A Holly Jolly Christmas!

Christmas is nearly here, and the past month has gone by in a blur of buying and wrapping and trekking to Fifth Ave more times than perhaps was strictly necessary, but I feel like I can say confidently that Holly and I have fully soaked up the holiday cheer and are ready to take our annual Christmas trip to Colorado to see my family.

We have been delighted to receive some ah-mazing presents (and to give some ourselves, we hope!), but I couldn't sign off for the season without sharing the couple of things I decided to gift myself this year.

Today we stopped for what I hope is our final last minute gift-buying adventure to Henri Bendel. Holly was so excited about the 70+ degree weather and our upcoming vacation that she took it upon herself to spread holiday love in the form of muddy paw prints on the pant legs of nearly every person we met! Luckily the staff and folks shopping at Bendel's were feeling the spirit of the season and took it in stride.

While at Bendel's I decided to gift myself with something from their Heritage Collection, which is currently on sale for 30% off. These are items designed exclusively for Henri Bendel and featured mainly on their second floor, including those featuring the illustrations of Izak, many of which feature a Henri Bendel "It Girl" and her little brown pup, which bear a striking resemblance to a certain blogger and her shopping bestie if I do say so myself ;)

This Izak holiday design mirrors my many adventures with Holly this holiday season!

 I have been coveting the Henri Bendel phone cases for some time now, and with 30% off and a likeness to Holly to boot, it was impossible to say no. The selection for my older iPhone 4s was not huge, but I did manage to snag one with plenty of girls and their pups to match our every mood!

This "It Girls" phone case was impossible to resist!

Pleased with the last of our holiday purchases, Holly and I came home to pack for our trip home. Of course, packing can be exhausting, especially with so many mommy & me outfits to coordinate (and this funky warm weather that makes the festive sweaters obsolete), so we took a break to do some online shopping.

I clicked onto Piperlime, which is one of my most frequented sites, especially now with all of the holiday sales, and gasped when I saw the Marc By Marc Jacobs Friends Of Mine Puppy Slippers on sale for over 50%, and in my size! I have been eyeing these flats for a while--sure, the Boston Terrier may not look much like Holly (a typical prerequisite for any pup themed items), but they are so happy and cute, and I know Marc By Marc Jacobs flats fit me perfectly. These babies are so pup-ular on Piperlime they are backordered until March, but a few months wait seems worth it to have them in my closet at this price.

I couldn't believe it when I saw these adorable flats on major sale!

Of course, it wouldn't be the holidays without some quality time with friends & family, so we will be taking a blogging hiatus while we eat too many sweets and share laughter and fun with our loved ones both here and Colorado. We will see you in the New Year--I can't wait to see what adventures it brings!

Until Next Year, Darlings!

Miracle on Fifth Ave (part two): Must Be Santa

A couple of weeks ago, I was browsing Twitter when I spotted a Tweet from Manhattan luxury department store, Bergdorf Goodman, that read "visit Santa and we'll give you cake."

Being both a fan of Santa and free cake, I clicked on the embedded link and discovered a charming article on the store's blog about why one should visit Santa. The icing on the not-so-proverbial cake (did I mention there was cake?) was the main photo, which featured Santa holding a puppy. I tweeted that we were so there, and was super excited when Bergdorf's tweeted back!! My first maje retailer reply tweet--this was totally Santa's magic at work!

Like many things at Bergdorf's, Santa was quite exclusive. I e-mailed the address at the bottom of the article requesting an audience with him during his Sunday 12-6 hours, and soon heard back from an elf that we were booked for 12:45 the following week. Holly and I worried all week what to wear and what to ask for (if you need an appointment, that definitely makes this the real Santa, right?), and ultimately decided to go with a black sweater with faux fur accent look, and to ask for a great apartment I had seen the day before. If anyone can sway the tricky Manhattan real estate market, it's Santa Claus!

Upon our arrival on Bergdorf's 7th floor, we were greeted by two employees who immediately knew our names. "We have the 12:45 with Santa?" "Oh, of course, Mary and Holly, right this way." Holly, my friend and I were whisked back to where Santa was waiting, ushered in by an elf, and posed for our session with the man in red. He tried to take Holly in his lap (apparently just the last week he had SEVEN dogs at the same time!), but she was not having it and stayed in mine. The photographer on the scene was incredibly patient when Holly decided mid photo shoot to go in for a kiss from my friend! Even though he and the elves tried their best to perk her ears forward, she kept them straight back and looked a bit annoyed every time the camera flashed, but the free polaroid we were provided with still turned out very cute!

Holly was not much of a fan of this Santa either. Oh well, there's always next year!

We had a quick chat with Santa about our year's wishes, gathered our fun red and green cake pops, and went on our way. Our polaroid is now perched on our Christmas tree, reminding us that here in New York City, holiday magic exists right outside our door.

Until Next Time, Darlings!

Holly's Holly-day Gift Guide

With only 2 weeks until Christmas (we can't believe how quickly it came!), Holly and I have been busy elves getting together gifts for everyone on our list. This year, no surprise, many of our gifts are pup themed! Here are some of our favorites that we picked up:

For our dog walker: We are very thankful for our dog walker, who comes to take Holly out for about an hour every day and makes her nice and tired while I'm at work! Since it has been especially blustery these past couple days, I ordered her an adorable paw print coffee cozy from Jumping and Jellybean on Etsy to wrap around post walk lattes and cups of cocoa.

Super talented fellow blogger Molly runs Jumping and Jellybean, and I am in love with her gorgeous handmade designs!

 To keep her warm while Holly drags her through the snowy park, I chose the Textural Bobble Hat and matching Bobble Cowl Scarf from the Gap. The set was so cute I also picked up the hat in pink for myself, and may need to go back for the matching scarf!

The faux fur detail at the top of this hat makes the set feel expensive (and adds whimsy)!

I have to admit it was tough to gift this cozy scarf, and I may need to order my own before the season ends!

For my dad: We always joke that my dad is Holly's "Grandpa," so when I saw this hilarious frame on Amazon, I knew I had to pick it up for him. Now he can proudly show off his furry grandchild in the office when his coworkers brag about their human grandchildren!

We will include a picture from my dad's recent visit to New York so he can brag about Holly in style!

For Holly's Pup Friends: Holly has made several friends in the neighborhood over this past year. Since our test run with Puppycake Pup Cake mix went so well, we plan on making some of our closest puppy friends a sweet treat, and maybe baking up a little something for their parents as well! Holly is not keen on sharing treats, but something tells me she won't mind sharing a few with our neighbor, Jake, a Pitbull mix she loves to play with and snapped a hilarious picture with outside of Bloomingdale's.

Holly with her "boyfriend" Jake...the one pup she is willing to share treats with!

Until Next Time, Darlings!

Weekend Wander: Miracle on Fifth Avenue

One of my best friends from college and I have a tradition where every year we take in the Christmas joy on Fifth Avenue, red Starbucks cups in hand, starting at the Rockefeller Center tree and winding up through the holiday windows until we reach Bergdorf Goodman on 58th & 5th. Bergdorf's is renowned for their high end holiday windows, and their 7th floor boasts an over the top holiday room where my friend and I select one ornament per year that we gift to one another to have matching on our trees. This year, we decided to bring Holly along for the fun.

I will admit, neither myself, my friend, or Holly is really a big fan of the ridiculous crowds of tourists that gather on Fifth during the holidays, and somehow either from the magic of New York at the holidays or from blocking the bad memories from our brains, we seem to forget every year just how horrible it is. My friend and I met in front of the tree, me with a shivering Holly in my arms, and immediately agreed to get out of dodge, crossing to the slightly less congested side of the street to our next stop, Trump Tower.

There is a Starbucks on the second floor of Trump Tower where we usually get our holiday drinks. The plan was for my friend to go get them and for Holly & I to wait a distance away, since she is usually not allowed in places where food is served. However, we found ourselves passing several employees (both Trump and Starbucks), pup in tow, and not being turned away! It was truly a Christmas miracle--we finally found a Starbucks where Holly can come along!

Energized by our pup-friendly discovery and Carmel Brulee Lattes, we next popped into Henri Bendel to check out the holiday gift display recently set up on the third floor. I was shocked how much space is up there (in the past only a small landing has been open to act as a last minute gifting and wrapping center), and my friend was shocked by how much extra time we needed to move through the crowds when people were stopping to comment on Holly's sweater :) . I always love how friendly the people at Bendel's are to her, especially in the Heritage Room where the puppy gifts are located!

Next up was our final and most important destination, Bergdorf's. We jumped on to the elevator and arrived on the 7th floor, where on the way to the Christmas decorations we were distracted by a collection of jewelry by Monica Rich Kosann. I was immediately drawn to the "Forever Loyal" charm in sterling silver, which features a paw print with white sapphires and a plain back that can be engraved with your puppy's name.

The charm also comes in yellow gold with diamond accents.

While we were ogling the pretty jewelry, Holly took it upon herself to make a new friend. There was a distinguished older man sitting at a table in the middle of the room who we couldn't help but notice when we had come in. He was signing large coffee table books and had two assistants directing the gathered crowd, who were excitedly posing for pictures with him and gushing over his presence. He and Holly noticed each other and he called her over, and after a nervous morning my little pup ran right over, tail wagging, and started licking him excitedly on the hand!

It turns out this man was famed photographer Ormond Gigli, and he was signing a coffee table book ("Girls In The Windows: And Other Stories") that explores the incredible backstory of his most famous photograph, Girls in the Windows, which was snapped from a fire escape in 1960 one day before the brownstones featured were demolished, and featured 47 models, friends, and wives of employees all dressed in their own wardrobes. 

Ormond Gigli's "Girls In The Windows."

Mr. Gigli was very sweet to Holly, and when I remarked on how comfortable she seemed around him, he said he feels like dogs recognize people who know and love dogs, which I absolutely agree with!

After this wonderful and surprising bit of New York magic, we whisked Holly to the holiday room, where she helped in selecting this year's holiday ornament (mostly by licking glitter off the ground and nearly knocking over several $500 nutcrackers on display). We settled on a jolly snowman that has a similar motif to the sweater Holly wore to meet Santa last week. 

Our friendly snowman--I named mine "Rolph." 

Bergdorf's also has a pup-friendly Santa who visits the seventh floor on Sundays from 12-6 and can be visited by appointment only, so Holly and I are planning on making a special trip back next week! Perhaps this time she won't growl at the poor man!

Holly growled at the Santa at Bloomingdale's, so we hope Bergdorf's will  put her back on the "nice" list!

Until Next Time, Darlings!