Clarions for Marian (and Clarins Too)

 Fabulous Felt Paint Palette Barrettes

Top: Decree, JCPenney

Skirt: Modcloth

Shoes: 2 Lips Too, JCPenney

Bag: Xhilaration, Target

Wristlet: City Streets, JCPenney

Belt: Belt is Cool, Amazon

Because Marian, Marian Keyes, that is, is the best.  She's a writer so likable, so hilarious, and so vulnerable that flash mobs should break out in song (instruments included) when she enters a room.  You know.  If flash mobs were still a thing.  Although now that I think of it, Marian probably wouldn't like that, being a creature who values peace and quiet.

For those of you who don't know, Ms. Keyes is a Dubliner who writes chick lit, which she pokes fun at endlessly (both the Irish bit and the chick lit bit).  Some of her best novels feature the Walshes, a loud yet loving family of five sisters that doesn't sound all that different from her own (although she also has brothers).  How do I know this?  I just finished reading Keyes's latest collection of essays, Making It Up As I Go Along, and it's wonderful.  Marian talks about everything from shopping (her biggest weakness is buying beauty products) to traveling to her huge extended family to stalking celebrities.  Reading this book is like reading her journal.  Marian leaves no thought unexplored, no jar of La Mer unturned.  And it's not always candy and rainbows.  Marian is candid about her struggles with alcoholism and depression.  She weaves both throughout her novels too, but it's in her essays where she gets down and dirty.  Her revelations are sad yet funny.  You can tell that her sense of humor is a big part of what helps her get through the day and write stories that tell women's truths.

So, if Marian is a writer, then what's up with these paint palette barrettes?  Well, once upon a time, her husband advised her to get a hobby to help her unwind, and after rejecting oil painting, jewelry making, and countless other Pinterest-worthy pursuits, she fell head over heels for refinishing furniture.  Her favorite part is painting accent tables (some of which she purloined from her mother) in brilliant shades of pink and blue.  She did such a good job that her five-year-old nephew demanded that she paint him one (even if she did have to talk him down from black to turquoise).   

Marian Clarion, you are a true Renaissance woman.  Way to paint woodwork as well as word pictures.