Warm Thoughts

It's only the end of January. Yesterday, my friend said "Don't you wish it was summer right now...like the middle of June?" The weather is so miserably cold and smug, that in my extreme desperation I replied, "Right now, I'd settle for April." You know it's bad when you'll settle for moderate average temps instead of warm fuzzy ones.

If it can't be April, I might as well pretend. To get in the spirit of April-ness, I purchased 2 springtime jackets this week. At a discount no less. What the? Who the? How the? Apparently online retailers are as desperate for sunnier days as I am.

Dumped (aka, Last Week We Got 24" of Snow in 24 Hours)

I spy with my little eye,

A Mini so very buried--poor little guy.

My husband saw his lil' car and he almost started to cry.

The weatherman says more is on the way--sigh.

With a winter like this, we're just hoping to get by.

*according to the weather report, we've only just begun*

xoxo

I'll miss this man, his contagious smile, witty humor, wisdom beyond years, and the cane he waved about.

Wouldn't it be nice if we could all leave this world knowing we made it a better place.

Well done Gordon B.

Experiment

I'm a pretty petite person. By that, I mean sometimes I purchase childrens clothing from retailers simply because it is the exact same as the adult line and it costs less. I decided to try out Crewcuts by J.Crew. I could only find it online in my neck of the woods, so I purchased a zebra-stripe cardigan. In size XXL, which JCrew says is supposed to fit a 10-year old.

Result: It totally fits me.
Which can only mean one of three things: 1) I am incredibly small, or 2) JCrew's sizes are incredibly large, or 3) 10-year olds just ain't what they used to be.

This Is Why I Can Never Be BFF With Apple (Yet Continue To Buy Their Products)

Those folks over there at Apple just don't get it. And even if they do, I still think they're jerks. I've had the old school iPod Mini since its inception. A cute little pastel pink one that has been hanging on for dear life for the last 9 months. It works some of the time, but not most of the time, and I just can't bear to let it go. Why, you ask? Because the Nano doesn't come in pink. So I've been holding out.

Until Christmas, when G. bought me a new one. Being the loving and wise husband he is, he bought me the next best thing to pink, which is, naturally, red.

But, looksey whoosey popped into my inbox this morning. Just in time for Valentines Day. Blast it all to the moon! I swear this love/hate relationship I have with Apple will be the death of me.

Breakfast At My Place...Or Yours

Does this bathtub sofa look familiar? It's said to be a modern twist on the pink and purple one Audrey made famous in Breakfast at Tiffany's.
Now, all you need is that sweet eyeshade, a guitar, a tiara, and a silly cat to re-enact the whole shabang! Killer looks wouldn't hurt either.

LalalaLOVE LalalaLIVE

This is the living room of my dreams. It's the Paris apartment of Cordelia de Castellane (who also happens to have the legs of my dreams). I once heard it perfectly described as a "colorful and modern mix of luxury and frivolity that definitely doesn't take itself too seriously." I think I once heard someone describe me that way too. Now, if only I could get those LOVEly pillows in that lovely room to say "lalalaLOVE".

When Fashion Must Be Sacrificed For Function: The Goose

This is the warmest coat on the planet. I've tried it. I've tested it. So have my NY pals. So have Arctic researchers. It is the truth.

It's 6 degrees here right now. It feels like the coldest place on the planet.

I wish I wore the Goose.

*update:* inchworm version here

Why I Have Reason To Believe There's Hope For Me Having A Career In Product Design

Pisellino, the mischievous cotton swabs holder puts a smile on my face.


Mr. Suicide, the depressed and drowning bathtub plug and float gives me the giggles.

Rondo, the spewing toothpaste tube cap makes me laugh my head off.

P.S. I have no current ambitions to delve into product design. But if I did...

Dainty Desserts

This ice cream scoop and stack is very clever and perfect for making delectable desserts with discs of ice cream that look gorgeous. They would also make it sooper dooper easy to freeze ice cream ahead of time for a dinner party. Plus, they come in fun colors.

Confessions of a Weekly Hair Washer

My stylist once told me this: "Long hair is big and gorgeous and sexy. Short hair is sassy and stylish and fashion forward." After that I chopped all my hair off. Like a ton of it. I went from hair grazing my bum to hair barely covering my ears. Woah. I felt naked.

That was 3ish months ago. Since then, I've changed. In my long-haired life I washed my hair once a week (if that). The shower cap was my best friend. Now, I wash every other day and (gasp!) sometimes daily.

I never knew/remembered how washing my hair frequently could feel so good. I'd forgotten what consistently clean hair feels like. Yes, in my former life I was that gross (though I cross my heart and hope to die, you'd never know it). Sometimes my husband would finally say to me "You're not getting in this bed tonight unless your hair is clean." Ugh.

I feel like a changed woman. Semi-daily hair washing has changed my life. Indeed, I feel sassier, stylisher, and fashion forwarder. But I also feel cleaner. Funny how that happens.

Macarons were Sophia Coppola's inspiration for the color palette in Marie Antoinette.

So pretty. So petite. So perfect. Lalalalove it.

To House Or Not To House? That Is The Question.

We're still looking for some permanent digs here in our new locale. It's been a struggle to find something we both like/agree on. Five months and a few hundred home tours later, we're finally seeing a light at the end of the tunnel.

We've come to the decision that it is quite likely we do not want a house. We are condo dwellers. It was a hard fought battle. Here's how it all played out:

Me: I don't do boy jobs, i.e. mow, snowblow, rake, take garbage out, shovel, and the like.

G: I don't really do them either.

Condo:1 point.

House: 0 points.

Me: Why do said jobs when I can pay a reasonable monthly fee for someone else to do them?

G: I've built a financial model that shows the benefit of the fee as it offsets the cost of purchasing equipment to do said laborious jobs.

Me: Life is too short to snowblow.

Condo: 2 big ones

House: nada.

Me: Trash shoot.

G: 'Nuff said.

Condo: 3 ways to melt my heart

House: starting to look unappealing.

Me: I want a pool!!!

G: I want a hot tub, heated garage, gym, and clubhouse.

Condo: 4 dancing panda bears tossing rose petals for excess

House: nearing extinction.

Me: It's no NYC pad with a sweet view and wacko neighbors, but it'll do.

G: Synthetic city living. I like the idea.

Condo: 5 "you had me at HOA's"

House: 6 feet under.

Enchanting

Peachy, puffy, poofy, and perfectly over the top. What's not to like?

Plus, it's filmed in my old 'hood. Woot! Woot!

Pancakes

The Animal In You. My actress friend brought this book over. She uses it to determine personalities/habits/social interaction/general make-ups of characters she is studying. We used it for a late night of fun fun fun.

Take a short quiz. Use the answers to determine who the animal(s) in you are. The key to getting a (relatively) accurate result is to be totally honest with your answers. Don't be hard on yourself. And think of yourself in the most genuine terms. I turned out to be a cottontail/otter/sea lion. I reminded myself of The O.C. (my favorite TV show, may it RIP).

Cottontail: Summer had a pet bunny rabbit named Pancakes.

Otter: Seth Cohens spiritual animal was the otter.

Sea Lion: Signature animal of SoCal.

The bad news is my beloved turned out to be part wolf. Whimper whimper whimper said the cottontail.

Take the quiz here. Strange, as I used the same answers but got different results online. But still, which animal(s) are you?

The Song for the 3 a.m. Sled

Sheesh! I've been gone for a long time. Or so it seems to me. I didn't mean to do it. Its just that I was having too much fun...dashing thru the snow, on my no horse open sled. Down the hill we'd go, laughing all the waaay. Don't even have to walk, 'cuz 'mobiles give us rides, what fun it was to ride and laugh and sled all thru the night. Oh, sleddings great! Sleddings fun! Sledding all the way! Oh what fun it is to ride on my no horse open sleigh!

I just lalalalove it when I break into song.

And yes, in our family, we take sledding seriously. I've got the bruised tailbone, fat lip, and hoarse voice to prove it.