Putting the Cart Before the Horse

I spend a lot of time window shopping online (I know, you're stunned), so I thought I would collate everything I have in various carts and see what it amounts to. Then I sorted the list in various ways; by type, by store. I am omitting the dozens of things that i am watching on Ebay, or we would be here all day, and Sundance doesn't save your items in a cart more than a few days.

Leather and fleece boots (L. L. Bean)
Gray lace dress (Garnet Hill)
Gray Eileen Fisher wool dress (Garnet Hill) 
Red shirttail cashmere sweater (Garnet Hill)
Red polka-dot sweater (Kohl's)
Two Dana Buchman tanks (Kohl's)
Black Lysse leggings (Macy's)
Large Sakroots travel tote (Macy's, and it is ADORABLE)
Long bright yellow cardigan (Talbot's)
Pine green work trousers (Talbot's)
Leopard calf-hair pumps (two styles, Talbot's)
Navy pumps (Amazon)
Snakeskin pumps (Amazon)
Leopard wedges (Amazon) 
Black polka-dot pumps (Amazon)
Born shearling moto boots (Amazon)
Grey Miz Mooz tall boots (Amazon)
Leopard calf-hair Donald Pliner pumps (Amazon)
Red ankle boots (Amazon, and they have been in that cart at least a year)
Three leather/bead bracelets (Amazon)
Ocean blue avant-garde sweater (Peruvian Connection)
Lace tee (Jones New York)
Yellow-green straight leg jeans (Jones New York)
Caramel drape-neck top (Jones New York)
Bottle green leather jacket (Nordstrom)
Embellished grey cashmere sweater (Nordstrom)
2 pairs of winter boots (6PM)
Winter walking shoes (6PM)

There is some overlap with my Pinterest boards, but less than I thought. The items in the carts are things I'm seriously considering, and I'm testing to see if my desire for them will last. Pinterest is also very useful for the companies that won't save my cart info, like Sundance, or for items where I just love the concept. I'm probably not actually going to buy a Vivienne Westwood coat.

34 items that I lovingly selected and put aside for a future purchase! Why then, when I actually buy something, do I generally not go back to these carts and purchase some of these items? 

1. The cart piles up and equals $400, and I can't bring myself to either spend that much or choose only one or two items from the group.
2. I discover something somewhere else (often eBay), buy it, and figure I can't then afford the lovely things lingering in online baskets (though Amazon will remember them forever, apparently). 
3. The hope/certainty that if I wait long enough, those things will go down in price. 
4. I look at my stuffed closets and 40 pairs of boots and I know I don't need anything more ever, for Heaven's sake, Roberta!
5. I review the carts and think the items don't really jive with my style goals. For example, I want to buy some pretty, graceful tunics, yet there aren't any in the carts. Hmmm. Apparently I have goals and then I also have GOALS.

 And then, hey, it's Friday and I haven't posted a single outfit photo!

I am loving grey lately and want to wear it every day. The red beaded necklace and bracelet are new via Ebay, and I love the grandiose scale of the links.

You can't really see the chain behind my neck, but it is black burnished metal - also good-sized links. Below is a more true rendition of the color. The little red beads are quite sparkly.

 
 
 

A Rich Weekend, Part One

This weekend I was rich in learning, entertainment, time, food and friends.

Friday evening I went out to dinner with two good friends in the field, to Mercat a la Planxa on Michigan Avenue. It was amazing, even if the name makes me think of meerkats on a plank. Thanks to the kindness and generosity of one friend, we ordered the tasting menu. And not il poco tasting menu, either, but il grande. Here is what we ate, though I'm convinced I've forgotten something. Heidi can correct me. When I got home I scribbled down everything I could remember, but I'd had at least three glasses of very good wine. 

Bruschetta with fresh tomato, lemon and garlic

Dates in bacon

Manchego cheese and apples

Jamon Iberico sliced so thin you could see through it

Rabbit in pasta with sour cherry sauce and a foam (I forget what the foam was about)

Egg and potato frittata

Farro with baby pattypan squash and hazelnuts and watercress

Grilled octopus and potato rounds (little potato cutouts the size of Liberty dimes)

Tiny fried sweet Padron peppers

Morel risotto with slivered asparagus

Flatbread with short ribs, cheese and a bacon jam

Lambchops

Lobster

Beef tenderloin

The restaurant was beautiful, and cheerfully loud, the service lively, and every bite was delicious. Heidi and Pam weren't as thrilled with the octopus, so I got the whole plate to my greedy cephalopod-loving self. By the time the perfect beef arrived we were in a bit of a stupor from wine and deliciousness. It was expensive, but all I can say is it was an experience worth many times more than, say, a pair of pants.

Three cheeses, mustards and sliced apples.

Still to come, the Chicago Humanities Festival!

Unforeseen Hiatus

Sorry about that! It was really a packed week at work last week - I was heading in early and coming home beat, so took no pictures. This week I took pictures, but couldn't find time to post them. And maybe, MAYBE, I'm getting a little tired of looking at myself so often.

Just ugh.

Better.

 First, I was entertained to find two pairs of boots in Ben's dresser - boots I thought were long gone to Goodwill or Ebay. The red boots above got a final outing, but they are consigned to the Goodwill bag/pile/semi-sentient lifeform. They are just a very dated style. Second, I love that black fuzzy Loft sweater so much, but it looks perfectly square on me. Kimono arms and short sleeves are not a good combination. Also not a good combination, that dress, those boots and bare legs. Seemed like a lot of skin in September.

Forced smile and significant tum.

I love this Anthropologie top equally, but with better results. It goes with everything and is like wearing . . . air. The top is an acid green Loft tee, with an Eileen Fisher knit skirt and Born boots. I'm wearing the necklace I bought at the Bucktown Art Fest.

I feel you, Nora Ephron.

Old favorites were in heavy rotation this week - fashion comfort food.

My J. Jill crochet skirt and denim jacket, with a purple tee underneath and Miz Mooz boots this time. Although I know they are remarkably similar in hue to the Born boots.

I've definitely put on a few pounds since last winter. The corduroy straightlegs which I am wearing today, which were dreamily comfortable last winter, now feel a little UNcomfortable at the waist, and nothing bugs me more than something pinching my middle. I might have gotten a little complacent about all the walking I do, and had a few too many pieces of cake over the summer. And too few salads. You can see why I am wearing the two skirts with the most forgiving waists in my closet.

I shared a piece of Cannoli cake with Blonde Girl yesterday for her birthday. So worth it, sweetie!


 

Blue and Taupe and Another Action Shot!

Wow, so glad this week is over! To see the week out, I wore one of my favorite color combinations: blue and taupe. Or marine and ivory, navy and cream, etc. I rarely wear deep navy and stark white together - it makes me feel like a flight attendant - though I do have that J. Crew striped tee that sees a lot of action. Since I was a teenager I wanted to be that girl in the perfectly faded jeans and her boyfriend's white oxford, but that silhouette just didn't fly on me. I have a photograph from years ago, when I was at my thinnest, in jeans and a cream silk shirt, and I look like that mental picture I had for ages. What the picture doesn't show is that I was thin because I was profoundly depressed and not eating. My brother once commented years ago on having the same visual disconnect: "I feel like sh*t, but I look GREAT!" (We're all better now, thanks for asking)

Here, I feel pretty darn good (still counting my many blessings), and I am happy with how I look as well. Though, hmmm, maybe the boots are a little bulky with a midi hemline.

Here's the stuff; wooden bracelet from who knows where, a Talbot's necklace and earring set that might be older than Ben (who is 23, as it happens).

And here is another poetry in motion shot of a furry blur and a couple of feet.

He sticks the landing!! The East German judge gives him a 9.8!! The crowd goes wild!!

Military and Blue

I did wear this jacket previously this year (at DEMCO fantasy camp), but YOU haven't seen it, dear reader, so here we go. I changed the buttons out on this jacket, from olive plastic (bleaahh!) to a simple brass design. Much better. I look sleepy, but I am really amused at unseen cat action on the kitchen floor. Well, I AM a little sleepy, we had an all-staff meeting which started my day an hour early.

Underneath is an Athleta dress in a great blue and black paisley print, for which this is the first wearing in 2012. I also have this dress in gray and black.

The dress has a generous neckline, so I either wear a jacket over it, or a camisole under it. We did Tai Chi at our all-staff meeting this morning, and this was the perfect choice; stretchy, good CYA coverage, and flattering. That was a great workout, by the way, I'm going to get some Tai Chi DVDs and try it at home.  

I was asked by a colleague about my tights later that day. They're DKNY Comfort Waist tights in Fatigue. These are the BEST TIGHTS EVER. They last forever and don't pinch my pudgy waist. I hate things poking me - I'm always cutting out labels - but especially at my tender middle. The tights have a mild control top, but again, super comfortable.

Here's the pretty stuff; J. Jill watch, bracelet and earrings Premier Designs, both gifts from my sister-in-law, and a new ring from eBay. I'm sorry you can't see the stone more clearly. Here's a similar ring from the same vendor. I bought three rings at once: bloodstone, rutilated quartz (yellow-ish) and ocean jasper. They're not fine jewelry by any means, but have a good sized stone and a slim band. I like a big ring, but don't like feeling like I'm wearing brass knuckles.

You know, I'd hoped to spend a little blogging time on other subjects than the daily outfit, but it's been difficult. Maybe when I start repeating myself. Is there anything YOU'D like me to ramble on about?

Tweed and Metaphor

I took part in a market research conversation Tuesday morning, about how libraries purchase industry-specific supplies: book carts, spine labels, display materials, shelftalkers. Wait, wait, don't run off, I'm still talking!

It was a one-on-one conversation, and a flattering experience, to have someone ask you thoughtful questions and hang on your every word for an hour. the most amusing part was doing a creative visualization exercise, with my eyes shut, which sent me off to my personal happy place (a hotel balcony in Cocoa Beach, as it happens). "Now visualize leaving that place for a hallway, and at the end of that hallway, there is a door. And over the door is a sign that reads . . . DEMCO." Did you think he was going to say Heaven? I burst out laughing. And then I described my perfect DEMCO experience. So funny.

This is what I wore.

Talbots Audrey sweater, J. Jill olive tweed skirt (pretty ancient), Miz Mooz Domino boots. As Sheila says, here are the shiny bits (also from Talbots):

And a closeup of the embroidery on the boots:

I love those boots so much. 

The interviewer noticed my bee tattoo at one point (even asked to photograph it), and asked me to tell him about it and why I chose it. "Oh, I love bees; so pretty, industrious, responsible for lots of fabulous things (flowers, honey, candles, fruit, honey), they dance to communicate, the lovely mathematical structure of the comb and the hive, la la la la." He told me he thought that was an excellent metaphor for librarians. What do you think?

Weeding

Most of what is useful to me in my personal life, I learned on the job. For instance, don't just sprinkle commas into your paragraphs willy nilly (thanks, Eugenia Bryant!), and your collection will feel fresher and circulate more if you systematically weed out some items.

1. Condition. That Sandra Brown paperback is wildly popular - and it looks it. Throw out anything that is frayed, limp, stained or nonfunctional (broken zipper, missing snaps). There's a brand new edition of Texas! Chase available to purchase for your patrons.

2. Dated Style. Diva, Lola, Luna etc. (the crime novels by Delacorta), were fantastically popular in their day, but that day has passed. If you loved them, it makes it even harder to face that fact and take them off the shelf. That ladylike pink tweed jacket that you embraced when you were a new manager is starting to look a little 90's prim. In fact, don't you have a LOT of lady jackets? How many of them have shoulder pads, hmmm?

3. Fads and Duplicates. Maybe your library has the definitive macrame collection, or perhaps has four shelves of feng shui books, but that doesn't mean they're still needed or appropriate. If you have 19 of anything and you notice nobody else seems to be wearing that style, pick one or two that you just love and put the rest aside. If you have harem pants, shame on you.

I'll post a pic of the pink tweed jacket tomorrow. Carol liked it and voted to keep it. Heather liked it as well, and had some ideas about styling it. The snap below is just for fun. Denim Boden shirt, Athleta cord skirt, fabulous Miz Mooz boots. Riley was completely mystified as to why I kept leaping on and off the island and smiling at that clicky object.

What a big furry fellow!