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	<title>Manolo for the Big Girl &#187; Perfume</title>
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	<description>Fashion, Lifestyle, and Humor for the Plus Sized Woman.</description>
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		<title>The Big Question: Is That Old Spice? Edition</title>
		<link>http://manolobig.com/2011/07/12/the-big-question-is-that-old-spice-edition/</link>
		<comments>http://manolobig.com/2011/07/12/the-big-question-is-that-old-spice-edition/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 12 Jul 2011 20:45:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Miss Plumcake</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Perfume]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Big Question]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://manolobig.com/?p=7546</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I am, to the unending groan of both my bank account and my bureau, a confirmed fragrance snob. I have literally driven through a Texas snow storm (which surprisingly involved actual snow and not someone doing cocaine off a piece of Larry Hagman memorabilia) to wend my way to Barney&#8217;s New York in Dallas, the [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I am, to the unending groan of both my bank account and my bureau, a confirmed fragrance snob. I have literally driven through a Texas snow storm (which surprisingly involved actual snow and not someone doing cocaine off a piece of Larry Hagman memorabilia) to wend my way to Barney&#8217;s New York in Dallas, the only place in Texas where one can get hopped up on my particularly favorite varietals of frog juice, Serge Lutens and Frederic Malle. I love high-concept, challenging scents. Tell me something smells &#8220;pretty, like clean flowers&#8221; and I&#8217;m asleep before you&#8217;ve finished the sentence. Tell me it smells like someone left an angry carnation in a Brazilian mortuary and I&#8217;m throwing cash at you like you were the last stripper in Chiang Mai.</p>
<p>But as I mentioned last week and Twistie chatted about over the weekend, scent is a funny old dog. It&#8217;s a rubber band that irrevocably snaps us back to times, places and people, high-concept mortuaries be damned.</p>
<p>A spritz of the perverse  &#8220;Jasmin et Cigarettes&#8221; from L&#8217;etat Libre de Orange sends me right back to Andre&#8217;s place in Times Square the night he proposed, the dizzying powder green icicle of Frederic Malle&#8217;s &#8220;Iris Poudre&#8221; has me driving cross country in the famously bleak midwinter somethingorother, using my fur coat as a blanket while I caught 20 minutes sleep in the parking lot of a Denny&#8217;s and I cannot even dab on Serge Lutens&#8217; &#8220;Bois et Musc&#8221; without bringing back some Very Good Times Indeed involving, well&#8230;absolutely nothing I feel like sharing at the moment.</p>
<p>On the slightly more prosaic tip, I famously first loved gin because it reminded me of being hugged by my grandmother (who, btw has done nothing but drink Tanq and smoke Benson and Hedges for the past 50 years and is going to outlive everyone but Keith Richards) and when I left the newspaper one of the saddest parts was knowing I wouldn&#8217;t get to smell that delicious, delicious ink.</p>
<p>And then there are the boys.</p>
<p>My first boyfriend covered himself in Avon&#8217;s &#8220;Wild Country&#8221; with the sort of reckless abandon usually reserved for rutting disco elks, any number of my euroflings took Chanel&#8217;s Allure pour Homme in the way virgin statues take on milk and my current sweet baboo (P to the S: it&#8217;s very difficult to explain what a Sweet Baboo is to someone who didn&#8217;t grow up with Peanuts cartoons. He thought I was calling him a festively-buttocked monkey. I&#8217;m not saying he is and I&#8217;m not saying he ain&#8217;t, but it wasn&#8217;t what I was calling him at that moment) has a scent all his own that&#8217;s slightly reminiscent of Bulgari &#8220;Black&#8221; but is probably some sort of artist&#8217;s compound that&#8217;ll give both of us tails and cancer and maybe even split ends.</p>
<p>Last week I shared with you the heartbreak of having a lingering affection for a now-discontinued species of Axe Body Spray and many of you chimed in with the embarrassing favorites from your past. Today I&#8217;d like to make it an official Big Question.</p>
<p>Today Miss Plumcake wants to know:</p>
<p>What scent screams &#8220;first love&#8221; to you? If you&#8217;ve got an embarrassing scent story, I want to hear it! Put it in the comments and hold your nose!</p>
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		<title>What Miss Plumcake is&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://manolobig.com/2011/06/07/what-miss-plumcake-is-23/</link>
		<comments>http://manolobig.com/2011/06/07/what-miss-plumcake-is-23/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 07 Jun 2011 15:00:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Miss Plumcake</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Art]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[What Miss Plumcake is]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://manolobig.com/?p=7321</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Hello my chubby compadres, how&#8217;s every little thing? Me, I&#8217;m great. Just getting used to being back in Texas &#8211;by which I mean the face of the sun&#8211; after a glorious month of actual springlike weather in DC. Well, it&#8217;s Tuesday, so it&#8217;s time to find out What Miss Plumcake is&#8230; (now with sales code [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Hello my chubby compadres, how&#8217;s every little thing? Me, I&#8217;m great. Just getting used to being back in Texas &#8211;by which I mean the face of the sun&#8211; after a glorious month of actual springlike weather in DC. Well, it&#8217;s Tuesday, so it&#8217;s time to find out<br />
What Miss Plumcake is&#8230;</p>
<p><a href="http://manolobig.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/What-Miss-Plumcake-is-for-the-week-of-June-7.jpg"><img src="http://manolobig.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/What-Miss-Plumcake-is-for-the-week-of-June-7.jpg" alt="" title="What Miss Plumcake is for the week of June 7" width="500"/></a><br />
(now with sales code AND a recipe!)<br />
<span id="more-7321"></span></p>
<p><strong>Reading</strong> &#8211; <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0140255834/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&#038;tag=manolobig-20&#038;linkCode=as2&#038;camp=217153&#038;creative=399349&#038;creativeASIN=0140255834">Romancero Gitano by Frederico Garcia Lorca</a>. A beautiful collection of poems from Spain&#8217;s most famous modern poet. He described his 1928 work as &#8220;a carved altar piece of Andalusia with gypsies, horses, archangels, planets, its Jewish and Roman breezes, rivers, crimes, the everyday touch of the smuggler and the celestial note of the naked children of Córdoba. A book that hardly expresses visible Andalusia at all, but where the hidden Andalusia trembles.&#8221; Read it in Spanish if you can, but a reputedly excellent <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0374523525/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&#038;tag=manolobig-20&#038;linkCode=as2&#038;camp=217153&#038;creative=399349&#038;creativeASIN=0374523525">bilingual collection of Lorca&#8217;s work is available here</a>. If you&#8217;re interested in this sort of thing, <a href="http://daliplanet.blogsome.com/category/lorca/">this is an interesting blog</a> outlining the relationship between Salvador Dali &#8211;who is responsible for the portrait of Garcia Lorca above&#8211; and the poet.</p>
<p><strong>Watching </strong>- <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000059LGF/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&#038;tag=manolobig-20&#038;linkCode=as2&#038;camp=217153&#038;creative=399701&#038;creativeASIN=B000059LGF">Evil Under the Sun</a>. How had I never seen this before? It is early 80&#8242;s (possibly unintentional) high camp in all its glory! Diana Rigg and Maggie Smith as bitchy aging chorus girls done good! Roddy McDowell at his screamingest queenie best! Jane Birkin! Hats! Turbans! Turbans UNDER hats with coordinating clip on earrings! Peter Ustinov as Hercule Poirot! Cole Porter soundtrack! I just about died.</p>
<p><strong>Hearing</strong> &#8211; <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001NB6MGG/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&#038;tag=manolobig-20&#038;linkCode=as2&#038;camp=217153&#038;creative=399701&#038;creativeASIN=B001NB6MGG">The Sweetest Thing by U2</a>. My favorite love song and is even nearer and dearer to my heart since going to Ireland. Say what you will about Bono, the boy knows how to apologize. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ib2zq-ev7tc">Watch the video here</a>. From now on, I refuse to accept any apologies not accompanied by the cast of Riverdance, an elephant and mostly naked men stripping on a firetruck.</p>
<p><strong>Smelling </strong>- <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000N5QVOG/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&#038;tag=manolobig-20&#038;linkCode=as2&#038;camp=217153&#038;creative=399349&#038;creativeASIN=B000N5QVOG">Organix Tea Tree Mint Shampoo</a>. Do you want to smell like a Thin Mint? Of course you do. I&#8217;m no &#8216;poo except for the summer, but this sulfate-free stuff smells great and leaves my hair nice and healthy.</p>
<p><strong>Loving</strong> &#8211; Horchata. Horchata is a creamy refreshing summer drink served throughout the Spanish-speaking world. The Spanish version is made with tiger nuts, but since I wouldn&#8217;t know a tiger nut if I stepped on one (and trust me, I&#8217;m not about to do that), I make a version of the variety they serve most commonly in Mexico and South America, flavored with rice, almonds and cinnamon. I don&#8217;t have a precise recipe, but here&#8217;s the gist:</p>
<blockquote><p><strong>Miss Plumcake&#8217;s Horchata:<br />
</strong><br />
Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot, with a few cinnamon sticks. Remove from heat and add a cup and a half or so of uncooked white rice (do not rinse), give it a good stir, cover it and let it sit at least 5 hours, ideally overnight. In the morning, give it a final stir and strain the rice water into a large pitcher, reserving one cup of liquid and dispose of rice (you could probably do something with the rice, but I don&#8217;t eat rice so I don&#8217;t know).</p>
<p>In a large microwavable measuring cup or small pot, combine one 14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk and reserved rice water, heating until it has the consistency of fresh milk, then add it to the pitcher of rice water. Add a few drops of natural almond extract if you&#8217;d like, then chill. Serve over lots of ice with a few toasted almond slivers if you have it. <em>Sabroso!</em></p></blockquote>
<p><strong>Hating </strong>- <a href="http://www.kqzyfj.com/click-2523302-4048741?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.zappos.com%2Fproduct%2F7853997%2Fcolor%2F312369" target="_top">Flaccid Unnecessary Ruffles</a>. Seriously. What is with these things? It&#8217;s like every top I see is just dripping with random bits of fabric flotsam. It just looks sloppy and cheap and if I wanted to look sloppy and cheap believe me, I&#8217;d be doing it in a much more entertaining way than just wearing stupid ruffles.</p>
<p><strong>Wanting </strong>- All Espadrilles All The Time. My affection for the espadrille is well-documented, and especially now that I&#8217;m Fake Spanish, they&#8217;re pretty much all I want to wear this summer. The <a href="http://www.jdoqocy.com/click-2523302-4048741?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.zappos.com%2Fcalvin-klein-emmah-platino-dusty-metallic" target="_top">Emmah from Calvin Klein</a> scratches my neutral-color, leg-lengthening high wedge itch (to be worn with shorts) and I&#8217;ve been wearing my wild Lacroix ones all spring, but really any &#8216;drilles will do.<br />
<strong><br />
Buying</strong> &#8211; <a href="http://www.onestopplus.com/clothing/Belted-Linen-Dress.aspx?PfId=238697&#038;DeptId=22831&#038;ProductTypeId=1&#038;PurchaseType=G&#038;pref=ps">Belted Linen Dress by La Redoute</a>. As I mentioned yesterday, I&#8217;m heading down Mexico way for a month for some hot Night of The Iguana action and I&#8217;m going to wear mostly white linen. Because when your house comes with a maid, you can wear white linen every day. This dress is easy and versatile, use the belt that comes with it, your favorite scarf, wear it as a dress or a tunic. Whatever. Available in white and navy, you can get it for cheap if you use code <strong>OSPCOUPON16</strong> to take 40% off your most expensive item.</p>
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		</item>
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		<title>What Miss Plumcake is&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://manolobig.com/2011/05/17/what-miss-plumcake-is-22/</link>
		<comments>http://manolobig.com/2011/05/17/what-miss-plumcake-is-22/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 17 May 2011 17:17:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Miss Plumcake</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Books]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://manolobig.com/?p=7253</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Happy Tuesday my little satellites of love, how&#8217;s every little thing? Me? I&#8217;m grand. The charm offensive I launched against the Mexican family who lives downstairs from my best friend (I&#8217;m staying with her while in Virginia) paid off a few days ago when they took pity on the poor displaced Texan and gave me [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Happy Tuesday my little <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3wXqyRQZnA">satellites of love</a>, how&#8217;s every little thing?</p>
<p>Me? I&#8217;m grand. The charm offensive I launched against the Mexican family who lives downstairs from my best friend (I&#8217;m staying with her while in Virginia) paid off a few days ago when they took pity on the poor displaced Texan and gave me a fajita fix. I&#8217;m now rationing out my slices of delicious delicious baby angel meat like cigarettes in jail.</p>
<p>Anyhoodle, it&#8217;s Tuesday which means it&#8217;s time to find out What Miss Plumcake is&#8230;</p>
<p><a href="http://manolobig.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/What-Miss-Plumcake-is-for-the-week-of-May-16-2011.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-7254 alignnone" title="What Miss Plumcake is for the week of May 16 2011" src="http://manolobig.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/What-Miss-Plumcake-is-for-the-week-of-May-16-2011.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="500" /></a></p>
<p>&nbsp;<br />
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<p><strong>Reading:</strong> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312553994/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&#038;tag=manolobig-20&#038;linkCode=as2&#038;camp=217145&#038;creative=399353&#038;creativeASIN=0312553994">Hellraisers: The Inebriated Life and Times of Richard Burton, Peter O&#8217;Toole, Richard Harris &amp; Oliver Reed</a> Exactly as good as you think it&#8217;d be, from the good old days when people really <em>committed</em> to drunken debauchery.</p>
<p><strong>Watching: </strong><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00005N8A9/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&#038;tag=manolobig-20&#038;linkCode=as2&#038;camp=217145&#038;creative=399349&#038;creativeASIN=B00005N8A9">Amores Perros (Love&#8217;s a Bitch)</a> This is not a happy film, but it&#8217;s beautiful, powerful and important. It&#8217;s pretty graphic but not gratuitously.</p>
<p><strong>Hearing:</strong> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000ANVP74/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&#038;tag=manolobig-20&#038;linkCode=as2&#038;camp=217145&#038;creative=399353&#038;creativeASIN=B000ANVP74">Voice from Alison Moyet</a> specifically Dido&#8217;s Lament. I have the import version so that&#8217;s what I&#8217;m linking to, but I&#8217;m pretty sure the tracklist is the same on the non-import edition, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Voice-Alison-Moyet/dp/B000ANVP74">available here</a>. Haunting.</p>
<p><strong>Smelling:</strong> <a href="http://www.cbihateperfume.com/in-the-library.html">In The Library by Christopher Brosius of CB I Hate Perfume</a>. I&#8217;m wearing the water perfume version which I bought as a decant from The Perfumed Court. I haven&#8217;t worn scent since I&#8217;ve been in Virginia, but I discovered a little vial of this in my bag and gave it a spritz for the sake of novelty. It&#8217;s supposed to evoke the scent of &#8211;you guessed it&#8211; an old library. It&#8217;s slightly more theoretical than literal, but if you or your fella loves the scent of old books and bindings, this might be right up your alley.</p>
<p><strong>Loving: </strong><a href="http://www.anrdoezrs.net/click-1577526-4048741?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.zappos.com%2Fbetsey-johnson-plus-size-double-layer-tricot-slip-w-front-tie-peach-daquiri" target="_top">This ridiculous/fabulous Betsy Johnson nightie</a>. It&#8217;s so Beach Blanket Bingo I could die. I don&#8217;t usually do camp, but how can I resist something practically ripped straight from Dawn Davenport&#8217;s closet (as played by Divine in John Water&#8217;s Female Trouble). Now all I need are cha cha heels!</p>
<p><strong>Hating: </strong><br />
<form method="get" action="http://www.anrdoezrs.net/interactive" target="_top">Avenue discontinuing my beloved high-waist seamless bike shorts Alert Reader Marjean sent me a note letting me know Avenue is sending the long-line ones the way of the dodo and I&#8217;m pretty sure these are getting axed as well. I will be weeping (and possibly chafing) in a corner for a moment. Please, just ignore me.</p>
<p><strong>Wanting:</strong> <a href="http://www.shareasale.com/m-pr.cfm?merchantID=293&#038;userID=131164&#038;productID=477581375" target="_blank">Kiyonna&#8217;s Desert Rain maxi/hostess dress</a> I gotta say, I love a hostess dress. Granted, I&#8217;m a million feet tall which helps if you&#8217;re going to wear something long and flowy as a big girl, but seriously: One piece dressing, you don&#8217;t have to shave your legs or wear heels and you still look glamorous. Also, it practically BEGS for a cocktail ring the size of a basset hound. Need I say more?</p>
<p><strong>Buying: </strong><a href="http://www.hulu.com/criterion">The Criterion Collection on Hulu</a>. I finally bit the bullet and signed up for Hulu Plus, where for $7.99 a month I&#8217;ve got access to a whole mess of stuff I don&#8217;t care about AND over 300 selections from the Criterion Collection with new films being added all the time. If you&#8217;re unfamiliar with the Criterion Collection, it&#8217;s an ever-growing library of artistically and historically important films, some hugely popular, some obscure but brilliant. For eight bucks a month I can scratch my French New Wave itch in the privacy of my own home (or wherever I have my laptop) and fill in gaps in my cinematic education whenever I want.</form>
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		<title>What Miss Plumcake is&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://manolobig.com/2011/04/19/what-miss-plumcake-is-21/</link>
		<comments>http://manolobig.com/2011/04/19/what-miss-plumcake-is-21/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 19 Apr 2011 17:55:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Miss Plumcake</dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://manolobig.com/?p=7141</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Hello my little marshmallow peeps, how&#8217;s every little thing? Me? I&#8217;m fine. I got exactly zero sleep last night so I&#8217;ve got my flawlessly tailored crabby pants on, but it&#8217;s Tuesday which means it&#8217;s time to find out What Miss Plumcake is&#8230; Reading: No One Writes to the Colonel &#8211; Gabriel García Márquez My person-friend [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Hello my little marshmallow peeps, how&#8217;s every little thing? Me? I&#8217;m fine. I got exactly zero sleep last night so I&#8217;ve got my flawlessly tailored crabby pants on, but it&#8217;s Tuesday which means it&#8217;s time to find out<br />
<a href="http://manolobig.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/What-Miss-Plumcake-Is-April-19-2011.jpg"><img src="http://manolobig.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/What-Miss-Plumcake-Is-April-19-2011.jpg" alt="" title="What Miss Plumcake Is  April  19 2011" width="500" height="500" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-7142" /></a></p>
<p>What Miss Plumcake is&#8230;<br />
<span id="more-7141"></span><br />
Reading: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/No-One-Writes-Colonel-Perennial/dp/0060751576">No One Writes to the Colonel &#8211; Gabriel García Márquez</a> My person-friend and I decided to read this novella at the same time. Unfortunately, I had some lines crossed in my head so was confusing him with Garcia Lorca and was highly displeased when this wasn&#8217;t Neruda-esque. This isn&#8217;t a cheery little novella, but it&#8217;s beautifully written and translated and will stay with you for quite a while.</p>
<p>Watching: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Mama-Tambien-Ana-L%C3%B3pez-Mercado/dp/B00005JL57">Y Tu Mamá También</a> I&#8217;m pretty sure I was at the North American premier of this back in 2001 and hadn&#8217;t seen it since, but I picked it up because I was feeling a bit down about being The Older Woman. Gosh this is a great flick. Sexy, poignant, heartbreaking and exquisitely shot. It reminds me a bit of the movie I wanted Bertolucci&#8217;s <em>The Dreamers</em> to be. </p>
<p>Hearing: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Sketches-Of-Spain/dp/B00138H1RS">Sketches of Spain &#8211; Miles Davis</a> Even if I wasn&#8217;t spending most of my time trying to will myself to be from somewhere more exotic than Swansea, this is my all-time favorite summer album. Chill, sophisticated, sort of lazily hot&#8230;if you&#8217;ve never heard it you&#8217;ve got to check it out.</p>
<p>Smelling: Rossy de Palma Eau de Protection &#8211; Etat Libre d`Orange.  Named after the Spanish star, this is a big black-red rose with a huge dose of high-end patchouli. A nightmare on me, but worth trying if you like that sort of thing.</p>
<p>Loving: <a href="http://couture.zappos.com/n/p/dp/69525644/c/282726.html">Oak Baroque Heels &#8211; Alexander McQueen</a> It is a good damn thing I have never been able to cantilever my Flintstone feet into a single McQueen shoe because these leafy beauties would set me back a lot of lettuce.</p>
<p>Hating: <a href="http://www.bluefly.com/Lanvin-black-satin-cap-toe-high-top-sneakers/cat20022/310136301/detail.fly">Lanvin&#8217;s $500 Chucks</a> Seriously? Seriously you&#8217;re going to make a pair of fabric Converse knock offs and sell them for $500? I&#8217;m trying not to even DWELL on the fact that it&#8217;s possible my cuddly little Alber Elbaz signed off on this. I&#8217;d expect this from Marc Jacobs, but Lanvin? For shame! </p>
<p>Wanting: <a href="http://www.ulta.com/ulta/browse/productDetail.jsp?skuId=2229998&#038;productId=xlsImpprod3220069">Real Techniques by Sam Chapman Brush Set</a> Okay, these things are harder to get than cigarettes in jail and I want &#8216;em. If you have a way to get me that eyeliner brush you just let me know and I&#8217;ll reward you bountifully.</p>
<p>Buying: <a href="http://www.avenue.com/clothing/Belted-Mini-Ottoman-Dress.aspx?PfId=208732&#038;DeptId=19952&#038;ProductTypeId=1">Avenue&#8217;s Belted Mini-Ottoman Dress</a> I haven&#8217;t actually made up my mind on this one. It looks great in the photo &#8211;though the necklace obscures the neckline&#8211; but the fabric is kind of&#8230;weird. I haven&#8217;t decided if it&#8217;s bad weird or just different weird. Time will tell.</p>
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		<slash:comments>6</slash:comments>
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		<title>What Miss Plumcake Is&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://manolobig.com/2011/04/12/what-miss-plumcake-is-20/</link>
		<comments>http://manolobig.com/2011/04/12/what-miss-plumcake-is-20/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 12 Apr 2011 14:33:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Miss Plumcake</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Accessories]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://manolobig.com/?p=7110</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Hello campers, it&#8217;s Tuesday which means it&#8217;s time to find out What Miss Plumcake is&#8230; Reading: The Sun Also Rises &#8211; Ernest Hemingway. Sometimes it&#8217;s dangerous to re-read the books you loved in high school, but every year as spring edges its way to summer, Hemingway&#8217;s modernist masterpiece calls to me and I read it [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Hello campers, it&#8217;s Tuesday which means it&#8217;s time to find out</p>
<p><a href="http://manolobig.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/What-Miss-Plumcake-Is-the-week-of-April-12-2011.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-7133" title="What Miss Plumcake Is the week of April 12 2011" src="http://manolobig.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/What-Miss-Plumcake-Is-the-week-of-April-12-2011.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="500" /></a></p>
<p>What Miss Plumcake is&#8230;</p>
<p><span id="more-7110"></span></p>
<p><strong>Reading:</strong> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0743297334/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&#038;tag=manolobig-20&#038;linkCode=as2&#038;camp=1789&#038;creative=9325&#038;creativeASIN=0743297334">The Sun Also Rises &#8211; Ernest Hemingway</a>. Sometimes it&#8217;s dangerous to re-read the books you loved in high school, but every year as spring edges its way to summer, Hemingway&#8217;s modernist masterpiece calls to me and I read it &#8211;at least sections of it&#8211; while sunning myself in the cabana, bottle of vinho verde by my side.</p>
<p><strong>Watching: </strong><a href="http://www.hulu.com/watch/226969/lifetime-movies-to-be-fat-like-me">To Be Fat Like Me </a> &#8211; A Very Special Lifetime Movie about a thin, pretty, popular girl going undercover in a fat suit to create a documentary on what it&#8217;s like to be a fat teenager. A masterpiece of cinematic excellence? Not even a little. Accurate? Maybe, to a point. Still, it&#8217;s smarter than it looks and worth watching if you&#8217;ve got nothing else to do.</p>
<p><strong>Hearing:</strong><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000TERDES/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&#038;tag=manolobig-20&#038;linkCode=as2&#038;camp=1789&#038;creative=9325&#038;creativeASIN=B000TERDES">Siamese Dream &#8211; Smashing Pumpkins</a>. One high school favorite deserves another. Could anyone feel my poignant, poignant pain, like the pasty-faced fuzzed-out rock of Billy Corgan et al circa 1993, when a young Miss Plumcake was so deeply, deeply misunderstood (and yet somehow not getting paid for it?) Sure it&#8217;s a little dated now, but I defy you to turn it on when you&#8217;re alone and not bliss out to sixty-two minutes of the best shoegazing the mid 90s had to offer. Available for<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000TERDES/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&#038;tag=manolobig-20&#038;linkCode=as2&#038;camp=1789&#038;creative=9325&#038;creativeASIN=B000TERDES"> five-dollar download at amazon</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Smelling:</strong> <a href="http://www.barneys.com/Fred%26%23233%3Bric-Malle-L%27eau-D%27-Hiver-250-ML-Splash/00457016000027,default,pd.html">L&#8217;Eau d&#8217;Hiver &#8211; Editions Fredéric Malle Editions de Parfums</a>. I guess it&#8217;s throwback week at Stately Château Gâteau because I&#8217;ve returned to one of my all-time favorite fragrances. L&#8217;Eau d&#8217;Hiver &#8211;Winter Water&#8211; is, in a word, pristine. It is the sugar crust crunch of a boot through the first snow of winter, when it&#8217;s only you and the birds in an empty field. Some people say it smells of powdered almonds, but not to me. It&#8217;s angelica and hawthorn on an highly theoretical white iris base (think a single white iris in a white minimalist living room) with just a breath of jasmine to keep it from being robotic. It&#8217;s available in the states exclusively at Barney&#8217;s, though you can find samples on eBay (I wouldn&#8217;t trust &#8216;em) and <a href="http://www.theperfumedcourt.com">The Perfumed Court</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Loving:</strong> <a href="http://www.jdoqocy.com/click-2523302-4048741?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.zappos.com%2Flacoste-marthe-espa-2-red" target="_top">Marthe Espa 2 Espadrille &#8211; Lacoste</a>. Man, I love a good espadrille. I pretty much plan on spending my entire summer in them this year. Plus, if you&#8217;re going to do preppy, you can&#8217;t get much better than Lacoste.</p>
<p><strong>Hating:</strong> Cucumbers. WTF, cucumbers? Why do you have to be in stuff I like? Man, I would be all OVER some gazpacho right now, but every place I go has cucumbers in them. And don&#8217;t tell me it&#8217;s an essential part of the dish, I don&#8217;t care. If we can put a man on the moon we can get me some damn cuke-less gazpacho. Plus, cobras smell like cucumbers and I am PRETTY DARN SURE cucumbers are working in ALL SORTS of cahoots with cobras in an ongoing effort to kill me since they didn&#8217;t get the chance when I was three. So you&#8217;re on notice cucumbers. Check yourself before you wreck yourself.</p>
<p><strong>Wanting:</strong> Enamel Jewelry. TONS of it. Particularly these <a href="http://www.jdoqocy.com/click-2523302-4048741?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.zappos.com%2Fkate-spade-new-york-black-eye-susan-lever-backs-cream-black" target="_top">black-eyed Susan leverbacks from Kate Spade</a> (also available <a href="http://www.zappos.com/product/7764647/color/7627">in pierced</a>) There&#8217;s just something about summer that makes me want to put away my faceted pieces and heavy metal in exchange for cool, sleek, not-too-serious enamel.</p>
<p><strong>Buying:</strong> Vinho Verde &#8211; by the case.  I&#8217;m not much of a oenophile, because wine tends to have a nasty habit of not being made of Scotch or gin. However, when the temperatures rise and a girl wants a tall cool drink of something light and refreshing, it&#8217;s hard to go wrong with this slightly effervescent &#8220;green wine&#8221; from Portugal, especially at about $7 a pop. Does Vinho Verde replace Jose Mourinho as my favorite Portuguese export? Absolutely not, but until The Special One realizes how happy we will be together and makes himself available for my summer enjoyment, the wine will have to do.</p>
<p><em><strong>What about you? What&#8217;s dusting your bunnies this week?</strong></em></p>
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		<slash:comments>18</slash:comments>
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		<title>What Miss Plumcake Is&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://manolobig.com/2011/04/05/what-miss-plumcake-is-19/</link>
		<comments>http://manolobig.com/2011/04/05/what-miss-plumcake-is-19/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 05 Apr 2011 18:00:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Miss Plumcake</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Books]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://manolobig.com/?p=7073</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Reading: Tales of the Alhambra by Washington Irving. If Ichabod Crane is all you know of Washington Irving, you&#8217;re missing out. Somewhere between the Arabian Nights and a travelogue, this is a fantastic and entirely-too-neglected classic. Plus you can read a chapter or so a night, so it&#8217;s handy to have by the bed. Watching: [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://manolobig.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/what-miss-plumcake-is-April-5.jpg"><img src="http://manolobig.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/what-miss-plumcake-is-April-5.jpg" alt="" title="what miss plumcake is April 5" width="500" height="500" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-7074" /></a></p>
<p><strong>Reading:</strong> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003X82F22/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&#038;tag=manolobig-20&#038;linkCode=as2&#038;camp=1789&#038;creative=9325&#038;creativeASIN=B003X82F22">Tales of the Alhambra</a> by Washington Irving. If Ichabod Crane is all you know of Washington Irving, you&#8217;re missing out. Somewhere between the Arabian Nights and a travelogue, this is a fantastic and entirely-too-neglected classic. Plus you can read a chapter or so a night, so it&#8217;s handy to have by the bed.</p>
<p><strong>Watching:</strong> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Juliet-Spirits-Collection-Giulietta-Masina/dp/B00005V6N6">Juliet of the Spirits</a>. Fellini at his trippiest, it&#8217;s not merely a surreal masterpiece from my very favorite director &#8211;some would say the female version of <em>8 1/2</em>&#8211; it was and continues to be a hugely influential movie for designers not just for Gianni di Venanzo&#8217;s luscious cinematography but for Piero Gherardi&#8217;s over-the-top costume confections. Beautiful, strange and surprisingly empowering. It was Galliano before Galliano was. Brilliant.</p>
<p><strong>Hearing:</strong> Etta James <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000WLJED6/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&#038;tag=manolobig-20&#038;linkCode=as2&#038;camp=1789&#038;creative=9325&#038;creativeASIN=B000WLJED6">At Last</a>. Do you not own this album? How do you not own this album? Plus it&#8217;s available as a $5 download from Amazon.</p>
<p><strong>Smelling:</strong> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000VUHT62/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&#038;tag=manolobig-20&#038;linkCode=as2&#038;camp=1789&#038;creative=9325&#038;creativeASIN=B000VUHT62">Inis Or</a>. This actually smells awful on me, but it&#8217;s a decent little inexpensive juice if you like fresh but not too sweet aquatic fragrances.</p>
<p><strong>Loving:</strong> Proper Vegetables. The Irish, in my limited experience, are not a vegetable loving people. Except when it comes to peas. Then it&#8217;s like that Monty Python sketch when they try to order a strawberry tart without so much rat in it. Somewhere, somehow, someone is going to slip you some peas.</p>
<p><strong>Hating:</strong> <a href="http://www.theoutnet.com/product/213914">The Stupid Perfect Shoe.</a> ARGH. Why am I not  buying new shoes until I&#8217;ve worn all my current shoes just once? These are PERFECT AND THEY&#8217;RE ON CLEARANCE. ARRRRRRGGHHmhnfndfddghhh</p>
<p><strong>Wanting:</strong> <a href="http://www.theoutnet.com/product/229327#">Sonia Rykiel Bag</a>. I&#8217;m really not a bag girl but I like this one. I basically resent having to carry a bag at all and for the past week I&#8217;ve just been using an antebellum sterling silver calling card case. Sure I&#8217;ve got the Birkin, which is the size of my car (WHO? WHO needs that much space?!) This would do me juuuust fine.</p>
<p><strong>Buying:</strong> <a href="http://www.shareasale.com/r.cfm?u=131164&#038;b=230150&#038;m=293&#038;afftrack=&#038;urllink=www%2Ekiyonna%2Ecom%2Fplus%2Dsize%2Dclothing%2FNew%5FArrivals%2F23081803">Kiyonna Bellini Ballet Wrap</a>. I&#8217;ve been loving variations on these for the past few month, wearing one side pinned up with a brooch as a sort of a wrap. Right now I&#8217;m liking a sort of more structured, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antwerp_Six">Antwerp Six</a>, look. Long and lean with attention to unusual proportionals.</p>
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		<title>What Miss Plumcake is&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://manolobig.com/2011/03/22/what-miss-plumcake-is-17/</link>
		<comments>http://manolobig.com/2011/03/22/what-miss-plumcake-is-17/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 22 Mar 2011 13:40:09 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Miss Plumcake</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Books]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://manolobig.com/?p=6988</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Hello my little bourbon biscuits, it&#8217;s Tuesday and while I am wandering about the hills and dales of the Emerald Isle with my two besties, I thought I&#8217;d take a minute and share with you an Irish-tinged edition of What Miss Plumcake is&#8230; Reading: The Complete Short Stories of Oscar Wilde If all you know [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Hello my little bourbon biscuits, it&#8217;s Tuesday and while I am wandering about the hills and dales of the Emerald Isle with my two besties, I thought I&#8217;d take a minute and share with you an Irish-tinged edition of What Miss Plumcake is&#8230;</p>
<p><a href="http://manolobig.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/What-Miss-Plumcake-is-the-week-of-March-22-2011.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-6989" title="What Miss Plumcake is the week of March 22 2011" src="http://manolobig.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/What-Miss-Plumcake-is-the-week-of-March-22-2011.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="500" /></a></p>
<p><strong>Reading:</strong> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/019953506X/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&#038;tag=manolobig-20&#038;linkCode=as2&#038;camp=1789&#038;creative=9325&#038;creativeASIN=019953506X">The Complete Short Stories of Oscar Wilde</a> If all you know of Wilde are his pithy quotes and frothy plays (both of which are still highly recommended) you owe it to yourself to check out some of his no-foolin&#8217; literatoor. Beautiful, tender and razor sharp, these are some of my favorite short stories. Half Daudet and half Kipling, it&#8217;s all brilliant.</p>
<p>Watching: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/6305622922/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&#038;tag=manolobig-20&#038;linkCode=as2&#038;camp=1789&#038;creative=9325&#038;creativeASIN=6305622922">The Commitments</a> I was just learning to play the saxophone when this film about a bunch of misfits from Dublin and their dream of blue-eyed soul stardom came out and I fell in love. Even if you saw it years ago, rent it and be reminded what a great flick it is.</p>
<p>Hearing:<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001NB1OSC/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&#038;tag=manolobig-20&#038;linkCode=as2&#038;camp=1789&#038;creative=9325&#038;creativeASIN=B001NB1OSC"> U2 &#8211; Achtung Baby</a> I&#8217;m just going to go ahead and say that the seventh studio album from Bono and the lads is the most important pop album of the 90&#8242;s. </p>
<p>Smelling: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004KP1OTM/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&#038;tag=manolobig-20&#038;linkCode=as2&#038;camp=1789&#038;creative=9325&#038;creativeASIN=B004KP1OTM">Vol de Nuit by Guerlain</a> I&#8217;m wearing the vintage, which is even more heartbreakingly beautiful, this 1933 creation by Jacques Guerlain was an homage to Antoine Saint-Exupery (yes, the Little Prince guy) and his novel, <em>Vol de Nuit</em>. On me Vol de Nuit is a pale butter daffodil floating in a cup of softly spiced milk tea. Unusual comfort at its best.</p>
<p>Loving: <a href="http://www.lanebryant.com/funnel-neck-peacoat/p71248/index.pro">Funnel-necked peacoat </a> Until last week I didn&#8217;t have a coat. It doesn&#8217;t get very cold in Texas so usually I either wear my vintage blonde mink stole or my lynx stoller. However, I figured it would be a bit nippy here in Eire and I thought maybe it would behoove me to get some sort of outwear that didn&#8217;t once have a mother and a dream. I picked this up for a song from Lane Bryant and I just love it. I&#8217;ve never worn double-breasted before, but it looks great and is a fantastic spring coat. Word to the wise: apparently the buttons fall off easily. I reinforced mine before I left across the pond and haven&#8217;t had any problems at all.</p>
<p>Hating:  <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001GLGW0O/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&#038;tag=manolobig-20&#038;linkCode=as2&#038;camp=1789&#038;creative=9325&#038;creativeASIN=B001GLGW0O">Stupid Giraffe-print Bag</a> So when did this become attractive? Because this is not attractive. I&#8217;ve been seeing these things for YEARS and I just cannot TAKE it anymore. This is not a good bag! The original, which is Dooney and Bourke (and why would you even knock off Dooney and Bourke? That&#8217;s like knocking off Juicy Couture.) is bad but at least it&#8217;s potentially well-made. These are just AWFUL. So please. Stop buying them. They&#8217;re not hip, they&#8217;re not clever. They&#8217;re just dreadful. </p>
<p>Wanting: <a href="http://www.studsupfootballclub.com/Let-Em-Hang-Blue-p/ltmhng001.htm">Let &#8216;Em Hang soccer boot shirt from Studs Up Football Club</a> Oversharing time. I&#8217;m pretty good about being friends with my exes. One of my favorites played in Serie A for seven years and is an all around good egg. Obviously he was great looking (mama, as previously mentioned, does not do ugly)and we still see each other occasionally, but the only time I ever regret relegating him to the friend zone is when he walks around with his boots hung around his neck. Do I find the strung boots look hot because it is sexy on its own merit or is it a product of conditioning? The world may never know, but I do know this is a piece of class kit and it needs to go into Miss Plumcake&#8217;s personal collection with a quickness.</p>
<p>Buying: <a href="http://www.drugstore.com/revlon-nail-enamel-hushed-blush-120/qxp197472?fromsrch=revlon+hushed+blush">Revlon Hushed Blush nail color</a> Why do I always forget Revlon makes great nail colors? It&#8217;s been a million years since I&#8217;ve bought anything but OPI or Essie, but I picked up this understated blushed rosewood color when I couldn&#8217;t find my beloved Kreme de la Kremlin and have been twitterpated ever since. Is the product as good as OPI? No, not really, but the color&#8217;s great and there&#8217;s no reason a well-applied manicure with Hushed Blush won&#8217;t last you a week.</p>
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		<title>What Miss Plumcake is&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://manolobig.com/2011/03/15/what-miss-plumcake-is-18/</link>
		<comments>http://manolobig.com/2011/03/15/what-miss-plumcake-is-18/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 15 Mar 2011 14:45:14 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Miss Plumcake</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Books]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://manolobig.com/?p=6993</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Hello my little gangsters of love, how&#8217;s every little thing? I hope you all are recovered from yesterday&#8217;s Monday Hotness, because now it&#8217;s Tuesday and time to find out What Miss Plumcake is&#8230; Reading: Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair by Pablo Neruda &#8211; Dual Language Edition Do you want to know how [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Hello my little gangsters of love, how&#8217;s every little thing? I hope you all are recovered from yesterday&#8217;s Monday Hotness, because now it&#8217;s Tuesday and time to find out What Miss Plumcake is&#8230; </p>
<p><a href="http://manolobig.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/What-Miss-Plumcake-is-the-week-of-March-15-2011.jpg"><img src="http://manolobig.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/What-Miss-Plumcake-is-the-week-of-March-15-2011.jpg" alt="" title="What Miss Plumcake is the week of March 15 2011" width="500" height="500" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-6994" /></a></p>
<p><strong>Reading: </strong><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0143039962/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&#038;tag=manolobig-20&#038;linkCode=as2&#038;camp=1789&#038;creative=9325&#038;creativeASIN=0143039962">Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair by Pablo Neruda &#8211; Dual Language Edition</a> Do you want to know how good Pablo Neruda&#8217;s love poems are? They got me into a co&#8230;commi&#8230;.into one of those <em>things</em>, with the two people and the feelings and the listening instead of replaying Gareth Bale&#8217;s <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wH_plv1Ojh0">jaw-dropping hat trick </a>at the San Siro in your head until it&#8217;s your turn to talk again. That&#8217;s powerful mojo.</p>
<p><strong>Watching:</strong> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000A7LR82/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&#038;tag=manolobig-20&#038;linkCode=as2&#038;camp=1789&#038;creative=9325&#038;creativeASIN=B000A7LR82">Turtles Can Fly</a> I say watching because I can only get through about fifteen minutes at a time. The first movie filmed in Iraq after Hussein&#8217;s fall, it takes place on the eve of the American invasion and tells the story of 13 year-old Satellite and his young friends who clear minefields in a Kurdish refugee camp on the Turkish border. Equal parts <em>Les 400 Coups</em>, <em>The Great Escape</em> and <em>Waiting for Godot</em>, it&#8217;s not easy to watch but it&#8217;s as important a film that&#8217;s been made in the past decade.</p>
<p><strong>Hearing:</strong> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004DH7XW4/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&#038;tag=manolobig-20&#038;linkCode=as2&#038;camp=1789&#038;creative=9325&#038;creativeASIN=B004DH7XW4">Cultura Profetica &#8211; Diario</a>Hot hot babymakin&#8217; reggae en Español. Sure back in college I owned Bob Marley &#8220;Legend&#8221; and watched <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070155/">The Harder They Come</a> with a bunch of my trustafarian pals one night, but that&#8217;s about as far as I got. Until, of course, I get this dropped on me &#8211;in Spanish&#8211; by my&#8230;uh&#8230;person friend:</p>
<p><em>I would like to live in your legs<br />
Creeping up you like ivy<br />
Or sail the thousand leagues<br />
fixed at the helm of your hips<br />
</em></p>
<p>Yeah. </p>
<p><strong>Smelling:</strong> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000EQV5G8/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&#038;tag=manolobig-20&#038;linkCode=as2&#038;camp=1789&#038;creative=9325&#038;creativeASIN=B000EQV5G8">Serge Lutens &#8211; Ambre Sultan</a> Let us make a hypothetical situation. Let us say that once upon a time, and definitely not like, the first weekend in January or anything, there was a girl who had a special friend (and that was totally okay because it was before her person friend came in the picture)  and that special friend happened to be a scorchin&#8217; hot former professional soccer player from Casablanca. And let&#8217;s hypothetically say that one day this special friend invited the girl over to his house for a homemade Moroccan meal and to watch Casablanca in the traditional way, which apparently involves a several-hour massage with sweet almond oil and some mysterious green stuff he got at the souk followed by some premier grade necking, something just <em>highly</em> ill-advised involving mint tea and eventually breakfast. With me so far? All of that, without the mint (which seriously, I give points for creative enthusiasm, but that was just poor planning all around). That&#8217;s Ambre Sultan. Or so I&#8217;ve heard.</p>
<p><strong>Loving: </strong><a href="http://www.bbb.org/us/charity/">Better Business Bureau Charity Checker</a> (<a href="http://www.bbb.org/us/article/charities-providing-japan-earthquake-relief-26046">click here</a> for a list of BBB-approved organizations doing relief work in Japan). Chip in if you can.</p>
<p><strong>Hating:</strong> Everyone in town for SXSW. Listen, I get it. I love Austin too, that&#8217;s why I live here. But you and your girl jeans and your ironic facial hair can just go back to Cleveland now. Stand up straight, get that hair out of your eyes and get a soul-killing job like the rest of us! </p>
<p><strong>Wanting:</strong> Jeanne Moreau&#8217;s buffalo plaid cap from<em> Jules et Jim</em>. WHY? WHY is it so hard to find this thing? I just don&#8217;t understand.</p>
<p><strong>Buying:</strong> <a href="http://www.anrdoezrs.net/click-2523302-10458827?url=http%3A%2F%2Flink.mercent.com%2Fredirect.ashx%3Fmr%3AmerchantID%3DJLondon%26mr%3AtrackingCode%3D41081CB6-A698-DE11-97D7-0019B9C2BEFD%26mr%3AtargetUrl%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.avenue.com%2FProduct.aspx%253fPfId%253d121344%2526ProductTypeId%253d1%2526affiliate_location_id%253d01%2526affiliate_id%253d008&#038;cjsku=0323-75587" target="_top">Dream Curves Seamless Hi-Waist Bike Short</a> Man I love these things. Alluring? Not so much, but I like the way they smooth my stuff out without locking it down.  There&#8217;s nothing worse than shapewear that pancakes your butt or causes the Vesuvius of all muffin tops. Plus they don&#8217;t roll, by which I mean they roll a little but not so much they make me want to die and or kill.</p>
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		<title>What Miss Plumcake is&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://manolobig.com/2011/01/11/what-miss-plumcake-is-16/</link>
		<comments>http://manolobig.com/2011/01/11/what-miss-plumcake-is-16/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 11 Jan 2011 14:59:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Miss Plumcake</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Books]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cheap Thrills]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hermes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Makeup]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Movies]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://manolobig.com/?p=6685</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Reading: At the Back of the North Wind by George MacDonald Criminally under-appreciated, the Scottish fantasy author &#8211;arguably the first successful British fantasy author&#8211; influenced everyone from Mark Twain and J.R.R. Tolkein to C.S. Lewis, whose novel The Great Divorce features MacDonald as a character. Unfortunately, the man who served as Lewis Carroll&#8217;s mentor &#8211;fun [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong><a href="http://manolobig.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/What-Miss-Plumcake-is-Jan-11-11.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-6686" title="What Miss Plumcake is  Jan 11 11" src="http://manolobig.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/What-Miss-Plumcake-is-Jan-11-11.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="500" /></a></strong></p>
<p><strong>Reading: </strong><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0375413359?ie=UTF8&#038;tag=manolobig-20&#038;linkCode=as2&#038;camp=1789&#038;creative=9325&#038;creativeASIN=0375413359">At the Back of the North Wind by George MacDonald</a>  Criminally under-appreciated, the Scottish fantasy author &#8211;arguably the first successful British fantasy author&#8211; influenced everyone from Mark Twain and J.R.R. Tolkein to C.S. Lewis, whose novel <em>The Great Divorce</em> features MacDonald as a character. Unfortunately, the man who served as Lewis Carroll&#8217;s mentor &#8211;fun fact: it was MacDonald who suggested Carroll submit his little book about a girl named Alice for publication&#8211; is virtually ignored. I&#8217;d read Lilith ages ago and grew up with <em>Princess and the Goblin</em> and<em> Princess and the Curdie</em>, but I&#8217;d missed <em>At the Back of the North Wind</em> until just recently. It&#8217;s <em>Oliver Twist</em> meets <em>The Water-Babies</em>, and heartbreakingly beautiful. Don&#8217;t miss it.</p>
<p><strong>Watching:</strong> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002C6A6FY?ie=UTF8&#038;tag=manolobig-20&#038;linkCode=as2&#038;camp=1789&#038;creative=9325&#038;creativeASIN=B002C6A6FY">Casablanca</a> I still don&#8217;t know if Elsa got on the plane, but I sure had a fun time watching it.</p>
<p><strong>Hearing:</strong> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003TRYP48?ie=UTF8&#038;tag=manolobig-20&#038;linkCode=as2&#038;camp=1789&#038;creative=9325&#038;creativeASIN=B003TRYP48">Club Can&#8217;t Handle Me by Flo Rida feat. David Guetta</a> What? Like fat white Episcopalian girls can&#8217;t like Flo Rida now? It&#8217;s a killer track! Also I would kill for his watch. ALSO also, I totally think he draws in his beard. </p>
<p><strong>Smelling:</strong> <a href="http://www.barneys.com/Iris-39-100ml/00458607000013,default,pd.html">Iris 39 from Le Labo</a>  I went on a little jaunt to Dallas on Saturday and Sunday to do a little shopping, see Andre and visit my brother who I&#8217;m beginning to suspect does not own any clothes without illustrated rhinocerosesses on them. The familial visit didn&#8217;t happen, the Andre visit was a train wreck, albeit a very poignant, elegant Alphonse Daudet/Guy de Maupassant-style train wreck, but the shopping, the shopping was good. Unlike Austin, Dallas has a proper Barney&#8217;s and proper Barney&#8217;s have proper fragrance counters, including Serge Lutens, Frederic Malle and Le Labo. I&#8217;m wearing Le Labo Iris 39 today and if you like your unflaggingly elegant iris with a little bit of filthy filthy sex, Iris 39 might be worth a go.<br />
<span id="more-6685"></span><br />
<strong>Loving:</strong> <a href="http://www.hoteladolphus.com/#">Hotel Adolphus, Dallas</a> If one MUST do the Big D, the Adolphus is the way to go. Built in 1918, this beaux arts confection in downtown Dallas is (almost) everything you&#8217;d want from an upscale grand historic hotel, including delicious people watching.</p>
<p><strong>Hating:</strong> Snow. I am a person of faith and not, strictly speaking, afraid to die. It&#8217;s a good thing too, seeing as attempting to navigate your way through Dallas while 1.3 million of your closest friends turn driving in the snow into a full contact sport-<em>cum</em>-snowpocalypse freakout. Un.Pleasant.</p>
<p><strong>Wanting:</strong> <a href="http://usa.hermes.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?storeId=10202&amp;catalogId=10052&amp;langId=-1&amp;categoryId=102788&amp;leftCategoryId=102745&amp;topCategoryId=127526&amp;parentCategoryId=102744">Hermés Kelly Watch</a> Saw this at Barney&#8217;s and made little whimpering sounds in my soul. I don&#8217;t/can&#8217;t wear a watch and if I did/could I probably wouldn&#8217;t spend $3,000 on one, but I&#8217;ll leave my chimney flue open in case any magnanimous benefactor wants to shimmy down my chimney with one of these. </p>
<p><strong>Buying:</strong> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000VA83KI?ie=UTF8&#038;tag=manolobig-20&#038;linkCode=as2&#038;camp=1789&#038;creative=9325&#038;creativeASIN=B000VA83KI">Kreme de la Kremlin from OPI</a> I cannot get enough of this nail color from OPI&#8217;s Russian Collection. It&#8217;s exactly what I want to be wearing right now. A minky, pinky caramel with just a bit of gold underneath. I&#8217;m fixated on blonde mink/soft gold/tobacco brown at the moment and this is ringing my bell in a big way.</p>
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		<title>&#8216;Tis the Season for the Bollywood Hopeful</title>
		<link>http://manolobig.com/2010/12/22/tis-the-season-for-the-bollywood-hopeful/</link>
		<comments>http://manolobig.com/2010/12/22/tis-the-season-for-the-bollywood-hopeful/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 22 Dec 2010 12:00:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Miss Plumcake</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Accessories]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Makeup]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Movies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Perfume]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tis the Season]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://manolobig.com/?p=6211</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Bollywood/Hollywood - My favorite English-language Bollywood film. Not that Monsoon Wedding isn&#8217;t great, but I love the tongue-in-cheek portrayal of the traditional Indian family and the plucky &#8211;not helpless with a thin veneer of pluck&#8211; heroine. If Frank Capra directed modern-day bollyflicks, I think you&#8217;d get something like this. Guerlain Terracotta Kajal Intense Indian Kohl [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://manolobig.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Bollywood-Hopeful.jpg"><img src="http://manolobig.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Bollywood-Hopeful.jpg" alt="" title="Bollywood Hopeful" width="500" height="500" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-6572" /></a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BDGWGM?ie=UTF8&#038;tag=manolobig-20&#038;linkCode=as2&#038;camp=1789&#038;creative=9325&#038;creativeASIN=B000BDGWGM">Bollywood/Hollywood </a>- My favorite English-language Bollywood film. Not that Monsoon Wedding isn&#8217;t great, but I love the tongue-in-cheek portrayal of the traditional Indian family and the plucky &#8211;not helpless with a thin veneer of pluck&#8211; heroine. If Frank Capra directed modern-day bollyflicks, I think you&#8217;d get something like this.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001WF6PSI?ie=UTF8&#038;tag=manolobig-20&#038;linkCode=as2&#038;camp=1789&#038;creative=9325&#038;creativeASIN=B001WF6PSI">Guerlain Terracotta Kajal Intense Indian Kohl</a> &#8211; You can&#8217;t do South Asian Glam without kohl eyeliner and lots of it. Unfortunately, applying loose kohl powder is challenging to even the most seasoned paint-slinger. The application itself isn&#8217;t that hard, but controlling the fall down (the bits of powder left on your cheek) is messy business. Guerlain, whose kohl products are excellent, makes a cream kohl with the incredible intensity of a powder and it&#8217;s safe for use on the waterline.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001QV6VVY?ie=UTF8&#038;tag=manolobig-20&#038;linkCode=as2&#038;camp=1789&#038;creative=9325&#038;creativeASIN=B001QV6VVY"><br />
Sandalwood Amber Sheet Spray</a> &#8211; As a lover of perfume and all things fragrant it&#8217;s no wonder I&#8217;m drawn to Indian culture. Everything, from the food to the temples to the clothes to the bedroom, is heavily &#8211;often gloriously&#8211;  scented. Keep a sachet of cardamom pods in your pillows and spray your sheets with sandalwood and you&#8217;ll drift off to sleep (or whatever else you do in bed) like an Indian queen.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.jdoqocy.com/click-1577526-4048741?sid=Bollywood&#038;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.zappos.com%2Fkendra-scott-linden-earrings-red" target="_top">Linden Earrings from Kendra Scott </a>- More is always more. These earrings &#8211;glam but still wearable without looking costumey&#8211; are the most.</p>
<p> <strong>Be sure to check back at the main <a href="http://manolobig.com/2010/11/26/tis-the-season-3/">&#8216;Tis the Season</a> page to look back on profiles you&#8217;ve missed and look forward to ones that are soon to come!</strong></p>
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