"When I'm An Old Lady, I'm Gonna Do Some Crazy Stuff!"

This is what I proclaimed to my two girl friends this weekend, who traveled all the way from Boston (via a JetBlue flight and a long convertible ride in the Sun without sunscreen). They were in town to celebrate one friend's b-day. And we were happily drinking a bottle of Barolo Sunday night at the fabulous Sotto Sotto in celebration.

"I won't have kids. I will save all my money. And when I am old, I will do some really crazy shit. Like have an opera scripted and produced. Or own apartments in several North American cities and live for two months a year in each."

I told them they should feel free to start pitching me ideas to add to my list. As I fully intend to make the whole "old lady doing crazy stuff" a reality.

That's when they recited the Jenny Joseph poem, "Warning."

Warning

When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn't go and doesn't suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter.

I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.

I shall go out in the slippers in the rain
And pick the flowers in other people's gardens
And learn to spit.

You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go
Or only bread and pickle for a week
And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes.

But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
And pay our rent and not swear in the street
And set a good example for the children.
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.

But maybe I ought to practise a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.

-Jenny Joseph, 1961

I wear purple now. So that wouldn't a surprise to anyone, if I continued wearing it when I am old.

But penning and composing an opera based on the last three years of W. presidency... Or maybe on Sarah Palin's life after she and McCain lost... Now that would be unexpected. Especially given that I haven't composed a line of music since I was 14 and a flutist.

But I am open to suggestions to add to my running list of crazy stuff I will do when I am old, because I will have the money to do it.

DKNY Cozy Wrap App.

A friend of mine recently got the DKNY Cozy Wrap for a b-day gift. I am incredibly jealous, as it is an awesome piece and can be worn so many different ways.

In fact...

It can be worn so many different ways that DKNY created an iPhone app to help Cozy owners understand all the of them. It gives step-by-step instructions through an animation.

BRILLIANCE!

My favorite way is the "Jacket" way...

I need to get one of these. I mean, I already have the app.

A Lived-In Desk.

This is the cleanest my desk at home has been in a very, very long time.

I have company coming next weekend. So I spent a good deal of this weekend cleaning my entire house while listening to my Bikram dialogue on repeat. And now, my desk actually has some order to it.

Some.

Here is what is currently on my desk:

• THREE laptops. (One I write on regularly. An old one I have movies on that I still like to watch. And a work one.)
• One iPad, with All About Eve playing. I watch this most weekends when I work. Which is pretty much every weekend lately.
• Glass of water with lemon. (Constant hydration!)
• Noise-reduction headphones.
• Bowl with sage branch. (Burned every weekend to ward off bad energy collected during the week due to stress.)
• September issue of Vogue.
• July/August issue of Elle Decor.
• Paint card swatches. (Still trying to nail down the right shade of blue for the guest room.)
• Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams fabric swatch from new couch. (For helping to pick the right shade of blue for the guest room.)
• Brown leather journals I am taking to teacher training to write my notes. I will want to keep everything I write down. I wanted something pretty to write in.
• White binder with laminated Bikram dialogue.
• Reference books I will likely take to teacher training with me. (Wheels of Life, Bikram Yoga, Yoga Anatomy, Bikram's Beginning Yoga Class)
• Sephora OPI Stregnthener Fortifiant.
• Magazine subscription cards. (Magazines are more expensive up here in Canada. It is time to just subscribe to the five I read every month.)

This will probably be as clean as I can get this desk before I have a friend sleeping in my office next weekend. But at least she will have plenty to look at while she is in here.

All I Want Is A Three-Piece Suit.

Why is it so freaking hard to find exactly what you are madly craving?

I love an androgynous look on women. Even more, I love wearing this kind of look myself. I most definitely have a feminine side... But I am most comfortable in work wear that is a touch masculine. And what I am dying to find, but simply can not, is a three-piece suit.

This is from the September issue of Vogue. Sally Singer, one of the former editors, models a gorgeous Ralph Lauren three-piece suit. It looks incredible. And it should. It was tailored just for her. And I am anxious to replicate the look for myself.

But...

While I would love nothing more than to head to the Ralph Lauren mansion on upper Madison Avenue in NYC and spend thousands of dollars on a custom-made three-piece suit, I just do not have the time or the cash. (Let's be honest, it's more about the cash.)

So I was hoping to scour the Internet for a (far, far) cheaper version of the look. But my old stand-by sites for suiting do not seem to have this kind of thing going yet...

• Theory
• Elie Tahari
• J. Crew
• Banana Republic
• Shopbop
• Net-a-Porter

All have let me down. (Sad face.)

I am in no rush for this though. I leave in 27 days for Bikram Yoga Teacher Training (EEK!) and certainly won't be wearing a suit until December at the earliest. So this gives ready-to-wear contributors a few months to get something on the racks for me.

Here's hoping.

Channeling Miranda Priestly.

Remember a few weeks ago when I posted some of my goals for the next five years?

Well, one of them was to become a "digital marketing thought leader." Kind of a broad statement. But I had to be vague. It was a combination of not wanting to jinx myself and trying to be quiet as things were in the works. What I really wanted to write was, "become a digital marketing vice president before the age of 35."

And now I am.

This is one of the reasons - the main one - why have not blogged much this year. Between doing the Bikram 101 Challenge, deciding to go to training and getting the blessing for the leave of absence... I was also busting my ass to prove that I was able to be the Vice President of the search marketing firm I work at.

With an executive title... This means I need to start living the executive life. I think that means:

• Power workouts at 5:30am
• Power breakfasts of power smoothies
• Power suits are to be worn with power heels and powerful hair
• Power lunches are to be taken, with rare steaks and steamed veggies
• Powerful hot yoga will be needed at the end of most days to de-stress
• And a powerful glass of red wine will be needed to decompress at the end of the day

And if I say "power" enough, I will actually be able to con myself into thinking I actually have some.

But for now, I will go to bed this evening with dreams of my new executive idol in my head...

Miranda Priestly.

Maybe All I Needed Was A B12 Shot?

I have been in a fog for the past few years. A fog that has gotten foggier since moving to Toronto.

Toronto is a great city. I won't pretend otherwise. But lately I have been feeling like I want to move back to Boston or NYC. I left each of those cities to follow my husband for his career. And that hasn't really sat well in the back of my mind.

My husband is a lovely person. And he would never move anywhere I didn't agree to. And I agreed to move both times I did. And each time I have moved (first Boston, now Toronto), I have made a life in the city.

But still, I had this nagging feeling in the back of my head that kept saying, "There's no reason you should have to uproot your life. You should get to call the shots. Why are you following someone else?"

I am the kind of person who leaches energy from her surroundings. If it is a place I want to be, I am filled with energy and passion. NYC was my choice. Boston was actually my choice too. But Toronto? Not as much.

I've said it before... I don't know that Toronto is the place for me long-term. But I am making a life here for now. And to get me out of the foggy feeling I have been having, I started seeing a naturopathic doctor for acupuncture each week.

Anxiety... Mental fogginess... Lack of energy... Always tired... My body is in a depression. One no amount of yoga had been able to help. I was happy... But my body and my mind would play funny games on me. This past week's acupuncture appointment demonstrated exactly how "out of it" I was...

"How has your week been?" my doctor asked me.

I stared at her for a few seconds.

"I can't remember what I have done this week," I said. "I've been to work. And I went to yoga. But I can't remember what all I did yesterday."

She laughed. I lied down, and she began putting needles into me.

"Oh!" I said out loud suddenly. "I was just (something secret) an hour ago! Can't believe I forgot that!"

She laughed, and said "That's a big deal!" Clearly, I had a lot on my mind if I had forgotten something so significant.

"This reminds me," I said to her. "How much vitamin B12 should I be getting?"

A few weeks earlier she had been stressing the importance of vitamins to me. In particular, she had said B12 would be essential in helping boost my energy. But I wasn't sure exactly how much I should be getting. And I hate swallowing pills. So unless it comes in the Flinstones chewable vitamin, I may not be getting what I need.

She suggested I start getting a B12 shot. At least for the next few weeks, as I am probably very deficient.

At the end of the session, she gave me the shot. I am one person who is not afraid of needles. Pills, yes. Needles, no.

"You'll probably feel a quick boost of energy in the next few minutes," she said.

She was right. As soon as I left the office, I had a lot more energy. Way more energy than I should have, considering I just had acupuncture.

The next morning, instead of my usual 20 minutes of "snoozing" after my alarm goes off, I got right up out of bed. And now, three days later, I feel more focused.

Maybe the fog has lifted?

Chartreuse & Pearls.

When covering the fashion of the first family, the focus is typically on Michelle Obama. First Lady fashion has always been a fascination for stylephiles around the world. And while hers is certainly fun to watch, I also like keeping an eye on the Obama girls as well.

Specifically, Sasha Obama.

The younger of the two girls, she definitely has the attitude and confidence to pull off the outfit. I wish I could seem this relaxed and fun in a chartreuse tulle skirt and pearls.

I guess as we get older, we lose our daring nature when it comes to fashion.

September Issue Time.

It's nearly my favorite time of year. Only, in Canada, my favorite time of year gets pushed back an extra week because of the international shipping. But I am still excited nonetheless...

It's nearly "September Issue" time!

It's the time of year when all the fashion glossies release their September issues filled with pages and pages of new ads, editorial and photos. Fashion! Beauty! Health! Sex! Celebrity profiles!

I love it all. But I won't get most of the issues for (probably) another two weeks. Things get put on the racks a few days later here. But I am still pumped, just the same. Here are the ones I can't wait to get my hands on first...

Lady Gaga gracing Vanity Fair...

Jennifer Anniston looking fresh on my favorite mag, Harper's Bazaar...

Julia Roberts on Elle...

And Halle Berry is alleged to be on the September issue of Vogue. But I couldn't find a photo of that one.

Two weeks is going to D-R-A-G!