This Friday we had a tiny  outing planned.  A casual  birthday party of my husband's  coworker, celebrated at the Italian restaurant downtown Palo Alto.  I always find it  easier to dress for formal events and very challenging  for  low-key  outings,  such as drinks after work.  Plus it was unusually cold for California,  in the low 40s.  I spent literally three hours tossing clothes, trying to figure  how I'd  stay warm and  moderately festive.   Ended up wearing blue mink cropped jacket which I figured I wouldn't be taking of.  Whenever I am wearing it I am always  mumbling  Valentina Sanina's "mee-e-e-e-n-k...  is for football".    A century after Valentina  scorned mink-wearers  with her habitual sarcasm, this diatribe acquired a whole new meaning..   Nevermind my veil, it's Raf Simon's  beanie.

Here is my inspiration.  A snap of mink collar with oversized broches at Marni section at Bergdorf in  New York I took this October.

We showed up at the restaurant and the hostess hadn't heard of any  reservation for  fifteen people. The party turned out to be in Los Gatos......  The trafic was building up and we  just staid  in  Palo Alto.  Had sangria in Joya and coffee in  cafe Venezia. This  happened to us before.  This  will happen again.