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How-To: Reverse Wing Eyeliner
Well, this is a new one.
The "Reverse Wing Liner" is inspired by the look shown on the models at the Nicholas K Spring 2015 runway show…and I like it. I've been getting more into the dark-undereye-liner thing over the past few months - it feels fun and rocker-y and sexy - but mostly I've been doing a smudgier, more imperfect look…so this is a cool, fresh twist. And it's a) totally wearable, even during the day, provided you keep that line nice and thin(ish), and b) not nearly as tricky to do as it looks.
Let's talk how-to:
The Last Meal
In one of Anthony Bourdain's books, he talks about how he and his chef friends used to meet at Blue Ribbon Sushi late at night, after their shifts were over, and the conversation would inevitably turn to the Death Row Meal: what they would choose for the very last meal of their life. For virtually everyone, the choice wasn't some fancy dish from a five-star restaurant, but rather either sushi (go figure) or an old childhood favorite: their grandmother's spaghetti and meatballs; their father's chicken pot pie; a couple of slices of warm, buttered bread.
It's that way for everyone, I think. When I think about what I'd want for my last meal, what's always popped into my mind has been my mother's spaghetti with meat sauce and homemade biscuits with lots of butter. But then, a couple of years ago, I had a meal that was so perfect, so delicious and hearty and comforting and exactly what I want to eat all the time that it immediately vaulted into the Death Row Meal position.
Sorry, mom.
It's this.
Links & Love & Stuff
Super into wearing my recently-rediscovered high school dance class leotard lately. Is that weird? (Pick up a long-sleeved scoop-necked cotton version of your own here, and be weird with me.)
A DIY wedding dress…that's full-on gorgeous…for $30?! You have to see this.
I could stare at the selection of Kelly Wearstler jewelry on Monc XIII for hours. Hours!
Mini Bathroom Makeover: Five Small Changes That Make A Big Difference
This post is sponsored by the Home Depot.
When I painted my bathroom a few months ago, I wasn’t especially thrilled with the results. The two-tone grey walls were pretty, but felt…blah. So I presented myself with a little challenge: find a handful of quick, easy (and affordable) ways to update my bathroom and add the personality and touch of luxury it needed.
Crazy Pants
You know that piece hanging around your closet that's completely fabulous, and that you never, ever wear because you can't figure out for the life of you how to wear it? And even if you did…you have nowhere to wear it to?
For me, that's these leather pants. I mean, they're skintight. And high-waisted. And BLUE. All of these qualities make them not exactly the kind of thing I reach for on your average Tuesday. But since I haven't been getting out much lately (newborn, et cetera), I've been taking every chance I have to actually get dressed to really get dressed. The kind of "get dressed" that just may involve skintight, high-waisted, blue leather pants.
And something else I've learned about those weird pieces that feel unwearable: you have to just wear them. Just put them on, acknowledge that you might get a few stares, and get over it. I wasn't sure quite what to wear with these pants…but then I came across a leotard in my drawer that I think last saw the light of day when I was in high school, and thought "Hmm. That's a little Olivia Newton John-y.
Through The Lens
I have a funny relationship with my camera.
In high school, my parents' gift of a fancy-ish Nikon inspired me to take roll after roll (remember those?) of photos of my friends lounging angstily on fire escapes and brownstone stoops, eating toast in diners and putting on lipstick and blowing out smoke from pilfered cigarettes. I love these photos, but they aren't really photos of us - they're photos of us trying to be someone else, someone closer to the picture of "cool" we held in our heads.
And then there are the years that I jokingly (but not really) think of as "the lost years" - when I forgot about my camera for one reason or another, and many months went by without a single photo. I have only one album from college, and it's filled with shots from maybe three or four especially photogenic nights (a formal, another formal, a night my roommates and I got dressed up to go out and then decided to just stay in my room and drink bad tequila and dance to the Footloose soundtrack).
When I graduated and moved to California, my camera was stolen during a break-in, and I didn't replace it for a long, long time. I have a few shots from nights out at clubs with friends, but not of the times I'd really like photos of: the nights spent sitting by the pool with my dad, looking up at the moon and the palm trees and talking. The long drives I took to Santa Barbara. I wish I had more photographs of my sweet friend. I think of him every day; I'd like to see his face.
Yard Sale 101
I've heard of people who dread having yard sales. Who feel like they have to do it to get rid of their overload of stuff, but really don't like holding them.
This does not compute.
Yard Sale Day legitimately ranks up there with my Favorite Days Of The Year, somewhere alongside Christmas morning. I'm totally serious: on Saturday morning I practically leaped out of bed and was busy making Kendrick crazy with all the running around and dictating and coffee consuming within seconds.
All About The Apples
On Me: Boohoo Sweater (no longer available, but see below); SOREL Conquest Carly Boot (possibly the best fall/winter boot ever)
Where we spent Sunday: in one of my favorite day-trip towns.
Warwick, NY is about an hour north of the city, and is sort of tailor-made for a fall escape: it's all orchards and wineries and bed and breakfasts and cute little taverns and artisanal ice cream parlors. Super cute; highly recommend that you go (go soon if you're planning to pick apples; the trees get kind of picked over by early October).
The Sleeping Beauty Cleanse
Good news: this cleanse does not involve not-eating.
Which makes it my kind of cleanse.
It's not a "cleanse" in the traditional sense…but rather a way to shed yourself of the day's detritus, ridding your body and mind of everything from unwanted stressors to makeup residue. And while the steps themselves are each relaxing and lovely on their own, what's most important here is consistency: if you keep your wind-down ritual the same from evening to evening, your body will start recognizing cues that sleep is on the way, and respond accordingly. (I learned this from my son, who really does sleep better when we follow his pre-bedtime ritual to the letter…and apparently it works for grownups too.)
