It’s not just about eating right, sleeping enough, or regular exercise. It’s not just about washing your face and moisturizing a little, picking out the right Dior shadows for the lids, Lancome blush for the cheeks, Bobbi Brown for the lips. It’s not about the perfect Little Black Dress. (Sorry, Coco.) It’s more. So much […]
The Grass is Always Greener?
Do you covet what the “other guy” has? Is the grass always greener? Literally? I ran across this article in the New York Times, which elicited a chuckle at first, then interest, and finally, a flicker of concern. A chuckle because lawns in Phoenix, Arizona are being sprinkled with green paint rather than water. Interest, […]
Sandra’s Bangs (Living in a Fishbowl)
Yesterday I considered red paint for my walls, red paint for my hair, and settled for a new shade of vermilion on my toe nails. Last night, I also cut myself bangs. Very Sandra Bullock. And don’t we all know that she appeared at the Golden Globes with a new do? Blunt bangs, and commentary […]
Ordinary Days
Aren’t we a culture that professes to value individuals? A society that goes wild over the stand-out: exceptional performance, particular charm, something – anything – distinctive? And don’t we oo and ah over beauty? And yet. The distinctions we seek – in professions and in personal style – are increasingly conventional. As for beauty, who […]
Confidence (Our Secret Weapon)
Perhaps our most important asset. French women know it, and show it.
My Mirror, My Mug
I look in the mirror and blink. I stare at the face staring back. Who is she? No wide-eyed adolescent, that’s for sure. Nor is she a young woman, though I might like to pretend otherwise. These days, I hardly recognize myself. Yes, it’s fatigue. But something more is going on. Something we think will […]
The view from where I sit
It is not the day of her passing, though my mother is much on my mind. She is here, as I pad around the house to the ticking of the wall clock that brings me back to mornings in her kitchen. Today, I write from a chair I rarely use. It is most often the […]
Beauty as Asset: Are You Taking Advantage?
She didn’t realize that I was watching. She was in her thirties, blonde, with black eyeliner and mascara expertly applied. She had an upturned nose, and a bright, wide smile. She was trim, yet curvy, and seemed comfortable in her skin. I noticed her feet. They were perfectly pedicured, her toe nails painted hot pink, […]
Stilettos in Anchorage. Tequila in Center City. Diets, anywhere.
Stilettos. Tequila. Diets – even the crazy kind. Recession-proof ideas, he said. My friend who has a friend who has a friend, the venture capitalist. “Give me a great recession-proof idea, and I’ll get you the funding.” Was it legit, or was it really just a line about my bottom line? I was to gather […]
Snoring
It strikes fear in the hearts of lovers and newlyweds. Irritation in weary married couples. Arguments from siblings on vacation, forced to share a tiny room. Snoring. No make-up? No worries. Snoring was all I could think about, pondering my first entire night with a new… friend. It wasn’t fear of waking in the morning, […]