Splish splash splosh

I have about 17 minutes until I have to jump back in the car to do the 'Thursday-night-swim-lesson-shuffle'. Six finishes his lesson at 5:55pm; Eight begins his at 6:00pm.

I am usually as joyful about this as someone unpaid to watch paint dry. And realising this always makes me feel guilty. The pool deck is usually crowded, usually smelly, and unusually loud. I hate to go to the pool to 'chat' to the other moms. I hate to just sit there, or flick through a magazine. I would rather be in the water taking a lesson, too. Or home cleaning, frankly. Bad Mommy. (Or 'Good Mommy', if you consider the bit about the cleaning.)

So, instead, I subject my children to an early supper (usually at 4-ish) and then run back-and-forth to the pool 1/4 mile away three times. I am a child. I told the boys: "on Thursday afternoons, Mommy feels like Constance Contraire" - one of the characters in our favorite book series, The Mysterious Benedict Society.

I am dressed as an adult; perhaps I should comport myself as one. But I don't feel like it right now. [stamps foot]

The silver-lining is, of course, that they love it. And so did I...when my mom dropped me off at the pool those many years ago to "go home and clean".


Today's conundrum: When will Wolf Hall actually be released?

Future conundrum: Is it right to cringe when I see an(other) actress-as-cover-model on W? Or on any fashion mag actually?

Thanks for perusing this blog; blog you again soon!

Smell Ya Later

I was thinking about scents. I smelled something the other day and for a flash I was 10, stepping out of the Green Room and into the hallway leading to the auditorium to perform in the end-of-piano-camp recital. It was a combination of coconut oil, sweat, air conditioning, polished wood, fresh carpet, and Lauren (by Ralph Lauren) perfume. Quite a combination, no?

And so many, many years later - with not a drop of either coconut oil or Lauren in site - it came back.

Fascinating.

I have been thinking about scent memory ever since. And while thinking, I was trying to remember all of the fragrances I've worn over the years. Can I even remember all of them, would be a better question.

So, I'm going to try. Right here and now. Here goes: (and feel free to comment openly about what you remember about each of these, too)

Love's Baby Soft - my first and I will always remember it

Bill Blass - thought this was v high brow as a teenager; back when I started reading Seventeen and Town&Country

Alyssa Ashley Musk - the smell of my summer holidays in Arizona

Lauren - my 'I'm-not-going-to-wear-Liz-Claiborne-too-no-matter-how-cute-the-bottle-is' scent

Samsara - first perfume chosen for me; happily abandoned when a wonderful friend declared her love of it (we literally swapped scents and I got...)

Shalimar- my scent of choice - still; like a comfortable sweater on a cool night and a mug of Earl Grey, perhaps because of my memories of that great friend

Obsession - my second scent of choice; my bold, 'you-can-smell-me-coming' scent

Kiehl's No 1 - this became my 'I-want-to-love-this-but' scent

L'eau d'ambre - close cousin (to my nose) of Shalimar; just lovely

The par un ete - LOVE this; so wildly different from anything I'd ever worn or do wear

Paul&Joe Bleu - light and powdery (imagine that); perfect for summertime or a scent pick-me-up in winter

Hypnose - another cousin to my beloved Shalimar; reminds me of how royalty smells - perhaps due to color as have no idea how 'royalty' smells

Also, I always wanted to wear "White Shoulders". It's too flower-y for me. And the girls who wore it were as well. Same with "Amazing Grace".

Ten-O-Six and Noxema were hard to keep off the list, but I had to - strictly speaking. You understand.

Now, I seem to be a soap-and-water girl. And I get swept-up in the scents of moisturizers instead of perfumes. Some of them I want to eat! But isn't it interesting to sit and ponder about such things as scents. They really do make a lasting impression.

And when I grow old, I will try to wear Chanel #5 with grace and aplomb. My grandmother did, and it always seemed to be the perfect 'grandmother-ly' smell. That and pie crust and lemon wood polish.


No conundrums today, kids. Let's just breathe deeply and reminisce.

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The Courtship of Eddie's Etsy Shop

I am no longer a 'virtual lab' virgin.

Although I didn't quite master the 'throwing hearts' or 'sending bumblebees' portion of the lab, no points were taken off. Further, I found out that a course in mastering these lab-works is offered, so I 'enrolled' for next time. (I think it has something to do with setting your icon to 'heart' or 'star' or 'bee', positioning your pointer hand over your avatar, and dragging the cursor to the object of your affection/amusement.)

Eddie Ross and Jaithan Kochar, partners and co-founders of Eddie Ross, Inc, were our gracious hosts for the virtual lab last night. Funny, engaging, and offering terrific Etsy finds, they enlightened us and responded to our comments and queries for nearly an hour.

The topic: entertaining. We were treated to a parade of brass bamboo trays, silver-plate shakers, glass stirrers, and linens and glass in all colors, shapes, sizes, and uses. Mostly with monograms. (My weakness!) Eddie's best find was, of course, presented early in the lab. It was the one I wanted to buy immediately - and the one that he had already snapped-up for himself, the rogue! The rooster-embroidered linen cocktail napkins were lovely. Pale blue with white scalloped edges. And the roosters were intricate, with layers of brown, gold, and red feathers and coal-black eyes. That they came with matching embroidered wine coasters was the buttercream and caramel drizzle on the cake.

Is your appetite whetted? Visit etsy - that's 'Betsy-without-the-B' - for more information on virtual labs and to shop EddieRoss. (Hi, Betsy!)

Thanks for perusing this blog; blog you again soon!

Pretty Funny in Plaid

(Note: this review was originally drafted on 6 May 2009. TIO regrets the delay in posting.)

Well, it's over.
The book, that is.
Pretty in Plaid.
You know.

I am actually still laughing because the last 20 pages were hilarity-inducing. The whipped cream, fudge, nuts, cherry, AND sprinkles of the book.

And I literally fell off the sofa.

Pretty in Plaid made me giggle at first, in a polite "I'm-trying-to-fit-in-at-your-house-during-this-rush-party" way. Admittedly, it took awhile for me to ease into hearing a woman's voice inside an eight-year-old's story. But as the years progressed and Jeni's wardrobe expanded, I really started to understand how her experiences and environments shaped who she is, the 'Jen' she's become.

In her first three books, Jen Lancaster covered approximately eight years and journaled her career flourishes and follies. With PiP, she started at the beginning (a very good place to start). For her to condense 25 pre-graduation years into one book, however, was ambitious. But it worked and worked well. I went back in time with her to the formative days of amibition (read: Girl Scouts), the satirical days before prom, and days full of ennui in college. But whether or not Jen went to prom is not what capitvates: her transition from satirist to sartorialist engages and is - best of all - witty. In the end, Jen's forthrightness and willingness to not take herself too seriously is what attracts. It is endearing and for that I will follow her every (c)logged step.

Cheers, Jen. The late night was worth it...again.

Like totally get on your boots...or clogs

So... did you buy it? Finish reading it? Enjoy tagging along on Jen's romp through the wardrobe? Get on your boots and get out there with her! With me!

(And if you don't want boots - as if - try these instead. I have them in orange. Fer sure.)

Thanks for perusing this blog; blog you again soon!