My family’s motto is “live with passion”.  The phrase perfectly encapsulates the ideals that guide us:  to commit our whole hearts, souls, minds and bodies to everything we do.

The unspoken ideal behind the motto is my husband’s and my shared belief that bars are best set high.  After all, a goal too easily achieved is not a goal worth having.

But a bar set high needs a nice, soft cushion of grace beneath it for all the times you try – and fail – to achieve so high a standard.  Indeed, some days, to work passionately, love passionately, befriend or mother passionately seems too tall an order.

After a long spring and a slow start to summer, I am passionate about only one thing:  vacation.  (And it’s very close!  Just a week away!)  At times like these, when the daily grind dampens the flames of passion, I look to humor to bring some much-needed foamy lightness to my world.  A good reminder that life is short – and strange and funny and ridiculous – is just what the doctor ordered to get me back on track to living with passion, genuinely.

Ted Baker – the master of that delightfully British art of mixing business with pleasure – has a way of infusing lightness and a sense of humor into his otherwise purposefully, meticulously designed clothes.  (It’s hard to take yourself too seriously with a mint-green hibiscus on your backside.)

I just love the juxtaposition of this sweet, 1950’s style skater dress with a charming, almost silly print.  It’s a happy dress.  And yet, the quality of the fabric and construction is uncompromising and pristine.  A winning combination.

1. Skater dress by Ted Baker. 2. Nude suede pumps by Alice and Olivia. 3. Croc-embossed clutch by Clare V. 4. Vince asymmetrical vest.