Decadence on a Dime: Tex-Mex Essentials

Well, we’ve made it. It’s May and I am no longer hibernating from the cold. (Dallas is colder than Austin and I am a big wuss.) I’ve written about enchiladas before  and as everyone may notice, they’re my Tex-Mex weak spot.

Nothing says comfort food to me like a steaming plate of cheese enchiladas with Mexican rice and refried beans. I recently made my first attempt at making cheese enchiladas and they were a great success, thanks to a recipe from the Homesick Texan. They were cheesy and gooey and had the perfect texture combination thanks to a little crunch from the diced onion and shredded lettuce. The key to this recipe is her Chili Gravy. It has the perfect richness, and as gravies go, this recipe is fool-proof. I’ve modified her recipe a bit, and added a little more commentary. Making gravy can be daunting, but patience and extra chicken stock will make everything ok. So without further ado, Cheese Enchiladas with Chili Gravy.

Chili Gravy:

¼ cup vegetable oil

¼ cup flour

½ tsp black pepper

1 tsp salt

1 ½ tsp powdered garlic

2 tsp ground cumin

½ tsp dried oregano

2 Tbs chile powder

2 cups chicken broth

Start by heating the oil over medium heat in a skillet with ample surface space to make the roux. A caste iron skillet is preferable, but not necessary. Stir in the flour, a little at a time, and continue to stir for 3 to 4 minutes until it makes a light brown roux. Making a roux can be daunting, but as long as you are patient, and CONTINUE TO STIR, you should be alright. Take liberties with the time and the pace of adding the flour to make sure the roux doesn’t burn or the flour doesn’t fry in the hot oil.

Add all the dry ingredients and continue to cook for 1 minute, constantly stirring and blending ingredients. This is a simple instruction, but very very important. If you don’t stir continuously, the roux will burn and you’ll have to start over. This burning step is the bane of my mother’s cooking existence.

Add chicken broth (or water), mixing and stirring until the sauce thickens. Turn heat to low and let sauce simmer for 15 minutes (the time is less important that the thickness of the gravy, which can be altered with chicken broth or water if it gets to thick). Add water to adjust the thickness. When I reach the chicken broth step, I often have to transfer the roux/gravy to a medium sauce pan. By this point, the surface area of the pan is less important than the height of the side walls of the pan.

Makes 2 cups

Cheese Enchiladas:

8 corn tortillas

2 cups shredded medium cheddar cheese

1 cup Velveeta, diced in small cubes

1 medium onion, diced

Shredded lettuce

2 cups chili gravy

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Wrap the tortillas in paper towel and microwave for 20-30 seconds. This can be done in batches of 4 to achieve a more consistent heating through. Keep the tortillas wrapped in the paper towel until ready to assemble enchiladas.

Pour ½ cup in the baking pan to lightly coat bottom. Take a tortilla, put ¼ cup of cheddar cheese and Velveeta mixture and 1 Tbs of onion in the center and roll it. Place the tortilla in baking dish, seam side down. Continue with remaining tortillas. Take remaining chili gravy and pour over the rolled tortillas. Sprinkle remaining cheese and onions on top. Place a couple small cubes of Velveeta on top as well. Bake for 10 minutes or until sauce is bubbly and cheese is melted.

Makes 8 enchiladas

You can read the original Homesick Texan recipe and blog post here.

Themeeee Songgggg

Sorry WWW: Don't Buy Now = Clogs

Unless of course you wish to clomp around like a horse and pretend you are in the 90s. I know, I know, you are so into clogs because they were on much of the major runways for spring and summer {Gasp! Chanel!? - you know how I feel about that}. 

I cannot think of a more impractical summer shoe! The heel for one is extraordinarily clunky and you might say, "But Afton! It offsets the proportions of those extra miniskirts that are in by adding some weight to the leg!"

Well, my dear, this might be somewhat true. However, by 'adding weight to the leg' you are also making your miniskirt extra mini by adding 4-6 inches to you legs. Can you say a-hook-er (please note the shoes of hookers on the right)?? Additionally, the close toe says sweaty mess to me. Maybe not if you lived in a Nordic country. But def not here in 'Merica.

Save your pennies or invest your hard earned cash in a pair of shoes that can crossover from work to play like a solid pump in nude or a pair of gladiators sandals that are just refined enough to not make you look like you are straight out of Sparta. This way you can wear them with many things and get your moneys worth. All the while not straining your toes to keep this hunk of a shoe they call the clog on your feet as you sweatily slide around in them all day. 

Trust me, you will be glad.

L-M-F-A-O. Our Diet starts tomorrow. Besties with Testes. Hilare.

Oh, Mary Kate!

Very Mary-Kate: Zac Efron from Mary-Kate Olsen on Vimeo.

Actress Elaine Carroll started a series of Internet videos called "Very Mary Kate" in which she impersonates Mary-Kate Olsen. She puts new webisodes up every Monday and Thursday, and each gets hundreds of thousands of views on Vimeo. Her online persona extends to Twitter, where she writes things like "my favorite color is clear, my favorite flavor is bland, my favorite food is invisible pie." In the webisodes she says things like, "I wanna finish my education. It’s part of being a grown-up. I want to major in ponies." She doesn't give the Olsen — a CFDA member! — a whole lot of credit. “You can kind of compare Mary-Kate to Eeyore in ‘Winnie the Pooh,’” she told The Wall Street Journal. “She doesn’t really know what’s going on, does not have it together, trying so desperately to become an independent woman but just does not understand the world in which she lives.” What do you think? Comedy gold or jokes that are old?

Check out more here: http://verymarykate.com/

Don't Judge Me. I Like This Song and Need it this A.M.

Happy Friday!

More Guide to Menhattan GOODNESS

You're Tacky and I Hate You

By Rachel Upshaw, New York, NY 

That would be my first instinctual comment on the website Go Try It On, where you upload outfit photos and strangers tell you whether to wear it or change it. Jaykay. But it is one of my fave Mean Girl quotes. Digressing, per usual.

This site combines a bunch of things I love:

a) Clothes and styling
b) Judging others (it's like Hot or Not for outfits!)
c) Technology being used for cool shiz

It's sort of like the suped-up version of in Clueless when Cher took pictures of her outfits to decide what to wear. Remember that? Of course you do. Because we were young and impressionable and thought she was so lucky. Well, now that could be any of us (with the time, patience and effort necessary to solicit feedback) thanks to good ol' technology.

Also, speaking of technological advances, remember in older movies when people always assumed we'd be living on the moon or at least in outerspace at this point in time?

Fail.

Sorry, just thinking outloud...and being disappointed.

Anyway, since I live with The BFF who proactively offers her feedback and suggestions about my outfits (she might not always say it nicely, but she usually has good ideas), I don't know if I'll throw my wardrobe out for the masses to judge.

But if you try it, leave a comment here about your experience! Like with most things in life, I'm intrigued but lazy. 

Can't get enough of Rachel Upshaw's Hilarious P.O.V. click here. 

Intoxicated Coachella Attendee Struggles to Put on Flip-flop. Flip-flops are pretty tricky, though. So flippy, so floppy.

I mean, we've all been there, just hopefully won't be there when we are this guy's age?

Eek.

New Video from the XX "Islands"

Courtesy of Austin RiffRaff, get more of their picks here.

NYT View of Earth Day- Worth a Quick Read

At 40, Earth Day Is Now Big Business

By LESLIE KAUFMAN

So strong was the antibusiness sentiment for the first Earth Day in 1970 that organizers took no money from corporations and held teach-ins “to challenge corporate and government leaders.” 

Forty years later, the day has turned into a premier marketing platform for selling a variety of goods and services, like office products, Greek yogurt and eco-dentistry. 

For this year’s celebration, Bahama Umbrella is advertising a specially designed umbrella, with a drain so that water “can be stored, reused and recycled.” Gray Line, a New York City sightseeing company, will keep running its buses on fossil fuels, but it is promoting an “Earth Week” package of day trips to green spots like the botanical gardens and flower shopping at Chelsea Market. 

F. A. O. Schwarz is taking advantage of Earth Day to showcase Peat the Penguin, an emerald-tinted plush toy that, as part of the Greenzys line, is made of soy fibers and teaches green lessons to children. The penguin, Greenzys promotional material notes, “is an ardent supporter of recycling, reusing and reducing waste.” 

To many pioneers of the environmental movement, eco-consumerism, creeping for decades, is intensely frustrating and detracts from Earth Day’s original purpose. 

“This ridiculous perverted marketing has cheapened the concept of what is really green,” said Denis Hayes, who was national coordinator of the first Earth Day and is returning to organize this year’s activities in Washington. “It is tragic.” 

Yet the eagerness of corporations to sign up for Earth Day also reflects the environmental movement’s increased tolerance toward corporate America: Many “big greens,” as leading environmental advocacy organizations are known, now accept that they must take money from corporations or at the least become partners with them if they are to make real inroads in changing social behavior.

This year, in an updated version of a teach-in, Greenpeace will team up with technology giants like Cisco and Google to hold a Web seminar focused on how the use of new technologies like videoconferencing and “cloud” computing can reduce the nation’s carbon footprint. Daniel Kessler, a spokesman for Greenpeace, said it was necessary to “promote a counterweight to the fossil fuel industry.” 

In 1970, Mayor John V. Lindsay of New York addressed a crowd of tens of thousands in Union Square on Earth Day, in an atmosphere The New York Times likened to a “secular revival meeting.” 

This year, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg will be in Times Square to announce measures to reduce New York’s impact on the environment. Using the same stage, Keep America Beautiful, an antilittering nonprofit organization, will introduce “dream machines,” recycling kiosks it is introducing with PepsiCo. The machines are meant to increase the recycling rates for beverage containers, which is estimated at about 36 percent nationwide. 

Of course, a fair portion of the more than 200 billion beverage containers produced in the United States each year are filled with PepsiCo products like Mountain Dew and Aquafina; such bottle trash contributes to serious pollution on beaches, oceans and inland waterways. 

Still, Matthew M. McKenna, president and chief executive of Keep America Beautiful, and a former PepsiCo senior vice president, said he jumped at the opportunity to have his former employer introduce its new kiosk at the event. 

“We are not being asked to encourage the purchase of Pepsi or the consumption of their products,” he said. “We are asked to deal in the field with what happens when they get thrown out.” 

While the momentum for the first Earth Day came from the grass roots, many corporations say that it is often the business community that now leads the way in environmental innovation — and they want to get their customers interested. In an era when the population is more divided on the importance of environmental issues than it was four decades ago, the April event offers a rare window, they say, when customers are game to learn about the environmentally friendly changes the companies have made. 

Frank Sherman, United States green officer for TD Bank, said the company hurried to get its prototype of a highly energy-efficient bank branch building in Queens ready for Earth Day because that’s when “people are paying attention.” 

The original Earth Day events were attended by 20 million Americans — to this day among the largest participation in a political action in the nation’s history. 

This year, while the day will be widely marked with events, including a climate rally on the Mall in Washington, the movement does not have the same support it had four decades ago. 

In part, said Robert Stone, a independent documentary filmmaker whose history of the American environmental movement is being broadcast on public television this week, the movement has been a victim of its own success in clearing up tangible problems with air and water. But that is just part of the problem, he noted. 

“Every Earth Day is a reflection of where we are as a culture,” he said. “If it has become commoditized, about green consumerism instead of systemic change, then it is a reflection of our society.” 

Read more here: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/22/science/earth/22earth.html 

Do You Know This Guy?

At the recent Yeasayer concert in Austin my boyfriend took this picture on his phone to send to me because they were making fun of this guy who was apparently having a very, very bad time. 

[quoting him and his friend - use a whiny voice]

"Oh, my girlfriend just broke up with me, wahhh."

[my boyfriend]

"Somebody call the wambulance."

Upon receiving the picture I passed it around to my friends in a kinda wtf moment until someone said, "Wow. That's a cool picture." Only then did I realize that it was much more than just a snap of the 'ol iPhone-making fun of someone-moment. It was artistically pretty rad in composition, lighting and color. 

It just goes to show that you don't have to have extra fancy-shmancy equipment to capture the beauty {or pain in this instance} in the world around you. It's inspirational... 

Zac Posen Video on His Line for Target

If you didn't get enough of the very wearable & affordable Zac Posen for Target line spread I did last week then don't forget to check it out here. 

Check out Mr. Adorable below and get his take on his line too.

Monday Pick Me Up

New SATC trailor ready to be watched... YA!

Can't wait until May 27th, 2010. See you at the theater!

What's Hot in LA Now. Courtesy of Addison Donnell

Happy Friday!

So Pumped: Zac Posen for Target Set to Debut 4/25

Lovers of affordable fashion REJOICE!

I swear it's no coincidence that Zac Posen's line for Target is set to debut the day after my birthday. It's like a little gift from him to me and all I can say is, "Thank you Zac dear, I love you."

With most items under $100 and with garments like Target's first full length gown expect these items to sell out fast. For more insight into his genius here's a part of Zac's interview with Teen Vogue:

"Individuality" has always been a Posen mantra, and his fans will be happy to know the designer held tight to his core values. His Target line even boasts a tuxedo for women, a nod not only to vintage Saint Laurent but also to current events. "Lesbian proms have been such a big thing in the news lately," Posen says. "Rather than create a fake subculture, I wanted to address things that are actually happening." Not that you need to be gay to wear the tux; it just takes confidence, the designer explains. "It's a kick-ass girl who can wear a tuxedo to prom! Don't be afraid of drama," he adds. "Prom is one of the few opportunities in life when you can fulfill any romantic desires you have. And," he deadpans, with signature Posen wit, "there's no prenup attached to it." Nor would you need one at these prices.

Ok, I may be wayyy past my prom years, but I will probably buy that tuxedo and that gown because I just love them. Well, at least think about buying them- gotta do my part for the eonomy. It's almost as good as when Proenza Schouler did a line for Target and I broke the bank with those purchases. Alas, the days of college when I was not the sole breadwinner in my life...

Here's the complete lookbook from ze line expected to debut Sunday, April 25 at Targets nationwide:

              
      

    
                

               
     

       
        
     

             
       

                    

                    

Daily Inspiration

Would dew believe it: The stunning pictures of sleeping insects covered in water droplets

These remarkable photographs were taken by physiotherapist Miroslaw Swietek at around 3am in the forest next to his home.

Using a torch, the 37-year-old amateur photographer hunts out the motionless bugs in the darkness before setting up his camera and flash just millimetres from them.

See more of these haunting photos here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1260946/The-stunning-pictures-sleeping-insects-covered-early-morning-dew.html#ixzz0kWaOUQuB

Social Media Presentation Makes You Think

My Latest Purse Obsessions

The designers keep churning them out and I keep salivating over them... Purse obsession is a really interesting thing. Because you can only carry one at a time. Because they don't always go with everything. Because you have to change purses if they are not work appropriate aka I had to switch to my demure black purse for a work event that was not appropriate for my all fringe cross body bag. "Hey you got to hide your love away!"

My older sister has an obsession, although she prefers to call it a collection, with Fendi Baguettes. Fortunately for her there are many, many different versions and so she'll never own all of them and will always have something to look for. Because every woman ever is always looking for the perfect something. It's always about the chase with us. That is why I love thrift store shopping because there are some really tremendous finds, but you just have to look...

I've spent an abnormally large portion of my short life focusing on purses that you can invest in. This is simply because I do not want to end up on Hoarders. 

 

Therefore, only the best will do. They have to be classic with an edge.  And must last.

 

 I want to give them to my grandaughter when I am an old lady and when she's on the back page of Teen Vogue getting interviewed for her tremendous personal style she can say, "my Gam Gam is one of the most stylish and fashion forward women I know" and "she's my fashion icon." Ah, sigh. To dream. [see my hypothetical granddaughter at right] 

Enough of my blabbering let's get to the good stuff- my two covetable, earthly obsessions {remember folks, you can't take 'em with you}:

Alexander Wang 

Rocco Mini studded leather bag, $875

 3.1 Phillip Lim

Edie studded leather handbag, $700

*Good news for those of you that missed this lovely item last year- it's being re-released so we can all snatch it up* 

Guide to Menhattan's Every Girl Ever Hilarity

Every Girl Ever is So Fat!

by Rachel Upshaw, New York, NY,  http://www.guidetomenhattan.com/ 

Did you know that it's March Madness? Wait, college basketball? Brackets? What are you talking about? 
 

I'm talking about when it's the end of March and it dawns on you that - OMG - Memorial Day is, like, right around the corner! Then the "People Will See This Body Half-Naked" Dread sinks in because, like Every girl ever, I just realized that I'm so fat!

Like Every girl ever, I was riding high on fumes from looking good last summer. Then things went down hill when, like Every girl ever, I didn't think that diets had any business in my holiday celebration considerations. A plate of Christmas cookies all for me? Don't mind if I do!

Then, like Every girl ever, I pretended to care about this turn of events when New Year's rolled around because, like Every girl ever knows, you have to at least say your resolution is to lose weight. Like Every girl ever, though, I knew this was shit.

I put off dealing with this problem by covering up myself with the necessary 75 articles of clothing. Plus, at least the upside to wearing tights every day is having them suck you in like linked sausage? Hmm, sausage? Am I hungry?

Err, where was I? Just like Every girl ever, I have a super short attention span and love snacks!

Anyway, after a few months of hibernation, I started to realize there was a problem when I couldn't fit into that ambitious pair of jeans I bought last summer. You know, the ones that make my ass look good! Like every girl ever, at first I blamed it on the fact that they had just been washed. Like Every girl ever, I was in denial, the first stage of grief. Grief for my non-fatass former self.

Like Every girl ever, I'm going to show this fatass who is boss! Like Every girl ever this will involve more talk than action, but girls love talking, so it's fine, because talking burns calories! So does sleeping. Sleeping in on Saturday mornings instead of going to Pilates is totally what every girl ever would do, so that's fine too!

No, but seriously, this time I really mean it! I'm super committed! Along with Every girl ever, I have started going to every class at the gym. Wow, some are really hard! Every girl ever, though, is panting and sweating just like me. Every girl ever does not look good working out. Except some girls do manage to look pretty, but they probably suck and have no friends.

Anyway, I've been working out really hard and eating salads every day for lunch. I'm certain the pounds are just shedding off. Then, like Every girl ever, I step on the scale to congratulate myself on my progress. "WHAT?? I GAINED a pound this weekend!?!" Like Every girl ever, I didn't really factor in that drinking 24 mimosas might be a little excessive in the caloric intake department.

Ugh, like Every girl ever, I feel like life is so hard sometimes! Sometimes I day dream about getting preventative gastric bypass surgery, maybe from Dr. Robert Ray!? Like Every girl ever, I loved Dr. 90210 even though his straight gayishness was very confusing! All those bright colors. Just like Chuck Bass, but Brazilian and into martial arts!

Then I remind myself that the best idea is for me just to stick to my hardwork and be patient...Wait, do I smell sausage?

I guess we could go watch basketball and drink a bucket of beer. There's always time to be dedicated when there's nothing good to watch on TV.

xoxo
Every Girl Ever

Online Shopping Away the Recession Blues at Goodwill. Why not?

We have found yet another reason to celebrate in these massively unfortunate economic times: We learned from a post on ASSME that Goodwill, yea, seriously, Goodwill!, is simply spilling over with designer duds for nothing. OK, so maybe they were making fun of the New York Times for their condescending reporting on this “trend”, but we decided that we need to check it out for ourselves anyway. Read on past the jump to see what we uncovered in this bargain paradise. 

Not only can you go to your local Goodwill and check out their goods, but you can also shop their “collections” online! Every item is pictured, and if it’s designer, there’s a picture of the label too, à la eBay. We couldn’t believe some of the things on there were going for such low prices. Christian Dior, Burberry, vintage furs… there were some real finds, and most for under $20. (There were also a significant number of Vera Bradley bags. Sorority girl guilt, perhaps?) I love a deal!!!

We’ve pulled out a few of our favorites below.

 

Vera Wang Sleeveless Metallic Dress Size 10, $13.99
Brown Dark Eyed Mink Stole, $5
L. Bamberger & Co. Fur Coat, $6
Group of Five Christian Dior Men’s Print Neckties, $5
Pink Salamander Lilly Pulitzer Dress Size 6P, $14
Christian Dior, Amrose, & Betty Jean’s Mink Hats, $26
Black Chanel Boots, $51

by Alexandra Wexler

9 yr. Olds Portraying Scarface: WoW. WTF.

EMBED-Scarface School Play - Watch more free videos

Umm…really?

When I was in elementary school, one of my friends had to turn down the role of Ariel in our school's production of The Little Mermaid because her mom thought the bikini top was revealing and inappropriate. That's how I got the part. Being second best and having a cool mom is a lot better than being first best and not having a cool mom. Remember that, kids.

Anyway. "You do coke and kill people." That's appropriate for a 9 year-old. And guns? Who doesn't want to play with guns at school? "Son of a B?" WoW.

I guess I'm appalled at this video. I can't decide because I'm also a bit jealous that I didn't get to play Elvira Hancock in my school play. Ariel just seems so juvenile now looking back.

"Lesson number two: Don't get high on your own supply." Man, I would have been fudging awesome in that role.

Thank Tosh.O for this gem.

Just Plain Good

DatNewCudi.com: KiD CuDi - Soundtrack 2 My Life (Directed by Jason Goldwatch) from DatNewCudi / DP on Vimeo.

Trend Forecast: Gold, thanks Ny Mag

By Aja Mangum

Leave it to Chanel’s global creative director, Peter Philips, to whip women into a beauty frenzy (remember how we all died over the Jade polish last year?). Next month the brand is coming out with yet another limited-edition makeup collection, which in all likelihood will sell out in warp speed like the others. Created for the Paris-Shanghai show that took place in Shanghai in December, the polishes ($25) and shadow ($45) stick strictly to a black-and-gold theme. Illusion D’or is a clear polish with subtle gold sparkles (looks mores intense in the bottle), while Gold Lamé has a sexy coppery feel. Unlike its sister Black Satin, Black Velvet is the polar opposite, in an inky matte black. Simply put, Ligne et Ombre de Chanel (matte black eyeliner and sparkly gold shadow) is absolutely stunning. Philips just has a knack for making women look and feel pretty.

Read more: The Cut: New York Magazine's Fashion Bloghttp://nymag.com/daily/fashion/#ixzz0jJnAJorS

JJ's Pick of the Week: Surfer Blood "Swim"

Jordan says you should download their entire album because it's really good. She generally knows what she's talking about and I'm sure I will hear some of these songs on repeat this summer from her iPod.  She really knows what she likes and always offers to be the DJ. It doesn't suck.

We saw them at Emo's during SX and they were great. Consider this album bought.

Vajazzling? Gross. Hilarious. Impratical.

I just recently received this emailed forwarded to me from my friend from her salon in LA:

Bonjour,

                 I have very exciting news for you exclusively from Cocktail Wax, We are now applying Swarovski Crystals to your newly waxed bikini and Brazilian  area! This is a new and upcoming trend that is great for special occasions or just to surprise that special someone!  Come in to get Vajazzled and enjoy a complimentary cocktail!!

You read that right. Vajazzled. Your bikini line. Someone would pay money to get crystals, Swarovski crystals no less, for "special occasions." Gag me.  Like the "Bonjour" at the beginning really classes that up. Right. Hasn't anyone been watching CNBC? We are still in a recession and the last time I checked recession chic did not consist of pubic crystals or any crystals for that matter. I mean, come on. Disco ball crotch? No way. That just sounds uncomfortable.

I started to Google for pictures and then I thought how weird that would be. This is not that kind of site people. But, this is the kind of site that would make fun of someone who vajazzles. Gag me again. Can barely say the word without gagging.  



Thankfully Gawker came to my rescue with the below hilarious gems. Oh, and they talk about how Jennifer Love Hewitt does it [just try to not get a mental image of that] so you know it must be in. Not.

{when polling men on how they feel about vajazzling}

Said another friend—let's call him Phil: "Okay. Um, no. Wouldn't, it, um, hurt both parties while doing certain things? Okay, maybe it would be funny as a surprise one time. But all the time? It feels like a real hood rat ghetto sort of thing. Or a J Lo thing, which is maybe the same thing. Then again I am pretty anti tattoos and piercings and body mods in general. I think girls are just perfect the way they are."

(Aw.)

And Videogum editor Gabe Delahaye feels very strongly about this issue. "Gross. People who vajazzle should have their vaginas taken away," he said. "They can have them back when they are ready."

Agree. If you are just dying to see what it looks like check out the PG-13 pics here.

Ode to the Fuchsia Lipstick of My Mother

I know that lately The.Well.Set has been devoid of my beloved fashion musings and I am sincerely sorry. If it's any consolation my brain has also been devoid of fashion musings because my work wardrobe generally consists of work out clothes {which doesn't suck} and the occasional suit for when I have a meeting and need to wear my big girl pants. 

Wait no longer my friends! Inspiration has struck. Writer block has passed, the SXSW fog is clearing and I am ready to write again... I give you my ode to fuchsia lipstick.

Fuchsia lipstick, you say? 

[it looks like it's spelled wrong, but it's not. trust me, I google'd it]

Yes, an entire article about fuchsia lipstick because we all know how I feel about a) lipstick b)cost per wear and c) it happens to be really hot right now (see the Who.What.Wear layout above). These are three things that are the building blocks of my fashion persona and I urge you to make them a part of your own. 

How does one get to love lipstick so much you might ask? Look no further than my fuchsia lipped mother (far right in the early 80s, on the family farm in bright lipstick with my sister, Aunt Molly, and Great Grand Pappy Afton, my namesake). From before I was born to this day that woman wears lipstick like it's her job. 

No other make up on? No problem! Lipstick is everywhere. Literally everywhere. In every car, every coat pocket, in every drawer. She stashes and stocks up on lipsticks like they are illegal. 

She doesn't just wear lipstick... She puts it on and makes this pucker face in the mirror. It's fascinated me for as long as I can remember. It's like she's pretending that she's had her lips done or something. Nothing can make her feel more done than having her lips on and I've predictably started to agree. (that's her, my sister and I on Easter Sunday '89)

They say we all become our mothers and in this instance I am glad. Nothing could be more utterly feminine or affordable than lipstick. So here's to you mother dearest for inspiring me to put on some lipstick and act like a lady.

Where to buy, you ask? What do I like, you ask? 

You ask, I deliver. I like Dior Addict High Shine Lipstick in Flamenco Red 754.  I like it because it goes on like chap stick and the color stays true. Buy it here.

Monday Pick Me Up

"Those are spanx!"  {more like manx}

"No, they are my super hero tights!"

This Monday in particular is eating my lunch. Literally, eating my lunch. 

Post SXSW depression is a real thing and I think I have found a small, brief but legitimate reprieve. This clip of from Jimmy Kimmel Live of the Handsome Men's Club is SO FUNNY. It is packed with stars (Tony Romo, Ted Danzin, Sting, Ben Affleck) and over and over again it makes me ask myself "How did he get these people to do this?"

There's only one answer: Kimmel must be that cool.