Latest Posts

My Looks

The Laziest Cat At The Party

October 8, 2014

Let me be clear: this is in no way, shape or form a costume. It is, however, a way for you to feel ever-so-slightly-festive on Halloween while still really being a total Scrooge about the whole thing. Which is a completely valid choice, in my opinion, made even more valid by the fact that it requires investment in a pair of leopard skinny jeans, which are an item of clothing that you really should own anyway.

(If this outfit - minus the cat ears and pumpkin - looks familiar, it's because I wore it while dancing around with Kendrick in this video.)

P.S. I totally already stocked up on Halloween candy on a trip to Party City to pick up supplies for my son's birthday. Which means that it is not yet noon, and I have already eaten several miniature Baby Ruths. Quite the excellent Wednesday indeed.

Continue Reading
Makeup & Beauty

Call Me Red

October 8, 2014

Having a baby isn't all that dissimilar from going through a breakup, in that both of these life events frequently result in haircuts. (Usually not especially well-advised ones, but that's beside the point.)

Last time I had a baby, I got bangs. This was actually a less terrible idea than one might think, because the cool thing about bangs is that if you just take five seconds to blow-dry them and pull up the rest of the hair, you look pretty "done," so they're actually a good solution for the time-strapped. I've let them grow out since, but ever since Goldie was born I've been feeling the need for something new.

And then, a couple of days ago, I was paging through People and saw this photo of Emma Stone, and thought: OOH. See, I've always wanted to try out being a redhead, but never got up the courage to make the switch. Except…it's just hair. Change is good and change is fun and fall is a good time for a change, no?

But I still wasn't sure what, exactly, I'd be getting into. So I went home, and used InStyle's Virtual Makeover Tool to see what I would look like as Emma Stone.

Continue Reading
SNAPSHOTS

Robin Hood’s Oil

October 7, 2014

I've always had this very romanticized idea about fragrance - that you should have "your" scent, one that people associate with you and you alone, and ideally one so totally obscure and unique that when asked "What are you wearing?" your response is something along the lines of "oh, just an essential oil hand-crafted by an artisan selling his wares off the coast of Malta; it was a gift from my great-great-aunt who traveled through Europe with a rogue band of gypsies, and I've worn it ever since I was two years old." Or something.

Anyway, what I've actually worn for years is Bond No. 9's Nuit de Noho, which semi-fulfills my obscurity requirement, as not that many people outside of New York (where Bond No. 9 is fairly well-known, being as each of their scents is named after a part of the greater New York City area: Shelter Island, Hamptons, Union Square, et cetera) have heard of it. But lately I've been wanting something lighter, fresher. Maybe a little floral. Slightly sexy would be nice.

Continue Reading
Baby

Baby Brain Freeze

October 7, 2014

Before my daughter was born, I had a mental blip that made me think that a baby born in mid-August would require an enormous wardrobe of gauzy little sundresses and gingham jumpers and such, forgetting that oh right: babies don't tend to take a ton of trips to the seashore when they are a week old. And then it was fall, and too cold for gauzy little sundresses and gingham jumpers, and Gap doesn't let you return items that are more than 60 days old for the original purchase price and et cetera et cetera sigh. At least I have a pair of tiny silver huarache sandals for her to wear in February, when they will finally fit her (brain freeze, what can I say?).

So anyway, I went shopping for autumnal infant clothing yesterday. Which is basically the most fun thing in the world, especially when you stumble upon things like leopard jeans and little sweatshirts with heart pockets (if you have a little girl - or a little boy with a penchant for heart pockets - I insist that you buy that sweatshirt up there; it is so cute).

We do need to talk about that tulle overall thing for a moment. I didn't actually buy it not because it is not the platonic ideal of baby girl clothing (because it is), but rather because I am so excited about it that I need to wait until Goldie is just a tiny bit bigger and will be able to wear it more. Like every day maybe.

Continue Reading
SNAPSHOTS

Outdoors In The Autumn

October 6, 2014

Since we basically skipped out on summer-in-our-backyard this year, I'm trying to get in as much outdoors time as possible before we get our first three-foot snowfall (arrrrr; not looking forward to a repeat of last year at all).

What this means: s'mores. Lots and lots of s'mores. And cozy sweaters. And Duraflame logs.

My personal outdoors-in-the-autumn essentials, above.

Continue Reading
ENTREES

Easy Steak & Avocado Fajitas

October 6, 2014

An addition to my roster of blink-and-they're done dinners: these. We're talking ten minutes. (Well, ten minutes if you don't include a couple of hours of zero-labor marinating…which I suppose you don't have to do, but it makes a huge difference.)

I've been making these minimum once a week lately, mostly to take advantage of these last few weeks of grilling-outdoors weather, but you can totally make them on a stovetop grill, no problem (because they're made with thinly sliced skirt steak, they cook up super-fast). They're great for an easy weeknight dinner, but if you just double (or triple) the ingredients you can just as easily serve dinner to a whole party (which is what I did last night - and the best part is that you really don't need any side dishes with these; just add prosecco and everyone will be happy).

What You Need:

Continue Reading
Makeup & Beauty

Red Lips…That Last And Last

October 3, 2014

I love bright lips, but I do not love applying lipstick only to have it disappear moments later. In this episode for Allure Insiders: how to make your red lipstick last.

(Click here for lots more of my Allure segments, including how to make your own beach hair spray, how to make your summer tan stick around, and bloopers aplenty.)

Continue Reading
Best

And Then There Were Two

October 2, 2014

Q. Jordan,

I recently found out I'm expecting our second child. Before I got pregnant, I thought that I wanted a second child, but now that it's a reality, I'm panicking about how this is going to change our three-year-old son's life and how it will shake up our own.

I'm scared because life right now is pretty great. I feel like we've just started to get out of the weeds of all the baby stuff and are really having more and more fun as a family. We've found our perfect balance between time with our son, social time with friends, couple time, and alone time. Our house is clean, calm, and quiet. We travel. We go on adventures. I'm scared that while all that was possible with one, we can forget it with two.

Continue Reading