Happy St. Paddy's Day!

(above: celebrating this year at Geraghty's Pub)

  As if life in general & the fact that it's "almost" the weekend isn't reason enough to crack open a brew this evening--it's St. Patrick's Day too!  Which is definitely an obligatory day of drinking in my book.  I think I've even read somewhere that it's bad luck to pass up drinks on this fine holiday...and I certainly don't want that!  It's a funny day, when everyone appears to have some Irish heritage that they cling to whilst donning kelly green (which is a universally flattering color--in my opinion) & hopefully, paying homage to Guinness in some way.  It brings me back to my trip to Dublin with my husband, sister & brother-in-law.  All I can say is-- good times.  Very, very good times.  My not-so-nice older sister, decided to take some Amy Winehouse-esque shots of me at my best on our last night in Dublin.  That's just rotten & I'm not quite shameless enough to share those.  But I will offer up some of the pics from our visit to the Guinness factory where I got to taste some of the most delicious Guinness I have ever been privy to.  Today we should celebrate the smooth, rich taste of this famous stout.

     And I think we can all agree--Black is Beautiful.

    Just for kicks--here is Cici's festive socks & leggings!

and the winner is....

  Last night was Oscar night, and in addition to being Hollywood's biggest night to celebrate film, it has definitely become one of the biggest nights for fashion as well.  When it comes to awards season for film, a formal occassion like the Oscars demands something divine & I for one, appreciate a little drama at an event that celebrates...well...mostly drama.  Here are my favorites of the star-studded evening:

Favorite Fabric--Mila Kunis in a lavender, lingerie inspired Elie Saab
    Best Train--Halle Berry in a perfectly placed tulle train, Marchesa

    Best Color--Jennifer Hudson in  a bold "tangerine-orange", Versace

Best Jewelery-- Natalie Portman in memorable, tassle Tiffany & Co. earrings (dress by Rodarte)

Best Hair--Reese Witherspoon's sky-high, 60's style ponytail (styled by Fekai)

Best New-Comer-- Jennifer Lawrence in a simple & extremely sexy, Calvin Klein Collection by Francisco Costa
 

Best Beaded-- Annette Bening in brilliantly beaded & stand-out black, Naeem Kahn

Best Metallic--It's a tie!  Between Anne Hathaway's liquid blue, Armani Prive & Gwenyth Paltrow's sulty, silver, Calvin Kelin Collection

VB

  In case you missed it, my article on Victoria Beckham's Spring 2011 line is featured on fashionpaparazzis.com. Click on the link to view it:

http://fashionpaparazzis.com/?p=11000

Quick Quinoa Salad

  I just recently had a proper introduction to this super-food, quinoa (keen-wah) & have been sharing my new found love for this miracle "grain" with all my friends!  I say "grain" because it is actually a relative of leafy green vegetables, such as spinach & Swiss chard.  It is gluten-free & is a tasty alternative to rice, pasta, oatmeal, you name it!  You can practically supplement quinoa for any of your favorites.  I'm not kicking bread to the curb, but I like quinoa as an alternative to our usual grains because it is a great way to add more protein to your diet.  It is actually considered a "complete protein" which means it contains all nine essential amino acids.
  I got this recipe from my Mom & have been eating it almost everyday.  I usually warm it up a bit & then make myself an egg over medium & place it on top of this delicious quinoa medley.  A serious protein punch to start my day off right!

Ingredients:

-12 Oz black beans

-1 cup Quinoa

-2 cups of stock (chicken, beef, vegetable)

-3 Tbsp sherry vinegar

-1 Tbsp Low-sodium soy sauce

-1 Tbsp lime juice

-1 chipotle in adobe, minced

-2 Tbsp olive oil

-6 scallions, white and green parts only, thinly sliced

-1 red bell pepper, finely diced

-¼ cup chopped cilantro

In a med saucepan combine the quinoa with 2 cups stock and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer the quinoa over low heat until the water has been absorbed, about 15 mins. Spread the quinoa on a plate and let cool.

In a large bowl, whisk the vinegar, soy sauce, lime juice and chipotle. Add the olive oil in a thin stream, whisking until blended. Add the black beans, quinoa, scallions, red pepper and cilantro. Toss to combine and serve.  Enjoy hot or cold!

*Just like rice you can cook quinoa w/water, stock or any liquid of your choosing to infuse extra flavor. 

I love cooking it w/coconut milk--especially for a breakfast dish (add nuts or dried cranberries) or when paired w/stir-fry.

Active-where?!

 

   Some people may call me a dreamer...but I am always searching for fabulous finds that can be incorporated into the everyday lives of those of us not gracing the catwalks whilst still giving a nod to the creative and fun flair that we see in an actual runway show.  I think that now there is really no denying that fashion & functionality have been able to come together in a lovely marraige that looks great and is still indeed practical--activewear.  Now, this word can be somewhat elusive because the literal translation that many of us have been programmed to accept is that activewear is strictly workout attire.  If you can't run 3-4 miles in it, it isn't "activewear".  Now, hear me out.  If you are in fact, getting up, running errands, taking kids here, there & everywhere, making dinner, shopping, hitting a yoga class, lunching w/friends--are you not incredibly "active"?  So that being said, can't we broaden the horizons of what is known to be activewear?  I think so...and obviously so do others like Stella McCartney & Heidi Klum.  I believe I'm in good company here.  Designers are starting to take notice of this new fashion niche and popping a little pizzazz into your once basic, black zip-ups and yoga pants.  Think ruched shoulders, lined hoods, bright colors & even prints-- to bring a once overlooked area of dressing into the fashion realm.  It's like the last kid waiting to be picked on the playground & we are finally scooping her up & making her over--turning her out to be oh so chic. I mean seriously--when you get up in the a.m. you're not dying to put on your sky high heels, cropped, sequin jacket & smoke out your eyes--you may want to come sun down, but when it's early & you're just meeting a friend for coffee, swinging by Target or dropping kids off to school you want to be comfortable yet still sleek & pulled together.  Wish granted.  Activewear has serious potential--take a look at lines like Adidas by Stella McCartney & HKNB (Heidi Klum: New Balance) to see this wonderful shift forward for activewear.  Then run... or hell-SPRINT to get your busy hands on these practical yet still seriously posh pieces and enjoy activewear--everywhere!

*HKNB is sold exclusively on amazon.com & features 3 looks from Project Runway 2nd runner up: Andy South

Gray Matter

  

 

  Even though I love, LOVE color--everything comes back to nuetrals in some way, shape or form. Who doesn't own a classic white oxford, nice pair of khaki/black pants, LBD, worn-in, white tee, even brown boots? (If you answered "no," you should remedy that--like now.) Black, white, brown & khaki have pretty much dominated that section of our wardrobes in which we build so many wearable outfits. I feel like up until recently though we have been tossing aside a wonderfully diverse neutral that can go from dove to charcoal & sweatshirt to evening--Gray. I think that for so long we have associated gray with sweats and storm clouds and instead we should be looking at it as a fresh alternative, which clearly has more range. It can be so light, almost a tinted white, a fun, metallic--offering silvery shine and even so dark, that it's just a barely there black. Just like it's neutral parents and browns--it looks great paired with any color or even another neutral. Gray has even been showing up in nail salons--black is too Halloween, white screams I got bored at my desk with the Wite-Out pen & is so last year Gwen Stefani--doesn't gray just seem like the natural transition? So stash your crisp whites & foreboding blacks & embrace that middle ground--it looks so good to go gray!

More times than not in the recent past, I have gone out for what was supposed to be a wonderful date night with my husband--classic, dinner & a movie. But it seemed that with the rising movie theater prices, the astronomical cost of snacks & dealing with obnoxious tweens texting and talking--it was almost not worth our while. Then, when the movie was a flop on top of all that--it definitely seemed like a major waste of time & money. But, our Friday night this weekend yielded a delightful change of pace...I had been hearing from some family members that 'Inception' was indeed worth going to see but due to our sometimes radically different taste in cinema I wasn't entirely sold. I appreciate many of the performances that Leonardo DiCaprio has debuted, particularly in recent years but, I had decided that choosing films based on their writer & director might yield a more consistent result. I had thoroughly enjoyed writer/director Christopher Nolan's past films (The Dark Knight, Memento) so I was confident that this would be in the same aesthetic vein as his past work & my expectations were surpassed. I find the subject of dreams in itself quite fascinating, but this film really explores the inner workings of our subconscious and will definitely have you trying to decipher your dreams in the nights following. I love seeing a film that promotes discussion long after the credits roll & this had me bubbling over with conversation on the ride home. The best movie I've seen in the theater in quite some time--don't sleep through this film's theatrical tour!