Over the river and through the woods....

Instead of exchanging gifts our family is very into 'experiences'.

We always let the grandkids pick what they want their Christmas Experience to be and the past few years they have chosen

 'Medievil Times.'

When asked this year they both cried out in unison,

"Medieeevvvvil Tiiiimmmes."

I admit...I spoil the grandkids a little more than I should and I reeeally hate to say 'no', but I just absolutely cannot watch one more round of jousting for the 3rd straight year in a row.

(However, if you haven't been you really need to!)

So. This year I decided to redirect.

But what?

One of their favorite things to do when they come to my house is to have tea - and we pull out all the stops. 

We use the silver tea set, with tea sandwiches, cookies or crumpets. 

We dress nice and place beautiful linens across our laps, and I pretend to not notice that they put way more sugar (and I mean way more) in their tea than their mother would ever allow.

   Afternoon Christmas Tea at The Ritz Carlton seemed like the perfect gift this year.

But one night while I was taking Lillian out for her last constitutional before bedtime, the crisp autumn air combined with the big sparkling Texas sky reminded me of the old time FFA Hayrides we had in high school.

The lightbulb still didn't come on until I took my first stroll through the neighborhood on Thanksgiving night to see the Christmas Light Show which is absolutely MAGICAL!!

Then BINGO! The idea hit me - a Christmas Eve Hayride to see Christmas lights!

So, here's the trailer we will use.

 I've already found the hay from a nearby farm!

I made the announcement to the family a few days ago and not only were the kids ecstatic but so were the grown-ups!

First we will fill up on a nice hot soup and grilled cheese sandwiches.

Then we'll bundle up for the hayride and come back for 

Christmas Cookies and a Hot Chocolate Bar.

I am hoping this will be a yearly tradition.

I'd love to hear about YOUR Christmas and Holiday traditions. 

til next time - 

Kathie and Lillian

Happy Thanksgiving!

As Lillian and I went our morning walk-a-bout (well, she did walk a little bit but mostly rode in her stroller), the SMELLS wafting throughout the neighborhood were INCREDIBLE.

Savory, sweet aalll mixed into one. 

I didn't cook this year but we'll be house-hopping from our daughters and end up at dear friends this evening.

Hold your loved ones dear...

We love you!

Kathie and Lillian

J. Crew and The Hillbilly Debutante Cafe (Part 2), and Planning for 2019

For the record, I am LOVING my new gig at J Crew!

I love my co-workers, love our customers and of course absolutely LOVE the clothes. 

(Everything below is from the store, except for the tulle skirt which I've had for years.)

The store is always busy and all the constant hustle and moving about is better than a gym membership - I've gone down a whole size since working there!

I'm also awaiting a shipment of books - both False Victim and The Hillbilly Debutante Cafe, which should be hear after Thanksgiving.

We are busy right now planning/booking book clubs, book signings, appearances and speaking engagements, so stay tuned for that.

In the meantime, I'm working on the next (and probably last) edition of The Hillbilly Debutante Cafe. 

I've missed these characters and look forward to where they take me this time.  

I promise you the same quirky characters - with a few more added - the same quirky humor, but with a bit more intensity.

And of course, I always have my writing buddy buddy at my side,  who by the way, just celebrated her first birthday!

Til Next Time,

Kathie and Lillian

Guess WHAT??

I got a job offer this week......

That's right....

I'll be working at J. Crew!

I love this store and since moving to Dallas the manager has asked me to apply, and truth be known, I've wanted to work here since the late 90's. 

Well, this week I decided to go ahead and apply and yesterday I received the offer! 

I can't tell you how excited I am. 

This will go hand in hand with my Fashion/Lifestyle Instagram/Facebook and even this blog!

It will feed my love for fashion and still gives me the time for my writing projects, as well as real estate.

It is starting out as a seasonal position for the holidays but I'm opening it turns into permanent. 

We will see!

Til next time....

Kathie and Lillian

Bringing back the dinner party!

I must say that living in Washington spoiled me me in ways that definitely left me unprepared for the 'rest of the world.'

In a city where Jackie Kennedy still sets the standard - you don't see a lot of cleavage or too much leg (especially not at the same time) - and home entertaining still takes precedence over fancy restaurants.

Not so much in other areas. I find that people would rather entertain in restaurants or meet up in groups for a night out. That's fun sometimes, but I'm so busy that I really find myself missing home and just having a home-cooked meal.

So recently I have longed for and chosen to incorporate many old-school ways back into my life and the dinner party is one of those things. 

Two weeks beforehand I sent out written invitations to each guest.

It has been years since I've actually hosted a sit-down plated meal so I'll be honest - I was a bit nervous.

In the old days I'd have it catered, but nowadays, unless it's a big event I just go ahead and do the cooking myself. 

(It helps that I have every cook book under the sun dating back to the early 80's when I first got married).

Since it's October I went with an autumn theme and used my grandmothers 'Harvest' China.

It was so nice to sit and visit and not have to compete with the noise/chatter of a busy restaurant. 

Below is a sample of a proper table setting. I've never been that ambition of a hostess to need all of the glasses and all of the silver in this illustration, and as you can see from my setting above I only had water glasses as my guests were all tee-totallers.

I'm very surprised at the number of young men/women who don't know how to set a table. This was something that was taught at my mothers knee and believe it or not it was also taught in school.

I am also shocked at the number of event planners I know that don't know the first thing about place settings. I recently attended what was supposed to be a black-tie event and ALL the silverware was on the right side of the plate and the glasses were to the left.

It may not seem important but I guarantee you this person lost potential business because at events like this people 'know.' 
Not knowing the rules can cost you an opportunity as many times leader in large corporations 'test' their candidates by taking them 
out to eat to observe their manners and how they conduct themselves in that setting. 

But I digress...this is not intended to be an 'etiquette lesson,' but to share with you ways in which we can all try to bring some civility and beauty back into our lives. 
I think we all need some of that. 

The meal doesn't have to be over the top fancy. Actually, it doesn't have to be 'fancy' at all. 

On this particular evening I made 'Skillet Sphaghetti' with French Bread and warm Brownies/ice cream for dessert.

No need for overtime in the kitchen if you're not confident. 
One of my best parties was the night we had a baked potato bar and dessert was an ice-cream bar!

I plan on doing this once a month and being creative- anything to get people together, have fun and do it on a budget, so stay tuned!

I'd love to hear some of YOUR ideas (and may I steal them?)

Till next time....


Kathie...
(and Lillian)