top five

Sartorial Saturday–The Top Five Fashions of 2025

Time for one more look back at 2025…this time, my five favorite outfits I put together throughout the year.

First up is a look from April featuring a coordinating Miss Candyfloss dress and blazer, plus some pink accessories including a smart boater hat:

Next is a playsuit and overskirt from Her Universe that I wore on my birthday:

Here’s a surprisingly casual look, featuring a top and skort from Popflex…I love this color palette!

This might be my favorite Rare Dirndl combination from the year…I paired a velvet apron with “Die Heimat” dirndl, which has a suede bodice. I love all the textures and rich colors in this look!

And finally, another pretty different look for me, featuring a sweater from Lane Bryant I’ve had for YEARS and a new denim tulip-hem maxi skirt from the same store. I also added an Erstwilder neck scarf (that matches my Spiffy the Sausage Dog brooch) as a belt:

I love that these five favorite looks quite unintentionally showcase the five basic styles in my wardrobe. The Miss Candyfloss outfit is obviously my favorite retro style, the Her Universe set covers my love of Disney Style (and also crosses over with the retro, which Disney styles almost always do for me), the Popflex look is my standard athleisure style for playing tennis and going for walks, the Rare Dirndl pairing shows my love of national dress, and the casual Lane Bryant look is a little modern and little 90s throwback.

Coming up with new ways to style my favorite pieces in my wardrobe continues to be one of my favorite hobbies, and I’m already working on some new ideas for the new year!

The Top Five–Food Photos of 2025

Time for a look back at my favorite food photos of the year!

First up is our favorite St. Patrick’s Day dessert…Guinness cake with Guinness mousse. I added a little extra decoration to the plate with chocolate syrup, and I was really happy with how it turned out!

Next is the cake I made for Ladybug’s high school graduation. Topped with a dusting of powdered sugar and some fresh raspberries, it looked very elegant!

Not all my favorite food photos are desserts…I thought this German potato salad looked especially tasty!

Back to desserts with a Sacher torte…I embellished this plate, too, with a bit of apricot jam and some chocolate whipped cream:

I don’t just think this potato-parsnip soup looks good (which it does), but I also like the area around it, with a candle and the pumpkins we picked this year:

And a bonus photo, because I’m not sure a beverage picture belongs in a group of food photos, but I really like how I staged our Christmas Eve wassail!

I’m looking forward to cooking and photographing new recipes in the new year!

The Top Five–Photos of 2025

Time for a look at my favorite photos of 2025!

This sentimental photo of Bunny and her grandfather wearing their Western Kentucky class rings graduation weekend is one of my favorite photos EVER!

Next up is my view from the top of a horse when Ladybug and I went horseback riding in May:

How could I not include Chicago? Here’s a look at a Parisian-style entrance to a Metra station:

I love photographing our town square in the small hours of the morning!

The development at Union Station in downtown St. Louis is colorful and fun!

And a late bonus entry from Garden Glow at the Missouri Botanical Garden:

As always, I’m looking forward to finding new subjects and angles for more fun photos!

The Top Five–Sports Memories

After thinking about my favorite baseball memories, I realized how many good sports memories I have, too, and Super Bowl weekend seems like the perfect time to share them, because they begin with…

  • The Super Bowl Shuffle–The Chicago Bears were the champions of Super Bowl XX in 1986, but what I really remember is the Shufflin’ Crew, The Fridge, Da Coach, and my dad buying me a championship t-shirt from a roadside stand on his way home from work. This is one of my earliest sports memories, and it has very little to do with the game itself…I don’t even like football! But this is the first city championship I remember, and the enthusiasm of the fans and the chemistry of the team lives in my memory.
  • The 1993-peat–This might be my number one sports memory ever. The Chicago Bulls had already won two NBA championships in my lifetime, and recently, too…in 1991 and 1992. But it’s all about the numbers, and the 3-peat was just meant to be, with the electrifying 3-point shot by John Paxson in the last second of game six concluding the fairy tale season.
  • Eight Gold Medals in Beijing–The first of my favorite sports memories as an adult was Michael Phelps’ improbable eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. I watched every race, hung on Rowdy Gaines’ every word, and when the eighth medal was on the line, I watched live, late at night, the only one awake in the house, and almost woke up the neighborhood with my screaming and jumping up and down as he won the race.
  • 11 in ’11–Following up on my love of the 1993-peat is the St. Louis Cardinals’ 11th World Series trophy in 2011…isn’t it fun when the numbers line up? This was the victory that almost wasn’t, or that shouldn’t have been, as the Cards didn’t even secure the wild card game spot in the playoffs until the final day of the season. But as the perfect team progressed through each series, I believed more and more that they could win the whole thing. In the end, game seven was a formality, because everything that needed to be said happened in Game Six, one of the best games in the history of any sport.
  • Play “Gloria”–Getting to see the St. Louis Blues win their first Stanley Cup was a rare treat. The city rallied around the team and their biggest fan, Laila Anderson, with a theme song of “Gloria.” This memory is extra special, because like the 3-peat, it happened within a few days of my birthday. We really went all-out for this win…the Fab Five and I even went downtown for the victory parade and rally, and a few months later, I got to kiss the Stanley Cup!

Do you have special sports memories?

Looking Forward; Looking Back

Last year, instead of coming up with a list of things I was looking forward to in the coming year, I made a list of highlights from the past year. I really liked the way that worked out, so I thought I’d do it again this year.

  • Be Our Guest for the Day–I’m not sure I really believed my spot as guest host on Disney Radio would air until I heard it for myself, but it was a total thrill…I listened to it every time it was on!
  • Moose’s High School Graduation–His whole last semester was filled with Big Feelings for me, and it all culminated with graduation…I was so proud of him, and so excited for all the things to come, and a little sad, too, to say goodbye to all the things he loved about high school.
  • Combo Breaker–I think I enjoyed Combo Breaker 2024 more than any other year, and I’m pretty sure it’s because I was able to volunteer in a big way that reflected my skill set (spoilers…food was involved). It was really great to feel like I was a part of making things happen instead of just feeling like I was tagging along.
  • Paris 2024–I really loved every moment of the summer games…after Tokyo 2020(1), the Olympics we’d all like to forget, it was so much fun to see full stands, hugging athletes, and the world uniting. Plus I know that L.A. ’28 is just around the corner!
  • 50th Anniversary of Christmas Traditions–All year I looked forward to being part of the big 50th anniversary celebration of our very favorite Christmas event, and I wasn’t disappointed. We had an amazing time, and I even discovered that a memory I had submitted was included in the commemorative souvenir program, so my thoughts have been recorded for posterity’s sake, making our family a permanent part of Christmas Traditions!

I don’t know what 2025 will hold. The new Lego modular building that comes out today is amazing, and I’m more excited about it than I have been about a modular in quite a while. Bunny will be graduating from college, which is thrilling and scary. Ladybug will be graduating from high school…again, thrilling and scary. We’re looking forward to another Combo Breaker for sure, but I don’t know if we’ll take a family trip beyond that. I can’t anticipate successes I may experience, or excitement I might have, but I’m looking forward to seeing what the new year has in store for me!

The Top Five–Photos of 2024

Now my five favorite photos from 2024!

I took this picture of the frozen fountain in Tower Grove Park early in the year, but I knew as soon as I did, it would make the cut.

This photo was taken through the windshield of the car on our way to visit Bunny in February. That is a road ahead of us, but you really can’t tell!

I wish I had had more time to compose this picture, but I feel very lucky to have caught a bird in flight from such a close distance!

This photo of the Northwestern National Life Building in Minneapolis might be my favorite architecture shot I’ve ever taken!

And Pagoda Circle in Forest Park in the fall never disappoints.

I’m just going to add one more, because I really love this picture from Garden Glow at the Missouri Botanical Garden, and what is a “top five” list without a sixth entry, anyway?

I love looking back on the year through the photos I’ve taken!

Sartorial Saturday–The Top Five Looks of 2024

Time for a very special three-for-the-price-of-one “Top Five” list!

As I was looking back over the outfits I wore this year, I realized that choosing favorites would be much easier if I organized my various looks into categories. In the end, I came up with three different styles…outfits featuring Miss Candyfloss pieces, Rare Dirndl looks, and “Festive Fashion” ensembles.

Let’s start with the Miss Candyfloss outfits. The combination of coat, hat, and jumpsuit makes this look extra impressive:

I love how bright and cheerful my dress and jacket for Easter were!

Pairing my first trumpet skirt in teal with a purple top made this outfit one step away from Disney Bounding Ariel, and I love it!

This was a surprise release from the autumn/winter Miss Candyfloss, and I loved it as soon as I saw it…the colors are absolutely gorgeous, and I feel like I’m glowing when I wear it!

Finally, a Miss Candyfloss dress in my favorite style, with a bold color palette that I love.

Next the Rare Dirndl looks. I wore a dirndl 29 times this year, so I had a lot to choose from! I paired the apron from my very first Rare Dirndl purchase with the dress from the second, and they look so nice together!

Pairing the Magician dirndl with this year’s summer apron was a bold choice, but I love how the colors look together!

The Harlequin dirndl paired with a lace apron was my pick for St. Charles Oktoberfest:

I was really into the combination of purple and teal this year, so pairing the 2024 Halloween apron (and a coordinating ribbon) with my purple dirndl dress was a natural choice:

And the Frühling dirndl from this year’s Jahreszeiten collection is absolutely stunning:

And finally, my favorite Festive Fashion ensembles. I added a new dress to my wardrobe this year, in an unexpected color palette for Christmas, and it was a lot of fun to style with a cropped cardigan and pastel accessories.

This blouse is a fairly new addition to my wardrobe, and I knew I wanted to wear it with a Christmas print…I really like how this look turned out!

I wasn’t sure that this Miss Candyfloss blouse would work with this skirt…I was afraid it would be too busy. But in the end, I absolutely love the combination…it might be one of my favorite looks period from this year!

I also wasn’t totally sure about wearing my new Rare Dirndl apron with my Magician dirndl, but it too was a successful pairing in the end:

And I was really excited to pair my newest dirndl with my gnome print apron…it’s a totally fun festive look!

Would it even be a “Top Five” list without a bonus addition? I wasn’t sure if I wanted to include this outfit in the dirndl section or with the festive fashions, so I decided to just let it stand on its own!

So there you have it…a “Top Five” list that turned into 16! I’m looking forward to finding new ways to wear all of my favorite pieces in the coming year!

The Top Five–Food Photos of 2024

The New Year is approaching, which means it’s time to take a look back at some of my favorite photos of the year. We’re starting with food photos, and the first one is the only main course on the “Top Five” list…burrito night! I love how colorful this plate is (and I also remember how delicious the meal was!).

Next up is a Black Forest cheesecake…this was one of the best cheesecakes I’ve ever made…Turkey liked it so much, I made it again for his birthday!

The cake I made for Donald Duck’s birthday didn’t turn out quite like I had planned, but that’s ok, because I like the way I actually made it even better!

This apple pie mocktail might be the prettiest drink photo I’ve ever taken!

And finally, the white chocolate-cranberry cupcakes I made for Santa Lucia Day, which might be the prettiest dessert photo I’ve ever taken!

Stay tuned for a look back at more of my favorites from 2024!

We’ll Always Have Paris

The Paris 2024 Olympics has been one of my favorite Olympic Games to date (although nothing holds a candle to London 2012), so it was really challenging to choose just five favorite moments, but I did my best!

  • Pommel Horse Guy–America’s newest (super)hero, Stephen Nedoroscik, captured all of our hearts with his quick transformation from self-proclaimed glasses-wearing nerd to star of the Bercy Arena, as he left his glasses hanging on the chalk bin and wowed us all with his talent and skill on the pommel horse. I was thrilled when he helped the US men’s team capture the bronze medal, and even more ecstatic when he won an individual medal, as well!
  • Léon Marchand Wins Gold in Front of the Home Crowd–I’m always a fan of a home-town hero, and seeing Marchand win not just one, but four gold medals in Paris was a thrill, and he was even able to accomplish something Michael Phelps never did, by winning two individual gold medals in the same night! As always, it was fun to listen to Rowdy Gaines call his races, because Rowdy always gets excited about a good swim!
  • Respect on the Podium–The image I will forever carry with me from these Olympics is that of Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles bowing in respect to Rebeca Andrade on the podium following the floor final. The beautiful display of sportswomanship and ultimate respect was an unforgettable moment, and one I am grateful I got to witness.
  • Djokovic’s Golden Slam–I couldn’t not root for Djokovic, who was attempting to complete the elusive golden slam to cap off his illustrious career. Knowing that he was the oldest player in the tournament, competing in the final against the youngest player, just made the story more perfect. Seeing the joy on his face when he finally accomplished that goal, and watching him run through the stands to his family, was touching, and later seeing him outside the Eiffel Tower with his gold medal and the flag of Serbia completed the narrative.
  • Golden Noah Lyles…and Bronze with COVID–I love Noah Lyles’ larger-than-life personality and his story of struggle and triumph, so I was really rooting for him to win the 100m, and it was a thrilling moment when the victory came down to a photo finish. I was also hoping he could match Usain Bolt and Carl Lewis by winning both the 100m and 200m. That wasn’t meant to be, but when I found out that Lyles won bronze in that race in spite of having COVID (and being an asthmatic!), I realized just how impressive that bronze was! And his loss enabled Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo, who was running in memory of his mother who died earlier this year, to win the gold in that event, which made me happy for him, too.

And one bonus item, which includes all of the non-athlete heroes from these games!

  • Snoop Dogg, Bob the Cap Catcher, Phryge the Mascot, Flavor Flav, and Cookie Monster, Elmo, & Abby Cadabby–Not all of the heroes of the games participated in the sports. Snoop Dogg somehow became America’s grandpa and Team USA’s mascot. Bob the Cap Catcher, a man who wanted anonymity, rose to fame simply for diving into the pool in a speedo to retrieve the caps that the swimmers lost. Phryge, an anthropomorphic Phrygian cap, taught us the ins and outs of the different sports. Flavor Flav inexplicably became water polo’s biggest fan. And the visitors from Sesame Street charmed athletes and added a wholesomeness to the Olympics I didn’t even realize was missing!

Ok, one last-minute shoutout to:

  • The Closing Ceremony–Hands-down my favorite Olympics Closing Ceremony ever. I loved the pageantry, the music, the speeches, and especially the handover to LA. I am definitely looking forward to seeing the youth of the world assemble there in four years for another Olympic Games!

Paris 2024 was a great Olympics full of memorable moments and characters, broken records, and history made. My biggest regret is that the women’s artistic gymnastics ended up with a cloud over the event, which is a shame because it was amazing in the moment. Hopefully in the end, we will remember these Olympics for all of the moments that went right, and not those that went wrong.

The Top Five–Figure Skating Routines

The cold weather we’ve been having for the last week or so has me thinking back over previous winters, and when I think of winter, invariably one of my favorite memories is the Olympic Games I’ve watched over the years. One of my very favorite parts of any Winter Olympics is watching the figure skating, and I’ve come up with a list of my “Top Five” figure skating routines since I’ve been watching the Winter Games. In no particular order:

  • Sasha Cohen: “Romeo and Juliet”–I have never seen anyone with as lovely a spin as Cohen, and while she may not have performed up to all of the hype of the 2006 Torino Olympics where people thought she would win gold (she “only” won silver), this is still one of my favorite routines of all time. Yes, she fell, but it was a beautiful and emotive performance in spite of that, full of the grace and elegance she was known for.
  • Jamie Salé and David Pelletier: “Love Story”–The figure skating competition at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics was rocked by scandal, and Salé and Pelletier were right in the center of it. Their long program was beautiful and full of emotion, and their chemistry was undeniable. The haunting music and simple costuming just highlighted their skill as performers. This was a gold medal winning performance, even if it did take the powers that be some time to sort that out.
  • Katarina Witt: “Robin Hood”–Witt was my favorite skater when I was child…one of my earliest Olympics memories is watching her skate at the 1984 Winter Games. The routine that really stands out to me, though, is one that did not win her any medals…she skated to music from Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves at Lillehammer 1994. I remember this one so well because it was the first time Germany had a united team for the Olympic Games after the fall of the Berlin Wall, and because I loved the music she skated to.
  • Sarah Hughes: Ravel and Rachmaninoff–Another memory from the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics is Hughes’ gold medal winning performance. She wasn’t expected to win (that was the year everyone though Michelle Kwan was finally going to win gold), but Kwan, Irina Slutskaya, and Sasha Cohen all made significant mistakes in the free skate, and while Hughes’ routine wasn’t completely clean, it was challenging and well-executed, and in the end thrilled the world with one of figure skating’s biggest upsets. I will always remember the look on her face as she finished the routine, a joyful look that said she realized the gold was hers, and it was beautiful.
  • Johnny Weir: “My Way”–At the Torino 2006 Olympics, Johnny Weir was a hopeful to medal for the US, but he left the Winter Games without standing atop the podium. In spite of that, as a fan favorite, he performed at the Champions’ Gala, where he skated to Frank Sinatra’s “My Way.” Skating to Sinatra was absolutely the perfect choice for him, and his artistry and elegance were an impeccable fit for the song, which was itself the perfect description of how Johnny Weir approached skating. His camel spins across the ice are unparalleled and just demonstrate his exquisite form and grace.

Do you have a favorite figure skating memory?