Right Royal Tenenbaums

It was a right Royal (Tenenbaum) weekend that was so chocka full (for me) that I had a croaky voice by Halloween night. Which is just right for Margot, the mopey Tenenbaum daughter who had been secretly smoking for 20 years. Pic by Monica Marcone.

I had remembered to buy a black eyeliner for Margot's morose raccoon eyes and The Waiter's (aka Cy, six) "mushtache".  But other than that I had left everything to the last minute. I got the idea for The Royal Tenenbaums  - a 2001 movie about a kooky family of former child prodigies who re-unite when their estranged father announces he has a terminal illness - reading an intriguing blog called The Prippy Handbook. First pic from the movie, second from Harpers Bazaar shows the Ronsons as The Tenenbaums and then us.

As luck would have it, I found a violet Lacoste dress ($10) hanging outside a vintage store called Mercy. It had to be 70's  Lacoste dress and I am determined to wear it IRL (in real life) as blogalog persons would say. It's polyester status was confirmed when I washed it. Honestly, it took ten minutes for the water to seep through - the water just stayed on top of the dress - and wringing out took just one twist. You can be sure if there is a nuclear meltdown, this dress with survive along with ivy and cockroaches. Inside the store was a faux fur jacket which I also thought I might even wear also IRL.  I borrowed a huge "Gucci" bag (from Dubai) with black penny loafer type shoes from a friend and that was all needed. The spray tan is all wrong -  best to be pale - so I cheated a bit.

Kevin was trickier as Richie a former tennis prodigy in love with depressed Margot. I couldn't find his straight draggy-hair plus bearded-look anywhere. By the way, amazingly this bearded tennis player look is the hippest hottest thing in clothing campaigns here! 

I couldn't find it even at the Spirit store.  For all my friends in London and New Zealand the Spirit store is a revelation. Open a month before Halloween, it sells everything from a zombie baby eating a hand to fog machines, Freddy Krueger robots and kinky boots.  So I had to settle for a dirty blonde mullet which he could crush down a bit with a head band. Beautifully topped off with a beard from the kid's dress up box.

It was night of milestones. Suddenly in one year the kids have grown up. How did that happen? After eight years of chasing waddling ducks, princesses and superheroes all over parades and parties all over town for hours and days on end, rising the waves of sugar high followed by meltdown, this year was relatively quiet and civilised for the kids. (I on the other hand went out for five nights in a row...with maybe maybe one teeny bit of meltdown).

Only Friday school parade drew the tears and wobbly lip for poor Tallulah. At age nine she has firmly graduated from fairy pink to wanting to be an inanimate ohject like a book or a pumpkin. I found neither and of course if I had been a better mother I would have made the book costume. But I rather liked the jauntiness of this fox head. Tallulah has some major malfunctions with her fox head wobbling all over the place and she ending up tripping over in the parade.  So it was yet another trip to the Spirit store for a generic witch outfit.  Lesson learnt: never pick a costume without the child being there.  By the time I really get a handle on this Halloween stuff they'll be out of the house.

That afternoon, ever the stylist, Tallulah carefully placed her pumpkins and fall bits and bobs on our steps with the help of her bossable assistant, Cy.

That night was more charming than scary on the road where we go treat or treating.

On Sunday Trick Or Treat night Harley, 13, opted to stay home with friend Tommy to watch The Giants baseball team draw one step closer to the the World Series. (We called home during the night and his friend called out from the background. "Dude - great party!! When do you parents come home?" What dags those boys are). Meanwhile the streets seemed less busy than last year - was everyone home watching the game?  The loudest din was the sounds of TV from people's garages and calls of "They're down in 10 and out in the 67th inning with two down and three sideways..." Or that was what it sounded like to me, someone who doesn't know anything about baseball.

There were flashes of Jackson, 11, as a Giants fans running along the street with his friends. Jackson calling out "Safety first!"Ironic surely?

Kevin's mother was ill in hospital in Pennsylvania. So he had to head off to the airport, mullet wig and all. By 8pm I was ready to go home and Jackson and Cy meekly following behind exhausted and ready for bed.

The next morning no one put up a fight as I allowed them five pieces of candy, one for lunch every day and threw out the rest. I was quite sad and it was a bit spooky possums knowing that I had no little winkies anymore. Sort of. As they said on the promos for The Tenenbaums: Family isn't a word, it's a sentence. Sheer profundity which shurely means: "How 'bout those Giants?"

Berlinale: The Kids Are Alright

My official role here at the Berlin Film Festival is chaperone to Ngaa, the subject of my sister Pietra's documentary, Maori Boy Genius. This is pretty ironic, as Ngaa at 17 is more mature and sorted than I will ever be. The depths of my immaturity has been plumbed in the last couple of days. But What Evs, peeps. LOL. Smiley face icon.

The Berlin bear and me doing yoga, Pietra at right

Yes, I just had to yell out "Brad! Brad! Brad! Over Here!" when he and Angie arrived for the premiere of In The Land of Blood and Honey which Angie wrote, produced and directed (seriously girlfriend you need to get off the couch and do more...) And climb over the wall and round the fence yelling to the bodyguard: "Take a photo for me, please, please!" And press my nose to the window and yell at Brad again. Oh guys, you could be my friends, you just have to know me. 

Me and Brad! Brad! Brad!

Seated at the premiere I physically had to stop myself approaching Brad who was sitting just a couple of rows behind us, so there might have been a bit of fake stretching of arms with quick clicks of the camera in his direction, photos all blurry. Angie must have been feeling sorry for me as stood right by me to make her entrance. Hey girlfriend, I could reach out and touch you (but not in a creepy way...)

Hi!

You might also be noticing that I am wearing a huge faux fur coat. Panicked by reports of lowest temps in the history of Germany, just as I left the house I grabbed the coat I wore for Halloween when I was Margot from The Royal Tenenbaums. (coat in garage, bit musty but few spritzes of perfume and she was good to go). Not sure what look I was aiming for: arty farty unexpected? Not Fozzie Bear vacays in Florida which was suggested. How playful though!

Do you ever have Up In The Air envy of those who roll through airports cool and collected with perky hand luggage.  In an attempt to launch myself into that "handluggage only" elite I took only one small-ish bag. Overfilled. The fact is, associating with Fozzie Bear pushed me into circus territory and consequently my bagged was weighed. Sorry airline dude, my bad: 14lbs, not 6lbs as I might have just told you.

Needless to say, the stares and smirks continued all through customs and on the streets of Berlin.

Ngaa, Pietra and me trying on Russian hats

Last night was the world premiere of Maori Boy Genius which is competing in the Generation section, for films about children and young people. The 1000-seat theatre was sold out and many of the audience cried at Ngaa's story. (More on that on Friday) The competition is judged by children and this week Pietra and Ngaa will know they've done well if the kids in the audience stamp their feet loudly at the end. Don't you just love it when the right people are in charge?

Three Last-Minute (!) Halloween Costumes

Young Wendy reckons she "sucks at Halloween." Well, if she has one pumpkin on her porch that's 100 percent more decorating than I've done this year for Halloween - or as Cy calls it "The birth of the Candy Gods." Today I did take some snaps of three genius-easy costumes ideas while Tallulah was shopping at her favorite second hand store Crossroads. Just in case you need a last minute costume...

All you need for this one is to cut out a paper beard and stick on a slip.

Hipster Waldo Just Wants to Find Himself. 

Wanda, The SouthWest Witch. (Just wear black with a touch of Santa Fe)

Some others we've have done in past years, though not all for Halloween.

Viking Kevin - look behind you!

Me (right) having cocktails with Viking grrrlfriends

Sarah, Lesley and Sally doing Seventies, baby. I know who to come to for white boots

Me and Kevin being the Green Day guys, Billie Jo and Tre Cool. They used to live around the corner - wonder if this costume had anything to do with them moving away?

Back of Green Day

Andrew and Caryn doing Avatar

Vicki and Michael - The Hangover

Me and Kevin being Wacky Races. Teddy is McMutley. I'm not going to win any Oscars with my scared face - put some effort into it girl!

Tallulah and friend Ariana are Cookie Monsters. Cy is a baseball fan

12 years ago! before our re-model, Me and Kevin, two faces of Boy George: Doing Probation and Eighties George

Me and Kevin were Royal Tenenbaums

Seb and Laura being Shy Ronnie and Bonnie (Sat Night Live)

More characters from Sat Night Live including The Wild and Crazy Guys!

SNL characters: Dick in a Box, Two Pats and Roseanna Roseanneadana

More SNL: Mary Katherine Gallagher and Martha Stewart's Topless Christmas

Phew, this is only a tenth of our costume photos. Hope you have a spooky day possums! Much love my boos.

Winter Beige

This week I popped around the corner to buy new beige frock from my friend Lesley. I knew we were going skiing this weekend so Jonesing to wear it somewhere, anywhere. Then a phone call from another friend - free tickets to the Tony award-winning musical Next To Normal at the Curran Theatre. Perfect!

First I tried out the classic look with my nude heels and pearls.

The nude-heels-pearls are the easy option and - let's face it- go with anything. But the real skill is in creating the unexpected and this is where I get stuck. Plus, let face it, I'm 49 in March. This stucky-ness means a new frock, jacket or trou(sers) sends me into a bit of tailspin. When that happens, you call your support group - for me it's the La Stylee Council - that group of friends who know naturally what works.

Then there is that untapped resource living right with you - your kids! Their response is pure instinct, and unlike adults, they don't second guess or intellectualise. My kids also know they will end up taking my blog pictures - am I torturing them? - so best to get it right beforehand. To Jackson, 11: This belt? this one? this one? No, no no. Often kids can't express why that purse doesn't go with that jacket, it's just "nope". Jackson taking these pics "Mum, that's a Micheal Jordan dunking face. " Jackson has to go to tennis practise, so Cy, seven, takes over the camera: "Mum, you kind of look like Strega Nona in that one."

But while I may not have the props to create an ensemble as complex or intriguing as I would like, I did discover that even small changes make a difference; a colourful bag, swingy earings.

Sling-backs and bare legs are fine for the theatre but I was worried about the cold. The weather here in the Bay Area - for my overseas readers this means San Fransisco, Berkeley, Oakland and beyond -  lately has been subject to naughty poltergeists moving temps from tropical to arctic in just one day. Everywhere you go people are in down jackets or flip flops as though two planeloads of holiday-makers took off - one for Alaska and one for Bermuda - and had to make an emergency landing in the Bay Area. I wanted to ensure I was toasty, so started with my greige boots. Plus, is there a better place to give my vintage faux fur coat (which I wore as Halloween Margot from The Royal Tenenbaums) a wee outing?

You might notice my mascara was a bit drippy, friend Sandy and I wept the whole way through this very emotional musical, about a bi-polar mother who had lost her baby son. Wait - this was a musical? Yes...

And finally, for a more casual look I simply added my old purple and green feather Lulu Guinness suede bag.  Think maybe this outfit needs an extra repetition of the blue or green with a fabulicious ring or necklace. Or extra easy with a denim jacket and canvas belt...

What else would you add to these outfits? How would you wear this beige frock? I would love to hear from you!  

Modern Family Holiday

Fond readers it was a tranquil Thanksgiving. There was quality time spent with and - as importantly? - away from family. There were many reasons to be thankful; a stress-free day with friends and our kids and a meal cooked by Mike of Kenny'n'Mike. And the next morning saw Kevin and I blatting off over the bridge to San Francisco for a kids-free mini break.

At Kenny'nMikes' house in the Oakland hills we were joined by their neighbours Clyde and Scott so we were a small-ish and happy group. The heavens blazed, the wine glug alugged and the turkey browned... See how lyrical you get when you're not the cook? Red sky pic by Mike.

First, how embarrassing that I am a week and half late for this post. More slug-alot than blogger and my only excuse is I am utterly exhausted by too much enjoyment of life. Again with the princely problems and I have promised myself not to drink and eat (well, not constantly)...until next Saturday.

For my Kiwi and UK friends who have not experienced the phenom that is Thanksgiving, it is a day for family and friends sitting around a table of plenty and brown and orange everything, recounting good times and precious moments. That is the advertised holiday anyway. It honors a time when the pilgrims invited the Native American Indians for a three day food fest. This cannot of course have eased the pain of the scenario a century previous when the early settlers bought the island of Manhattan for $24 worth of beads and blankets from the Native American Indians.

Peace and gratitude with gravy is is not as common as you would think. One of the my friends describes her Thanksgiving Day with the relatives as Little Miss Sunshine meets The Royal Tenenbaums meets Deliverance with all the main characters heatedly debating health care reform.

Here we are leaving home and I thought I would experiment with the coloured tights trends with my bow dress. In retrospect, I should have worn a purplelicous ring or bright necklace or cardigan - what do you think? Tallulah looked just right in her new Holiday dress which will be perfect when we travel to New Zealand summer for New Years'. Why is fashion so effortless for little kids? I guess they don't overthink things.

Mike made  Daniel Boulud chestnut celery and apple soup followed by a perfect traditional turkey, mashed spud, gravy and green beans, which is hands down my favourite meal in the world.  I don't usually like creamy soups but this recipe included just a half cup of cream and was sublime. The only problem is you can't drink too much of it  - you'll spoil your dinner. Mike forwarded me the recipes below. Good news: I have persuaded Mike to write a column for AboutLastWeekend every two weeks, reviewing restaurants and the meals he cooks at home. I'll let you know about his first guest appearance.

The kids then pulled out Twister and however contorted their limbs got, the sight was not as surprising as when I snapped them later, watching Harry Potter looking relaxed and - dare I say it - friendly. Bottom photo not posed by models.

While the kids were watching Harry Potter downstairs and out of earshot, the adult conversation somehow drifted to the machinations of the new dating apps on I-Phone. One of apps in particular is practical rather than romantic, a Mapquest-type guide showing the closest "available" person to you. Kevin expressed disbelief about the authenticity of the photos being posted - that guy is really 500 yards away?! Maybe the guy pictured in the Men's Health magazine on his living room floor...

Anyway, yikes: don't ever send me out there again! Mind you it's not as if my Wellington University (NZ) dating experiences were that Jane Austen either. A raised eyebrow over a beer resulting in being "shouted" (treated) a second beer... There was no being asked out or anyone requesting to fill my embossed gold dancing card. But maybe that's just me.

The next day there was more giving of thanks as Kevin and I loaded our stained bags (Tallulah calls them "rolly trollies") into our battered Dodge Caravan and waved farewell to the kids. I rested my boots on the dash and we were off for our mini-break in San Francisco.

Tell me about your holidays...

Mike's Thanksgiving Dinner:

The soup recipe is from Daniel Boulud’s cookbook Café Boulud.   Boulud is a famous chef from NYC.  His flagship restaurant is Daniel – one of the best rated restaurants in Manhattan.  Café Boulud is his more casual restaurant.  Here is the recipe for the Chestnut, Celery Root and Apple Soup.

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, peeled, trimmed and thinly sliced

1 medium leek, white part only, trimmed, thinly sliced, washed and dried

2 McIntosh apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1/2-inch cubes

10 ounces celery root, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1 bay leaf

1 sprig thyme

Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

Salt and freshly ground white pepper

3/4 pound peeled fresh chestnuts from 1 1/4 pounds chestnuts in shells, or 3/4 pound dry-packed bottled or vacuum-sealed peeled fresh chestnuts

2 quarts homemade unsalted chicken stock or storebought low-sodium chicken broth

1/2 cup heavy cream

1) Heat the oil in a stockpot or large casserole over medium heat. Add the onion, leek, apples, celery root, bay leaf, thyme, nutmeg, salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes, or until the onions and leeks are soft but not colored. Add the chestnuts and chicken stock and bring to the boil. Lower the heat to a simmer and cook, skimming the surface regularly, 35 to 40 minutes, or until the chestnuts can be mashed easily with a fork. Add the heavy cream and simmer 5 to 10 minutes more, then discard the bay leaf and thyme.

2) Purée the soup until smooth using a blender, food processor or hand-held immersion blender, then pass it through a fine-mesh strainer. At this point, you should have about 2 quarts of soup. If you have more, or if you think the soup is too thin - the soup should have the consistency of a veloute or light cream soup - simmer it over medium heat until thickened. Taste and, if necessary, adjust the seasoning. (The soup can be cooled completely and stored in a covered jar in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days or frozen for up to a month. Bring the soup back to a boil before serving.)

To serve: Reheat the soup, if necessary - the soup really needs to be hot - and ladle it into warm bowls

The other parts of the recipe – the turkey is really simply roasted.  Seasoned with salt, pepper and lemon.  Butter is rubbed on the outside as well as placed under the skin.  Roast at 425 degrees for first half hour, then reduce heat to 325 degrees – baste every 20 minutes.

For the turkey gravy, I start by roasting turkey wings and thighs in the oven with onions, carrot and celery for an hour or so.  Then all of that is added to pot of water and cooked for 4 hours.  This makes a nice brown stock.  Then I reduce it, add white wine, salt, pepper and a roux to thicken.  Add drippings from the roasting pan (with grease skimmed off). 

Other stuff:  1)  Cornbread, apple and sausage stuffing; 2) Mashed Potatoes with Cream Cheese and Chives; 3) Haricot Verts with Ginger Butter; and 4) Creamed Fresh Corn.