Seven Things Making Me Smile

It is hard to believe it, but it has been nearly two years since I did a Seven Things Making Me Smile update! And, honestly, there have been more things of late that I have caused me to frown instead of smile  (ice dams wreck havoc inside my house, basically having a severe allergic reaction to winter...I kid you not), but I still have a lot to be grateful for, and it is always good to make a list of the positives when feeling overwhelmed by the negatives. 

1. Breville Smart Oven Convection Toaster Oven: This was one of the best purchases I made since moving into my house. America's Test Kitchen voted this the best toaster oven you could buy; that was good enough endorsement for me. And, boy, were they right. Not only does this make perfect toast, but it is great for baking, broiling, and reheating meals. In the past, I have complained about how annoying it can be cooking for one, but this makes it less of a drama. (I have been making delicious, crispy meatloaf in this little guy.) And it made hosting Christmas easy too, because I was able to roast the root vegetables in the toaster oven while the roast beef cooked in the main oven. It isn't cheap (retailing around $250), but I got mine at Bed Bath and Beyond and was able to use a coupon towards it. I found out my friend MEM had one too, and she loves hers just as much as I love mine.  (I have had only one disappointment with the oven. I baked a cake in it because I didn't want to heat up my whole kitchen, and the cake was harder than I would have liked. The cake wasn't dry, just the top was hard, making it difficult to cut. Next time, I would wait and bake the cake in the full size oven. But that's my only complaint.)

2. Ticonderoga #2 pencils: I don't know what it is about a pencil, but nine times out of ten you will catch me writing with one of these instead of a pen. It isn't to say that I don't have nice pens or that I am not a fan of pens (shout out to the Sharpie pen), but there is something about a Ticonderoga #2 pencil that makes it my "go to" writing implement, especially at the office.  (One thing I am not a fan of though is those clicky refillable mechanical pencils. The nib is too thin, and the point breaks WAY too easily for my liking. They do have pretty good erasers though, but the eraser is only part of the pencil.)
 

image from GoodReads.com

3. Game of Thrones: the books AND the show. Dracarys!! It was so exciting to have the show start up again, which is perfect timing for me because I *just* finished reading A Dance with Dragons, which means that I am completely caught up with all the books. And the tv show has just gotten to the really good part of A Storm of Swords, and I can't wait to see how they interpret it all for the show! Of course, now this means that I am in the same boat as all the old school fans; we have to wait for the release of the next book...in 2015. GAH! I am seriously NOT GOOD at waiting. I have a hard enough time waiting until next Sunday for a new episode of the show. Until then I guess I am just going to have to read fan speculation on how things are going to turn out. (And I totally have a theory about Jon Snow's mother...)

image from Spin.com

4. Neko Case:  Have you ever been totally into something (in my case, music) and then not been really interested in it for a while (or at least you haven't liked anyone new in the last ten years) and then something happens and you are totally into it again? I heard one of Neko Case's songs ("I Wish I Was the Moon") in an episode of "True Blood" (I have spent the last two years watching all the HBO shows I didn't watch because I didn't have HBO when I lived in Boston), downloaded the album the song was on, and was immediately hooked. I have pretty much worn out her newest album, The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You, listening to it in the car.  Her music is totally a "sitting on the porch after work, drinking a beer, having a smoke (if you do that anymore), watching as the sun go down and the light fades away while debating to have another beer or actually make dinner" kind of sound. It's also pretty good soundtrack for Friday nights after work drinking cocktails and eating cheese in front of the fireplace.

image from Vinted.com

5. Infinity scarves: My sisters gave me two of these for my recent birthday and I love them. They bought them from Charming Charlie, which is COMPLETELY different from This Charming Charlie. (Initially I was VERY confused about that.) One of them is red with a pink paisley pattern while the other is covered in little blue whales! (I love whales!! They are so very preppy. And Hartford Whalers-y.) ANYHOO, these scarves are great because you can just throw one over your head, loop it around once, and take your outfit from "meh" to "looking good!" (This is a true story BTW - happened last week at work. Took an outfit from being really plain and simple to professional. And I got LOADS of compliments on the scarf.)

image from Kohls.com

6. New slippers: I had my old pair of slippers for a ridiculously long time and had pretty much worn (and washed) them into a state of "who are we really kidding anymore?" So I junked them around MLK day, and I picked up a new pair of Isotoner microterry/satin slippers on sale at Lord & Taylor (although next time, I am just going to try Kohl's - looks like they have better selection.) They are really soft and warm without being too hot and even give your foot a bit of support. They are super comfortable, which is a good thing when you are barely awake, staggering around your kitchen trying to make coffee or if you decide to spent the whole day in your pajamas, as you do sometimes. Comfy slippers are hard to come by, and I really like these.

image from GoodReads.com

7.  Fannie Flagg books: I love Fannie Flagg's books. All of them. From Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe to Standing in the Rainbow to her newest The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion. I can't decide if it is because her characters tend to be genuinely nice people, or the fact that the stories are all set in the South and I really love reading about the South, or the fact that she can have you laughing, then crying, and then laughing again all in one page. It might also be the nostalgia for a simpler/better time: when communities were close knit and everyone knew their neighbors, when they sat on the front porch listening to the radio and drinking lemonade on a summer night, when kids could ride their bicycles all over town without having to worry about getting hurt or kidnapped or worse. Not saying that the books don't have conflict, because a good book needs conflict, but these novels make you feel really good. Sometimes I really need to take a break from the mysteries, 19th century novels, and fantasy that fills up a large portion of my "to read" pile and just read a simple, feel-good book. And when I do, I read Fannie Flagg.

Speaking of knowing your neighbors, I just want to give a shout out to my next door neighbor: MJB. She will never read this and even if she did, I don't think she'd know I was speaking about her, but honest to God, I don't think that I could have asked for a nicer next-door neighbor if I tried. So despite the ice dams and the other unexpected home-ownership related drama, I really lucked out in the neighbor department, and that totally makes me smile!!!!

Seven Things Making Me Smile

I think that it is about time for another Seven Things Making Me Smile installment. 

1. It is summer here in New England (not that weird excuse for spring that was masquerading as summer.) My all-time favorite, quintessential summer smell: boxwood hedges that have been warmed by the sun. Even better, freshly trimmed warm boxwoods. Delicious. That is a smell that has stopped me in my tracks and reminds me of childhood summer vacations spent at Colonial Williamsburg.

Image from iwatchstuff.com

2. On Monday mornings, it is so fun to see all the other red envelopes in the work mailbox going back to Netflix and wondering what those people watched. (Most recently, I watched War Horse. I had a hard time getting past the part with Cumberbatch and Hiddleston; the dvd kept replaying that bit over and over and over again! I wonder why that happened... ;-) But seriously, really great film. Almost wish I had seen it in the theater, but I think that the breaks I took in watching the film prevented me from becoming a blubbering mess by the end.)

3. Since my move, the majority of my stuff is in storage. (As Sister K said, "Take only what you need to survive." Little did she know...) I seriously miss my stuff, but as I am crashing with family "FOR FREE" until I find a permanent home, I am trying not to bring up missing my stuff too often. But I was seriously missing my latte bowls from Anthropologie. I have about 10 of them in different colors (lots of shades of pink and blue) that I used all the time. Soup, cereal, ice cream, popcorn, pasta: you name it, it was likely that I was eating it in one of these bowls, which are both microwave AND dishwasher friendly. (Seriously, what's not to love? And at $5 per bowl, pretty reasonable.) I found out the other day that the West Farms Mall now has an Anthropologie. I walked right in there and bought two, so now I have an even dozen. Their cheerful colors are a great way to start the day with your coffee and Cheerios.

4. Living with my parents (temporarily!! ever so temporarily!!) means that I have access to my mom's extensive library of mystery novels. A newer series that she recommended are the Three Pines mysteries by Louise Penny, and she was right: I totally love these books! The stories are set in Quebec, in a small community on the Canadian/American border. The community, Three Pines, also straddles the line between the Anglo and Franco cultural lifestyles that people live in Quebec, and I find that "hook" fascinating. Some characters are distinctly French, while others are very English, and there is even a token American in the group!  The writing style of the mysteries is not your standard fare. There are lots of little things that are alluded to (and not expanded upon) that you learn more about as you read the series, and the big exposé of the murderer breaks from your traditional mystery novel reveal. (It frustrates my friend MEM, but she still likes the stories enough to continue listening to them on audiobook!)  I am currently 100 pages into the third book and I have five more left to go before I am all caught up. (Well, that will take me to the end of July; then I will have to find another set of mysteries to read!)

Image from luxuryhousingtrends.com/

5.  It is finally cherry season! I love eating ripe cherries this time of year, but I seriously hate dealing with the pits inside the cherries. I end up with juice all over myself (fingers, face, and clothes. Boo!) Recently, I found out that Oxo makes a cherry pitter (it also pits olives, but I don't care for olives), and I bought one on Amazon for around $10. When it first arrived, no one could figure out what it was, but when I told them, I got teased BIG TIME about buying a cherry pitter. ("A fool and his money are soon parted" and all that...) I ignored it and looked forward to making the naysayers eat their words. Flash forward to last night, when I made dinner with a fruit salad for dessert with fresh cherries in it. It was a big hit! The tart cherries really add something, and I think that we will be seeing more fresh cherry recipes on my night to cook in the future. (I saved a recipe for cherry pie from the paper. Don't know if I am ready for that level of baking just yet, but I may surprise them!)

6.  I have found the best summer sweater ever, and it is the LL Bean fine-gauge, button-front cardigan! The summer can be tricky on the professional wardrobe front: you want to wear something that you can still keep cool outdoors, but you don't want to freeze in an air conditioned office. (Mine was downright frigid this week, while outside temps reached 101°F. Nightmare!) I picked up a couple of these soft cotton sweaters at the start of the summer, and they have been terrific! They can both dress up or dress down an outfit; it's totally appropriate to throw one over a tee shirt or a sundress and look great. The cotton is super soft, but holds its shape well. The only downside is that you can wash them in the washing machine, but you have to block dry them. (I accidentally put my black one in the dryer and the sleeves shrank slightly, which is actually okay with me because I like bracelet-length sleeves.)  But my two dark sweaters have both been washed several times, and they seem to be keeping their color rather well (knock on wood.) They are on sale right now, so you should get yours while the summer colors are still available.

7. I can't think of a better way to beat the heat than one of Edy's/Dreyer's Fruit Bars. They come in all kinds of tasty flavors, from your traditional strawberry, orange, and lime to more exotic ones like coconut, mango, and acai blueberry. My personal favorite at the moment is the pomegranate, which is a nice balance of tart and sweet. These popsicles are made with real fruit, and the small ones only have 50 calories. A totally guilt-free treat on a 100°F day!


So these are some of the things that are brightening my days of late. I am sure there will be more to add as the year progresses!



Please note: these are all my own opinions; I have not been compensated in any way for recommending any products, etc. etc.

Team Bates!! 4Evah!!

A friend who knows that I am a huge Downton Abbey fan sent me this picture:

I NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED this tee shirt! (I wish I knew where she found this image/who is selling this shirt.)

Seven Things Making Me Smile

So it has been quite a bit of time since the last Seven Things Making Me Smile installment. I feel like this is a very good way to start off the new year!

1. Jean over at Delightful Repast has an out of this world recipe for fruit scones over at her blog; I highly recommend it. I make no bones about not being the most enthusiastic cook/baker on the planet, but I have made the recipe three times in the last month! (Here's a photo of the ones I made this morning.) These scones are easy and delicious! (The standout ingredient is the fresh orange zest.) "Mmm, delicious, thank you!"©

2. After waiting for what seemed like forever, the second series of "Downton Abbey" is back on Masterpiece Classic ! Hooray!! It's so exciting to catch up with the Crawleys after a whole year of missing them. After watching the first episodes, I am really hoping that things will work out for my favorite couple from downstairs, Anna and Mr. Bates, and the evil Mrs. Bates (who can give O'Brien and Thomas a run for the money in the being nasty department) ends up being divorced/defeated/sent back to the gates of hell. The Dowager Countess continues to have the most fabulous one liners. Of course, I am still "shipping" Mary/Matthew and Sybil/Branson, while pouty Lady Edith can go suck an egg. Not forgetting all the great people downstairs: Mr. Carson, Mrs. Hughes, William, Daisy, and Mrs. Patmore. Love this show; it is definitely "appointment television"!

3. I heard recently that over the last 18 months, 18 new restaurants have opened in Kendall Square. My new favorite after work spot is Area Four. I highly recommend their take on both the Sazerac and the Dark & Stormy cocktails, the bacon & sea salt pretzel nuggets, the mac & cheese, and the meatball pizza. The ambiance is very chil-laxed and the waitstaff is young and friendly. Since going the first time back at the end of November, I have been there at least a half dozen times and keep bringing new people with me.

4. I suffer from dry, weak, and peeling finger nails; it's been a problem for me all my life. (The worst is when they rip right at the quick.) I have tried so many different kinds of strengtheners, polishes, and regimes to remedy this, but nothing has really worked all that well. I was at the beauty supply shop in Coolidge Corner, and the ladies there recommended Duri "Rejuvacote". I started using it about two weeks ago, and it is working brilliantly. I don't think that it is making my nails grow any faster, but they are certainly stronger than they have been.

5. The Banana Republic Cashmere Wrap. Best scarf ever!! If you don't have one already, you will have to wait until next fall to buy one because they are all sold out, but these puppies are SOOO worth the $98 investment (to be fair: I have purchased most of mine using BR Rewards and taking advantage of sales). I have them in a bunch of different colors (black, oatmeal, pink, gray, red) and wear one just about every day. They can both dress up and dress down an outfit and are great for work (especially for my office which gets freezing in the afternoon once the sun goes down).

6. I used to drink Oregon Chai all of the time, and I was recently reminded of how much I loved it. It actually is the perfect thing to have right before bedtime. I don't know if it is the warm milk or the ritual, but it has helped a bit with my insomnia issues, and anything that can do that is most welcome.

7. My local PBS station WGBH has a second channel (WGBX), and now on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights they are now exclusively running British programs. Mondays are "Ashes to Ashes", "Hustle", and "MI-5" ("Spooks"); Tuesdays are Masterpiece reruns ("Downton Abbey") while Wednesdays are "Larkrise to Candleford", "Doc Martin", and "Waking the Dead". I bet you are surprised I actually have any time to do anything OTHER than watch tv, right? (And it's great because they show the shows without edits and without commercials.)

So these are some of the things that are brightening my days of late. I am sure there will be more to add as the year progresses!



Please note: these are all my own opinions; I have not been compensated in any way for recommending any products, etc. etc. All images are from the sites referred to and linked.

Seven Things Making Me Smile

This summer has gotten off to a bit of a rocky start for me: a month ago (after a crazy two week combination of stress and no sleep), I came down with labyrinthitis, which has put a bit of a damper on my fun. Even though I still have a few symptoms, I am feeling better, and I am trying to be positive about getting healthy (2011 was supposed to be the year of being healthy). As I work on counting my blessings, here is a summer installment in my "Seven Things Making Me Smile" series.

1. If you live in New England, you know how humid things can get in the summer. I have been using up scads of dusting powder in trying to make my face look a little less "dewy" (read: sweaty) before going into work. I recently have switched to Bare Escentuals Mineral Veil. This stuff is a miracle worker: tames the moisture without drying, doesn't rub off on your clothes, and has SPF. I am very "pro". Nice thing too: Bare Escentuals has recently (at least it is recent to me) improved their packaging so that powder doesn't get all over the place the way it did years ago (which is the big thing that had put me off their products.)

2. I usually think of rum in two contexts: 1. fruity, girlie cocktails that go down too fast and then hit you too hard; and 2. pirates (gotta love pirates). However, this summer has become my "summer of rum" because I have really been enjoying both "Dark 'n' Stormy"s and rum and tonics. Neither of these is overly sweet, and both are very refreshing on a hot summer day. (Of course, I am still drinking Pimm's Cups and Bellinis; those will always be summer classics.) Rum had been out of my cocktail rotation for a long time; I really am pleasantly surprised at how much I am loving have it back! "Mmm, delicious, thank you!"©

3. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 is coming out this weekend. Of course, I will be attending in the near future ... with bulk amounts of tissues in hand. I will never forget the day that the book came out. I went down to Brookline Booksmith in Coolidge Corner at 8:30am on Saturday morning and waited in a queue of about 12 people, which had swelled to more than twice that by the time it opened at 9am. I grabbed my copy, drove home, and began reading, stopping really only to text status updates to MEM, who has done something very similar. When I finished by 7:30pm that evening, I was a wreck, but it was a WONDERFUL story. I hope the film will be equally good. (It is getting good reviews all around.)

4. The Museum of Art at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) is currently holding an exhibition called, "Cocktail Culture: Ritual and Invention in American Fashion, 1920–1980, which I am planning to attend this weekend. My friend RJ saw it a couple of weeks ago and gave it the thumbs up. (Note: the exhibit closes at the end of July so plan accordingly if you think you might want to see this.) According to the fact sheet provided by the museum, the exhibit is arranged around themes, including: mixed company, urban nightlife, travel, day for night, and international set/club culture. I am most looking forward to the stuff from the 1920s-1940s; I love those cultural eras in history.

5. I am growing my (thick) hair out. In the summer. Which, as I mentioned above, is quite humid and for the last week has been quite hot. I am totally in love with these Goody brand "Ouchless" headbands that I bought a couple weeks ago. They keep my hair off my face and off my neck and are super cute. (The ones I bought are sparkly and look like rickrack, but they have them in all kinds of styles.) They are extremely comfortable; I wore one all day today, only adjusting it once or twice. (I also recommend the Goody "Ouchless" elastics for when you throw your hair up in a ponytail or a bun.)

6. They say that one way to manage seasonal allergies is to build up a tolerance by eating local honey. As bees don't harvest pollen more than 3 miles from their hive, you will be eating (manageable amounts of) the very pollen that causes the itchy eyes, runny noses, and sore throats. My aunties first introduced me to Bee Raw Honey a little while ago, and I seriously cannot get enough of the Maine wild raspberry honey. The flavor is just heavenly; store brand honey cannot begin to compete. I spoon it in tea, drizzle it over my yogurt and berries, and add it to my oatmeal (a practice I picked up in Ireland). (...I may have been guilty of eating it straight out of the jar too...) I recently purchased the orange blossom honey, the buckwheat honey, and the wild Maine blueberry honey in an attempt to broaden my honey horizons. They look like they will not disappoint and should arrive next week!!

7. When I was in junior high and in high school, I loved Treetorn sneakers with their preppy tennis look that also managed to be supportive and comfortable. I probably had at least 10 pairs in my adolescence - all in different colors: blue, pink, and multiple plaids. They started to become harder to find in the stores by the time I was in college, and by that point, I had transitioned to wearing Converse Chuck Taylors (because that was what the cool kids did). Recently, I had been looking for tennis shoes to wear in the summer that were more feminine than the Chucks, and I was delighted to see Treetorns for sale on Zappos.com and scooped them right up. (Nostalgia is great like that, isn't it?) While these are not of the same quality as old Treetorns (the terry cloth lining is missing and the canvas is thinner), the look is still the same, and that is what I wanted anyhow. They still are very comfortable, but less supportive, kind of like my Chucks actually.

So these are some of the things that are brightening my days this summer. I am sure there will be more to add as the season progresses!



Please note: these are all my own opinions; I have not been compensated in any way for recommending any products, etc. etc. All images are from the sites referred to and linked.

Seven Things Making Me Smile

It has been ages since I lasted posted a "seven things" entry. This doesn't mean that there haven't been things out there that I am loving, so without further ado:

Because "TV is my other boyfriend", I have to first praise Foyle's War, which I am watching all the way from the beginning, thanks to Netflix. For some silly reason, I missed the first four series of this show when they were shown on "Mystery!", but I am now making up for that. The acting and writing are superb, and I am very much drawn to the overarching theme of how Britain policed itself while under constant threat of invasion. Detective Chief Superintendent Christopher Foyle manages to find himself in various situations which, in a time of war, have become morally ambiguous, but he manages to hold on to his values. Sometimes he gets his man, and sometimes he doesn't, but it isn't for lack of trying.

The new styles at Talbots, which has been a favorite of mine for clothes since... well, let's just put it this way, I am a Connecticut prep from a long line of Connecticut preps. They have really gotten a handle on combining classic style with a modern fit. I got a great new blazer for work on sale there last week, and I love it. It is conservative without being dowdy, and it fits well.

I am loving the fact that the Queen (Elizabeth II) is on Facebook. I really enjoy looking at her hats and jewels and such. (Yes, I friended her that very first week.)

A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols by King's College Choir, Cambridge. When I was in college, the choir, of which I was a member, always put on a "Lesson and Carols" concert of our own. Our choral director worked very hard to get our diction to be as crisp as the King's College Choir. Listening to this recording, you can tell that they certainly set the bar VERY high.

More TV happiness: the new schedule of Masterpiece Classic has been announced, and I haven't been this excited about Sunday night television since the year of Jane Austen!! The season starts with "Downton Abbey", starring the great Hugh Bonneville, Maggie Smith, Brendan Coyle, Penelope Wilton ("we know who you are!!"), Jim Carter, Phyllis Logan (Lady Jane from Lovejoy!!!) and so many other great actors; followed by "Any Human Heart", reuniting "Pillars of the Earth" co-stars Matthew Macfadyen and Hayley Atwell; and THEN the new "Upstairs, Downstairs" with Jean Marsh, Keeley Hawes, Art Malik (!!!) and Eileen Atkins!!!! I am seriously WAY too excited about this winter's PBS lineup. Be still my Brit TV loving heart!! (In the meantime, BBC America continues to have an identity crisis, thinking it is either ScyFy or the Food Network.) Thank goodness for WGBH and Masterpiece!

There is nothing like curling up on the sofa on a sleepy weekend afternoon with a Brookstone n*a*p blanket. Mine is a dark blue and is sooo soft and sooo cosy. I am thinking of getting a queen size one for my bed!

Speaking of my Brit loving heart, I am SOO excited about the royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. I marked the day down on the office calendar as a day that I will NOT be in, and I told some friends that if they wanted to get up at 4am to watch the coverage at my house and drink champagne, they were welcome to. (I wonder if anyone is really going to take me up on the offer. I will be wearing my pajamas and a hat.) I remember watching Charles and Diana's wedding back in the day and being enchanted by the pomp of it all. It will be especially fun to watch this one since I have BEEN to London.

Which leads me to a random aside: I have had the experience recently that people are surprised that I know as much about London as I do. Occasionally I am asked if I lived there or spent my junior year abroad there (no and no). Someone asked me the question recently, and, being caught off guard, I answered: "I read a lot" (DOH!), which I then had to elaborate on, further embarrassing myself in the process. I would love to have a better answer to this question other than "I am an Anglophile", which, while being the truth, makes me feel like I am stalking a nation. Any ideas out there, fellow Anglo lovers?

Frankly Scarlet, I do give a damn!

First off, congratulations to Lisa E and Diana who each won the North 26 super coupons! YAY!! I will be in touch to get them to you. I still have two more left, so if you like FREE STUFF, go and post a comment on the contest entry. You can't win if you don't play, like they say.

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I have made no secret about the fact that I am a pocketbook fanatic: some people go crazy for shoes; I yearn for handbags. About ten years or so ago, my Aunt K made a gift of Vera Bradley bags to my mom and Sister K for their birthdays and wondered if I would like one for Christmas. I was decidedly against it, declaring that they were nice enough, but not for me, for people of her generation. Fast forward to today when I adore Vera Bradley.

In my defense, those early VB bags were in rather neutral patterns and had no pockets (something I find ESSENTIAL in a purse or tote.) Now they are in bolder colors and busy patterns and have lots of pockets and even key clips. I love that VB is keeping things fresh by coming up with new patterns and styles every season. So, yes, I had to eat my own words about Vera Bradley, and the irony of the whole thing is that I usually end up acquiring more VB bits and bobbles when I am down on the Cape visiting my aunt. (She loves to remind me that they are for people of her generation.)

My absolute favorite pattern is Frankly Scarlet, which is a bold shade of red with medallions in pink, black, white, and a wee bit of purple. I noticed it shortly after it was released and fell in love, not only with the name (LOVE GWTW), but with the cool combination of red, pink and black. Before this pattern came out, I was a pattern dabbler, getting things in this and that color, but not settling on any one thing. I espoused the idea it was better not to have everything be so "matchy matchy", but I think that the reality was that I couldn't settle on one thing. But Frankly Scarlet was different, and I knew that I had finally found my pattern. Now I just needed to go about pulling together a collection of traveling bags.

Now the downside to VB introducing new patterns all the time is that they retire old ones, and, to my initial great disappointment, FS was discontinued last year. However, the upside to having a retired pattern be "your pattern" is that all of the items in that pattern go on sale! You know what that means? Let the hording begin!! Before it was discontinued, I had three pieces in VB's Frankly Scarlet (the "Overnighter", a makeup bag and a wristlet). (As the bags aren't cheap, I thought that was a fairly good sized collection.) Since then have managed to track down a duffel bag, 2 totes, 3 makeup bags (of varying sizes), and a wallet, each of which was about half of the original price - which just makes thing. My friend Maggie, who shares my love of all things Vera, made me a gift of a key fob in the pattern too. At last, I can say, "my collection is complete."

The moral of this tale is that sometimes it is okay when things you love get discontinued. And that matching luggage is quite the thing.

Seven Things Making Me Smile

 I turned on the television tonight, and The Big Chill was on. When I realized that the characters in this film are supposed to be the same age that I am now, I had to go pour myself a glass of chardonnay. Yikes! I feel like people in their 30s a generation ago were a lot older than my friends and I who are in our 30s now. And it isn't just that we moisturize more. Gen Xers just seem younger than the Boomer generation; we never are in any rush to be "grown up".

Anyhow, before my train of thought was so rudely interrupted by an extremely dated film (with a kick ass soundtrack), I was going to post seven things making me smile. So back to our regularly scheduled posting and dismissing all thoughts of terrible things like growing up; here is my list.

1. LL Bean Stretch Double L Polos have become my "go to" shirts for the summer. They are casual enough for hanging out after a day at the beach and yet are suitable enough for summer business casual at work. I have about 8 of them in different shades, mostly pinks and blues.
2. So several months ago, I started watching "Arrested Development" and had a nightmare that George-Michael Bluth was stalking me. Fast forward to today, where I kind of have a little crush on his portrayer, Michael Cera. If he were only ten years older, or if I were ten years younger... Actually, I like the latter scenario better than the former.
3. I had gotten really irritated with my magazine subscriptions and let them run out: Entertainment Weekly had changed their format and was too "Twilight" and "American Idol" focused for my liking; InStyle kept recommending clothes out of my budget and designed for rail thin models; and Martha Stewart was making me feel inferior for not making my own stock, clothes, and growing all my own food. So, I was done with magazines. Until I got a notice for Britain magazine. It is like it was written for me. Great photos and features on different locales; it has already given me some great ideas for my next trip!
4. New favorite sandwich, inspired by a trip to the beach with MMH: Genoa salami, arugula, American cheese, on a roll lightly drizzled with extra virgin olive oil. It is like eating beef carpaccio in a sandwich. (If you want, you can toss the arugula in a little bit of lemon juice beforehand too.) A couple of twists of fresh ground pepper, and you are done. SO GOOD!!
5. Joe Hisaishi's score to Spirited Away. I have loved this film for years now (this and Howl's Moving Castle are two of the most imaginative animated films I have seen in my life), but listening to the score on its own is just beautiful. It is something that I especially like to listen to after work on a summer's day with the windows open and the warm breeze blowing.
6. I have been seeing great results from Crest 3D White Advanced Vivid Toothpaste. Even though the dentist said that my teeth were pretty high on the white spectrum, with everyone and their brother bleaching their teeth, mine still felt kind of yellow. I have noticed a significant whitening from brushing twice a day for two and a half weeks, and, despite the fact that I have super sensitive teeth, I haven't experienced discomfort. I didn't think that I would feel this way, but I do feel more confident about my smile knowing it is whiter. (Oh, dear God, I sound like an infomercial.)
7. Last summer, I read the entirety of Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising series. As the books are really well written and mainly for a young adult audience, I read all five books in under 10 days. This summer, I am listening to them all on audio book. Four of the five books are read by Alex Jennings, who is best known to me as the Reverend Hutton on "Cranford". I love listening to him read, and he "does" all of the voices really well. (Even though their are several young English boys in the books, each one has a very distinctive voice on the recording.) I find that listening to these books has a much better pacing for the telling of the story than the devouring way in which I read them last summer. (I like to know what is going to HAPPEN.) I definitely have gained a fuller appreciation of Cooper's use of language, as well as getting a chance to enjoy the overarching story all over again.

So these are a few of the things making me feel good. Hopefully you have got some good ones this summer too!

It's like a tonic; the kind without the gin

Yesterday, I was feeling rather disappointed and disheartened by the results of the senate election here in Massachusetts. (In case you haven't picked up on this, I am a true blue Democrat so Scott Brown's victory was a defeat of the worst kind.) Fortunately, JR and I had plans to go see Young Victoria at Kendall Square Cinema. (We were supposed to go another day, but had to reschedule.) It was funny how short a time it took, immersed in the world of 19th century English monarchy, for me to feel infinitely better. The costumes, the sets, the story was so removed from post-election blues 21st century New England winter.

I liked the film. It is a beautiful period piece. Unlike the film Elizabeth, this film is less about becoming a queen at a young age and more about the courtship between Victoria and Albert. It isn't particularly complicated, and, with a running time of less than two hours, it doesn't really delve too deeply into the politics of the time. Unfortunately, because of that, I think that it doesn't give the most accurate impression of either the people or events that it portrayed. JR and I had a mini history review while we were waiting in line for me to pay for my parking. If you want to watch a more historically accurate film about the young Queen Victoria, I would recommend the mini-series "Victoria and Albert" with Victoria Hamilton and Jonathan Firth in the leads. The historical inaccuracies didn't stop the film from being delightful, especially any time Emily Blunt showed up in a new frock. (Plus, I spied the cameo appearances by Princess Beatrice as one of Queen Victoria's [her real life great, great, great grandmother] ladies.)

For me, the best part of the film was Rupert Friend as Prince Albert. The more I see of him as an actor, the more I appreciate that there is real substance there, and he has the ability to handle both period and contemporary roles, which isn't easy (I am thinking of you, Winona Ryder.) From the reading I have done, Prince Albert seemed to be a very thoughtful and capable person with a lot of common sense, discipline, and good manners, and Rupert Friend conveyed all of that.

When I got home, I wanted to stick in that lovely period drama world, but knew that I needed a little bit of a reality dose, so I watched about a half hour of "Lost in Austen" before going to bed where I fell asleep promptly and had no troubling dreams and woke up on time. Clearly, a dose of British costume drama was just what I needed to beat back the wintertime blues.

Golden hour

I love watching the television and movie awards shows on television, and tonight's Golden Globes ceremony was no exception. It is wonderful to see the ladies in their gorgeous dresses and shoes and gems and the men decked out in their tuxedos. The glamour and appeal of Hollywood is never as evident it is during the awards' show season. It is also exciting to celebrate the wonderful films and television shows, and root for the performances that I enjoyed over the past year.

I was really excited that both "Glee" and my boy Robert Downey, Jr. took home awards. I was disappointed that Carey Mulligan didn't win for An Education, but I loved her sparkly headband, and Sally Hawkins looked awesome with her short haircut and her mod dress. (Also, boo hoo for "Little Dorrit".) Kate Winslet, who is by far my favorite actress (and has been so since she won my heart in Sense and Sensibility after punching me in the gut in Heavenly Creatures), looked absolutely stunning. I was also pleased that Up won for best animated feature and score (it was such a sweet film), although I really wanted the darker Coraline to take home the prize (and I can't believe that Coraline's score was overlooked - it was awesome!) [I have no opinion about Avatar. I am not interested in seeing it in the theater; maybe I will rent it when it comes out on dvd.]

However, I found myself growing irritated with the rush to get done that seemed to be coming from the audience, not the producers. (Maybe it was the alcohol.) You could hear this constant din during the presentations and the speeches, even though the presenters most likely had isolation microphones. In retrospect, I think that it is crummy that the celebrity audience at the Golden Globes wanted the show to be over and to get the hell out of there when all they are doing is giving themselves a pat on the back in fabulous clothes and eating and drinking free stuff. I can understand that they are interested in getting to the parties and what not, but as someone who enjoys the escapism of the awards shows, it would be nice if the audience felt like the participants actually "bought in" to being there.

I have to give props to George Clooney, who is organizing a big telethon for Haiti relief. He should have gotten a standing ovation from the crowd for that. I was pleased that a number of people mentioned the people of Haiti and were supporting the relief effort. (I gave some money to Jesuit Relief in the second collection at Mass today.) As much as I appreciate the escapism of the award shows, I would much rather see these folks throw their star power behind a good cause like the relief work. I hope that the telethon raises a lot of money. I know that many people in America are hurting right now financially, but, if there is one thing that we Americans are really good at, it is pitching in to help the less fortunate.

Boots are a good thing

On cold days like the ones we have had this week, I am very pleased that I made the decision at the start of 2009 to invest in a pair of Uggs. I still think that they look rather silly, but when my toes are toasty warm in weather that feels like it is below 0 F, I don't care. It isn't a fashion statement; it is all about the warmth.

Now the new pair of green Hunter Wellies that I received for Christmas are ALL about the fashion... and the Anglophilia.

Bring on the clothes

Last week, JR and I went to see Coco avant Chanel at the Kendall Square Cinema. I was really inspired by Chanel's style, as portrayed on the screen by Audrey Tautou, so I purchased a long string of fake pearls which I have been wearing doubled up and a pair of fake pearl set in silver clip-on earrings (which I have to take off when I use the phone which makes me feel like I am in a movie from the 1940s or 50s.)

While the movie was good, it wasn't great (although it reminded me a lot of La môme, which I liked a lot), but it certainly inspired me to take a look at the classic Chanel style and embrace some of its signature pieces (while I flat out reject Karl Lagerfeld and his comments about thin models.)

Future's so bright, I gotta wear shades

I loved the sunglasses that Michelle Ryan is wearing in photos for the new Doctor Who episode, "Planet of the Dead". I wonder where I can find me some.

My brains are going into my feet

Dear mother of God, there were creamy buttermilk ranch potato chips (kettle style) in my bag o'lunch from our event today. I didn’t know such things existed. I wonder if you can buy them in bulk?

Also, three of my favorite people hung out today (HOORAY!!!):

(Prince Philip was there too, but he's a snooze.) Look at Michelle and the Queen rockin' the pearls. Nobody smiles like Barack. When he smiles, I feel better. Michelle is such a stylin' First Lady.

I finally watched Twilight, but I didn't find it as entertaining (crackolicious) as the books. However, if you listen to the audio commentary, you will soon realize that RPattz is crackolicious (and possibly just cracked.) At one point, he totally started babbling about something, and the director ended up channeling Joan Cusack, straight out of Sixteen Candles: "uh, yeah, Rob". He also started talking about things he loved that aren't actually in the movie. WTH? I laughed and laughed. I also came to the conclusion that Twilight isn't as good if you aren't snarking it. I may have been spoiled by the excellent Cleolinda, who also makes me laugh and laugh. She does the TwiSnark so well.

Looking Good & Feeling Good

I stopped eating desserts at the beginning of September and have managed to avoid them (with the exception of Christmas Day which was OUT OF CONTROL) since then. I have lost and kept off 15 pounds (at last check), and, more importantly, I feel SO MUCH BETTER. I had no idea how much sugar I was putting into my body. Good grief! Now when I have a coffee or iced tea with a real sugar or a glass of wine, I start to feel the sugar rush right away, and I notice a marked difference in my behavior. SPAZ! I don't like it nearly as much as I used to. Caffeine is good; sugar is decidedly not.

The other upside to the weight loss (besides feeling better) is being able to access a portion of my wardrobe that I haven't been able to wear in quite a while. Today, I was able to wear my kicking BR black flared skirt (much like the one Trinny is wearing here.) I haven't been able to wear this skirt and have it look nice in a couple of years. I wasn't sure that it was going to fit, but I tried it on on the off chance that it would,and it did. HOORAY!! And it looks kicking with my stretchy high heeled boots and teal long sleeve, cowl neck tee. Knowing that I look good in what I am wearing has a really positive effect on my overall disposition - I am much more upbeat today than the weather would normally have me be.

My incredibly shrinking hair

I have very thick, very straight hair and after growing it for most of the summer and fall, it had gotten ridiculously long by Christmastime.


I liked the way it looked during the winter, provided I took the time to style or curl it every day. By springtime though and early summer, the humidity and the weight of my hair made that a problem, so I had 2.5 inches taken off the bottom so that it hit my shoulders.


Two weeks ago, I could no longer stand the horror that my hair had become so another 2 inches were taken off the length and I was left with hair just below my chin. And I am one happy camper!!

In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate...

Last Wednesday, I was called to Boston Superior Court for jury duty. I got there just after 8am, having been kept up a significant portion of the evening by people in the streets celebrating the Celtics victory (I was happy, but annoyed at the same time.) I brought an Agatha Christie novel (about as close to crime as I like to get) and hoped that my number would not be called to be empaneled. As luck would have it, I missed out on being empaneled on the first two juries called, and the last three cases settled. The last one to settle was a criminal case that would have required 90 jurors; what did those guys do? I am glad they took the plea; it was all very "Law & Order."

Anyhow, when we were finally done for the day, I took the opportunity to grab a bite to eat in Quincy Market, and then walked over to Talbots in Downtown Crossing, where I picked up a tee shirt to replace one I had ruined earlier in the week. (They had some really nice, high quality, keep their shape, bright colored tee shirts at Talbots, on sale!)

I was dressed that day somewhat like a Talbots' advertisement. I had on a floral long sleeved blouse, a pair of cuffed navy slacks, brown boots, a white cardigan tied around my shoulders, and I was wearing my pearls and pearl earrings. Needless to say, I was the most conservatively dressed person at jury duty, which consisted mostly of people wearing either tee shirts and jeans or shorts or capris. One lady was wearing a suit, but it wasn't a conservative one. I was also carrying my summer Coach purse. (Thanks, overtime!)

As I headed for the Park Street T station, I heard someone calling my name. I turned around and spied my friend Sauce, who was with two of his lawyer colleagues. I had tried calling him earlier on one of the jury duty breaks to see if he had wanted to meet me for lunch, but I had gotten his voice mail instead. Sauce took one look at my outfit and realized that it must have been my day for jury duty service. "You look like you just escaped from the Junior League."

I countered with, "I was thinking more like the Connecticut Ladies Rotary. Please take note of the pearls. Or the Young Republicans." I made a face.

He then observed the Talbots bag hanging loosely over my shoulder. "Is that a prop!?!" he exclaimed, much to my embarrassment. I told him and his colleagues about my run into Talbots, multi-tasking as I was in town. They congratulated me on being released early, and Sauce and I said we would catch up soon. They continued on in the direction of the courthouse, while I headed home to take a much needed nap.

Life, or Something Suspiciously Like Life as I Remember It

I haven't posted anything of real significance in a while, mostly because I have been averaging 50 hour work weeks for the past five weeks. This is the first "normal" week I have had at the office in a while, and I have to admit it is marvellous, although the pace of the past month or so is really starting to catch up with me. There was a LOT of missed sleep, and 10:00pm is becoming my new regular bedtime. I have spent the past few nights at BJs, the grocery store, Target, and, tonight, CVS, replenishing my household stores. There is something so nice, so comforting about having a ready supply of food and laundry products and toiletries rather than replacing the necessities on an ad hoc basis.

I need a haircut. I am basically sporting a mop on my head, which I have to keep pulling off my face in one of the most unflattering ponytails on the planet. It has been two months since my last one, and while the shape of the cut is still really great, the length is too much for my short hair sensibilities. Plus, neither my head nor my profile were made to look good in a ponytail. (And don't even get me started about my inability to be bothered with makeup on a daily basis.)

My parents are in London this week, sans moi. Hopefully, they will do some of the activites I suggested and bring me back the stuff I requested. They are usually pretty good about that stuff so I am not really worried, although I am rather jealous. Right now, it is suppertime in London, or just past tea time, depending on which you have.

It is springtime here in Boston, which means that is is warm and sunny, and it is allergy season. Thank goodness for the lovely processed air in the office. I am using my office for its allergen free air, and I am not ashamed to admit it.

The Niblet (son of Punk Rock Mom) turned 8 at the end of March, and I still hadn't found him a good birthday gift. (I always buy him books.) Fortunately, I recalled a book I had LOVED which I think will really appeal to his imagination: Bob Fulton's Amazing Soda Pop Stretcher. It is about a young boy who invents a formula to turn one soda into fifty, which is a great way for him to save his allowance. Unfortunately, international spies find out about the formula and want to obtain it for their own dasterdly notions! The book has been out of print for a while; fortunately, I was able to locate a pretty good used copy on Amazon.com. It is a bit old for him, but if his mom helps him (as she is known to do,) I think that he will really enjoy it a lot. I love that, while at this point in life I don't have kids of my own to whom I can pass on the wonderful experience of books, I can pass them on to the Niblet and know that he will really enjoy them! (Last year, I got him Dominic by William Steig, and both he and his mom really liked it!)

Maxxed Out

It is pretty commonly held that I have a real problem with using "retail therapy" as a way to compensate for unhappiness in my life. When I first got out of college, I bought sheets. Lots and lots of sheets for my new full bed. Most of these sheets were by Laura Ashley and were bought at full price. (I haven't bought new sheets in years, because I have so many of them now.)

Then I moved on to pajamas: flannel pajamas, silky pajamas, striped pajamas that looked like something a Victorian military officer would wear. Victoria's Secret to Old Navy, you name it; I bought it. (I also can't tell you the last time I bought new pajamas.)

Now, I am fixated on accessories, in particular pocketbooks. I mean purses, handbags in fabric, leather, and nylon. Designer names induce lust, and I spend significant portions of the lunch hour surfing through Kate Spade's and Nordstrom's websites.

So imagine my delight last night at the Natick Mall when I discovered The Maxx, which is basically TJ Maxx for just accessories. It was an Arcadian paradise in the middle of the suburban sprawl. I was in a state of bliss. And I did buy a new purse, which I got for less than half of what the big stores would have asked for it. I saved so much money, I bought myself a wallet to match.

And they say that I don't understand economics.