What to wear for Thanksgiving

This time tomorrow, I hope you're either enjoying a Thanksgiving feast with people you love or preparing to do so.  In either case, remember to wear something with a loose (or better yet, no) waistline!  A pretty take on a midsection-forgiving outfit (assuming that Thanksgiving pants won't pass muster at your gathering):

For a different look, swap out the tights and booties for these leopard pumps (just back in stock -- they've been sold out everywhere).  Drawing attention to your feet is a great post-dinner strategy, too.  

Banana Republic Cable Knit Cowl Sweater Dress (available in regular, petite, and tall), $130.

Spanx Reversible Tight End Tights, $34 (totally worth the money: these last forever and are extra warm since they're double-layered.  Plus, come pie-time, you'll probably be glad for the Spanxage :)). 

Sam Edelman Petty Booties, $129.

Kate Spade Locked In Studs, $48.

Paige Novick for BaubleBar Katharine Bling Cuff, $180.

PS: A great fall lipstick that's not fussy (i.e., won't end up all over your teeth and you can discreetly reapply without needing a mirror).  

An embarrassingly girly Go Irish shout-out.

Anyone else in the mood for a celebration manicure?  On top of supporting the presently-number-one-ranked Irish, this is completely Thanksgiving-appropriate if you stick to one or two sparkly fingers (just the right amount of "holidazzle," as my friend Sarah would say).  

These colors come from this Kate Spade holiday mini set; or try this navy and this gold glitter.  Go Irish (or Go Thanksgiving, whichever your preference may be)!

Image via the Kate Spade blog.

Venice, then and now.

Have you guys seen the crazy flooding that happened in Venice last week?  It's called the "acqua alta," which means "high water," and apparently happens every year around this time.  This year's flooding, however, is much worse than usual.  The pictures are just insane.  I think I find them so fascinating because we went there a little over a year ago.  Comparing what things looked like then, as opposed to now, is mind-boggling.    

Here's St. Mark's Square at night, when we went in September 2011 (pardon the blurry nighttime photo).  The ground was wet because it had just rained, but this past week, the flooding was so high that the cafe chairs are almost submerged.

On the last night of our trip, we went out walking late after dinner.  It poured, and somehow we ended up with St. Mark's Square totally to ourselves (and ScarJo up there, of course).  It was magical -- the kind of moment where you think to yourself, "this was worth 15 miserable hours of traveling to get here."  Now people are knee-deep in water!  (Looks like Ms. Johansson is still high and dry in her new ad, though.)

This was taken from out in the canal, on our water taxi, looking into St. Mark's Square.  You can see people on all the walkways behind the gondolas, but now they'd be wading in water up to their hips!  I can't get over it.

Random travel tip: we considered skipping Venice during our trip, but got some great advice: don't stay too long, but you just can't skip it.  We only spent two nights and one full day there, and it was the perfect amount.  Even though I knew that Venice was built on the canals, there is something absolutely incredible about seeing a city with no roads or cars, built entirely on water.  You have to see it to believe it!   

(Each of the top photos was taken by Tall and Salty; the three bottom image credits are: Reuters/Manuel Silvestri via The Atlantic; Olivier Morin/AFP/Getty Images via The Atlantic; AFP/Getty via The Telegraph.)

Fake braids: do or don't?

Don't we all wish we could braid our hair like this?  There are plenty of tutorials out there (two good ones here and here; don't even think about going to Pinterest because your eyeballs will probably fall out there are so many!).  But they all fail to take into account a) people like me who are simply hopeless at doing our own hair; and b) people like me who simply don't have enough hair to do this.  

A (possible) solution: a braided-hair headband (like this one or this one).  

I'll be the first person to admit that I'm not completely averse to using hair extensions: I have ridiculously baby fine hair and I wore clip-in extensions for my wedding that made me feel like I had Gisele's hair on my head.  It was glorious.  But for some reason, these braided headbands seem odd to me.  I think they might be kind of obviously fake-looking, even though the pictures are lovely.  What do you think?  Would you give them a try, or are my instincts correct that these are sort of odd?

(Images via weddingchicks.com; Hershesons.com; and bottom image by Jennifer Sarkilahti for Wiksten.)

Ready or not, it's just around the corner.

I might be in the minority, but I hate how the Christmas season now starts in October.  (Ever heard of Thanksgiving, Target Christmas commercials that have been airing for the last month?)  I'm firmly in the camp of waiting to start Christmas until the day after Thanksgiving.  Whenever I see one of these signs at Nordstrom, I want to high five the window.  

The trouble with this approach is that I never start my Christmas shopping until then.  An invariably stressful couple of weeks follow and I end up spending too much on gifts that aren't that great.  So this year, I've made a year-long effort to keep an eye out for things that might make good gifts, with the hope that I won't be panic-overnight-shipping all of my presents.  Two fun things that popped onto my radar: these boys' and girls' grab bags by Of A Kind, the site that sells limited edition runs of products by emerging independent designers.  

 Everything feels like it's so special and interesting, even though the bags do include things like soap and candles (which, let's face it, usually speak the international gifting language of "I didn't have a clue what to get you so I got you something really not personal.  Sorry!").  But with all the other cool goodies in these bags, even those little things seem thoughtful and fun.  

Get them here and here; regular-sized bags are $45 and jumbo bags are $95.