It's time once again for a self-imposed shopping ban. This season's ban will last until September and won't be as restrictive as my last ban (given the wild binge that occurred moments after it was lifted). This time around I will allow myself to buy the occasional item, provided it fills some kind of functional void. That means I have to slap my hand down every time it reaches for a chambray shirt or BB cream, but a suit or replacement bottle of shampoo would be okay (yawn).
Why a shopping ban fills me with this much dread is beyond me, as I wear the same exact thing every day (chambray shirt, BB cream) - but it does. I suppose I like the idea of options, just in case. With that in mind, I'm hoping that this shopping ban will not only force me to save money and fight the man or whatever, but also allow my current wardrobe realize its full potential. Surly there's variety in there somewhere, right?
Fortunately the internet invented Pinterest to keep track of looks I can bastardizesteal replicate with my current wardrobe. FYI, my wardrobe = Madewell + Anthropologie with aspirations of being Steven Alan + Anthropologie.
(via Apartment 34) I think looking too pulled together is boring, but I have to do it from time to time. A t-shirt and cardigan could feasibly convince me to whip out that pencil skirt that's been hiding in the back of my closet. Knotting the t-shirt might be too risque for me, but I like the general idea.
(via Pennyweight.) Did I mention I have a lot of chambray shirts and gold necklaces?
(via Garance Dore.) Honestly I have no excuse not to look like this all the time. This is the amount of pulled together plus frazzliness I'm generally going for. I'll start with this tomorrow.
Recent snow events have caused great unhappiness in my life. What I need right now is not more winter. What I need is to wear pink pants, listen to terrible pop music and drink a fruity something with an umbrella in it. The tease of 50 degree days followed by winter storms is enough to drive me to Florida, which, while unusually soulless and elderly, is reliably warm and accommodating on the umbrellaed drink front.
But there will be no Florida for me this year. Instead, I will suffer through the tail end of winter right here in cloudy, dark, windy, wintery mix-y Connecticut, covering up the pedicure I got in a fit of delusional optimism with thick woolen socks and clunky, weather-beaten boots. If you need me for any reason, you'll find me curled up in the corner, crying into my umbrellaless drink whilst listening to Mozart's Requiem and wearing regular colored pants. The world is a cruel place.
I didn't always feel this way about winter. I can remember a time, as recently as last month, when I welcomed the snow and embraced the cold. While those days are long gone, I look back on them with fondness and invite you remember with me as you look at these photos of times gone by. It is also my hope that, by releasing these photographs I will have thereby exorcized all remnants of winter and induced the onset of spring.
New Years tip: indulge as much as possible before implementing resolutions.
I love making resolutions. I make them whenever I get home from a vacation or finish a crazy job. Having some sort of plan for improvement upon my return to normal life allows me to operate at maximum relaxation capacity in the meantime. For this reason New Years resolutions don't go into effect until the fun is completely finished. That means we've opened presents from both sides of the family, eaten all leftovers, and drained the last of the champagne. In this year's case, they go in effect today.
There are a handful of resolutions that I always make and never keep, mostly revolving around money. They never seem to get off the ground, so this year I've decided to resolve as I go. I'm starting with a total ban on ALL non-essential shopping for Jasper and myself until March 6th. This includes all toys, clothes, "fun" beauty products, shoes, housewares, jewelry, electronic gadgets (with one exception), and anything else that seems tempting. The ban excludes anything purchased with a gift card, replacement beauty stuff (so I don't have to go without washing my hair for two months), a computer (because I don't have one currently), books, and obviously anything my family might need to...exist. I'm also not cutting out restaurants or the indulgent bottle of wine here and there. This particular resolution has more to do with my fondness for accumulating stuff than it does with overhauling my entire lifestyle. Baby steps.
Speaking of babies, the second resolution is to reinstate Jasper's good habits. We fell into some really bad patterns while I was working a thousand hours a day, which only got exponentially worse while we were on vacation. Said patterns include bribing Jasper with cookies, unlimited i-Pad usage, and the end of any discernible bedtime. So far we're doing well with the i-Pad thing, thanks in large part to a gift from an uncle - the highly annoying but cute Playful Penguin Race.
My third resolution is to donate a significant chunk time or money to something non-political that I care about. Most of my idealism over the past several years has been channeled into paid work, and while I'm happy to have had a series of jobs that I can be proud of, they by no means let me off the hook.
Finally, I resolve to wear more lipstick. My motivation isn't as shallow as you might think.
In case you were wondering what happened to me, I've just come down from an 8 month work binge, followed by a 2 week shopping binge that is finally culminating into one huge refusal to get dressed for at least a week. I'm armed with a Kindle full of books, the Sunday crossword, and a cute kid - the only thing missing is the appropriate wardrobe. "A wardrobe for NOT GETTING DRESSED?" you ask? Honestly! One cannot be expected to live a life of leisure looking like a common hobo. I, for one, plan on channeling the glamorous housewives of Old Hollywood, sitting at my vanity as I powder and perfume myself in perpetuity. And here's what I would like to wear:
This robe by Zinke, for sitting at the aforementioned vanity.
This robe by Eberjay, for cozying up by the fire[place DVD].
One of my favorite Christmas presents last year was a ticket to a wine and cheese pairing class. One of our favorite cheese shops partnered with the wine shop next door to host a class where attendees, mostly couples, learned what to look for when pairing wine with cheese and how to taste them together. We had a delicious time, and wine is always a great equalizer when you're sitting at a table full of strangers - quiet, nervous couples become more gregarious, while pretentious old people get sloppy. Good times!
The best way to find a good class is to ask around at your favorite shops and restaurants. Get on their mailing lists so you'll be in the know when an interesting class pops up. This is a great date for any stage in a relationship - even a first date! Drinking + instant conversation topic = magical.
URBAN CAMPING
Remember when we went camping in Brooklyn? While this may not have been a date in the strictest (or any) sense of the word, it was definitely a romantic time. Jasper slept miraculously well in the tent, giving us time to cuddle by the campfire and whisper sweet nothings. During the day we got to sample delicious cuisine throughout Brooklyn and Queens, hang out with some pals, and hold hands on a boardwalk. If you happen to do this without a baby, take advantage of the opportunity to cram a fancy dinner date and a crunchy nature date into one weekend.
I hope you enjoy your day, whatever your relationship status. We're going to dress up and (Keith will) cook steak. It may not be Ohio, but I can't wait!
The Gentlewoman is a fabulous biannual magazine for modern women of purpose. Featuring ambitious journalism and photography of the highest quality, the magazine celebrates inspirational, international women through its distinctive combination of glamour, personality and wit. The Gentlewoman offers a fresh and intelligent perspective on fashion that is focused on personal style – the way women actually look, think and dress.
Kinfolk is a growing community of artists with a shared interest in small gatherings. We recognize that there is something about a table shared by friends, not just a wedding or once-a-year holiday extravaganza, that anchors our relationships and energizes us. We have come together to create Kinfolk as our collaborative way of advocating the natural approach to entertaining that we love. Every element of Kinfolk—the features, photography, and general aesthetics—are consistent with the way we feel entertaining should be: simple, uncomplicated, and less contrived. Kinfolk is the marriage of our appreciation for art and design and our love for spending time with family and friends.
For too many people, being happy at home is pretty much an abstract idea, something they can't know or imagine, until it appears on some taste makers must-have list, or in a magazine, or reposted on Tumblr. A home sweet home is not curated or produced by acquiring a perfect arrangement of chairs, lamps and friends. A real living space is made from living, not decorating. A bored materialist can't understand that a house has to become a home. It happens, not through perfection but by participation.
