In It Together #7: Easy Tips to Cook A Great Meal When You Don't Have All the Desired Ingredients

Man, everyday life in quarantine is filled with an array of unexpected daily challenges that seem small, but add up quickly. The In It Together Series will make your day to day easier thanks to expert advice from female business owners in Seattle. As a personal stylist for women in Seattle, I’m fortunate to be a part of a community of bright, generous, resourceful women who have the power to improve our situations. Today’s post is from the Chef Owner of Miri’s Golden Gardens, Miri Plowman. This is sure to be a post you bookmark and come back to repeatedly. Enjoy!

First, I want to acknowledge that everyone is approaching this time in the kitchen differently. I think some find it a time to dive into cooking projects that maybe otherwise they would never dare to take on, others are looking at their kitchen with dread and overwhelm and for some, cooking is business as usual, just more of it.

For me personally, running a business and a restaurant means that my partner and I end up eating at odd hours, and not very consistently. I have enjoyed this time for reinstating important habits that have fallen to the wayside-like eating three square meals a day all at reasonable hours and mostly at the table. I’ve been really enjoying having a big delicious lunch followed by a smaller, more leftover-y or salad-y dinner.

All this to say, if I could offer one suggestion in this weird time, listen to what your body wants and needs! Try to relish in the slow down and savor mealtime if you can!

The other thing that typically dominates my home cooking style lately is to make do with the ingredients I have. The other day I was looking to make Prad Pri King. A Thai dish with red curry paste, green beans and a protein- typically pork or beef. I had maybe half the ingredients and zero interest in braving the grocery store. 😱

In lieu of the red curry paste I blended some chili pepper flakes, shallot (an onion would have also been fine), a squeeze of 1/2 a lime and some fish sauce. I added some chicken broth for some extra umami. It wasn’t perfect, but it also wasn’t bad. Learning to make do with the ingredients you have means wasting less and also saves time and energy. Over time, you will find that doing this will help you to be more creative in the kitchen. Recipes will only get you so far! I want to be clear this is far more helpful for cooking than it is for baking!

In It Together #6: What to Wear While You are in Quarantine

As a personal stylist for women, this is a very weird time. I want to provide my community with the support you need while also not pretending that we live in a vacuum. I’ve been laying low on clothing suggestions, but I’ve had SO many questions about what to wear now. As your resource for how to wear pieces that make you feel like your authentic self by embracing your personal style, I’m hearing from many folks that you need me now more than ever.

So, let’s solve this problem of what to wear each day, shall we? And, as always, thanks for letting me know what content you need right now.

By the way, today’s recommendations are all from Nordstrom. After all, shopping local right now is VERY important and Nordstrom is our hometown hero. The company’s HQ is here including thousands of incredible folks who have my life and likely yours much better over the last several years. So, let’s help make sure this company is with us on the other side. If you are shopping, start with local shops, brands and makers, if you can.

How to Choose Your Outfit of the Day During the COVID-19 Crisis

Must Know Now: In It Together #3

I’m deep into the, “In It Together” Series. I hope you are finding it useful and that it makes you feel better. Despite operating as if I’m in a remote cabin with my family, I find there are all sorts of things I want to make sure you know. So, here’s a post just for that. Enjoy and thanks VERY much for all the emails, messages, etc. They are delightful and are inspiring content for the blog. Mwah!

All The Things

In It Together #2: Do Your Mani Like a Pro with this DIY Tutorial

The next several weeks are devoted to making your days better. We’ll be solving problems, decreasing anxiety, making you look and feel better. It’s all happening here. And, it’s all happening thanks to the genius of local small businesses in the Poplin community. Welcome to another installment of, “In it Together.”

While I have lots of great qualities, doing an attractive mani or pedi is certainly not one of them. A few years ago, i discovered how much better I feel when someone else makes my nails look amazing. This is not because I enjoy the process so much. In fact, I often find myself anxious about my schedule when I’m getting my nails done. Nope, it’s because I can’t seem to make them look as beautiful as I’d like.

And, apparently, I’m not alone.

So, today’s IIT post is courtesy of my good friend who is also an incredible resource, Courean Napolitano, owner of Vixen Day Spa and Boutique in Magnolia. It’s a magical land where you can get spa services and pick up a hip and affordable vegan leather jacket before you leave. I’m a big fan.

Enjoy Courean’s tutorial on doing the perfect mani at home.

Friday’s post is all about how to dress for yourself (and your Zoom calls) from yours truly. On deck, how to rearrange your place from Amy May, set yourself up for professional success on your Zoom calls from Kore Kobourlis and much more. Thanks for being here and take very good care.

How to do a Mani Like a Pro

Buy 2nd Hand Pieces at Nordstrom. That's Right. Nordstrom.

As a personal stylist for women, it’s important that my recommendations align with my client’s values. Whether she is going for affordable options to keep her budget in check or she’s more interested in sustainability or Fair Trade, it’s all about honoring those values as best we can.

Over the past year or so, the requests for second hand pieces have sky rocketed. While we always catered to our the values of each client, now things are more explicit with sustainability modifications on every package. But things just got a whole lot easier.

Seattle Fav Nordstrom Offers Curated Second Hand Pieces

25 Hip Sustainable Brands and Retailers

As a personal stylist for women, I’m focused on ensuring that every woman’s clothing communicates her authentic personal style. That style is also reflective of her values. For some, those values mean supporting local designers. For others, that means putting more towards sending her kids to college and less on clothing. I find that most of my clients fall somewhere in between. They would love to purchase pieces from brands and makers that are paying attention to sustainability and fair wages, but they also need to stay budget conscious. Others are watching large and small retailers go out of business and are really just in search of somewhere new and interesting to find those treasured items. With so many questions on this topic, I decided to put together a blog post filled with new places to explore to find makers and retailers that align with your values. So, start thinking about your own priorities and take a look at the list. As always, please let me know what you think. Happy holidays!

25 Brands and Retailers for Sustainable Shopping

Get Poplin on Your Holiday Wish List

I don’t know about you, but I’m deep in holiday shopping. Whether you are putting together your own holiday wishlist or shopping for others, it’s time to give the gift of style. Here’s what you need to know to set you up!

5 Reasons to Give (or Get) Poplin Style This Holiday Season

Sustainability: How to Care for Your Jeans

As a personal stylist for women, I’m all about respecting each client’s values and helping her communicate those through her clothing. I got so deep into this values discussion that I did a workshop at Amazon last year to help employees learn to live their values when it comes to clothing. As it turns out, it’s not as difficult as it sounds. And, like everything, it doesn’t need to be perfect. Really, who needs more things to feel guilty about? No one, that’s who.

So, I’m kicking off a new series of posts on Sustainability. This will also be woven more intentionally into posts in the future. This does not mean that I’ll only focus on pieces that are made from sustainable fabrics or recycled water bottles, etc. Although, I’ll certainly share those with you, too! What is means is that it’s important to be of service to the Poplin community where YOU are. So, if you’d like to pre-cycle (buy less, buy previously worn pieces or maximize what you have), recycle (find new homes for your unwanted pieces in a way that makes the world a better place, or at least doesn’t make it worse) or make intentional purchases (fabric choice, makers, number of pieces, and so on), this series is for you.

We’re going to kick things off with some essential info for just about everyone: How to care for your jeans. Off we go!

How to Care for Your Jeans

Extending the life of your jeans saves you money and heartache.

Sustainability: Get Ready to Fall in Love With Renting Instead of Buying Your Clothes

When I was in high school, I lived for vintage shopping. My favorite place was Wasteland (either in Berkeley or San Francisco depending on the day). I took great pride in wearing things that no one else was wearing and wearing them in a way that was distinctly my own. As I got older, and made more money, I moved further and further from second hand shopping. Until one day, I didn’t do it at all.

And that’s how it has been for the last several years. Where once I would have loved to hit a thrift store, now I have a similar experience with new clothes at the Rack. But Gen Z is reminding us all of the impact our consumption has on the planet. That means that thrifting has become cool. But you may or may not be up for that. I rediscovered the gems you can find while thrifting earlier this summer at Buffalo Exchange in Ballard. In fact, 60-70% of the dresses and jumpsuits I wore on my travels all summer were from that excursion. And, they were free. After all, I could sell pieces and have some credit to work with.

One challenge with thrift shopping is the need to dig through the racks. If you aren’t someone who enjoys the hunt, this is a major time suck with very little reward. Often, there’s the struggle to find the proper size or a current piece. For most of my clients, the idea of having a few hours to kill while perusing a thrift store just seems insane.

Enter the rental market.

Before we begin, let me clarify. Rental subscription services give you the freedom to curate your own collection and pay a regular monthly fee to do so. I see these as very different from Stitch Fix and Trunk Club. Those are subscription services that have employees selecting pieces for you based on a quick survey to identify your style archetype.

Back to clothing rental.

The Best Ways to Rent Clothing and Rock Your Authentic Personal Style