12. Chic At Any Age (Featuring My Mom!)
In this week's longer episode, Merritt shares a recap from her Thanksgiving at the ranch, including a review of two audiobooks she listened to, the game she discovered, and her not-so-hot take on the James Bond movie franchise. For the main topic in this week's episode, Merritt talks through her style evolution (it wasn't what you'd expect from a fashion blogger), shares her shopping method and how she has created a balanced, classic wardrobe, and how she decides whether to keep or return an item! There's also a special guest at the end of the episode you won't want to miss... spoiler alert: it's her mom! They chat about her mom's personal and interior design style, what they thought about the catering they had on Thanksgiving and more!
Follow along @beckandcallpodcast on Instagram for a visual guide to this episode, and visit beckandcallpodcast.com for more information on this podcast and to listen to episodes. For more fashion content, follow Merritt on Instagram @merrittbeck, as well as her shopping account @tssedited.
Have a question for Merritt or need some advice from a non-expert? Call into the Beck and Call hotline at 214-620-0473 to ask Merritt anything. She answers two listener voicemails at the end of every episode!
EPISODE AUDIO TRANSCRIPTION
Hey guys, welcome back to the beck and call podcast. I'm your host Merritt Beck. I am a fashion and lifestyle blogger. And on this podcast I'm talking about all things life work and love as a single woman in my 30s I hope you guys had an amazing Thanksgiving weekend I am on my second cup of coffee this morning I woke up at 5am to get started on Cyber Monday stuff. So because I'm a blogger, you know, I'm always sharing links for new sales and deals and things this week is huge for us. So I had a Black Friday sale post on Friday, and I've been sharing some sale things throughout the weekend. But today is the biggest day and you don't know some of the sales until the day of so I wanted to wake up early and get that blog post finish get the newsletter scheduled. And so I woke up at five and I did that I worked on it for about two hours before you know actually starting my day and taking Reese's for a walk and working out and getting ready. And now we're here. I'm recording on Cyber Monday. But as you guys know these episodes air on Tuesdays. So while some of the sales might be over, I would bet several including the Shopbop sale not a forte matches fashion, perhaps even the Nordstrom sale would still be going on and I have shared a roundup of sales on the blog. And I've also been sharing roundups on like to know it and on my Instagram stories on both TSS edited and at Merritt Beck on Instagram. So check those out. If you are looking for a deal if you are trying to save on some of the holiday gifts that you're buying this year. Follow me on those accounts. Alright, let's get into some personal updates. So last week, I spoke too soon after my booster shot. I told you guys last week that I had my Pfizer booster on Sunday. And Monday morning, I was feeling great. I had no symptoms, no side effects. Well, by the end of the day on Monday, I started having this very painful, tender sensation in the area between my armpit and my boob. And at first I was sort of like I wonder if I pulled a muscle this morning during my workout. But usually when you pull a muscle you feel that right away. And I mean, it could have been any anything. The next day, it got so much worse. It was so sore to the touch and just I just felt so achy in that area that I kind of started to panic. And so I wanted to get it looked at before heading home for Thanksgiving or heading to the ranch just because I knew that I would be stressed about it thinking about it the whole time if I didn't, you know get it checked out. So I called my gynecologist and she was able to fit me in at 1045 on Wednesday, and I went in and she checked me out and told me and actually a friend had told me the night before I went to dinner and she'd said she'd had the same thing after her booster and that it's probably totally normal but obviously still get it checked out if you're concerned about it and so I went to Dr Wednesday and she also confirmed that and said that a common side effect for women getting the booster is actually getting swollen and tender in the lymph nodes closest to where you got the booster so in your arm and I had never heard of that. But of course several days after my mom actually saw an article that CNN had shared it's it's pretty widespread. It's pretty common of a symptom to get post booster but I did not know that and so I'm glad I got it checked out. She The doctor told me that if I was still experiencing any pain or discomfort with it after a week to call her back and we'd get imaging but honestly within the day of the doctor's appointment I felt totally fine with that said that night on Wednesday night I woke up in the middle of the night with a sore throat and I noticed my lymph nodes in my neck were swollen and tender like it had moved along through my body adjust to the next lymph nodes. And so I didn't feel that great on Thanksgiving I had sort of a sore throat that eventually went away within like 48 hours but definitely experienced some lymph node side effects and it makes sense if you're familiar with what lymph nodes do they filter your lymphatic fluids that come throughout your body so like when you are trying to fight an infection that's what the lymph nodes do they try and filter that out so it really makes sense. I just honestly had not seen or read anything about it until I'd experienced it myself. And you know my friend told me about it after I brought it up with her that it was a concern of mine so just wanted to give you guys a heads up if you are getting your booster shot, which I think everybody should definitely just know in advance that you might have some discomfort in your lymph nodes in addition to the Other symptoms they've said might happen. I just thought I'd share that. Now for a little Thanksgiving recap. So as you guys know, I headed after the doctor's appointment down to the ranch on Wednesday and stayed through Sunday morning. And it was the best weekend. I honestly only wore makeup and real clothes on Thanksgiving Day. And then the rest of the time I practically didn't shower. I was in workout clothes, no makeup didn't do my hair. It was such a nice break. And also it was kind of rainy and cold the entire time I was there. And so aside from a couple of long walks with Reese's, we also took a ride around the property just for fun. Most of the time was spent watching football sitting by the fire doing puzzles. We also played Mexican train, which is the dominoes game I've never played. And now I'm obsessed with it. It took us a little while to figure it out. It's a little complicated, kind of like Mahjong takes a minute to really get it going. But once you start playing, it's kind of addictive. Last night, I even ordered my own set on Amazon and it's supposed to arrive today. But I'm definitely going to be putting that to good use. The Wi Fi was pretty bad at the ranch. And so I ended up not getting as much work done as I thought I would which honestly was a blessing in disguise. Usually, as I've mentioned Black Friday, Cyber Monday, cyber week is a really big week for bloggers, influencers to share a bunch of content. And I had planned to and I got some work done Friday morning and Saturday morning. But because the Wi Fi was so slow, I sort of gave up after a couple of hours, I shared what I could, but then I just sort of was getting frustrated, not being able to get the links or have pages load that kind of thing. So it kind of forced me not to work which I probably needed. With that said I definitely did some shopping myself. I've ordered a few gifts so far. I plan to shop a little bit more today. Now that it's Cyber Monday, but I did a little shopping on Friday and again when I got home to Dallas on Sunday once I had better Wi Fi because I wanted to get some new stuff ahead of my New York trip later this week. I realized a few weeks ago when I was shooting content for the holiday winter capsule wardrobe that some of my coats are a little tighter than they normally are. And obviously I want to be able to wear sweaters under coats comfortably in New York since it's always so cold there this time of year. So I definitely ordered a few new coats to try I ordered some sweaters from the Netta portait sail and from J Crew and I ordered some sweaters and dresses from Shopbop. I'm planning to probably return a lot of it. This is just how it goes. I order a lot and only like a handful of items work in the end. But we'll see I always love a good deal I love to shop and this is a great time to do it if you're wanting to save on stuff so why not? Plus, I'll be shooting content with a photographer while I'm in New York obviously want to take advantage of the gorgeous backdrops. It's one of my favorite places to shoot content. So I wanted to have some new stuff for that as well. I will say I kind of forgot about the shipping issues and several of the sales like Netta forte is notoriously slow during the sale to ship things out. And that's not even including the current problem of COVID-19 shipping delays and supply chain issues. So fingers crossed at least some of this stuff arrives before my drip. Otherwise I may have to hop by Northpark before I leave anyway back to the ranch because of all the driving both there and back and then a few long walks with Reese's on the ranch. I listened to a lot of audiobooks. I actually finished two audio books and started a third one on the way back. The first book I finished is called the wife upstairs by Rachel Hawkins and this is a wreck I got from Ashley Heseltine of girls got to eat. It's a thriller, which is like my favorite book genre. And it's about a woman basically trying to infiltrate this wealthy gated community in Birmingham, Alabama. So really Southern, obviously with the audio book there were accents didn't bother me though, but she's trying to infiltrate this wealthy gated community and lifestyle by getting romantically involved with a recently widowed man. But she discovered she might be getting more than she bargained for when his story of how his wife died, doesn't line up and she hears stuff around, you know, the neighborhood and just gets curious. And anyway, it's it's got a great twist. I was entertained the whole time. I thought the narrator for the book was great, and it was a little predictable, but I still found it very enjoyable and an easy listen. The second audiobook I listened to was good night beautiful by Amy Malloy. And this one, I think I saw my friend grace, who is a blogger Grace Atwood, but she also does bad on paper podcast and they do a lot of book reviews. So I trust her views and she shared this one and I do think I did enjoy it. But I think I might have preferred it more if I'd read it versus listen to it because one of the narrators really bugged me. I will say This one was a little confusing and hard to follow. And the twist sort of feels like out of left field like the author kind of pulled it out of her ass. It's still very entertaining and a page turner, if you will, even though I listened to it, but I will say, definitely read it over listen to it. So anyway, it's a thriller about a psychologist who goes missing after moving to a small town to start up a private practice in the bottom level of this old home. And there are three kind of main characters. So there are three different narrators and there's one narrator that annoyed me and it made for the complete confusing plotline. But anyway, I thought it was good. I just think again, read it, don't listen to it. And then the third book I started on the drive home is called it ends with us and it's by Colleen Hoover, who also wrote Verity, which is one of my absolute favorite books, I highly recommend it. It is aggressively scary and kind of dark and twisted, but it's so good. If you're into thrillers, definitely check out Verity, by Colleen Hoover, it ends with us is very different, at least so far, it's more romantic feeling than scary, like Verity was and it started a little slow. But after about 30 minutes, I was pretty much into the story and wanted to see where it went. So I'm only about chapter 10 Right now, and I'll give a full review when I finish it. But it's good so far. And because of the Wi Fi problems at the ranch. I didn't stream that much on my computer. There's no there was no TV in my room, and the casita and so I just like listened to audio books at night, right before I went to bed and in the house, we most mostly watched football, we did watch the new double oh seven movie, no time to die, which to be honest, I've seen a couple of movies from the James Bond franchise, but I've never been super into them. I mean, they're good. This one I really liked though. And now I'm sort of tempted to go back and watch them all. This storyline was great. There's sort of a biological warfare fair element, the special effects and action scenes like all the kart races are great. I just I loved the storyline. There's romance, there's action. That's great. I really did enjoy it. And I know this is not a hot take the most people like James Bond, but this was sort of the first time I really got into it and enjoyed it. So I may watch more of them, but just wanted to tell you all to go watch it. You can rent it on Amazon Prime right now. So aside from football, and the James Bond movie didn't watch a whole lot at the ranch. But when I got back on Sunday, on Sunday night, I watched the Brittany Murphy Docu series on HBO Max, I loved her especially in just married obviously clueless was a classic Girl Interrupted is one of my all time favorite movies. I know, dark and twisty. But she was wonderful. And I you know, tragic demise when she was 32 that that reminder is sort of frightening, considering I'm 34. It's just hard to imagine, but the Docu series was a little strange. I thought I thought it was sort of random. The people they chose to feature and interview it was a lot of people from you know, her past and maybe not that involved with her in the last few years. And they sort of explained why later, it was clear her husband was like such a controlling figure in her life. It sounds like he was really running the show, especially at the end and he even was fully in charge of her career. At the end. He played her makeup artist, manager, lawyer, agent, all of that stuff, and was probably responsible for the demise of her career. He sounds like such a predator. And I mean, as you probably know, he died about five months after her. Anyway, he was so creepy, especially the interactions between him and his mother in law. So creepy. They slept in the same bed after she died. He called her baby on was it Larry King, whatever interview it was that whole Docu series creeped me out. And the other thing that sort of bothered me about it was they kept featuring clips from old movies that are movies that she was in like, obviously to add drama and intrigue. Like I'll never tell that don't say a word that movie she was in. There was one thing in a they were sort of ending the first episode of the Docu series with her saying, oh, never tell like multiple times and showing different shots of her. I don't know there were just kind of cringe worthy parts about it just trying to play up the drama, I guess. But I did learn some new information. I thought it was definitely eye opening. I guess I wasn't fully paying attention when she was live and married to this guy. I didn't know much about their relationship or maybe I've just forgotten over the years. I mean, it's been 10 years over 10 years, but I mean definitely watch it if you were ever a fan of her. I think it was a definitely shared a lot of interesting details like Oh, also I thought it kind of makes me it made me mad at Adam Kutcher. That other interview he did where I wasn't Larry King or Howard Stern again, don't quote me on this. But basically, they're just like talking shit about her and talk to you about, like the interviewer was saying, I mean, you might need to get an STD test or whatever after dating her. I mean, they were talking such shit about her on the air. And it's like, this is how it was back then just sort of like the Britney stuff, how they she was constantly targeted Britney Spears targeted in the press. The same was for Brittany Murphy like the second she started to waver a little bit. They were taking her down. And it's just depressing to look at. And it's like, I wonder if these people feel remorse for that for talking so badly about somebody who's clearly struggling. So anyway, that was all kind of sad and hard to watch. But I do think it's worth watching even with some of the cringy stuff. I mean, again, Simon Monjack. Obviously, I thought he was sort of a villain here he might not have been, but from outside appearances. That's what it looked like to me.
Alright, guys, for this week, I thought we would talk about style. So fashion isn't something you often hear on podcast, mostly because it just doesn't translate very well, when it's audio only fashion is about visual stuff. But since I'm a fashion blogger, and that's what I do every day, a lot of the questions I receive, both for my newsletter or on Instagram stories, and even now on this podcast are focused on fashion and style. So when I first launched the podcast, I did a little crowdsourcing on Instagram for the topics you guys would want me to cover. And a lot of you said, how to develop and define your style. I got requests to share how I find the pieces that I buy, and then share how to identify quality items, timeless pieces. And then of course, knowing which trends to actually buy into. There are obviously a lot of subcategories under the fashion and personal style umbrella. But today, I thought we could chat about the basics. And then I also have a special guest later on in the episode who I'm going to chat about some of these topics with so definitely don't miss that. Spoiler alert. It's my mom. But I'm so excited to have her on. So stay tuned for that. But let's talk a little bit about my style first cell my style has evolved a lot over the years, I'll be the first to tell you that I did not care about fashion when I was younger. Like in high school girls by age were crashing on the multicolored Louis Vuitton logo bags or the Dooney and Bourke less expensive alternative. I was wearing Converse sneakers and was very anti whatever the popular girls were into. And I know this probably sounds super cool, as Nikki Glaser would say, and I don't, I don't really have an explanation other than maybe because I was bullied by the popular girls at my previous school and elementary and middle school. I just didn't want to participate in any of that. And I just thought I was cool by doing the whole skater thing in high school. But whatever it was, I didn't really care about fashion until I got to college and my sister was way more into it than I was in high school. Everything changed for me in college and I think that may just have been my environment either because Dallas has way more shopping in store options than Austin but also SMU was way more like pearls and pop collars. There was like a status thing in terms of how you looked and how you dressed and shopping and all of that. And while I definitely wasn't wearing this skater leaning clothes I wore in high school anymore, pearls and cotton candy polos weren't my style either. So when reviewing my photo albums on Facebook, which are all private now by the way too many embarrassing things are in there for the general public to see it appears I wear a lot more colorful pieces in college than I do right now. I'll be sure to share some gems on Instagram if you want to follow at beck and call podcast from my private Facebook archives. But anyway, you can imagine lots of bright cute statement tops for wearing with jeans out at night I had a lot of printed colorful mini dresses for college parties and that kind of thing. I also have a lot of black specifically tops and many dresses but according to my Facebook albums, I really went for it with fun colorful styles. And I did continue wearing color and more statement pieces into my early 20s to there are a few things that I fully recall and she'll share photos of but one was a hot pink pair of Alison Olivia satin shorts. Pretty sure they were satin and I wore them a ton when I was living in Houston and I was like what 2223 at the time and then another item that I remember vividly was a wild neon printed top by Proenza schooler I had recently discovered them a couple years before and was just obsessed with everything they did and this top I honestly would never be caught dead wearing it now but at A time I was obsessed with it. My tastes was just more extra back then. But over the years, I've gotten better at buying pieces I can wear again and again. And I've also just recognized I prefer styles that won't fade. Like I like to be able to wear things repeatedly. I like things that go with a lot of things like a lot of colorful items, I have trouble repeating or styling a bunch of ways and I get frustrated with stuff like that, that top like that Proenza schooler top I mentioned was not a repeat offender for a reason. And I started noticing which pieces I really truly loved enough to wear a lot. And they almost always were classic neutrals solid. And that's when I stopped spending so much on those colorful printed items. Over time, my purchases shifted to more wearable pieces. And it certainly wasn't an immediate change and has taken me a while to kind of get it right. And still, you know, it's not a perfect science. But today, I do think I have a more balanced wardrobe. Because of that shift. I do still buy fun colorful pieces from time to time, especially in the summer months and for vacation. But in terms of my everyday wardrobe, the items I really lean on most are the classic neutrals, they just go with more and I get more cost per wear out of those things. So that's just what I buy more of today I would probably define my style as classic and polished but with a bit of an edge. I'm definitely not preppy and I would much prefer a tea with rip jeans and sneakers over a pastel frilly top and super girly accessories. So I I definitely wouldn't say my style is super girly or feminine. You might say I still have some of that want to be high school skater girl and me. In addition to honing in on my style preferences over the years, I think I've also honed in on which silhouettes look best on my figure and now shop accordingly. At least most of the time, there are certain silhouettes that just don't work for me. I've got big boobs, so something with a cinch waist and a more fitted bodice is more flattering on me than any flowy style flowy loose cut styles just tend to look like tense on me. I also try to avoid dresses and skirts that cut straight so like a pencil skirt because I'm hippy to so an a line or a fit and flare style is much more flattering on me. And this is sort of this goes for dresses to another thing. So because of the big, big boob thing, oversized jackets, sweaters and tops with extravagant sleeves generally aren't a good look for me either. Obviously, this is stuff that I've picked up through trial and error over the years, but I've gotten pretty good at buying for my figure. Occasionally I'll buy something that isn't necessarily flattering, but I just love it like I have this Zara dress that's teared and very loose cut. And it certainly isn't the most flattering thing on me. But I still love it and wear it during the summer. It's this cute white tear dress. But generally I try to stick with items that I know I'm going to feel confident and feel cute in and that generally is just something that is more flattering. So if you're not sure, you've just got to try a bunch of styles out to see what you like on your body and what you feel most comfortable and confident in. And I've said this before, I think with travel or packing tips. But one thing that really helps me is to take pictures wearing items. So I know you guys probably aren't going to be doing triathlons on Instagram like I am. But even just putting on the outfits that you order from the sales for example, this week, trying them on making an outfit out of them and taking a photo of it. So you can really see what the piece you're considering would look like if you actually wore it versus just you know, trying it on without pants on or whatever. I just think taking photos is really helpful in situations especially if you're not sure you want to keep something if you're maybe on the fence about something seeing have a photo of it on yourself from different angles can be very helpful and making a decision. Now in terms of how I actually shop I do most of my shopping online I've just sort of just over going into stores. I spend several hours multiple times a week combing through the new arrivals sections on all of my favorite online stores. And that's just part of my job. So I'm saving these pieces I'm finding and saving new pieces for use in future blog and Instagram content for myself and Liza so she creates all of the collages on TSS edited and she creates those using the pieces that I find and save and then I of course I'm doing the Edit I'm doing at any age and one piece for ways I'm also doing sale round ups and just you know finding stuff that I might want to order to shoot for outfit posts and so I'm already looking around and saving items I love on LTK and then that is just kind of the perfect shopping list to go off of when I'm ready to buy something new. I can review all my favorites and see what I want and need and it's honestly very rare that I buy something right away if I see it on a store I or see it at a store in the new arrival section. I almost always just add it to the folder and then when I'm ready to buy something or shop That's when I'll sort of look through everything and make sure there's nothing else I want to buy before checking out at that particular store. Alright, once I've ordered something, let's talk about how I decide whether to keep an item or not. First and foremost, does the item fit me? Because I'm tall and have a pretty proportionate figure, I'm definitely more of an hourglass shape. It's not often I need to get things altered or tailored. So unless the item in question is something super special that I desperately want, or need, I generally don't bother with alterations and just return things that don't quite fit. I know that's not the case for everyone. Some people are petite and need to get things shortened a lot. But this is just this is what works for me. It's I don't have to try hard to find things that fit. So that's sort of what I do when I order stuff. The next thing I consider is the quality. So is the item in question going to hold up? If it's a bag? For example? Is the leather going to scratch easily? If it's a clothing item? Is it lined? Is it well constructed? Is the fabric scratchy? And or soft? All these questions kind of come into play when I'm deciding what to keep and what to send back. And then finally, if it meets the criteria for both quality and fit, is it something I'm really truly going to wear and wear a lot? If the answer is yes, I'll keep it. If the answer is no, then what makes it special? If it's a statement piece, is it something I'll get sick of after one season? Is it super trendy? If yes, I generally pass on it. One of the exceptions to this rule is a cocktail dress, I am happy to splurge on a fabulous colorful cocktail dress which like I wouldn't normally maybe do that with like a regular everyday top or something like that. But a cocktail dress I can wear for weddings and parties I will spend more on because I generally choose classic styles anyway. And I know it's going to look good on me and not feel out of date after a year or two. And I can wear it to multiple events. It's just that something I'm more willing to spend money on if it is sort of a more colorful or statement item. Now as far as knowing which trends to buy into and how to identify timeless pieces. I really think this is a case by case basis thing. I don't think there's one answer for this. For example, I wouldn't expect my mom to buy into the 90s trend of like slinky chainmail dresses or sweatshirts with bike shorts, not saying she couldn't you can wear whatever you want, no matter what age you are. But not all trends are for everyone. Those just aren't her style. Those aren't really my style either. That's why the Jin Z shit about skinny jeans and middle parts drives me crazy. Not everyone looks good with the middle part. Not everyone looks good and baggy jeans, I think we should all be able to pick and choose what trends and styles feel most on brand for us based on what we feel confident and comfortable in. And then on the flip side of that what I think is timeless might just be considered boring to someone else. So I think all of these things in terms of like what you think is trendy, what you think is classic, I think it's person to person, it's going to be different. So the most important thing is to buy what makes you happy regardless of what's trending or in right now. But with that said, I do think it's important to be mindful about how you shop so you don't end up with an unbalanced wardrobe of all statement pieces. Now let's talk about a few of my favorite brands for a minute because this is actually a question I'm going to ask my mom too so I thought it might be helpful to share both of ours so for jeans I almost exclusively by citizens of humanity, they just fit my finger better than any other brand. I love that they have bigger back pockets and they sort of like placed lower on the ass so it's just kind of a more minimizing look since I'm hippie and have a bud so that's helpful and they're a great length. I love all I really love every style. They have. Levi's are a great budget friendly option that I like that are kind of similar, they have different they have similar styles and most of their jeans are under 128 or 100. So that's good. And then for sweaters I love Vince lolene and club Monaco. Those are some of my go twos for dresses and blouses. I love hula Johnson right now. zerena I always love Rebecca Taylor reformation. I particularly like I've mentioned their smocked dresses and tops before I love those and then for more bed budget friendly things I love mango for dresses and blouses. I think they've got good prints and they usually have some good mini dress styles that I prefer so that's great for tees and tops. I love Everlane they're sort of more budget friendly. I also love the great for high quality teas. Frank and Eileen has a bunch of good button downs and teas one of my favorite white teas is by them. It's a thick cotton linen. It's great. And then Victoria Victoria Beckham does a lot of fun statement teas. I call it a statement staples. So the ones I buy are usually black or white but they have a fun detail like a fun short ruffled sleeve that's kind of more of a statement piece that's still super wearable. So I love those for trenches and coats club Monaco is you usually my favorite. They haven't had a bunch of new styles come out this year though. So I haven't purchased any new ones. But I do also love the coat styles at Ralph Lauren and mango. There are of course dozens of other brands I could talk about and designers that I love, but these definitely came to mind as the ones that I shop most often in at least those categories. I think that's all I wanted to chat about this week in terms of fashion. But as always, you can call into the beck and call Hotline at 214-620-0473 to ask me questions if you want me to deep dive any further on any particular kind of style question. But now without further ado, let's get into it with my special guest this week.
Quick little intro before we get into it with my mom, though, since I was with family over Thanksgiving, I thought it might be fun to have my Mom Come on, people are always asking me to feature more of her because believe it or not, a lot of my blog and Instagram followers are older in their 50s or older and whenever I share photos of her I always get questions about what she's wearing, and to feature more of her style on my blog and on Instagram. And since this is a style episode, I thought it would be fun to chat with her more about her own personal style her favorite designers and more. Anyway, she was a little hesitant to do it. But I think she did an awesome job especially for this being her first time off podcast or ever doing something like this. So I would like to extend a warm welcome to my mom and I hope you guys enjoy this. Alright guys, I'm coming to you live from the ranch at Thanksgiving. It is Saturday, and it is a very rainy and gross day. So I thought today would be a great time to have a special guest on the podcast since we're not doing anything today. So welcome, mom.
I'm so glad to be here!
So what do you think about you know how we did catering this year for Thanksgiving? How do you think that turned out?
You know, I felt very guilty about it. But it just was very relaxing.
I'm so glad, but we decided we didn't like a couple of the dishes and we liked some of them. So what were your favorite things that you ate? I feel like it was all stuff that you made that was the best.
That's probably because that's what we like and we're used to!
It's our tradition that will hold the mic closer. Sorry. Okay, good. Yeah.
Okay. The potatoes. I thought were really good.
The twice baked Yes. Yes. Those are my favorite as I didn't try the other potatoes. The Elk rotten ones are scalloped did this before and they're very good. Okay. Didn't like the green bean casserole. That was not my favorite. Right? It had like a weird, smoky flavor. And you thought they were frozen? Well, maybe. Okay. I've just like our dressing. Oh, yeah. My mom has the best recipe whose recipe is that? Is that your grandmother, your grandmother and who came up with the sweet potato casserole recipe or brought that into the mix? Because that is one of my favorites, too. Oh, that came out of the Austin Junior League cookbook that a friend of mine was ever the other day and she was making it too. And she said, Well, I think I may have turned that in app. It was going around Dallas and I think I brought it to Austin, but I don't know. It's called rich sweet potato pudding.
It is the best it tastes like dessert. It's something I look forward to every year. And then we also have sort of a funny recipe and people always ask me about it whenever I post it. Whenever I post a picture of it on my Instagram stories. What I'm eating, it's the lime jello salad my aunt Jeanie has made and was that a family recipe of hers? Do you know or is that something she came up with or found?
That was grandma Beck’s. So that was out of Iowa!
Oh, wow. And what's in that?
Oh, there's pineapple and heavy cream and that like Lime Jello.
But I used to make it every year but now Genie brings has brought me when the last few years. So that's so nice.
Well, it just it's kind of it's funny to look at compared to all the other foods that look really savory or even though the sweet potato casserole doesn't look or look savory. It's not obviously but the colors are all kind of similar. And then you see this bright green lime jello. And it's in this bundt molding. It's it's great. I love it. Alright, switching gears a little bit here. I always get questions about you because I do share you pretty often on my Instagram Stories occasionally on my blog, and you have a great sense of style. And obviously that's where I get it but I kind of wanted to ask you some questions about your personal style since this is a style centric episode. So where would you say your love of fashion came from?
Definitely my mom.
So what do you think you picked up from her that has stuck with you? Well, I don't I just don't think I could compare myself to her. She was just always so put together. Lots of matching colors and she just was great at it but I've always loved clothes so it's I've always enjoyed that.
Yeah grandmother did having impeccable taste. How would you describe your style though?
I probably am a little more classic and maybe feminine, but I guess classic.
And who would you say are your favorite designers are ones that you tend to buy a lot.
Well, I love Veronica beard. About a lot of the jackets, the suits, that jeans. Yeah, I love those. I love all of those things. And I buy a lot of Tory Burch mostly online.
But you mostly like the clothes. You don't buy a lot of their bags. Now mainly clothes.
Yeah, that's what I was thinking you were talking about. And I love Etro, I like Prada, Lela Rose…
Lela Rose is hard to beat for our figure she has a lot of kind of fitted at the waist loose in the skirt area and those are good for our body type which I agree with I love all of her pieces and her pieces are so whimsical and romantic and feminine are pretty colors very classic.
And Oscar de la Renta is wonderful like that!
What about bags shoes?
Well Chanel is classic… actually didn't have a Chanel bag till much later in life that I have enjoyed the ones that I have!
And Alex I should say my sister works at Neiman Marcus I think I've mentioned that before as a sales associate and she sells you a lot of those. She does influence those those purchases a lot. Yes. So what do you like to save versus splurge on when it comes to clothes fashion etc?
Well, I think at the beginning or fourth season, I may have a couple of looks or an idea of what I want for that season and I will go ahead and pay full price when the item is in stock and something I really love and then I might kind of just hold off and kind of see what goes on sale and fill in little pieces with things like that.
Yes, I I'm I'm sometimes on that same train but sometimes like you said there's a piece you've got to have if it's fully in stock and full prize, that's just something you're obsessed with. Okay, so this might be kind of a question back to grandmother but what's the best piece of style advice you've ever received? Or just any advice but well I will say this at one point grandmother told me that I needed to wear more color because I was wearing a lot of black and she said you need to have more color and she was very good about wearing beautiful colors that complimented her and so I have to work on that because I do love basic black and I got that from you I guess and I love to have things that are easy to travel with where you can just take two pairs of shoes and where and with everything. Yeah so um I am bad about that I do love color. So I've worked on that.
Yeah, I'm I'm kind of the same way I'm sure she had the same thoughts about me I've obviously a neutral spin but I do try to add color. I try to do solid color on like fun tops occasionally. And cocktail dresses. I love getting colorful pieces but for me kind of every day neutrals are just easier like you said especially if you're traveling having options that will work with a bunch of things that kind of thing. Okay, so are there any trends you dislike right now? Or any styles you just refuse to buy like for me that's I mean I have a pair of bike shorts, they were gifted and I would never leave the house in them but like that's not a trend I would buy. So I don't know about trends but I I just at this stage of life and now what things absolutely cannot purchase just the shape. And so there's no point in even looking at something if it's not a shape I can wear.
Can you give an example of a shape you wouldn't purchase then?
Well a pencil skirt is not good on me. I have very large hips and I just find a fuller skirt is fitted waist and in a real short jacket does not look good on me cropped.
Yeah, I feel that my mom and I have very similar figures we have what is not well known as the Bromhall legs. My great grandmother, grandmother, my mom and I all have the same kind of shape of our legs. We all have very small calves and it's just for some reason we all have the same shape. You'd I mean, if you put us all in a picture together, you would see a genetic trait you might say, Okay, switching gears a little bit, but since you're an amazing hostess, can you share some holiday tips so like, what would you have on hand when people are coming over recommend to people to have on hand.
Oh, you're very nice. I don't think of myself as a very great hostess I would ever I love to have people over because I love my friends and I love my family. And so I love having people over and I do love entertaining, but I wouldn't be good at it. Yes, you are you always Googling and coming up with cute ways to present stuff. You always have the best wine and things available. I don't know like what, what are your favorite things? I guess when you are hosting people? Is it like a charcuterie board? Is it what do you like to present?
You know, I think just through time, things are just easy, popular, different things. Okay. So, you know,
we do an all of cheese ball at Christmas. That's always sort of a thing.
It's just you know, when you look back at the appetizers and the even the entrees and things you used to serve 30 years ago would be totally out of style now.
Do you have any good holiday or hostess gift suggestions? Like whenever you go to your friend's house for a party? Is there kind of a go to like, Are you a candle girl? Do you bring a bottle of wine? What's your kind of standard?
Both of those are quite popular. I love that honeycomb!
You brought that to me last time you visited that. Speaking of cheese boards, what are some of your favorite holiday memories or traditions from over the years that we've done? Like all shared example, first, I used to love how we would do Christmas Eve at grandmother's house. And that was sort of our that was sort of our big Christmas celebration. And then the next morning, of course, we would make breakfast when we were little. That's when we would open gifts, of course. But now as adults, we sort of do the Christmas Eve thing and have a more relaxing Christmas day. But what are some of your favorite moments or memories from the past?
Well, we did always have a very dressy festive Christmas Eve church, lovely dinner cocktail. You know, just everybody dressed up. And I left that I think things are so much more casual now. Yeah. And that we still attract attempt. I want to do cocktail attire that said we attempt that. But it's very difficult with the group. Yes, that he didn't want to participate in that. Yes, I should say so. Before my mom got remarried, we have such a small family before my stepdads family joined the mix. And so we're used to kind of just doing our own thing. And when we would go to my grandmother's house, it would just be my grandparents, my sister and me and my mom and dad. And so now it's this big group of people and we're never sure how many people are going to come each holidays a little bit different but it's definitely more casual and but I'm hoping I'm not sure who all is coming to Christmas Eve this year but I want to dress up because I have an outfit in mind. I want to dress up on Christmas Eve so I'm pushing for that we have so few things dressy to go to these days. pandemic that is it is something to look forward to.
Okay, so what is your take on holiday style? Are you a festive color girl? Are you velvet sequins? What's What are some of your favorite things that you've purchased for the holiday season or recent purchases?
Well, I do love color. Yeah, Christmas. I look pretty green and bright red. I do. And I mean of course Velvet is always wonderful. But you know if I was looking for one thing, it'll probably be red or green. Yeah to mix in.
So what about the dress you bought recently? What was that? We'll see how it fits bad. Just for a couple of parties.
But tell them about it. Well, it's Victoria Beckham. And I've worked I get them by Teresa Teresa. And it had a little bit of a flowy sleeve because I'm not as comfortable. I've always loved sleeveless dresses and I'm kind of getting where I'm going to have To move from that, and that it's it's wasted in a little more flowing. Yeah, you know, but it's a beautiful green silk.
I can't wait to see it on it looks very pretty. So actually segwayed into another topic. So as you've gotten older, what have been what are some ways that your style has changed through the years?
Well, I think the sleeves and also I wear more jackets. Okay, I think than I used to when I was younger, I just born more separate sir dresses. And now I think I wear more jackets, I just feel more comfortable together. Maybe it hides? Hide some sins? Yeah. That's probably and I don't wear as high heels as I used to. Yeah, I mean, this is sort of sad. But I already feel like I'm heading that way. And I part of it is the pandemic, and I'm just not used to wearing them. And the idea of putting on forage heels makes me want to die if I don't do it. And I have all these pretty heels in my closet. And I hope I'll be able to use them again. But I just I haven't been reaching for them. Because my feet just aren't familiar with that heel height anymore. I'm going to have to work my way back up, I guess. Alright, moving on to interior style. This is something I also get asked about a lot whenever I share photos at your house, whether it's an Austin or the house in Carmel, which there is a new one. And we can talk about that another time. We're starting from scratch there. But I do share your house in Austin quite a bit when I go to visit. And I sort of wanted to just kind of find out what your philosophy was for interior design. And what did you have a theme going into the house? Like? Did you have an idea of what you wanted? Or what kind of what was the process there?
Well, we started this house when We'd only been we started designing it, We'd only been married a year or maybe less than a year. And we started the design process with a wonderful architect Ryan Street in Austin. And then we did have a designer Nancy Pilon that was pulled the house together. But Morris and I came from such different backgrounds. And we both had ideas and it just that anything that we both liked kind of became the decision and we both liked the French architecture style. And if we saw things we both liked, that was the decision it really cut almost made it easy. It worked. That kind of worked perfectly. It kind of did. That was fun. And we we did shop on all our travels, we found things for the house and it really thing kind of as newlyweds to do that. That was fun. It was a very fun process. I mean, you know, there are probably things he would have loved or things that I would have loved. But if if you bail didn't love it, Beth liked it. That was it. That's great. So what what are you planning to do? And the new house in Carmel? Well, because you're starting from scratch.
Yes, house was more of a beach house. Okay. And the people purchased the furniture. So and so we are kind of starting from scratch, but that new house is more Spanish colonial. So it can I have a little different looks. Yes. And it started out with a lot of dark woods. And you're painting a lot of it. Yes. And you're leaving some of it Morris like Stark woods? Yes. But we're really starting from scratch with furniture. Did you get any good stuff during Black Friday?
Since Carmel is sort of travel related, where are you hoping to go now that things are kind of starting to open back up?
Well, I would love to go back to Europe, to France, Italy, you know, it would be so fun. But I think I'm not quite ready to do that. We have been to Florida a couple of times. That was really fun. I would love to go back to New York. That would be fun. But I'm satisfied stay here my husband's dying to get back to Argentina. He He's gone to Argentina for years for years. And he loves it. And it was entirely closed. I mean, entirely closed for a couple of years during the pandemic. Yeah, I feel the same way. I am going to New York next weekend. But I still haven't booked any international travel. I'd love to get back to London. I'd love to do a trip with you and Alexandria to the south of France. I had the best time with my friend Megan. And I think that would be a really fun girls trip with y'all. There are a lot of places I'd love to go back to Japan. That's been one of my favorite places to travel. Lots of places I want to go I'm kind of with you. I'm not really ready to do the international travel yet. I do have a wedding that I'm going to in March, my friend is getting married in San Miguel. So that'll probably be my first big international trip. Yes. But I'm not making any other plans at the moment just because everything is so in flux. We don't know what's going to happen with everything so well. Mom, I've loved having you on the podcast your debut episode.
Well, it was fun! It was kind of scary, but it was fun!
I think you did a great job. And maybe we can do another one over Christmas. I really want to get my sister on here as well, it would maybe I can get a third microphone and we could do kind of a collective recording session. She's fed, she's hysterical. And you're great. I'm and I think you're gonna get more used to it as I do more of these as I forced you to do more of these. But thank you so much for coming on. And also for hosting us that Thanksgiving. It's been so fun spending time at the ranch. That's my joy. Joy. Thank you so much to my mom for being so supportive and agreeing to join me this week. I hope you guys enjoyed this fun segment. I'd like I said I'd love to get her and my sister on here as well. When I'm home for Christmas. I am not going to do beck and call this week because we're already over the 15 minute mark. But Oh also, I'm running low on beck and call questions, so definitely be sure to call in to 146200473 you can also submit questions via email info at beckon call podcast.com And as always, please be sure to rate review, subscribe and share the podcast Be sure to tag me at beck and call podcast on Instagram if you share it in your Instagram stories and I will catch you guys next week. Bye!
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