Twirl in Style: In Clothes, There is Joy

Here's the story of today. It doesn't start with the joyful clothes, but I'll get there, I promise. Have patience.

I've been itching to have a smoothie for breakfast lately, but was a) trying to stick to the full plan of regular, but on the elimination diet (ED) breakfasts, pre-cleanse, and b) The Bug. So I finally, finally loaded up the produce bin more than usual, and lined up my smoothie, all ready to "buzz" this morning before TrainerJen. I even looked up the smoothie recipes in the Clean book to make a soundly nutritional mixture, and got back out of bed to make "chia seed gel" quickly. (Apparently, chia seeds are easier to blend (and digest) if you make a gel out of them - which basically means put them in water and keep in the fridge.)

So here's my smoothie:

1c mango cubes
1c frozen, unsweetened sweet cherries
1c light coconut milk (will switch to regular, less processed, once I use up what I have)
1c/handful mixed "Power Greens" (a boxed greens mix from Whole Foods with spinach, kale, and chard, at least, if not others)
1tsp-ish ground ginger
2T chia seed gel

Day-aHM, it was yummy! It was a lot (about 24oz), but since I'd worked out, I was good with that. Had half before, half after.

Then, the skirt. I bought this skirt in NOLA in a pink garage (not kidding). As I tried it on over my pre-Stanley-fried-oyster-and-boudin Benedict running clothes (after said Benedict and on my second bloody Mary of the morning), my girlfriend convinced me I could wear it to the office. So I am. And it's sparkly and twirly and flirty and twirly and full and luscious and wonderful. I've got pep. I've got spring in my step and swing in my hips. I'm wearing red lipstick (super retro, also bought in NOLA, at Trashy Diva) and power shoes (python pumps, to be exact). I'm feeling the power of the female sex, and could even be productive at the DayJob.

Woah. Don't go overboard there.

But needless to say, though I told TrainerJen "flow" when she made me close my eyes and tell me what my body told me I needed because I was overthinking it, we did a pretty fast-paced circuit-y workout because she really always knows best. So it could be the workout. It could be the smoothie. It could be the skirt.

Because lord knows it ain't the full 7-8 hours of sleep that I didn't get.

But as I sashay - literally - around the office, just waiting for someone to call me on my excessive, twirly sparkles (only one, so far - bring it on!), I'm struck at how much joy a big piece of fabric can bring to my day. I almost can't stop thinking about it. I want to go back to the bathroom again to look at it in the mirror, and I keep trying to get a phone pic of how incredible it is. The ones I've gotten so far just don't do it justice.

I have other outfits in which I feel great (um, the Union Jack skinnies?), but there's something about the sheer feminity, maybe, that puts this one over the edge into joy. Is it the cut? Is it the fullness? Is it that it, in some demented, Freudian way makes me pretend I'm in some 50s office and in the male-dominated world that would come with it - and then the power I have as a prettily dressed, curvy female in that space? I'm sure the analysts would have a field day with that.

So what is it about being girly and flouncy and flirty that feels so powerful? Because I think that might be what it is. Nevertheless, I'll take it, and I'll use it all day long.

And I will be counting the days until I can wear this girly statement piece again.

So what makes you feel all-powerful? Is it girly? Is it menswear? Is it your pajamas?

Holiday Style: By the Light of the Tree

As we head into the Big Christmas Weekend, our little home will be scrambl- I mean, leisurely decking our final halls and baking our little hearts out.

Blessedly, we have nary a party or commitment this weekend. So I'm saving my sequins for Christmas Eve, I think, when we trim our tree, head to the early family service at church, then have a lovely dinner of crepes, which has become a family tradition.

We may or may not also be having a cocktail or two by the light of the Christmas tree as we wrap The Beans' presents.

May the joy and peace of the season find you and yours.

1940s tree strung with real silver tinsel; Artillery Punch, my new cocktail love, after friends served it at their rockin' Christmas party last weekend (this link takes you to Chow.com's recipe, but for my friend's practiced alterations, see below for recipe); amazing gilded cocktail glasses; I can't wait to pair a cozy, slouchy sweater with similarly-hued sequins (also, cheap!). Check out the rest of the boards these pieces are are on for more ways to decorate, drink, and dress over the holidays!

Artillery Punch

Adapted from the New York Times, which was adapted from David Wondrich

Time: 90 minutes

Makes about 25 drinks (hmmm...maybe I'll just make a batch sans bubbly this weekend, then add the bubbly as I need - ahem - want a drink)

14 lemons

1 pound superfine sugar

750-milliliter bottle Old Granddad 100 Proof Bourbon

750-milliliter bottle Courvoisier VSOP Cognac

750-milliliter bottle 10 Cane rum

3 bottles Champagne or other sparkling wine

Nutmeg

1. Squeeze and strain the lemons to make 16 ounces of juice. Peel the lemons and muddle the peels with the sugar. Let the peels and sugar sit for an hour, then muddle again. Add the lemon juice and stir until sugar has dissolved. Strain out the peels.

2. Fill a 2- to 3-gallon bucket or bowl with crushed ice or ice cubes. Add the lemon-sugar mixture and the bourbon, Cognac and rum. Stir and add the Champagne. Taste and adjust for sweetness. Grate nutmeg over the top and serve.

Yield: About 25 drinks



Weekend Style: Holiday Version

This weekend was full. Very full, and I have the bags under my eyes to prove it. But we had a wonderful time, and spent time all together. Which is the Most Important Thing. Ever.

Clockwise, from top left:

Bark has become my go-to hostess (and teacher) gift. For a host(ess), "upgrade" by buying a pretty box and putting the crumbly, ridiculsouly easy homemade treat inside. For teachers, buy a simple white candy gift box at a craft or container store, then have your Beans decorate it themselves.

Danny Kaye (aka Bean No.2) had his stage debut Friday at his preschool Christmas pageant. He refused to wear his tinsel halo, but otherwise was obviously the star of the show.

While waiting for Santa to return from his lunch break so we could get our now-annual Santa Visit Picture, H and I gave in to Build-a-Bear. So meet Ken and Sally, all cozy in their boxes. Not kidding. That's Ken, not Rudolph.

We averted disaster with a playground stop on the way home from The Mall, and H averted a mama disaster by making a Frosting Bakeshop run and bringing a Viennese coffee to me.

Saturday night we got All Dolled Up in sequins and patent, complete with Red Lips. Well, I did, anyway. I don't think H wore any sequins.

Our first hosts served what might be my new favorite, Artillery Punch, which packs one, plus it has a storied history. Not a punch to be taken lightly.

Sunday brought foggy-headed (from sleep deprivation, not hangover) parents and energetic Beans, so we rolled into weekend wear for an early brunch at Open City.

Ken at brunch. You can now follow Ken on Instagram with the #KenofInstagram hashtag.

After all of the brunch frivolity, I had to head into the office and finish up a major deliverable. Just one more down between me and Real Christmas Time. Almost there.

Style Inspiration: Holiday Sparkle

I think I've mentioned that I'm in the holiday spirit. Big Time. That being said, December is the busiest month of the year in my DayJob. The most Christmassy I can get right now at home is The Elf. And making a big traditional Romanian Christmas dish today with my MIL.

Decorations and parties? Yeah. Sometime this week, they'll start to make they're way out of the basement and into our home.

In the meantime, I'm absolutely infatuated - really, in love with - sparkle. So in the interest of sharing the Christmas spirit and all of the glorious glitter of the season, here's a little bit of what's making me smile right now.

Clockwise, from top left: Retro chic glitz in a sleek Chloe shift; The Original Le Smoking; pretty, gingery bubbles; gleaming mid-century modern; LBD + Big Sparkly Earrings = done; T + sequins = perfectly copyable; pink glittery sweets; classically gleaming table; elegant DIY fingers; structure + shape + sparkly

Weekend Style: The Best Kind of Exhaustion

As I put together the pictures from this weekend, I got tired just remembering. But it was the best kind of weekend. H and I had a solid date night, we had lots and lots of family time, and Mama got some alone time and some girlfriend time.

Now I need a nap.

1. Friday night, I used that sparkly liquid liner in one of my last birchbox deliveries. It was KISS/Motley Crue, after all. 2. KISS. 3. Ready for a Saturday morning swim.

1. The artist at work in her studio. 2. Mama time = new makeup, including 2 new Bobbi Brown red lipsticks. 3. Neon pink patent Sperry heels I tried to convince my girlfriend to buy at Loehmann's because they weren't in my size.

1. My girlfriend and I guffawed over The Most Absurd Label Ever. 2. Gold sequins (and the wrong undergarments). 3. Soft ballerina sparkle (that I wore to the show later that night with a New Red Jacket).

1. Gap 1969 ankle zipper legging jeans in tomato. Size 6. 2. A fantastic show, and humongous pride (Sheila was one of my dearest friends. She was the best. By far.) 3. Sunday morning.

1. Peach and blueberry picking at our favorite Virginia outpost, Hartland Orchard. 2. Stopping to smell the petunias in Middleburg, VA. 3. New skinny finds, old favorites that fit again, and a couple of pair I'm really hoping a good tailor can save.

Style Dilemma: Black Champagne

Sequins and Sparkle by dcceline

Funny things happen on Twitter. You share things and thoughts you wouldn't tell close friends. You "meet" people. You learn about celebrity deaths before anyone else. You put a number sign before a string of words that would normally be a sentence and confuse the heck out of non-Twitter-users but makes you LOL.

You plan fake funerals with vats and vats of champagne and black sequined dresses.

True story.

So a few of us are going to have a Black Champagne party. We'll drink bubbly, eat salty, and probably talk salty, too (a few of us have been known to make a sailor blush once in a while). And we'll wear sequins. Because we can.

It's supposed to be black sequins, but when I went looking, the sequin selector on the Nordstrom site (seriously, they have "sequins" as a filter option on dresses, which. just. rocks) pulled up a few other colors, like gold and silver. So I included them. Then there's the deep blue "cold shoulder" mini I obsessed over last Friday (the charcoal/black version is the first one in the second row), but refused to try on because I was on a Bra Mission.

The silouhettes range from fitted to forgiving, with room for only bubbly or room for a whole tin of gift popcorn. Since I've only met literally one of the 7-8 women who will be at our Black Champagne party, I have no idea what might suit them.

But it's sequins. So a girl just can't go wrong.

If you want to find out more about the Ladies of the Sequins (because we're a fascinating bunch), watch for the #BlackChampagne hashtag on Twitter.