Wine Club: Fun Labels!

 I've been totally slacking on writing posts lately, most especially falling behind on Wine Club! Our last wine club celebrated fun wine labels and to complement the kooky labels, our hostess Ashleigh made fun-size food. I didn't get shots of the mini meatloafs or mini cheesecakes, but I did manage to snag some pics of the mini buffalo chicken wontons and my fave, the mini chicken caesar salads in bread cups. So cute and perfect!

 Some wontons even had blue cheese!

Fun labels was especially interesting because everyone interpreted it differently! We ended up with:

• Bohemian Highway Cabernet Sauvignon: A sweet berry-packed red.
• Releaf Chenin Blanc: Lively tropical fruits with notes of melon and citrus.
• Be Bright Pinot Grigio: This white also had notes of tropical fruits.

• Freakshow Cab: Arguably the most fun of the labels, the Freakshow Cab has rich notes of espresso, melted chocolate and cassis.
• Honora Vera Garnacha: A grenache from Spain, with ripe cherry color and easy-to-drink notes of fresh ripe berries.

• I brought Once Upon a Vine Pinot Noir, which had your notes of berries with a pleasant hint of espresso and mocha.

Beef Stir Fry with Snap Peas

One of my dad's go-to meals when I was growing up was stir-fry, but I was never too hip on it. I have never really cared too much for Asian food, but I've started to get over that in the past 8 years. I generally shy away from making any Asian-inspired cuisine at home because so many ingredients are involved that we don't have on hand and wouldn't use often enough to justify buying.

But, stir-fry really isn't that hard, doesn't involve too many crazy ingredients and is a great way to use up veggies! I made my first attempt on Sunday night and I think this might become a frequent meal in our house.

As a guide, I used this recipe from The Pioneer Woman and I highly recommend the sauce recipe. The flavors were great; I think I'm going to start experimenting a lot more with sriracha, marmalades, etc. to keep the dish from becoming boring. First, I chopped up some onions and put them in a bowl with some sugar snap peas.

Then, I combined soy sauce, cooking sherry, brown sugar, ginger (I didn't have minced ginger, so I just used powdered ginger) and cornstarch, which gives the mixture that nice thickness that almost caramelizes in the pan. I quickly covered the steak strips with the liquid and set aside some extra to add at the end. 

One big mistake: I have a wok that we've never gotten around to seasoning (lazy much?) and decided to just use one of my regular pans. Needless to say, once I had sesame oil sizzling in the pan and added the veggies, it was spitting oil EVERYWHERE. The entire kitchen basically needed a scrub-down after that debacle. 

I cooked the peas first, for about 30-40 seconds, then placed them on a plate. I then cooked the steak on really high heat (I honestly could have lowered it) and added the onions long enough to get them just barely cooked. I mixed it all together in the pan, added the remaining sauce and then plated it on top of a bed of jasmine rice.

The meal was delicious and considering I used low-sodium soy sauce and added very little salt, it was relatively healthy-ish. The flavor was wonderful and the serving size was good, too. Definitely putting this in regular rotation for when we have leftover chicken/veggies!

Do you have any excellent stir-fry combos we should try? What's the best stir-fry sauce you've whipped up? I think I have to get serious about seasoning my wok now!

Sunday Best v.196

Amazing vintage glass chandelier/sculpture by artist Joel Otterson

I don't seem to have much to blog about lately, do I? It's probably because I haven't been too adventurous cooking-wise lately, just relying on old favorites, and I haven't been too inventive or creative at home these days. But I've come to believe in quality not quantity when it comes to blogs, and I hope you agree! Here are some favorite links I came across this week:

• A peek into the home of the tech industry.
• Watch the U.S. get settled on this handy dandy growth chart.
• One writer devoted a lot of time trying to find out what happened to Patsey, the character portrayed by Lupita Nyong'o. See what she found.
• And while we're at it, check out Junior Nyong'o's Instagram. He's America's favorite younger brother of the moment.
• Stars posed beside their younger selves. Fascinating!
• Incredible historic photos.
• Anything can be a meme, including a tweet about a conference call.
• A peek behind the ancient tradition of gathering honey in Bhutan.
• An on-the-money True Detective parody.
• Awesome behind-the-scenes peek into the Oscars from Jennifer Lawrence's BFF.
• My friend Christi's hilarious story about finding out her marriage was invalid due to paperwork.
• A teaser for the final season of Mad Men. Sniff sniff! I'll miss it so bad.

Fashion Review: Oscars 2014

I gasped once and maybe groaned once. Not what I want from the Oscars. I want people to be insanely glamorous, and if they fail, I want it to be daring as hell or at least epic bad. I blame the age of the stylists: everyone looks safe, and it's accessorizing, styling and fit that separates the best from the worst. Anyways, let's get on to the fashion review!

Best Dressed

From the first moment I saw her step out of her limo and a team surround her to help fluff her skirt, it was love. I'm a diehard Cinderella fan, so Lupita Nyong'o was a slam dunk for me. Add in the fact she actually helped design her Prada gown, with a shade of blue inspired by her hometown of Nairobi, and it's doubly charming. Every time she swayed the skirt, she looked like a princess. The accessorizing was on point, too, except for the headband which might have been a bit much. But it looked sweet, and her speech was so incredibly perfect, I can't fault a thing about it!

The evening's fashions were basically the Battle of the Beige, and I think Cate came out on top in her Armani. I know some people thought her huge earrings were gawdy, but I thought the choice of opal earrings was the kind of unexpected touch I appreciate from Cate. I was a bit disappointed by this...it seemed incredibly safe on her, and it's probably my least favorite of her many amazing Oscar looks.

Jennifer Lawrence needs to call up Dior and figure out why their other brand representative, Charlize Theron, gets all the good stuff. Charlize looked classic, yet modern in this black gown that played with illusion while remaining utterly timeless. She hits it out of the park every year, and my friend Bret pointed out her fit is always perfection. 

Naomi Watts always looks amazing, too, and I deemed her Calvin Klein look "Casual Grace Kelly." This is a great example of the power of styling; Calista Flockhart wore an almost identical dress, but it looked blah. Naomi Watts wore a statement necklace, a geometric clutch and paired with strappy black heels. The best part, in my view, was her casually tossed hair (it reminded me of Kelly on 90210!) and simple red lip. 

Sandra's navy Alexander McQueen gown was a gorgeous shade that looked especially beautiful next to her brown eyes and gorgeous hair. She kept it very simple with this, which is a little daring in itself because I know I would've reached for a blingy necklace. Satin isn't easy to pull off either, and she managed not to look overly prom.

I freakin love the crochet-inspired detail on Portia de Rossi's Naeem Khan. I'm sure many folks hated it, but it was interesting, fit perfectly and was really appropriate for her being there as the date of the host. I love intricate work, so I was all about it.

Olivia Wilde was hands down the best at dressing her new pregnant body at this year's awards circuit. Her black Valentino was super simple, but insanely flattering to the point that I almost couldn't tell she's pregnant! Her winged eyeliner and swingy white earrings gave it a '60s reference and I loved it.

Good, But Not Best

Let's acknowledge J.Law is one of my all-time favorite people, insanely gorgeous and my future best friend. But girlfriend is getting a bad deal from Dior. I don't feel like the fine French folks have given her anything truly amazing since she started working with them. The peplums on this dress seem almost like an afterthought and the gown itself looks like something I could buy at Dillard's right now. I can admire a desire to go simple on a night when everyone expects glamorous dazzle, but then again, I want to be DAZZLED, dammit! She doesn't look bad, she just doesn't look amazing. Also, I want to deduct 4,000 points for her wearing a backwards diamond necklace two years in a row. You have an opportunity to wear basically any jewelry in the world, and you decide to do a repeat? Nope.

Amy's Gucci gown was certainly structurally beautiful, and gave her a nice little sashay when she walked. Her styling was on point, and her hot pink-and-blue earrings were a fun touch. But I couldn't muster more than a "oh, okay" when I saw her appear. She looked so glamorous in American Hustle, and I would've loved to see her just pull out all the stops in some insane vintage Halston or something.

I see no fault with Idina Menzel's Vera Wang gown, which was such an interesting shade of green (kind of mallard duck green?), but it just wasn't enough to merit a "best." I certainly liked it better than her peach performance gown....there was a lot of pale pink and peach, so I'm guessing we're all going to be dressing like pretty, pretty princesses this spring?

Best Dressed Grand Dame

Of all the grand dames at the show (Meryl, Glenn Close, June Squibb, the Real Philomena), I thought Bette Midler took the cake in her exquisitely detailed and fitted Reem Acra gown. Would've liked to see a red lip, but whatevs. I like any time an older lady brings sexy back.

Meh

Angelina Jolie's Elie Saab gown felt particularly grand dame-ish to me, like something Marlene Dietrich would've worn during her 60s singing career. It wasn't the worst, but it felt overly mature and more than that, it was sitting very oddly on her chest, making her look sort of super busty in a way I don't think she is. Am I alone in this? 

So last year, Anne wore this exact same shape and when she appeared, I was like, "What is up with this deja vu Oscars?!" I blame Rachel Zoe. Her Gucci was fine, but certainly nothing to write home about or wear to the freakin' biggest night for fashion of the year.

I felt like Jennifer Garner's swingy Oscar de la Renta was kind of daring for her, and had a lot of fun, sparkly movement. The bodice, however, seems a little uninspired and the total effect doesn't photograph terribly well, even if it looked great walking across the stage.

Jessica Biel is the most boring person, and I picture her in beige, so when she shows up wearing beige Chanel, I fall asleep from boredom. TRY A COLOR.

You may recall I wanted Julia to wear slinky red Naeem Khan, so obviously she wore a somewhat frumpy black lace peplum-heavy Givenchy gown. I think she has entered a weird stage in her public life, where she is feeling she has to "dress her age" but doesn't really know what that means. I understand wanting to dress for comfort, but I think she is swinging too far toward the boring side. That said, this isn't awful. Just meh.

Penelope loves to be feminine and romantic, so I'm not surprised she was drawn to this elegantly draped Giambattista Valli gown with a big bow. But from a practical standpoint, the fabric wrapping around looked like a hassle when she was trying to present an award. This just seemed better in theory.

Worst

When she's not pregnant, Kerry Washington is usually a fashion MVP. Her new body is clearly messing with her mind, because she has been a hot mess lately. I understand she wants to be comfortable, but a wrinkly satin grey-purple toga, gray satin heels, goth make-up and rat's nest hair doesn't seem overly comfy to me. Olivia Wilde? That lady looked comfy AND great. This Jason Wu is a big misstep.

My husband is in love with Anna Kendrick and he visibly recoiled when he saw her appear in this J. Mendel gown. Twitter was having a field day, calling the center portion "red snowflakes." I actually don't think it's terrible — not by a long shot — but I do think it's probably something that fit better on the runway than the red carpet. Minus the red mid-section cut, the top is very interesting. I also know it was kind of a stretch of her fashion muscles to wear something less safe. Keep swinging the bat, Anna, and better luck next time!

Margot Robbie in this Saint Laurent gown is such a HUGE disappointment. Her role in Wolf of Wall Street was a star-making turn, and she followed up perfectly at the Golden Globes in an amazingly fitted white gown trimmed with green gems. This looks like an ill-fitting black sheet, knotted haphazardly in the back and the biggest sin is her hair and make-up. It's just not a shrewd choice to drastically change your look to the point of being unrecognizable when most people are just learning your name! This has to be the work of a terrible stylist, and that person should be fired.

I know it's terrible to make fun of a pregnant woman, but bear with me. This is truly the worst pregnant dress I have ever seen, ever. This is Elsa Pataky, wife of Chris Hemsworth, and this Elie Saab gown is doing her NO favors, looks incredibly uncomfortable, and reminds me of sparkly sea kelp. Just looking at her makes me feel bloated. Now, turn this into an empire waist and I might be singing a whole different tune, but gathering the waist below her belly just looks so uncomfy!

Is it possible to be best and worst at the same time? Liza stepped out in the kind of off-the-shoulder satin pajamas she's been wearing for 40 years, braless and possibly in orthopedic shoes, with a sassy blue streak and duck lips and I love her for it. It's Liza with a Z, y'all, and she doesn't give two shits what mere mortals think.

Nope, I just can't get on board. And Pharell, your tux jacket doesn't even look like it will fully close. Big nope.

And Whoopi blew my mind a bit with this awful ensemble, which is bad on multiple levels. Not only is it an awful concept, with an awful fit, and the laziest pearl strand tying I've ever seen, but I literally just raked Julia Roberts over the coals for wearing the SAME THING a month ago! I thought maybe she was making a joke, that's how crazy this was! 

So who was your favorite? I'll give honorable mentions to Kristin Chenoweth in gold Roberto Cavalli, Kate Hudson in Atelier Versace and Emma Watson in Vera Wang, but I can't include everybody. Who did you think was the worst of the worst? Tell me in the comments!

Sunday Best v. 195

It's my favorite day of the year! Oscar time! We've had guests the past couple days, so I've been running around, but I have officially completed my ballot and as always, will be tweeting here.

• Oscar fashion history chart.
• A reminder: most of us don't know what it's like to be a teacher.
• Presidents who paint.
• Two brilliant parents concocted an amazing allowance sanction system.
• The fairy tale story behind an Oscar-winning best song.
• A humorous chat with Gene Weingarten about lady landscaping.
• Incredibly accurate take on what it's like to be an only child.
• An amazing mom and daughter create fashion from paper. Love this!

We're Obsessed with Arthur Chu

At the beginning of 2014, Sean and I sort of spontaneously started DVR-ing Jeopardy and watching it every night. It's truly become one of my favorite rituals, and we couldn't have timed it better, because we started watching just as Arthur Chu began his reign.

Not familiar? Well, here's an article or another one about the most divisive person to grace a quiz show stage since tv games were rigged back in the 50s. Arthur has won more than $200K in EIGHT days through an upended way of playing the game that is simultaneously riveting, maddening and insanely aggressive. I've been watching Jeopardy since before I can remember memories, and I can't recall anyone ever playing the game like this.

Basically, he's all about the money and will do anything to get it. This includes hunting the board for Daily Doubles, making as many of them "true Daily Doubles" as possible, starting his game with the high-scoring questions in his comfortable categories and talking as fast as he can in order to have more time to answer more questions to make more money. The first few episodes, I was frankly offended by his brashness. Now, I'm totally hooked. He is, quite literally, a game-changer and I don't think I can ever un-see his method now that I've seen it!

Besides just generally making money like a boss, he's also been ruling the "getting to know you anecdote" portion. When other folks have talked about their volunteerism or dumb coincidences or stupid travel stories, he's been laying down anecdotes about playing a zombie at the White House Halloween, having his own theme song and performing in an improv troop of Washingtonian muckety-mucks. 

On top of all this, he's just genuinely well-rounded in his trivia knowledge and seems to have very few category weaknesses. We actually spent part of dinner debating what it will take to bring him down! It's crazy to say the least.

This might qualify as one of the weirder posts I've ever written, but I'm just so into it and I have to know if you guys are, too! What do you think? Is he the best or absolute worst thing to ever happen to the game? 

What I'd Wear to the Oscars

I'm pretty pumped for this weekend's Super Bowl...err...Oscars, which is, as you know, my favorite televised event of the year. As much as I love to critique the fashions, I like to consider the real challenge it must be to find the perfect gown that might take on a life of its own and go down in fashion history. Tall order! So, in my fantasy land, here's what I'd consider wearing on the big night.

If I Were a Nominee's Date

When you're not nominated and not a presenter, but just there to support your significant other, you kind of have to acknowledge it's not your time to shine. You need to be sophisticated and interesting, but not overly attention-seeking or flashy. I think this emerald green Elie Saab would do the trick; elegant, but demure and not overly LOOK AT ME. I'd pair it with an interesting antique piece of jewelry, like this emerald, ruby and diamond Indian bracelet.

Nominated for a Non-Acting Award

I always feel bad for the female nominees who aren't actresses and therefore don't have designer begging to dress them. Female directors, producers, documentarians, etc. shouldn't have to wear off-the-rack dresses! If I were one of them, I'd angle for something like this beautiful gold floral Badgley Mischka...a little sparkle, a demure cut that allows you to wear a bra (most of these ladies aren't going to be strapped into their dresses with double-stick tape by a pro stylist) and something that will look nice, not boring. I'd love to see something like this paired with delicate antique earrings that play off the design motifs of the dress.

A first-time presenter

The first-time presenting spot is usually a plum gig reserved for an up-and-coming ingenue. In the past, it's truly been a breakthrough moment for actresses looking to shed their teenybopper status and play in the big leagues. When I picture who this girl might be, I picture Margot Robbie, who just turned in a great performance in "Wolf of Wall Street." It's a chance to say, "I'm sexy, I'm classy, Girls want to be me, Boys want to sleep with me, Cast me in your next movie." 

That's a mouthful, but I think this delicate, ethereal Elie Saab (i'm a sucker for Elie Saab when it comes to red carpet) would say all that and more. I'd keep the accessories simple, and maybe zhush up the dress a bit with this lovely antique brooch.

America's Sweetheart, after a lot of fashion missteps

So basically this entire category exists for Julia Roberts, who's been looking a little hot messy lately and for no damn good reason. She's a gorgeous woman, beloved by many, with a great body and an ease that only comes from literally starring in "America's Sweethearts." I'd like to see her play a bit with that line between sexy and confident by wearing a slinky Naeem Khan gown and on-trend diamond tassel earrings that would look gorgeous in her beautiful wavy hair. Bring sexy back, Julia!

Favorite to win Best Supporting Actress

I can't imagine more of a stylists' dream than Lupita Nyong'o. She's incredibly elegant, svelte, looks amazing in every color, is willing to be a little edgy and is sweet to boot. I love her in bright colors and I just love the idea of her working a gown with as much Cinderella-at-the-ball volume as this one by Oscar de la Renta. You could go simple with it and wear plain diamond studs, but I also like the idea of going really funky, and these 19th-century French earrings would certainly fit the bill.

A Grand Dame

Every year, there's a grand dame — Meryl Streep or Judi Dench — and they tend to be wearing a real snoozer of an outfit. That's fine and part of me figures they've done this dance more than a few times, why make a big deal? But the other part of me wonders if it has more to do with no designers really wanting to work with them. Helen Mirren somehow always looks awesome, so clearly she's figured out the secret. I think this Marchesa gown would truly fit a woman of any age, but would look particularly fetching on Meryl with a set of simple stud earrings.

Favorite to win Best Actress

When someone as adventurous as Cate Blanchett appears to be the front-runner, it makes me wanna stretch a little bit on what I think would be an awesome dress for the Best Actress winner. Usually, I go for dramatic ball gowns, but this Zuhair Murad gown just seems like something she could knock out of the park. Unexpected, edgy as hell, yet still elegant. Could be interesting!

That said, I am dying to see someone rock this Ulyana Sergeenko gown that reminds me of the drama in one of my favorite paintings of all time, Madame X by John Singer Sargent. It's basically the kind of gown I'd be designing if I designed couture. I'd keep it very classic, very turn-of-the-century French with these Victorian diamond earrings. 

What about you? Agree? Disagree? You'd wear a pantsuit with beaded fringe? Tell me all about it.

Jams of the Week

I know I usually save my Jams of the Week posts for Fridays, but I have been meaning to share my current obsessions! What are you obsessed with these days? I can't get enough of:

TV Jams: House of Cards and True Detective

We've been sucked into some deliciously dark shows lately. We plowed through the second season of Netflix's "House of Cards" like it was nothin' and didn't look back. Frank Underwood is ridiculous and I can't get enough. HBO's "True Detective" has a different tone, but the performances by Woody Harrelson and especially Matthew McConnaughey are so impressive. The McConnaissance just goes on and on!

Movie Jam: The Lego Movie

I was, to say the least, quite surprised when my husband started begging to see The Lego Movie. He's not someone who's usually clamoring to see the newest animated film. It's one of those sleeper hits that seems to come out of nowhere, barely have any marketing in advance and suddenly it's everywhere! It was truly one of the best movies — animated or otherwise — I've seen in a while, and it's beyond-catchy theme song is an insta-classic.

Literary Jam: Angelica Huston

I'm reading all about Anjelica Huston's incredible childhood in Ireland in her first autobiography, which I received for Christmas. It's great, but I REALLY can't wait for her second book and to see how she talks about her relationship with Jack Nicholson.

App Jam: Duolingo

For years, I've gone through phases of wanting to really buckle down and learn more French. My high school classes were over and done with before the end of my freshman year, due to funky scheduling, so most of the French I learned was gone forever. I can't promise the duolingo app is going to make me fluent, but it's definitely building my vocabulary. It's very similar to the methods used by Rosetta Stone, except it's a free app!