The Pantone Color of the Year 2013 is Emerald. The Pantone Color of the Year is the color that is most dominant in fashion, apparel, accessories, and home style. 

I love this great outfit that my new friend Colleen Murphy was sporting at our friend Therese's Christmas party. I love that she did traditional Holiday dressing with her own special twist.

Her boots are what took the outfit from festive lovely Holiday to extra-fun style.  Here she is from the back, note the boots....which were similar to these I found at Amazon with a slightly higher profile:

This subject had been covered plenty by the media already. The Today show did a really nice piece just a few days ago.  Check it out here: Today Show Emerald. 

I thought you might want to buy one emerald dress now that you could wear a number of ways throughout the year. Just find a simple lacy emerald dress like this one:

This Valentino from Neiman Marcus is a little pricey, but you can create the same effect with a dress from ModCloth for about 1/100th of the price. Do a Google Search for "emerald green lace dress" and you will find a multitude of options.

Finish off the look with these festive shoes. Add some long lacy black gloves.  Wear lots of sparkly jewelry too. The Holidays are no time for subtlety.

Throw on some pearls, some nude hose, and these amazing shoes from Zappos, and you have a lovely feminine look worthy of any country club lunch or tea.

Take a nice warm sweater like this great one from Burberry. Do add the gloves too!! 

Throw on these great Ralph Lauren classic riding boots with some nice thick cable tights in brown.  You can get a less pricey version of these boots for under $100 on Amazon.com.

Just a quick reminder: we are pairing everything with this:

Or something similar like this.

Take this amazing Free People jacket and throw it over your dress:

*The jacket photo really got blurry when I posted it on here, so you have to click on it and follow the link for more detal. Add these amazing Poetic License shoes.  A nice neutral bag and you are ready to roam the world.

Embrace your inner Badass by throwing on this jacket.  Add these fab Steve Madden boots.

Wear this bracelet to remind them that you are a sparkly badass. Tie it all together with this lovely Voo Doo Vixen handbag from Cats Like Us.

Emerald +leather+lace=win. 

Take your Pantone cues from Colleen Murphy and give yourself an emerald twist!

It is pretty hard to say no to this guy. 

Still, I wondered whether my love and friendship with my very fun-cool-smart nephew would be of any interest to anyone other than the two of us, and perhaps my immediate family. 

I started thinking, "What can we, as adults, learn by watching this universally loved boy?" Why does everyone smile when he walks in the room, and break in to a full grin when they hear that he will be showing up? Here are some things that Patrick does quite naturally that it would serve us well to emulate:

Be friendly and embrace meeting new people. I have seen this kid make friends everywhere he goes.  He greets people of all ages with a smile, and acts like he has known them his whole life and just hasnt formally met them yet. He sits at a table at a church function chatting as easily with a couple next to him in their thirties that he just met as he does with some kids from his class.

Be genuinely interested in the stories people tell.  Look them in the eye when they are talking.  Laugh at their jokes.  Remember at least one special thing about them, and refer to it the next time you see them. We had a really good laugh about this excerpt from a Family Guy episode a few years ago:

He makes sure to mention it when we get together.  Never fails to crack me up.

Be curious about the world. Patrick loves learning all kinds of new things.  He doesnt limit himself to one little section of the world, geographically, culturally, musically, in food.  He loves to try new things and learn about different customs, art, science, music. He sees the world as being there for him to experience, one piece at a time. You dont have to force him to try something new, he cant wait!  Thai food?  "Sure, Ill try it!"  Duck, "I cant wait to see what thats like."  You get the idea.  The kid has his arms wide open to the Universe. 

Lead with, "how can I help," not, "what can you do for me?" Patrick is the kind of person who sees that you are making coffee, and he is pulling the beans out the freezer and offering you to help grind the beans and get the water.  He sees that you are doing the Ride for Roswell and he wants to sponsor you. He has a knack for keep an eye out to see who needs help and offering it without having to be asked. 

Dont tell stories that might make other people look bad. When my father (Patricks grandfather) got jammed
in to the car at the supermarket because some jerko parked their car too closely, there was kind of an ordeal getting my dad, who has a bad back and has broken his neck, over to the other side and out the door.  They came back to
rejoin a family gathering and Patrick did not say a word.  My dad ended up telling everybody, and made it all hilarious and fun,but it was his story to tell. Plenty of other kids or adults would have blabbed the details the second
that they walked through the door.  

Have a sense of humor. This is kind of a requirement to survive in my family, but it also helps in dealing
with people and situations throughout your life.  Your life is much more enjoyable if you are quick to laugh with others, and laugh off your own mistakes. 

Be persistent.  When Patrick learns a new sport he practices relentlessly.  When trying to figure out a game or computer issue, there is no one more resourceful or persistent.  Consequently, he eventually figures things out or becomes good at whatever he works on. 

Keep an eye out for some who dont have the easy charm that you possess. Help them make friends. I have seen this boy help some awkward kids and adults in to the "fun" group by helping them get started.  If you have easy charm this is your birthright.  
 
Play a sport. No matter what your age, you can benefit from playing a sport.  This is a wonderful time to make new friends, let off some steam, and get some exercise.  Patrick has played many sports already at this point in his life.  He is quite athletic, but he is also a very good sport.  There are some important life skills there about teamwork, effort, and patience.

Have some fun, and encourage those around you to do the same. There is no reason to forget this when we graduate from high school.  We need to remember this lesson for the rest of our lives. Patrick loves to have fun, and he makes sure that everyone around him does the same.

See the good in people. Other than an occasional moment here and there with his brother, this is what Patrick does.  He can finds something nice to say about everybody.

Here is a nice picture that Patrick drew of the hubby and me a couple of years ago.  We still have it on our refrigerator.

Dont be perfect. Patrick is not afraid to goof off and cause a bit of mischief once in a while for good measure.  Its rarely at anyone else's expense.  Just a bit of good-spirited trouble making is good for the soul.

This story is for a guy who couldnt wait to read my blog and asked me to write about him.  You cant help but feel better for learning a bit about him.  So there it is Patch.  A blog about you and by extension, about all of us.  Thank you for a great suggestion, and for being my partner-in-crime at most family functions.  Life is more fun when you are around.
 
Love,
Aunt Michelle

I went to visit my brother Steve and his family in Chicago.  Steve is a very successful professional.  He is also a blast.  He is kind of like Ferris Bueller in his ability celebrate life, and to find and maximize the fun in any given situation.

Luckily for me, Steve was playing a rare gig with a local band.  It was also Steves birthday.  We went to a little pub down the street from his house and enjoyed listening to him and his friends play.

The place was jammed! We had a great time singing and dancing along with the band.

Here, he hams it up for the camera for his niece Alex who was also visiting.

We watched my adorable badass niece play hockey Sunday morning. She had gone from being rather wobbly to being a formidable little skater indeed.

We had lunch and played Bocce at Pinstripes. You can bowl, play Bocce, eat, drink, and be merry at Pinstripes.  We opted for all of the above. 
Here Steve is pictured with my other niece.  As you can see she is a good sport.  I posed them with the giant corkscrew in front of Pinstripes.  

We had a really great time at this place.  I highly recommend it.

After Bocce I went to watch Steve play hockey.  Steves team won!  I was surprised at the speed and agility of this amateur "fun" league. Then we stopped for margaritas and chitchat with his friend Swany at Santa Fe Restaurant. We had a lot of laughs.

Steve took Monday off.  Steve, his wife Heidi and I had a great lunch at Sweetwater. I had the Wicked Garden. I highly recommend it. Its a yummy mix of grilled veggies.   

Steve had this festive looking beer....

.....and a sandwich called "The Boss."  I tried to bully him in to ordering the "Big Baby" but he was happy with his choice. 

I had a nice dry Rose. 

Steve and Heidi.

We had a few laughs over this questionable table advertisement.

We planned to go ice skating at this wonderful outdoor rink.  The warm weather brought a beautiful day but an ice rink that looked more like a swimming pool.

So we had fun shopping around Michigan Avenue.....

....had fun flirting with this guy......

Picked up this great vintage-looking cuff for $2.99! What a find! I would build a whole outfit around this.

Did lots and lots of walking, seeing the sights and checking out the fashion.  We saw lots of cool fedora hats....

...and patterned lace tights were everywhere. I approve!

We stopped for a quick rest here.  They have beer taps right at your table.  I am not a beer drinker, so I asked the bartender to recommend one of their specialty cocktails.  I tried the strawberry basil martini.  It was delicious.

We popped in to Reckless Records.  Kind of a cool High Fidelity vibe in here.

Walked some more and took in more of the city sights......

...............and then checked out the ROOF at the Wit. Its on the 27th floor.  They have an open air patio section.This was open because of the wonderful warm weather we had  in spite of the fact that it was December in The Windy City! 

The view was really spectacular.

We skipped the Veuve Cliquot Rose and the Dom, but I did gaze longingly at both.  The server thought I wanted his picture. Notice I was focused squarely on the bubbly.

A quick pop in to novo to regroup before the train and we stumbled on to this wonderful professional bartender expertly crafting old-fashioned style cocktails.  I asked for something on the dry side. He suggested the Watermelon.

This was my final pink drink of the day, and let me tell you it was delish.  Watermelon and cucumber. 

Sadly, it was time to hop on the train to Midway Airport. 

But you have to admit, we did manage to jam an awful lot of fun in to a couple of days.  Ferris Bueller has nothing on my brother Steve; and Chicago is my kinda town.