jessica mcdougall

My two favorite people.

Gabrielle who is totally rocking the beach gear and hanging with Bruna so I can be part of Jeffrey's event. And Jeffrey who is putting on an incredible weekend for those in attendance. What an inspiration to work for and with such a great person - and be surrounded by a team of talented people who are dedicated, hard working, smart AND super fun!

So sweet of Whitney Bishop (one of the Gitomer Certified Speakers) to bring Gabrielle this handknit, delightful purple "Hershey Kiss" hat. Thanks Whitney!

Just watched Victoria Labalme perform at Jeffrey's Boot Camp. Wow. She inspires me.

"Use your eyes: Looking doesn't have to be outward. Looking is about receiving. It's about taking in what already exists." -Victoria Labalme

She challenged us to think about what we love - not things - but words that end in "ing."

What do you love?

What's your mood today?

Hot tea and cookies for Jeffrey after a long day. It's nice to have a little stove in our resort room to make this happen! Jeffrey's tea of choice is darjeeling with Pepperidge Farm Gingerman cookies. My favorite is the white tangerine tea they serve at PF Changs and fresh baked oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. What kind of cookie are you?

We are also snacking on this edamame caviar that Jeffrey picked up at the Innisbrook Resort. Definitely going to recreate this at home.

And here's a look at the world from Gabrielle's perspective (courtesy of my iPhone).

We are in St. Pete Beach at the Tradewinds Island Resort for Jeffrey's Boot Camp seminar. Looking forward to his arrival here tomorrow and the commencement of the weekend events.

I chose a bit of a different packing method this time around to eliminate some of the baggage. I checked for a local baby store in the Tampa airport area and found that Babies R Us was less than two miles away. That meant I didn't have to pack diapers, food, snacks, toys, wipes, or utensils. It's a good strategy depending on where you're traveling to. I found the above Skip Hop Attach-N-View with velcro between each piece to build a skyline there - and it's proving to be lots of fun ! 

The grocery store purchase of the day (second to the Little Swimmers diapers!) was this My Baby Swim raft. I completely forgot about these and was planning to take Gabrielle for her first pool dip during our stay - so I was pretty delighted to find this AND have them offer to blow it up for us!  

I gave Gabrielle a few moments to check things out.

And then we went for it! 

And not long after she was cruising all around the pool on her own.

Gabrielle attended her first official birthday celebration last weekend.

A party at Gymboree to celebrate Jeffrey's grandaughter Isabel's 2nd birthday! I love how Gabrielle is looking up to Isabel here.

The birthday girl!

Watching all the "big kids" sing and dance. 

Isabel greeted each of her dozen or so guests with an enthusiastic personal hello and a hug and kiss. She was the sweetest party hostess!

This is one of my favorite Madonna looks of all time - when she spoke about Michael Jackson at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards. I was in awe of her beauty, her intelligence, and her tribute.

I'm hoping to recreate this hair look in the future.

Delight of the decade.

Gabrielle wearing her Grandmother Pati's circa 1948 vintage baby dress.

Gabrielle and I took a walk around the neighborhood this afternoon. I was so happy to see the camellias in full bloom (wish I would have had a camera other than my iPhone). The flower made me think of Coco Chanel and how I can't wait to see the new Coco Before Chanel biopic. I've heard good things and I'm hoping for Jeffrey to be able to go with me!

We also made a pit stop at Charlotte's best gift store Paper Skyscraper. They have the greatest things. Things that make you think of other people. Things that make you smile - like the calendar above. And things that make you laugh out loud - even when you're shopping by yourself! - like Blue Barnhouse cards. I was glad to see they're now carrying Kid-O toys. And I love the special 35th anniversary slipcase edition of Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree.

Ever get a text message you wish you never had to erase from your phone? Love you, Jeffrey.

I bought this book (Mimi's Shoes by Christine Tasche, illustrated by Somsack) on a whim looking at J.Crew's kids items. Oh my, it's delightful. I'm trying to locate the author to order a case of signed copies to give as gifts.  

Would make such a great gift for the little fashionista in your life. There is also a matching shirt.

Regardless of the current weather you're experiencing in your region (it's raining here in Charlotte) which of the above satin pants outfits would be your choice of the day?  My choice would be WORK. And I'm guessing that means I need to 'get to it' today!

"You're so soft today. Just like your mama." Both Gabrielle and I wore delightful cashmere sweaters yesterday. I love their amazing softness and lightweight warmth.

Jeffrey keeps telling me that before we know it, Gabrielle is going to start asking so many questions. "Daddy, why is the sky blue?" "Daddy, why are you taller than me?" "Daddy, how does an airplane fly?"

I was thinking about how I can prepare for the multitude of questions that I am about to face. It's pretty incredible nowadays how you can find the answer to ANY question in under a few seconds as long as you have an Internet connection. As I sat at my desk thinking about the day, a question popped into my head. "Mommy, why is cashmere so soft?" And because I didn't know the answer immediately, I decided to do a little searching! 

Cashmere is the under down shed annually by goats (aren't they are beautiful?!) living in the high, dry plateaus surrounding the Gobi Desert, which stretch from Northern China into Mongolia. These goats have a coarse outer hair that repels the weather. Under that outer coat lies a much finer fiber, cashmere, which insulates these animals from the bitter cold.

These cashmere goats are bred specifically for their extremely soft, pale hair that can be dyed to any color, and are therefore highly sought after. Cashmere goats produce a double fleece consisting of the fine, soft undercoat or under down of hair mingled with a straighter and much coarser outer coating of hair called guard hair. In order for the fine under down to be sold and processed further, it must first be de-haired. De-hairing is a mechanical process that separates the coarse hairs from the fine hair. After de-hairing, the resulting "cashmere" is ready to be dyed and converted into yarn fabrics, and garments.

High quality cashmere is always hand combed from the goats. After combing, the hair is cleaned to remove impurities, which often reduces the yield by as much as two thirds of the original weight. The process takes up to two weeks, but with a trained eye for when the fiber is releasing, it is possible to comb the fibers out in about a week. The remaining pure cashmere is silky soft, and ready for dying and carding prior to being spun. Cashmere is often woven into two-ply yarn, which is a superior form of yarn, but also twice as expensive because it involves two strands. When a single strand of yarn is used, the twist in the yarn created as it is spun can pull at a sweater, changing the shape over time: two ply yarn uses two strands going in opposite directions to eliminate a bias in the weave or knit.

Appreciate the effort that goes into a cashmere sweater; it would take a single goat four years to produce enough wool for a sweater, and cashmere also involves countless hours of labor to raise, feed, and care for the unique cashmere goat.

(Source: WiseGeek, Wikipedia and Ben Silver)

Love this idea from Mo in London. What a special way to count down the days.

I'm taking note of this to do it next year!