All Things Fashionating by tracy mausser

A gift card to Lululemon is on the top of my Christmas list again this year. For the past three years – bi-yearly at my birthday and the Saviors' – I have asked for overpriced athletic wear. According to Wikipedia, Lululemon Athletica is a self-described, yoga-inspired athletic apparel company, which produces a clothing line that is distributed internationally. This definition is so sterile, but I can tell you that my personal experience with Lulu workout wear is anything but. The quality of my running and yoga clothes are top-notch and the positive and uplifting philosophy of the company is ü ber cool too. Our local shop offers yoga classes, workshops, organizes weekly runs; it is so much more than just a retail store. But, what got me hooked is Luon ® -- Lulu’s signature fabric. The 4-way stretch and pre-shrunk fabric, with a super-duper high Lycra count, holds everything in and makes you look like you’ve spent thousands of dollars getting sculpted with liposuction. Nothi

With only three days until Christmas, the question on everyone’s lips is, “What are you doing for the holidays?” I have some friends that are headed to the slopes for a white Christmas and some to paradise for a tropical Christmas, but we are headed to Disneyland for a Magic Kingdom Christmas. When I was growing up, my folks were divorced so I logged a lot of miles at Christmas. On Christmas Eve, my mom would always have our family on her side at our home for dinner and holiday cheer. Then, in the morning, my Nana would head over and we would open presents. By noon, I was dropped off – and as I got older would drive myself – to my Paternal grandparent’s house where I would open presents and eat dinner number one. Typically, my Dad would be at his parent’s house but, as I got older and my half-sister was born, they wanted to be at their own home for the holiday; Meaning I would jump in my car and head to their house either before or after Grandmom and Pops. Lastly, I would end m

Due to my love of running, I have logged almost 250 miles since the beginning of the summer. A majority of these stem from my half marathon training and the rest just to get my body moving. For the past six months, I think it is safe to say that I haven’t been a couch potato, but I haven’t really done any other exercise. So, you can imagine my surprise when I caught a glimpse of myself in the full-length mirror of my boudoir and saw that I now have a little pot belly. Visions of those malnourished  UNICEF kids popped into my mind and, the only difference, was that there were no flies buzzing around. Obviously, the world’s hunger crises is no laughing matter but that was honestly what I thought when I saw my reflection. Although I never go hungry, I haven’t really changed my eating habits so I was perplexed by what I saw.  A few days later, I was crouched over my keyboard at work – like an outsourced worker from New Delhi – and I realized that I have no core strength right now.

Hello family, friends, followers...er, uh, crickets. By now, I'm not really sure if anyone is still out there.  Unfortunately, I got bogged down with the holidays and posting to my blog fell way down on the list of my priorities.  The good news is that I should be able to climb back into the saddle again and begin posting with some sort of normal frequency. While I was gone, I attended a social media conference and was able to get some great feedback and ideas about how to improve All Things Fashionating.  So, during this time of reflection and optimism, I am hoping that ATF will start the new year off with a bang with plans to grow it even more in 2012. Please join me for another crazy ride into All Things Fashionating.

Ever since my time at Betsey Johnson, I have been dreaming of the day when an original Emilio Pucci print was mine.  Betsey did a collection of Pucci-inspired clothing when I worked in her New York boutique.  I loved the hip, bohemian feel of the mini-skirts, dresses, cat suits and cigarette pants.  It was so cool man, but it just wasn't the real deal. So you could imagine my surprise when I set out for my annual Christmas shopping at the outlets with one of my best gal pals Lynngweeny.  After a long day of successful shopping, we found ourselves at Saks Fifth Avenue Off Fifth in the 11th hour of our pilgrimage.  I hit the jackpot big there, but my biggest score was an original Emilio Pucci print scarf.  Conveniently, I bought one as a gift and one for myself. The colors of one scarf in particular were maroon, pink, black and gold which only lent oodles of compliment to the mod print.  It was just out of this world; It had to be mine.  And, without too much contemplation, it w