L'automne arrive

Enfin!
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Une semaine bien remplie

Last night we finally made it to see Spamalot. Very funny, but (spoiler alert), Matthew Greer (third from top) chews some major scenery and totally steals Act 1 as the French Taunter. He also managed to work in a Brett Farve joke in the second act. Comedy Gold!

Tonight I will have the privilege and pleasure to chew some scenery (and perhaps an antipasto plate) with the fabulous WendyB and a merry band of LA bloggers. If we break into song, RUN for your lives!!!
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Weekend Roundup

Inspired by materfamilias' lovely post about her family history, I dug out this picture of grand-mere Lucille et moi. I'm not sure what we are looking at, but I know my love of gardens comes from her.

Materfamilias also tagged me for a meme this week, which I'm working on, vraiment! (Our sudden decision to go to Paris in October and the resulting urgency about finding accommodations have sucked up almost all of my online time and mental energy this week.)

And...I'm also working up some thoughts about the concept of "Home," inspired by the wonderful series of guest posts at La Belette Rouge on this topic. If you haven't read these yet, go read now. They are touching and funny and insightful and thought-provoking.

Is anyone besides une femme finding retailers' fall collections so far to be a bit....underwhelming?


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Schedule of Events

Between packing, end of school year festivities and next week's cruise vacation (where I understand that Internet access is both expensive AND slow, a two-fer!), posting will probably be a bit sporadic for the next couple of weeks.

In the meantime, here's a fluffy LA Times article on how to dress for a job interview. To which une femme can only add, spit your gum out before you enter the building.

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Back in town...

...from someplace that looks a lot like this.

Just got back home a short while ago. I'll be back to posting in a day or so, but just wanted to say thanks to everyone for your condolences below. Your kind thoughts are very much appreciated.
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This California Life

5.0 party in the neighborhood!

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Eleven points...

...and worth every damn one.

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Weekend Update

A couple of une femme's readers have asked how the WW is going, and the short answer is, "pretty well, with caveats."

At about the three-week mark, I really hit the wall with the constant hunger which, although less actute than the first week, was still a bit more than I could live with on an ongoing basis. I was eating a lot of the WW-designated "filling foods" (mostly high fiber, low-fat) but they weren't really staying with me, and I'd be quite hungry again an hour or so after eating. I'd been re-reading Gary Taubes' book, "Good Calories, Bad Calories" (which I highly recommend if you are interested in the science of nutrition, weight and health). So I started tweaking the mix until I was eating almost all of my points as protein and fat, and of course lots of zero-point veggies. This did the trick, and I'm feeling much better: higher energy, no nagging hunger, improved sleep and concentration. I'm continuing to release weight at a good pace, and am now down a total of eight pounds in about a month. I'm fitting back into a lot of my clothes that had become too tight, and am working to drop another seven or so more pounds to look and feel my best.

For those of you contemplating WW, my suggestion would be to experiment to find the mix of protein, fat and carbs that works best for you. WW is set up to encourage very low-fat eating, which isn't optimal for me, and you may find that you need to eat more fat and fewer carbs.
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Weekend Update

First the disappointing news: the dress arrived yesterday and is going right back. Apparently this line runs VERY small. I'd figured of course it would be too snug at my current weight, but the moment I opened the package and held it up, I knew that short of achieving my mid-twenties-post-divorce-bout-of-anorexia-weight, there was no way that slender garment would ever zip, let alone look right. The size I ordered was supposed to correlate in European sizing to my own, but I couldn't even get my arm all the way into the sleeve. (I'd guess the fit was actually about two sizes smaller than what I normally wear.) Regarding the dress itself, the fabric is lovely and it seems to be quite well made. Still, I can't imagine anyone paying the original price of $605; it's just not that special. So the search continues.

The better news: things are going well with Weight Watchers. After the first week, I passed beyond the hungry-enough-to-gnaw-your-own-arm-off phase, and adjusting my plan to include a good chunk of protein at lunch seems to have vanquished the late afternoon bouts of hypoglycemia I experienced the first few days. I've dropped four pounds in about 2½ weeks, and though I know that rate will taper off, it's enough so that my clothes are fitting less like sausage casings.

In all honesty, it was a relief to finally acknowledge the degree to which this extra weight has been bothering me, and to commit to work on it. (And thanks to all of you who wrote such supportive comments!) I've thought a lot about why that was so hard for me to do, despite my frustration and dissatisfaction with my appearance. Ultimately, that reluctance comes from fear. First, I have a lot of good friends who are committed to non-dieting (often as a part of recovery from eating disorders, and my own experience tells me that learning to eat intuitively is absolutely a necessary part of the healing process), and I've been afraid of disappointing them by "going over to the Dark Side," as we used to say. I've had many people in my life who have become judgemental, self-righteous and more than a bit obnoxious after losing weight. I was afraid of becoming one of those people. Finally, my own experience of being eating disordered through my teens and twenties, and the way it shrunk my world down to calories, grams and pounds is something I've never wanted to repeat. Two decades of food and weight obsession left me with an adversarial relationship with my body and boatloads of free-floating anxiety which took years to overcome. I've been afraid of undoing that fragile peace, and reigniting a life-diminishing obsession.

It's still early in the process, but none of those things I fear seem to have manifested yet. I'm able to go about my day without thinking constantly about what I've eaten or when I get to eat next (planning out meals in advance certainly helps with this), and I'm not hopping on and off the scale every hour, or even every day. I'm still committed to seeing beauty in all sizes, and believing that everyone knows for themselves what's best for their own bodies. I know that my weight is not a measure of my worth. I'm able to eat "real" food, including eating out, and am not feeling deprived or anxious. So far, so good.

Maybe it's never to late to achieve that sense of bien dans sa peau.

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Program notes

Apologies that posting has been light this week and may continue to be sporadic over the next week or so. Aside from the fact that our monitor went on the fritz (it only works for about 10-15 minutes at a time) and we're still waiting for the new one to arrive, I've been a bit preoccupied with making long-distance arrangements to get my mother moved to a nursing home (she's in Ohio, I'm in LA) and may be taking a few days next week to go check up on her.

In the meantime, the new March issue of Goldivas.com is up, including an article by une femme about incorporating Spring's hot trends now (and without breaking the bank). While you're there, be sure to check out all of the great articles.

More inspiration from The Sartorialist, these lifted from style.com.

Love the slouchy cool of this one! (And there's the lightweight cardigan layered under a jacket, as I mentioned in my Goldivas article.)

Giovanna!! Does she have a fan club? I want to join!

If loving these cropped pants worn with fuzzy shoes is wrong, I don't want to be right.

I love the intensity of color here: hair, lips and pants.

Crazy mad, I know, but I want this kimono/coat/bathrobe/whatever-it-is!

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O frabjous day!

Callooh! Callay!

(I suspect everyone will be dressed in much warmer attire today...forecast high 31F, snow flurries.)

Edited to add:

1. Something told me I shouldn't bother putting on mascara this morning....
2. Aretha Brings The Hattitude!
3. Yo Yo Ma always looks like he's enjoying himself when he performs.
4. LOVE Michelle's dress!!!
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Ladies Who Brunch

Deja Pseu, Karen Of a Certain Age, and Belle de Ville enjoying le déjeuner at The Little Next Door.

Yesterday I had the great pleasure of breaking bread (well, macarons, actually!) with these two gorgeous, intelligent, stylish, funny and charming women. We enjoyed a glass of champagne and some of the best brunch this side of Paris. We chatted about blogging, shoes, jobs, travel, kids, and had a lovely time. Star sighting: Sienna Miller. Karen recognized her scarf (a freebie from British Vogue) before we recognized her.

For those who couldn't make it today, I'll try to organize another meetup soon after the holidays.
(After seeing Karen's flawless skin, I've decided I need some of that clay mask! )
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Well THAT was unexpected...

All day these hunky Argentinian guys have been playing soccer (futBOL) across the street. A few minutes ago a soccer ball came through my front window!

They were very apologetic and assured me they'd pay for it.
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L.A. Blogger Meet!

Attention LA area bloggers: une femme has volunteered to organize a meet!

Who: You!

What: Lunch or brunch

When: week after Thanksgiving

Where: fabulous West LA location

Why: Because we're fabulous!

How: e-mail me at pseub (at) sbcglobal (dot) com, and I'll include you on the e-vite.

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The most chic accessory you can wear today

And if you live in California, please do the right thing and vote YES on Proposition 2, and NO on Proposition 8.

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Ten Plus One

La Belette Rouge has tagged me for a meme, eleven things about moi:

1. Clothes Shop: Banana Republic, if only for the miraculous Jackson Fit trousers.

2. Furniture Shop: That's a tough one; we haven't shopped much for furniture in the last few years. My fantasy furniture comes from Roche Bobois.

3. Sweet: still remains the Chuao Spicy Maya chocolate.

4. City: Culver City, newest epicenter of LA cuisine and art galleries. When we first moved here almost 12 years ago, we used to joke that they rolled up the sidewalks at 6pm. Now it's a bustling weekend destination for movies and food. Now if only there was more shopping....

5. Drink: non-alcoholic - San Pelegrino. Alcoholic - Stoli martini or wine.

6. Music: jazz, mostly. Currently, I'm listening to this CD in my car.

7. TV Series: Mad Men!

8. Film: Diva.

9. Workout: Walking dogs twice daily, 20-30 minutes at a pop, and whatever exercises the physical therapist tells me to do, at least when I remember.

10. Pastries: In LA, pain au chocolat from The Little Next Door. In Paris, not sure yet. Think I'll have to do some more sampling. ;-)

11. Coffee: Nespresso Ristretto. Double espresso, no sugar.

Well that was fun! I'm tagging materfamilias, Potpourri Promenade (which I just realized I've neglected to add to my blogroll, an omission I will soon correct), Passage des Perles, and any other bloggers who want to participate. Just leave a link in the comments!

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Don't Believe It

I just saw an ad in my e-mail sidebar for Cheryl Tiegs wrinkle cream. How does she look this good at 61? it asks. Answer: airbrushing.

(I sat next to Cheryl in a chiropractor's waiting room a couple years ago.)

Picture of antique face cream jars from here.

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L'shana tovah!

May you be inscribed for a sweet year!

Face à face: Paris and New York

We'll be in Paris from Oct 12-16,

and in New York from Oct 17-20.

If any fellow bloggers out there would like to meet up for coffee/lunch/cocktails/a walk in the park, drop me an e-mail. I'd love to meet you face à face!
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