Project Runway Fashion - SPOILERS

To recap, the designers were challenged to use only color by world famous designer Isaac Mizrahi, who assigned specific colors to each designer. I was rather amazed by how difficult many of the group found working with color. For me, color is intrinsic in my life - I embrace it and I adore it. Here, it was like pulling teeth to get the workshop group away from the white/black spectrum and deal with the rainbow. Such silly people. Well ... I have pictures, so let's review the best and worst of Episode 8 in alphabetic order of designer. 

Anthony's color was lavender, but his dress
sure looks like a lot of yellow to me. It was
an interesting design, but there were some
serious design flaws. 

Purple and yellow are classic color combinations, so pairing yellow with lavender certainly worked. One of the judges did comment that the lavender was so pale that it almost came across as grey. I would have liked more color pop for the striping too. The design, that one-shoulder drop with a wrap-around look, was nice, but construction issues caused gaps and puckers. Great idea, poor execution. 

Edmond's color was orange and he paired it
with red. The fabrics were silky and flowed
beautifully, but the design was too simple. 

Edmond actually got to use some color - his assigned color was orange. Everybody liked the dress, but it was the simplicity of it that the judges panned. It's Project Runway - the designers are supposed to do something easier than a one-hour nightgown. Georgina called it a "simple throwaway" and Isaac called it a "pajama party". Edmond handled the color beautifully, but it was a poor design choice. 

Helen is still my dark girl, even though she was
assigned purple this week. Eggplant is purple, but
it does have a lot of black in the color. 

Helen is continuing to show strong designs. Since she couldn't use black, and her assigned color was purple, she tried to find the darkest purple she could. The blue really helped this design, and with a brighter purple instead of the eggplant, she might have had higher scores. As it was, her hi/low pant with draping half-skirt was really interesting and walked the Runway well. 

Ken was having all kinds of problems with
his dress. He didn't even add his second
color until just before the Runway. 

Ken's assigned color was red, and he chose a rather insipid pink for his accent. I would have liked more of a pop of color here, but at least it saved the basic dress from being too short. The judges liked the "flattering" design, but the zipper in the back was a mess. If he had used a hidden zipper or a zipper placket, he might have won with this design, but the zipper was the negative mentioned by all of the judges. 

Merline wanted to work with triangles this week,
and was delighted that she had something walking
the runway that was so different from everyone
else's designs. Yeah, okay there, Merline. 

Merline never has an idea when she starts. She folds fabric and tries to figure out where it should go based on the geometry. Her assigned color was blue, and Isaac liked the shade she chose, but not the yellow that she chose to go with it. Georgiana told her that she needed to get a better grasp on fabrics and how they would work in her designs, and Alyssa suggested that she make a collection based on Origami. Ouch! 

Stanley actually constructed a short tied bustle
for the skirt, to encourage the flair at the
model's hips. It worked pretty well and is a
fashion item that was used in Elizabethan
times with equal success. 

Stanley's model was a stick - way too thin. I would be interested to see how this design would translate into the real world, because I really enjoyed the asymmetry of the dropped and folded turquoise top. If you look carefully at the waistline of the skirt, you can see that he made pocket gathers instead of darts, which allowed for immediate fullness of what would have otherwise been a boring and quite normal pencil skirt. I loved the color pairing of turquoise and coral too. It's a classic color combination. 


So there you have it - the six colorful designs influenced by Isaac Mizrahi and directed by him into specific colorways. Oh - and I almost forgot. The winner of this week's challenge would get an unprecedented opportunity - designing a capsule collection with Isaac Mizrahi that would be sold at Lord + Taylor. That prize was HUGE! Now ... on to the winner and loser for the week. Can you guess who won and who was sent packing? 

The winner, for the second week in a row ... Stanley! He's certainly on a roll. 

The loser, and about time ... Merline. The one-trick pony has now left the room. 

That leaves a single female in a room of males, but Helen is fierce and an excellent designer. I hope she'll make it through the next few weeks and into the finals. 

One of the cutest interactions in last night's premier episode of
MasterChef Junior was this conversation between Gordon
Ramsey and eight-year-old Trent, one of the youngest
competitors to make it to the try-outs (also, one of the
shortest - LOL). 

MasterChef Junior started last night, so I was glued to the TV watching the 40 contestants get paired down to 24 - 12 girls and 12 boys. There seem to be a lot of very talented cooks among them, so it should be a great season. Also, the Academy Awards are on Sunday. I could care less about the awards, but I'll take a quick look through the Red Carpet photos on Monday morning and see if it's worth making a fashion post. 

Have a great weekend, everyone. If you're getting hit by the snow, be safe, be careful, and stay warm. 

WOW and One Spoiler Waaaay Down the Page

Wow. It's about all I can say about the patio and back yard after my landscapers finished yesterday afternoon. Just WOW! I'm very happy with the end result and even though they'll be back today to pick up the last of their equipment and tamp in one more layer of sand, it's essentially finished for the time being. After the shed is erected at the end of October, we'll have the guys out once more for a final grade and a layer of black dirt. That may not happen until the spring, though.

In photos - here we go.

Their bobcats and some other equipment are waiting at the end of
my driveway. They'll pick it all up today. The front lawn is toast, but
that's already on next year's agenda - some regrading and new sod.
But that's in the future. 

The pathway left by the CAT machines is deep gouges in my grass. It
looks like an Army tank chose my yard for field maneuvers. 

The other side of the driveway has a shovel as well as palettes from
the paver stones. I think we still have paver stones left, but I'm also
sure DH has some diabolical plan in place for those. He'll be working
on the yard for the next few days since he has the rest of the week
off from work. 

The actual patio looks fantastic. It's huge and almost perfect. They did discover
that the edge was curved when they were tamping yesterday and it wasn't
easy for them to get things aligned properly, but they managed and
it looks great! They did a super job cutting and placing around our
castle wall curves. 

From the side, here's what my new patio looks like. That curved space is
where our round metal umbrella patio table and chairs will go, or maybe
we'll put the grill in there and keep the table more centered on the
brickway. 

Looking toward the creek, the bed for the storage shed has been prepped
and leveled. DH says he'll still make some minor tweaks to make sure
it is as level as possible before the shed is erected in a month. The more
level it is, the more stable the structure and the longer it will last. 

The pathway from the lower yard to the upper yard is now a sea of dirt (and,
if it is raining, a sea of mud). They'll do some repair on this too, but I think we'll
actually come to an understanding and have them do that in the spring. 

The herringbone pattern in the multi-colored soft toned bricks is just
stunning. I'm really looking forward to using my new patio in
the spring and summer of next year. 

So, the backyard still isn't actually done - there is still black dirt, a shed, the wood shed construction and other things that have to happen, but the major portion for this year is now complete and I'm very pleased. It's beautiful.

SPOILER ALERT BELOW

Last night was the finale of the current season of MasterChef. I don't kid myself - I'm no chef. Hell, I'm barely a cook. But I love the show and watch it faithfully. Last night Jason Wang, Eboni Henry and Dino Angelo Luciano faced off for the last time in the finale, each chef preparing a complete three course meal for the judges. Each chef had their highs and lows, and it was neck and neck as the judges deliberated, but the winner was ... DINO! I was SO happy. I've been a supporter of Dino in the MasterChef kitchen for most of the season and he pulled it off. I couldn't be happier for him and his family.

Congratulations to former ballet dancer and genuine nice guy, Dino
Angelo Luciano, the winner of the title of MasterChef, the crystal trophy
and a check for $250,000. Well done, young man! 

So there you go - heavy on photos, light on words today. Have a great Thursday and I'll be back with the Project Runway synopsis tomorrow morning. Reality TV - so much fun! I'm heading off to get in a good swim before starting my day.

What a Crazy Place to Live!

I should have asked for the loan of some dogs last night. It was, and still is, frigid! Right now it's 1 F/-17.2 C but feels like -9 F/-22.7 C but we're in for a crazy week - the kind of week that will cause people to get sick, just because of the temperature swings. We'll be at the absolute low while I'm in the gym, and then start creeping up. By midnight we'll be at 19 F/-7.2 C, when I awaken tomorrow we'll be at 22 F/-5.5 C and by mid-afternoon tomorrow, we'll actually be warmer than 40 F/4.4 C. We'll stay in the 30 F - 45 F (-1.1 C - 7.22 C) range through the entire week next week. Crazy!! From a three dog night to balmy, almost jacket weather - that's the joy of living in the Frozen Northlands.

Three dog night isn't just a band from the late 1960's, but
rather is an indication of how many sled dogs you should
cuddle up with to survive the deep cold of the night. 

The beauty of this is we'll lose more of our snow pack. We might even see some grass! However, the warmer weather over the next week might start fooling some of our trees into thinking it's an early spring, which can cause problems and sometimes kill the trees when we dive right back into winter later on. It's February and we're not finished with winter yet.

Melting snowpack can be a beautiful thing to see, but if it comes
too early and stays too long, it can kill our fruit trees. They start
thinking it's spring and begin to put out buds. Unfortunately, the
buds will die when we drop back down to more normal temps. 

I spent more than two hours editing my short story for the Taboo Challenge at SWG. Crazy to spend so long on a story that clocks in at under 800 words, but that's the way it went. I'll get that posted a bit later this morning. It's been so long since I've put a story out at their website, I'll have to take some time to make sure I get it right. If you look for it, it's titled "Solitude" and should be up for reading by mid-morning or so.

The original group of contestants for Project Runway Junior, Season 2 started
out looking like this. Only six remain now, and after tonight, only four will
be left standing. 

Of course, tonight will be a very exciting night on Project Runway Junior - the last night before the finals and a night with a double elimination. I suspect Hawwaa will be one of the two eliminated, but who the second one will be is anyone's guess. It'll be fun to watch, though. I might catch the last 30 minutes of MasterChef Junior's first episode just before PR Jr. And did you catch Face Off on Tuesday night? It was a non-elimination week, and the format was changed slightly with the challenge being "Monster High" and the judges being a focus group of fans and collectors. That was really fun. DH was astonished that the focus group were all in their 20's or older, but I tried explaining doll collectors to him and he just didn't get it. Oh well, we can't all get everything.

I was never into dolls and haven't had any reason to buy any dolls
either, but the Monster High idea is actually rather cute. After
all, where else would the kids of Dracula, Frankenstein and other
monsters go to school, but to a high school just for them?
High school angst, anyone? 

So here's to bundling up and heading into the freezing temps. On cold days like this, the pool water is so nice and cozy, no shivers necessary. I hope you have a wonderful, cozy Thursday and I'll be back to bug you tomorrow, and have a PR Jr recap on Saturday. Keep on rocking on!

Cooking - Love to Watch, Hate to Do

We're getting freezing rain turning into snow today (oh joy!), so driving and walking will be a bit dicey. So this will be short and sweet - I'll need the extra time to get to the pool this morning.

I get a kick out of watching the "Kids Baking Championship". The kids
are innovative, talented, and very supportive of each other. 

This season's competitors have already been dropped down to the
final six - two girls and four boys. There are some really excellent
cooks among them. 

I love watching cooking - at least reality show cooking. Mondays have been a desert for TV shows, so I usually turn on the "Kids Baking Championship" for an hour of sugar, spice, inventive recipes and young kids' angst. The kids are great on the show, and they are super supportive of each other, helping their competitors out when they can so that everyone can be finished on time. It's fun to watch such friendly cooperation under the umbrella of competition.

MasterChef Junior is always fun because it's the softer side (somewhat) of
Gordon Ramsey. He's a lot more encouraging and instructional. He doesn't
yell as much, although he can still be very intense. It's a lot of fun to watch
these pint-sized chefs cook their way to the championship - they're so
very talented. 

On Thursday, February 9th, "MasterChef Junior" begins their fifth season. MasterChef Junior is always a fun watch. I can barely find my way around a kitchen in the best of times, and these kids are making dishes that could be served at a five-star restaurant by the time they are through with the competition. I'm rather envious of such talent, but it's always a treat to watch.

So, short and sweet today because I have to leave early to slowly drive to the gym on icy roads. Be good, be careful, and make something fun to eat today - cookies sound good to me! Happy Tuesday!

Wow! I Can See!

Sight is an amazing thing and taken for granted so often. I picked up my new glasses yesterday morning when the store opened at 10:00 am and after a small adjustment to make the frames fit tighter to my head, I was good to go. It took a short amount of time to be comfortable with the new correction, but before long I was off and running again.

My new eyeglasses have rings running down
the temple in ever decreasing size. The rings are bright
green on the side, so a nice, subtle blast of color. They had
this style in a white-rimmed  colorway also, but the
metallic green was much more my style. 

It's so fun to have glasses that fit once again! It's been a nightmare few days while I relied on over-the-counter magnifying glasses for reading. I did increase the text size in my book, but things just weren't crisp. The minute I had the new glasses on, I turned on my phone, brought up my book, changed the text back to the next smaller size and happily read a few pages. Yeah! Glasses - good.

Broken eyeglasses aren't fun, but they think they can
have the old frames resoldered via a laser solder by next week. 

They took my old frames and will have them laser soldered for me, calling me when they are ready to pick up. The amount they wanted for relensing them was exorbitant, so I'm going to send them out for relensing when I have them back from repair. But at least I'll have them ready to go. One step at a time.

Wow - Vision! Who knew it could be so fun!

DH and I had a quiet night. I had bought him flowers and a couple of anniversary cards while out and about yesterday, but usually he cooks a fancy meal for me on our anniversary and since he had to work, that wasn't possible this year. We'll celebrate later in the week or next weekend at Renaissance Fest. It'll be great. Thanks for all of your kind good wishes and commentary :-)

SPOILER ALERT

The three MasterChef finalists - Steven, Claudia and Derrick. The final
cook-off came down to Derrick and Claudia and Claudia prevailed. It
was an EPIC battle and amazing to watch. Congratulations hija! 

Finally - my favorite home cook won on MasterChef last night. The competition was absolutely fierce. If you didn't get a chance to watch the final competition, catch it on the web. It was quite amazing. Congratulations go out to Claudia for a really amazing meal that spoke to her Latina heritage throughout. Brilliant! I can't wait to see what recipes are presented in her cookbook. Have a great Thursday. I need to really hit the elliptical this morning - somehow I gained a couple of pounds yesterday! Ack!