PLAID CASHMERE SCARVES. It was 25 degrees this morning! I’ve been bundling up with my favorite plaid cashmere scarves, from Talbots of all places — I’ve collected the three seen in the photo above over the past few years, and they are the absolute best. Super-soft; in great, classic plaids/tartans; and oversized. They’re technically listed as “wraps” but I wear them as scarves over coats, and also like to layer them around my shoulders when wearing cashmere sweaters at home. They are my absolute favorite, and currently 40% off.

NO. 6 BOOTS. I feel like I write about these every year but they really are my favorite cold weather casual footwear. I wear them nearly every day of the workweek, when I’m wearing jeans/sweaters/layers. One thing I love about them is that they are slip-on so you can literally jam your feet in and run out to walk the dog, grab the mail, etc. They are lined with shearling and ultra-warm, but they are not as heavy as they look. Run a tad small – you can size up if in question, especially since you will likely be layering with thicker socks in the winter months. If you like the look but not the price, check out this pair from Target — under $50 and super similar. J. Crew has a variation on the theme that would be appropriate for slightly dressier occasions / if you’re not as into the clog look.

DARN TOUGH MICRO CREW CUSHION SOCKS. I wear these all winter long. They are so incredibly warm and I love the slight cushion/padding underfoot. Heaven! I actually just bought a bunch of pairs to give away as gifts for a few families (every member will get a pair — you get a sock! you get a sock!).

GAP HIGH RISE KICK FIT JEANS. Far and away my favorite purchase I’ve made this week. I have been eyeing this more expensive style from ASKK for awhile and was thrilled to find an ultra-similar fit at Gap for a fraction of the price. I’m excited to have a new silhouette to style. I feel like they’ll look perfect with a chunky loafer — I own and wear these constantly. Because I was ordering from Gap, I also picked up a few other things — this simple tee in white as well as this navy sweatshirt and matching pants (which I intend to style a bit dressier — I’ve never been an athleisure person but I am going to pair with good sneakers and a crossbody bag and a long coat for drop off).

WANDER BEAUTY. I ordered a few goodies from Wander this week — cannot wait to try this award winning eyeshadow duo (I ordered in the Smitten/Swoon combo). One part is cream and the other is powder for layering / versatility. I am really into cream shadows in the winter, so cannot wait to try. I also got this lip balm / lip tint duo in the Boss Babe color.

ESSIE BALLET SLIPPERS. About 70% of the year, I wear bright red on my nails — usually OPI Big Apple Red or Essie Really Red, sometimes some of the more orangey-red colors, too. When I’m not wearing red, I like a really white pink — super-opaque, more white than pink. I like OPI’s gel color “Let’s Be Friends.” But after destroying my nails with gels, I wanted something really soft and forgiving as I find manicures chip much more easily when nails are fragile. My manicurist urged me to try Ballet Slippers, which is iconic/a classic but I’ve always written off as too natural-looking. Like, personally, I want my nails to look “done” if I’ve gone to the trouble of going to the salon, so I usually want the color to really pop. But she did Ballet Slippers on me and I’ve felt like the most elegant, put-together version of myself ever? Like, everything just looks fresh and polished (pun intended) and you don’t notice slight chips at all because the color blends in a bit more with the natural nail color. This might be my new go-to color when I’m off red. You can see me wearing this color in the photo above with my beloved Mme Mink coat!

NINA BLANC TARTAN DRESSES. I finally found my Christmas dress at Nina Blanc. I actually ordered a style slightly different from the one seen above (this one) because I really like a very defined waist and the one above is more loose-fit and I’d need to find a suitable belt, which I don’t have on hand. I cannot wait! I feel like this is a versatile style, too — will wear with velvet pumps/glitzy accessories/a faux fur wrap for Christmas, and then can layer over turtlenecks and pair with boots/flats afterward.

TARGET HOLIDAY FINDS. I did a big shop from Target at some point over Cyber Week. I bought a LOT of Sugar Paper gift wrap (especially pleased with a couple of rolls of this Santa paper — we like to have some designated Santa gift wrap to make it look different/distinct from the gifts from us), a few holiday activities/crafts for the kids (this and this will be coming out this weekend — they are going to flip about the color-in cardboard characters and can set them up in their play room after), these lit moss trees in both sizes, and this cute little countdown-to-Christmas slider, which I think will be fun for the children to keep track of. I also bought this mercury glass table lamp because we had one that was very similar that was accidentally knocked off one of the tables of our family room, and we are in the midst of a big redesign projects and waiting for nicer lamps our designer has selected for us, but the room is dim without that critical light source! I figure we can move this one into my son’s bedroom or the guest bedroom after we replace. You always need extra lighting and mercury glass is so versatile — plus, looks more expensive than it is.

HOLIDAY DECOR. I brought out all of our holiday goodies the day after Thanksgiving. It was so fun to decorate. I used this LL Bean bag to tote a bunch of stuff up from the basement and it was a reminder of how infinitely useful those bags are! So sturdy, with the perfect length strap. We have several of them and they’re always in use! A great gift for a family. I like now to get them with nicknames — e.g., we call my MIL “Gigi” and so had one embroidered with her grandmother name on it! Above, you can also see my boxwood wreaths, which I hung in the double windows above our kitchen sink using this 1.5″ striped grosgrain ribbon.

USBORNE LOOK INSIDE BOOKS. If you’re running out of time/energy to select gifts for little ones, go with these clever little look inside books. My children are obsessed with the body one, but they have lots of themes to pick from, including space, animals, etc. If you want to bundle with another gift, this Janod doctor set would be perfect with the body book and has been a hit with my children for years (you can see it in the background of the photo above) and, remarkably, we haven’t yet lost any of the pieces. For other themes, check out the little figurine toobs (SIC) by this brand. I just bundled the “Deep Sea Look Inside Book” with this underwater animal set for one of my nephews.

SPLITS59 AIRWEIGHT LEGGINGS. I recently read that these are excellent for everyday wear — the material is apparently less sporty/active/performance and more everyday-appropriate. I don’t usually wear a ton of leggings during the week but I’ve just been feeling in a rut lately and need some new looks, which I shared an inspiration board for here. Contemplating buying myself a pair of these. I also through a pair of these inexpensive jersey Old Navy leggings into my cart when I did my Gap order. Sometimes Gap/Old Navy are the best for these kinds of things.

PHOEBE AND JUNE GIFT TAGS. I bought four different styles of these precious die-cut gift cards from a local Maryland artist! I was so excited — they have Rifle Paper vibes but are very reasonably priced. I love the patterns I got, as they’ll work perfectly with some of the more pastel colored wrap I got from Sugar Paper and Rifle.