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Oscar de la Renta, J. Mendel, Ralph Lauren Spring 14

Fashion-related musings as of late:

I'm glad to be able to miss most of the craziness that hits the city during New York Fashion Week, but now that it's over I can gaze at all the pretty things. Here are my favorite three Spring 14 looks above - Oscar de la Renta, J. Mendel, and Ralph Lauren. For maybe the first time ever my favorite collection was Ralph Lauren and my least favorite collection was Marc Jacobs. Anybody want to link me to their favorite looks?

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In the interest of staring at pretty things I can't afford, I started a board on Pinterest called "My Fantasy Life." There are things I simply cannot do in life: dye my hair lavender, borrow designer couture, get invited to events in which to wear expensive gowns, etc. So I pin things on this board and add a little narrative to each pin ("I'd wear this to the BAFTAS, to present the best actor award to Colin Firth."). Call me delusional, I probably am.

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I usually wear a classic red lipstick...like, everyday. But I think for fall, I'm looking for a deep, dark red. Any suggestions? The Tarte Matte Lipsurgence crayon in Fiery is my current favorite classic red, by the way.

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I'm a serious fan of the Brooklyn jewelry company Catbird, and there's been this recent trend for midi/knuckle rings (those rings you wear between your first and second knuckle instead of at the bottom of your finger). Since Catbird is a little out of my price range just to try something trendy, I decided to buy some cute not-real-precious-metal midi rings and they're okay so far. I've never worn much jewelry (everything I usually wear are gifts from my husband, nothing I picked out). But I may upgrade to some Catbird midi rings in the near future...

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You discover a new blog that you instantly love for its layout and style and voice and then you click the 'about' button and realize that the woman who writes and designs the blog works for the same company as you. You do a quick search and figure out her last name. You open your company's global address book and type in her name and find out that she works two floors below you in a completely different department. Hey oh!

That was me last week. My eyes are peeled for the blogger on the elevators.

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THIS WOMAN AND HER PARIS APARTMENT. And her life, in general. Le sigh, am I right?

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One final, non-fashion related anecdote --I think I got that good news. I think I got The Call.

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Yesterday I participated in an excercise called 10on10 on Tumblr, in which you post 10 random photos throughout your day - the 10th day of the month. It's a fun little documentation effort, and it's interesting to go back to other 10ths of past years. I saw that I've only participated four times before, and my first one was also a September 10th. I think it's one of those dates that I remember because I always know what date it leads to -- today.

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Last night was a great, inventive double date night! My mister gets all the credit for coming up with the idea: men cook, women relax. So simple, so brilliant! Kelly and I were able to rest, drink wine, hang out with Riggins the dog, and only ever so often yell answers to kitchen questions. We even installed some technology, and as we plugged in USBs and HDMIs we felt like this was the best traditional role reversal night ever.

The men were beyond successful: dinner was delicious. It was four-star, decadent, and fulfilling.

'By golly, boys, you might be better cooks than us. Geez Louise, you may have to do this more often!'

And the pride on their faces shined all night.

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P.S. My dessert was a hit, too!

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I'm nearly done with Junot Díaz's This is How You Lose Her and it's just wonderful and different. It makes me think in Spanish more and now I know I have to check out The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. I have a few other books recommended and checked out of my friends' libraries. But, I'm always open to suggestions. Read anything good lately?

Art by Ekaterina Panikanova

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Notes from today so far:

My mother flew to Panama this week and we've been able to communicate via an iPhone application that texts over WiFi. Previously we've always had to use my dad as a go-between (if he wasn't with her). I'd call Dad and ask how Mom is doing and he'd update her on me on their next scheduled call. I'm glad I'm still able to be grateful for new technologies; sometimes it feels like the world is moving too fast to appreciate these relatively minor kind of advances, and some new technologies can be intimidating or scary.

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Mindy Kaling's book gave me a piece of a advice, and now I'm taking it. It's going pretty well, but end-results are still pending. Stay tuned.

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Last night I cooked not one, not two, but THREE Pinterest-found recipes. The execution went well, and two out of three had superb results. The third recipe will be tasted tonight and shall determine whether my success in the kitchen was all-encompassing.

Please note: any time I can cook without resulting in a Jessica Thinks She Can Cook installment is successful to ME. Fully proud of my growing abilities in the kitchen.

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A double date imminent for this evening: the boys will cook, the ladies will drink wine, and we'll see if my dessert turns out. To be honest, living without much sugar has made me only sweeter.

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A lot of my friends are getting sweet, sweet news lately. Is it my turn yet?

 

 

 

Photo by Tim Walker

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Below, a digest of my weekend.

The husband delighted me with tickets to the Red Sox/Yankees game on Friday. We rejoiced through most of the game and became friends with the only Sox fans sitting nearby--a man wearing a Nomar Garciaparra shirt and his young Sox-jersey clad son. We watched the father lean over to explain certain plays to the boy, and the boy learning to high-five with his baseball glove on.

It's the second time I was able to witness a Red Sox grand slam live - a most welcome sight at Yankees Stadium.

And now a comparison: this is a photo of me when we first arrived at the ballpark, excited to be at a game. Then there is a photo of Jesse and I (taken by the Garciaparra fan) after the game. When I'm over-excited, my smile shrinks my eyes to oblivion. Or perhaps it was all the beer?

When we arrived back in Brooklyn flush with pride (and beer) for our team, not even subway-replacing hellish shuttle buses could deplete our energy. We decided to walk home through the streets of Brooklyn. This photo encapsulates how great the scenic route on a Friday night in Brooklyn can be:

Saturday I traversed Brooklyn in the shuttles to meet up with friends, and because it was a terrible experience, I'd rather not even think about it again nor discuss it here.

But my friends are another story. I laughed so much throughout the day, usually with a glass of wine in hand. At one point we gathered at my friend Amber's lovely home and discussed new jobs and tree snakes and eyebrow shaping.

These two recently began new positions and they were comparing their respective acclimations here:

Then we went to a bar, and the ensuing fun and BFF'ing can be summarized in the quietest moment of the night:

I crawled into bed with a smile, fielded a call from a girlfriend with a boy problem, handed off sage advice I hope, and texted Jesse goodnight since he was still out with all my girls' better halves. This strategy works well; when we tell the guys we're having a ladies night, suddenly a dudes night is scheduled.

Today was an (at first) exciting day of football. However, my fantasy teams both languished and the Patriots were not looking too good. In other news, I re-shaped my eyebrows, or, rather attempted to re-shape my eyebrows and let's all hope for the best.

This week I hope for good news on all angles and a quieter week at work.

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Scenario 1: Write, write, write, save draft.

Scenario 2: Write, write, write, edit, hover over publish button, delete.

Scenario 3: Read, read, read the archives. Never post.

Shall I harken back to my cryptic style that was adhered to more because I telegraphed from a pocket phone than any need to be secretive? Yet I do like being economical with my words, and I like secrets.

So, today? They happen in three. Three, two, one -- missiles readied and aimed. Friends like Jiscilla help to dull the barrage. Change has been hitting in waves for all around; I forecast a monsoon rushing towards me.