulily

After an unusually snowy winter, spring is finally here!  The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and the air smells like hope and grass clippings.  And also . . . it's still kind of chilly.  At least it is here in New Jersey, where spring doesn't so much arrive as make a guest appearance and clear out for the diva that is summer.  But I'm not complaining.  Because it gives me an excuse to flaunt my faux furs (summer's not the only diva), a luxury I'll enjoy until that menacing March lion retreats for good.

Fur or no fur, I am springing forward with one fresh new something: makeup!  I know I've mentioned this before, but back in high school, I collected cosmetics.  I had Caboodles full of lipsticks and eyeshadows in every color.  But like so many women, as I grew older and wiser, I narrowed my stash down to what worked -- Revlon Cherries in the Snow lipstick and Cover Girl Champagne eyeshadow.  And save for the occasional rogue impulse purchase, I never looked back.  The only way I'd ever wear gold lipstick again was if it was Halloween and I was going as C-3PO.  But then not too long ago, I crossed paths with some dangerously dark blue Revlon eyeshadow, followed by prettily packaged Sephora lipsticks and bright L'Oreal eyeshadow quads (buy two get one free at Walgreens!) that I just couldn't resist.  Entranced by their sleek newness and alluring shades, I uttered a silent apology to my tried-and-trues and thought, why not?  

Pink lipstick: Celebrate; Red lipstick: A Little Magic; Sephora, Kohl's 

Turquoise eyeshadow: Avant Garde Azure; Purple eyeshadow: Voilet Amour; Silver eyeshadow: Silver Couture; L'Oreal, Walgreens

Here I am trying out my new red lipstick and turquoise eyeshadow:

Headband: So, Kohl's; Top: BCX, Macy's

The eyeshadow is more intense than I expected, like the taste of birthday cake ice cream.  And I am committing the twin cardinal cosmetics sins of 1) matching my eyeshadow to my outfit and 2) rocking a bold lip and eye instead of just one or the other.  But I don't care; I love it!  (Cue the Icona Pop, people.)  It's fun to have an alternative to my go-to palette.  It makes me feel like the possibilities are endless.  Like I have a technicolor time machine and am sixteen again, browsing the beauty aisle at Thrift Drug.  That was a time when a new pot of lip gloss -- like lots of '90s girls, I was into the fruit flavors from Naturistics --could change your life.  Or at least make you think it could.   

But then, I guess that's the magic of makeup.  And of youth and rejuvenation.

So, in other words, spring.

Animal Print Stint: A Very Merry Unbirthday to Me

Tights: Xhilaration, Target

As you know, I hit the big 4-Oh in the beginning of the month.  But the family party (okay, get-together, as there were a pod-approved nine of us) took place last weekend -- which gave me an excuse to celebrate all over again.  And if Alice and animal print don't say happy birthday month -- or merry unbirthday, to quote that wonderfully wacky Alice in Wonderland ditty -- then I don't know what does.

Socks, ? (they were a Christmas gift :) 

Skirt: Bubblegum, Macy's

Boots: Jessica Simpson Collection, Amazon

Sweater: Bar III, Macy's

Bag: Betsey Johnson, Macy's

My parents pulled out all the stops, decking their house with pink decorations.  It was the best bash I could've hoped for, with all of my favorite people.  At one point we were covered in streamers, but I decided not to post any pictures of that.  I respect the privacy of others, if not my own.  

Anyway, it's a good thing we partied down last weekend, because this is what it's like out today:

There's fifteen inches of the white stuff here at the Jersey shore.  As always, I took it in from inside my window.  And then promptly hit the couch to watch TV, this time the pilot of ABC's new vineyard-set drama, Promised Land.  It's good; I raise a glass to it.

Even if what's in my glass is cinnamon apple tea.