Beautiful Things- Human & Animal

It's an incredibly gray & gloomy Sunday & I need some beautiful things to cheer me up.  One of my best friends is in Miami with my sister right now & they have been filling me in on their weekend of being bathed in sunshine & warmth- frolicking on the beach, shopping at outdoor malls, running road races (& winning!) & celebrating at Irish pubs.  Then to top it all off she texts me this:

Talk about HOT off the presses, I mean literally.  Ryan Thomas Gosling.  The man genetically designed to torture women everywhere.  If only we would bump into each other on the streets of NYC....we could linger in coffee shops for hours, smell the flowers in Central Park, bond & giggle over how we both have pets named George & go on to adopt even more pets, naming them all George à la George Foreman, living blissfully ever after.....

Well, sadly it's back to reality so let's look at some beautiful animal things!  There is something we have to discuss first though so please bear with me.....I had some moral qualms about posting the pictures below.  I am an animal lover.  I can't imagine life without my two feline sons, George, 12, & Popper, 5.  Eating animals is so ingrained in most cultures that I don't think people ever take a step back & think about the harsh reality of what goes on to get a piece of animal flesh on their plates. The abuse to the actual animals (that are also being pumped full of hormones & chemicals that people are then eating) & our environment is disgusting & irresponsible.  I fear for our children's unhealthy diets & the earth that we are leaving them.  I am not preaching, I am stating facts.  And truth be told I am the first one to admit that I'm not perfect in this area.  Kathy Freston is my idol & I hope I can become completely animal free like her at some point in my life.  I became a pescetarian seven years ago, which means I don't eat meat but I do eat fish.  I usually just say I'm a vegetarian that eats fish because most people have no idea what a pescetarian is.  The last time I said it to someone they said "What? You're a Presbyterian?"  A true vegetarian wouldn't be happy with my definition but I've found it's the easiest way to explain my diet to people.  I miss meat- the smell of bacon pretty much takes me over the edge- but I just cannot eat it with a clear conscience.  I think it's wrong to eat fish as well but haven't been able to wean myself off of sushi & seafood at this point...one step at a time.  So while I'm not completely animal free yet, I felt that I had to draw the line somewhere & am still a work in progress.  I still wear leather but only faux or vintage fur.  I LOVE fur.  It's gorgeous.  And it's gorgeous because it belongs to a gorgeous animal (well, some more so than others).  So thank you for indulging me in my lengthy disclaimer and if you've made it this far we can finally move on to the pretty, pretty pictures.  If I didn't have moral issues with it I would consider liquidating my 401-k for one of these fur beauties....

Paired with white jeans, ladylike heels & art deco jewelry?  I CAN'T TAKE IT!!!  Forget Ryan & our menagerie of George's, this is EVERYTHING...

reminds me that after years of skinny jeans I have yet to find the perfect pair of flared....

 and after a day of strutting around in jeans & fur this ensemble is sure to bedazzle in the evening....

photos: me/1/me

"If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be vegetarian." - Paul McCartney