Long sleeved silk nightgown

Is it cold where you are? I can’t believe I’m in Florida. We’ve had some really cold nights recently and this morning I woke up really cold and don’t seem to be able to get warm again. Of course cold is a relative term. Coming from Scotland, I’m well aware that what passes for a disastrously cold day in Florida isn’t much to talk about in terms of cold, no snow for a start. No digging out the car, no skating on the path. Yes, despite my present luxurious circumstances as I blog from pool side, I  once struggled with snow rain and freezing fog, and I suppose in a way, that’s why I’m here. I really don’t like the cold.

There is also the amazing leg of doom. Have I told you about my leg? I don’t want to go into details but it’s not a pretty sight, and as someone pointed out to me the other day, may well be the reason we concentrated on full length nightgowns for quite a while. Anyway the amazing leg of doom doesn’t like the cold either. It aches, a lot, which brings me back to today. Sitting here I am bathed in glorious sunshine, which is great, but still cold. Its the same silly situation you can see in this picture of what we call internally, the ‘Sound of Music‘ nightgown. But look again. What do you see? Long sleeves. A full skirt. What could this mean? You guessed it. This nightgown, like many nightgowns we make, is made from a type of silk, but the great thing about it is that it is warm, warm, warm!

Please don’t rush all at once. I want to get my order into the workroom before you. I’m fed up f being cold. It may not be really cold here in Florida, but it certainly feels like it because our heating isn’t as good as yours. I need a warm nightgown, and come to think of it, a nice warm robe wouldn’t go down too badly either. How about you?

To know more about the nightgown just click on the picture!

Related articles

• More heavy snowfalls expected in Scotland (guardian.co.uk)
• Snow mould turns lawns pink (telegraph.co.uk)
• Rare Snowflakes Start Falling From Miss. to Fla. (abcnews.go.com)
• Florida Snowfall Could Lead to Snow in All 50 States (blippitt.com)
• Don’t Ski in Your Nightgown (luxury-nightwear.com)

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We’ve been here in the USA now for almost 18 months and finally have our own home. It’s been a big step, the house buying process is quite different to what we’re used to. We completed the purchase and were surprised to have to ask for the keys to our new abode. We were even more surprised when the closing agent said they didn’t have them. Surely we didn’t want to move in immediately? Like many things in the USA, I just don’t ‘get’ the house buying process. Having agreed to  a closing date, why wouldn’t I want to move in? All ended well as our home was new and the builders were able to let us in, but I still think the whole thing was handled in an extraordinarily incompetent manner, but maybe real estate isnt important in the USA?

So we have a home and have had to come to understand the concept of the Home Owners Association. For those not familiar with the notion the HOA is a bunch of people who are allowed to dictate to you what you can do with your own property. This is a concept so foreign to us (British) that we can’t even imagine coping with it. Our new ambition is to own another home far far away from a home owners association. You think I’m over-reacting? You need to get permission to put up a fence, and it has to be one of an approved kind.  That’s actually not too bad, some of the houses we looked at came with Home Owners Associations manuals that were several inches thick and even specififed exactly what type of plant you were allowed to have in your garden. The land of the free? No. At least not here in Florida.

Which for no reason at all that I can think of brings me to interior decoration. One of the great joys of the USA is the huge variety of home decor available at fairly reasonable prices. For years we have enjoyed purchasing museum quality replicas of ancient carvings and statues, these are the ornaments which decorate our home. We have a particularly lovely copy of an ornamented bull which we bought in Crete and a really good copy of the rosetta stone (though sadly a lot smaller than the original) as well as several bits and pieces picked up in our travels around the Mediterranean.  So far we have not ventured into Eastern culture for our home, however the discovery of more than one stunning buddha statue from BigBuddhaStatue.com may change all that. Take a look at their buddha statue video and see what you think. I have a balcony which is just crying out for some bamboo, a Japanese fountain and a Buddha statue, ideal to give me a sense of tranquility when dealing with the complete madness all around.

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A friend of mine died on Friday. As far as we know it wasn’t a painful death, or a  traumatic death, but it was a sudden death.

That people matter far more than any THING ever could, is a lesson we learn repeatedly, and often painfully.

This company, Certain Style, is all about things. Things we want, but generally don’t need. My hope and belief is that these things, in themselves quite valueless, make people feel good, and that, at least is worth something. It’s not that taking pleasure in beautiful things is wrong, it’s just a question of priorities.

Right now there are people out there who have much bigger problems than which nightgown to wear.

So from now until the end of January, in memory of my friend, Certain Style will be donating 100% of our profits from the sale of Valentines day nightgowns to charities supporting the relief of Haiti following the devastating earthquake.

Valentines day is a purely commercial celebration, prices are often hiked especially and gifts given because, well because otherwise they are expected. This is no reason to give a gift, and it is most definitely not a reason to give a gift that celebrates love. Therefore from now on, every year, we will donate 100% of our profits from the sale of Valentines nightgowns etc to charity. If we’re going to celebrate love, let’s do it by spreading the love around, from those who expect it, to those who need it.

These are our 2010 Valentines nightgowns

Moonlit Merlot

Valentine

Camisole and bloomer style pants

Moonlit Merlot nightgown

Sweet Dreams

Pele

Our donation will be going to Doctors Without Borders (Medicin Sans Frontiers) as we like the fact that they publish their financial information on their website and we can where the money will go; to the people who need it.

You can support us by buying a nightgown, or by just making a donation direct.

The best things in life aren’t things, they’re people.

Related articles

• Don’t give money to Haiti (blogs.reuters.com)
• Haiti quake toll ‘may be 200,000′ (news.bbc.co.uk)
• ‘We have run out of drugs. We need everything’ (guardian.co.uk)
• Haiti Earthquake (deviousdiva.com)
• Haiti Relief Workers Risk Their Minds, Experts Say (abcnews.go.com)