Gone Style: Momgyver + Sparkle Fingers + Good Jeans

Drooling Closet: Week 3

Festive Fable, Thanksgiving:

Corduroy "Fairy" Jumper*: Janie & Jack
Barrettes: Handmade, local boutique

fairies + stars + smocking = love

*I fell in love with this jumper when I found it on sale whilst pregnant (with Fable). I'm not usually a Janie & Jack fan. Stuff's too precious for my taste but this one-piece slayed me.

...

Gone Style:
Stripes/Momgyver!

Shirt: Lux, Urban Outfitters (purchased a million years ago.)

Pants: Fluxus (this store is my weakness. Clearly.)

Scarf: no idea

Booties: Nicole

Beanie: Grace Hats (Barneys Outlet)

The pants are super trendy and most of you will likely hate them (as evidenced by my first style post) but I think they're fab. And they're super flattering from the side and make me look like I have an ass. Kind of.

P.S. Know why I never leave the house without a scarf?

Last week, Archer's shirt became a casualty of the Pacific ocean and I didn't have a spare shirt in my bag (damn me!) BUT I did ( obvy) had a scarf on.

So? I Momgeyver'd dat ass.

Not ideal but certainly better than nothing.

walking into town with the fam, Encinitas

Archer's jeans: Ben Sherman (sidewalk sale)
Shoes: DC
Belt: Target
Shirt: My scarf!

...

Girl's Gone 'Cure:

Festive Fingers

(because after six weeks of chipped nails, it was about time.)

Five coats of polish later... Gold sparkly spirit fingers!

Bonus? They match my favorite sparkly Toms (for a good cause!) which, I mean... who doesn't love that?

...

Featured Style:

(my cousin) Emily from Brooklyn!

I'm a big fan of boyfriend jeans, especially when they're actual boyfriend jeans. Emily wear's her boyfriend's lovah's (ahem) "friend's" jeans with black flats, cardigan and gold jewelry. Simple. Sexy. Rarr.

GGC

Treasured

Fable and the flower fairies

Archer explores the upper garden

... ... ...

Saturday night we had dinner with my grandmother and some of her friends at her home in Del Mar where she's lived since forever and over the years has accumulated some incredible architectural artifacts c/o Frank Lloyd Wright and his son John Lloyd Wright (who was married to my grandfather's mother, Frances.)

John Lloyd Wright, who built my Nana's (and mother's childhood) home, invented Lincoln Logs and sold the patent for a measly $800 to Playskool. (Bah!) Robbed blind, the toy went on to be the most popular and beloved toy of its time (and all time, arguably) and not a penny of its worth was seen by John or his family. A heartbreaking story for a man who lived his life in his father's shadow, never fully able to step outside.

To follow, John started over, this time with a much more ambitious block - a wooden (pre lego?) intricately carved specifically for castle-building! He patented it and tried to sell it himself but was unable to. They were far too intricate a design and too expensive to make.

The blocks sat in their first/only edition boxes, archived and stowed away except for a great big open-to-all box that lived in my grandparents' closet, making cameos during dinner parties with my mother and aunt's Barbie dolls and Breyer horse collection.

My cousins, siblings and I spent hours in our dresses on the floor, building worlds of our own, unaware of the significance of what we were building with until we were much older.

The other night, my Nana dusted off the old box of Wright blocks and Archer (as well as all the rest of us dinner--party goers) spent the evening on hands and knees building castles. Eighty years between builders young and old.

(Dawn, dusk)

And then, wedged somewhere in the bin, the old patent stamp, hand-carved and long lost. It said:

John Lloyd Wright, inventor of Lincoln Logs presents:

"Wright Blocks"

Amazing, the kinds of artifacts found over the years in my Nana's closet. It's like digging for treasure in the dust bunnies of lost decades. Except you don't even have to really dig and somehow, never a dust mote in sight.

Afterward, my Nana brought out an old album - a collection of photographs and letters and old sketches - brilliance. Archer was fascinated. He sat down next to my Nana, his great-grandmother, and listened as she wove tails and introduced his saucer eyes to sepia photographs of his great-great-great- grandparents.

"And this was your great-great-great grandmother, Lady Hattie! She built the very first birth-control center in Yorkshire, England, and her husband, Sir George - he was a knight!"

Which just about blew his mind. "Whoa! A good knight?"

And mine. "Whoa! The first birth control center?"

I am consistently blown away every day I spend at my grandmother's home - by the people and places who have passed through - the hands that built its very foundation - the courage and creativity of those that came and went, the stories left behind in letters and drawings and beautiful eighty-years-young matriarchs.

What a tremendous responsibility to carry on the legacy and how lucky to be at the receiving end of such tremendous tales.

I am in awe of these people I am privileged to call family. It blows my mind sometimes how inspired I am just by waking up and high-fiving their ghosts.

Archer and Fable play with fairies in the "great-grandchildren garden" my Nana built just for them.

(So lucky.)

GGC

*My Nana's new book hits stores this week! The updated version of her (Southern California) gardener's classic is all-organic, including new ways to protect your plants without using pesticides harmful to the earth. Go, Nana!

**Congratulations to my cousin Jordan, and the producers of Under Our Skin (a documentary about the Lyme disease epidemic and a Health Care system that shamefully ignores Lyme disease and its victims) for making the short list for possible Oscar nom! Much deserved for a VERY important film! Trailer, here.

21/100

This is for you, Rachel:

Can't wait to see your performance next week. So proud.

21. Alela Diane - Pieces of String

GGC

Gone Style: Threads & Threading

1. Drooling Closet

Week Two:

Yellow Dress: Decaf Plush

(sidewalk sale)
Orange under shirt (formerly a dress but she outgrew): Imps and Elfs*

(The Little Seed)

Tights: Janie & Jack
Shoes: Robeez
(hand-me-downs from Archer.)

2. Gone Style:

Saturday Afternoon/Evening Momsemble

Black dress: Fluxus
men's overshirt: Fluxus
Leggings: American Apparel
Shoes: Nine West circa '00
Scarves: Anthropologie/no-name*
(the white/grey scarf has become my security blanket, apparently. I seem to wear it almost daily even if it means doubling up with other scarves, jewelry, etc.)

3. Face Forward:

Eyebrow Threading

Before:

this is what six weeks without a threading looks like:

extreme close-up = yikes!

During:



*musical credit: Metallica, Master of Puppets

After:

With Ainun! (Makeup under my eyes from crying because it hurts.)

**I get my brows styled at Vinitas on La Cienega btw. The ladies there are dolls and do great work!

4. Featured Style:

Rachel from Detroit!!!

... What can I say? I'm a sucker for a wolf shirt and a good bang.

GGC

Hair Thursday

Archer rocks the over-the-face-uber-angst look for Fall

“He needs a haircut.”
“I know.”
“So why don’t you cut his hair?”
“Because he doesn’t want a haircut.”
“But you’re his parent. You’re supposed to make the rules.”
“I do make the rules but he doesn’t want a haircut. What am I going to do, hold him down and cut his hair?”
“No. Just tell him he has to have a haircut.”
“I tried. But then he told me he wants to grow his hair long and I have to respect that. It is his hair. And it isn’t hurting anyone.”
“But he looks sloppy – like someone who needs a haircut.”
“Maybe but who am I to tell him how to look?”
“You’re his parent...”

More, here...

GGC

*post title a reference to Whoorl's Hair Thursday blog which rules.

20/100

Remember the post I wrote last year about the boy I met at a bar who was my first word?

A couple days ago I asked him to be my friend on Facebook. What people did to find each other after losing each other after finding each other after losing each other before Facebook is beyond me.

Q: For better or for worse?

A: We shall someday know the answer.

(Or maybe we already do.)

20. Nancy Sinatra: Bang Bang

GGC

Gone Style (cont.) = Drooling Closet + Makeup + Shopping

Okay okay okay... SO. This is sort of a follow-up post to yesterday's post because many of you asked for makeup-tips as well as a third round of "Drooling Closet" (check out round one, here and two, here) so starting next week I will compose a giant super-post of self-style, makeup tips, drooling closet, inspiration, links and more?

In the meantime, here's this week's Drooling Closet featuring the fall fashion of Fable:

Peruvian Sweater: swap meet/gift from Auntie Roo

Organic Dress: Happy Green Bee

Tights: Janie & Jack

Shoes: Ugg, all the way from Sydney, Aus (thanks, uncle Russell!)

Hair clips: Homemade by a friend.

I'm edible.

AND... Here's this week's makeup look:

Get up and Go/Minimalist

(Prep time: 2 minutes)

Before:

Yes. I know I look like a man without makeup.

Yes. I know I need to get my eyebrows* done.

Products:

(listed in order of application)

1. M.A.C. Eyeshadow in Phloof! (any silvery shade will do) applied with M.A.C. eyeshadow brush

3. Benefit "10" two-toned bronzer
4. M.A.C. Studio Fix pressed-powder

2. (Black or Brown) Mascara: (I used L'oreal, here, but am promiscuous with my 'scara. I don't recommend anything particularly.)

5. M.A.C. Lipstick: Pink Plaid

The directions for this look are super simple so I'm going to skip an application** video.

1. Apply shadow to lid with brush.
2. Apply mascara to upper and lower lashes. Three or four strokes is all.
3. Apply bronzer from lower cheek up toward ear. If you're using a a two-tone bronzer (or blush) make sure the lighter shade is above the darker (shade) as to best accentuate cheekbones. Holler.

Behold:

a little less manly.

Now with cheekbones!

Happy Makeup-ing, ladies!

P.S. Here is (not only) a swell momversation about shopping (do you prefer to shop online or on foot?) but also a great example of why one should always wear something tinted on her lips. I tried to go "nude" in this episode and look like I have no mouth. That being said, Maggie, Asha and Giyen's mouths look positively kissable:



GGC

*Perhaps next week I'll do a spotlight on the torturous world of eyebrow threading?
**(I shot a goofy makeup-ap vid a few months back. You can watch it, here.)

Girl's Gone (Style)

Good morning and welcome to a new Style (Woo!) section of GGC. I've been toying with the idea of starting my own little mini fash & style sector - a Sunday Styles section of sorts (a day late in this case, I do realize.)

I'm a mega-fan of style blogs. I stalk Maggie's Mighty Closet posts and refresh Emery Jo's Fall Fashion flickr stream (Emery is one of THE most well-styled girls on the Internet. She inspires me daily.) My friend Evalotta (one of the chicest people I know) has THE best LA Street Style blog on the web and Mai's fashioni.st is a must-stop for daily inspiration and look! I got to make a cameo when we roomed together at Broad Summit! (Can we please talk about Mai's style? Because HELLO! The girl is a firecracker! Ka-plow!)

I'm obsessed with Sea of Shoes to the point that I convince myself Jane Aldridge is everywhere I look. The girl apparently has quite the collection of knock-offs, not that I can blame anyone. I'd knock her off in two secs if I had the budget to do so. P.S, lookbook.nu for Wardrobe Ambassador!

I digress. Starting today, I'm going to do a weekly style post, featuring a weekly wear and/or makeup tips, style finds including the Gone Style Look of the Week!

This week? I choose Mai. This ensemble specifically. Talk about nailing the shoes.

...Because happy clothes = happy hos. Of that I am convinced. Here's a little some-something I wore yesterday.

Sunglasses: Vintage Pierre Cardin

Scarf: forgot-the-name-of-the-store, Encinitas
Bomber jacket: Arden B
Striped poof-dress: Summer's LF Sale, $39
Leggings : American Apparel

Boots: Born

(I bought these boots on sale for $50 when I was pregnant with Archer. I couldn't tell if I loved them or hated them at the time and honestly? I still can't. That's always a good sign, I think. Such a fine line between love and hate, the poets say.)

I probably wouldn't wear the dress without the jacket but I don't usually wear dresses without jackets because I'm fantastically insecure about my upper-arms. And leggings or tights are a must for underneath because otherwise? You would be able to see my vagina and that's not really my style, either. Not for day, anyway.

(High volume dresses look way hot on way skinny people but for us not-so-waify peeps? It's kind of imperative to mix-it-up with a fitted jacket or shirt or fabulous belt..)

I'm more of a jacket and scarf girl. I need to work on my belt collection. And my manicure collection.

Also! Several of you asked about the tartan tunic Hal/I rocked on Halloween. It's Torn by: Ronny Kobo purchased at Barneys Co-Op, which is where I want my ashes scattered when I die.

At least some of them.

Always dress for good news.

Favorite style blogs? Streams of your daily wears? Please do share.

GGC

Less Homework, More

Last week Archer came home with a piece of paper prepping parents for the teacher-student conferences soon to come. On the form, we were to pose questions, make comments, inquire within. But my questions were few. My comments non existence save for one: WHAT THE FUCK IS UP WITH ALL THE HOMEWORK? THIS IS PRESCHOOL, I MEAN, COME ON! YOU HAVE TO BE KIDDING ME! EVERY SINGLE NIGHT THIS KID HAS HOMEWORK? HE'S FOUR YEARS OLD, PEOPLE! HE'S FOUR YEARS OLD!

I was angry. Frustrated by the system and the man and the fact that my four-year-old son had homework. I didn't have homework in Preschool.

"Did I?"

"No way," my mom said. "And if you did, I wouldn't have made you do it because that's just insane. He's four."

"Right? I know! Thank you, mom. Exactly my point."

Not that my mom and I usually disagree. We pretty much share a brain and a soul but it felt good to hear that my mother was on my same page re: WTF?

I got off the phone with my mom and started asking friends with children in preschool if their kids had homework.

"Does your daughter have homework at your school?"

"How many hours does your preschooler spend writing lower case a(s) before bed?"

I asked and I fumed and I shook my fists at the sky. I googled and bing'd and wrote letters I never sent and told Archer he didn't *have* to do homework unless he wanted to because he was only four and what a crock!

"But mommy? I want to do my homework. I looooove homework."

"Don't worry Archer. You don't have to --- Wait, what?"

That was when I realized Archer had already done his homework. The entire pile. Three days early.

"I want more homework," he sighed. "It's so fun."

"Wait. Are you serious?"

Indeed, he was.

As it turned out, I was so busy building an army to fight homework in preschool! that I forgot to ask my own preschooler whether he minded the homework I was so vehemently against.

"Yeah, mommy. It's fun!"

"Oh. Really? Oh. Whoa. Oh. Oh. Huh. Oh."

Fast forward to yesterday, when once again, Archer came home with a stack of homework to do over the next week, and once again he did it all in one sitting. Because he wanted to. Because "he loved it." Because "I'd rather do homework than play with my toys!"

Hal and I used to joke that our child, the product of two crazy bohemian whack-job head-in-the-clouds fuck-the-man! artisticles would most likely rebel against us and grow up to be a rule-abiding CPA.

Apparently we weren't kidding.

Not that Archer's necessarily going to be an accountant when he grows up, but the kid's certainly full of surprises. And a backpack full of homework that he "can't wait to go home and finish!"

Which is totally awesome and rad and fine with us, obviously. But made for quite the awkward parent-teacher conference this afternoon.

"So, Ms. Woolf, I understand you're quite upset about Archer's homework situation."

"Yeah (ahem!) about that. I was just kidding. What I really meant to say was that I think there should be MORE homework. Is there any way you can send him home with more?"

"Wait. Are you serious?"

Indeed, I was.

GGC