Day 13: Take a fashion risk

Day 13: I live with a wildly fashionable woman. She is tall and thin and looks good in whatever she puts on. Top that with her remarkable accessories and I always feel like I pale in comparison. She’s the trendy type who walked straight off the glossy magazine page into my living room with leather leggings, Sam Edelman pumps and a Michael Kohrs boyfriend watch. All of which scream, “I’m too sexy to be casual.” None of which do I feel I can pull off.

Some people are hipsters, with skinny jeans, a flannel, some sort of ironic hat and plain off-brand sneakers similar to one my mother put me in before I could choose for myself. Others are Bettie Page chic, complete with ruby red lips and rockabilly hips, plaid patterned shirts, high waisted sailor pants and statement hair that you don’t know if you can pull of until you do and if you can’t then it’s too late. You’ve got urban homages to rap videos with high top Jordan’s and plain white tees. My personal favorite is the Winona throwbacks, who think they actually invented the look of floral prints and lace trims with combat boots (watch Reality Bites, ladies, you didn’t!) No matter what the genre, everybody’s making a statement somehow. I, personally, have found that I don’t have one pigeonhole that I fit in. It could be a good or bad thing, but whatever it is, it allows me to shop and dress however I feel.

I read an article in Glamour magazine recently that said everyone should dress up once in a while, just to remind yourself that you can – especially in the day of casual office attire. While I don’t work in an office, I do work in a restaurant and my work clothes are androgynously unflattering, so I took this advice to heart. I live in a small city – hardly a metropolis. One can dress up or down on any day of the week and it would be appropriate. When all is said and done, most people will dress down before up. I have tons of clothes and a lot of cute pieces that can be done any which way, but, as is the attitude in my small city, I generally dress them down. I decided for Day 13 to break from monotony and do it big.

Last year, I went to Italy and bought the cutest little high waist navy blue shorts. They have flat lines and zippers over the pockets, so they hug my hips and let people know I’m a real woman! I’ve worn them for numerous occasions; paired with orange for football games, paired with an oversized sweater for those days when the weather doesn’t know what it wants to do, paired with a plain t-shirt and wedges for those days when I don’t know what I want to do. They’re my adorably versatile, trendy shorts!

My roommate, the fashionista, and I share closets. She wears my stuff and I wear hers. She has a camel colored knit crop sweater. It’s BCBG. She wears it with longer button down shirts under it sometimes. It’s actually somewhat reminiscent of Cher Horowitz’ outfit for her driving test in the movie Clueless. Since my shorts are high waist, though, I decided to wear the sweater solo.

For my feet, I put on tall green, camel and orange argyle socks, in the fashion of a Catholic school girl. And to finish the look, I threw on my favorite shoe designer, Steve Madden’s Annnie wedges. Suade taupe wrapped wedges with a thin lace. Like a solid color saddle shoe.

It was a total Blair Waldorf, adorable, but are you really wearing that in real life look. I could have been insecure. Sometimes, I was. I could have scrapped the whole thing before leaving the house. Instead, I owned it!

I got lots of compliments and felt great about myself. I had no reason to be dressed up, but it felt good to be creative and do something fun and that’s the point behind the list. 

Day 13: take a fashion risk

Day 14: catch up with a friend

Day 15: random act of kindness

Day 16: go rock climbing

Day 17: play in the snow

Day 18: stay up all night

Day 19: take a writing workshop

Day 20: organize my closet

Day 21: go for a walk (not a run)

Day 22: Girls' Night Out!

Day 23: Try Ethnic Food

Day 23: Growing up, the question, “what’s it taste like” was always answered with, “try it and find out.” Rarely did a new food appear in front of me that I wasn’t encouraged, or even required, to try. I distinctly remember the first time I ate fried calamari as a child. My father said, “try it and then I’ll tell you what it is.” Fully aware this was a sneaky trick to get me to eat something I wouldn’t try knowing it’s American name, but that there was no way to get out of eating it, I dug in. It was delicious and I loved it. “It’s squid” he remarked with too much joy (oh, to be a parent and antagonize young minds). I would have liked to be disgusted, but it was too late, I enjoyed it and now it’s my favorite Italian appetizer. 

When I put “try a new ethnic food” on my 365 List, I wasn’t entirely sure how I would check it off. Truthfully, I was afraid haggis was in my future and I’m not sure the sanctity of the list is important enough for that mess! I’m not so cultured, though that I have tried everything. There’s an entire world’s worth of cultural foods for me to try. In fact, in my own town there is an array of different culture’s dining experiences for me to try. When the opportunity arose for me to have Brazilian, I was delighted. My friends called it “meat night.” I called it Day 23!

The reason they were calling it “meat night” is because we went to an authentic Brazilian restaurant called Brazeiro’s Churrascaria (pronounced: shoe-RHAS-ska-ree-ya), at which your main course consists of 12 different cuts of meat. The experience is like none other.

Your meal begins with a salad bar, complete with a number of authentic southern Brazilian starters, including heart of palm, fresh steamed asparagus and other salad dishes. I was delighted, yet confused to see Italian salami and mozzarella at the bar, until it was explained to me that Brazil has one of the largest Italian populations outside of Italy, thus making some of their native foods authentic to Brazilian culture as well. I was advised to partake in the salad bar sparingly, as the main dishes to come would be courses to be reckoned with.

The group of us talked and sipped on Argentinean red wine and caipirinhas (pron: kie-purr-REEN-yah), Brazil’s national cocktail made with cachaça (pron: ka-sha-sa), sugar and lime. Cachaça is sugarcane hard liquor, similar to rum, however less prevalent due to it’s limited availability outside of Brazil. If you’re looking for a sweet, refreshing feel good drink, I highly recommend a caipirinha. Before the cachaça had time to make us float, we were approached by the gaucho chefs.

This would be a good time to explain how a Churrascaria works. The southern Brazilian style of food is centuries old. However, Brazeiro’s boasts “a modern interpretation, yet an authentic experience, of Southern Brazil’s heritage.” Churrasco (pron: shoe-RHAS-ko) is essentially Brazilian barbeque. At its conception, Gauchos would dig pits, build a fire then cook skewered meats over the embers. In it’s new-school interpretation of this ritual, Brazeiro’s gaucho chefs offer non-stop tableside service with personal cuts of perfectly seasoned and cooked skewered meats; including beef, chicken, pork, sausage and lamb in twelve variations.

As a consumer, it is your job to let the chefs know when you are ready for more and when you need a moment. And, trust me, you will need a moment. I recommend this experience with a large party of friends who know how to talk. You’ll need something to ensure you pace yourself. In the event you bring a small party, the restaurant offers a two-sided coaster card to help you slow your consumption. One side is green and reads, “Si, Por Favor”, Portuguese for “Yes, Please.” This lets the gauchos know you are ready to take whatever cuts of meat they are offering as they circle your table, like reverse vultures. The flip side is red and reads “Nao, Obrigado”, Portuguese for “No, Thank You!” The gauchos will continue to bring cuts of meat to your table until all diners’ cards are turned over to red.

The meat dishes are accompanied by a family style serving of three or four sides. The most notable of these were caramelized plantains, fried polentas and garlic seasoned mashed potatoes. The amount of food to chose from is overwhelming, not only quantity but in cultural revelation. It is satiating. This first timer highly recommends it.

As they say in Brasil when toasting an occasion, “Saúde!” (pron: saw-OO-de).

Day 23: try new ethnic food

Day 24: got to coffee shop and write

Day 25: clean the whole house

Day 26: Skype with my nephew

Day 27: arts and crafts (made a gift for my friends' new baby)

Day 28: veg in bed (ok, ok, I cheated with this one but even God built in a day of rest!)

Day 29: go for a run

Day 30: bring parking attendant at work hot chocolate


all pictures and a great deal of information regarding the tradition of Brazeiro's dining experience were found at http://brazeiros.com/ 

Performance Review

This year, in lieu of a New Year’s Resolution, I made a list of things I want to accomplish. The list includes small, random act of kindness, trying new activities and travel. I thought instead of committing myself to a year of one challenge, I could dedicate myself to daily goals. Like any resolution, this has proven to be more difficult than initially thought. It seemed simple at first, write a list of 365 things I want to do or try that will contribute to my every day well being and the happiness of the people around me. The idea being that I could check the items off the list in a sort of “My Name Is Earl” manner; when an opportunity arises, I check something off the list. Even if an opportunity isn’t presented, I still have to do something productive and positive with each day. There are certainly “cheat” days, like “go for a walk” (a difficult task for someone who’d rather pound the pavement in runner’s fashion) or “catch up with a friend.” The items can take entire days or just a few seconds, but the idea is to do something with each day. The list stands at 200 items right now.

So far, I’m off to a pretty decent start. There are moments of slowed momentum or feelings of failure, however, the list was built for moments of doubt like these. It includes small, random acts of kindness that take seconds to accomplish, so that no day is wasted.

The thing I’ve been most remiss with is blogging the whole thing because I’m not quite sure how. What to write long pieces about or what people want to hear. Is anything I’m doing is remotely interesting to anyone at all? I’ve come across a few hiccoughs in the process, so I thought I might write about those, but then I thought who really cares? Except that if this is, in a sense a resolution, I’m sure that some people might be encouraged to hear about my progress. That I’m not perfect, I have screwed up, but that it’s not the end of the challenge! The year is going to roll on and so, too, must the challenge!

             

I’ve found that sometimes when I don’t even mean to, I’m able to check an item off the list when I hadn’t even intended to. One morning, I didn’t have enough money to pay the parking attendant until I got into work. She recognized me, though, and knew I would be able to bring her the last two dollars once I got inside and borrowed it from a co-worker. I have this woman on my list. She is always kind and understanding, polite and conversational and the perfect face to see on my way to work everyday. In any weather, she sits in her little blue collection booth, smiles and takes my money, so I have “bring her hot chocolate” as an item on my list. And so, along with my two dollars, I also brought her some sweet hot cocoa with whipped cream. She was touched and grateful. It was so easy, I felt like I was cheating!

I’ve been running into an issue after completing a task for the day, though, where I want to rest on my laurels and stop doing for the day. If I check off  “clean bathroom,” I wonder if I should continue on my cleaning spree throughout the rest of the apartment, as I have built the momentum, or if I should just call it a day. Afterall, I’ve checked off an item from the list and, let’s not forget, I have a whole year to check off the rest. When a day is reserved for “try new ethnic food,” does that mean it can’t also be “buy coffee for the person in line behind you at the Starbucks drive-thru”? Of course not! On the day when I brought my Happy Parking Attendant her cocoa, I already had the day reserved for “Girls’ Night Out.” On this day, I checked off two items, which made up for the one day the week before when I let the momentum die and the day slipped by me.

There are no rules to this challenge. When I miss a day, there should be no guilt. If I pile three things in to one day, then it was truly golden. The list isn’t meant to run me; it’s meant to inspire me. Certainly, a day has passed where I haven’t checked an item off the list, but I did something fantastically fulfilling… so I add it to the list and check it off.