Cause, uhh… “This is how we do it… South Central does it like nobody does…” It’s friday night!! Brings back memories.
Good news: received my coupon code for the free Shutterfly holiday cards last week, I placed my order, and they arrived today! They look FANTASTIC! I can’t wait to mail them out!
And, speaking of holidays, that reminds me – I’m joining up with the Ornament Swap! It’s hosted by Laura of The Luckiest in Love. I love buying fun ornaments. One of my favorites is a taco ornament I won from a white elephant swap! Company holiday parties, LOL. 
If you’re interested in taking part, click on this handy-dandy button to find out how to join in the fun!
Last night the Gomers came up to Napa to visit. We had dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Fume Bistro, to celebrate Justin passing his exam – with distinction! Woo hoo! He’s now free to start up his dissertation. He’s practically a doctor already!
I was bored on Polyvore again, so here’s some more loveliness:
Polyvore
I hope your weekend rocks!! XOXO
Some fall inspiration…
Polyvore
(weheartit)
(weheartit)
(weheartit)
I am so glad we’ve finally got fall weather here in California. This past weekend the temperature was in the 80s! Finally, though, today we’ve cool breeze, orange leaves and a high of 70, with lows expected in the 40s.
A few random notes:
1. I have a major headache, and I don’t know what to do about it. 
2. Marco is DEFINITELY the cutest boy in the world.
3. Today I am wearing my gorgeous brown Jeffrey Campbell boots. I love them.
4. Sometimes I wish I was Jewish, because I love matzoh ball soup, challah, and 8 days of family celebrations and love sounds FREAKING AWESOME.
5. I’m feeling a little unloved, because I haven’t heard anything about the job I interviewed for on Monday. I even sent the Thank You note! Damn. They said I’d hear back this week, so there’s a few days…but I’m losing confidence with every hour that passes.
6. I am super-duper excited about Thanksgiving! We’ll be spending another Thanksgiving with Micaela and her family – last year was amazing, and I can’t wait!
7. Dude! Marco is going to be 6 months old next week!!
Anywhooo… enjoy your Wednesday! I’m glad the week’s almost over.
I know I’m a little Las Vegas-obsessed lately – but now I have the song ‘Viva Las Vegas’ stuck in my head, by Elvis Presley (King of Rock N Roll and a Las Vegas legend).
Hawt.
I am not a huge Elvis fan, but there are some good songs in the catalog. ‘Suspicious Minds’ is probably one of my favorites; and of course, ‘Heartbreak Hotel’, ‘Blue Suede Shoes’…not exactly ready to hit Graceland, but I can do a hip swivel if necessary!
Shake it.
Anyway…speaking of suede shoes, look at all these pretties! I am drooling over here. Just think how cute they would look walking around the casinos, hitting up the slot machines, and enjoying Cirque du Soleil!!
I had my interview this morning, and I think it went well – I am certainly hoping so!! The job sounds fantastic, good benefits, and room for promotion. The company is well-situated financially, and offers lots of great perks. I’d be setting my career back up! I hope that I get this position.
Of course, going back to work full-time means that I need to find a nanny or daycare for my little man. It’s a little scary, because I really don’t know what to look for. Obviously, I want someone who is good with children, has experience with infants, knows CPR, reliable transportation, passes a background check and all that…but is there anything else to look for? I have an appointment with a daycare here in Napa to look at their facility and see if it will fit with how I want Marco to socialize and grow. I set up an ad looking for a nanny, and have had a few responses – but nothing solid yet.
Working full-time brings a sense of guilt with it. And here’s the thing: it’s not guilt about leaving Marco with someone else, though there IS that feeling; my guilt is more because I don’t feel THAT bad about it – does this make me a bad mother? I’ve wanted to go back to work, and now that I’ve decided to go for it and take a full-time position (if offered), I am so excited to go back. Maybe it’s because, really, why do I want to work? I want to work and make money to make sure that he is taken care of with food, shelter, clothes, and toys. I want to be able to set aside money for his future. So, I guess it just makes me feel good to think of having this part of my own life back, but contributing to Marco’s future.
On a lighter note, I discovered the cutest store in Downtown Campbell. I had a spare few minutes before my hair appointment with Adrian on Saturday, and popped in for a quick-look. It’s called Vintage & Vogue, and I found so much cute stuff! I snagged glitter ornaments for our Christmas tree, in the shapes of little high heels, and some adorable glitter Chanel ornaments for my mom. They had this amazing framed vintage print that ended up working perfectly in our bedroom:
I also found an adorable rhinestone headband in the shape of a bow – for $10! I saw a similar one at Nordstrom for $35 – I love a good deal! If you are ever in the San Jose area of California, go check this store out – I could’ve spent all day in there. I can’t wait to start Christmas shopping!
Also… am slightly obsessed with this song:
Hope everyone is having a good Monday!
…ME!!
I decided to break out the new boots! I wore them to work last night, and I love how they wear so far. I can’t wait to wear them again. Might work them into an outfit tomorrow too.
Tim took pictures of my outfit before I headed to the Inn:
Tim likes to take pictures of me BEFORE I am ready…
Navy boyfriend sweater: Mossimo Supply Co. Target (purchased 2008)
Blue and white striped Perfect Shirt: J.Crew (purchased 2009)
Brown belt: Mudd for Kohl’s
Tan corduroy skirt: J.Crew Factory
Grey knee-socks: Target
Tan lace-up boots: Jeffrey Campbell
Hello my lovely readers – I have a wonderful surprise for you today!!
The fantastic artist, Kate Gabrielle of Flapperdoodle and Cupcakes and Antlers, has teamed up with Books N Shoes (that’s me) to do a giveaway!
We will be giving away one adorable 2011 Flapperdoodle Calendar, featuring Ramona and Eloise, everyone’s favorite flappers – TO ONE OF YOU!! Yay!!! If that isn’t a reason to do the Charleston, I don’t know what is! Click on the image to be taken to the website directly, and view the images that will be included in this fun calendar!
Taken from the website: The calendar is printed on 65 lb smooth white stock and spiral bound. It comes sealed in a clear archival plastic bag. It measures 8.5″ x 11″when closed, or 11″ x 17″ when hanging open. The monthly grids include National holidays as well as fun little holidays like Talk Like a Pirate Day and National Fudge Day.
ALL IMAGES ARE THE ARTIST’S COPYRIGHT!!
Here’s what you need to do to enter:
1. Go to visit the flapperdoodle site
2. Write me a comment letting me know which piece you liked! Be sure to leave your email in the comment
EXTRA ENTRIES:
-Sign up for my email notifications (2 extra entries!!) Or let me know if you are already signed up!
-Follow me on Twitter (1 extra)
-Follow Kate on Twitter (1 extra)
-Tweet this giveaway! (1 extra)
-Blog about this giveaway! (2 extra)
Leave comments for each entry. Winner will be chosen at random on Monday, October 25th! Good luck, lovies!!
Beautiful items I am coveting from Anthropologie:
This dress is just dreamy. I love the frothy layers.
A perfect leather saddle bag.
Such an adorable hat!
Aren’t these earrings amazing?? I am in love!
Faux fur, of course. 
Anyone else an obsessive online ‘window’ shopper?? Hee hee
W is for Woo-hoo! I have picked out Marco’s Halloween costume! Initially I wasn’t sure if I wanted to get him one, because of the possibility that I will be working that night. But, it is his first Halloween and I found the coolest Darth Vader costume! Some of you may already know about my goofy Star Wars obsession, but if you weren’t aware – I am a total geek. I LOVE the original trilogy – the prequels were terrible and I did not like them. Anyway, I can’t wait to take Marco out to the costume parade and take some fun pictures of him in his awesome costume.
Because you guys are awesome readers, here’s a present: A picture of the cutest baby ever!
W is for Winner! I actually won a giveaway! Kamika Krafts had a giveaway of her fun Bam-Bambi, with the addition of some other surprise items that I can’t wait to receive! Here’s a picture of the stuffed animal:
Isn’t it adorable?! I can’t believe I won! It will look so cute in my library!
W is for Walnut Creek Today Marco, Tim and I went to Broadway Shopping Center in Walnut Creek to meet up with some out-of-town family members; while we were there we also did some shopping (yay!), frozen yogurt eating, and coffee drinking. Fun fun fun! I had gift cards to Macy’s and Nordstrom, and was finally able to use them!
Olive green dress
Cozy, super-soft cable knit grey sweater
Pink and grey striped sweater
and finally
W is for Wow Check out the amazing shoes I purchased at Nordstrom!
Yes, those are sparkly platforms! OHMIGOSH they are amazing in person!
I also purchased a pair of Jeffrey Campbell brown leather lace-up boots. They are a mid-calf height, and oh-so-cute. The store had to ship them to me, unfortunately – didn’t have my size in the brown color – but here’s a picture from the website:
The boots are actually lighter than the picture shows. I can’t wait to wear them with my olive green dress!
P.S. W is also for waffles – which have nothing to do with Adrian’s giveaway, but, like the giveaway for Kevin Murphy hair products, are awesome.
Marco was taking a nice, long nap the other day and it occurred to me to play a little dress-up during the quiet time! I wanted to show how I recycle items to create several different looks, simply by changing accessories and shoes.
So, these are 4 variations using 2 base items: 1 grey plaid skirt purchased at Nordstrom in September 2007 and 1 grey boyfriend tee-shirt purchased at Target several months ago. Ignore the camera remote in my hand; I was by myself!
Brown suede peep toe heels: Christian Louboutin ‘Very Prive’ (purchased 2008)
Tan trench coat: Forever21 (purchased 2007)
Necklace: Forever21 (purchased 2008)
Cable knit sweaterwith faux fur hood: Forever21 (purchased 2008)
Purple knee-socks: Target
Brown faux-leather boots, purchased in Venice, Italy (2008)
Might as well JUMP!
Grey emblem sweater: Forever21 (purchased 2008)
Brown faux suede loafer wedges: Payless (purchased 2009)
Purple knee-socks: Target
And finally, the lazy way I will most likely wear this skirt, in lieu of the more fashionable ways I listed:
Green military-style jacket: Forever21
Black slip-on Converse: Zappos.com
Some fashion finds I am lusting after:
WOW! Life of the party in this dress…but perhaps a little short for me
Such a pretty color, and I love the draping.
The studs on these boots are so fun! Not sure I could pull them off, but I like them anyway.
The cut is perfect, and the green is unexpected
Not normally my style, but I just can’t resist the beautiful eyelet lace. I want to wear it with dark wash straight leg jeans and a pair of brown leather boots.
OMG OMG love this yellow dress!!
The perfect LBD
Fabulous gold hammered silk skirt
I’ve always been in love with menswear, and this top is a perfect example of all that is awesome about mixing menswear with feminine details.
For the last 3 months I have been on the search for two things: the perfect brown leather lace-up boot, and a great men’s watch (women’s watches bother me; the bands are too skinny and the faces almost always have pearlescent or rhinestone details – great for bracelets, but not for watches). Both of these come pretty close to my ideal boot… but they are a taaad pricey. :-/
Yeah, I spend too much time ‘window’ shopping online. 
