What I wore today--featuring Stuart Weitzman Arlington Boots

Confession time: I read a lot of preppy style blogs, but I'm not really the Southern Prep/All Lilly All the Time/Pink and Green type. I'm more the "High WASP" type that LPC blogs about.

I grew up in New England where you wore Lilly in the summer--maybe because it reminds you of family vacations to places where it's warm all year round. You would break out your sun dress printed with monkeys drinking piña coladas and your husband would wear four-paneled Brooks Brothers "Fun" pants. You were on vacation, and this is how you signaled to the world that you knew how to enjoy yourselves.

But my people did not live where it's warm all year round. We deal with serious amounts of winter weather. The verb "to summer" only has currency in places where summer is a brief respite in an otherwise chilly climate. And therefore, I have an atavistic love of cotton turtlenecks worn under wool sweaters, plaid, camel hair coats, duffle coats--basically, the whole L. L. Bean-cum-Brooks Brothers vibe.

I try to fight it. I try to be Prep With an Edge, as blackbird puts it. But as soon as it gets near Christmas, all bets are off. I pull out my Christmas socks, jewelry, and scarves. I go mad for plaid. I even start trolling the internet for the Winter Wonderland prep wear of my childhood. Does L. L. Bean still make Norwegian sweaters? Where are the Tyrolean jackets and Fair Isle sweaters d'antan? Mostly gone.

Which is maybe just as well. I went to a holiday boutique recently in Lake Forest, Illinois, which is the epicenter of preppiness in these parts. And I ordered myself a pair of these.

Needlepoint loafers by By Paige

And in my internet trolling, I came thisclose to ordering myself a pair of these

Beachcomber Corduroys at Castaway Clothing

And if I had, I probably would have worn the loafers with the cords. No, really.

But then I noticed the cords were bootcut. Pffft! I might have standard boring preppy taste in preppy holiday attire, but I draw the line at buying a pair of bootcut cords, because hello? Out of style. OK, I realize I'm being ridiculously inconsistent.

Anyway, today's outfit was an attempt on my part to show you my new boots, which meant wearing a skirt. And I picked out one that is plaid, and warm and cozy, because this morning, it got below freezing for the first time this season. And then--well, I tried to rein in this Christmas-crazed tradition-loving northeast prep part of my personality, I really did. You can let me know whether you think I succeeded.

Fuzzy black watch plaid skirt, Talbot's last season (similar), navy cotton Bailey cardigan, Vineyard Vines, gray scoop neck t-shirt, Gap, gray wool blend tights, Vermont Country Store, black nappa boots, Arlington by Stuart Weitzman

Here's how Talbot's styled the skirt last year.

See how fuzzy?

Gold pendant and eBayed Hermes bangle. Hey, at least I'm not wearing pearls.

Here's a back view of the boots--sorry about the graininess. I was trying to show the elastic.

For outside, I added my Brooks Brothers leather trench and some Nordic glittens (what J. Crew calls fingerless glove/mittens) I found these in Lake Forest, which means they're preppy.

It's not every day you see a Chanel bag combined with mittens!

Sigh.

I've come to the conclusion that if I think I've escaped my roots? I'm sadly mistaken.

My Sunday Worst

Worth dress in Deep Flint, ancient Caligarius black kid Chanel-style slingbacks with black patent toes; Chanel bag; Hermes bangles (eBay); Chanel necklace

Here I am in my Sunday-go-to-meeting best, except ... not so much.

What we're seeing here is the problem of picking out dresses by trying on other styles in the size you'll need. That's what you have to do when you buy stuff from a friend who is selling clothes for The Carlisle Collection, Doncaster, or Worth New York, and doesn't have the dress in your size.

I mean, yes, it fits. My hips, tum, and bum are all adequately covered. There are no unsightly bulges.  But the combination of the jewel neckline, the color, and the fabric makes the Balcony All Too Apparent.

To divert attention from The Balcony, I piled on tons of high-end accessories and jewelry, but they fail to disguise the failure that is this dress on me. They are, at best, a stop gap. What this dress really needs is a cardigan. Maybe even a coat.

Oh, and by the way. My legs are bare. See what I mean about pantyhose? I'm so pale, I look frostbitten. I went without hose because I was going to be wearing a choir robe, and I thought I'd get too hot with hose on. I carried a pair with me, but I never got around to putting them on, which was too bad for innocent passersby.

Not an Arm Party; more a chance meeting of like-minded friends. Ebayed Hermes bangles and my old Baume & Mercier watch.

Here's a close up of the Hermes bracelets, which I eBayed a while ago in two separate auctions. See how they go together? Let me tell you, finding two coordinating bracelets is quite a coup.

The moral of the story? Even when the Balcony is a matter of deep concern, the way Hermes coordinates the patterns on their printed bracelets continues to be a great satisfaction to me.

Balcony or no Balcony, we'll always have Hermes.

What I wore to get indigestion

The Beauty Boomer arranged these flowers with her own white hands.

Did everyone have a lovely Thanksgiving? I hope so.

We weren't hosting a Thanksgiving dinner, yet much cooking occurred. We were doing a potluck with friends, and because no one was coming here, we used the energy we would have spent cleaning up and spent it in the kitchen.

Mr. Buxom baked four pies. Pecan, chocolate cream, apple, and sweet potato. They were all successful. If you check your copy of The Alice's Restaurant Cookbook, you will discover that "sweet potato pie leaves pumpkin pie sitting in the road." This is God's truth, people.

What do you mean, you don't have a copy of The Alice's Restaurant Cookbook? For shame.
Listen, those hippies understood food. They did better by us today than James and Martha Pearl Villas did with My Mother's Southern Kitchen and My Mother's Southern Entertaining.

Today I baked Martha's gingerbread men (except I used a turkey-shaped cookie cutter because it's Thanksgiving.) These were not successful. In fact, they were by far the worst cookies I've ever made. They were agreeably spicy, but not sweet enough to actually qualify as a dessert. Also, they were rock hard. It's my belief that Martha Pearl was overly concerned with gingerbread's use as gingerbread house building material. At any rate, her recipe produced gingerbread that was more drywall than dessert.

After the gingerbread debacle, I baked some butterscotch brownies. And pocketbook rolls. And wild rice salad. And my amazing fattening salad. And Martha Pearl Villas's Party Potatoes, which were extremely tasty.

Then we went to my friend Jeanne's house. She had also prepared vast quantities of food.

We all returned chez Buxom for the pie. And caffeinated beverages and/or alcohol. I had some Grand Marnier. By that point, I fully appreciated Grand Marnier's versatility. It's a drink, but it's also a dessert. And you don't need to cram much of it into an already-protesting belly--a jigger or two is plenty. I like that. It's efficient.

But you want to know what I wore. I repeated an outfit I wore to a luncheon earlier this month. I wore my brown Worth dress with the laser cut back, the Tsubo color blocked heels, and to throw all of you a curve ball, a different necklace. I wore one of those super long Chanel necklaces that you can double or even triple up. This one has pearls, black beads, and double C's.

It was an early birthday present from me to myself. And I'm so grateful to myself, because I love it.

And to cook and serve pie? My Official Preppy Apron.

Before Truth, The Right Fork. Our motto.

And hey--look what else came out of the cupboard.

Semper Preparatus

I know I've ranted recently about wearing pantyhose and how we should all stop judging. But at the end of the day, boy, was I glad to get out of my control tops. I had been asking a lot out of the Spandex.

Here's hoping you ate well and looked splendid!

What I Wore Today

Worth Coffee Bean ponte laser cut dress and Tsubo Mary Janes (similar)

Today I was up at 5:45 so I could get to the gym for a 7:00 workout with Terri (In case you're in the market, that's Terri Ellman at LifeTime Fitness in Skokie, Illinois.) As you can see, the midriff bulge hasn't gone anywhere yet. This dress is a size 14. A very fitted size 14.

Really, it's snug enough that it's almost vulgar. If I weren't planning on losing more weight, I'd size up just so I wouldn't have to remember to suck. in. my. stomach. every. single. second. Instead, I'm congratulating myself that at the rate I'm losing weight (about half a pound a week) it will actually fit and look OK by spring. Without Spanx. And that's allowing for the amount of eating and drinking I indulge in over the holidays.

I wanted to show you the fun laser cut back. Hello, hipster glasses!

I wore this with some two-year-old Tsubo color-blocked Mary Janes.

I carried my crazy tie-dyed cashmere shawl to ward off any chilliness

as well as my giant purple Prada purse

for the all-important Style Blogger's Pop Of Color. And an alliterative one, at that.

I also wore sheer hose (I know, I know, very old lady. But trust me; you don't want to see my veins.)

I'm wearing Chanel's Malice on my nails.

My picture will never do this polish justice, so here is one from The Beauty Look Book

Malice is their holiday 2012 polish shade, and it's absolutely gorgeous--a blackened red with subtle micro-glitter. It's sort of like OPI's I'm Not Really a Waitress, except vampier and micro-glittery rather than frosty. If you like vampy nail polish shades, you'll love this red. It's very wearable--definitely not Christmas-y.

I love it with a hard, gem-like flame and might even buy a back-up bottle.

Links for a lazy weekend IV: When the light bulb goes off, and other stories

As I was reading the article about whitening creams on the Fashionista, I thought, I should write one of these, too! But I read on and realized that this article can't be topped. Finally, someone has taken on the subject of dark spots, why all the cosmetics companies are releasing lines designed to deal with them, and how they work. Also, it explains why my expensive Chanel Le Blanc serum, cream, and cleanser have been doing zip, zilch, nada to clear up the giant sun spot on my left cheekbone.  And why I should just buy another bottle NuFountain Vitamin C serum instead.

Don't they?

We've all been subjected to numerous photographs of "arm parties"--that stacked bracelet craze that's been around for a couple of years now. And frankly, a lot of the time, the stack looks kind of tatty. I don't know whether people want their bracelets to tell a story, but I see stories that look like "OK, here's my watch even though I really use my phone to tell time, and a beaded friendship bracelet that my daughter made for me, and a bangle that my husband gave me when we were dating, and a set of three costume bangles, and a double wrap leather bracelet." And they're all higgledy-piggly, and look a little sweaty.

So here's District of Chic showing us How It's Done.

It doesn't hurt that there are two Hermès bangles in the mix. Or that she's carrying a Chanel flap.

In other news, I am entranced with a lot of the new styles that are coming out for fall. I'm at a stage in life where I occasionally need to wear a dress. And not an empire-waisted, one-shoulder dress six inches above my knee accessorized with platform sandals, the whole outfit designed to make me look like an adolescent giraffe. At least, that would be the end result if I were seventeen years old.

Therefore, I'm absolutely in love with the stuff I've seen coming out for fall. I had to dig around a bit on line to find it, since the stylists for the catalogs are doing their bewildering best to cobble together outfits that look like the sort of thing I'd throw on if my house were on fire, and J. Crew, I'm looking at you.

Here's a thought: don't. Unless you really, really want to look like a fashion blogger.

And don't think I'm not aware of your lapses in that respect, NORDSTROM. Blame your catalog stylists for the fact that I went to the Anniversary Sale on the first day ... and didn't buy anything but makeup.

Anyway, I'm in love with the longer lengths I've been seeing for fall. Ditto the paucity of platform shoes, which have started to look really dated even to me--and I cling to my favorite styles like a terrier with a bone. I'm pleased to see that waistlines appear to have headed south from the supposedly-flattering empire waist that has bedeviled me (and my Balcony) for the past several years. And I love the peplums. Although these are not great for those of us with Hips. However, they are helpful for those of us who have developed Elephant Ass, adding much-needed fullness to our meager side view. 

Not to toot my own horn ad nauseum, but you can see the stuff I've been admiring on my Pinterest board.

I mean, honestly--what's not to love?

Meanwhile, I'm sort of on a spending moratorium until I have time to hit the stores and check this stuff out in person.

In parting, I'd like to wish you all a wonderful weekend, as we wind our way into August and the end of summer. Get outside, eat watermelon, have a drink or two on the porch, find a large body of water and gaze at it. And you'll never guess what I'm doing this weekend, so I'll tell you. I'm dragging Mr. Buxom to a dance studio in Chicago to learn Balboa swing dancing. Check it out:

I mean, seriously. Look at those shoes. How could I not want to do this?

Review: Chanel Illusion d'Ombre in Rivière from the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale.

Like the rest of the Chanel products offered by Nordstrom for their Anniversary Sale, Rivière was originally sold exclusively in Asia. It was enthusiastically reviewed on Café Makeup and The Non-Blonde, so I made a beeline to the sale to buy it.

Rivière is a beautiful minty blue-green shade. It's silvery-shimmery with a very pearly finish. I know that women of a certain age are supposed to be careful about pearly finishes and totally avoid glitter, but I think a little bling close to the lashes or a light wash on the lid is appropriate, and the good news is that with this creme/gel formula, the pearliness stays put. It doesn't go all Urban Decay and wander off, only to end up highlighting my crinkles.

The texture is a very fluffy gel//creme, unique to Chanel, which can be applied as a shadow, a liner, or a liner that is blended out for a beautiful smoky eye.

The little pot comes with a small synthetic brush, so you have the option of using the brush or applying the shadow with your fingers.

The bottom of the pot and the little brush

Staying power is good; I use concealer as my eyeshadow base, and the Illusion d'Ombre shadows last all day on me.

Chanel Rivière swatched heavily on my inner arm. Please forgive the terrible lighting! The weather hasn't been cooperative this week, so I had to take the picture indoors on a cloudy day.

My reaction to this color? Definitely mixed. I love the idea of a blue-green color; it's a nice change from my usual beiges, and I find that teal eyeshadow brings out the green in my hazel eyes.

But I find this shade almost magically impossible to apply evenly. Rivière is much more pastel than the Illusions d'Ombres I've tried, and I'm finding it hard to figure out how much to apply. It's hard to apply enough so that it shows, but not so much that it balls up on my eyelid. 

I'm also having difficulty imagining whom this shadow would flatter. I think if you're very fair-skinned and look good in pastel shades of makeup, this shade might be beautiful on you. But I'm fair, and I had difficulty making the shadow show.

I fully intend to keep playing with this shade, and I'll also try it on my daughter, who patiently lets me use her as a guinea pig. But for the moment, I can't recommend this shadow.

Also? Chanel prices are always ridiculous, but the Illusion d'Ombre Riviere eye shadow costs $36. For that price, I say it's not worth the money. Illusion d'Ombre shadows are wonderful, and I definitely recommend them--just not this shade. 

Links for a lazy weekend II

So, the week is over, and both my children have their learner's permits. I will not go into the drama that that particular accomplishment entailed ... suffice to say that I'm having a well-deserved beer and looking forward to some relaxation, grilling, hanging out with friends, and a matinée of a couple of restored Méliès films. If you're trying to have a relaxing weekend, too, try pairing the following posts with your beverage of choice.

If you ever want to work up the nerve to wear anything ... a mohawk, say, or a cute blouse from H&M, or a pair of shorts because even though you're middle-aged, it's pretty effing hot out--and you need a pep talk--read this post by Eve at xoJane.

Just in time for beauty bloggers and others of you heading to New York for BlogHer, Xiao of Messy Wands has written a guide to makeup shopping in Manhattan.

I thought being middle-aged means everything I know is wrong. But can it be true? Matching lips and fingertips are back in style? Somehow I find that comforting.

Elizabeth Arden is one of those brands that I routinely write off as old lady and boring. Leave it to the British Beauty Blogger to convince me to take a second look. I mean, eye shadows that provide anti-aging benefits? Genius.

Katherine of Not Dressed as Lamb shared her thoughts on aging. Here's a teaser:

I won't kid myself that I have Cameron's legs, Thandie's beautiful skin tone or Dita's tiny waist, but I won't even consider comfort without style until Gwyneth does.

Vanessa of NessasaryMakeup gives a fantastic step-by-step tutorial on doing a dramatic smoky eye.  (She also has a nice chart of where to apply eye shadows.)

Want to get into meditation but don't have time? And anyway, meditation would take away from the time you spend looking at pretty things? Check out Chanel makeup director Peter Philip's latest video. Shiny!

I'll work on some more reviews of my Nordstrom anniversary goodies.

Meanwhile, Mesdames et mademoiselles, cultivez vos jardins!

Review: Chanel's Fleur de Lotus Joues Contraste blush

I came home from Nordstrom with the complete Anniversary Exclusive collections from Chanel, Dior, and Bobbi Brown. I'm planning on reviewing every item between now and August 6, the last day of the sale. Nordstrom card holders have early access to the sale, which doesn't start officially until July 20. 

American makeup fanatics started lusting over Chanel's Joues Contraste in 69 Fleur de Lotus when it was released in Asia in February, 2012. If the posters on the Makeup Board at Makeup Alley are any indication, this is one of the most eagerly-anticipated items in Nordstrom's Anniversary Sale Chanel collection. So it was with great anticipation that I opened my compact--only to discover that I appeared to own its twin.

Placed side to side, my dirt-cheap Maybelline Dream Bouncy Blush in 20 Peach Satin (which retails for $7.99, but which I bought at CVS with ExtraBucks) seemed identical to my ridiculously expensive Fleur de Lotus, which retails for $43. Here they are out of direct sunlight.

Maybelline Dream Bouncy blush in 20 Peach Satin on left; Chanel Joues Contraste in Fleur de Lotus on right

Hmmm ... on second thought, the difference shows up better in this picture than it does in in the sun. The Chanel is showing up pinker and shimmier, and it is. 

Swatched

Both blushes appear scary-dark in the pan, but both apply and blend down to a very wearable coral shade.

On the left, Maybelline, on the right, Chanel. Nothing else on face but my morning moisturizer. Note my youthful glow. ::coughs:: It was already 95 degrees outside!

I applied the Maybelline with a taklon foundation brush and blended it down, but it's slightly more opaque than the Chanel. I applied the Chanel with the brush in the compact. You can see my freckles much more clearly!

The difference shows up better on my arm when I apply them very heavily; Maybelline applies much more definitely coral, and the Chanel's pink shimmer shows up better.

On my arm, I used a the foundation blush to apply the Maybelline, which is way it shows up so well. For the Chanel, I used the brush in the pan, going over and over to make sure there was good color pay off.

Verdict

 
Fleur de Lotus is a beautiful coral-with-pink shade that would flatter complexions that are anywhere from porcelain pale to medium, and cool to warm. It applies very sheer, but can be built up. The brush it comes with is very soft and makes precise application difficult. For more color pay off, it's best to use a dedicated blusher brush. As for the shimmer, it really doesn't show on the skin. I don't own either Benefit's Coralista than Nars Orgasm, having swapped them both, but as far as coral blushers go, my impression is that Fleur de Lotus is more like Coralista than Orgasm--very soft and wearable, with no glitter, just a rosey shimmer. In fact, Fleur de Lotus shade reminds me of Chanel's Distraction nail polish, which is in heavy rotation this summer. I expect the same will be true of Fleur de Lotus.

---
Elsewhere: My reviews of the rest of Chanel's Nordstrom Anniversary exclusives:

Quadra Eye Shadow in 35 Rives
Illusion d'Ombre in 87 Rivière
Stylo Yeux Waterproof in 86 Beige Clair
Aqualumière Gloss in 80 Alizé and 81 Roselin

Review: Chanel's Rives Eye Shadow quad (35)

I came home from Nordstrom with the complete Anniversary Exclusive collections from Chanel, Dior, and Bobbi Brown. I'm planning on reviewing every item between now and August 6, the last day of the sale. Nordstrom card holders have early access to the sale, which doesn't start officially until July 20.

Chanel Rives 35 indoors by lamplight

I thought I'd start by reviewing the Chanel beauty exclusives, because they received the least amount of press. This collection wasn't pictured in the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale catalog, and I've heard that some Nordstroms only received half a dozen or so of each item.

The Chanel Rives 35 eye quad, originally available only in Asia as part of this spring's Fleur de Lotus collection, is the unloved stepchild of the collection. It hasn't generated much buzz, even among Chanel fans.

Rives features four shades of brown and a white. Even die-hard Chanel fanatics are probably wondering whether it would be worth it to buy Yet Another Chanel Neutral Eye Quad. Are these colors unique and special enough to justify Chanel's ridiculous prices?

I'm a huge fan of neutral eye shadows--I really prefer them for those of us past our first youth. They're universally flattering, and they can be light and subtle or dark and dramatic.  As a result, I've accumulated a scary number of neutral Chanel quads.

Poppy's Chanel eye quads.

I hate to say this, but I find the Rives quad unique. Some of the Chanel neutral shades are a bit murky (Prèlude and Enigma, I'm looking at you) but the shades in Rives are sheer, straightforward browns with a beautiful shimmer and without a hint of plum or gray. I think they'd work with every eye color and skin tone, whether your complexion was warm, neutral, or cool.

As with most Chanel quads, pigment varies from shade to shade. In general, the finish is sheer and the shades are blendable. The lighter shades are meant to be used as a wash and don't leave a lot of pigment. The white looks chalky in the pan, but applies as a wash of sheer, shimmery lightness. The darkest shade is designed to be used as a liner and is much more heavily pigmented.

With makeup fanatics, it's a cliche that the applicators that come packaged with eye shadow and blushes are complete garbage, and should be immediately pitched. This is especially true of sponge-tipped applicators. And it's true that the small, hard black sponge-tipped applicators that come in American Chanel quads are horrible.

However, I got my best results applying these shadows with the plush sponge-tipped applicators they came with. I use a silicone-based concealer as a primer, and I find that other, very pigmented shadows (e.g., Urban Decay or MAC) grab the primer so hard that they become difficult to blend. Not these shadows. They're so soft, it's like working with confectioner's sugar. They blended beautifully when I applied them onto primed eyelids with the sponge-tipped applicators.

Swatches

Here they are in the early morning light. I applied concealer first. For the left four stripes, I used a brush to apply. I started with the lightest shade and worked my way up to the darkest. Unfortunately, the white shade doesn't show at all. You can only see a hint of the shimmer.

Chanel Rives 35 quad, applied over primer (left) with a brush, and (right) with the sponge-tipped applicator

The four stripes on the right are swatched fairly heavily with the sponge-tip. As you can see, the white shade shows up much better.

Here's the quad, outdoors in morning light. The sun has finally come out enough to reveal some of the shimmer.

In this picture, I swatched all four shades on the paper, so again, it's impossible to see the white.

It's rare that I use all four shades in a quad, but these shades work beautifully together.

To buy, or not to buy

Rives is much prettier, less murky, and works better with my fair skin and hazel eyes than either Prèlude, Enigma, or Dunes. This quad is definitely worth a buy--if you're comfortable paying $58 for four eye shadows, and don't, like some people I know, already own 5,000 shades of brown eye shadow.

I don't know whether these are going to sell out, so if you're interested, call Nordstrom. The pre-sale started July 11th; the sale officially starts July 20th and ends August 6th.

---

Elsewhere:


The entire Fleur de Lotus collection is previewed on Rouge Deluxe.


Another review, from a Singapore beauty blogger.

I've just invented a new acronym, NASII, which stands for Nordstrom Anniversary Sale induced insanity

OK, it doesn't look like much--NASII--but it's pronounced nay-see to rhyme with crazy, which is pretty much how I acted.

So let me get you up to speed.

First of all, until July 20th, the Anniversary Sale is only available to Nordstrom card holders. You can't even access that section of their website without typing in the last four digits of your Nordstrom credit card number.

I wanted to grab some pictures and maybe find out whether Nordstrom was actually offering Chanel's formerly-exclusive-to-Asia Fleur de Lotus collection, so I dug through my box of rarely-used credit cards, looking for my Nordstrom card. And I couldn't find it.

Because I was a makeup hoor* on a mission, I called customer service, where I was told that they had no record of my having a card. So I applied for a new one.

Then, after a visit to the gym, where my daughter hummed a little hum and pedaled 20 miles on a stationary bike without breaking a sweat and I was reduced to a limp, sweaty, incoherent rag by my personal trainer, we cleaned up our act, fueled ourselves with Mocha smoothies (caffeine and protein FTW!) and headed to the Nordstrom at Old Orchard mall.

Where I promptly lost. my. mind. I've shopped the Anniversary Sale online, but this scene was beyond exciting. It was electric. Not ridiculously crowded, and with lots of sales associates ready and willing to help out. But with sections of the store draped off as seductive little private shopping enclaves, it's very easy to lose it.

Don't believe me? Well, see these collections?

Dior

Chanel

Bobbi Brown

I bought every single item.

And then escaped to the relative sanity of the shoe department. And yes, I understand the irony of calling the shoe department of the department store that sells more shoes than any other--during a sale where merchandise is marked down 30 percent--sane.

I don't know about you, but I blame my trainer.

Swatches and reviews to come. 


* Deliberately misspelled in a feeble attempt to clean up my act.

Red, White, and Blue

I hope you all had a wonderful fourth. We did--Mr. Buxom was in San Diego earlier this week, but made it home today to drive up to Jen Lancaster's for a fourth of July pool party. Jen's decorations, food, and friends were all wonderful, Fletch did yeoman's work with the grill--and oh, that pool ... I'll tell you something ... we're all a little self-conscious when it comes to prancing around in our swimsuits, but when it's over 100 degrees, you can get all four Buxoms to put on their bathing suits and jump into the pool.

My wardrobe and accessories were deeply patriotic, and would be if I lived in the UK, France, or Australia. In fact, it was difficult to tell whether I was celebrating the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, Bastille Day, or Independence Day.

I wore a navy blue polo shirt, white jeans, red poppy sandals, a red white and blue Hermes bangle, and patriotic nail polish.

After too short a time at Jen's, we headed back home for a picnic with friends before our town's fireworks display. Amazing fireworks, synchronized to "76 Trombones" and "Anchors Away" and the 1812 Overture--and people actually sang the national anthem.

Again, great food, great people, festive atmosphere, and patriotic nail polish worn by yours truly.

Tomorrow the holiday feeling will end for us all. Mr. Buxom will go back to work. I'll head back to the gym. And Young Master Buxom will start summer school, where he'll be taking Consumer Education. How much do you bet that in the first week, they'll teach the students not to spend all their money on nail polish?

I hope your Fourth was glorious!