In My Stylish Yet Affordable Boots

Happy-making things

Happy Valentine's Day! It's a lovely day here in Southeastern Wisconsin - the sun is shining, the temperature has risen above freezing, some of the vast quantities of snow are melting away. I stayed up way too late last night and probably should be crabby, but I'm not. So I want to share the things that are making me smile today.

This forecast - check it out; more sun!

(via Accuweather)

Fresh Brown Sugar eau de parfum - I love this scent!

(via Fresh.com)

Planning for spring clothes, including this sunny outfit:

(skirt, tank, cardigan: Old Navy; sandal: Lifestride; earrings: Lia Sophia; bracelets: nomorerack.com)

And last, but certainly not least, The Husband's Valentine's Day gift to me:

 

(bracelet: Trifari, via kohls.com)

What's making you happy today?

Thankful Thursday #2

You may notice that this is my second Thankful Thursday post, yet there have been more than two Thursdays this calendar year. This can be easily explained: I've decided that I'm following blogging rules similar to my friend Stinky's B52OMOLISBE rules. Mostly, I'm going to write about whatever I feel like writing, whenever I feel like it.

Which leads me to my second Thankful Thursday post. Today, I'm thankful for my collection of warm winter boots. They keep my feet dry and warm, which is important when it snows roughly every other day. Even if we're not getting hit here in Wisconsin the way they are on the East Coast this year, or like we did in 2007-08 or 2008-09, we've had a pretty steady stream of measurable precipitation over the last month.

Anyway, getting back to the boots -- when my mom died last year, and we sorted and donated her things, I snagged a pair of winter boots, since we wore the same size shoe. There's something kind of special to me about wearing those particular boots now, to shovel snow. It's almost as if my mom's helping me keep my feet warm.

So, there you go. I'm thankful for a pair of basic black Totes boots that are an awful lot like these.

Thankful Thursday #1

Today, when the 9 PM local news is predicting a low of 9°F, I'm thankful for my poorly-insulated, new-windows-and-doors-having, oil-fired-boiler-radiant-steam-heated home. As many headaches and woes as ownership of an 83 year old home can cause - most recently, spalled brick in our chimney, for which we are now collecting quotes - The Husband and I are fortunate to have a home with heat and running water and a bed. Many others, especially in the economic climate of the last few years, are not as fortunate.