Happy Happy Holidays!

Spike is very suspicious of the 'my-bundt-cake-didn't-stick-to-the-pan' dance that I was just doing. I don't know if it was the hip swirling or the double time air karate chops or the combination of the two that made his brow furl; but he clearly doesn't get it. He's more than happy to eat his cake straight outta the pan; or let's be honest, week old burrito straight off of the side of the road.

Tomorrow is Chrimbus ! I'm sad to not be home with family this year, but we've got lots of fun things planned for tomorrow as well as the next week. My list includes but is not limited to:

Watch this web series 

Finish reading this book

Xeriscape our backyard with the Cash for Grass rebate we've been approved for.

Spend a few days hiking in Joshua Tree and then relaxing at this place

Bake and consume these

Into the Woods!!

Get my arts-ing and crafts-ing on with one of these DIY's.

last but not least:

Continue our New Years Day brunch-a-thon tradition. Current record? 6 hours. Can we beat that this year and remain standing? 

What are your plans for the Holidays?

Thank you all for reading this lil blog! Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and some hot and heavy french kissing.

XOXO~MR

Three Days

Only 3 days left to reserve our limited edition Spring/Summer pieces!

Don't forget that you also receive 20% off the MSRP while the presale lasts. All of these garments are handmade in Los Angeles in limited quantities so there are no guarantees that any of these items will be available after the presale ends. If you have your eye on an item now is the time!  

Why a presale? Real talk: Not all of the items in the collection will go into production (this is totally normal) and the ones that do will get shipped out to the people and boutiques who've placed orders. We're a small independent company. We don't have giant warehouses to store inventory so the presale gives us a better idea of what we need to manufacture.  Come Spring we will only carry inventory of the very very very best sellers. So like I said, If you have your eye on an item now is the time!  

Is this a gift?

I know that your pre-sale items won't land on your doorstep until well after your Christmas tree has been sent to the compost pile, but you can still reserve a Pre-sale item as a Christmas gift for a loved one! Just leave us a message during checkout and we'll send you a card with an image and a note about your item. That way you'll get to see a smile on Christmas day, as well as when their shipment arrives!

Won't you be glad when I stop going on and on about this whole presale business?

Eat. Drink and be Merry

Our Christmas party has come and gone and we didn't manage to take very many pictures. I guess we were too busy talking, eating, drinking and having fun. Thanks to everyone who came over!

 I did a lot of baking for the party because that's what I do, and I think my recipe selection was a success. A lot of people have asked for a few recipes so I've added most of them to the Christmas Party Pinterest board. There are a lot of delicious treats on there, but below are the top four favorites.

#1-The Salted Caramel Chocolate Torte is super rich so cut it in small slices and let it come to room temperature for maximum decadence.
 #2- Next up are Crushed Peas with a Smoky Sesame Dressing. Who would've thought a pea appetizer would be such a hit? I made a little extra dressing than the recipe called for because the last time I made it I felt it was a little dry.
#3- My personal favorite, Caramelized Onion Cauliflower Tart. I make this one a lot it's always a crowd pleaser. Somehow I managed to squirrel a piece away for Greg before it was devoured. This time I forgot to get parmesan cheese so I topped it with extra gruyere. I think I prefer the parmesan topping but no one else seemed to mind. Also- don't skimp on the truffle salt.
#4- Last but not least we have Beurre et Sel Jammers. These shortbread treats are a little time consuming and need to be made in stages but they are totally worth it. Make the crust and the crumble a day or two before you plan on baking and assembling them, and when the dough gets too soft to deal with, stick it back in the freezer for a few minutes so you can both chill out.

Let me know if there's any I missed that you were looking for. What are some of your favorite holiday treats?

Salted Caramel Chocolate Torte | Crushed Peas With Smoky Sesame Dressing | Caramelized Onion Cauliflower Tart | Beurre et Sel Jammers

Christmas Party Planning

Last night I dreamt that we threw a party and no one showed up. Liz wandered through and Julie and Laurent peeked their heads in, but it was so boring they made a quick exit. This year we're finally able to throw a Christmas party in our new home and I'm very excited [and apparently anxious?]. I love parties and I love throwing them even more. You don't have to worry about which one of you is going to be the designated driver and you can have all the costume changes you want! Everyone should throw more parties, just not on the same day as mine.

Most of my Christmas decorations are vintage pink and turquoise glass baubles passed down to me from my Great Aunts. They are some of my prized possessions. With that theme in mind, here's some of my party inspiration. You can find more ideas and recipes on my Christmas Party Pinterest Board.

EASY DECORATIONS // FESTIVE COOKIES // VINTAGE WREATHS // FUN PHOTO BOOTH // LIGHT IT UP

PS. We've extended our Black Friday sale. Check out the website for more details...

Black Friday/Cyber Monday Giveaway with Purchase

Happy Thanksgiving! We're not waiting for Cyber Monday to start our web sale promotion. As of Black Friday we are giving away these cute vintage inspired aprons with any $200 purchase while supplies last.  That goes for any combination of pre-sale items and in stock items. Aprons come in  assorted styles.

Happy shopping out there!

  www.wearmena.com

You can purchase an apron here!

I hope everyone has a happy and delicious Thanksgiving surrounded by family and friends.

Autumn in Ashland

Our road trip was jam packed with work, but we did manage to find a beautiful park in Ashland, Oregon to take a quick break and soak in the fall colors.

Here's the other side to that video:

I do love a good pun

Full of inspiration...

Living in the Tango Skirt

I'm the kind of person who digs up seeds in the garden to see if anything is happening yet. Dude, the package said they should only take 10 days to germinate. i feel justified.

I can be impatient at times, that's why I struggled through yoga this morning. It was a teacher I don't usually take. He's really into holding poses for what feels like decades. That's not my kind of yoga. I'm more of a flow type of person. I need to Keep. It. Moving. When you're holding a pose forever you have too much time to think.

time to think about how painful this pose is.... time to think about what you have to do when you get home.... time to wonder how much time is left in this class and why don't they have a clock in here?...

Live in the moment. Thats what you're supposed to do, but it's hard when this moment sucks so much that your thighs are quivering. I promise to live in the moment in the next moment when we move out of this position.

I feel like I was living in the moment for that video. This skirt has been one of our best sellers. For those of you who have ordered it through our pre-sale to take advantage of the discount, it should arrive on your doorsteps the beginning of April. If Spring hasn't made its way to you by the time the skirt has, you can always wear it with boots and a chunky sweater. You can live in the moment without freezing your arse off.

skirt 20% off! - WearMena // cozy sweater - here or here // boots - here 

WearMena in the Emerald City

Flyaway Tank available for Pre-Sale from now until December 1st!

Greg and I are currently on a 10 day roadtrip from LA and we've made it up to Seattle! It's really cold here you guys but there's not a rain cloud in sight so we're not complaining [too much]. Well, Greg's not complaining anyways. 

Even though it's freezing in Seattle, we've got Summer on our minds. Thats how we work, always 5 months ahead. Mid-Summer I'll be up to my eyeballs in sweaters and trench coats.

Anyways,  I'm really happy to announce that WearMena will be available in Seattle at The briK this Spring! The briK is a really lovely boutique in Magnolia Village. If you're in Seattle you should check it out! They'll be carrying the flyaway tank pictured above, as well as a few other stunners.

As an alumni of The Art Institute of Seattle I'm especially thrilled to have WearMena available in Seattle!

For those of you who won't find yourself in Seattle in the Spring you still have a chance to reserve this cute tank on our website during our SS15 pre-sale, at 20% off! Can't guarantee it will be available after that. 

Have a great weekend! What's on your agenda for this weekend?

P.S.~Don't forget to follow us on instagram!

WearMena Launch

http://www.wearmena.com/

Our new and improved website is live, and for a limited time you can reserve your pieces from the Spring/Summer collection. In honor of our launch you will receive 20% off all pre-sale items from now until December 15th! Check out the website and tell us what you think!   http://www.wearmena.com/

XOXO-Misty

The Model and the Real Girl

Model: Cristy Ling / Photographer: Rick LaRocca / Hair and Makeup: Sarah Nelson / Dress: WearMena

That beauty in the pic above is Cristy Ling. Not only is she gorgeous and tall with enviable will power and a wonderful tan; but she's fun, intelligent and incredibly sweet. Some people just have it all. 

The gal in the pics below, wearing the exact same dress, is a short carb-aholic who loves to bake and is really proud of herself if she makes it to yoga twice once a week.  hi.  It's me.  We've met. 

We're wearing the Tango Dress. Cristy wore it to a photoshoot. I wore it to my friend's Belle Epoque themed wedding. This dress isn't turn of the Century per say.... but I had just finished it and I HAD to wear it. Wearing next years dress is a major perk of being the designer. Someone has to test them out. Talk about twirl factor. This dress was so fun on the dance floor!

So look, this dress is lovely. Let's avoid the "Who wore it better?" question that the TMZ portion of my brain immediately wants to navigate towards. Fashion should be fun and it should make us feel good about ourselves. It shouldn't make us compare and critique. That is a reminder to myself. The point is: The Tango dress is fantastic on the genetic anomaly we know and love as The Supermodel, and it's pretty great on The Ordinary Girl as well [if I do say so myself]. There's room for all of us in this fashion game. So maybe I don't want to stand next to Cristy while wearing the same dress, but we can still be friends. 

***Update-The new and improved website is live!

This dress as well as all the other pieces from the Spring/Summer 15 collection will be available for Pre-Sale on the website November 3rd-December 15th. 

How dapper does Greg look in tails by the way? Hubba Hubba.

It's a Pre-Sale!

Have you subscribed to the WearMena YouTube channel yet? Basically it's full of behind the scenes videos of us getting work done whilst being total dorks. It also seems to be chock full of dogs. I always used to think I was exclusively a cat person, but I guess there's room in my heart for both. Except little yippey rat dogs. Never will I ever understand that nonsense. Also, dogs don't vomit hairballs on your comforter. You know what I mean?

Anyway's that was a little behind the scenes video of our pre-sale shoot. You can reserve your WearMena pieces on our website starting November 3rd!

Thank you to:

Amy White: model/friend/neighbor/musician/dj/master gardener/ultimate bread baker
Rick LaRocca: photographer/friend/[former] neighbor/jake's dad/world-wide travel companion/tennis court nemesis

Spring~Summer Look Book

It's LA Fashion Week so I figured this would be the perfect opportunity to share the WearMena Spring/Summer 15 Look Book with you. I had so much fun creating this collection from my little Shedquarters; as I like to call it, in our backyard.  The look book was also completely shot at our house in Highland Park (east side shout out!) with a very fun and very hard working almost all girl crew. There was one boy. You know, heavy things and all... ;-)

The collection is very feminine, it's chock full of florals and it's super romantic. I believe that it's full of timeless pieces that you'll be able to wear for years to come.  

I'm very excited to announce that the entire collection will be available for Pre-Sale from November 3rd - December 15th. There will be some serious promotions and prizes so stay tuned!  

I hope you like it!

Thank you so much to the crew!

Photographer-Alys Kenny
Hair/Makeup- Sarah Nelson
Model- Raquel Santolaya
Assistant-Heidi Spring

The Way Life Should Be.

Summer is over. Maybe if we say that often enough it will make it so. All of us in California would appreciate some rain right about now. I can't even wrap my head around the idea of Pumpkin Spice Lattes when it's 95 degrees out. Speaking of, I just heard that there is a whopping zero percent of actual pumpkin in the Pumpkin Spice Latte. I don't know if that's true but if it is- Hooray Science! When all the bees die off, global warming kicks in to high gear and the once fertile San Joaquin Valley is a desert wasteland; we'll never have to miss out on the taste of freshly grown produce.  We'll be able to sprinkle it on our Corn Flakes because corn's not going anywhere. Now please do something useful with your time, scientists. You can start by making Kale taste better.

I'm wearing the Lu Flyaway Tank-~Spring/ Summer 2015 Collection~ available for Pre-Sale November 1st!

This summer I spent two heavenly weeks in Maine. The air smells like sea salt and pine trees. The coastline is raw and rugged and wild blueberries are everywhere. The Maine accent is sing-songy and peppered with delightful New England slang. Lobster boats dot the horizon and lobster rolls filled my tummy.

  I arrived there all frazzled and stressed; thinking about the work I was leaving behind and it only took about 30 minutes for all of that to be a distant memory. The state slogan is "The way life should be", and I heartily agree. Let's all move to Maine!

Just kidding. We love you California. Just get some weather already. There would be something very wrong with spending Christmas day in a bikini by the pool.