Author Archives: Hannah B.

Cue Andy Williams Singing

Kennedy Christmas chaos

Hello, Monday! It is officially “the most wonderful time of the year,” and if you’re anything like me, your holiday cards have yet to be sent, you haven’t bought half the gifts yet, and all you really want to do is hunker down for a long winter’s nap.

Perhaps your life is not feeling nearly as glamorous as you thought it would on December 17th, but that’s why I’m here: to remind you that if Jackie Kennedy can look this disheveled in a Christmas picture, then you can too! “Living a beautiful life” is an art form, and sometimes every belle needs a little helper. Enter, the Belle’s Little Sanity Saver…

 

Belle's Little Sanity Saver

 

Belle’s Little Sanity Saver

ingredients:
2 oz. Vodka of choice (I’m a Grey Goose gal.)
1 oz. Simply Apple Juice
.5 oz. Appleton Jamaica Rum

– – – – – – – – – – – – –

1.) Fill cocktail shaker with ice and ingredients.

2.) Shake & serve in a chilled martini glass.

 

Hello, Gorgeous!

Alright, so we are “Hello, Gorgeous”-ing a day late, but these random links are still going to put a smile on your face! Promise.

Read

Yesterday, I shared some of my favorite holiday books over on English Muse. The one pictured (Christmas at the New Yorker) is particularly fantastic. My mother-in-law got it for me several years ago, and it’s the perfect collection of essays to read curled up on the couch.  Click here to see the full list.

Listen

I was so excited to find this recording of David Sedaris reading Front Row Center with Thaddeus Bristol, one of my favorite selections from his book “Holidays on Ice.”

By the way, the prologue of this episode is also really great. Host Ira Glass gives a little background on Sedaris and, as it turns out, David has some seriously fab views on gift-giving!

Look

Last year, I ran across these photos of the Queen at Christmas, which I pinned to my “Royalty” pinboard. I thought I’d post a link to them today because I thought of them again when I happened upon this really amazing recording…

Listen

Click here to listen to Queen Elizabeth’s first Christmas Day address. She was 14 and the year was 1940. She already sounds like a young leader as she attempts to reassure the children that have been evacuated to the countryside during the war.

 

Life Lessons from George Bailey

When I was growing up, my family’s tradition was to decorate the Christmas tree while watching It’s a Wonderful Life. I like to think that the movies one watches during the holidays say a lot about him or her and his or her family. For instance, the first year I celebrated Christmas with my in-laws they watched Gran Torino after opening presents. (For the record, after being scarred for life, I now pick the post-present movie.) So I thought that as this holiday season really begins to get ramped up, it’s only appropriate that I share a few of the life lessons that I took in after countless viewings of The Life & Times of George Bailey…

wish It's a Wonderful Life

It’s always important to make wishes.

dance It's a Wonderful Life

Ruffles, a cute hairstyle, & a great corsage are great, but a girl who knows how to get a guy dancing can make him do anything she wants.

bathrobe It's a Wonderful Life

You can feel like royalty wearing just about anything. It’s all in how you wear it.

old house it's a wonderful life

Dream big and always look for the potential when others can’t see it!

Mother-in-Law It's a Wonderful Life

Always keep an eye on your mother-in-law, especially if she tends to run around in pin curls and a bath robe.

bar It's a Wonderful Life

Live your life right so that you know if you hadn’t been born all your friends would be floozies with a penchant for alcohol…

Or worse, they’d mix plaid with stripes and polka dots!

It's a Wonderful Life

So what about you? What does your family watch while decorating the Christmas tree?

 

Back in the Spirit

Party pic

Well folks, I am happy to report that after a week of going a little crazy, I am finally back on top of things. Items are actually getting checked off the ToDo list, our tree is up (if not decorated), and I even managed to sleep this weekend (a vast improvement on last). Onward and upward, I say! Tomorrow, I will be back to regularly scheduled content… It seems we have a lot of catching up to do.

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Bewitched? More Like Possessed.

Lawd have mercy, it has been one of those weeks… or months! Work has been busy (lots of cool stuff happening), Husband will be done with his MBA in a little over a week, and the holidays are just around the corner. And while all this is super exciting, I’ve gotta tell ya, I’ve been a little crazy. Thank heavens for a very patient husband!

Anyway, when I saw this collection of pics of the bewitching Elizabeth Montgomery, I couldn’t help but laugh out loud.Do you ever have weeks when you’re pretty sure you have multiple personalities? Please say I’m not the only one!

Hello, Gorgeous!

Good morning! I hope you had a *lovely* weekend! We certainly did. I hope you won’t mind me bragging just a bit…

Nashville pictures including Grace Coddington, The Southern, The Frist

That’s right! Your eyes aren’t deceiving you. This weekend we traveled to Nashville to visit Bestie, to eat some really incredible food, and to meet the Grace Coddington! The Frist put on a great Q&A with the infamous creative director of American Vogue  hosted by model/musician (& ex-wife of Jack White, who was also in attendance… *swoon*) Karen Elson to promote her new book Grace: A Memoir. It was fantastic! The relatively small room, which made everything a bit more intimate, was full of people trying too hard & wearing shoes they couldn’t walk in. Grace was such a friendly personality and so gracious to stay and sign books. Anyway, enough gushing… I just couldn’t resist.

Here are a few other random links to start your week off on the right foot…

Read

I’ve been a fan of the site Brain Pickings for a while. Structured like a blog, it’s a compendium of readings, facts, and essays that are the perfect thing to get your brain moving in the mornings. So I was really excited to finally see an article on the woman behind the site (& excellent Twitter feed), Maria Popova, in the New York Times this weekend.

Listen

I rarely listen to music when I work, but I often listen to podcasts and old radio shows. Lately, I’ve become addicted to Design*Sponge creator Grace Bonney’s podcast After the Jump where she interviews various creatives. Here are a few that I’ve especially enjoyed lately…

episode 3: Genevieve Gorder
episode 7: Sibella Court
episode 24: Thom Filicia 

Cook

Today, I’m going to try making gingerbread for the first time using the new Band of Outsiders cookie cutters I scored at Target this weekend. I’m using this recipe I found on Smitten Kitchen (adapted from Martha Stewart). Wish me luck!

 

 

 

Saturday Plans…

Hello, Lovelies!

Terribly sorry for my little absence this week, but I have been slammed! (Did anyone else catch the post-Thanksgiving work rush?) Anyway, I will be spending today adding a bit of *twinkle* to a lot of random things in preparation for Tuesday’s holiday craft fair at work. So while I rush off to Michael’s to get more glitter, I’ll leave you with a little weekend inspiration. Is your life getting more sparkly in preparation for the holidays?

Classic: Gone with the Wind

Clark Gable reading Gone with the Wind

Do you have a copy of Gone with the Wind in your library? What about the movie? If your answer is ‘no’, take a lesson from Mr. Gable. I stumbled upon this picture the other day, and I just love it. I read Gone with the Wind over Thanksgiving weekend my 7th grade year and totally fell in love. I remember watching the movie when I was really little. I was haunted by the imagery and taking mental notes on how Scarlett O’Hara got every man in the county wrapped around her little finger.

Recently, I watched the movie the film again and was reminded of how poetic it is: the text before each scene, the gorgeous settings and costumes, and the beautiful cinematography that was so far ahead of its time. Anyway, for your Tuesday inspiration, please allow me to share a few new things I picked up during the first 20 minutes or so of this viewing:

1.) Well brought-up girls take naps in the afternoon.

2.) It’s bad form to show your bosom before 3 in the afternoon.

3.) “With enough courage, you can do without a reputation.”