Birthday Bash

Last month, one of my besties (that I went to Europe with) had a birthday a few days after we got back from our trip...

one month later, we are finally getting around to celebrating her birthday tonight.  I hope it will be worth the wait, we have reservations at one of the hottest restaurants in town...

The birthday girl fell in love with Paris on our trip, so I am trying to put a Parisian twist on our night.  After dinner we are stopping by a new french patisserie that just opened, for macaroons and champagne...

And I have a Parisian gift that I have been working on for a month.

First, I dug out all the euros I saved from our trip and took them to a jewelers.  They have a special machine to drill a small hole in each coin and then attach a split ring....

 I picked out a chain...

and the clasps...

then attached the coins to the chain...

It was really easy and so special that I had to make one for myself in silver...

ha!!  I swear when I give gifts to my friends it is always one for them and one for me!!

Bag it!

Even though we are awaiting our second snowstorm in the last 5 days, my mind is definitely on spring.  It might be too cold to wear sleeveless dresses and flip flops, but the time is perfect pack away my big, heavy black winter handbag and bring out some color.

the color block handbag...

the perfect little clutch...

or here...

my all time favorite, I mean how fabulous is this bag!!!

of course for me and bags, the bigger the better.



This number from Steve Madden, that retails for $78.00...

suspiciously looks just like the Clare Vivier clutch....

that you can buy here for $168.00


Of course if you are carrying a new bag, you most likely want to compliment your bag with a little arm party...

all bracelets found here

Bust of a weekend!!

Here was the weather forecast this past Thursday, the day I was to leave for my girls trip...

It was a nightmare!!  Here was the scene at the airport...

 My lonely plane was not going anywhere.  They closed most of the highways and eventually the airport.  Friday, when I was supposed to be skiing, I was trying to rebook.  I was number 57 on the standby list for Friday, but I was guaranteed a seat on the 2:35 pm flight on Saturday.  At that point, I knew I had been defeated.  This trip was just not meant to be.  2 of my friends beat the storm and made it out to Breck, but 4 of us did not.  Friday night the 4 of us decided to grab our hubbies and go out to dinner and toast the fact that we might not be skiing, but if this was our biggest disappointment then we should consider ourselves lucky!!

Since my trip was canceled, it was so nice to have a weekend with absolutely no plans.  My kids had lots of friends over for sledding since we have a great hill in our back yard.   I had lots of messes to clean up...

my foyer apres- sledding

I did a little shopping.  I picked up this sweater from H&M...

and this shirt from JCrew...

We took our kids to a hibachi restaurant, where they throw fire, do tricks with utensils, and cook everything right in front of you and everyone had a blast...

then we let our kids build a big fort in our family room and sleep in it...

Sunday I got a little massage...

met the hubby at one of our favorite tapas restaurants for a late lunch...

then came home to watch the oscars.  My favorites of the night...

was I the only one under-whelmed??


and of course the disasters of the night...

this girl just seems to embarrass herself where ever she goes

Sunday night I got a call from my friend who made it out to Colorado, A huge blizzard hit Denver Sunday morning, all flights were canceled.

she is now stand-by on a 6pm flight home tonight!!

Girl Friday/Early/Breckenridge Edition

Have a beautiful weekend, I am off to here...

and it looks like it will be perfect ski weather!!

Luck of the Irish

When we decided last September that we would travel to Europe in January, naturally Paris was top of the list.  However, I was feeling a little antsy because of the 8 times I have been to Europe it has been Paris only (with the one exception of a quick jaunt to London).  The entire country of Italy and the city of Barcelona are on top of my list, but I have to go in the summer so I can experience the amazing beaches.  The hubs has always wanted to go to Ireland, so we decided our trip would be Paris/Ireland.

After 5 days in Paris, it was off to Ireland...

2 things I realized quickly.

The first, Ireland was exactly how I imagined, quaint little villages nestled in between rolling hills...

the second, I really really liked Ireland.  Not necessarily the big city of Dublin but the countryside, specifically Galway, where we spent 3 days...

Ashford Castle could not have been more opposite Paris.  It was in the middle of nowhere, next to a village with a population of 100, and not one shop within a 20 mile radius...

In some ways it was just like Paris though...

I actually enjoyed the change of pace.  Paris was go go go from the moment we got up until the moment we went to sleep.  Ireland was so laid back.

We went on walks...

we took a boat ride on the surrounding lake...

view of our castle from the lake...

and what was the most amazing part of the trip, falconry...

Falconry, which is big in Galway, is the catching and releasing of falcons.  We went on a 2 hour walk guided by the birds.  If the falcons were stubborn and would not come back to you, we were loaded up with some treats to bribe them...

baby chicks and quails.


It was such an awesome experience, I did not want it to end.  Our last morning, Dr Beautiful and I went on a walk and decided we absolutely needed to come back here with our children, and soon!!