Winter Finds (Plus, the Real vs Fake Debate)

In honor of the newly fallen snow on the ground, I thought I'd highlight some my favorite winter finds over the last week or so.

First of all, I did go on a hunt for felt Christmas decor at my parents house, as previously discussed, but I didn't come back with much. However, when I returned I did order an amazing needle felted ornament online to perfectly commemorate 2008! It's from Etsy seller feltcafe:

I'm in love and cannot wait to receive it... GObama!

Next I splurged on some duds to keep me warm in the windy city.  The first one being The North Face Metropolis Jacket I bought in brownie. A serious splurge, but I found a great 20% off coupon code and bought it off Moosejaw. I figure with a 4 block walk from the loft to the train and another 4 blocks from the train to work each morning & night, I think I deserve it! Today was my 2nd day wearing it to work and in my mind it already paid for itself as I battled the wintry mix this morning.

I love it because it's long enough to cover my legs and with boots will protect most of my pants from the black sludgy aftermath of the snow storm. Speaking of boots, I also purchase these The North Face Boots and am eagerly awaiting their arrival:

You know, it's funny the things you get excited about when you commute by public transit as opposed to via a heated car :-)

I also grabbed a couple cute sweaters to wear to work from Anthropologie and this is my fave, the Pick-And-Choose Cardigan in grey! (sorry I can't grab the image for the post!)

So, now I feel really selfish about all the things I purchased FOR ME when this is the season of giving. So I'll move to something a little more green... both responsibly and literally! 

I have been going back and forth in my head, and out loud with my new husband, about getting a Real Tree versus a Fake Tree this Christmas. And just as I was debating the look, the cost and the carbon footprint that both would leave, a great blog i follow posted this today. So decision is final, it's going to be real this year! Now I'm trying to convince Dave to drive out to a tree farm to cut down our own (I really, really want to do this!) or to just go pick one up at a tree lot.  To me, that loses a little of it's luster, but I'm not sure i'll win this battle considering all of the driving back and forth to STL that we have been doing lately, and will be doing thru December.

Oh well, Tree Lot or Tree Farm, I can't wait to wear my new outerwear & sweater out to grab a wonderful Christmas tree and to be able to decorate it with my awesome new ornament!