8 Positive Aspects of Breaking One's Foot

Positive aspects of a broken foot and wearing a large Velcro boot up to your knee (for 2 1/2 more weeks):

1.) Saving Money: haven't really been racking up a bar tab these days (could fall in boot, would then have possibility of two boots- one on each foot!)
2.) Ease of Picking AM Outfits: choices are A.) a dress with tights B.) skirt with tights.. and that is about it.
3.) Lowers Odds of Future Catastrophes: because I don't go out dancing, can't wear heels, and don't go out much... I have lowered my odds for an additional disaster
4.) Preserves Heel Life: my beautiful heels have not taken the winter beating of the ice and snow. They have also been spared six weeks of dancing, wear, and tear.
5.) Laughter: the broken foot provides humor for friends, family, and myself (such as when I look down and see the atrocious footwear paired with a Tory Burch flat).
6.) Pity: People feel sorry for me. They tend to stop a lot more and allow me to hobble across the street.
7.) Conversation: Boot allows me to think up outlandish stories re: how I broke my foot.
8.) TIME: I only have to wear the thing for 2 1/2 more weeks... then, the countdown and re-start of my social life will commence!

Joyeux Noel!

Merry Christmas!

a surprising acquisition

A friend extended an invitation to the BCBG Holiday Fashion Show at the newly renovated Galleria Westin Hotel. The fete was festive with some fantastic Pomegrante Martinis (with peppermint frosted rims). Walking in, I was asked by the hostess if I would like her to create a business card for me to place in the holiday drawing. I wait (and LIVE) for these rare opportunities to drop in my ACTUAL professional business card, as I have only had one for a year. Thanking the hostess, I shared with her that I already had a business card that I could drop in the drawing myself upstairs.



Distracted by the delicious martinis or the mock Cirque de Soleil acrobats dangling on fabrics from the ceiling, I missed any sort of raffle table. So, after the fashion show, when they began to draw names for the drawing, I was instantly disappointed. How did I forget to put my business card in? Then --- I saw the beautiful black and white picture of the Rio Grande. The photograph was taken by James H. Evans, a natural photographer who is known specifically for his work in Texas. He was commissioned to do artwork for all of the rooms in the new Westin hotel. I wasn't just dissapointed, I was furious.

As the Manager of the Hotel began to draw the name, I was already scanning the crowd for the lucky winner and was stopped short when I heard "Haley Schul-...." Haley is rare enough but "Schul + a pause"? The photographer was clearly battling manners and efficiency.

"Haley! That's you! Go get it!" my friend urged. I began to slowly make my way to the stage to claim my new gorgeous photograph (without him ever finishing my last name) and to shake hands with the photographer.

Of course, my lucky "fake" business card will remain taped to the back of the photograph. It is one I will never lose.

my favorite..

My mom brought these to me for my birthday. The peonies are from our garden in Indiana. She took them on the plane with her all the way to Florida and they still looked this beautiful.

Nonsense and Sensibility?

No-sense, nonsensical, nonsense! Sense is collective. We sense because we've weighed the positives, the negatives, and taken many things into consideration. Because of this, what makes "sense" in some situations, is an atrocious mistake upon other occasions. And, that is why we must use our sensibility to discern and decide when nonsense may make perfect sense and when being sensible, is being far too rigid.

Take Diana Vreeland for example. She is the legendary Editor of Vogue and, quite the legendary editor. Her entire autobiography "DV" by Diana Vreeland, leaves one at the end to wonder if any of it really happened? Her lengthy memoir opens with the line, "I loathe nostalgia." And, maybe she isn't longing for the past during her wildly entertaining tales of where life has taken her. Madame Vreeland lived such a glamorous and eccentric life, that one can't help but believe all the stories could be true (even if they are not). At the end of the book, you are left with a whirlwind of very vivid images and the strong urge to read the novel again! Which, in the end, is what matters. So, for DV, claiming her autobiography is nonsense makes perfect sense!

Another strong argument for nonsense is in the realm of fashion. In fashion, it is very easy to get stuck in a cookie-cutter type of style. The shirt goes with the skirt, the skirt goes with the cardigan, and the cardigan goes with the shoes. It's opening a magazine and buying all the cloth on the model. When there are arrows in every direction: the cardigan with the skirt, the shirt with the shoes, you could take two away, and still have an outfit! This is why eccentric dressing can be so refreshing! It's those aha! moments where one says, "I would have never paired those shoes with that dress but it looks so right! It may be a pair of quirky sunglasses, old oversized clip-on earrings from the 1950's, it may be those red patent leather shoes on sale, that you just weren't quite sure about, but now make your conservative wool-knee-length black dress come to life. Fashion shouldn't be boring, especially while you can still see! (and even when you can't it will be all the more interesting!) Feel the clothing, the outfit, stand in front of the mirror and try it all... mix the purple palettes, plaids, and floral patterns. If it seems smart, then go with it. We all make mistakes.

But, I will leave you with some wisdom from the Duchess of Fashion herself:

"When accessorizing, always take off the last thing you put on." - Mlle Chanel