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Monday Musings 2

We’re back from our whirlwind trip to Austin last week and catching up on all things domestic. Austin looked like a very cool place but we were so busy, all I saw of it was glimpsed out the window of my Uber going to and from the airport. Hopefully, I’ll get back soon and have time to explore because it looks like a fabulous city.

We played in a good-natured Bocce Ball tournament on Sunday. It was the annual Matza Ball team vs the Meatball team. This long-standing rivalry is all in good fun and a hoot to be part of. I played very well which helped the Meatballs win the trophy to keep until the tournament next year. Sometimes life is really fun and games šŸ™‚

I’ve been inspired by many things this week and here are a few of my favorites.

Luxurious Robe

faux fur hooded robe from pottery barn
Faux Fur Hooded Robe

The house is chilly most mornings these days which has me thinking of all things cozy. How fun is this robe? It looks very Doctor Zhivago-ish to me. Lavish and opulent with a dramatic flair. Not something to fry eggs in but certainly a treat for the senses. The surprise is it’s from Pottery Barn. They have a whole collection of robes, with and without faux fur. They also have some fun slippers that coordinate. I know it’s not even Halloween but when I saw these slippers, I pictured how cute they would look slipped into a Christmas Stocking. They match this robe and coordinate with several others. I love gifts that tie together…one in the stocking…the completer piece in a box under the tree. Ho ho ho.

Vitamin C Serum

Drunk Elephant C Firma on A Well Styled Life
C-Firma Day Serum

I must use my vitamin C serums veryĀ  s l o w l yĀ  because my last two bottles have oxidized and turned deep orangey-brown before I finished them. Once a vitamin C serum oxidizes it’s no longer doing your skin any favors. In fact, what was once an antioxidant that fights free radicals has turned into a free radical itself. I’ve used this C-Firma Day Serum before but balked at the price so moved on to other things. Now I’m back to this one. It’s opaque bottle twists to open which protects the product from air and light, both of which oxidize vitamin C serum. I took a travel size of this C-Tango Multivitamin Eye Cream on our trip and I’m loving it too so I may actually begin using an eye cream!

Wool Fedora

wool fedora on A Well Styled Life
Felted Wool Panama Fedora

I haven’t switched out my warm weather hats yet so I wore a straw fedora at the Bocce tournament. It kept the sun off my face but was an odd mix worn with booties and a fuzzy sweater. I have to dig around and see where my winter hat boxes are. I do know I don’t have a gray fedora among them. As I’m organizing my fall clothes I see lots of gray sweaters, scarves, and pants which would benefit from a gray fedora.

New Book

The Time Between on A Well Styled Life
The Time Between

I’m a big fan of Karen White novels. She never fails to entertain me with her rich characterizations and engaging stories. I picked up The Time Between for the flights to Austin. I’m not a fan of watching movies when I fly because I prefer to get lost in a story I can take with me when we land. Karen’s latest book is also out in her very popular Tradd Street novels. I didn’t know I liked ghost stories until I read hers which had the hair standing on the back of my arms! The latest is The Christmas Spirits on Tradd Street which I’m waiting until after Thanksgiving to start.

Do you have a favorite series to share?

How do you feel about an online book club? Would you be interested?

 

Thanks for reading, ladies.

Be sure you wear what makes you feel confident because nothing looks better on you than confidence.

 

28 Comments

  1. I would be interested in an online book club. I have enjoyed other books you have suggested.

  2. Gorgeous robe! And slippers!
    As for reading I thoroughly enjoyed The Glass Kitchen (Linda Francis Lee), truly some laugh out loud sections that went on for pages. I am about to start another of her books. And over the summer I discovered Kate Atkinson, British author, series of novels involving mysteries solved by former cop Jackson Brodie. Ready to start the fourth in that series. And Louise Penny, just finishing Still Life.
    An online book club would be very interesting, nowhere to drive to during bad weather!
    Thanks Jennifer

  3. Carol Ahuja says:

    Two really excellent series are The No.1 Ladies Detective Series by Alexander McCall Smith and The Irish Country books by Patrick Taylor. I highly recommend both, excellent writing and warm characters. As another poster mentioned, the Mitford series by Jan Karon is very good. Cozy reading but also
    real life issues.

    I like the idea mentioned of reader book recommendations rather than an online book club.

  4. Betty (SC) says:

    Love the slippers! Good price! – I love to read! I will read anything – including the back of a cereal box!! I enjoy downloading books from my local library! Keeps me occupied! I’ve read most all the authors listed here, and sometimes I worry I may run out of books to read! lol! A recommendation for your Southern lore readers – Sharyn McCrumb….and for you mystery/adventure seekers (with a very lyrical mode of writing) -James Lee Burke.

  5. I have been looking for a new book to read…

  6. I have the Pottery Barn faux fur booties. They are so warm and cozy for those cold mornings. I love the looks of that robe but the big cuffs would bother me. I wish they made it with just the faux fur in the hood and down the front.

    I wasnā€™t aware that Vitamin C serum turned bad after a time. Iā€™ll have to throw mine out. I have an awful habit of trying every new one out there for a time and so they sit over time.

    I have a big brimmed Tilley in a taupe colour that I wear in the winter while out walking. It keeps the sun off my face or the rain at bay. With all the rain we get, a wool Fedora would be constantly wet. I do like the look though!
    I think an online book club would be fun.

  7. Julie Anne says:

    The fedora is very striking. Iā€™m going to explore one in burgundy, since I have a brown wool coat and other coats are black. Living in Canada, various weights are need to make it through the fast approaching winter.

  8. I love that gray fedora! Will have to look into acquiring one for myself. I tend to agree with a previous reader who talked about online book discussions in general rather than one specific book. I have never read anything by Karen White but will look to see if my local library has any of her books. Iā€™m currently reading The Last Kingdom series by Bernard Cornwell. The stories take place during the time of King Alfred the Great and revolve around the central character, Uhtred, a Saxon warrior whose loyalties are torn between service to his king and his friendship with the Danes.

  9. I like the idea of an online book club but wonder if it could be a monthly feature where we just recommend the best books we’re currently reading rather than a discussion of a particular book. For example, I enjoy a good Christmas book in December and would love to hear which ones others might recommend; I’ve already got some great ideas from today’s post and comments.

    1. I love this idea. I wrote down many of these suggestions. I’m currently reading the “Lost Castle” series by Kristy Cambron. Very interesting historical fiction.

    2. I like this idea regarding books recommended by readers!

  10. First of all, I love that fedora! I’ve owned many a fedora in my life and am in need of a new one. As for book series, Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Milhone series was my favourite. Such a shame she died before she could write “Z”. I also enjoy Louise Penny’s books.

  11. You have to come back down here and we will do Austin! Even better…letā€™s do San Antonio! We would have so much fun! I think those slippers you are featuring are a must have!!

  12. Donna Maurer says:

    I was in Austin too over the weekend. The amount of homeless people on the streets were very disconcerting. Had some good food though.

  13. I love love love Karen White!! And have the Christmas book on order. The Tradd series is the best!!

  14. I, too, love Louise Penny. My love of travel and cooking is always satisfied by Donna Leon’s Guido Brunetti series and the wonderful Chief Bruno books set in France.

  15. That robe featured is beautiful and I had to laugh because my first thought was ā€œ itā€™s not for frying bacon in!ā€
    I love books. I find a home or town without sufficient books/ bookstores empty and soulless.
    My favorite series range from LM Montgomery ( yes I still read Anne) , to the Mitford series by Jan Karon, and love the Maise Dobbs series by Jacqueline Winspear ( (psychology+mystery) Also was a fan of Agatha Raisin until the last book. Too gruesome.
    An online book club would be interesting.

  16. Sice I am a Fla. Southerner, Ilike to read books about southern states .But also about England and old house witt h secrets! karen White, Deborah Crombie, John Gresham, Louse Penny(Canadian ) Kate Morton, (Australian writies about Engand) Mary Kaye Andrews(Savannah, Ga) anything about CHarleston and the outer islands. I am not particularly drawn to book clubs of any kind, because I read so much.Usually have found I am three books ahead of the groups s choice.Prefer to pick my own from Amazone’s lists. (they keep me supplied with much more than I can ever read, but I am working on it I enjoy reading your blogs abnd Karens’, Goodby Valenttineo ,Key to the Armoire,Sso many talented women, so little time.

    1. Hi Susan, I had to reply to your comment when I saw your book recommendations. I read most of those authors. My librarian just got me on the Kate Morton novels. Love, love, love them! I read a lot as well. Itā€™s not unusual for me to read a book in a day or two, or even have two books of different genre on the go at the same time. I do find a book club beneficial as it forces me to read books I might not have picked up and discussing them with a group of like minded women is enjoyable.

  17. I live in Austin there are a lot of really cool things to do here. Other than the horrible traffic, it is a great place to live, and that pesky heat in the summer too!? I love books by Marcia Willett, an English author. Her books are a nice place for my mind to go, with characters that feel like family and her descriptions of the landscape makes you see and smell it! Love the gray fedora!

  18. Lee Brown says:

    I would love an online book club. Presently I am reading The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys. I donā€™t have a series favorite but would love to cozy up with one. Iā€™m excited by the mentions herein.

    Recently got a facial which I desperately needed and am back to using the PCA skincare line. I have tried many regimens over the years and always return to this one.

    Itā€™s a rainy day today in East Texas so I will enjoy my book, a candle, tea and a knitting project. Looking forward to a Karen White, next read.

  19. have you heard of C J Box series of Joe Pickett mysteries? Joe Pickett is a Game Warden in Wyoming who is always in the middle of a mystery and murder. I love the way the author describes the landscape of Wyoming. Makes me want to go there! An on-line book club would be so much fun!!!

    1. I’ll look for this author at my library. Have you read the series by Nevada Barr featuring Anna Pigeon, a national park ranger?

    2. Freda Witt says:

      Love that series. Always get excited when it’s time for the next one to come out

  20. I really like Karen Whites’ work as well…currently into Elin Hilderbrands Paradise series, the 2nd one just came out, and im waiting for time off, to really settle in and give it attention. …Dorthea Benton Frank, is another favorite as well as Beatriz Williams….i always give a shout out to abebooks.com…..great prices on used books and most of the time free shipping….although the ladies i mentioned, i cant wait for used, i get too excited when they have a new one out and i will either preorder on amazon, or compare prices between them and doubleday book club.

  21. A book series I adore is the Agatha Raisin mysteries by M.C.Beaton. Agatha is a woman of a certain age who runs her own detective agency in the Cotswolds. So much fun to read!

  22. Austin sounds like a really cool place! And like you, when Ibfly I try to read one if my favorite 3 authors: Louise Penny, Ruth Ware, and Alan Bradley’s Flavua de Luce series narrated by an 11 year old girl who is both bold and a local sleuth. (It does seem there are more murders happening in her little English village than is believable). Yet I believe! Lol. I’m in one book club here at home, and can barely finish the books most times. (Busy life). But your idea does seem like fun! Online sharing…..

    On vitamin C serum I do use Mario Badescu Vutamin C serum in a tinted dark green bottle. I’ve used it for several years. Does it help? Not sure but it doesn’t hurt and does bring out a glow so I continue!

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