Happy Thursday! 

As most of you know, I loathe winter.  As soon as new years day comes I am ready for Spring.  I long for the warmth and some sun. I have been trying to plan a getaway in April to FL.  We are trying for Naples or Sarasota on the east coast, or West Palm or Jupiter on the west coast, but jeeze the airfare is astronomical.  I am not giving up, I need a reprieve. 

I do love the little things to look forward to though, Riverdale season 2,

 Presidents day sales and of course next week is Valentine's Day.  As previously stated, I 

have never been one for huge Valentine's Day celebrations,  if you love someone you should let them know every day. I like to keep it subtle and this shirt dress with tiny hearts keeps it pretty subtle. 

How do you do Valentine's? 

xx, Elise

dress old similar here, here & here /   OTK boots /  jacket / bag 

Happy Tuesday Loves! 

I am still suffering from an emotional hangover from Super Bowl Sunday.  Between the Patriots loss and Jack dying on the special This is Us following the game, I am a mess. Truth be told I should have taken a bereavement day.  The writers for that show are seriously trying to kill me! 

One of my resolutions for the new year was a January shopping ban. 

Although I would love to pat myself on the back, it was far easier than I thought it would be. 

I haven't seen anything I am dying to have, we won't see Spring for at least another two months and I refuse to purchase anything else for winter. Not shopping has made me look deeper into and shop my own closet and reinvent pieces. This Dior mini saddle bag has not seen the light of day since 2002. Inspired by Rachael from Threads for Thomas, I dug mine out and attached a long chain to bring it more up to date as a cross body.













sweater Primark similar here / turtleneck / faux leggings / boots  / bag  / chain 

Happy Tuesday loves! 

What a weekend!! The weather here was super mild and it was so lovely to be a little less bundled and spend some time outside.   

 Generally I am a pretty confident person, but like a lot of women I can be very critical of myself.  Like most, my self doubt comes and goes, but in recent weeks even after having made the New Years goal of being nicer to myself, I have failed miserably.  I blame a lot of my self critiquing on my dance years when I would stand in front of a mirror in a leotard and pick apart every perceived flaw.  Although I don't stand in front of a mirror hours on end anymore, now when I pass by my reflection I see my wrinkles, laugh lines, muffin top, thighs... ugh! 

On Friday evening I was out to dinner with some friends and every single one of us at one point ripped ourselves apart. I had to put a stop to it! All of these woman are beautiful, intelligent and super successful! What is wrong with us? What is wrong with our society that it is so ingrained to think we aren't enough.  Truth is, I can make as many goals to treat myself better, and have self acceptance, yada, yada, yada, but how? How do we break the cycle of negativity? Affirmations? Mantras? 

How do you practice self acceptance and love? 

xx, Elise

top similar here / vest / jeans / bag splurge v. save / belt great dupe here / boots / sunnies 

Good Morning Loves! 

I hope you week has started off well. 

The weather of course has been nuts.  The two feet of snow we got last week has all melted due to the few days of mild temps. Saturday started off in the sixties, it then rained, got sunny again, super windy, and then temps plummeted into the teens just in time for the Pats game. 

Do you guys have that thing that when someone falls, you uncontrollably laugh?   I do, maybe it is not one of my best qualities, but when I see people take a tumble (and know they are ok) I get hysterical.  That somebody was me this weekend. We went to dinner at a bar / restaurant that was packed with people tuning into all the playoff games. On my way back from the rest room, my boot slid, I twisted my ankle and in what seemed to be slow-mo, I ended up on the floor in a split. Luckily, one of my better qualities is being able to laugh at myself... I was in tears from laughter. I chuckled all night and all day yesterday every time I thought about it.  Unfortunately I twisted my ankle and have been limping around, but I am thinking it isn't too serious. 

I have challenged myself to not purchase any clothing, shoe, accessories in the month of January.   

Here we are halfway through the month and I am finding it isn't as difficult as I would have thought. This challenge has forced me to look deep into my closet and get creative. 

This puffer coat is a few years old, and I always forget I have it. The collar is my absolute favorite, so it is being brought back into the rotation. 

Have you ever gone on a shopping ban? 

xx, Elise

coat similar here and here  / top / scarf / jeans / bag / boots similar here/ sunglasses  

Happy New Year!! 

I hope you all had a wonderful NYE. Mine was totally low key, shopping, lunch and at night we hunkered down to watch Netflix while barely made it to midnight. With big ideas for NYE, it has been just too darn cold. In the Northeast, much like the rest of the country, we are in a 'deep freeze'.  For me this means, there is absolutely zero ability to look cute. I want to wear all of my sweaters at the same time and just snuggle.     

It has been difficult to take photos and acquire content for S&S because in addition to looking like Randy from a Christmas Story because I am so bundled up, the highs have been about 9 degrees and lows about -5 degrees.  Being outside for more than three minutes seems to be like cruel and unusual punishment.  

2018 Goals

I have never been a big New Year resolution maker,

 but I often like to set small, manageable goals for myself throughout the year. 

Here are just a few that I thin I may be able to tackle. 

Continue to be Present

This is a reoccurring goal. It was 'try to be more present'. I have definitely achieved being more present,  but every day I am astounded with how fast time goes and how quickly my son is growing up. So, I will try and continue to be more mindful of being present and enjoy every bit of it. 

Be Kinder to Others

I am not sure what happened in 2017, but people have gone haywire! It seems it has become completely acceptable to be rude, crass, classless and say unsavory things to people who don't agree with you.  I am not excluding myself from these unspeakable acts, I have been quite unsavory on far too many occasions. It is unacceptable. I have always subscribed to the belief that people base their beliefs and opinions on their experiences and not everyone has had the same experience as I have.  Respect the opinions and try to listen to others.  Sometimes if we step back and listen we can learn a thing or two. 

Be Kinder to Myself    

I know we can all relate to this. I mean, I am aware that I am self deprecating to some degree, but when my son said the other day my butt was the jiggliest of all jiggles and referred to me as a cow, I was stunned. His response to my stunned face was 'Mom, you always call yourself a cow.'  Simply, I need to be more careful what I say about myself and view myself in a more positive way.  

Limit Alcohol

 I sneeze, my sinuses fill up and I get nauseous, sounds wonderful, right?   

All that after only a two glasses of wine. Why do I do it? Not sure, but it makes me feel like crap, so it will be even less frequent that I have a glass or two of wine. 

What are some goals you have made for 2018? 

top / coat Primark not available online. similar here and here / jeans / bag / boots / sunglasses