Month: January 2014

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on the menu: deluxe ramen

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 Ramen is so ripe for improvement, the brands you can find at Asian markets especially so. I add all manner of enhancements and it seems I cannot go wrong. The most flexible dishes are often the most reliable, too, I think.

Prime candidates include: egg, cabbage (a lot), scallions, ginger (a lot), garlic, lemongrass, sesame seeds, sesame oil (a lot), bouillon, miso paste, mirin, hot pepper (whole or flakes), soy sauce (a little, maybe), carrots, celery (a lot), any other vegetables that seem amenable…

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monochrome: stone

IMG_0696I like all sorts of taupe shades, and especially wearing them together. Throw some olive and chocolate in the mix and I have all of my favorite colors in one place.

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These boots are still going strong in their second (or third? Why can’t I tell time?) year. 

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The wind is not our friend.

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Really liking these new corduroys, which have a nice skinny fit and large back pockets. I like large back pockets. They seem to make my bum look bigger and more generous, somehow, which I like. Friendlier? More approachable? I don’t know. Tiny, miserly (or even just small) back pockets look so unflattering to me (adolescent, too), and they are useless in the bargain.

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Free People corduroys, Sorel Tofino boots, Jean Pierre cable sweater (via Marshall’s), Thinsulate gloves, Old Navy vest, Muk Luks hat, heart pendant from Etsy. The wooden earrings were a gift, long ago. Favorites. On the lips: Chanel Rouge Coco Shine in Esprit (mostly blotted off to give the tiniest hint of color). On the cheeks: Chanel cream blush in Fantastic, a beautiful deep berry color that looks entirely natural.

I am wearing so much more makeup than it looks like I am wearing here. [This Lisa Eldridge tutorial has the best advice regarding no makeup makeup I’ve seen thus far.] I see charm in both ends of the spectrum (the conspicuous as well as the inconspicuous makeup), as well as in the very reasonable act of actually wearing no makeup, which is closer to my usual approach.  Maybe a little something on my cheeks. Maybe mascara. Maybe. If I was in the right kind of mood that morning. The world of the blog is only fractionally indicative of life (and it is—for now—the world of photos, a world with slightly different laws and prescriptions). That said, a little bit can go a long way. I’m curious to experiment with wearing more both for the sake of testing products and to see…what it’s like. Just what is it like to be transparently made up on a semi-regular basis? What would it be like for me (other than time-consuming)? What can it do?

Anyhow, this kind of dark berry color is another winter blush I was craving, and I wanted this cream blush particularly, a relatively new and rightly much-lauded formula. Chanel’s beauty products are so, so nice. Not cheap, but not disappointing, either.

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