Today on weekend meanderings, a Mother Denim Styling Event at Flaunt, my fall cleaning and decluttering project, a fall recipe and nail polish color, and homecoming mums.
Happy Saturday, friends!
It’s time for the weekend post with Kim and Elizabeth. Our weekly roundup of inspirations and goings on.
Our nights enjoying cocktails around the fire are numbered. Or are they? Unless it’s raining or unbearably cold we can sit out here year round. This will likely be our last fall and winter at Snowberry and we’ve got to make the most of it.
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Image: Jessica Brydson Photography
It’s been a busy week and we’re all looking forward to the weekend so let’s dive in …
Mother Denim Styling Event at Flaunt
Yesterday morning I got myself over to Flaunt in Danville to attend a preview of their Mother Denim Styling Event … the event continues today so if you’re local get over there!
The shop is stocked full of Mother Denim’s latest pieces from their holiday collection and other favorites. And the brand’s West Coast sales rep Lani Ako is at the shop offering styling tips and ideas.
Mother is a wildly popular Los Angeles based denim brand loved for its great style and fit.
I tried on as many styles as I could, these are the three that came home with me …
Mid Rise Maven Ankle Fray in Act Natural. Act Natural translates to warm white (even the hardware is soft white and tonal). I know it’s fine to wear white denim year round, but somehow a softer, warmer white feels better to me. I love this style’s mid-rise, wide leg, and looser fit … and hint of stretch.
Mid Rise Hiker Hover in Full Moon. These are the jeans I’ve been searching for … soft, mid-rise (I can’t take a super high rise which feels uncomfortably constricting around my ever expanding middle), they also have a touch of stretch and a finished hem.
Awol Hover in Roger That. Roger that is right … I LOVE these army green cargo-style pants made with 100% upcycled cotton. Their high-rise works because the band is loose aka comfortable. The tonal hardware is such a nice detail. These pants are a little long on me so I’ll cuff them or have them taken up. We’ll see.
The California Candle Co. ~
It was a treat to meet my Instagram friend Jen of The California Candle Co. who was at the event to shop and showcase her candles. She’s every bit as sweet and beautiful in person and she makes the most lovely candles, including these floral pressed beauties. With the holidays coming you can’t have too many pretty candles in your gifting repertoire.
But back to Jen. The Instagram algorithms must have led me to her at The California Rancher. She lives not far from me in a renovated rancher. Many decades may separate us, but we’re essentially the same. Ha! It looks like she’s in the process of building a little cottage on her property – probably about the same size as our new little downtown house! – and she’s an enjoyable and inspiring follow.
If you’re local, be sure to stop by Flaunt today for more Mother Denim shopping fun including yummy pastries, styling advice from Lani Ako, and – from noon to 4pm – Balestrieri Family Vineyards is offering local olive oil and wine tastings. I may have to go back.
If you’re out of the area, you can click the images to shop my links ~
Fall Cleaning & Decluttering, Part One
If you’ve been following the blog for a while you know I’ve been in a constant state of decluttering for what feels like years. Last year I chronicled my major closet clean out, but the process of decluttering never ends. After reading a very funny little book called Nobody Wants Your Sh*t, the follow up to Tidy the F*ck Up, I got motivated to do another sweep of the house. As is typical of any project, one thing leads to another, and it quickly became a deep clean and declutter project starting at the very back of the house which is our closet.
I’m no expert on the psychology of dust bunnies, but anecdotal evidence suggests it loves nothing more than a confined space with no outlet, like our closet. It seems like all the dust in our house gathers, forms into bunnies, and settles there. Every so often it requires taking everything off the floor and shelves for a deeper clean. And then the fun part is putting it back together.
So far I’ve cleaned and decluttered our closet, bathroom, bedroom, office, guest room and guest bath. And a good portion of the garage. The aftermath resulted in …
- Donation of clothing, shoes, accessories and sheets to Assistance League Thrift Shop & Goodwill
- Donation of bath towels to Joybound, a local animal shelter
- 20 lbs of shredding to the UPS Store
- A trip to Rapid Recycle, an eWaste recycler, to dispose of an old printer
- A trip to the Walnut Creek police station’s drop box for expired medicines.
- A trip to the county household hazardous waste facility to dispose of old and unused cleaning products
After clearing our office file drawers of 20 lbs of paper I rewarded myself by taking a break to update my inspiration board.
There’s no rest for the weary and this weekend’s fun includes taking my dust cloth and steam mop to the kitchen, great room and library. Nothing feels better than a freshly cleaned – and organized – house and these are a few of my cleaning essentials.
Shark Professional Mop … it’s so easy to use and I live for freshly steamed floors
Murchison-Hume All-Purpose cleaning spray … in Original Fig (it smells divine)
Methods’s Glass Cleaner … in Mint (also smells fabulous)
Linger Over Coffee
A couple of weeks ago I did something truly shocking. I changed my nail polish color. Toenail polish. For over ten years I’ve been wearing Essie’s After School Boy Blazer on my tootsies. I still love it and will never give it up. But, waiting for my appointment with lovely – and super fun – manicurist Irina, I allowed my head to be turned by her collection of rich, warm, autumn hued polishes. OPI’s Linger Over Coffee caught my eye and I took a walk on the wild side. Irina was delighted, she’s been trying to convince me to try something new.
More autumn polish colors ~
Ina’s Chicken Picata
Have you read … or listened to … Ina’s new biography, Be Ready When the Luck Happens? I read it cover to cover the weekend it arrived and plan to download the audible, read by Ina, and listen in the car. Ina cooking challenges are all over social media, a la Julie and Julia, and I’m right there with them. I organized my Barefoot Contessa cookbook collection in chronological order and started rereading from the beginning, The BareFoot Contessa Cookbook. I recently made her Chicken Piccata recipe, from The Barefoot Contessa at Home served alongside Yukon gold mashed potatoes and roast broccoli.
All My Ex’s Live in Texas
Just kidding, but my oldest niece does. Niece Sam and her family up and moved to Texas three summers ago. I’m not going to lie, I thought they’d be back within a year. Au contraire, Auntie. They’ve created a beautiful life for themselves and recently settled into a new home in Godley, a small town named after lumber merchant R.B. Godley who donated 8 acres of land for the town in 1886.
Godley may be small but it has a big football culture focused around Godley High School. The high school has new football facilities that many colleges would kill for. As a big football fan myself it makes me happy to see Sam and her family getting into it. Her older boys, Wyatt (11) and Beau (8) are both playing football this year, and little sister Maesyn (6) joined a cheer team. It’s so cute to see her with her team on the sidelines with the high school cheerleaders.
Wyatt, Maesyn & Beau
This week was the high school homecoming and Sam sent me pictures of purple and white ribbons (the school colors) and other crafting materials. She said she was making her first homecoming mum for Maesyn. I felt pretty good about myself for knowing what this is. My blogger friend, KariAnne, who lives in Texas introduced me to the concept of mums when her daughters were in high school. It was the first I’d ever heard of them, apparently they’re a Texas thing (correct me if I’m wrong) but I have no idea what I’m talking about having only been outside an airport in Texas once. My minimal research suggests that mums made their first appearance at Baylor University’s homecoming in 1936. Anyway, Maesyn and her cheer friends wore their mums as hair clips for the homecoming parade and her cheer team’s float took 2nd prize!
Maesyn, Corgi Milo & Niece Sam on the Homecoming float
Since moving to Texas, Sam has gone back to work as a hair stylist in Ft. Worth. And her husband Justin relocated his thriving performance car business without skipping a beat, it’s growing by leaps and bounds. I miss them so much but enjoy watching their family thrive in their new hometown.
If you know anything about homecoming mums, please fill me in.
Odds & Socks ~
Speaking of football, the Navy vs Notre Dame game is today at noon ET. Navy is this year’s host so the game is being played at MetLife Stadium. Navy is the underdog, but they’re undefeated this season and I think they’ll play Notre Dame tough and I’m not going to jinx myself, but look out.
I ordered these barrel jeans. They’re a pre-order expected to ship after November 25th.
Current Favorites ~
And that’s what I have for you this week. Let’s see what’s inspiring Kim and Elizabeth.
I’m off to meet niece Shelby to walk around the reservoir followed by breakfast with BFF Jane. Then it’s home to watch the Navy game, I’m recording it so I can catch up when I get there.
Thanks for stopping by and have the best weekend!
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