Tea of the Month: Jasmine Pearl’s Genmaicha

I have a well-documented crush on Jasmine Pearl.  Their shop is in the middle of a warehouse district in Portland, which really confused my friends when I directed them there for a tasting.  The store has a beautiful bar and big windows that let in lots of light, and it’s always full of staff experimenting with blends and fellow tasters looking for a fix something new.  Jasmine Pearl sells pretty much every kind of tea imaginable, from breakfast blends to matcha to lapsang souchong to bricks of pu-erh.

One of the teas that my friend Tess encouraged me to try is genmaicha, also known as popcorn tea, a green tea with toasted rice in it.

See? Puffed rice!

Thankful Thursday

1) The sound of jets.  At work, I can hear the fighter jets when they take off from the Air National Guard in Portland.  It’s like a mini Blue Angels show every day!  I’m going to miss them when we move to our new office.

2) Dogs.  We don’t have one yet, but it pretty much made Kevin’s life when a completely unknown black lab wandered up to us at beach, licked his hand, and then sat in his lap and howled with him for a few minutes.

3) Rotisserie chicken.  Instant dinner!  Plus you’ll have leftover chicken for quesadillas, sandwiches, chicken alfredo…

4) Our apartment’s gym.  Free treadmill access means I work out a lot more than I would otherwise.  I’ve only been running regularly for the last month or so, but I’ve already noticed more muscle tone in my legs, and my back hardly hurts at all!

5) Kevin, who continues to make me smile and laugh and feel wonderful.

Outfit Post: Laura Not-Ingalls Not-Wilder

This poor skirt.  It’s too froofy for work, too bulky for travel, and hard to match tops with.  It’s not worthy of a mere t-shirt, but it already has so much character that busier shirts don’t go well with it.  (I know, I know, my life is so hard.)  I’m determined to get it out of the closet a little more this year, though, so here’s Attempt #1 at a new outfit:

Top: Target
Skirt: Anthropologie (gift)
Belt: Romy
Sandals: Naturalizer, from Macy’s
Earrings: gift
Purse: Laga Handbags

The Western look went okay, but the skirt is meant to be worn on the hips, which meant I spent all morning tucking it back under the belt and making sure the top didn’t creep up in the meantime.  (SO HARD, YOU GUYS.)

New plan: develop outfits that don’t require hoisting the skirt up to unnatural heights.

Tuesday Quotes

“I think that because they trusted themselves and respected themselves as individuals, because they knew beyond doubt that they were valuable and potentially moral units – because of this they could give God their own courage and dignity and then receive it back.”

John Steinbeck, “East of Eden”

Links Lundi

Summer reading inspired by fall 2012 fashion.  Props for their relatively respectful handling of the “native”-inspired styles that seem to be sticking around.

More reading suggestions from Vogue, including my former professor Anna Keesey’s first book!

18 secrets of the super-motivated.

40:20 Vision offers advice from 40-something women to those having quarter-life crises.

An American soldier in Afghanistan trades his cigarettes to rescue an abused dog.

Henna artists rejuvenate and empower cancer patients who have lost their hair during chemotherapy by applying henna “crowns” to their heads.

An insightful interview with a rape crisis line volunteer.  I love this, and I hope I can remember it the next time I need to convince someone about our victim-blaming culture: “We like to tell ourselves that the person was drunk or wearing the wrong clothes and that’s why he or she was raped, because it makes us feel safe.”

An exercise in not caring what people think. (via Yes And Yes)

Also from Yes and Yes, another take on the lack of diversity exemplified in HBO’s “Girls,” this one encouraging those who feel their stories aren’t being told to go out and tell them themselves.

Why cultivate positive body image?

Vogue’s Health Initiative: Will Anything Change?

The June issue of Vogue contains a letter from the editor about the Council of Fashion Designers of America’s Health Initiative, a really lovely-sounding international coalition of fashion experts, including several Vogue editors and models like Lara Stone, committed to promoting healthy lifestyles in the fashion world.  The initiative intends to set minimum-age requirements for models, establish healthy diet guidelines for them, and make sure they are provided with healthy snacks during breaks on shoots.  Editor Anna Wintour acknowledges in the letter that “for an industry that should be about empowering women of all shapes, sizes, and ages, too often the image of attractiveness [fashion] has projected has been entirely at odds with that message.”

Trouble is, this initiative was started in 2007, and I’m pretty sure nothing has changed over the last five years.  After all, this infamous Ralph Lauren photoshopping debacle occured in 2009, and at least one model has died of eating-disorder-related causes since 2007.  “Thinspo” posts are still easy to find on Pinterest and Tumblr.  Girls as young as 10 are dieting and girls under age 10 now rate “sexy” as the most important word to describe them.  Why should we believe fashion publications when they promise their recommittment now?

Maybe July will show some evidence of progress, because the actual content of the June issue wasn’t very reassuring.  I mean, the cover was pretty solid, with some healthy athletes in peak physical condition, and hey, Serena Williams!  The overall theme was “health is beautiful,” featuring Olympic athletes and Karlie Kloss.  The opening photo was so encouraging: a shot of Kloss on the parallel bars, showing off – wait a sec – is that muscle?  Is there actual muscle tone in her arms?

Then they changed their minds and went back to their usual:

FBFF: Summer Trends

This week on FBFF we’re talking about our favorite summer trends, which I have to admit turned into a challenging topic for me.  I feel like summer took everything great about spring – fresh colors, fun prints, interesting silhouettes – and made it worse.  Now everywhere I look, it’s garish shades of yellow, green, and coral.  Even purple and cobalt have become so saturated that they’re overwhelming.

As for the prints, well, most of them look like the result of running Picasso and Warhol paintings in a blender with an acid tab.  Ow.

There are a few things I like, though:

1. Twenties style.  The spring/summer Ralph Lauren collections, including the ready-to-wear, look like they fell straight out of “The Great Gatbsy” and this makes me very happy, even if everything is pretty much unwearable in real life.  The drop waists and the pale colors definitely don’t look good on me, but they’re nice to look at.  I also love how the ready-to-wear looks incorporate florals without hitting you over the head with them.

2. Big prints. Not necessarily bold colorful retina-slaughtering prints, just large prints, like this:

Or this:

Dress

3. Embroidery/crochet work. I’m a happy camper when boho-chic is in.  I love the flowy sleeves, embroidery, soft colors, and feminine details that show up in those styles, and it’s the total opposite from the angular silhouettes and mod colorblocking that’s been in the last year or so.  I’ve been able to merge the two styles fairly well, I think, by wearing flowy tops with my leggings and skinny jeans, but give me boot-cut jeans, maxi skirts, and soft florals any day.

I’m especially loving all the embroidered bags that are popping up.  Target has some really cute options, and ModCloth has this baby:

Handbag

What are you loving in summer styles?  See the other FBFF entries here!

Thankful Thursday

1. Cell phones.  Otherwise the TWO instances in which our flight to Hawaii has been canceled would have really been a pain to handle.  I mean, they were still a pain, but it would have taken twice as long without the power of texting.

2. Starbucks.  I don’t buy coffee often, but every time I do it’s completely worth it.  Why can’t my homemade mocha taste that good?

3. Mothers who garden.  This weekend Kevin and I planted lettuce, arugula, cherry tomatoes, marigolds, and a jalapeno plant, and without our mothers’ collective input, those plants will not survive the summer.  Well, that, and the Internet, but we like to talk to our moms, too.

4. Three day weekend!  It kind of snuck up on me, which makes it even better!

5. Sun.  I miss you.  Please come back.  My tomatoes need you!

Tuesday Quotes

“Anyone can be cool, but awesome takes practice.”

Lorraine Peterson

Top Ten Tuesday: Online Reads

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week we will post a new Top Ten list that one of our bloggers here at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join.

This week we’re talking about our favorite online reads.

1. Hark, a Vagrant!  This conversation happened recently:

Me: “So what other webcomics do you read?”

Friend: “Well, it sounds really dumb, but it’s this girl who does historical comics…”

Me: “Kate Beaton?!”

Friend: “Yeah!”

Me: “Kate Beaton’s AWESOME!”

And it’s true.  Kate Beaton IS awesome.

2. Already Pretty was one of the first blogs I ever read, and it remains an excellent source of body-image inspiration and advice.  Sally gets to the point and doesn’t ever back down from trying to convince every reader that she is worthwhile.

3. The Mary Sue is chock-full of nerdy feminism, art, movie news, and other geeky things that make me happy, like the fact that they’re making a sequel to “Blade Runner” and it’ll star a woman.

4. Foodimentary has a food for every day, complete with fun facts and mouthwatering pictures.  My birthday is National Grand Marnier day, so there you go.