Self Portrait Challenge: What I Wear, Week 1

I have a simple rule about what I wear: Always wear one thing that is truly eye-catching. The one thing can be a garment, a piece of jewelry, a bitchin' pair of shoes--whatever! Everything else will be understated. If I choose a fabulous piece of jewelry, then the garment near the jewelry will be very simple. If I choose an eye-catching garment, then the rest of the outfit will be very subtle. Today's eye-catching piece is my pair of anodyzed aluminum earrings. I purchased these at a gallery back in the 80's when everyone was wearing big earrings. They've gone through years of hibernation, but I always end up resurrecting them. They are light as a feather, both are different and they are very colorful! What more could I ask for! Today I am wearing them with a simple black silk tunic, jeans and plain black boots. They add a touch of whimsy to my total look. Whimsy is a good thing!

Visit the Self Portrait Challenge for more of what people wear!

Oops! I did it again!

I came, I saw, I shopped! I guess that should be my motto of late. This shopping venture didn't come close to the last one, however, which is a good thing. I also think that internet shopping shouldn't count. Unfortunately my checkbook doesn't agree with me on that point.

My Malabrigo came from Fabulous Yarn. I love the colorway. It is called Autumn Forest and has all the colors you would expect to see in an Autumn Forest. This yarn is for Cherie Amour.


I also got some felting yarn for a specific holiday gift which I cannot divulge here. The purple is much brighter than in the photo and the colors look quite nice together.


I also got some buttons for Juliet. They were quite pricey and I like them okay. The problem is that I don't LOVE them. I wish I did. I'm seriously thinking about not putting buttons, but rather using and antique duette style dress clip to hold the sweater together.

I'm just about done with Juliet. I will finish her by tomorrow, then I'll have to block her. I would have liked to add sleeves, but the yarn was no longer available.

Of course, no shopping spree would be complete without footwear! I wanted to replace my short black high heeled boots and I found these brand new Cole Haan boots on Ebay:

They are quite comfy and look very nice with dress pants and jeans!

I'm so excited that we are almost done with the dining room renovation. We hope to have Thanksgiving dinner in there! It will be nice to have the living room and dining room back. I've hated having boxes piled in the living room. It will be nice to be able to decorate for the holidays!

I'll be going to a conference this weekend so I will lose a couple of days in cleaning things up, but I will catch up!

Bushism of the day:
"Well, it's an unimaginable honor to be the president during the Fourth of July of this country. It means what these words say, for starters. The great inalienable rights of our country. We're blessed with such values in America. And I — it's — I'm a proud man to be the nation based upon such wonderful values." —George W. Bush, visiting the Jefferson Memorial, Washington, D.C., July 2, 2001

Kitty Cam:
Greg is afraid that the new pumpkin will take over his job as Chief Halloween Decoration.

Personality test

Sorry--I love these things! I must admit that this one had no surprises!

Self Portrait Challenge: Food and Me Week 4

I'm a prissy eater! By that, I mean that I like to eat my food in pieces and/or with a utensil. I've never been one of those people who can pick up a piece of fried chicken or barbequed ribs and tear off the meat with my teeth. I need to cut the meat off the bone. I'm like that with certain fruit as well. I'll eat a banana in one piece, but apples, peaches, nectarines and pears--well, I cut them into manageable pieces. This became easy when I discovered this item:

I have one of these at work and at home. When my kids were little, they called this an "apple flower." That's what they would ask for! An apple flower! I like pear flowers too!

For other Food and Me self portraits, go here!

Wake up Cat

I know that Greg would resort to such desperate measures to wake me up if he had the smarts. Fortunately, he's a lover, not a thinker!

Surprise!

I got a surprise package from my Secret Pal today! Goody! I love surprises!

Look at how pretty she wrapped it! There is a card with a funny photo and a recipe for "Filet of Tofu."

Handspun yarn with three plies--one of wool, one of silk and one of mohair. It is incredibly soft!

Each ply is a different color! One is goldish, one red and one green! It has a real autumn look to it and I love fall colors. I'm thinking a small scarf or trim for a hat!

Bath soak! My achy body can sure use that!

Thank you, Secret Pal, for thinking of me! You are the best!

Bushism of the day:
"We must have the attitude that every child in America – regardless of where they're raised or how they're born — can learn." —George W. Bush, New Britain, Conn., April 18, 2001

Kitty Cam:

Mikey likes to get under the throw rug and run around like that. He almost went down the stairs this time!

When the going gets tough . . .

The tough go shopping! At least that's what I did this week. I hadn't been shopping in a while--just internet shopping. First of all on Tuesday, Ems and I went to Sephora. She needed some stuff so I decided to tag along. Nothing soothes the soul like a new tube of lipstick! You may remember that red lipstick I blogged about last month. Well, the new one makes that one look understated! It is called "Heat Wave" and it is beyond vivid! I rather like it!

I also purchased the following books/magazines:


The book of SewStylish Gifts has some really neat little projects for small gifts as does the Interweave Gifts. Hopefully, I'll make use of both of them in the next couple of months!

The next acquisition hasn't arrived yet. I ordered 5 skeins of Malabrigo for Cherie Amour.

Then Friday was when I got into real trouble. Notice the shopping bags:

Cole Haan leather and one of my LYS!

I made the drive to Pentagon City to go to the Cole Haan Store there. I had blogged about these boots a while back and I got 'em! They are sweet! I do believe that Cole Haan shoes are the most comfortable things to have on my feet!

But wait! There's more! I saw these and couldn't resist!


Are they bitchin' or what! But that isn't all . . .
There was a clearance shelf. There was a pair of brown sandals with the Nike Air soles. They are like walking on pillows!

I wouldn't have splurged so much except Cole Haan had a deal where you get 20% off your purchase if you contribute a pair of gently used shoes for Soles for Souls. So I did that. It took every ounce of self control not to try on these:

That would have cleaned out my bank account. You can bet that I will be stalking Ebay for those boots in the next year!

I love Pentagon City! I think it may be my new favorite mall. The only problem is that it took longer for me to find a parking place than it did to do my shopping! It's definitely a place that you want to take the metro.

Next --I went to All About Yarn which was having their anniversary sale. I got these:

The book has a lot of gift ideas--particularly gloves. I love knitting gloves!

I got this yarn for Matilda Jane .

It is Sublime Merino Silk Cashmere dk in sage green and taupe for the lace trim.

I got this too:

Tilli Tomas' new beaded merino. There are only 70 yards on a skein so I bought the two skeins of Debbie Bliss to give me more mileage. I'm thinking of making a scarf for Maddie with the pink and using the beaded yarn for a ruffle trim. Gloves would be nice as well with the beaded yarn as a trim on the cuff. I haven't decided, but I really like it! Here'a close up:


Today I went to Joann's to get fabric for the dining room. I'm making a swag for the windows and I need to cover the chair seats. Here's what I ended up with:

The striped fabric looks like grosgrain ribbon. It is gorgeous and will look nice on our traditional oak T-back chairs. The 3 solids are for this swag:

I really like the colors against the jade green walls. They had a nice selection of fancy rods as well and I settled on the antique brass one.

Last of all--my Moo cards came!


I love them! You can upload and crop your photos right from Flickr! They are a nice heavy card stock and they're about 1 X 3 inches. They make great little calling cards. I feel bad though. I don't have one with Samantha's picture--only the boys. I apologized to her and promised her that she would definitely be included in the next batch!

I do believe that I am totally shopped out for awhile--at least until I have to do my Christmas shopping!

Bushism of the day:
"I want it to be said that the Bush administration was a results-oriented administration, because I believe the results of focusing our attention and energy on teaching children to read and having an education system that's responsive to the child and to the parents, as opposed to mired in a system that refuses to change, will make America what we want it to be — a more literate country and a hopefuller country." —George W. Bush, Jan. 11, 2001

Kitty Cam:
We've always suspected Harley of being a pervert, but we never thought that he had an underwear fetish!