There’s a concept I stole from Project Runway but have turned into something I apply to my life regularly, and that is a concept I call “The Thirteenth Look”. During the finals of ProjRun, back when it was better and good people were on the show (R.I.P. Red Lobster-Santino-Andrae days of yore), Tim Gunn would surprise the finalists by telling them they had one day  to make an additional outfit. Surprise! A thirteenth look they would have to parade down the runway. 

The Thirteenth Look theory, to me, is just what happens when one is crunched for time and forced to do something amazing. I usually only apply it on Easter, a holiday when I make a huge brunch for my friends and feel like over-extending myself by making a dozen recipes that are all overly complicated but impressive. And then on Sunday morning, while the pious are out celebrating Jesus’ escape from Cave City, I decide I should probably make an extra loaf of focaccia because, well, who doesn’t have two extra hours to wait for it to rise? (Hey, Easter metaphor!) So I scramble to pull all the ingredients together and make something great. I feel like I could be applying the Thirteenth Look to a lot more in my life, because god damn,  that focaccia is good.