Exhaling Life

This year's first LookBook started with a fabulously striking  Patou Off-Shoulder Faille Midi Dress  in red along with  Saint Laurent Le 57 Quilted Shoulder Bag  pulled forward from 2023 LookBooks of January , March , and June to emphasize that not everything has to be the newest and the latest to be stylish. Although it seems appropriate to pull forward the red dress from last month to February in time for Valentine's Day, I'm going to show my true color... I don't care much about Valentine's Day. If we need a commercialized special day to pressure us into showing how much we love others, then you know... Is that meaningful?  Not to regress too much into the subject of love, relationships, and meaningfulness, I will glide over to this month's overdue LookBook. Rather than something pink, red, and hearts popping everywhere, this month's LookBook is about chicness of casualness.  [top] CECILIE BAHNSEN Selena Blossom-Matelassé Cami Top [jeans] TIBI Sid Wide

If you follow me on Instagram and watch the Stories, then you know I've been in a budget mode. To curve my spending, I've sentenced myself to a budget prison until further notice. So! When I started testing pasta alla vodka recipes in recent weeks, I decided to recipe test with budget-friendlier and more commonly stocked ingredients. Rather than canned crushed tomatoes, I chose to test with canned tomato paste which costs less. I used Muir Glen Organic Tomato Paste . I also used whole milk and butter in the refrigerator to substitute heavy cream which I had been recipe testing with. Now, Vodka is not exactly a budget-friendly ingredient but it is a necessity at times in my space as I work with a handful of "extra special" people. When there isn't a nice thing to say about a person, the healthy thing to do is put them in that special bucket for our mental health and just let them be until they injure themselves while we draw boundaries and standards. The bowl was

It was the highest-grossing film in 2023. The movie, Barbie, grossed $1.44 Billion and is the 14th highest-grossing film of all time. And, I had skipped it. I had zero interest in seeing the movie and that is tremendous since I collected Barbie dolls in my twenties. I am the generation that played with Barbie dolls and thought our bodies, boyfriends and homes should be like the doll, Ken and its dream house.  Photo by Rubén Bagüés on Unsplash I am not referring to Barbie as she. I outgrew it. Barbie is a doll and thus its dream house, and not her dream house. I read great things about the movie and moments of lessons in the fantasy comedy plot. To this day, even amid allegations of snub and even sexism by the Academy that Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig were not nominated for the Oscar, I still don't have an interest in seeing the movie. Typically, I would wonder what it is all about and watch the movie. Not with Barbie. A movie and its artistic value, are subjective. Nominations a

I love that word... et. It means and in French. I'm using it to title this essay, to dress up a dreadful topic. If you follow me on Instagram and are one of my regular viewers of the Stories, then you may have noticed that I stopped reading news for a while. It took me some time to return to my morning routine after headlines of former President Trump and former President Gay had quieted down. Yes, the former President Trump is still making the headlines... I vomited a little in my mouth after he won the Iowa primary. The man has been charged with 91 felonies in four criminal cases. Enough said! Photo by ÉMILE SÉGUIN ✳️✳️✳️ on Unsplash It was simply too much... Two of them at once. Of course, being accused of plagiarism in Academia is serious, especially when you are the president of Harvard University, but Claudine Gay's plagiarism is pale compared to what Donald Trump is accused of.  I won't leave out that former President Gay was also accused of antisemitism remarks du

Black is simply fabulous! If you follow me on Instagram and watch my Stories, then you know that I wear tons of black... Black dresses in particular. With my love for black dresses, this curation has been overdue since Style Basics: Fabulously Black more than a year ago. Here are twelve curated black dresses to style you with effortless chic in 2024 and remain the black dresses for years to come: [one] COS Pleated Bandeau Mini Dress [two] COS Oversized Knitted Alpaca-Blend Dress [three] CECILIE BAHNSEN Vilma Matelassé Midi Dress [four] KHAITE The Sicily Silk Slip Dress [five] MATTEAU The Tiered Low-Back Sun-Dress [six] THEORY Pleated Mini Dress in Galena Linen [seven] THEORY Combo Dress in Wool-Blend Tweed [eight] BANANA REPUBLIC Aurelia & Creep Satin Maxi Dress [nine] TOPSHOP Sleeveless Ribbed Sweater Dress [ten] DRESS THE POPULATION Tiffany One-Shoulder Midi Dress [eleven] TIBI Italian Sporty Nylon Strappy Cutout Dress [twelve] MARA HOFFMAN Alora Puffy Top Dress ps: While all it

I wanted to start 2024 with a striking Style LookBook without being delusive. So! I curated a bold red dress by Patou, not just in color, but also in silhouette to pair with a classic cape coat. Sometimes, a timeless piece like a cape coat can be more striking than anything fresh off a couture show.  In the true style of Exhaling Life, I couldn't let every piece for the first Style LookBook of 2024 be new and thus pulled the Saint Laurent Le 57 Quilted Shoulder Bag from June , March and January 2023 Style LookBooks. Pieces such as the quilted shoulder bag deserve to be in the spotlight for years if not decades.  Here is to 2024 with some things new and some things from our past, but no matter what, to be bold, fabulous and fierce in our styles, days, love and life.  [dress] PATOU Off-Shoulder Faille Midi Dress [coat] GUCCI Cape-Detail Single-Breasted Coat [boots] PARIS TEXAS Slouchy Suede 85mm Ankle Boots [bag] SAINT LAURENT Le 57 Quilted Shoulder Bag [earrings] SHASHI Celeste P

This is my second shared recipe that combines my love for Korean and Italian food. First shared was  Soondae et Kimchi Strozzapreti , inspired by sautéd soondae and kimchi dish that typically accompanies late-night soju drinking.  Strozzapreti was the perfect choice to absorb the strong fermented flavor of kimchi, and Soondae et Kimchi Strozzapreti became one of the most liked and messaged shares among my IG Stories .  Although I had shared another Oxtail Risotto recipe here before, it was removed since I felt that it needed a bit of tweaking. After working on the tweaks on and off for more than a year, I am sharing the tweaked recipe that I am happy with.  This Oxtail Risotto recipe is drier than most of my other risotto recipes  to highlight the flavor of oxtail meat. Although you can cook the oxtails in the method of your choice for the Oxtail Risotto, I always cook this risotto dish with Korean Oxtail Soup . Korean Oxtail Soup is one of my winter staples since it keeps well frozen