Little Aliens

I've been waiting and waiting.  Now it's here and I'm a huge fan!  Karen's Little Aliens have landed at a store near you!   Harvest in pink definitely will be a favorite this season.  Very fun.  But for everyday wear, I'm torn.  Should it be Wizard, Anytime, or Anywhere?  How's a girl to decide?!

Wizard in Crazy Tortoise

Anytime in Tan

Anywhere in Neutral

XOXO Kichaas!

Is It Spring Yet?

I don't know about you but the lack of snow this winter hasn't made me less itchy for spring.   A recent  trip to So Cal has really made me start thinking about warmer weather and pretty style.  I have fallen in love with this Ted Baker quilted patent bag.  You can do so much with it -- keep it ladylike and classic, even go classically casual with jeans.  But I like it a little edgy and unexpected with this darling Ivana Helsinki dress . . .

and these  Alice +Olivia Delilah wedgies . . .

Is it spring yet??

XOXO

View From the Top One Year Later

Not only did this weekend mark my Grandma's birthday, it also marked the 1 year anniversary of my trip up Mt. Kilimanjaro.  In fact, I reached the summit on Grandma's birthday last year.  It got me thinking about all that has happened in the year since.  Apart from my digestive system never being the same again (I must have picked up some strange bug that's still lingering in my innards), the year has been a little less adventuresome and has been more about settling in.  Finding my place, following my heart.  Just getting comfortable with old surroundings and a new situation.  Some of my fellow climbers have had a few more changes since we reached Uhuru together; we all still keep in touch but are spread out all over the world.  Marriage, babies and illness have marked the past year for some of them.

I did make a New Year's resolution to climb another mountain in 2012.  I have another trip planned for November and I'll tell you all about it as it gets closer.

Check out my Kili and Africa posts here, here, here, and here.

XOXO

Sunday Morning at Mom and Dad's

I'm visiting family this week in Southern California and it's a lazy Sunday morning.  Quite a change from chilly Chicago.  It's so nice to feel the sunshine, the warm air and the beautiful water.

It's great to be  home for a change of perspective and to slow down a bit.

There is still a lot to do today to get ready for the Big Event.  Last night was dinner with family; many people have flown in just for the special day.  There are decorations to hang, flowers to pick up, a menu to finalize -- everything needs to be just right.

 

But right now, it's time for a nice cup of coffee, feeling the morning breeze and kicking back for a while.

Have a lovely Sunday Kichaas!

XOXO

Orchid Love

Meet the only orchid that has ever loved me.  I have never had good relationships with orchids.   I like fluffy, inviting, happy flowers.  Orchids, to me, have always seemed skinny, fickle, and very unfriendly.  They've always seemed a little too ugly to be as haughty and picky as they are.   I'm sure they have felt the very same about me.  So much so that they usually just up and die on me.

But this one is different.  This one I received as a "thank you" from a colleague.  I didn't give it much hope at first.  I sat it on my desk and waited for it to show the usual signs of disgust and disdain followed by inevitable death.  But this one lived.  It has sat on my desk day after day for over a year, watching me work, listening in on conference calls and apparently it decided somewhere along the way that it loved me and would stay alive.  In fact, it has thrived.  Six new flowers and more on the way!

So while I still feel the same way about orchids generally, I think I love this one.  I never expected to.  It seems beautiful and happy to me.  I think we are a match made in orchid heaven.

XOXO

Happy 100th Gram!!

Yes, that's right, today my Grandma hits the century mark!  Everyone is headed home to celebrate the Big Event.  There will be a weekend of gatherings culminating with a huge party on Sunday.  And what's best of all is that Gram is in perfect health, both body and mind, and can participate in it all.

As you can see, she was always a fashionable lady and she still is to this day.  She's picked out her corsage for the Big Event, decided on a cake, and is all excited!

May we all be so lucky!  I'll have to ask her what her secret is and let you know.

XOXO

Happy Valentine's Day!

Image here

I know, I know.  This day dedicated to romance usually conjures up thoughts of more celebrated and tragic lovers, like Romeo and Juliet,  Antony and Cleopatra or the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.  But can I help it if a little ol' bald farmer who would one day be President gets my heart twittering?  Every time Valentine's Day rolls around I think of John and Abigail Adams.  To me, they had the kind of relationship worth celebrating today.  Not always perfect, but totally committed; strong, romantic, respectful.  Their letters to each other were perfect:

My Dearest Friend,

...should I draw you the picture of my heart it would be what I hope you would still love though it contained nothing new. The early possession you obtained there, and the absolute power you have obtained over it, leaves not the smallest space unoccupied.

I look back to the early days of our acquaintance and friendship as to the days of love and innocence, and, with an indescribable pleasure, I have seen near a score of years roll over our heads with an affection heightened and improved by time, nor have the dreary years of absence in the smallest degree effaced from my mind the image of the dear untitled man to whom I gave my heart.

-Abigail Adams to John Adams

I hope you are celebrating a love like that today.

And if you aren't, I have something perfect for you that I found during my recent NYC trip . . .

Says it all!!

XOXO