jessica mcdougall

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!

 

Happy First Thanksgiving, Gabrielle! I am thankful for you.

Food is on my mind this week!

I love how this sweet little egg custard came out. I added the berries and fresh whip cream. This dessert is one of Jeffrey's favorites - so I've been working to perfect it!

Here's the fashion version of my above dessert! (Photograph by Steven Meisel for Italian Vogue.)

And tonight I put Gabrielle up to the mirror after her bath so she could sit and reach out for herself. It's so incredible to witness her discover life. Definitely makes me thankful!

Gabrielle went for the bites of banana. (And had some avocado too!)

And I love this idea from Cookie for roasted cranberries and pears.

Does it get any sweeter than this?

Keep this in mind as you shop for the holidays or as you're creating your own wish list.

I found it in Dan Zandra's book Love Life.

It always feels good to see my choices published or featured. Such is the case with this circled garment. It's a sweet, lightweight wool dress that I picked it up at Anthropologie during our recent trip to Las Vegas. One day later, it was in the display window there, and then I saw it in the above Lucky Magazine piece. I love the looser fit and plan to wear this during our visit to Florida in December.

And an update on my extensions - I'm still really enjoying having long hair. It's fun to experiment with different styles. And they are actually easier to manage than I envisioned. It's gonna be a bit difficult to go back to short hair, but I'm already saving tips (like the ones below) for how I will be able to grow out my hair quickly!

 

Does tape make you happy?

I've been seeing and reading nothing but great things about Happy Tape.

I do believe a few of these rolls will make a delightful addition to my everyday (and holiday) gift wrapping arsenal that currently relies on scotch tape. I'm already a fan and haven't even held a roll in my hands or used it. I hope it lives up to its glory!

Thinking of my Dad on his birthday - hoping that today he looks out to the Pacific Ocean and takes a moment to stop and think and know that he is loved. Cheers to you on your day!

I'm also thinking of Jeffrey's daughter, Rebecca, today on her birthday! And Gabrielle is 8 months old today. There is a lot to celebrate!

I have to agree with Lucky Magazine that this is a brilliant idea. My current tool for self-manicure mishaps is typically a q-tip, but I'm hoping this tool will work better and help to cleanly and precisely eliminate any painting errors. 

If you have used it, please share your experience!

It's so great to be back home in Charlotte after a long visit out West. We arrived home to incredible fall weather (it's in the 70s) and I'm once again reminded how grateful I am to live here. We took a long walk around the neighborhood today.

It was a perfect day for Gabrielle to kick back and take her sandals off!

I was excited to come across the delightful detailing of the back zipper and sleeves of this Curtsey dress I found today at Petal (a local boutique on East Blvd in Charlotte). At a price point of $88, I felt like I got a bargain. The material is a heavyweight chamony nylon with just a hint of lycra. Super soft with a clean a-line fit. 

I love that the leaves are falling and the streets are covered in a blanket of leaves. I'm definitely a fan of the physical elements of season's changing and I'm thankful to live in a region where I get to witness this.

I gave Gabrielle her first, up-close experience with the leaves.

And we stopped for lunch at Frank's East Boulevard Bar & Grill in their new location. On a here's where they can improve note, the homemade potato chips have a bit too much of an onion undertone and can someone please tell them that the above is not "fresh seasonal fruit." On a positive note, they have excellent french dip and I'll be back again to try some of the other menu items.

I'm looking forward to being home for the holidays!

The last stop of our near monthlong West Coast trip was Vegas! This is my one and only trip to Vegas this year. (In many of the years past I have visited five or more times.) Although it seems to have lost a bit of its luster, it's still an exciting place to visit. Knowing that the best restaurants in the US are in this town, that there are incredible shows to be taken in, and that there's always a reason to dress up means Las Vegas will continue to be thrilling to me!

We are staying at the Green Valley Ranch in Henderson where Jeffrey is giving his seminars. This picture is overlooking their "vineyard." It's a nice, quiet place - unlike most of the hotels in Las Vegas. Bruna has been such great help on this trip. Las Vegas was on of her "must see" cities so we gave her a day to explore the strip and the casinos and I took Gabrielle for a walk around The District and came across these...

Not so sure I love this fixture, but I do love this type of vintage lightbulb.

And I was excited to discover these bulbs are for sale at Anthropologie.

This is an "only in Las Vegas" image these days. A vending machine full of cigarettes.

And how delightful are these baking cups? Saw them at Whole Foods and they have some other really fun varieties - all of which are available on their website.  

Had to snap a picture of these ready-to-fill containers at REI. I love these. Also picked up a practical little winter hat for Gabrielle at REI.

But the true delight and highlight of the visit (by far) was attending Leonard Cohen's concert at the Caesar's Palace Colliseum. We were actually hoping to see Bette Midler during this visit, but that didn't work out. 

And here's the cool part: On Thursday night when Jeffrey was out to dinner I was reading the local Las Vegas magazine and came across a short blip about Cohen being in town for a rare, one-night concert on Friday. (I knew Jeffrey was a longtime fa but had never seen Cohen in concert and I have heard him talk about and play Cohen's music in seminars - relating it to a lesson about how to get others to listen to you). So I left the magazine on top of Jeffrey's computer, open to that page, knowing that when he returned back to our room he'd see it and smile (and potentially want to go).

We decided we would try to get tickets that day and called the concierge (3PM). The concierge confirmed there were tickets available. The tickets were purchased and arrived at our hotel (4PM). We had dinner with Jeffrey's great friend Richard Brodie and his totally fun girlfriend Diane (6PM). We sat down in our second row seats and had no idea what we were in for (8PM). 

The above proves wisdom that Jeffrey passed on to me early in our relationship. "The best seats in the house are always available five minutes before the curtain goes up." The seats were not good; they were incredible. And I've never cried at a concert before - until this show. Cohen's music is beautiful. And his band is unparalleled.

If you are unfamiliar with his work, you can watch the videos of my favorite songs of the night: The Gypsy's Wife, In My Secret Life, and Hallelujah. And if you are a fan, I strongly suggest purchasing the Live in London DVD to experience what we did at his concert. 

"Jeffrey, what are the odds of us getting to see Leonard Cohen on his tour that is one concert from ending in the United States?" I asked him today. "There are no accidents," he replied. 

The odds were with us (and the Gods were with us) in Las Vegas.

I do believe this to be a fun holiday skirt. You can find it at Anthropologie.

I found this Sprout organic baby food yesterday at Whole Foods in Las Vegas. 

Gabrielle loved it and I was ready to eat it myself - it tasted that good. I'm checking out their website today and looks like there are all kinds of other delicious options. 

 

And the first time I saw these Boogie Wipes I thought "Cute name, unnecessary product." But Ali told me how great they are, so I picked up a package and now I'm so glad that I did because I have a cold and I'm using them myself. They have just a hint of saline in them and a nice refreshing scent - a much better alternative to rough, drying tissues!