Synecdoche, New Year Resolution

I am a bit late for New Year wishes and you have probably all moved on already but I have something important to tell you. I borrowed the title of this post from a movie called "Synecdoche, New York" that I watched a long time ago and was a terrible movie with a great title (don't worry, this isn't another movie review) and you will understand what I mean at the end of this post, so please bear with me!

Before talking about serious things like resolutions, I will tell you how I spent NYE. Nothing new here as we stayed in as usual. I can't even remember the last time we went out (actually now I do and I was pregnant) but in any case, with a few exceptions, I never had fun going out on NYE. Too many people trying too hard to have fun, too much booze around, the whole thing always felt a bit desperate. The best are dinners with friends when the friends don't want to go out in the streets right after midnight (I have been there)! In any case even if we really wanted to go somewhere it would be impossible to find a babysitter so at home it is, at least until our daughter will be old enough to come with us or celebrate on her own with friends (a pretty scary thought!)

This year though I bought new china for NYE and it felt like a very good way to start the year. You could think that since I buy a lot of clothes, I also buy a lot of stuff for the home that I don't share here but I am surprisingly frugal when it comes to purchases for the home. The reason is that I have to deal with my husband, who thinks he is a decorator extraordinaire and has an opinion on EVERYTHING from towels to bedding so over the years I sort of given up on the "perfect home" housewife dream and settled for compromises. As a matter of fact we haven't bought new China since we got married, with the exception of a few cheap everyday sets every once in a while (that were more a question of sheer necessity) because we could never agree on a style. All the were deemed too old-fashioned or too modern; too ornate or too simple; too colorful or too white; too rustic or too cosmopolitan. So when I saw these golden-trim white plates at Sonoma under the 20% off sign I thought they could actually make the cut and the discount would sweeten the deal for my husband. I took two to the register as a sample to show him but they rang up at a very discounted price (like a fourth of the original price) so I took the initiative and bought the whole set, making the bet that they would suit my husband's difficult taste. And they did, after an initial resistance to the simple fact of me buying something.
So here it is my new china, on NYE, with the resident lobster (I know, delicious meal for some, finest expression of human cruelty towards the other species for others):

We also had a special dessert, this time not made by me:

This box contains two slices of the most prized desserts in the city, the famous "millecrepes" by Lady M, a boutique patisserie on the UES. If you are visiting the city you have to try a slice of this cake, it's heavenly (it is a variant of a millefeuilles but made of tiny layers of crepes). Their strawberry shortcake is also delicious too.

Even after a 2 pound lobster, a cake heavy in cream and a bottle of champagne I felt good on NYD, since I started to go to the gym on a regular basis around end of November as I mentionned in my previous post. It looks like the secret to start the year on the right foot and keep up with your resolutions, is to have them metabolized by the first of January. The concept of "a fresh new start" is probably too much to keep up with if it involves a too drastic of a change. As you know exercising (or dieting, or decluttering, or any other thing that you wanted to start doing) is empowering on various levels and you can use that energy to carry out other goals. But you have to have that energy first! So my advice (for next year) is too start with your resolution(s) a month or two before the end of the year.

From a fashion/style point of view I had an epiphany on NYE while I was frantically surfing iTunes to "discover" new music to put on our NYE playlist. As you know music speaks to the soul on a deep level and while I was listening to what iTunes has labeled as "Best of 2012" and at same time thinking of my clothing options for our little private party (that involved the polka dot sequin tee and a few other sparkly numbers), I suddenly remembered where I come from (in terms of my music tastes) and what I like and dislike on a deep level. We say that our style should reflect who we are but it is sometimes difficult to know who we are, exactly. Music and art in general are here to take us back THERE. So this translates in a small resolution that comes from that deep place and should have a big impact on my style and purchases in the next year and beyond if I only remember it when on the verge of making a purchase. The resolution is "You shall not buy polka dots" and it is sort of a synecdoche (see the title of this post) that stands for "Remember who you are and what you like and what music you listen to and which are the movies and artists that you love and why and what your dreams are when purchasing something" except that it is easier to visualize and keep in mind. If I look back to 2012 the two purchases that I really regretted are the big-dots skirt and the polka dots sequin tee. They looked cute at the moment of purchasing them but they are the opposite of what I am, sort of. Mind you, I am not comdamning polka-dots, for somebody else they could totally be an expression of their deeper self but not for me. On the other side if I look back again and try to find what's the outfif that best expresses myself I think of this one:

You will agree that this looks very me. And this is my first outfit of the year, that also looks very me:

You can expect a big decluttering of my closet based on this resolution in this first part of the year.

So my wish for 2012 to you is find and remember who you are and stick to it. To a new near and, as they say, a new you.