Happy Friday! Its been a chilly kickoff to this first week in January! I even saw where it was snowing in Florida this week! Which I thought was kind of nice for kids who have never seen snow before. Either way, the country is bundling up and putting on their sweaters and staying warm and cozy! Its kind of funny but in a way I feel like it brings us all together!

So its a Fashion Friday and I have lots of fun things to share with you, and I want to thank my husband Troy and my son Jake who helped with photos this week. My family is all so very kind and supportive, and I love them to pieces!

Ok, so to start, I included this picture at the top because I wanted to share about an experience I had. So you see I am holding a tube of lipstick. Its my first ever Yves Saint Laurent purchase, and it is really special to me. When I was in New York City, I had seen the YSL displays in the lovely stores I visited, and for Christmas they issued a special decorative tube for a few choice colors of their lipstick. I had heard their lipstick is lovely. And the displays were simply dazzling. In fact they called it “The Dazzling Lights Limited Edition”. The beautiful gold case was adorned with a sparkling firework display, and the inside bullet of lipstick had fireworks etched on the side. I was smitten!

Well, the week before Christmas I was Christmas shopping, and I had some birthday money, and I thought, “Maybe I will get that beautiful tube of lipstick!” So I went to the cosmetic counter, really excited to even be standing there as a shopper with a couple of birthday Andrew Jacksons in my pocket (thanks Mom!) And I contain my excitement (but I was about to scream right out loud I was so excited!) And I can’t keep that grin off my face as I ask for the YSL holiday edition lipstick with Red 01. “I’m so sorry miss but we are sold out of that lipstick.” Ok… road block #1.

No worries. I will go home and order it online. So I ordered it from another store. Great! It should be here just in time for Christmas! A few days later, I received an email from the store, apologizing, but the lipstick was sold out. Road block #2. Its all good.

So I waited until after Christmas and thought, “Ok… lets give this one more try.” And I made my first ever online purchase from Bloomingdales. I joined their rewards program… they give points etc and beauty purchases earn double points. And guess what? They sent it to me! It arrived yesterday! My sister Stacey was over, and we opened it together, and Bloomingdales sent it with a Thank You Card! (you can see it in the picture above) And it includes 15% off my next order! And they included several samples of other products! I felt so special!

They sent me a sample of :

• Viktor & Rolf Eau De Parfum “BonBon”,
• Yves Saint Laurent Eau De Parfum “Mon Paris” in a tiny spray bottle
• Ralph Lauren Eau De Parfum “Woman” in a tiny spray bottle
• Mugler Eau De Parfum “Alien” in a really unique spray packet
• Missoni Eau De Toilette in a tiny spray bottle
• and a sample of Jack Black conditioning shave lotion.

I felt so spoiled and fancy! Stacey and I sprayed a spritz of every one of those perfumes and they all were lovely! If you live nearby, come on over, you can try some on! I am still simply in awe of their customer service!

Well, Stacey looked so pretty I asked if she would let me take her picture for the blog and she said yes!

Check out this backpack!

Isn’t it adorable? It was pretty cold out there, so we didn’t stay out long. I think it was like 3°.

Here she is wearing a beautiful dark green cardigan, a red top, black boots with jeans and this great new backpack purse.  Her boots are Ecco from Nordstrom, and they are a couple years old (she says they are so comfortable!) But you can find almost the identical boot on sale here: Shape 25 Tall Buckle Boot 

Now look at the close up below of how she can convert her backpack to a shoulder bag. She simply pulls the strap through the other direction.

I think that is so cool. I love the clean sleek lines of this bag! Ok… she got a winner there… its sold out! Here is a similar one, but I really like hers!

Ok, next up, a gold longline cable cardigan by Topshop from Nordstrom. Its a little slouchy, and super cozy.

I think I like the cheerful color, especially this time of year. Do I look cold?

So above I paired the sweater with a black turtleneck, and below I tried an olive colored long sleeve tee.

And here is the tee without the sweater. On the record, I have to say this is one of the comfiest long sleeve tees ever! I tried it on for this pic and promptly ordered a 2nd color in it! This tee is by Free People, and comes in a variety of colors.

I’m carrying my trusty bag by Sole Society, I got it a few years ago but here is one that is quite similar (I love it because its named “Susan” which is one of my sister’s names!)

My necklace is a great statement necklace from Stella & Dot, the Bora Fringe Necklace. I love that it brings in rose gold, and deep wine colors with an olive green/gold braided necklace, and the fringe is just interesting!

Finally, I wanted to share this scarf, the “vibrant roses infinity scarf” (this is perfect for me, its super easy to put on and look nice without any training… trust me I need training!). It is on sale 40% off  at J.Jill right now, and its just the perfect weight.

This means this pretty little scarf is only $14.99! Interesting tidbit about J Jill. It was primarily a catalog company for many years, founded by Karl and Maryann Lipsky, and they named it after their daughters Jennifer and Jill. They had a small shop in the Berkshires to begin with in 1959 “Jennifer House” (after the first daughter Jennifer was born), then they started a catalog company “J Jill” after the second daughter Jill was born.  I don’t have much experience using scarves… sometimes they can feel a little big and overwhelming on me, but I really like this one!

My eyes are beginning to water here its so cold! And my son Jake just shook his head when he saw I was wearing high heel boots. He wanted me to wear my sensible boots. I just couldn’t do it! I mean… what if I ran into someone I know in these woods! (I just gotta laugh at myself! And Jake was worried I would fall navigating snow and woodlands in high heels and I almost did! But all is well!)

And I have my purse too… just in case. This sweater comes in several lovely colors and is on sale right now. My turtleneck is almost sold out, but here is another one, by Chelsea28.

I also wanted to share I did a little investigating at Nordstrom the other day. I went into the handbags department, and I asked two different clerks what they think are the top sellers in the handbags. Both said without hesitation, Tory Burch. One of the clerks, a gentleman who knew his handbags, took me over and showed me what he sees as top sellers. These are the bags he showed me.

The number one bag he saw flying off the shelves going into the Christmas season was this bag:

The Ella by Tory Burch, $198 and has a 4.5 stars average out of 5 stars with 471 reviews. The man said that the bag is so flexible for carrying things like your laptop, or shopping, but it totally transfers for evening. And anything from Tory Burch under $200 is almost unheard of. Its nylon with the beautiful insignia on the side. You can also purchase a slightly smaller version of the Ella for $178.

Then he showed me what he says is the second fastest selling bag, The Fleming,  another Tory Burch, this one a shoulder bag, and definitely a bit spendier at $498. This shoulder bag is offered in a more petite size, but the size here is more popular as there is plenty of room for your wallet and cell phone and other such items. He said this time of year, black is the most popular color but going into spring and fall it will be nudes/neutrals until next fall.

I don’t yet own anything Tory Burch (working on that… saving saving and then how to decide!) But I did a little research on Tory Burch.  She has an extremely interesting story. She was born and raised in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania in a family with 3 brothers. She said in several interviews that her parents both had effortless style. As a little girl, she loved watching her mom get ready to go out for the evening. (I remember feeling that same way about my mom!)  She went to school for art history at University of Pennsylvania.

After graduation she worked for a series of designers. She worked for Zoran, Vera Wang, Ralph Lauren to name a few. And then while she was raising her 3 sons, she began to plan launching her own label, which started with a boutique in New York City. That was in 2004. And it took off!  Her style is often described as slightly Bohemian. She is now an international icon in the fashion world with stores in over 50 countries. She believes deeply in giving back and is also well known for her incredible philanthropic programs. She believes in encouraging and empowering women.

Her initial iconic ballet flats were named after her mother, “Reva”. She now has also launched another line,  Tory Sport, I actually got a chance to go into that store when I was in NYC.

I really like to learn about the people behind the products. Their stories… well they actually endear the products to me!

One of the things I learned about Tory Burch is that there were many naysayers along the way telling her she couldn’t possibly make it. She took criticism on her logo, and all sorts of things. She said her parents had taught her to think of negativity as noise, and not to pay any attention to it, and to believe in herself.

That is such great advice! It absolutely neutralizes the power of the negativity if you simply think of it as noise, and releases you to move forward with your dreams! Whether your dreams are big or small, Go for It! Maybe your dream is to conquer something with personal health goals… to get back into walking or running or a transforming lifestyle change. Maybe its a career goal. Or to take that dream trip. Or to go back to school! Or write a book! Or (you fill in the blank) ______. Oh how I hope we all pursue our dreams! And to lift each other up every step of the way! Imagine all the joy and the beautiful stories this world lays in wait for, and they are all just ahead on the horizon!

Keep Moving Forward towards your dream my friend! And fan the flames of someone else’s dream! And I will too!

I hope you have a fantastic weekend! I will be back next Tuesday for another Tasty Tuesday!

Love Always,

Amy

“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity. An optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”     ~Winston Churchill

Where I Link Up:

Jo Lynne Shane My Life and Style 

Northwest Mountain Living and Style 

Sharing A Journey

Fashion Should Be Fun  

Not Dressed As A Lamb