Resolutions

DETAILS:  BALENCIAGA WHITE BLOUSE (SIMILAR HERE AND HERE) // SAINT LAURENT LEATHER PANTS (SIMILAR HERE) // GIANVITO ROSSI BOOTIES (SIMILAR HERE) // MAIYET EARRINGS // ANYA HINDMARCH CLUTCH

 I hate the first week of January; in fact, I think it’s the absolute worst week of the entire year.  Not only are the holidays over and I'm left with frigid weather, but I have to “celebrate” both New Years and my birthday that week – both of which compel uncomfortable introspection as I look back on the resolutions I failed to accomplish during the prior year.  Unfortunately, as I get older, it gets worse (I’m not usually this dark, I promise!).  I decided this year, however, that I refuse to be disappointed in myself in 2016, so I’m only creating resolutions that are both easy to accomplish and enjoyable.  I clearly have no qualms simply lowering the bar for myself.   Some of these resolutions might take me slightly out of my comfort zone, but none will be the painful type I have typically promised myself in the past (run 25 miles per week, eat less dessert, learn French, etc).  Here are 2 of my resolutions for 2016:

        (1)    Host more social events at my home.  I really enjoy intimate socializing and that can be difficult at overcrowded NYC restaurants/bars.  My husband and I always talk about having friends over more often, but then I get overwhelmed worrying about who to invite, what to feed them, what music to play, etc.  I realize that this is my own insecurity and that my friends don’t actually care about what types of flowers I have selected or whether we’re eating on fine china or paper plates.  I’m going to start hosting more informal events, such as casual dinners or game nights.  I’m already working towards achieving this goal – my husband and I hosted a few close friends on NYE at the shore (pictures below), and my next event will be the puppy shower I’m throwing in February to introduce all of our friends to our new Bernese Mountain dog, arriving Jan 30th!

         (2)    Wear more color! I’m most comfortable wearing clothes that don’t call a lot attention to me, so I tend to select neutral color palettes – white, black, beige, camel, brown, navy, ivory, etc.  I absolutely love a monochromatic look with neutral colors – it’s like chic camo to me and I’m convinced I can blend into a wall if I like.  With that said, I really admire women who amp up their outfits with colorful accessories. Whether it’s floral scarves or colorful shoes, these women look so put together and SO CONFIDENT! Unfortunately, my NYE outfit below does not meet my new fashion goal – white shirt, black pants, black shoes – but I’ll aim to do better!  

Break from the Big City - Holidays at the Farm

My in-laws own a farm outside of New York and it has become my husband's favorite retreat from the city.  It's quite lovely and very quiet; however, I have concluded that farm living is not the life for me.  While I'm not quite the fish out of water that Eva Gabor was at Green Acres, I definitely don't thrive in this environment.  Last Christmas, we found a badly injured deer on the property and I stood six feet away from it as my brother-in-law ripped a bullet into his head -- Bambi and my Christmas- joy died simultaneously.  This year, I went out to see the chickens that we'd been raising for the past two years, only to learn that they had all been killed due to some absurd farm rule that you can't keep chickens for more than two years (my father-in-law states that he HAD to kill them because they no longer make eggs -- at 32, I recognize that my egg producing time is similarly dwindling).  Imagine my inner turmoil when I learned last night that my father-in-law was finally going to purchase the fainting goats I have been requesting for the past several months (do yourself a favor and google them - ENDLESS amusement) -- while initially thrilled, I have to wonder how long these timid and uncoordinated creatures can survive on this farm of death! Aside from the whole "circle of life" issues I have with the farm, I also find myself in a near state of panic due to the lack of cellular and wireless service.

While the clothes are not "farm attire," I will be sporting my Ralph Lauren overalls in the next post -- get excited!

Aging Gracefully - A Grown-up's Guide to Santacon

For those of you unfamiliar with NYC's annual SantaCon, it's a massive pub crawl where the participants dress as holiday characters and stumble their way through the city, leaving trails of their costumes and vomit behind.  I'll admit that there was a time in my life when I would have enjoyed these festivities, but I'm 32 now and I no longer enjoy binge drinking cheap beer in a crowded bar where drunk Santas spill their beverages on me.  I'm simply too old for SantaCon, and while I'm generally okay with that, there's also a small part of me that looks longingly at those very merry 20-somethings.  For this reason, I created the "Holiday Sampler" -- it's essentially a more sophisticated bar crawl that includes some of the nicest hotel bars in the city.  On the same Saturday as SantaCon, my husband and I were joined by another couple and we hit up the following hotels:  The Four Seasons, The King Cole Bar at the St. Regis, the rooftop bar of The Peninsula, The Jade Bar at The Gramercy, and the lounge of the Marlton Hotel.  At each location, we ordered some type of seasonal cocktail or champagne while enjoying the beautiful decorations and holiday music.  We visited 5 bars in the course of 7 hours (this included travel time) so that we could actually enjoy sipping our cocktails and nibbling on delicious appetizers like the sophisticated adults that we're trying to become.  We had a wonderful time -- it was both merry and age appropriate!

Kicking things off at The Four Seasons

Have fun with the details

  

Singing Carols in The Peninsula Hotel Lobby

Rooftop of the Peninsula Hotel

Christmas Shopping in New York

I don't actually enjoy shopping at all, which is probably surprising seeing as i contribute to a fashion blog. While I love clothes, I find buying them to be extremely stressful. I think my anxiety stems from two factors: (1) I don't enjoy spending money, and (2) I refuse to make returns (the latter is due to the emotional scars I still carry 15 years after my dad chastised me for spending $200 on cosmetic brushes and subsequently made me return them to the very intimidating Saks -- my high school me was mortified).  The result of these two traits is that I painstakingly analyze each purchase; in fact, I have a series of questions I ask before each purchase: (1) Can I think of at least three occasions within the next year when I will wear this piece, (2) does this piece fill a niche that I don't already have clothes filling, and (3) does my husband approve (it's not that I need my husband's constant approval, but I often find clothes he doesn't like mysteriously missing after he's conducted his seasonal purge of our closets). I perform this routine because I need to be 100% certain that I really want the article of clothing since I know I won't return it.  Unfortunately for the sales people, I also verbalize these thoughts and force them to witness my entire analysis -- I once had a saleswoman tell me as I was leaving that she hoped I would enjoy wearing the dress to the wedding in California, the cocktail party I planned to attend later that week and the engagement party. She had actually recalled all three of my requisite events, though I'm pretty sure she was mocking me. 

I went Christmas shopping this weekend in Soho and purchased the ivory coat featured below. I listed the three occasions I would wear it, mentally surveyed my closet and noted that I did not have an ivory/cream/tan/oatmeal colored coat that filled the same niche, and finally, I received my husband's very enthusiastic encouragement (he does not suffer my aforementioned anxieties over shopping).  The whole ordeal only took an hour.  I wore the coat the very next day to church and holiday sightseeing on the Upper East Side. 

Tribute to Paris

I woke up this morning reflecting on my Thanksgiving holiday; the ability to enjoy quality time with my family and friends, and most importantly, giving thanks to God for everything I have been blessed with in this life that I am fortunate to call my own.  As I managed to get my day going, I tuned on the TV to see news coverage of French President Francois Hollande leading a tribute to the 130 victims of the Paris terror attacks:

“These women and men were the youth of France,” he said. “We will carry this fight until the end by being faithful to the idea of France: The art of living, togetherness, commitment to secularism, a confidence in our collective destiny.”

After viewing this tribute and hearing the above words, I decided to make my first post an homage to a city my husband and I love to visit, the City of Lights.  As President Hollande alluded, Parisians make living look like art.  Fashion is one of the preeminent ways that they accomplish this – their seemingly effortless style inspires me to elevate my own aesthetic sensibility.  The resulting outfits was one of my many attempts to do so.  I hope you enjoy, and I look forward to sharing my perspective with all of you. 

Lauren

Loving Paris

Waiting for the train in Gare du Nord