I’m overhauling my possessions. This is no small task, and as I slog through a now ankle-deep layer of wardrobe possibilities, I’ve started thinking about the few things left on my wish list that I would like to bring in, as I move greater quantities out. I’ll have to pray that the good people at Crossroads like what I’m upcycling. it’s good stuff, but I realized this year that I have a small, elite number of cherished clothes that I cycle through with alternating accessories – no need for extra fluff in my closet that someone else might enjoy!
I believe that this year I’ve got the clean, classic look that gets me stopped on the street with compliments. The people at Nordstrom, Pacific Place, and Anthropologie all think I work in their buildings, and come this close to getting the staff discount. Phooey. The nice people at Il Fornaio always think I must work at Barneys or Twist. {Huge compliments to me; I can’t come close to affording anything from either store new. Baby & Co. was my one one-time extravagance, and that was it. I’ll own those two shirts and skirt until I’m ninety, and no one would question them.}
I have a few things added to the wish list, and a few things I’ve realized I count on having in my closet:
Dansko: I’ve inadvertently treated the Dansko brand the way I treat tattoos: don’t buy them until I’m totally sure that I know what I want, and that I’ll be comfortable wearing it for the rest of my life. Turns out this is it: the mary janes are for me. When I sell enough clothes…
Twist: Did you know that Cartier in Pacific Place is gone? They have left the building folks, and their windows are full of Twist’s jewelry. I have to say, it’s an improvement. Cartier might be classic, the way Tiffany is, but I like the attitude in Twist better. This isn’t news, of course. It’s a someday thing, sort of the way I say “someday, I will have a ring with a rose cut ruby in yellow gold”. Yes. Yes I will.
Orla Kiely: I have one. {Alright, I have one, and a wallet.} I love the style, I love the material, I think it completes me. This is less of an empty space in my existing wardrobe and more of a suggestion to everyone else. This could be the one and only bag you ever need. Seriously. If, by some chance I were to get another primary purse, I’d say it might be this one:
It's so pretty....
…funny, I think this is Orla Kiely too. Isn’t it funny how that works?
Shoes: This started with shoes, it’s really all about shoes. I’m cycling out two pairs of ballet flats, maybe three, a number of heels, and….no boots. I can’t bring myself to make those choices yet. There are a couple Anthro shoes that look like they’d work with my wardrobe as it is now:
I’m losing at least one pair of heels, more than likely two or three. I have some really awesome four inch oxford heels that are an amazing purple. Problem is, I can’t wear them. No matter what they might say about beauty and pain, there isn’t enough money in the world to excuse what these do to my ankles and calves, even if they make me feel like an Amazon. {Note: True Amazon warrior women don’t cripple themselves in heels like these.} I’m comfortable in something closer to a 2.5″ or so heel, and the grey cuties above look like they fit the bill.
Accessories:
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I want one of these:
Dungaree Petals
I have rules about wearing jewelry that I haven’t made in these delicate early stages, but I think everyone should have at least one nice basic dress, and a number of necklaces that add color without overwhelming them. I’m partial to shorter length necklaces, which means no last minute meltdowns about the neckline of your dress clashing with your accessories. Example:
…with eco-friendly, socially responsible jewelry taking off like cupcakes, there have been a number of disturbing developments in what I’m seeing in local boutiques. Number one on my “oh. no.” list are these Franken-necklaces constructed from Goodwill or Value Village salvaged jewelry, with a number of base metal chains in different sizes and styles, {the one above only has one, but it’s a doozy} joined in two places with broaches in alarmingly different shapes, colors and styles. It’s the jewelry equivalent of macaroni-collages: great, but not past a certain age. They’re a big no-no, because not only will they be out in less than a year, & they appeal only to the subset of society that keeps track of these things, guaranteeing that there will be people who look at you thinking, “what on earth was she thinking??”. You also run the risk of seeing someone else who’s done it better, and being stuck with something trendy, but no longer the best ugly trendy thing you’ve seen. What then?
Classic styles will not do this to you. Believe me; you don’t want to be wondering whether people are staring in a good way, or judging you. {I got an odd validation today, having been afraid that I had egg on my face, someone actually stopped and told me that they loved what I was wearing. Notice that I was not wearing a Franken-necklace at that time.}
Last but not least, always keep something comfy to change into at home, but it has to be cute; my self esteem isn’t fragile, but it does slip a little when I’m at home doing dishes in baggy everything. I have found my comfy thing, and I may put it at a higher priority level than the Danskos:
Grey Comfort
Grey Comfort II
The overhaul starts tomorrow! {Not in that vague and procrastinating way, as implied by the expression: “the diet starts tomorrow”. This overhaul will actually happen tomorrow. Right after we go to Whole Foods to stock up on lemonade & strawberries….and cheese, and milk….and yogurt, apples, cantaloupe, blueberries, whole wheat flour, lemons, Oolong, laundry detergent…we have a lot to pick up tomorrow! Don’t tell S!}
I have proof! I went on vacation, and caught a fish! {Love the hat.}Not just any fish, but a big, fat, 16″ bass-type fish. {Bass} I actually thought it was a log until it started moving from side to side, and of course, the flopping bass jumping out of the water is a dead give away, right?
I actually caught three: an 11″ & a 14″ fish in addition to the 16″, but this one was the one I had to fight for. You now how much upper body strength you need to pull this fat thing in? More than I have, it turns out. But I did it, all by myself.
{Note: the words “all by myself” do not include taking the fat fish off the hook. Overwhelmed with guilt and a little afraid to touch said fat fish, I looked on as S took over and unhooked the fish for me. I named him George, then we threw him back.}
It was gorgeous the last couple of days we were there, with beautiful blue skies turning into loud, thundering rainstorms:
Fish Weather
Fish Weather II
Sunny Skies!
It was counterintuitive to me to go fishing in bright daylight like this; I was raised in a family where we get up at 3 a.m. and drive out to a lake in the middle of nowhere, where I would then have to either disguise my height or cast to shadowy places across the river and under logs to trick the fish into biting the cleverly constructed fly tied on the end of the line. That’s what you do for trout, a.k.a. “smart fish”. Bass are not “smart fish”. Bass and Pike, I was told, are known as “irrationally angry fish”.
Guess which one is more fun to catch? Since I’m 5’9″ and about as sneaky as a bull in a china shop, I am clearly meant to be going after “angry fish”. These are fish dear to my heart because, bless their souls, I could be standing right in front of them with a big sign that says “this is a trap, stupid fish” and they might even be more likely to bite because I called them stupid! Here I’ve spent my childhood getting skunked in trip after trip failing to outwit the “smart fish”, when there were fish just a few states over who would swallow the bait even if they knew for a fact it was a trick. The casts that didn’t hook bigger fish still had about six or so pissed off tiny fish that would bite the bottom of the worm, and not let go. They chased that sucker till they got bored with it, and as soon as it moved, they were on it again. Love. It.
{My father is designed for “smart fish”, and can go all KGB on them quite well in our….grey, cold, rainy Northwest weather. I eventually moved on to kicking around in a float tube with a book and two bottles of iced tea. I’m pretty sure the fish spent these trips hiding underneath me.}
Stormy weather:
Mid-Rain Clouds
Yes, I am safely inside. The rain was coming down so hard it knocked over planters.
Sudden Sun
Sudden Sun II
After the rain and thunder blew over, we ventured out and I raided a nearby raspberry bush, now cleaned by the rain:
Raspberries!
Raspberry!
All mine!
Raspberry II
…you know who else likes raspberry bushes during a rainstorm? It turns out that mosquitoes do. Giant ones, that rise up in an enormous cloud before you like something out of a Michael Crichton book. {Or the Great Pumpkin. But I don’t think these guys wanted to give me presents.}
So, I run screaming from the giant cloud of mosquitoes, cover myself from head to toe with “Off!”, and return to my raspberries. They were awesome.
This was what the sky looked like as I headed off to roast marshmallows:
Evening...
…because when you’re stuffed full of raspberries, the next logical thing to stuff yourself with would be roasted marshmallows. A half a bag of them. I think I’m known as the “Queen of Sugar” now. Not bad, right?
I’ve mentioned before that I’ve been listening to Rosemary Leach reading The Mirror Crack’d, and now I’m a bit of a Miss Marple kick:
Makurokurosuke Tea Set
Makurokurosuke Plates
…would you believe I’ve been trying to get a set in this exact pattern for years? I even held the teapot and sugar bowl in my hands in Duluth, MN. I passed because it would have been heartbreaking to be responsible for breaking it on the way back to Seattle, either by shipping or suitcase. It seems like I’m either broke or too far from home to have it, and it keeps popping up right when I put the set out of my head. I named in my makurokurosuke set {I guess “my” is a stong word considering I don’t own any pieces of it} because the pattern in grey looks like something out of Tonari no Totoro.
I also think it would fit in nicely in a scene in Miss Marple, right when Miss Marple is telling Dermot McCraddock exactly who killed Heather Badcock. {You know, if they weren’t all standing at the top of the stairs at that time.} I won’t say who dunnit; this is one of my favorite Miss Marple Mysteries, and it’s rude to spoil the surprise.
The Marina Gregg Dress
This dress looked to me like something Marina Gregg would have worn on set before the day of the murder.
Marina Gregg
…..and while we’re on the subject of Agatha Christie:
The ABC Murders
Teacups for the ABC Murders; in my top five Agatha Christie mysteries, along with the Mirror Crack’d, Murder at the Vicarage, The Orient Express, & The 4:50 from Paddington. {Originally published in the U.S. under the appalling name “What Mrs. McGilicuddy Saw!”}
We went to seeInception this weekend, and it was amazing.
I’ve been getting more and more picky about how my idle time is spent, and movies out have been one of the first things to go: a matinee is almost twice as much as it was when I was a kid, you run the risk of sitting next to a guy who hasn’t bathed in a year and is just there to get in from either the heat or the cold, the popcorn is full of FD&C Yellow #5, and then the movie? It might not be worth that time. Case in point: Despicable Me: I would wait until it’s on DVD {so you can fast forward} and every home has a 3D player. {I recommend watching the trailer; they used all of the best gags in there.} With Netflix, I can see just about anything I want, and I can make my own Newman’s popcorn.
As the credits for Inception rolled, I felt like turning around, going back into the theater and seeing Inception again. So far, I’ve only felt this way about Iron Man, The Dark Knight {also Christopher Nolan, funny…}, Amelie & Spirited Away. Even with the last few, I wanted to go have a cup of coffee and digest it, then go back. The two that I wanted to stay and see again were Iron Man and Inception. {For the record: two very different movies.}
Go see Inception; it’s worth the ticket price, and it’s definitely best on the big screen. No matter how big a screen you think you have at home, it’s not big enough.
♦Note: I love the “Look Inside” feature on Amazon. With jewelry, often the authors/publishers prohibit this feature {fears of designs being stolen or used without being paid for} and with cookbooks, occasionally publishers do the same; but how else can I know whether the recipes are ones I need? {Or want, for that matter.}
Good to the Grain; Kim Boyce ♣ Stumbled across this in a gallery in Duluth, MN of all places. Spent an better part of my time in said gallery wandering the perimeter and poring over the recipes, which are straightforward {not always to be counted on among the whole grain-conscious} and paired with beautiful photos of the food to be made. It might not be a challenge in technique, but they’re habits I’d like to work on building. I was especially glad to spend time with this book, since I had previously found it on Amazon and had to move on: no “Look Inside” feature.
Lucid Food; Louisa Shafia ♣ Lucid Food is organized by season, keeping me from finding a recipe and running to Whole Foods only to find that the main ingredient doesn’t push up from the ground until next Spring. {Notably they mocked me a couple of years ago for asking after Spring onions in October. I really wasn’t thinking that day.}
No "fake food" for us...
Real Food: What to Eat & Why; Nina Planck ♣ Real Food came up as a suggestion on Amazon recently; apparently if you read everything Michael Pollan has written, Nina Planck comes up in their database as your next required reading.
Last but certainly not least:
The Rodale Whole Foods Cookbook; Dara Demoelt ♣ This looks awesome. Look at it, and you’ll agree with me. I’m sure of it. If you disagree, tell me why, before I bully someone into getting it for me for the holidays!
Tuffy has it pretty good. Chipmunks, birds at the bird feeder, lots of sunbeams…never enough food though. I don’t think he could ever get enough food. He did a crazy thing though: he won’t eat ham. Won’t eat roast beef, won’t bully you for your deli meats, sandwiches, potatoes, or cereal. This is bizarre, since we live with Migi, who not only believes that every scrap of ham in the house belongs to her, but that she’s entitled to a percentage of each of our meals, while we’re eating. Call it “protection money”, if you will; if she doesn’t get it, your books are no longer under her “protection”. It may be extortion, but we’re used to it. So when Tuffy sniffed the ham in my hand, then looked up and asked me “why?”, I was floored. I’ve never met a cat who’s sole purpose is to get you to fill his bowl with something clearly designated as “cat fud”.
He also shows all the signs Migi gives that she’s going to bite you, or kick you, or attack you, then looks up into your eyes, and….flops on the floor for you to rub his tummy. His tail twitches, and his eyes get big and round, and then he leans his head back for you to scritch his chin. He has never attacked me, as much as it might look like he’s going to. He is the floppiest, biggest, Totoro-tailed sleepy cat I’ve ever met. After two weeks with him, I actually miss our demanding, spoiled, biting, yowling, cursing, princess of a cat.
"I have trained you well..."
Coming up: pies! {I can make pies now!} Strawberry rhubarb two ways, as they say on Top Chef, and Key Lime pie with my first ever meringue. Yum.
Thursday Pounce! Too cute not to love, too bright not to fit in the imaginary perfect kitchen in my head, so it makes the list. Red! I love the depth on the pattern too, instead of it just lying on top of the kettle’s surface. It makes the whole piece seem warmer to me.
If red isn’t your thing, or your trying for a different color scheme in your kitchen, there’s always blue:
I feel blue...
Blue!
“Hallo, Rabbit,” he said, “is that you?”
Let’s pretend it isn’t,” said Rabbit, “and see what happens.”
— A.A. Milne
…..Saturday Pounce! I have a soft spot for felt, no pun intended. These two colors – the grey and ochre orange – are two of my favorites right now, too. {See post on bags; see a similarity?}
Then there’s the felt owl, the felt iPad case, the felt strawberries, the felt rings and necklaces over at Leah Dawn…It’s a lot of felt. Which is pretty universally awesome and wearable, until I toted my felt necklaces and some thick Anthro sweaters with me to Minnesota, and realized that it’s HOT in other parts of this country. Seriously hot.
However hot it might be, it’s beautifully sunny, and the evenings are now blessed with my new favorite drink: the Greyhound. My next ambitious plan being the Italian Greyhound.
Greyhound:
2oz. vodka & 5oz. grapefruit juice per serving.
Italian Greyhound:
1 1/2 oz vodka, 1/2 oz Campari bitters & 5 oz grapefruit juice
“Oh Tigger, where are your manners?”
I don’t know, but I bet they’re having more fun than I am.”
— A.A. Milne
The Intergem gem show came to Seattle a while back; and I picked up a few gems…literally! I thought I’d share some pictures of my new raw materials. I have a real affection for jasper; the pictures in it, the complete clean-ness of so many of the nicer pieces. I’ve been peripherally aware of Ocean Jasper for a long time, but never found any pieces that I really love… until last weekend:
Ocean Jasper I
Ocean Jasper II
Ocean Jasper III
Ocean Jasper IV
Ocean Jasper V
Ocean Jasper VI
Ocean Jasper VII
Ocean Jasper VIII
…I can’t wait to work with them! I already have sketches laid out for the first one, the tiny green square that looks like an owl is peering out at you, and the two in pic #7. When we’re back from vaction {I will be blogging from MN for the next two weeks, because it turns out you can still stalk Etsy when out-of-state} the plan will be to set up a soldering area so I can start working with heat again! I have an acetylene tank and torch tips and everything, and wooooow is that a nervous feeling, no matter how comfortable you might be with those things before you bring them into your house.
Anyone got any must-have/well-duh tips I need to know before doing this? I’ve done a lot of research, worked in a studio for three months or so wherein I managed four of these things, and pickle, etc. and have had two classes on torches and soldering, in addition to working on my own work with a torch for four months straight…but you never know what I don’t know, right? And when it has to do with fire…better safe than sorry. I’m looking at some welding tables with steel backs, just little 12″ x 12″ things; but I’ve seen people who set up a soldering station on a wooden Ikea shelf nailed into a wall! I know I need a tripod, mesh screen, asbestos-free board, I have tweezers, flux & solder…and I need to find a tiny yet functional crockpot for pickle…and On Budget. {On Budget will always be in caps for me. Seriously. Budget.}
I’m considerably better off than I was before a lovely school donated their supplies to my cause. I don’t know what I did in a past life to build up that karma, but I wake up feeling lucky and thankful every day for all of the support and help I’ve gotten since I started in January of this year. In related news, I now have a lifetime supply of flex shaft abrasives…anyone know where I can find an inexpensive flex shaft?
I don’t have pictures yet, but I have a new favorite supplier on Etsy; I got the most amazing pieces through her; enough so that she merits a mention here, for anyone wanting to pick up some pieces of their own…or for me! {I know, it’s not all about me…sigh.} I do really try to pass on the love when someone really wows me in the customer service department; it’s so rare these days, but even then, this chick was exceptional.
I learned early on that getting briolettes cheaply means that a third or more of them will be drilled improperly, and unusable; so, even though I pay a few dollars more, it means that I’ll get to use everything I get, without waste. You should see me raising my pliers in joyous praise of well-drilled ruby briolletes. {Side note: Rubies? Not what you want to end up wasting.}
Oh, and go listen to “Television” by Peggy Sue & The Pirates. It’s so cute! {Triplets of Belleville cute.}
