Hello July, Part II

Summer Fashion:

Asa Kaftans

I'm all about my Bravo television shows, especially Shahs of Sunset and Southern Charm.  This summer I'm copying the style of two of my favorite characters, Asa Soltan and Patricia Altchul, by investing in colorful, printed kaftans.  I love the ones at asasoltan.com

Asa Soltan and Patricia Altschul

These kaftan are probably intended to be bathing suit cover-ups, but I wear them in the street.  The material is sheer, requiring that I have shorts and a tank top on underneath, but the kaftans are extremely flattering.  They hide my problem areas (stomach and back fat) and highlight my legs.  The only drawback is that they are overpriced. 

I don't even need to ask who wore it best . . .

Summer Food 

Blue Marble Brooklyn.

Yes, Chloe, RM and I travelled all the way to Brooklyn just to get ice-cream.  We stopped at The Brooklyn Botanic Gardens, but the excursion was really all about the ice-cream!  We tried Mexican Chocolate, Coffee, Salted Caramel, Peach, and Lemon Sorbet.  The Peach was so good that it reminded me of the "peach stuff" that my Grandma Cardwell used to make when we visited her in Maryland.  Blue Marble is sold at Whole Foods, but nothing beats an ice-cream cone (or two) on a summer day.

Summer Music

Maxwell's "blackSUMMERS'night"

I'm actually surprised by how much I like this album, especially since its debut single "Lake by the Ocean" seems kind of stale to me.   In college I was OBSESSED with Maxwell, but recently his persona on social media has turned me off.  He seems like a black Tom Ripley on Instagram.  However, if you like listening to music created by human beings playing instruments that have not been plugged into a wall socket, then this is the album for you. You can listen to blackSUMMERS'night from start to finish without having to skip every other song ( I love Lemonade, but Beyonce needed the visual album to distract from the fact that half of the songs are mediocre).  My favorite songs are "All the Ways Love Can Feel," "III" and "Fingers Crossed."  Happy Summer!

Hello July! Part I

Summer Reading

"The Arrangements," by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.  

Recently, The New York Times commissioned authors to write fiction inspired by the election.  The first story, "The Arrangements," is an intimate portrait of the Trump family.  On the surface, it is about Melania Trump's effort to plan an anniversary dinner for her parents.  On a deeper level, it describes the different types of female power operating within Trump's inner-circle.   "The Arrangements" is deceptively easy to read, but the questions it poses will stay with you.

Read it here.

The New York Times

Summer Make-Up: 

Nars Velvet Matte Skin Tint and Laura Mercier Translucent Pressed Setting Powder.  

I walked into Bluemercury the first day returning to work after Winter Break thinking that a new lipstick would lift my spirits.  Not surprisingly, I ended up returning to school with a  new foundation and powder, in addition to the lipstick, tucked into my bag.  It's funny how that happens . . . Anyway,  when RM picked me up from school that day he said "wow, your skin looks great; you're glowing." I felt like I was in an informercial!  The fact that he noticed a difference in my skin was notable, considering the fact that he hadn't noticed that my hair was a weave until I told him three or four months into dating . . .well, maybe he did notice and was just being polite.  Either way, both the man and the make-up are keepers!

The Nars Velvet Matte Skin Tint (my shade is Cuzco) blurs my pores and gives me light to medium coverage, which is perfect for summer.  I also love that it has an SPF of 30 since I am not at all religious about using sunscreen.  Best of all, immediately after I started using it, the redness and irritation I was having along my cheekbones cleared up.  It claims to be mattifying, but I use the Laura Mercier Pressed Setting Powder to tone down shine throughout the day.  Be warned: the powder is white.  It works well for me, especially around midday when grease is sliding off my face and I don't want to layer on more color.  Coincidently, Mikita uses the same powder and thinks that it makes her look slightly chalky.   She uses a finishing spray to give her a dewy look.  

Summer Listening:

Serial Season 2.

Summer brain drain can happen to teachers too; there are only so many Instagram posts one can scroll through over the course of the day before feeling stupid.  Luckily, I discovered the second season of Serial, which focuses on Bowe Bergdahl, the American solider who deserted his post and was captured by the Taliban.  Bergdahl was held in captivity for nearly five years and then labeled a traitor when he was released in exchange for 5 members of the Taliban held at Guantamo Bay.   Bergdahl claimed that his plan was to walk off into the desert of Afghanistan in order to bring attention to the lack of leadership in the army, but why did he really leave his post?  Should Bergdahl even have been accepted into the army in the first place when he had previously been "separated" from The Coast Guard?  Was he a Taliban sympathizer? Was he mentally ill? Bowe's story is interesting, as is the larger discussion of the failure of the war in Afghanistan.