Fashion Friday

Welcome to Wife Dressing Part II

Today I want to touch on some cardinal sins in wife dressing. Can I preface this post by pointing out that there are very few outfits featured here that I would have worn before I was a wife!

In 2010 nobody expects us to become Stepford Wives, either physically, professionally or personally. Although if anyone knows the secret of Bree Vandercamp Stepford perfection let me know! Wife dressing is a more discreet artform. Wife dressing is about loving yourself, your husband and your marriage. If you wanted to carry on like a single gal, why did you get married? You are not just you anymore. You are half of a partnership. Your actions and costume choices reflect on your husband as well.

Let's talk about the list of Never Dos for Wife dressing.

1. Never wear anything that Britney would consider wearing. Or Paris. Or Lindsay Lohan.


2. Do not wear any outfit that was previously in the "Catch a Man" section of your wardrobe. Get rid of it! You caught your man.

3. Never wear a shirt with dirty or trashy sayings on it (I avoid all shirts with writing. That part of my anatomy gets enough attention without plastering writing over it!)

4. Do not wear anything that came from Supre.

5. Do not wear a leotard. Unless you are in a private ballet class and there is no chance it will ever end up on TV (even then I wear leggings and a fitted shirt over mine!)


6. Avoid displaying your stomach. Even if you have killer abs like J-Lo.



7. Always wear underwear. Top and bottom. Especially when posing for photos WITH YOUR HUSBAND.



8. Avoid mini skirts, hotpants and anything likely to cause this type of view.


9. Swimming costumes should not reveal more than your underwear would.

10. Never wear an outfit that if your husband were talking to another girl wearing it would upset you.


That is today's Wife Dressing lesson! Let's aim for Lily Vanderwoodsen not Serena. Blair Waldorf is also an appropriate role model (but not in the Chuck Bass days).

Have a great weekend!

xx elle

Weight Watchers Wednesday

Happy Wednesday! I have good news. I have lost 2.1 kgs. Here we go!

I am not going to Weight Watchers meetings. I have done that before and found their aim a little low. (Ouch I sound like a total snob now!).

I know how to read labels. I know that full fat things and fried food are bad. I didn't really learn anything at the meetings. I know how much food I am meant to consume in a day (roughly) and what I should avoid. Making me count it into points is NOT A MOTIVATOR to avoid vending machines and drive thrus (drive -throughs?? Dilemma). Also it is not very friendly to vegetarian GERDites.

This time I have done something different. I joined Weight Watchers Online. I downloaded and printed all the recipes and meal plans I wanted. Then I cancelled my subscription. A bit sneaky but it got the job done. I knew I was never going to log on every day and enter all my food into the programme.

This journey for me has to be about eating fresh good food. Taking care of myself. Loving myself. Moving (as opposed to exercising or working out. Bleh).

If I make it an overly regimented programme I will surely rebel against it.

I know I will have to up the pace as the weight comes off. Here's to hoping that it keeps coming off!

Weather science

I am an educated woman. University. Law School. What not. I know how the world works.

In particular I understand the complex science of weather. I have alluded to it previously. I will share with you my knowledge.

Basically the weather is controlled via a long standing feud between two brothers. These guys.







They take turns controlling the weather in different parts of the world and sometimes get in each other's business. Lately, Heat Miser has been all over us here in Sydney. Despite it being late April we have had regular days in the high 20s early 30s (Celsius!!).

Well this week Mother Nature (parent of these rascals) has put her foot down! It is positively chilly!

I have on a sweater! I have on socks. Last night I put a quilt on the bed! Hooray!

Cake Art

This week I took on a challenge. It was the birthday of one of the girls I work with. Annette is a fantastic lawyer and a great member of our team. She always bakes the most amazing treats when we are having a staff meeting or lunch.

She has been working on a case involving a children's train set. Long lawyerish story, but that is the basics!

I decided to make her the quintessential children's cake. The train cake has graced the cover on the Women's Weekly cake book for as long as I can remember. I thought I was up to the challenge.

We did the cakes on Wednesday night and put it all together on Thursday.





It looked like Willy Wonka exploded in my kitchen!






Hubs helped me and it was FUN! He was a really good sport about it. It was hard work but our good team work paid off.




We realized we are sooo ready to be parents. What we discovered was that like all working parents we will purchase fancy cakes for our children!

Mean Girls

Why are girls so mean?

I had my ballet class last night. I was in the waiting area and was a little earl. The two youngest girls were stretching on the floor and talking. These girls are always snooty and I should have not been surprised by their down right nastiness.

They were discussing where they lived. I travel to a different town, about 15 minutes away from where I live, for my ballet class. It is the only school that offers a dedicated ladies class.

The girls live in that town. One girl said "I like it here. I am close enough to go shopping in {insert my town} but don't have to say I live there!".

The other girl said "Yeah, I would not want to live in {insert my town}."

What the? What is this, West Side Story? A Town Slam?

My town is by no means a ghetto. It is actually a city / suburb with loads of people and shops etc.

The town my ballet school is in is more like a little village. Small, trendy wit cafes and artsy stores and touristy things. People go there for brunch on weekends in their Range Rover.

I like my town. I grew up here. Went to public school here. Got into Law School via my public school education. Have chosen to settle here with my husband.

Where do those biatches get off?

Anyway, this is my dilemma. I said nothing. I stood there dreaming up all these cutting retorts designed to make them feel like jerks.

I said nothing.

If I had said something, would that have been aggressive?

Was I a doormat to say nothing?

In hindsight I wish I had said something. Nothing catty. Maybe "Well I live in {insert town} and I love it."

I wish I had said that.

I wish girls were not so mean.

Noodle Tuesday

There is a fantastic Thai restaurant right near my office. It is fresh and lovely. They make the food right there out front when you order it. No evil kitchen lurking out the back where slave children wash vegetable in buckets.

On Tuesdays they have a special. All noodle dishes are $10.

About 3/4 of my office get noodles on a Tuesday. We run in to each other picking up our orders. If feeling collegiate one may holler - "going for noodles. Anyone want some?"

If someone forgets it is Noodle Tuesday and brings...lunch from home... they are ridiculed and tormented.

I get the same every week. Vegetables and tofu with flat rice noodles in garlic pepper sauce. I can sense all the GERD monitors snapping to attention. Don't worry the sauce is actually very mild and much better than the chili basil I used to get!

We all get noodles on Tuesday because it is a special price! We save, like a whole $1.80. Woohoo! Think what I can purchase with that $1.80, or all the $1.80s I save in a year!

It is crazy really. We are all lawyers and not exact on the bread line. Why does the $1.80 saving appeal to us so much? The leftover frittata from dinner (not that I had that last night, just an example) is basically free? We still fork out the $10 for the noodles....but they are on sale. I know you know what I mean.

So if it is ever lunch time on a Tuesday and your mind turns to what I may be eating - you can be guaranteed it will be $10 noodles. Unless I forget and bring leftover frittata!

Happy Noodle Tuesday!

A Gleeful Weekend

I had a very "gleeful" weekend! I snagged this little gem and have sung and danced the way through the weekend.



I seriously love this show. Also, how amazing is Kristin Chenoweth? There are so many great songs that were left off the CD! How come?

I got my hair done yesterday. I have terrible trouble with hair stylists. In all other areas of my life I am confident and outgoing. Put me in a salon with a 20 year old hair stylist with Lady Gaga hair and I go to water. The firm view I have on the way in the door is zapped from my head by Gaga and I end up allowing said stylist to create something of her own choosing upon my head. Why? Why do I do this?

I am happy with the way my hair was styled. Lord knows I will NEVER be able to do it like this again. Gaga had 5 round brushes dangling off my head at once.





Hubs and I ran some errands on Sunday and picked up a few bargains! We got a DVR thingy. Until now I was still "taping" my shows on the VCR! Hubs hated all the tapes lying around.



We also FINALLY got a GPS. A little incident on the way to a family function at Padstow via Wollongong finally exposed my absolute map-reading illiteracy.


I scored a new slow cooker / crock-pot! Can't wait to whip up some wintery goodness in this (....if winter ever comes....)


Hubs met this little guy on Friday in the vintage store and new we would be fast friends. When you wind him up he moves around. Love it.

Funny story - when G bought the parasol and silk scarf for Easter the husband of the store owner was working. When the owner returned and the parasol was gone she immediately enquired as to who bought it. Her husband told her a man bought it. When Hubs went in on Friday she asked him if he bought the parasol! When he confirmed it she was so thrilled. She said the minute the parasol came in she thought it would be perfect for me and she hoped he would buy it for me! What does it say about me (us) that the owner of the local vintage / retro store knows my style and taste?




Hope you had a great weekend.

xx elle

Retail therapy

Hello blogarellas!

I had day 6 of a heinous trial today (the days have not run sequentially and the trial has been going since November!). We didn't finish today and I was devastated!

I left work right after court and hit the plaza for some retail therapy. I had a massage. Not the pretty aromatherapy kind. The grinding, eye watering kind. It was wonderful. I can even turn my head now!

I was very disappointed with the clothes on offer. We are still in between seasons here (read: nuclear furnace summer continues with days in high 20s or higher and that is Celsius!). All the clothes were so wintery! Yes I want a trench and I love the sweaters but I want to wear the clothes I buy. I am not good at saving them for when or if the weather decides to cool off. Also the clothes were either tweeny, slutty or frumpy. Is there nothing in between? (I will elaborate on this dilemma tomorrow when I introduce Fashion Friday).

So I channelled my therapy into something that will never disappoint. Perfume and make up.


Napoleon Perdis Lip Patrol in Lieutenant Spice.


Napoleon Perdis Primer. I truly do not know how I ever wore foundation before I had primer.



The pies de resistance...Armani Mania. I feel so grown up and sophisticated in this scent.

Do you have a signature scent or do you have a few fave fragrances?

Wife Dressing

Hello my lovelies! Welcome to Fashion Friday!

I saw a picture of Elle McPherson recently. I thought to myself man I want to look like Elle McPherson when I am in my 40s. Then I was a tad more honest and thought - I wish I looked like Elle McPherson now!




We already have loads in common. We are both called Elle. We are both Australian. We are both female. We are ...both...that is about it.

Then I really thought about it. I do not want to look like Elle McPherson when I am 40, or even 35. I want to look like a wife not a boho cowboy hat toting string bikini flashing supermodel. Don't get me wrong! I would not mind the legs, or the abs, or the metabolism, but I would not choose those types of clothes.

I am sure you all see me now as a frumpy dowdy wife in tweed and twinsets and pearls. Or worse - a house dress!

Well I rock pearls for court and have been known to embrace the cashmere twin set, but I do not consider myself frumpy or dowdy. I consider my self a woman in my early 30s who is a wife and a lawyer and an executive and I try to dress appropriately.

Not long after we were married I found this book online and snapped it up.



It is FANTASTIC and a real scream. It is also filled with really stylish, elegant and useful info. Granted, it was written in 1959 and the target audience was the Betty Drapers of the world. However let's be frank - I want to be Betty Draper! Skip the philandering husband and the neurosis etc but I love her hair and her gloves and her dresses. Oh the dresses! I also love Joan Harris and pencil skirts and sweaters and her dresses. Oh I just love Mad Men!

Anyhoo. The book is filled with such wisdom as :

"Don't look like a steamfitter or a garage mechanic when what you are, purely and simply, is a wife."

There is a piece of advice for husband in each chapter, such as:

"If you adore her, you must adorn her. There lies the essence of a happy marriage." Amen! Hallelujah!

On a serious note nobody was more surprised than me when I started changing during our engagement. I frequently pondered my impending metamorphosis into a wife. I am a raving lefty feminista career girl. I marched in Reclaim the Night and sported purple and green with pride. I was adamant I would never take my husband's name (the choice I made there is a whole other post!) All of a sudden I was pondering the role of the "wife" in society, in a marriage and in my life. I debated internally about the type of wife I wanted to be.

As wifedom approached I felt less and less comfortable in a lot of my clothes. I embraced the concept of the trousseau, and not just for the opportunity to have a shopping spree! I truly felt that as a wife I needed different style clothes than I wore as a singleton, or even half of a dating pair.

I wanted to embrace my new role as a wife. It feels different to me being a wife. I am glad it feels different. My love for my man is different now he is my husband. My trust of him is different. I realise my role in the world is different.

I am going to do a number of posts on wife dressing as part of Fashion Friday. I do not expect this to be a style guide for wives. This is not a manifesto. This is how I feel and how I dress. It is how dressing a certain way makes me feel more sophisticated and more confident.

I think my views on wife dressing are heavily influenced by my age also (Lord knows I am not 22 and I know a lot of you are!) and also my career choices. I do not expect my choices to be right for everyone, just for me.

Over the next few Fridays I am going to discuss wife wear, including knowing your body shape and colours, style v trend, my never nevers, jewellery and accessories and lots more!

These posts WILL NOT encourage you to dress a certain way for or to impress your husband. This is about US. The WIVES and what makes us feel happy and confident.

I have lots of ideas and cannot wait to share!

Have a great weekend!

xx Elle

An update

I have had my first work out today - cleaning up my work out space!

I excavated my very expensive and even more dusty ellipticising machine. If anyone knows the proper verb for that activity let me know. Am I ellipting or ellipticising? (please forgive the un-rotated photo!)



I liberated my fit ball!

I dug out my step and struck gold in the process! My favorite suit skirt of all time has been missing for AGES. I looked everywhere to no avail. I came to terms with the fact it must have ended up in the Smith Family bag by mistake. Today I found the skirt wedged behind the step against the wall! Hooray!
>


Of course my levity was short lived because I made the terrible mistake of trying said favorite skirt on. I will not be wearing that sucker to court any lifetime soon.

Maybe I could wear it as a belt? Or a headband?

Elevator of doom

We have a bank of three elevators in my bu idling. They are notoriously unreliable and at times down-right dangerous.

However the real problem is the mirror / lighting combo. Those elevators could shred the self-esteem of Giselle Bunchen on a good day.

Foundation that Clinique assured you perfectly enhanced your natural skin tone flares up light radiation sickness. The odd grey hair awaiting the end of week trip to the salon multiplies like a super bacteria. The tiny blemish so expertly disguised with the Napolean Perdis concealer rears up like an angry beast.

The shirt selected for Court today seemed quite appropriate in my house. Now it seems sheer and flimsy and pyjamaesque. Also I am sure I put on suitable undergarments this morning, and yet when I look in this mirror they are gone.

Basically I am Nanny McPhee in stripper clothes.

An amazing gift

Last night hubs and I had dinner with my sister's in-laws. Since Amy and Neil relocated to Boston (USA) we have kind of adopted Neil's parents! They were so wayward and lost without Amy and Neil. Who doesn't need an extra set of in-laws? Right?

John and Yvonne are wonderful people and we had a lovely dinner. They are heading over to America next week to visit Amy and Neil so we gave them lots of tips and ideas learned form our recent Americana jaunt.

At the end of the night, as we were leaving, Yvonne brought out two pictures. She said they were a gift for our one year wedding anniversary. My sister had arranged for Yvonne to paint replicas of some of our wedding pictures!

Can you believe it?

We got married on Hamilton Island in the Whitsundays. The paintings totally capture the magic of Hamilton Island and our wedding.





I have never received such an amazing gift.

Yvonne is half way done paining a third picture. It is meant to be a series of three.

How do you repay someone for painting you pictures?

Date Night

Friday night is date night in our house! In recognition of my rotten week and long annoying day hubs had arranged the perfect date night for us.

It is so important to still date after you are married. We are 15 months and going strong so I feel I can share my wisdom! Date time is important. Fix your hair and makeup, put on something cute. Make an effort.

I am supremely conscious all the time that I dress up, primp and preen, all the time when I am going out. My husband, who I want to impress and inspire, sees mostly the "staying at home" Elle. It is important to show him the "going out" Elle as well.

I had a really rough week and hubs new I was in a less than chipper mood when I got home last night. To be honest I would have loved nothing more than to slide into a bubble bath with a glass of vino and hit the sheets (for strictly slumberific purposes) at about 8pm.

I could see he was really crushed that I was not into the special date night he had planned. That is why I knew it was so important that I get into it! He came into the room as I was changing and asked me if I was getting into my "comfys". (The clothes we wear at home when we are in for the night and just lounging about at home.) I said "no - I am getting dressed for date night!"

I had my glass of wine while I watched the Colbert Report (the crowning jewel at the end of my day) and decompressed form my day. Sometimes it is hard to switch off work-brain immediately on walking in the front door at home and I need a process to wind out of lawyer mode and into weekend wife mode.

By the end of Colbert I was ready to hit the town!

We had dinner at a little middle Eastern restaurant Alabena. It was wonderful!



(please ignore my weird hair. Hubs is squashing all my curls!)

The first time we ate here we shared the banquet for 2. It was hilarious. There was SO. MUCH. FOOD. I know when I tell you this you will think it is blog-etic license or hyperbole. This is the literal truth. They had to bring us another table. Our little intimate table for two was not large enough for the banquet for two so they had to drag another table over and join it up. In front of the whole crowed restaurant. I was mortified and wanted to stand up and explain to everyone that we had not ordered this much food on purpose. It was their banquet for two! Not twenty two. Anyhoo, we ordered more conservatively last night!

We started with the zaatar pizza (thin based bread grilled, topped with zaatar herbs).



I had moujadra (a combination of rice and lentils seasoned with traditional spices, topped with fried onion and served with traditional salad.) Delicious!



Hubs had Riz a-djaj (a mixture of spiced rice with beef mince, served with diced chicken and pine nuts.) It must have been good because he moaned!

We were going to order a fatoush salad as well and I am glad we didn't! We were so full we took leftovers home for lunch today. Is that creepy or desperado? I hope not! It was too good to waste!

We grabbed some baklava to go and headed to the movies.

What better to see on Date Night than....Date Night!

It was super funny. I was worried that i would be one of those comedies where all the jokes are in the commercial. Not so. Also I L.O.V.E Tina Fey. It took about 20 minutes for me to stop seeing Sarah Palin but after that it was all good!

We had these little gems to snack on and laughed til our sides ached.

A perfect end to a rotten week!

Score Card

Really, I am quite glad this work week is over. I did not cover myself in glory this week. Here is my score card:

Nights I cooked dinner - 0

Nights I ate in my car via a drive through - 2

Nights hubs ordered take out - 1

Nights we ate in a restaurant - 1

Days I also ate breakfast via a drive through - 3

Nights I have no recollection of what we ate - 1


As I said, not exactly domestic goddess material. I think in the great struggle for my time and energy career trumped out wife life this week. Sadly that also means career trumped out health, nutrition, exercise, sleep, sanity etc. Not exactly healthy! It was always going to be a huge week since we lost the Friday and Monday to Easter but didn't lose any of the work! Blah. Enough moaning.

This weekend I am going to make a menu plan, do a super grocery shop (after pitching all the items I bought last week and did not cook or eat) and plan a wonderful week ahead!

I ran some errands this morning and made my way to Starbucks. We love Starbucks. I mean we luuuurrve Starbucks. There used to be one in our town but it closed. I wept. Quite literally.

When we were in New York we had Starbucks every day. In Washington we stayed at the Hyatt with a Starbucks in the lobby! Of course in Boston hubs switched side and became a Dunkin Donuts guy (as is the New England way) but I stayed true to Starbucks.

So today I drove to a neighbouring town for some Starbucks. It is 10km away. Is that weird? Too far for Starbucks? I was halfway there to go to a particular pharmacy anyway....so it is pretty sensible....

I got a mocha frappacino since we are still having summery weather. Still. Warm. Here.



I also got us some coffee for us to brew at home. I got Breakfast Blend and Cafe Verona.



Surely waking up to fresh brewed Starbucks at home will inspire me to eat a proper breakfast in my house that does not involve a hash brown, to take my vitamins and to pack a proper lunch? Right? Here's hoping!

It might be paranoia but I am sure the breakfast drive through lady recognizes my voice....

Happy Easter

Happy Easter everyone! I think Easter is a special time for families regardless of your faith. My new little family (just the hubs and me!) have been hiding out this weekend just enjoying each other and the cooler autumn weather we are having.

The Easter Bunny came for us this morning. Each year hubs and I get a special limited edition nougat Easter egg from Darrell Lea. They do eggs for Easter and a pudding at Christmas. A big chocalately nougat ball. YUM! We also get a new baby chick to add to the collection each year.



We are also sharing a turkish delight egg which is a fave of us both.


Hubs surprised me with this beautiful vintage looking Lindt tin filled with delicious Lint bunnies and eggs filled with their wonderful Lindty filling (same as the Lindt balls).




Hubs outdid himself with these beautiful Easter gifts! He found this beautiful parasol and scarf in a local 50s vintagey store in our town. All I need now is an Easter parade to stroll in.





Hubs and I have a special tradition for holidays. Remember those Rankin Bass cartoons from childhood? Frosty, Rudolph, Little Drummer Boy etc? There were also Easter films. We always watch them together and dream of sharing them with our children in the future.




Did the Easter bunny come to your house?

Gone Fishing!

So you remember how excited I was about my long 5 day Easter weekend? Well it was loooong. I was bored stupid by Friday afternoon and was driving hubs mental. His helpful suggestion that we could "clean the garage" was not of assistance. He then decided to distract me with Sega games.

Yes folks - I went fishing, Sega style! It was hilarious! I have never been fishing in real life (goes against the vegetarian pacifist ethos..) but I have no problem catching virtual fish! I was good!


I hit Blockbuster on Saturday morning and got these beauties:






Three documentaries and Gossip Girl season 2. I am a well rounded human!

We both love love loved Every Little Step. If you ever took a ballet class or a singing lesson you will love this film. I adore A Chorus Line and basically wept throughout this entire film. After his recent stint as an (off off off) Broadway musician the hubs enjoyed it too.

We also loved The September Issuee. Anna Wintour was waaay too soft and friendly though. I am sure she was on her best (and possibly pharmaceutically enhanced) behaviour for the filming. Lots of beautiful shots of NYC too.

Gossip Girl was my guilty ironing pleasure. I had about 17 hours of ironing to do and watching the crazy carryings on of those beautiful children helps the time pass.

As for Michael Moore - we were disappointed. This coming from pretty hard core fans. We saw Sicko at the cinema on I think Valentines Day one year. This film was really disappointing. It was sooo long and did not really pack the punches I was after.

I still have this to watch this week. Cooking and blogging. What more do I need in a movie?



I also cooked up a storm over the weekend. My subsequent culinary endeavours were much more successful than the hot non-denominational buns!

I made Pesto scrambled eggs for breakfast. We often have these for breakfast at our favorite cafe. I just added a spoon full of (store bought) basil pesto to the egg mix and whipped it up with a fork, mixing in milk and salt and pepper. These were FANTASTIC! The mix looked a little greenish and I was worried I added too much pesto. However once I scrambled the eggs they turned out wonderfully!

I made Pioneer Woman's Mac and Cheese (from the book) for dinner one night. I was bored and glum and needed comfort food. First - can I say I had all the ingredients in my kitchen to whip this up! I am so proud of my well stocked kitchen.

Here is Pdub's recipe that I whole-heartedly endorse.

4 cups Dried Macaroni
¼ cups (1/2 Stick Or 4 Tablespoons) Butter
¼ cups All-purpose Flour
2-½ cups Whole Milk
2 teaspoons (heaping) Dry Mustard, More If Desired
1 whole Egg Beaten
1 pound Cheese, Grated
½ teaspoons Salt, More To Taste
½ teaspoons Seasoned Salt, More To Taste
½ teaspoons Ground Black Pepper
Optional Spices: Cayenne Pepper, Paprika, Thyme


Preparation Instructions

Cook macaroni until very firm. Macaroni should be too firm to eat right out of the pot. Drain.
In a small bowl, beat egg.

In a large pot, melt butter and sprinkle in flour. Whisk together over medium-low heat. Cook mixture for five minutes, whisking constantly. Don’t let it burn.

Pour in milk, add mustard, and whisk until smooth. Cook for five minutes until very thick. Reduce heat to low.
Take 1/4 cup of the sauce and slowly pour it into beaten egg, whisking constantly to avoid cooking eggs. Whisk together till smooth.

Pour egg mixture into sauce, whisking constantly. Stir until smooth.
Add in cheese and stir to melt.

Add salts and pepper. Taste sauce and add more salt and seasoned salt as needed! DO NOT UNDERSALT.
Pour in drained, cooked macaroni and stir to combine.

Serve immediately (very creamy) or pour into a buttered baking dish, top with extra cheese, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until bubbly and golden on top.


It was scrum-didly-umptious! Even hubs loved it. We turned an 8 serving dish into...well a lot less than 8 serves! Hubs usually HATES mac and cheese. Un-American I know - even for an Australian! He snuck into the kitchen for SECONDS, and..THIRDS of this dish!

I have yet to encounter a PW recipe that was not a glorious success.

After such a long weekend I was actually glad to be back at work today. Sad I know!