It's ... alive. And wearing Lilly!

Hey internet! Look, sorry I haven't been keeping in touch--I've been really busy lately, what with taking my son back and forth to performing arts camp, dealing with our post-fire condo renovation, attending various summer-themed social events, and throwing a cocktail party for a friend who has finally bitten the bullet and moved to the suburbs.

Many of these activities involved shopping for and wearing lots and lots of Lilly Pulitzer. So I will intersperse this post with pictures of the stuff I've been wearing. (Not pictures of me wearing it, because Lord knows I'm not that organized.)

For example, for my welcome-to-the-suburbs cocktail party, guess who made her husband wear a Lilly blazer?

YES I DID. And he looked adorable, with a huge, abashed grin on his face all night long.

And hey! I've just heard that a lot of you are signing up for The Great American Apparel Diet. Which I thought meant you took a solemn oath to wear only bright colored solid clothes designed for teenagers, but which actually means you promise not to buy any clothes for a year.

And you know what? If you think you have a problem with shopping, then go for it. But I've done the moratorium thing before, and really, I think it's much more sensible to clear out your closets, set a budget, and buy only what you need.

Like for example, the way I needed that bracelet. (OK, maybe not really.)

But think about it. Buying what you need. It's not faddy or internetty. It's kind of old-school. But it works.

The hard part is figuring out what you actually need. Instead of going cold turkey with shopping, how about figuring out why your closet doesn't work with your life? Figure out what clothes you own that don't suit your life, and either store them or get rid of them. Then fill in the gaps with the stuff you really wear.

Like the way I recently bought 5,000 Lilly polo shirts.

In the summer, I wear shirts like this five days out of seven. And the white ones always get messed up somehow. To me, it makes sense to replace light-colored summer shirts with fresh, new, not-stained ones.

See, here's my theory: what happens if you get invited to a wedding or you lose a lot of weight or you need new bras? I did the buy-no-makeup-for-a-year thing way back when, and later on, I did The Compact. And frankly, they didn't significantly alter my behavior.

The easiest way to keep from overindulging is to avoid triggers. People who are trying not to drink shouldn't hang out in bars. People who are trying not to smoke shouldn't watch old Bette Davis movies. And people who want to stop buying so much stuff need to steer clear of malls, catalogs, shopping TV programs, and blogs where people are always talking about the latest crappe they've bought.

Like this dress, which I wore to my cocktail party. (Isn't it cute?)

Lilly Pulitzer, my fair weather friend

I think we can all pretty much agree that Lilly Pulitzer looks best on thin, blonde, tanned Floridians, ideally accessorized with a sprinkling of towheaded children. Something like this:

Well, this is the story of a fair-skinned, dark-haired (thanks to the salon) northern girl (OK ... post-menopausal female) and her part-time, fair-weather, irrational love of Lilly.

When you live in Chicago in a small, elderly house with teeny, tiny closets, you spend more time than you'd like moving things in and out of your closet and drawers. And sometimes, in the dead of winter, when I'm all wool and black puffy jackets and purple tights and suchlike, I look at the neon rainbow of Lilly Pulitzer summer clothes, and a single thought passes through my mind:

WHAT THE HELL WAS I THINKING?????

And then, lo and behold, summer hits. We get our first streak of eighty-degree days, and I'm rummaging around for the self-tanner and my white sandals and bag. And my Lilly.

This year I discovered that Lilly had--hallelujah!--actually produced some dresses with sleeves. And a chorus of angels started to sing as I discovered some of this seasons dresses aren't skin tight. They're loose, cool, and comfortable.

So I kind of went on a little bit of a shopping binge. And this week I went to a birthday luncheon for a friend of mine. Five of us baby boomers sitting around a table in a private room in a private club, talking, laughing, drinking white wine, and eating gazpacho, chicken salad, and coconut cake.

And I was resplendent in my Lilly Pulitzer blue Elina toile tunic (OK, it's really a swimsuit coverup, and maybe I looked like a walking swimming pool) with my white Michael Kors "Palm Beach" wedged sandals, and a cream-colored vintage Paloma Piccaso bag.

Then I went mattress shopping, where I took a picture.

Like youth, the season for wearing Lilly is short and sweet. And I plan to enjoy every moment!