Sorry I missed the Monday post (after I said I'd post Mondays and Wednesdays!), but was having computer problems last night, so finally I gave up and spent the evening watching History Detectives. So, for today, go check out one of my very favorite sites, Go Fug Yourself for Emmy gown coverage far better than any I could provide (Looks I liked--Heidi Klum, and Sandra Oh's dress but not so much the copious necklaces. Looks I hated--Debra Messing--she looked liked a cake. And Ellen Pompeo).
That's it for now. :)
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Friday, August 25, 2006
Hello Kitty Friday
Today's Hello Kitty goodies:
The HK tombstone
And Hello Kitty Darth Vader
(I'm not entirely sure what these two things have to do with each other, beyond the fact that they are both very, very strange...)
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
At RR today
I'm over at Risky Regencies today, talking about perfume again. And here's a bad scan from Vogue of that Black Satin polish, which I still haven't found a bottle of...
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Happy Anniversary!
Happy 35th wedding anniversary, Mom and Dad! (Or actually happy belated anniversary, since it was yesterday...)
Friday, August 18, 2006
Hello Kitty Friday
Today's Hello Kitty products are:
The Hello Kitty Vibrator (there's just all kinds fo wrong going on here, but it's strangely fascinating)
And The Hello Kitty Breath Tester (if only Mel Gibson has had one...)
The Hello Kitty Vibrator (there's just all kinds fo wrong going on here, but it's strangely fascinating)
And The Hello Kitty Breath Tester (if only Mel Gibson has had one...)
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Fashion icons
I finally got around to watching last week's Project Runway episode, the one where they had to design an outfit for whatever their assigned "fashion icon" was (you know, people like Audrey, Jackie--and Farrah??? How did she get in there???) This is the only reality show I watch, and it's cheesily addictive. I liked the Audrey dress, and the pink ruffly hot-pants thing that won, but would Jackie really have worn a rope for a belt?
Anyway, it made me start thinking--who are the great fashion icons today? Audrey is probably mine--I have a closet full of capri pants, black turtlenecks, ballet flats, and full-skirted cocktail dresses. But is there anyone more modern for us middle-of-the-roaders (and not-eighteen-anymorers) to emulate? Siena Miller is in all the magazines, but she always looks like a mess to me (who dresses like a disco ball at the Costume Institute gala? It's sad when Posh Spice outdresses you...) Ditto Chloe Sevigny and Kate Moss. Maybe I've just been reading too many fashion mags this summer.
Speaking of reading fashion mags, I must have a bottle of that Chanel Black Satin nail polish as soon as I can find one. And one of those Russian-looking coats with the big fake fur collars. And a winter-white purse with lots of pockets. I'm going to skip leggings and skinny jeans, though. And ankle boots. One '80s was enough for my whole life. :)
Anyway, it made me start thinking--who are the great fashion icons today? Audrey is probably mine--I have a closet full of capri pants, black turtlenecks, ballet flats, and full-skirted cocktail dresses. But is there anyone more modern for us middle-of-the-roaders (and not-eighteen-anymorers) to emulate? Siena Miller is in all the magazines, but she always looks like a mess to me (who dresses like a disco ball at the Costume Institute gala? It's sad when Posh Spice outdresses you...) Ditto Chloe Sevigny and Kate Moss. Maybe I've just been reading too many fashion mags this summer.
Speaking of reading fashion mags, I must have a bottle of that Chanel Black Satin nail polish as soon as I can find one. And one of those Russian-looking coats with the big fake fur collars. And a winter-white purse with lots of pockets. I'm going to skip leggings and skinny jeans, though. And ankle boots. One '80s was enough for my whole life. :)
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Cara's Wedding Dress (Not Hello Kitty)
Here is the pic Cara sent me of her wedding day! I think it looks like a beautiful wedding, and a great dress. :)
Monday, August 14, 2006
Perfume and Memory
"If only there could be an invention that bottled a memory like scent, and it never faded and it never got stale. And then, whenever one wanted it, the bottle could be uncorked, and it would be like living the memory all over again" --Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier
Today, I got a package of perfume samples from CB I Hate Perfume. I already have a scent by them, a white ginger that makes me think of Hawaii every time I smell it. Heavenly. These new scents are Tea/Rose Absolute and Russian Caravan Tea. I'll let you now how they work out, but so far they seem promising.
It's hard for me to find a perfume that works. So many that I love in the bottle turn somehow putrid on my skin. I can't wear anything too heavy or musky or Oriental-y. My favorite is Evelyn, a rose scent from Crabtree & Evelyn. Rose is tricky--so often it tips over into musty and old lady-ish. But Evelyn makes me think of summer. Fantasy summer, not the seventh circle of hell we're currently living in. Plus it still smells like rose on my skin. I also like a lavender scent my aunt sent me from a lavender farm in Provence, and the Healing Garden's Green Tea bath gel. And there's a violet body powder they sell in the gift shops in Colonial Williamsburg I also like.
Like in the quote above, scent really does unlock the most poignant memories in a way no other sense can. My father's mother always wore Oscar by Oscar de la Renta--too much of it usually, because when she would hug me the sticky-sweet smell would stay in my hair for hours! But she also always used Baby Magic lotion on my arms and shoulders when I'd been out in the sun too long, and sometimes I open a bottle of that at Target just to feel like a kid who played outside all day in my Nana's backyard again. My mother's mother wears Beautiful by Estee Lauder. My aunt, who used to have all the great vintage gowns until she mysteriously got rid of most of them, used to wear Givenchy's L'Interdit, and I used to put it on when I played dress-up at her house. She said it was made for Audrey Hepburn, so I always felt very glamorous when I smelled it! My own mother isn't much for perfume, but she used to sometimes wear Youth Dew body powder when she dressed up, so I bought a little bottle of the new "redone" Youth Dew just to remember those times. My friend Kay uses a vanilla-sugar lotion from Bath and Body Works that smells totally yummy, so whenver I go into a bakery I think of her. :)
What is your favorite perfume, or favorite scent memory? How did you find it?
Today, I got a package of perfume samples from CB I Hate Perfume. I already have a scent by them, a white ginger that makes me think of Hawaii every time I smell it. Heavenly. These new scents are Tea/Rose Absolute and Russian Caravan Tea. I'll let you now how they work out, but so far they seem promising.
It's hard for me to find a perfume that works. So many that I love in the bottle turn somehow putrid on my skin. I can't wear anything too heavy or musky or Oriental-y. My favorite is Evelyn, a rose scent from Crabtree & Evelyn. Rose is tricky--so often it tips over into musty and old lady-ish. But Evelyn makes me think of summer. Fantasy summer, not the seventh circle of hell we're currently living in. Plus it still smells like rose on my skin. I also like a lavender scent my aunt sent me from a lavender farm in Provence, and the Healing Garden's Green Tea bath gel. And there's a violet body powder they sell in the gift shops in Colonial Williamsburg I also like.
Like in the quote above, scent really does unlock the most poignant memories in a way no other sense can. My father's mother always wore Oscar by Oscar de la Renta--too much of it usually, because when she would hug me the sticky-sweet smell would stay in my hair for hours! But she also always used Baby Magic lotion on my arms and shoulders when I'd been out in the sun too long, and sometimes I open a bottle of that at Target just to feel like a kid who played outside all day in my Nana's backyard again. My mother's mother wears Beautiful by Estee Lauder. My aunt, who used to have all the great vintage gowns until she mysteriously got rid of most of them, used to wear Givenchy's L'Interdit, and I used to put it on when I played dress-up at her house. She said it was made for Audrey Hepburn, so I always felt very glamorous when I smelled it! My own mother isn't much for perfume, but she used to sometimes wear Youth Dew body powder when she dressed up, so I bought a little bottle of the new "redone" Youth Dew just to remember those times. My friend Kay uses a vanilla-sugar lotion from Bath and Body Works that smells totally yummy, so whenver I go into a bakery I think of her. :)
What is your favorite perfume, or favorite scent memory? How did you find it?
Friday, August 11, 2006
Hello Kitty Friday
And today's Hello Kitty tidbit is--the HK Wedding Dress!
I've been trying to figure out who exactly might wear this dress. I might have, if I got married when I was, oh, say, six years old. That was the year I was totally enamored with Princess Diana's gown, and drove my mom crazy tying her freshly laundered bedsheets around my waist to be my long train. I also insisted on wearing my ballet recital tiara to school.
Maybe it would be for a bride getting married at Harmonyland, the HK amusement park. Hmmm.
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Funniest Movies
Last night, I was talking to my friend Rinda about favorite funny movies of all time. I always hesitate to tell people "You must see this movie! It's hilarious!" because humor, more than almost anything else in life, is so subjective. Something I think is fall-down -laugh-aloud you might think is the dumbest thing you've ever seen. This isn't helped by the fact that maybe I have an odd sense of humor. I'm not much for slapstick usually, or potty humor (though, honestly, who doesn't think that scene from Blazing Saddles is funny???). I've discovered that what I really love is something that seems very silly and goofy, but has something smart and even biting underneath. Or something just plain silly. So, here are some of my favorites:
This is Spinal Tap (just like I always cry at the end of Breakfast at Tiffanys, even though I've seen that movie 50,305 times--hey, it's raining, and "Moon River" is playing, and Audrey Hepburn can't find the cat!--so I always laugh at the "Stonehenge" scene in this movie)
In the same "mockumentary" vein, Waiting for Guffman and Best In Show ("We both love soup...")
Office Space (hasn't everyone had a boss like that? "Ummm--yeaaahh..." And Jennifer Aniston flipping off the entire TGIFridays)
The Christmas Story (IMO, the primo Christmas movie. My family and I watch it every year, and can quote the whole movie. I even bought my dad a miniature version of the lamp last year. It's REALLY ugly)
O brother, where art thou? (--"I am the only daddy you got! I'm the damn paterfamilas" --"But you ain't bona fide!" I've often wished I could just say to that to a bad date and have that be the end of it.)
Zoolander (at least the first half hour or so, and then the "walk off". The spectacle of Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson as male models is priceless, until the movie devolves into that assasination plot that is too silly even for me)
And I have an enormous love for '30s screwball comedies. I've often wished life could be like that all the time, fabulous clothes, great repartee, "hilarious consequences," and Cary Grant. Some favorites--Bringing Up Baby, The Awful Truth ("I wouldn't go on living with you if you were dipped in platinum!"), My Man Godfrey, Ninotchka
And my very favorite funny movie EVER is Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It's the epitome of the "silly but smart" idea (warning--these quotes are from memory, geek that I am, and may not be totally accurate):
King Arthur--"The Lady of the Lake, her arm clad in the purest shining samite, held aloft Excalibur from the bosom of the water, signifying by divine providence that I, Arthur, was to carry Excalibur. That is why I am your king.
Dennis the peasant--"Listen, strange women lyin' in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony...you can't expect to wield supreme executive power just because some watery tart threw a sword at you"
Or the classic French soldiers! "You don't frighten us, English pig dogs! Go and boil your bottoms, you sons of a silly person. I blow my nose at you, so-called Arthur king, you and all your silly English k-nig-hts. I fart in your general direction. Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries.
Sir Galahad--"Is there someone else up there we can talk to?"
Frenchman--"No, now go away or I shall taunt you a second time."
I could go on all day, but I won't. Aren't you glad? :) What are some of your own favorite funny movies? I need to add to my list...
This is Spinal Tap (just like I always cry at the end of Breakfast at Tiffanys, even though I've seen that movie 50,305 times--hey, it's raining, and "Moon River" is playing, and Audrey Hepburn can't find the cat!--so I always laugh at the "Stonehenge" scene in this movie)
In the same "mockumentary" vein, Waiting for Guffman and Best In Show ("We both love soup...")
Office Space (hasn't everyone had a boss like that? "Ummm--yeaaahh..." And Jennifer Aniston flipping off the entire TGIFridays)
The Christmas Story (IMO, the primo Christmas movie. My family and I watch it every year, and can quote the whole movie. I even bought my dad a miniature version of the lamp last year. It's REALLY ugly)
O brother, where art thou? (--"I am the only daddy you got! I'm the damn paterfamilas" --"But you ain't bona fide!" I've often wished I could just say to that to a bad date and have that be the end of it.)
Zoolander (at least the first half hour or so, and then the "walk off". The spectacle of Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson as male models is priceless, until the movie devolves into that assasination plot that is too silly even for me)
And I have an enormous love for '30s screwball comedies. I've often wished life could be like that all the time, fabulous clothes, great repartee, "hilarious consequences," and Cary Grant. Some favorites--Bringing Up Baby, The Awful Truth ("I wouldn't go on living with you if you were dipped in platinum!"), My Man Godfrey, Ninotchka
And my very favorite funny movie EVER is Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It's the epitome of the "silly but smart" idea (warning--these quotes are from memory, geek that I am, and may not be totally accurate):
King Arthur--"The Lady of the Lake, her arm clad in the purest shining samite, held aloft Excalibur from the bosom of the water, signifying by divine providence that I, Arthur, was to carry Excalibur. That is why I am your king.
Dennis the peasant--"Listen, strange women lyin' in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony...you can't expect to wield supreme executive power just because some watery tart threw a sword at you"
Or the classic French soldiers! "You don't frighten us, English pig dogs! Go and boil your bottoms, you sons of a silly person. I blow my nose at you, so-called Arthur king, you and all your silly English k-nig-hts. I fart in your general direction. Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries.
Sir Galahad--"Is there someone else up there we can talk to?"
Frenchman--"No, now go away or I shall taunt you a second time."
I could go on all day, but I won't. Aren't you glad? :) What are some of your own favorite funny movies? I need to add to my list...
Monday, August 07, 2006
Prom Night
I'm reading a very amusing book by Adena Halpern, Target Underwear and a Vera Wang Gown. It's basically a chronicle of some of the most important clothes she's known in her life. Not exactly Tolstoy, but entertaining. :) One of the funniest chapters concerns her prom dress. She desperately wanted a strapless black dress with a tulle skirt, which somehow could not be found anywhere (and this was the '80s!) She even turned down an adorable blue and white polka dot Victor Costa her mother bought because she "Had a Dream." In the end, she made her own dress, which proved to be, er, less than a good idea.
It all made me start thinking about Clothes I Have Known in my own life, including my prom dresses. Junior year I had a knee-length pale pink satin dress with puffy pink sleeves (a size 4--why, oh why, did I not fully appreciate it when I had it???). Senior year, I had a harder time finding something I liked. Finally, I came across this black taffeta and velvet ballgown, though I can't remember where it was. The salesgirl told me she had seen it on a character on "Days of Our Lives." Wow--a soap opera prom dress! I sort of wish it still fit. Might be nice at a conference. I also had very narrow-toed, pinchy black satin shoes and a '40s style hairdo with red roses.
The other pic is my parents--junior prom 1967. I love my mom's Jane Austen-style dress and bouffant hair.
What was your prom dress like? And, if you were going to the prom now, what sort of gown would you choose?
Friday, August 04, 2006
Thursday, August 03, 2006
Atlanta 2
And a couple more pics from the conference! This dress is the one I wore at the NAL party Friday night--it looks here as if my shoes are about two sizes too big for my fet, but I swear they seemed to fit at the time.
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Atlanta 1
Here is one pic from the RWA conference, taken at the Beau Monde soiree on Wednesday night. I'm with Deb Bess (a Royal Ascot finalist!), and my sister Risky Regenciers Megan Frampton and Diane Perkins. I even attempted a Regency dance that evening, one called the "Physical Snob" (just love that name!), and didn't knock anyone down, though it was a close thing once or twice.
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Back from Atlanta!
I'm now back from RWA! It was wonderful--got to catch up with friends, meet with editors, win the Booksellers Best Award, drink champagne, and all in 4 days. :) Plus my friend Diane Perkins/Gaston won the RITA, just to top things off!
Am still digging out from under emails and laundry, but hopefully tomorrow I will have a longer post and some pics. I also decided one good thing re: this blog, after listening to various advice--since I'm a slacker about updating here, I need to get organized. So Monday and Wednesday will be my "new post" days from now on, with Friday being a "Hello Kitty and Other Goofy Things" day (plus I'm always over at Risky Regencies on Saturday). I'm going to do my best to stick to this new schedule. :)
Am still digging out from under emails and laundry, but hopefully tomorrow I will have a longer post and some pics. I also decided one good thing re: this blog, after listening to various advice--since I'm a slacker about updating here, I need to get organized. So Monday and Wednesday will be my "new post" days from now on, with Friday being a "Hello Kitty and Other Goofy Things" day (plus I'm always over at Risky Regencies on Saturday). I'm going to do my best to stick to this new schedule. :)
Monday, July 24, 2006
Dating 101
So, this weekend my mother gave me a book she got on sale at Barnes and Noble--The Complete Idiot's Guide to Dating. Ah-ha, so now the truth comes out!!! She thinks my unmarried state is attributable to idiocy! I always thought it was due to laziness, or the fact that I'm a weird person who just needs another weird person, or something similar. I always thought I was not really a stupid person--I did finish college without my brain crushing under the pressure (except for Statistics, aka Math for Ridiculously Numerically Challenged Liberal Arts Majors, or All Your Knowledge of Medieval Allegorical Poetry Won't Help You Here. But that's another post...). I write books, work a job, keep 4 pets alive, have even had romantic relationships in the past, all sorts of things.
But the plain fact is--dating is haaaaaard! (Insert whiny voice here) Many is the evening I have sat at dinner with some guy I met at a party, or via a blind date, or during my very brief and completely ill-advised stint on Match.com, and wondered "What the heck am I doing here? I could be at home watching the Food Network. It's the Ultimate Iron Chef Challenge tonight." I don't like to talk to strangers in bars. I don't even like going to bars.
Yes, dating is hard and I am lazy.
Maybe this book will have helpful tips. I'll let you know once I read it, and maybe try to implement some of it's advice. In the meantime, I'm off to RWA National for the rest of the week. See you next Monday. :)
But the plain fact is--dating is haaaaaard! (Insert whiny voice here) Many is the evening I have sat at dinner with some guy I met at a party, or via a blind date, or during my very brief and completely ill-advised stint on Match.com, and wondered "What the heck am I doing here? I could be at home watching the Food Network. It's the Ultimate Iron Chef Challenge tonight." I don't like to talk to strangers in bars. I don't even like going to bars.
Yes, dating is hard and I am lazy.
Maybe this book will have helpful tips. I'll let you know once I read it, and maybe try to implement some of it's advice. In the meantime, I'm off to RWA National for the rest of the week. See you next Monday. :)
Monday, July 17, 2006
National Ice Cream Day
Did you know that yesterday was officially National Ice Cream Day??? How did I miss it? I am one of ice cream's number one fans! Anyway, read all about it here.
What other fascinating holidays am I missing?
What other fascinating holidays am I missing?
Friday, July 14, 2006
Vive la France!
"Paris is always a good idea" (the movie Sabrina)
Happy Bastille Day, everyone! Listen to some Edith Piaf, drink some Champagne, eat some brie, and take a look at these links to mark the day a mob stormed the Bastille in 1789 and released all of seven prisoners. :)
Some fun drinks (I think the Marie Antoinette sounds especially good...)
Menus for your party
Official stuff from the French Embassy
How to celebrate in style
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
What's too many?
I was cleaning out my purse this morning, and realized I have 5 lipglosses in there. All of them in various shades of pink. These are just the ones I have in my bag; doesn't count the ones in my makeup drawer at home. Is this too much??? Is pink lipgloss an addiction? If so, surely it must be better than vodka. Or meth. Or books. (Oh, right, I do have a book addiction, too. But still...)
PIRATES was fun! Orlando was adorable (of course), and Johnny Depp hilarious. But--did it really, truly have to be that long? I was getting fidgety toward the end, and starting to wish the mania would just stop. But I wanna be a pirate for Halloween. :)
PIRATES was fun! Orlando was adorable (of course), and Johnny Depp hilarious. But--did it really, truly have to be that long? I was getting fidgety toward the end, and starting to wish the mania would just stop. But I wanna be a pirate for Halloween. :)
Monday, July 10, 2006
Busy weekend
So, Friday I went to Betty's big anniversary bash! (Tried to download a pic here, but somehow Blogger doesn't like me to have pics sometimes...) Rinda drove me, and we were lucky to find our way in because she seems to be as directional-challenged as I am, plus the church parking lot was mega-confusing. But we made it, and had a great time! Wine, food, dancing, friends, hilarious stories about Betty and Ben's misspent youth. What could be better? (I still think we should have hijacked the wedding carriage, though)
I also went to see Shakespeare in the Park--Two Gentlemen of Verona. One of the friends I went with said he couldn't figure it out at all, and I have to admit it's not top-drawer Shakespeare. It's a little silly and choppy, not too many great speeches, and some VERY annoying characters (not annoying like Falstaff, just--annoying). I think it makes a bit more sense if you read a book called Shadowplay (interesting book, it asserts that Shakespeare's plays were actually secret Catholic allegories. With some plays the author appears to be really stretching, but this one makes a weird sense). But the actors were good, and we took a picnic and some wine, so it was a nice evening.
Then yesterday, I went to a World Cup final party (see Risky Regencies for more on the ancient art of football!). What the heck was Zidane thinking, with that crazy head-butting incident??? Yes, I know he has lost his temper before, but this was the World Cup final! He was the team captain, his last game before retirement!!! Why isn't this game more popular in the US? It's far more entertaining than American football or baseball. Cuter guys, too.
Tonight--Pirates of the Caribbean!!!! I can't wait! And what I'm reading now--Rebel Angels, the sequel to A Great and Terrible Beauty, which was wonderful (the sequel is so far not as engrossing, but I'm not very far into it) and Mary Lovell's Bess of Hardwick: Empire Builder (she also wrote the riveting The Sisters about the kooky Mitford family).
Happy Monday!
I also went to see Shakespeare in the Park--Two Gentlemen of Verona. One of the friends I went with said he couldn't figure it out at all, and I have to admit it's not top-drawer Shakespeare. It's a little silly and choppy, not too many great speeches, and some VERY annoying characters (not annoying like Falstaff, just--annoying). I think it makes a bit more sense if you read a book called Shadowplay (interesting book, it asserts that Shakespeare's plays were actually secret Catholic allegories. With some plays the author appears to be really stretching, but this one makes a weird sense). But the actors were good, and we took a picnic and some wine, so it was a nice evening.
Then yesterday, I went to a World Cup final party (see Risky Regencies for more on the ancient art of football!). What the heck was Zidane thinking, with that crazy head-butting incident??? Yes, I know he has lost his temper before, but this was the World Cup final! He was the team captain, his last game before retirement!!! Why isn't this game more popular in the US? It's far more entertaining than American football or baseball. Cuter guys, too.
Tonight--Pirates of the Caribbean!!!! I can't wait! And what I'm reading now--Rebel Angels, the sequel to A Great and Terrible Beauty, which was wonderful (the sequel is so far not as engrossing, but I'm not very far into it) and Mary Lovell's Bess of Hardwick: Empire Builder (she also wrote the riveting The Sisters about the kooky Mitford family).
Happy Monday!
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