SOUTHERN WEDDING BELLE

Wedding Belles! I love them. It’s been a while since I’ve been to a wedding but I just got back from the funnest one ever! My beautiful friend was married this past weekend in Memphis. I had never been to Tennessee before and was really looking forward to a weekend down south. I had my outfits figured out and packed as lightly as possible. My outfits, of course, stemmed first from my shoe selection. For a weekend trip, I picked out six pairs of shooze. But…I…was…not…prepared…to…check…my…shooze..on …the…airplane. No way. I was prepared to lose my clothes and go naked to the wedding if I had to, but I was not going to risk having Delta lose my shooze, so I packed them in a soft duffle and readied myself to carry them on. As soon as they went through the airport security x-ray machine, the conveyor belt stopped with my bag being scrutinized through x-ray vision. I knew exactly which pair they were looking at – my gunmetal YSL 6 inch platform Tribute stilettos. I watched as the security guards looked, scanned and whispered to each other. I was certain that they considered this pair a weapon – I know I feel safer wearing them knowing that I can always take them off and use them to beat and stab anyone who attempts to mug me. Finally, the conveyor belt started to move again as my shooze passed carry on airline regulations.

Now, I’m married. I have been to scores of weddings. I will tell you that my wedding was among the most beautiful of services and receptions that I have ever been to. But if I had to do it again, I would have added some more punch and sass –much like I witnessed this past weekend. Here is the bride sitting in the pew next to me at the rehearsal in the church the night before the wedding. I’m loving the purple pedicure and the delicate gold, strappy sandals. You should have seen the sublime magenta Marchesa dress that she was wearing…..wowsa! Next, check out the bridesmaids’ shooze while waiting in the church for the bossy wedding coordinator to tell everyone where to go. I love that the bride had such different bridesmaids – you can tell by their shooze. One is barefoot. One is in nude patent leather Louboutins, another in gold strappy sling backs and another in silver peep-toe platforms. One of the bridesmaids even took off her strappy silver Dolce & Gabbanas and left me to babysit them while I sat in a pew.

How many weddings have you been to that serve the obligatory choices of beef-chicken-salmon? Shit, I’m guilty of some variation of that myself...my own choices were Beef Wellington, Macadamia Encrusted Salmon and Orange Glazed Cornish Hens. It was delicious, but I don’t need to tell you that Southern food is creative, interesting, crave-worthy and puts a smile on your face! How much would you love being greeted at the reception with a passed sterling tray of fried dill pickles with a remoulade dipping sauce? Or some warm hush puppies? Or some pulled pork tacos complete with all the accoutrements? And why not wash that down with some blueberry vodka and lemonade cocktails? Finish that off with some homemade gardenia decorated Strawberry Wedding Cake, lovingly made by the Mother of the Bride Extraordinaire. And HELLO, do I have your attention yet, how about some BBQ rib pizza brought out at midnight?

The icing on THIS wedding cake was when the rock star bride serenaded her new husband with a rendition of “No One”. Needless to say, she brought down the house. Hands down. And if that wasn’t enough, her father serenaded the bride when he got up with the band and crooned “My Girl” to her. Next, the bride grabbed the mic back and belted out “Proud Mary” to the crowd, complete with her dancing bridesmaid entourage in the foreground. I’m not even kidding when I tell you that I went to a rock concert this weekend. The bride did honor some wedding traditions…I’m not going to tell you how I know, but her “Something Blue” was a delicate, powdery blue thong.

 

And you KNOW the signs and symbols of a GREAT wedding is when you cast your eye downwards and check out the footwear on all of the guests. An amazing party will show that most of the guests have either shed their shooze and are going barefoot on the dance floor…or for the more fashion conscious; they have kicked off their heels and have changed into jewel encrusted, easy to dance-in, flip flops, as seen on this beautiful bridesmaid! What an amazing weekend with a totally in-love couple and the best people that I met this weekend! Thank you, Memphis!

YSL Tribute platform sandal, gunmetal leather
Apple green and gardenia flower slingback, Kate Spade
Grey Jimmy Choo lace up sandal
Turquoise blue snake print Manolo Blahnik sling back
Silver leather Jack Rogers flip flop

TICKLED PINK

Today, I’m tickled pink. I’m still riding on the high of my Italian vacation last week with the girls, which is why I’ve chosen to feature another Prada shoe to celebrate Angelica. I bought these shooze approximately 12 years ago on EBay. I needed a pale pink shoe to complete some silly, matchy-matchy ensemble that I was wearing for a wedding. Pale pink paillettes? What was I thinking? Anyway…they were dirt cheap. I even question if they are authentic because I really don’t recall them coming with an authentification card. At any rate, they did not fit so it was a colossal waste of money. But it didn’t seem to matter then because that was my pre-children era, when I didn’t have to think about walking away from a great pair of shooze on sale so that I could pay for a week of their summer camp. I never ended up wearing them, but I resurrected them from the bottom corner of my closet because they really seemed to concur with today’s theme of being TICKLED PINK.


As you know, I left Jackis with the kids for four days to enjoy a blissful, girly long weekend in Italy. I came home on Sunday afternoon and was pleasantly surprised to find that the house was relatively clean (the vacuum cleaner had even been dragged out and used, although it was left front and center in the middle of the living room when you first enter the house). The beds were made. Grocery shopping had been done for the week. Garbage had been taken out. Laundry hampers were empty. The kids were bathed and clean. The dog seemed content. Wow! I was really impressed that Jackis had seemingly impeccable control of the situation! Maybe the notion that I’m somewhat needed in my family was inflated in my brain, after all.

However, yesterday I came home from work to find JV playing on the computer. My eye was immediately drawn to his feet.

“JV, why are you wearing my socks?”

“They’re not your socks, Mamagirl, they’re mine” he responded.

“No they are not. They are pink.”

“Hellllllooooo? M-ommm?” he started, in his pre-teen, haughty cadence. “Do you remember? You went to Italy this weekend???”

“So? What does that have to do with the price of rice in China” I retorted.

“Dad did the laundry. He threw my red soccer socks in the laundry and now everything is pink”.

I went upstairs and peeked into the laundry basket that was neatly piled with folded clothes from the dryer. Sure enough, Jackis’ t-shirts were pink. Gus’ boxer shorts were pink. And JV’s socks were all pink.

My houseful of testosterone packed boyz now have bureaus filled with pink under garments. So I’m tickled pink to see that they actually do still need me in some capacity. Even if it’s as their laundry hag.

(And by the way....Gussy Man would DIE if he knew I was posting pictures of his knickers.  Which he is now refusing to wear.)

Prada, pink satin slides with paillettes

 

THE POWER OF FOUR

Last month, my college friend Chris, expounded on the virtues of the number THREE. There are three primary colors that make up all the beautiful colors in the world. There are Three Graces who have profoundly influenced the history of art. The Three Musketeers coined the solidity of loyal friendship and birthed the phrase “one for all and all for one”. Man, my friend Chris was really convincing and he had me thinking that THREE really is a magical number. But that was last month, and I just returned from an all girls trip to Italy with my three college roommates and I am now convinced that FOUR is the better number. That’s why today I’m celebrating FOUR pictures of some of my Italian shooze.

Let me first give you a little bit of background. The FOUR of us (The Mamagirl, Angelica, Lana and Nina) were college roommates for FOUR years. We got into all sorts of trouble together and often came home at 4am after carousing the nights away. Eventually, we had to grow up and get on with life. Nina went on to have FOUR children and start the uber successful company Momagenda http://www.momagenda.com/  Angelica moved back to her native Italy and travels between FOUR continents where she runs worldwide special events for Prada. Lana and I have known each other since we have been FOUR years old and went to nursery school through college together. We have photographs of ourselves in the nursery school Christmas recitals together. Then there’s me, The Mamagirl, and I own about FOUR hundred pairs of shooze. Here are FOUR great Italian shooze in Angelica’s honor…Prada, Prada’s baby Miu Miu, the fabulous local sandali that I just scored on the Italian Riviera and the windows of Madison Avenue’s Prada store.

Recently, the FOUR of us turned FOUR-ty. Some of us were going through a momlife crisis. A momlife crisis is when you realize that you’ve sacrificed about a decade of your life giving up your individuality. You are no longer an individual, but instead you are Somebody’s Mom…or Somebody’s Wife…or Somebody’s Employee…or Somebody’s Employer…or Somebody’s Sister…or Somebody’s Daughter. You put everything and everyone in your life before yourself. After years and years of this, it begins to beat you down and you long for grasping back towards your individuality. You need to be back in the place where you didn’t have to ask your parents if you could go out and you don’t have to ask your husband and your kids if you can have a night out with the girls. Sometimes, you need to get back to the place where you don’t have to answer to anyone and you can go back to being an irresponsible and fly by the seat of your pants type of girl. And so, on a whim, this is how this little Italian holiday was conceived. The FOUR of us were reminiscing about those great years of our lives and we wondered if we could throw caution to the wind and give up our families and responsibilities for FOUR days and meet up for old times sake.

And so, Nina, Lana and I hoped on a plane to Milan last week. Angelica met us at the train station and we hopped on a 2 ½ hour train ride down to the Riviera, where she and her beautiful family spend the summers. It was so good being back together as a FOURsome again. We laughed, we cried, we drank and we ate. We shared motherhood advice and Nina shared her ultimate wisdom on how to stay organized alla Momagenda. We discussed our children and their activities, such as should our kids take piano or trombone lessons? Lana committed to throwing back FOUR gelati in a day and we proudly egged her on as she licked flavors such as cioccolato or banana or limone or fragola or pistacchio and nocciola. The only time we did not stay true to our number is when the FOUR of us drank SEVEN bottles of wine and a bottle of Sambuca for dinner.

Thank you, Angelica – to you and your beautiful family –Andrea, Leonardo, Lorenzo and Magdalena – for letting us barge into your home and your life for the FOUR best days I have had in a very, very long time. I love you girls!!  And to all you mamagirls out there...I encourage you to indulge and spoil yourselves and go on a vacation with your girlfriends.  It is truly amazing how restorative it is to remember and celebrate yourself as an individual.  I also want to thank my family - to Jackis, JV and GussyMan - for giving me those FOUR days.  It was such a gift, but I am so happy to be home with you again!  

Brown leather sandali from Sestri, Italy

Miu Miu, rust embossed leather and rope platform sandal

Prada, tan leather caged sandal

Prada, Madison Avenue window

BUONGIORNO ITALIA!!

I'm on vacation today!  I'm all packed and waiting for my taxi to take me to the airport.  I'm feeling especially good about flying today, especially since a friend forwarded  me an article in yesterday's New York Times discussing the 400+ geese that were euthanized this week, making the skies around JFK airport much, much safer and less likely to force planes in the Hudson River.  I'm on a 4 day trip sans Jackis, JV and Gussy Man.  That's right...I'm on a girls' trip with  my three college roommates and we're headed to the Italian Riviera for some fun in the sun.  I've been practising the little Italian that I know...Ciao caro...Parmesean...Negroni...Tante Baci...Amarone...Montepulciano...Chianti...Campari...Cappucinno...Gelato...Fettucini...PizzaMargherita...Mozzarella...Foccacia.  Yup, that's all I need to get by.  


And can you believe that I've only packed ONE PAIR OF SHOOZE?  My pick is my trusted platinium colored Jack Rogers sandals - my summer staple.  And there is a very good reason for this lone pick.  It leaves more room in my suitcase for the several pairs of bejeweled and delicate Italian handmade sandals that I hope to find at the beach!! 


Arrivederci, ci sentiamo al mio rientro.


Jack Rogers flip flops, platinium leather

THEY'RE GETTING YOUNGER AND YOUNGER

For the past several weeks, there have been shoe sales galore in Manhattan. But the week after the Fourth of July marks the Manolo Blahnik sale. I am happy to say, that although I went to visit the sale, I did not fall prey to any purchases. These shooze above are an old pair of Manolos. And although they are not as high as most of my shoes, I really, really love them. Their shape is classic, the navy linen material is casually chic and they are appropriate for anywhere, still with the hint of allure by their flash of toe cleavage.

I visited the atelier on a day when the air conditioning decided to go faulty. Did I mention that we have been amidst a 100 degree heat wave this week in New York? Nonetheless, the boutique was filled with ladies admiring and deciding upon which purchases to make. There were the exotic skins, the bejeweled sandals, the good looking sensible flat sandals and the everyday classic pumps. While I am usually entranced by the beauty and form of a shoe when I am surrounded by them, this time something more powerful captivated my attention. It was the shoe shoppers. Specifically, the young girls who were accompanying their mothers on this excursion. They must have all been under the age of 12 years old. They were trying on all the sample shoes on display and were admiring their tiny feet in the mirror as they balanced and teetered on high heels. There were squeals of delight. Their eyes were wide with eager happiness. It was the equivalent of JV and Gus hitting home runs and winning the game for their teams. There really must be a gene in the female constitution that encourages the love affair that women have with shooze. As you can see, it clearly starts young.

Manolo Blahnik, navy linen kitten heels

SILLY MAKES ME SMILE

What’s not to love about something that makes you smile? While I appreciate the sculptural qualities and craftsmanship of a well made pair of shooze, sometimes I also just want to smile over a pair of shooze that has whimsy and charm. My colleague was wearing these shooze this week in the office and my eyes were immediately drawn downwards. A big smile spread across my face and they just simply made me happy. And they reminded me of Gussy Man and his Silly Bandz.

Silly Bandz. Why didn’t I think of this idea? I’m sure the inventor is a gazillionaire by now, judging from the amount of kids I see wearing these bandz around their wrists. These silly, colorful bands of elastic are worn as bracelets by the kids of today. When they are not wrapped around a tiny little wrist, they snap back into a variety of forms – farm animals, sports objects, dinosaurs, monkeys, hammers, princess crowns, wands, hats…they even have shooze. JV and Gus have collected hundreds of them. Sometimes, they gift Jackis or me the ones they don’t want. I inevitably get the girly shooze or the lipsticks. I’ve witnessed Jackis coach JV’s baseball team and have seen the kids approach Jackis in the middle of innings and say “Hey Coach, what bandz do you got? Do you wanna do a trade?” Gus has hundreds of them and he keeps them in a plastic baggie in a drawer in his room. Whenever we go to the drugstore or the barber or any other place that has them, he whines “Mamagirl, can you buy me some new Silly Bandz”? I used to be a sucker and buy a couple packs here and there but nowadays, I’m holding my ground and saying “no”. Because he doesn’t wear them. He just shoves them in that little plastic baggie in the drawer in his room. So what did he do? When we got home, he decided that he was going to model them for me. On both hands and both feet, because he has so many. And yesterday morning when I went to his room to wake him for camp, I saw that instead of cramming them into his plastic baggie in the drawer in his room, he decided to catalogue them and lay them out in neat rows on the other bed in his room. Colorful bands of elastic – they are so silly, but they made me smile.

Stuart Weitzman sandals