It’s that time of year when we find ourselves thinking about who’s made our naughty and nice shopping lists, plus it’s the season of temptation, especially those calorie-laden goodies we’re prone to gobble at holiday parties. It’s the first week in December, and already, I’ve been to two parties, a trunk show that featured the exquisite jewelry made by my dear friends, Anna Porcu and Silvia Pavanello from Tuscany, plus a wonderful San Antonio Book Festival event at Texas Public Radio with Texas Monthly Magazine superstar, Skip Hollandsworth. Skip—that’s the name he was born with, or so he claims—is a national treasure, but more about Skip later. Would you believe I was having so much fun this week, I forgot to take any photographs? Even so, I can still share some of Brenda Coffee’s Favorite Things.
Unless you love overcrowded malls, and wouldn’t miss the experience for anything, I’ll save you the trouble with a few online links.
I DID take one photograph! It was Silvia Pavanello’s birthday, and we surprised her with a cake and champagne. Silvia’s on the left, in one of the fabulous kimonos she makes, and Sherry Sanderson of A Little Room, is on the right, wearing one of Anna Porcu’s museum quality cameos she and her Tuscan craftsmen made into a stunning necklace.
St. John knits was an upscale brand our mothers’ and grandmothers’ generation wore: matching jackets and skirts for the ladies who lunch bunch. But recently, St. John has jumpstarted their brand by appealing to younger generations with pieces like my timeless Sinclair Jacket, updated with a sprinkling of rhinestones and light-catching metallic threads. It also has a matching skirt, but I just bought the jacket–it’s still on sale–to wear with jeans and this fun Johnny Depp t-shirt, a birthday gift a few years ago from a friend. I added black, wide-legged “The Secret Sauce” jeans from Ayr, thank you, Jacqui Getz, for telling me about them in our interview, and Hogan’s retro-looking, gum-soled sneakers. The whole look is elevated, yet fun and youthful, and I can continue to wear the jacket for years to come with white pants and blue jeans in the spring and summer. Whether it’s an informal meeting, or grocery shopping, this has become one of my favorite things to wear.
For everyone who will be dropping by in the next month or so for appetizers and drinks, here are a couple of things I’ll be serving.
For starters, I think you’ll love this make-ahead, easy, and delicious cocktail. It’s a Citrus Pomegranate Champagne Smash, a beautiful and tasty combination of pomegranate juice, blood oranges, orange liquor, ginger beer, and champagne. Serve it in anything from a champagne coupe to a highball glass. The glass doesn’t matter because the drink, itself, will be the center of attention.
Then there are these Sweet and Savory Cheesy Bacon Wrapped Puff Pastry Twists! Hello! I had something similar this week, and they’re easy and fabulous as an appetizer and will taste great with the Champagne Smash. Actually, a plate of these and a salad, and I’d be a happy girl!
Now, let’s talk about Skip Hollandsworth.
David Martin Davies and Skip Hollandsworth at the San Antonio Book Festival event at Texas Public Radio. (Photo by Alejandra Sol Casas)
Skip is a published author, journalist, screenwriter, and executive editor of Texas Monthly Magazine, long regarded as one of the top magazines in the country. I have a multiple, decades-long, personal history with a number of Texas Monthly writers, as well as the audacious, cheeky and infamous founder and former publisher, Mike Levy, who once sent me a stuffed gorilla the size of my refrigerator. No joke! The UPS man had trouble getting the box up the front steps of the infamous Spy House on the Hill I wrote about in my memoir, MAYA BLUE.
Texas Monthly writers are legendary for their hit you between the eyes, true crime stories that, at the same time, are peppered with the ability to make you double over with laughter, and Skip Hollandsworth’s new book, She Kills: The Murderous Socialite, the Cross-Dressing Bank Robber, and Other True Crime Tales is no exception. Skip is credited with shaping the true crime genre, and it’s a wonder I’ve put the book down long enough to write about it. Thank you, Skip! It’s a terrific read!
Skip’s book will make a great gift for anyone who likes to read true crime or read about the human foibles of people, or women in this instance, since all the people he writes about in his new book are women. Like the jaw-dropping “trial of the century.” The well-known Houston socialite who was accused of plotting her husband’s murder, and of having an affair with her nephew, but as Skip says, she “was only getting started.”
I have more things to share, but I’ll save them for my next Brenda Coffee’s Favorite Things. In the meantime, I hope you have a Happy Holiday, and please stay safe and healthy. What are you doing for the holidays?
26 thoughts on “BRENDA COFFEE’S FAVORITE THINGS”
Found vintage Disney T-Shirt and dressed it up just like this !!! Jacket from thrifting….
From Texas, now in Georgia, Texas Monthly is greatly missed. Younger, it helped me know the small corners of Texas. Was on the coast at NASA, center of the world in real time.
“Like the jaw-dropping “trial of the century.” The well-known Houston socialite who was accused of plotting her husband’s murder, and of having an affair with her nephew, but as Skip says, she “was only getting started.”
Of course that NEPHEW lived in my neighborhood.
In real time, we believed zero of the wild murder claims about him. When I was 18, he bought Coco Chanel’s ocean going gorgeous long sleek YACHT. Hired dozens of workers to rehab it. Their trucks stuffing our little neighborhood streets. His new ‘women’ friends buying at our dress shops and jewelry stores. (They were not ‘pretty’ women, but tall/thin. Asked an older friend, in real time, Why These Women ? She laughed, Darling… Imagine them on the YACHT in bikinis.)
To get the YACHT docked behind his home, he first had to have our little part of Galveson Bay dredged to accomodate it.
Then a NYTimes obit, led me to that neighbor’s story again. OMG ! It was all true, and worse. Delicious.
After the YACHT, he bought a helicopter, built a pad behind his home, and began using it to commute to Houston & etc. That didn’t last long, the noise. Our little neighborhood was able to stop it legally.
Move forward a few decades, I’m on local Planning Commision, first helicopter pad came up for approval. Stinkarama.
Horse farm next door…..
Application denied, zoning rewritten afterward.
Your Johnny Depp shirt. Saw a crazy quote of his, and believed it instantaniously. It was about his soon to be xwife. He had quit looking at her eyes. He knew she did not deserve his eyes on hers. Oddly, did the same with an abusive man I was divorcing. Quit looking him in the eyes. He no longer deserved my eyes.
Thoughts like these, come deep from the soul, the heart. Not the brain.
Merry Christmas Brenda.
(Hope you share with us next year, your book is a movie ! )
Tara, LOL, that’s quite the story about the nephew and his yacht! I’d forgotten you were from Texas, so of course you know of Skip and Texas Monthly. Which reminds me of a story Skip would love about the super wealthy Texas couple with “his” and “hers” helicopters on their yacht off the Texas coast incase he had a meeting in Houston, but she wanted to go shopping at the Galleria, they each had their own transportation. I know the family and could tell outrageous stories for days, but won’t.
I know the Johnny Depp quote. If you watched the trial when he sued Amber Heard on allegations of defamation, then you know, during all those weeks, he never once looked at her. Not once! Perhaps that’s why he kept himself busy, drawing, so he wouldn’t look up. She was a real piece of work. I was glued to the trial, so that’s why my friend gave me the Johnny Depp t-shirt for my birthday right after the trial.
Hope you have a wonderful holiday, Tara! I always love seeing you here. xoxox, Brenda
Tara’s addition to Skip’s story is hilarious! I’m off to buy his book! Thanks Brenda. And like Tara, I look forward to your book being made into a movie. It’s such a shocking and delicious page turner. Happy Holidays. Xo, Barb
Happy Holidays, Barb! I’m sure there are outrageous people all over the world, but wealthy Texans are particularly good at it. I’m deep into Skip’s book, and I love it! So fun… and outrageous! Fingers crossed my book, MAYA BLUE, will find it’s way to the screen. Everyone tells me that. Be well. xoxox, Brenda
Love the St. John jacket – such a beautiful brand! I could never afford it, but always loved the look and quality.
Thanks for the cocktail recipe – I have just been throwing pom juice in some prosecco lately, but now I have a proper recipe!
Merry Christmas!
Hello Gray, beautiful lady! I don’t make a habit of buying St John, but I haven’t bought clothes in eons and I have meetings and engagements now I didn’t have before I wrote MAYA BLUE, so I wanted to be prepared. I can wear the jacket with a skirt or dressier pants. I hope it gives everyone some ideas for styling ladylike jackets with jeans and something fun. My mother would have disapproved of the whole outfit: no sneakers, no t-shirt and I’m sure she would have thought it was sacreligious to break up a St John suit.
BTW, pom juice and prosecco sounds perfect. Merry Christmas! xoxox, Brenda
Brenda, I always love your favorite things because you have such a wide variety of unexpected treats and I love your blog. Hope you have a happy holiday.
Thank you, Winnie! I appreciate that you read my blog. If I’m not mistaken this is the first time I’ve seen you here, so I hope to hear from you, again. Happy Holidays to you as well, Brenda
You have such style! A St John’s jacket and a Johnny Depp t-shirt. LOL! I would never think of combing them in a million years. You’re an original.
Thanks, Arlo. How are you doing? I thought it was a fun pairing, but as I told Gray in an earlier comment, my mother would have been horrified about the entire outfit. Happy Holidays!! xoxox, Brenda
I fell in love with that fabulous St. John’s jacket – but (yikes) nearly fell over when I saw the price – on sale yet! I plan on ordering Skip’s book today! Thanks for the recommendation, Brenda!
Carol, I know… I’ve loved that jacket since I first saw it online last spring. The sale price was still terrifying, but it will look great 30 years from now, and I will probably be buried in it! LOL! Let me know what you think about Skip’s book. I think you’re going to enjoy it. xoxox, Brenda
Gorgeous. Gorgeous you! How do you stay so young and vibrant. Inquiring minds want to know.
Awe… Thank you, Belle. You’re sweet. I’d like to say, “Great genes,” but I hesitate for fear of conjuring up more Sidney Sweeney protests. But seriously, my mother, and my father’s mother (my grandmother), both looked fabulous well into their 90’s, so I’ve got that going for me. xoxox, Brenda
Great list! I’ll be buying Skip’s book.
Thank you, Martin. If you haven’t read anything by Skip Hollandsworth, you’re in for a treat. Best, Brenda
Brenda, Your sprit and jouie de vivre comes through on the page and it’s one of the reasons we love you. Don’t ever stop writing your blog. I look forward to it every week. It’s my literary mood elevator. Better than any prescription med. I remember the woman Skip’s talking about. Candace Mosler (sp?) oh goodie! Can’t wait to read his book
Thank you for the sweet compliment, Lynn. I appreciate you and am glad something I write adds to your week. Her name, you’re close. Just add one more ‘s.’ Mossler. The notorious Houston socialite, Candace Mossler. I’m sure Houston still has it’s share of controversial women, but I would love to have been part of that Houston scene back in the day with “Candy,” Lynn Wyatt, and Joan Robinson Hill–who died under mysterious circumstances–and Joanne King Herring. Perhaps we need to put the bug in Skip Hollandsworth’s ear to write another book about Texas socialites from all over the state. There are a lot of jaw-dropping stories! If you’re from Texas, Lynn, I’m sure you’ve heard of them. Like Suzanne Simpson, from San Antonio, who was allegedly murdered by her husband last year. They’ve never found her body although she told her personal banker, I think, if she went missing, to look for her body in a lake. Then there’s what hubby bought at Home Depot immediately after she went missing: heavy duty trash bags, two bags of cement mix and several plastic buckets, perhaps to weigh a body down so it doesn’t rise to the surface? Hmm… Yes, there’s another book there! Thank you, Lynn! Happy Holidays! xoxox, Brenda
I ALMOST went to work for SAINT JOHN’s KNIT’s in about 1980!!!
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
XOXO
Elizabeth, sometime I’d love to hear more about working for… Gucci in Italy and living there. Aside from meeting and marrying the Italian, I’m sure it was a fascinating time in your life. xoxox, Brenda
I love a good true crime book so Skip’s book sounds just the ticket. BTW, I haven’t told you how much I enjoyed your book Maya Blue. You weren’t kidding when you said it’s a memoir that reads like a thriller. When can we look forward to the movie? Those Hollywood types are crazy if they don’t snatch up Maya Blue!
You will love Skip’s book! Thank you for telling me you liked MAYA BLUE. Yes, it’s not your average, slow start, “I was born on a rainy Thursday afternoon” kind of memoir. I describe it as Working Girl meets Taken and in the end, I’m the last one standing. Navigating Hollywood has been challenging! LOL! Happy Holidays, Connie! xoxox, Brenda
Brenda, you are the fun lady and adorable in your St. John jacket. An interesting mix with the tee shirt. I think you can pull anything off. I donated my two skirt and tops to match and one pretty dress all St. John’s this year. I can only wear New Balance sneakers now so these beautiful pieces had to go. Who ever purchased them were lucky. Also I’m no longer a size 2 at my waist and hips. I’m sending some of my blog gal pals a Christmas card. My Bear created a special news letter, I can send that if you give me your email address. Do you have a mailing address?
Thank you, Katherine. I’d love to read your special newsletter. Send it to bcoffee@1010parkplace.com
I hear you about only being able to wear New Balance sneakers. No one tells us we lose the fat pads on the bottom of our feet as we age and, subsequently, walking on the bones in our feet will be excruciating! When I realized that, I was sad and mad, all at the same time, but I’m so over that now. Have you tried any of what I call “low profile” sneakers? More like the ones I’m wearing in the photos of this blog post? They’re not as big and bulky as what I think of as “tennis shoes,” plus Sketchers has so many super comfortable styles and you can find both types of shoes in fun colors like silver. Happy Holidays, Katherine. I always enjoy seeing you here! xoxox, Brenda
Brenda, Thanks for being such a great role model for those of us who are over a certain age and still wondering how to redefine our style and maybe I should say, reinvent ourselves. I definitely fit in both categories and you always give me lots to think about. xoxox I’ve ordered Skip’s book and this weekend I’m making your cocktail and the cheesy bacon twits. Hope this next year brings you continued success with your book!
Thank you, Darvy, I appreciate that you’ve let me know you take away meaningful thoughts and ideas from my blog. It’s why I’m still writing. Cheers to you and Maya Blue and Skip Hollandsworth and his new book! May we all have a wonderful 2026! xoxox, Brenda