Pink of Perfection

When it is crazy, crazy hot outside, I get specific about what kind of delicious beverage I want. In the morning: Iced coffee, preferably cold-press, or a triple iced Americano. In the afternoon: iced tea or Diet Dr. Pepper. And at night? I really love a wine spritzer.

Now, I’m not talking about wine coolers, those pink bottled drinks from the ’80s that moms liked to drink in the backyard when their best friend came over on summer afternoons. This “cooler” is simply a beautiful rosé or  white wine mixed with seltzer and served with a sliver of lime or lemon. Gussy it up with melon balls, berries, or an herb sprig, and you’ve distanced them from their early reputation as a dieter’s alcoholic beverage of choice. They’re just a nice, elegant way to cool off on the kind of hot day where condensation starts forming on the outside of your glass nearly as soon as you pour it. All without getting too tipsy, too fast.

It’s the kind of drink that––forgive me for the leap––makes me think of Cybill Shepherd in her Moonlighting-heyday. Cool, in control, glamorous in an easy, brushed-out hot roller curls kind of way, and unapologetically feminine. Cheers to that.

Continue reading “Can We Bring Back the Wine Spritzer?” »

For a while there, I loved asking people what would be the opening song for their life movie. When I first heard Brenton Wood’s “Oogum Boogum,” it was one of the first sunny days of spring, and I was walking in my neighborhood in sunglasses and a cute outfit. It was the perfect opening credits song: jaunty, full of sass, and utterly irresistible. (Plus, it includes the lyric, “Go on now with your bad self.”) And so I pass it on as the opening of this very sunny, let’s-jump-in-the-car-and-get-out-of-here mix. May you walk in the sunshine, in a good outfit, your hair looking lovely. Happy weekend! What are you most looking forward to?

Continue reading “Mix Tape: Put On Your Sunglasses” »

Something horrible happened to me a couple weeks ago. I feel in love with the first few episodes of Cagney & Lacey (“It’s like a cross between Mary Tyler Moore and Law & Order SVU,” Sebastian smartly observed), only to watch as the dynamic of the show completely changed when, in episode seven, the tough and sexy Christine Cagney, as played by Meg Foster, is unceremoniously replaced by a feathered hair Sharon Gless. Also? Out go the original opening credits, in which Cagney and Lacey chase down a bad guy, cuff him, and triumph over the patriarchal system of the police force, all set to a brassy, 1970s groove. In comes a title sequence decidedly more of the Working Girl era, where our heroines pound the city streets but still get distracted by window-shopping.

I’m trying––mostly because I love Tyne Daly––to get back into it. But I keep thinking about Meg Foster and Tyne Daly. They seemed like friends as well as co-workers; part of the job description is supporting each other and having each other’s backs, all with a hard-nosed wink and a smile. Apparently, when career women work together and like each other, they seem like lesbians. But the new dynamic with Sharon Gless (and yes, I realize I’m talking about a show that is nearly thirty year old) seems more adversarial. Where’s the friendship? Where’s the heart? Perhaps it will come. I mean, the show did have a long, long successful run, even without my stamp of approval on staff changes.

So this style inspiration is dedicated to the original six episode run of Cagney & Lacey as I first fell in love with it, where the duo worked well together, liked each other, and wore awesome, awesome clothes. Key items: a-line skirts with pockets (filled with loose change for calling your husband at a pay phone about dinner), sturdy boots with enough of a heel to make you feel like a woman, a smart, sensible watch and a bangle, plaid, puff-sleeve tops, a big, cozy wrap coat to fend off the chill when you’re down at the docks, and a purse that amazingly stays slung over your shoulder as you chase down crooks.

I think old stuff is charming––the junkier, the better. This makes it very hard for me to cover ground on road trips because every giant billboard on a lonely stretch of country road for flea markets and antique malls makes me want to pull off at the next exit and dig through dusty, musty piles.

This is how I found a Girl Scout Handbook with awesome illustrations from the ’30s, my beloved turquoise typewriter, and the little lidded alpine dish that I pull my Splenda out of every morning. This is my favorite way to shop but sometimes, in a pinch, Etsy will do.

Vintage baby stuff is dear, and old French things, as we know, can have an irresistible sort of charm. Put them together and we’re talking, whoa: a match made in heaven.

Another thing about little vintage knickknacks here and there: when you’re largely shopping at places like IKEA for furniture and big ticket items, a little vintage toy on the windowsill or an old floral dish on the table can bring a big dose of history and charm to a space. It’s the kind of touch that really makes a house a home. And that even grown-ups can get behind.

Happy weekend!

Do you ever have such a vivid picture in your mind’s eye, even thought you know you’ve never actually seen it in real life? When I see these string shopping bags, I can smell the salty air. A woman is in the sunny South of France, or maybe walking cobblestones on a foggy day in Dijon. She is headed to the outdoor market, and when she arrives, she pulls the string shoppers out from her purse and hooks them over her wrist, still empty. She walks among the stalls wearing a brown leather belt and a linen skirt with wrinkles across her lap from when she sat reading a book by the open window earlier that morning. Her hair is pulled back in two clips, and she is smelling the air and feeling the warm sun on her forearms. She picks up a round piece of fruit, chats with a vendor, tucks a head of wet, leafy greens into her bag. The bags expand as she drops in a wedge of soft cheese, garlic, a small bottle of milk, and perhaps some shiny fish fillets wrapped in stiff paper. And when the bags are heavy and filled, she walks back the way she came––in the sunshine, or in the fog––strong-armed, on her way home to make a fine lunch.

Can’t you just see it?

Happy weekend, friends! I’ll be away from my kitchen and living vicariously through yours: What’s on your kitchen agenda?

1. Vintage denim wrap skirt pattern; 2. Vintage trench; 3. Tortoiseshell cateye sunglasses; 4. Essie Canyon Coral; 5. Gold nail head studs; 6. Floral scarf; 7. Worishofer lace-up slingbacks; 8. Scoopneck t-shirt; 9. Ruched-sleeve striped top

There is some endless pleasure, before the season has really taken form, in imagining what you will look like in it. I remember sitting in the backseat of a friend’s Toyota before spring semester of our junior year had started. “I’m going to wear lots of pink blush!” I declared. Soon enough, I was bare-faced and the resolution was forgotten, but there was so much delight in that moment of ripe potential.

I just opened the window in the living room and can hear birds outside. My husband reported this morning that the high today would be in the ’60s, tomorrow creeping up into the ’70s. But this is the hardest seasonal transition for me–coming out of the cozy cocoon of a home, peeling off layers, baring arms and pale calves. Spring has a dark side, and there’s a vulnerability to the season. Tender green growing shoots aren’t the only ones emerging from the safe darkness and into the unforgiving light.

But for those able to see it, spring is a new beginning and fresh start. Wardrobe-wise, I’m embracing the change with visions of striped tops, airy floral scarves, and the perfect red-coral nail polish. Life-wise, I see more walks in the park in my future, an uptick in smoothies, and more of those daffodils we all can’t stop about.

How do you welcome spring, wardrobe-wise and life-wise? Do you kind of see yourself like Carrie in that episode of Sex and the City where she’s walking through a flurry of falling pink cherry blossoms? Or when she’s ambling down the street on a weekend, tote bag filled with flowers and the newspaper? (I do!)

I first learned of this book over drinks in a cozy wine bar with my friend Laureen, who it inspired to bring back a winter wonderland skating party. A shameless fan of charming anachronisms––handwritten thank yous, steak cooked in butter, frocks––I was a goner before even laying eyes on it. I have in my hands now a hot little copy of Let’s Bring Back: An Encyclopedia of Forgotten-Yet-Delightful, Chic, Useful, Curious, and Otherwise Commendable Things from Times Gone By to give away to one lucky Pink of Perfection reader, courtesy of Chronicle.

Some of my favorites: The Aesthete (“a full-time occupation” which “required enormous cultivation of wit and wardrobe”), bridge, discussion societies (“like the ones attended by the Schlegel sisters in Howard’s End, where they talked about art, philanthropy, politics, and other self-improving subjects”) and evening strolls (“a civilized after-dinner occupation, as opposed to throwing yourself down onto a sofa and watching reruns of America’s Next Top Model.”) Frankly, this book is so charming, I very much want to keep it for myself. Leave a comment about your favorite old-fashioned tradition, turn-of-phrase, or what-have-you by midnight this Friday, December 17. One winner will be chosen at random.

Update 12/20:
And the winner is citygirl! This was such an extraordinary comment thread, I never wanted it to end! Thank you to all for entering.