Hi, and welcome to my blog!
This is not my first attempt at blogging. In fact, if I really search through my archives I could probably find five different blogs I’ve started throughout the years. Most of them dealt with food, because at many points in my life I envisioned myself as a successful food write at some point. I imagined living in New York City (a stones throw from the town where I grew up) and working somewhere prestigious like Bon Appetit or The New Yorker; alas, life had very different plans for me. I graduated culinary school in Italy with all the young hopes and dreams of any artistic ingénue and quickly set off to become the next big thing in food. Looking back, my naivety was adorable and laughable.
I had never wanted an ordinary life and the kitchen held for me the mystery and grit one might imagine on a pirate ship. That’s what we were, pirates of the night. A ragtag band of dirty, sweaty, and foul mouthed laborers working together for hours on end. I was almost always the only female in the kitchen and with that came the constant dodging of gropes and unwanted sexual innuendos. I did not mind however, the better I could hold my own with the boys, the more they welcomed me into their club. I was part of the crew. I truly believed the kitchen and the food world was my one way ticket to Neverland, and it was intoxicating. But, much with all the best laid plans, things went askew the minute I met Matt. He was a recently divorced and down on his luck financial planner who drove a Lexus and wore Polos with his khakis. He represented everything I had so far rejected, a genuine nice guy, clean cut, with a good job. When we got together, my insane work schedule was a constant problem. I would pour myself into bed well past midnight and work twelve hour days six days a week. For a man who wanted a wife and family, this was not going to work.
An ultimatum came into play pretty quickly and I had a choice to make. Follow my cooking career or jump head first into this very new relationship with a man I had barely started to date. Always the daredevil, I jumped, and we have been living happily ever after. To say my life changed drastically is an understatement. Sometimes when I look back at my past self I can hardly remember the girl I was. I never had a real sense of style and got by mostly by buying all my clothes from Forever 21 or rocking my older sisters hand-me-downs.
After having two kids and entering my late 20’s I had a self-care renaissance, I stopped drinking as much and began working out consistantly. I dropped 20lbs and really started to be proud of my body for the first time in a very long while. This newfound confidence spurred me to do a giant closet edit and get rid of all the bar-hopping and jouvenile clothes of my youth. I was still holding on to clothes I had had since middle school! I was a grown up now, and I wanted to look like one. With two kids growing, my needs for my wardrobe evolved from stretchy clothes I could easily remove my boobs from when they were newborns, to an adult wardrobe with a focused sense of style. I found inspiration from a few fashion mavens I could see myself in, Olivia Palermo was my first real fashion icon inspiration. From there I added a few fashionistas to my Pinterest roster including Blaire Eadie as well as some retro fashion gurus. I began mixing patterns, and silhouetes until I found my sweet spot: somewhere between Blair Waldorf, Amal Clooney, and Audrey Hepburn.
The great thing about having multiple passions is you are never bored. As my interest in fashion grows, my deep and lasting love affair with the culinary arts is always there to bring me back to my roots. Nothing gives me more thrill than dressing up and eating at a fabulous restaurant, but I am just as at home in my own kitchen with a glass of wine and some fuzzy slippers. Since moving to Charleston and adopting the true southern lifestyle, my place in this world is still growing, and so is my sense of fashion. I am so excited to be starting this blog to share with you my southern lifestyle, my sense of personal style, my family, my adventures in the kitchen, and my family’s overall zest for this incredible life. Never boring. Always stylish.
It's Me, Lisa P 