Plaid? For Spring? Groundbreaking.

Coat: LC Lauren Conrad, Kohl's; Shoes: Jessica Simpson Collection, DSW

Sweater: Forever and Ever, Kohl's

Skirt: Dickie's, Dolls Kill

Bag: Kate Spade New York for Target

Top: So, Kohl's

Bag: Amazon

Orange Blossom and Bow Necklace

Pants: Almost Famous: Macy's

Sunglasses and flower clips: Wild Fable, Target

Shoes: Jessica Simpson Collection, Amazon

Skirt: Vanilla Star, Macy's; Shoes: Jessica Simpson Collection, Amazon

Bag: Olivia Miller, Amazon

Tee: GAP

Coat: BCX, Macy's

Sometimes I don’t know what gets into me.  I complain about winter, then when it’s finally spring, I pull out, not florals, but plaids.  I guess like Mary, I’m quite contrary. 

So all hail spring fashion in its many forms.  And gardens that grow the way you do.

Good Witch vs. Bad Bitch: Order on the Tennis Court

I don't have an athletic bone in my body, and I hate competitive sports.  So I was wary about reading a novel starring a tennis pro.  But Lauren Weisberger's The Singles Game won me over from the first serve.  That's because The Devil Wears Prada phenom is unparalleled in telling tales of fame and fortune.  She drills down through the glamor and games to give us very human heroines torn between glory and the truth of their hearts.  And The Singles Game's Charlotte Silver slams some of the toughest truths yet.

Charlie's story starts when a career-threatening injury at Wimbledon forces her to make a choice: retire early or double down to become the champion she's always known she could be.  So she ditches her compassionate coach for a viper and embarks on a rebrand that transforms her from goody-two-shoes to "warrior princess."  She's immediately thrust into the celebrity sphere of parties, hookups, and a near-sadistic training regimen.  It's a cocktail of glitz and grit (even if she's only allowed Pellegrino), all part of the persona that her new coach plots to portray.  But winning the warrior way means more than swapping her tennis whites for bedazzled black.  It means playing dirty, which is the opposite of what Charlie's old coach and her tennis pro dad taught her.

I didn't always like Charlie or the choices she made, but I think that's what Weisberger wants.  We're supposed to question her dubious path and wonder what we'd do in her Nikes.  Yet her never-say-die spirit, girl-next-door origins, and inner moral compass, however thwarted, make her sympathetic even when she's wrong.  She's the everywoman we want to root for because at her root, she's all of us.

Game, set, match, Weisberger.

Peppered With Leopard and Preaching Priestly (Not Jason)

Skirt: Wild Fable, Target; Sunglasses: So, Kohl's

Bag: Mix No. 6, DSW

Geography Twee Necklace

Top: Madden Girl, Kohl's

Boots: Madden Girl, Kohl's

Coat: POPSUGAR, Kohl's

 Boots: Olivia Miller, Kohl's

Top: Madden Girl, Macy's

Skirt: Almost Famous, Kohl's

Bag: Nine West, Kohl's

Top: Madden Girl, Macy's; Necklace: Betsey Johnson, Macy's

Shoes: Mix No. 6, DSW; Socks: Amazon

Sunglasses: Zulily

Candy Shop Drop Necklace

Skirt: Vanilla Star, Macy's

Hair claw: Wild Fable, Target

Bag: Current Mood, Dolls Kill

Top: Madden Girl, Kohl's

Loafers: Betsey Johnson, Macy's; Tights: Isadora, Zulily

They say that leopards never change their spots.  I don't know about that, but I tried to change the way I wore leopard in these '90s-meets-Y2K-esque outfits.  Which means shirts and skirts and, in one case, booties.  

Then again, they also say that leopard's making a comeback.  Which makes me wonder, when did it go?  Everyone knows that leopard's a neutral.  Cue "Florals?  For spring? Groundbreaking." 

Per the priestess, that's all.

The Fame Game: Rock Star Edition

Imagine that your husband is a talented yet struggling musician.  You hold down two jobs to support him and go to all of his gigs.  Both of you hope, pray, and plan for the day when he finally makes it big.  And then, after years of sweat and heartache, he does.  

And all hell breaks loose.  

That's the story of Brooke and Julian Alter in Lauren Weisberger's Last Night at Chateau Marmont.  No sooner has Julian finished his showcase performance than he's whisked away to LA.  There are interviews, parties, and photoshoots, and at first, Brooke wants to be part of them all.  But as Julian's life begins to resemble Nickleback's "Rock Star," complete with regular appearances in the gossip rag Last Night at Chateau Marmont, Brooke remains rooted in NYC.  Living on separate coasts is painful -- and seems to seal their fate as a couple.

Or does it?  Because as bigheaded as Julian can sometimes be (there were times when I wanted to strangle him!), deep down he's still the sensitive songwriter that Brooke fell in love with.  He still pukes before playing for a huge crowd and calls her by his pet nickname, Rook.  This isn't just a story about marriage -- it's a story about marriage and skyrocketing into the celebrity stratosphere.  After all, Weisberger wrote The Devil Wears Prada; her wheelhouse is exposing the ugly insides of glamorous industries.  And why not?  It's fascinating to witness what stardom can do -- and if it's possible to remain true to yourself while trending.  

Rife with early aughts references, Last Night at Chateau Marmont (which was published in 2010) takes on the eponymous Hollywood hotel, along with its legendary notoriety, and turns it on its head.  Because back in the day, rock stars' wives were seen and not heard, but modern love may be more balanced.

Sounds like a hit song to me.

Rind Finds and a Sweet and Tart Read: Summer, Start Your Engine

 Rainbow Confetti Necklace

Top: POPSUGAR, Kohl's

Skirt: Arizona Jeans, JCPenney

Shoes: Worthington, JCPenney

Bag: Circus by Sam Edelman, Kohl's

Sunglasses: Michaels

 Fabulous Felt Lemons Barrette

Top: Arizona Jeans, JCPenney

Skirt: Arizona Jeans, JCPenney

Shoes: Payless

Bag: Sleepyville Critters, Zulily

Sunglasses: Michaels

 Cherry Ice Cream Necklace

Top: Fifth Sun, JCPenney

Skirt: Amazon

Shoes: Worthington, JCPenney

Bag: Gifted

Sunglasses: Brigantine beach shop

Memorial Day.  The sun on your face, something hot off the grill, and a tall glass of cold lemonade.  Does it get any better than this?  

It does if you score some new citrus-themed clothes and/or lose yourself in a good book.  Full disclosure: I bought these tangy togs more than a month ago and finished reading When Life Gives You Lululemons on Friday.  Which means that today I'm not doing any of that and am headed to a BBQ.  But the promise of this post is what kicked off my weekend.  Not unlike this pair of Katy Perry flip flops that I'm currently, ahem, rocking. :)

But I digress.  

Time for the book club portion of our program.

No one wants workout gear.  Especially the designer, Stepford wife kind that takes the place of bona fide clothes.  So it was mighty clever of Lauren Weisberger to use it in the tile of her third Devil Wears Prada novel.  Remember Emily (also Emily, Blunt that is, in the movie version), Miranda Priestly's (Meryl Streep's) other assistant?  The mean queen bee fashionista to leading lady Andy's (Anne Hathaway's) fish-out-of-Figi ingenue?  Well, Lululemons is all about her.  She relocated to Los Angeles to start a fabulous life as a stylist to the stars and is now a PR goddess fixer.  But lately no one is in need of her signature brand of spin doctor sorcery.  Because she's in her mid-thirties and doesn't know how to use Snapchat.  Which seems silly to anyone outside of Tinseltown's rarefied and fragile bubble.  But it's enough to make Young Hollywood shun Emily in favor of a fellow millennial.         

Now, Emily is not at all the kind of character I identify with or even usually admire.  Slick and savvy, she's a master manipulator who gets whatever she wants.  But I think that's what makes her so interesting, even if only as a lesson on how to deal with -- and perhaps even understand -- people like her IRL.  Right or wrong, her moxie serves her in righting her career as well as in saving two friends from personal ruin.  Old camp pal Miriam is a high-powered lawyer-turned stay-at-home-mom who feels overwhelmed.  And Karolina is an ex-supermodel married to a senator with an agenda.  Yet despite their accomplishments, these women lack Emily's nerve.  Emerging as more than a wardrobe warrior princess, it's Emily who reminds them to put themselves first.  Rudely and in an in-your-face way, yes, but that's what they need.  Then, as always in fiction land, just as Emily puts their lives back together, her own does a wild 180.      

When Life Gives You Lululemons is a page-turner for sure, zinging with all of Weisberger's wit, humor, and glimpses into the glitterati.  Funny and fierce, it -- wait for it -- puts the devil in diva.  I know, I know.  Simply awful.  And not something that Miranda Priestly would find the least bit amusing.   

Now for something that no one in this book (except for maybe Miriam, bless her heart) would find amusing or ever hang on her mansion door: my new lemon wreath!  I love that it's kind of unruly, as if at any moment the lemons might launch a revolt.  Also, I dig the red and yellow combo.  Because, Ronald McDonald forever.

So, this Memorial Day (and every day), when life gives you lemons, just spit out the seeds.  And grill your own cheeseburger and avoid Ronald McDonald.

He may be stylish, but he seems like a creep.   

Movie Moment: The Muppets

About four months after its Thanksgiving weekend debut, the bf and I finally succumbed to Muppet mania.  Like most people, I'd been looking forward to The Muppets for its color, comedy, and all-around craziness.  But I was a little disappointed, which made me feel curiously guilty (I mean, this was the Muppets!), so much so that I defensively chided myself, "Well, maybe that's because you're not five."

Speaking of being a kid, "The Muppet Show" was a little before my time, but I saw The Great Muppet Caper, Muppets Take Manhattan, The Muppet Christmas Carol, and of course, that hallowed mecca of Muppets, "Sesame Street."  Miss Piggy was my favorite.  Her wardrobe was so dazzling that it outshone her bad attitude.

But back to the movie at hand.  Sweethearts Gary and Mary (Jason Segal and Amy Adams) travel to LA to celebrate their anniversary with Gary's kid brother, Walter, in tow.  Walter, it should be mentioned, is not a man, but a muppet (the philosophical ramifications of which are examined to song later on).  Loveable but odd, Walter has been unknowingly driving a wedge between the two-cute-for words Gary and Mary for the better part of ten years.  Mary, like so many women before her, has had it but is too sweet to say so.  As a result, romance is tossed out the window as the trio sets off to tour the old Muppet studio only to find that it's fallen into the clutches of an oil-hungry opportunist (Chris Cooper).  Stricken, Walter leads the way in rounding up his heroes, finally persuading Kermit, Fozzie, Gonzo, Miss Piggy, and the rest of the gang to reunite to perform one last show to save their studio.

Despite a star-studded cast comprised of Kristen Schaal, Jack Black, Rashida Jones, Alan Arkin, and several others, the storyline falls slightly flat.  Nevertheless, highlights include Amy Adams's retro-cute outfits (her inaugural one is in Ronald McDonald-worthy red and yellow), Emily Blunt as secretary to Miss Piggy's Paris plus-size Vogue editor, a la The Devil Wears Prada (red wig and all!), and Bret McKenzie's Oscar-winning song "Man or Muppet," during the course of which "The Big Bang Theory's" Jim Parsons makes an appearance as Walter's alter ego.  As a side note, "The Big Bang Theory" in general and Jim Parsons (as Sheldon) in particular are growing on me.  But more on that later.