rainy days and Mondays never get me down!



I really don't mind the rain. I quite like it. It's soothing and peaceful. I love to hear it as it raps against the window panes. With candles burning bright and mugs of hot coffee I find that I can settle in and be productive. Rain does that to me. It focuses me. It relaxes me and calms me. It revitalizes me.

There's nothing like a rainy day to help you hunker down and write...

Catch up on emails, phone calls, laundry, cleaning and cooking.

A hot bath, a warm bed, a good book and a glass of wine at the end of the rainy day is my idea of perfection.

If you must be out in it dance and splash and get wet!
There's no feeling as good as drying off and warming up afterwards.

Find a puddle and jump!

Grab a friend and dance and sing... let your hair down...

Get soaked to the bone!

Just think, with all this April rain we are going to have the most splendid May flowers!
Without rain there would be no rainbows...
Without rain there would be no sunshine!











Anyone who thinks that sunshine is happiness has never danced (or kissed) in the rain!


Fuck the rain!



It's only Tuesday and I've had a hell of a week that will see more valleys before I can see clearly again from a sunny mountain top. Now it's raining to add insult to injury. I need one of these. It's absolutely brilliant in my mind! I'm a New Yorker born and bred and sometimes I just want to stand up and yell #%&C #*@! as loud as I possibly can!


Umbrella and images via artlebedev

XOXO


Jessica

Weather the storm in Style!

Those of us who live on the East Coast are bracing ourselves for The Big One. As a Category 3 Hurricane barrels ahead, looming large, ominous and headed directly toward us, we are doing everything we can to prepare for the storm. We're filling our gas tanks, loading up on batteries, ice and nonperishable necessities like crackers, bread, peanut butter, apples, bananas, chocolate and, of course red wine. (It doesn't need to be chilled to be enjoyed!)  I have notebooks and pens in the event that my laptop dies. I have my magazines including my September Issue of Vogue and plenty of things to keep me busy should the kids allow me the luxury of doing so. I can't think of anything else I could possibly want or need!

Should the power go out and trees go down, we'll don our wellies and go survey the damage. We'll do so in style, of course! Rain boots have come a long way baby, and a little wet weather isn't going to drown our sense of fashion!











Do your boots need a bit of an update? Following are some fun, preppy, trendy, and stylishly sensible options  to suit your personality.
Dolce & Gabbanna

Joules
I happen to find these boots simply Bow-dacious!

Kamik

Steve Madden, Tsunami


Hunter
Every rain storm needs a silver lining!

Embellished, Hunter

Jimmy Choo for Hunter

Missioni for Target

So what are you waiting for? Let's make a splash this weekend!
And to all of you in the path of the storm be safe and take care.
XOXO

Dancing in the rain!


Gosh darn it... it's snowing again! It's coming down now... lightly... but not supposed to stop until tomorrow morning! Where is my Springtime? My sunshine? My warmth? My flowers? Where are my sun dresses and sandals and sun-kissed cheeks? Buried under a white blanket... Eeeeeeeeek!

So today... I will not dance in the rain... Today I will dance in the snow! And make hot cocoa with marshmallows... And snuggle under the covers with the kiddos... And after I have finished my assignments and head off to a meeting and the gym and make my necessary phone calls I will put my pajamas back on. I can hardly wait!

So off I go... hurry-hurry... I do think that 5:00 will come much earlier today... Don't you?

Inspired

I draw inspiration from quotes. Always have. I must have read Bartlet's Book of Quotations from cover to cover when I was in my 20s. I have certainly picked it up more often than I have my dictionary or thesaurus. Quotes give me hope when times are tough and when my spirit is down.

This is proving to be difficult holiday season for reasons I cannot mention right now... I had a sad day yesterday and yesterday as I was tweeting with friends this one most perfect quote popped up on my screen. It was so perfect that I re-tweeted it and posted it to my facebook status. I hope you draw inspiration from it too!

"Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass,
It is about learning to dance in the rain."
Vivian Greene









β€Ž



Happy Black Friday my American Friends... if you're out in the craziness
(and rain here in Connecticut) dress sensibly!

Summer Vacation Day 3: Another Rainy Day

I used to be fun. I used to like the rain. And then I had kids...



















As a child I remember running around in the rain on Shelter Island with my friend Vanessa. We donned our bathing suits and had the best time and were positively giddy. We weren't even that little. When we were done we would put on dry clothes and enjoy a nice, warm cup of hot cocoa.

I remember setting a lemonade stand in front of my building, 1136 Fifth Avenue, with my friend Zoe. And then it rained. And then it poured. Monsoon-like! We stayed out in the rain and we made so much money that day!

In college, it was not uncommon to cut classes in a severe rainstorm. We'd watch Oprah and brew coffee in our coffee-makers that we weren't allowed to have in our dorm rooms! (Naturally, we would brave the wet weather for busy social calendars!)

I started to dislike rain after college. It's no fun walking to the train in the rain. And waiting for the train in the rain. And stepping out of Grand Central Station and getting splashed by taxis and cars and buses. Or misjudging what ended up to be a puddle a mile deep. And then walking a half of a mile to a mile to your offices uptown. And then sitting around all day in wet clothes. And then repeating the same old song and dance to get home. This is when I started to hate the rain.

Unless it was a weekend and I had no place to go. Then the rain was most welcoming. I would make my coffee or tea, bake some cookies or a loaf of bread, crawl under the covers and read for hours. Rain on the weekends was delightful and peaceful and relaxing.

And then I had kids.
(Why did I have kids?)
And I started to really hate the rain.

Dragging around babies in carriers while running errands in the rain is positively painful. More so than getting sprayed by a cab on 50th and Fifth... Dragging around toddlers and preschoolers in the rain is positively painful. And with children there is no such thing as hunkering down to watch a movie, read a book, enjoy a warm cup of tea. Children do not want to relax. In fact, I am positive, the rain -- even the mere thought of it -- drives children to want to run around the house like mad creatures... makes them want to drive you batty. Young children do not understand the concept of relaxing. They do not want to sit quietly with books or a good movie. No, they want to drive you crazy. Insane. To the Nut House. To drink!

It's harder when they are young. For sure.

When they get older you can take them to the movies or create a home theater with popcorn and candy. Even better because you can hunker down with blankets. And cuddle. I'm hoping my youngest will want to do this today. He has been the biggest bear of the group over the past couple of days.

Today I vow to try to like the rain again. We will run out and play and get soaking wet. We will come inside and dry off and have some Baileys hot cocoa. We will bake cookies. And eat the batter before it goes into the oven. And pour ourselves a glass or two of wine. We will then cuddle up on the couch and watch some movies together. And if they won't stay settled I have a whole spool rope and a case of Benadryl.