Home office vibes!
It’s never too early for faux fur.
Brand crushes, labels I’m loving and the artists on my radar this month.
Plus, why I’m finally finished with narcissist serial killers. Maybe.
Lately I can’t live without: SweetLeaf Vanilla Créme Sweet Drops. Always in my handbag, they sweeten my day from coffee to cocktails!
Restaurant on repeat: Palm & Pine in New Orleans. It’s groovy and exotic and the indefinable dishes simply blow you away. Dinner but also for a non-fancy brunch.
Been binging: Too much Ted Bundy. Ladies, beware of the narcissist! Watch the Netflix docuseries “Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes” first, then “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile,” the movie with impressively creepy Zac Efron from the perspective of Bundy’s girlfriend. Still astounding to understand the timeline (Bundy escaped twice, one resulting in the college coeds being murdered in the Chi Omega House in Florida), but finally done binging on this sicko—and btw, Efron is way better looking.
Beauty Buys: If there’s makeup, I get so many compliments on my eyeshadow by The Sephora Collection #Eyestories Eyeshadow Palette of all things! I’m also loving the gentleness of the Makeup Eraser but I do use a little natural cleanser with it.
What I’m sipping this month: Mexican Firing Squads (tequila, pomegranate, bitters), but I feel Manhattans coming soon when bars re-open.
Hair color of the month: Back to blonde with a silvery blue, happy accident moment in between. I wanted to write about the pink hair experience, but afraid it’s already a tired topic.
Labels I’m loving: Jackets in the Generation Love Fall 2020 collection and serious love for camo and black vegan leather in Alice + Olivia’s new line.
Music: ’80s overload. It’s a vibe but always cathartic.
Palm & Pine: Southern food meets the Caribbean? Best restaurant at the moment.
I never get tired of camo chic. (Alice + Olivia)
My everyday simple syrup!
Makeup bag staple.
- Raising the Bar
I’m often tapped for essential bar tool picks and who doesn’t love bar accessories with a fabulous vibe? Alas, so many new curated and exclusive bar items are coming soon to the Milk Punch Shop! These embroidered Party Animal napkins are roaring to leap onto your bar car—and look what spirit Jonathan Adler finally added to his rocket decanter collection: tequila!
- Faux Fur-bulous
Please tell me I wasn’t the only one buying faux fur on sale in the blazing-hot, no-party invite summer of 2020! Apparis vegan fur jackets are becoming iconic and their FW20 collection is 😍. Needless to say, I will be ready for a nippy night out with a French 75 in hand! My eyes also keep catching those new faux fur blankets and vegan cashmere must be a thing. Tip for mamas: they have an adorable rose pink jacket for little girls!
- Clear Ice, Ice, Baby!
Unless you’re a cocktail geek (that’s me), I’m guessing you don’t fully appreciate the science behind achieving those cool clear ice cubes in craft cocktails. It’s a whole thing known as directional freezing, and you must have an insulated cooler tiny enough to fit inside your freezer (and the right molds). Just imagine my dopamine level activity when I discovered this Igloo MTV Playmate collab cooler on Amazon! The ’80s called, they want their cloudy, half-moon ice back! Nope.
- Healthy not Hangry
My superfood obsession has been overshadowed by covid-era comfort food cravings, but the health-minded weekday struggle is still real. What once seemed like a health trend, organic bone broth is now a way of life. Building collagen is always a good idea, but so is having something smart to feed your hanger. Lately I’ve rekindled my love for Kettle & Fire Bone Broth to warm as a meal or a filling snack. Faves are hard to say but Mushroom Chicken, Turmeric Ginger and Chipotle Beef are pantry staples.
Amazon or Whole Foods
- Off the Wall
My insatiable art addiction has not waned, however; in fact, two new artists have come into my life as of late. My fingers were finally fast enough to score a small collection release piece by Gina Julian, an optical art abstract painter from Nashville. (Sign up for her email list for first dibs.) The mulberry pink with a pop of teal color scheme seemed kismet for a current project, but so did a fresh-off-the-easel “never posted” piece by June Valentine-Ruppe, thanks to the fabulous and ever-scrupulous Tracy and Jamie at Gallery Orange. The latter will surely be making a social media debut once she’s framed, because bold works by these amazing female artists should never go unrecognized.
Gallery Orange, 819 Royal Street, New Orleans
Showtime VIII by Gina Julian
- Birds of a Feather
When New Orleans jewelry designer Lauren Lipscomb and I collaborated on a signature line for Milk Punch, I knew we had to work her feathers into the collection. We paired them with rhinestone stars and two brands collided into one! Think Stella McCarty meets Valentino or Hola Guava X Milk Punch. Statement earrings with oomph but without the weight (feathery light) in four colors, because we just couldn’t stop at Milk Punch navy and pink!
shopmilkpunch.com
Seeing stars.
- Breathing Easier
Respiratory issues are no joke these days, but that essential 2020 fashion accessory, the mask, has been coming in handy in my own home. Plot twist: mold! Hence, I finally invested in a Molekule, that sleek, brushed silver room air filter that’s been following and tempting me. It has swipeable Silent, Auto and Boost modes to adjust according to square footage and impressive hardware by design. It’s not ugly, and like Where’s Waldo, I’m obsessively moving it room to room to destroy whatever musty mold is lurking in this ancient house! We’re enjoying it most as an overpriced sleep machine, but peace of mind in the pandemic era apparently knows no price.
Follow @milkpunchofficial for cocktails, more shopping and way too much good food.
And check out Baylor’s “Quarantine and Killin’ It” style picks.