I should be working, but I'm surfing and shopping. I'm going to analyze myself here and say that I'm looking for a distraction because one of my coworkers is retiring today, and he will be missed, and I'm trying not to be sad. So, shopping it is! I found a funky clock that would make a great gift, then another funky clock, and another, and another, and now I have a headache. This Five for Friday edition is all about time management...in a cool way.
Oh, this is almost too terrific to share, and I don't think I've seen anything
like this before! From madeindesign.com, Coolheure Magic mirror Clock - Projected display. Make sure you look through all of the images of this clock on the website to really get the idea. This projects images of clocks on your wall! Want it, but the price tag is a bit high. 200.00 British pounds, or about $320 bucks! Perhaps if I win the next Powerball drawing.
A modern take on the cuckoo clock! Also from madeindesign.com.
Sleek stainless steel. This isn't just a clock, it's art for the wall, with an actual cuckoo. The design looks as the though the poor cuckoo drilled himself a hole in the steel to pop through. This isn't your grandmother's cuckoo clock, that's for sure!
The same clockmaker responsible for the design above just stole my heart with this
next one. Diamantini & Domeniconi Striped Cuckoo Clock (I found this one on the Rockett St. George site (all of these are UK sites so far...the Brits have an eye for design, no?), and yes it is pricey as well, 195.00 pounds. I can already hear the shopper voice in my head trying to justify the price: "But this would look amazing in the green room."
Poseidon and I recently saw a similar gear clock for sale in a local shop,
but I spotted this one on Etsy, made by pixelthis and it's affordable! The artist's creation uses a large recycled bicycle cassette gear, a recycled computer DVD and a new quartz drive clock movement. Up-cycled and recycled. It's cool with a conscience.
The Albero Cuckoo clock, first designed by Paolino & Fusi in 2008. Yes, another cuckoo
clock! I found this on a the momentoitalia.com site, and at $410.00, I won't be owning this one either, but I'm so excited by these cuckoo clocks!
I feel a tug of war emerging with my practical self and my I-want-it-now-Veruca-Salt self. I really want to see a bird pop out of a clock, and I'm oohing and ahhing over the stainless steel and the striped clocks. Poseidon will have to talk me down off the ledge.
Shopping for Christmas is one of my favorite things. The thrill of the hunt, finding cool junk that neither my friends nor family really need, is so much fun, I'm sure it's a sin. When I shop for gifts, I'm ashamed to admit, but , I do the "one for you, two for me, one for you, two for me" gambit.
Getting right to it, here is my list of 2012 fun gifts for fun, awesome women:
HOBBIES - Gifts
This is the lomography camera I have asked Santa for, and I'm told it is in his big bag of Christmas toys, just for me!
Photo from Lomography.com
Bird watchers out there? What bird would pass up a chance to feast at this mod house? This is a great Christmas gift for your female friends who like our feathered friends.
SOCKS - Gifts
I know, this year, the octopus is last year's owl, which was the previous year's bird, (Poseidon was a cephalopod fan way before they were hip), and those tentacled beasts are everywhere, but these socks are a great gift...oh, and the cardigan isn't a bad gift either:
Some people joke about getting socks for Christmas, but I am happy to get socks as a gift. Poseidon always buys me at least one pair of socks for Christmas. Socks are like a Linus blanket...to me anyway. These koi socks would have have been well received, but they are on back order. Frowny face. If you haven't noticed, I'm a fan of PlasticLand.com.
Alright, one more pair of socks before I move on to the next gift category. Something else I just noticed...I am definitely a Pisces, as all these socks have a 'water' theme.
TECHNOLOGY - Gifts
My old iPod nano died. I had to make a decision: Do I buy a new iPod or put all of my music on my iPhone? I know it isn't hard, but I like my nano, so I bought myself a new one. In red.
I was shopping for stocking stuffers yesterday at The Container Store. This store is an amazing place to waste spend hours and hours. Poseidon may get one of these laptop pillow thingys from Santa. It is called a Surf Pillow, and it is just as good excuse as any to go to The Container Store.
SALT AND PEPPER SHAKERS - Gifts
I'm not sure why, but this year seems to be the year of the salt and pepper shaker set. Shakers have been a trend before, and eventually these will collect dust, or find homes in sad landfills, but for now, they are trendy and it seems every site I visited during the past few days...s&p shakers. Everywhere.
These are adorable and they are on sale (as of today at least):
These are hideous, (and sold out), but my grandparents had these, and they are taking me back!
JEWELRY - Gifts
What list of gifts for women would be complete without jewlery? I found a bracelet I thought might be nice, and I put it on my list to Santa. I've been underwhelmed by jewelry I've seen lately, but this black sheep brooch is worth a look!
ART - Gifts
Poseidon and I have art that we have yet to hang, display, dust, destroy, etc., but I'm always on the lookout for fun prints, like this (and they make great gifts for women)
...and this:
Awww, and this:
CLOTHES, BAGS AND SHOES - Gifts
Pretty, pretty shoes. Women (or many women) like shoes.
I WANT these! Anne Klein Plural Color-Block - I saw them at DSW two weeks ago:
I don't usually suggest buying clothing for women, unless you really, truly know their size, correct measurements, etc., but I'm in love with this dress, so I'll share it:
Just a note, if you are ordering from Mod Cloth, their sizes are never true to size, in my opinion, so read the reviews that others have written before ordering. I find the reviews helpful in determining which size to order.
I'm a fan of the Vero Moda brand on ASOS, and this wrap it dirt cheap and cute and would make a super gift:
This is a great looking bag...I asked Santa for one similar, but I think my camera trumped the bag:
MAKE UP, PARFUM and GIRLY STUFF - Gifts
One can always count on ThinkGeek.com for cool, geeky gifts for women:
Tokyo Milk brand - since Gwen Stefani's LAMB scent is no longer available, this is my favorite parfum:
BIKING - Gifts
I'll close with bike bells. Everyone fun chick needs a bell on her bike.
I also suggest FAB.com for gifts...you have to sign up in order to browse, but it's free. Just give them your email address. I get a headache wading through some of the pages, but you might find something that inspires. Happy shopping everyone.
Hurray for Thanksgiving, y'all. I decided earlier this week to make a pumpkin gingerbread trifle to bring to my mother-in-law's Thanksgiving party. I planned well, or so I thought, and foraged for all the ingredients in the mad house of a grocery store yesterday. I think pre-Thanksgiving shopping trips can make even the most zen-like being stabby. Anyway, last night, as I was double-checking the ingredients, I realized I had forgotten eggs for the spice cakes! I'm now wasting time on my laptop, trying to avoid muster the courage to jump out of my pajamas and into my jeans to go back to the store. I don't want to.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone in the US, and for those outside the US, sorry you have to work today and tomorrow...we don't!
--Amphitrite
PS. Here is the recipe I will attempt...I've never made a trifle before:
You can find the recipe at: http://www.food.com/recipe/pumpkin-gingerbread-trifle-105081
ETA - I posted this on my Facebook status last night. If you can make one down-and-out person a little happier today, please do so, even if it's only a smile you can offer:
"Gave money today to a man asking at an
intersection. He was probably in his mid to late 60s, well dressed,
well groomed, clean complexion, clean hair. I only had $1 (because I
never carry cash), but I gave it to him. Because I haven't walked in
this man's shoes, I know nil about him, and I won't judge. If my $1
helps him, great, if he is actually an alcoholic, maybe that will
contribute to a beer. Everyone deserves to feel ok for a day."
"Sunglasses. N says we will definitely need sun glasses." Poseidon told me this before I left the house this morning. This is in regards to our Christmas trip to Alaska. Poseidon spoke with our friend N on Sunday evening, the friend we are going to visit in Anchorage next month, and he rattled off a few things we will want to bring.
Being the sun bunny that I am, this sunglasses bit made me feel less anxious about our trip, like it won't be pitch dark, 24/7. Don't get me wrong, I'm super-excited about going to Alaska! This will be my first trip to "The Last Frontier." God, that nickname scares me. Actually most of Alaska's nicknames give me the shakes: "Seaward's Ice Box" and "Land of the Midnight Sun." "Seward's Ice Box" has me contemplating a visit to the Alaska Airlines website to check their cancellation policy, because, you know, we already bought the tickets.
In all seriousness, we are trying to prep for the trip. I bought a new down coat from Eddie Bauer. E.B. had a huge sale event, and I participated. I walked out with a $220 down coat for $135.00. In North Carolina, we typically don't need a down coat suited for -20 temps, but we do have Eddie Bauer stores, so, they've got to move merchandise to either tourists visiting from the north, or North Carolinians traveling to Alaska.
We are going to be doing some cross country skiing, and I can't wait for that. I need new boots (boots that don't have a heel), so I have a month to get some. Poseidon insists his hiking boots will be fine, but I have doubts. If he cries like a baby when his short hiking boots fill with snow, I'll fill his jacket with snow.
"Seward's Ice Box." I can't get that out of my head. Please Alaska, don't kill us.
--Amphitrite
Ever take a vacation you thought you might not make it back from?
Last year I did a series of "things I found aesthetically pleasing" posts in the form of a count-down-to-Thanksgiving or some nonsense. This year, I didn't have the time nor the inclination to do the same, but because we are just days away from Thanksgiving...would it not be amazingly absurd to go to Thanksgiving dinner dressed as the turkey?
I think, perhaps, this is a pheasant rather than a turkey?
Photo originally from Outdoors Delmarva
I might actually wear this (if I owned it)...
Photo from Tendhunder.com
I probably would wear this one (if I owned it)...
Gautier - 2008? - Photo from Rayela's Fiber Focus
I most certainly would wear this (if I owned it) while Poseidon and I watch television in the evenings. Seriously, this is beautiful! A Bob Mackie creation - it is a single-breasted evening coat-dress that was designed for and worn by Carol Burnett. I didn't realize this until today, but Bob Mackie designed many of the costumes worn on the The Carol Burnett Show.
Bob Mackie - designed for Carol Burnett - Photo from sfgate.com
OK, which one will you wear to Thanksgiving dinner (or while watching TV, because any of these would be appropriate for television watching)?
Why? Well, as everyone knows, I refer to my husband as Poseidon in my posts, so why not be his Amphitrite (for those non-Greek mythology loving people out there, that is pronounced Am - fuh - trite - ee)? I will now sign off on my posts with name Amphitrite rather than Fortuitous Observer. You can go back to eating your cereal now. The queen of the sea has spoken.
There are some rules you need to literally live by, like: Look both ways before crossing a street. Don't go off drunk with strangers you've only just met in a bar. If your fire alarm is sounding off, you should probably get up and go outside.
Then there are those rules we follow because they are self-imposed or thrown at us byothers. These may be rules we learned as little girls; rules we learned from our mother, who learned from her mother, who learned them from her mother, and so on. Women in their 20s tend to be rule-based life forms, especially when it comes to relationships, marriage, children, etc., because they still haven't had the time to figure out what does/doesn't work best for them, as individuals. I myself was a rule-based life form for most of my 20s and into my 30s.
As women in our 40s, if we want to be visible, it is time to start reevaluating some of the rules we learned along the way to see if they fit who we truly are. Let's step beyond "Women in their 40s should/shouldn't do/wear/say ____________ (insert stupid thing here)," and ask, "Why?"
S T O P B E I N G A R U L E - B A S E D L I F E F O R M
I only want to briefly mention gender rules, because I think 40-somethings are beyond that (hopefully), but for the few who still think in gender-based rules, stop. Women do this; men do that. This is madness. You can do anything you want to do, just as men can do anything they want to do. If you want something enough, you make the time and put forth the effort to do it. If you aren't doing that, it might be time to look at what it is you think you really want. You might find that you really want to be doing something else with your life but you are too afraid to go for it. It's ok to change your mind you know. Girls can do anything boys can do (except urinate while standing...boys are much better at it and probably always will be, but if you want to, go for it).
One rule women need to dispose of early in life is the "If I'm not married with kids by 'x' number of years, I'll be considered an old lonely hag." You may be considered an old lonely hag even if you are married and/or do have kids, so we should have nixed this rule a long, long time ago. If you are in your 40s, and still operating on some form of rule-based schedule, fling your schedule--with a mighty flick of the wrist--out the window. On second thought, take any schedule you have and bury
it, deep in the dirt where the worms won't even go. At 40, you should
have learned by now that life happens while your busy setting up a
project plan. I didn't get engaged until I was 40, and subsequently married at 41. When I was in my early 20s, I just assumed I would be married with children before the age of 30! Rule-based life form, I was.
Now that we have the gender and marriage/kid nonsense out of the way, let's move on to the sillier, frivolous self-imposed parameters. "I'm too old for long hair." If you are in your 40s and telling yourself that, you need to cease being a rule-based life form. Some women don't look good in long hair, and some women look better in long hair. Don't look at it from an age perspective, look at it from a you perspective. Do YOU look good in long hair? If you don't think so, try a funky short cut. You can always grow it back out. Hair grows back (for most of us). I have an entire post in the works on hair for women in their 40s.
"I'm too old to wear that skirt." Did someone say that to you, or are you imposing that rule on you? If your 40-something friends are saying that to you, maybe they are jealous of your legs. If you don't have great legs, maybe they are trying to tell you that. Look at the evidence and make a decision based on that, not just someone telling you women in their 40s shouldn't wear short skirts. Now, this doesn't give you carte blanche to start ordering off the
20-something menu or you might reek of a mid-life crisis gone bad. There is some modicum of taste that should be adhered to. I wear skirts that come just above my knees, but my legs don't look half bad. I confess, sometimes I see a woman in public, and I think, "Hmmm, she should not be wearing that." Sometimes I think I'm right, and sometimes I think I'm falling off the no more rule-based life form wagon. A great story of a woman who is not a rule-based life form: My mother-in-law's friend, I'll call her, Sue. Sue is in her late 60s, an artist who spent much of her adult life in SOHO in the 1960s. Sue always wears wonderful clothes. She showed up to my mother-in-law's birthday party last month wearing a lavender tunic and multi-colored striped stockings, and a scarf that didn't match a thing. She looked amazing! She also 'owns' what she wears, and I don't mean that she paid for it, I mean she rocks it! She is a confident woman who says no to being a rule-based life form and I can only hope to be as half as cool as she is in another 20 years!
"Aren't you a little "old" to be going to concerts?" I've heard this before and it makes me feel sorry for the people posing the question. Poseidon and I go to at least a couple of local shows each month. Why are we too old? If it is a band we like, or new music we want to have a listen to, then no, we aren't. Fortunately we live in an area of the country with an amazing music scene, and we usually aren't the only 40-somethings in attendance, so there! We like music. We know this about ourselves, and it is one of our "hobbies" if you will. We are passionate about music, and fortunately, music isn't ageist; music doesn't discriminate.
I will say one thing about concerts, based on an experience Poseidon and I had last weekend at a local show. For those 40-something ladies who come out to see a show once a year because your friend's husband or cousin is in a band, please don't see who can chug the most Coors Light (yuck, I hated even typing that beer) between you and girlfriends, and subsequently falling over people because you passed your limit 2 beers ago. Props to you for getting out of the house to see a show, but please refer back to "there is some modicum of taste that should be adhered to" in paragraph 7ish.
So, as it pertains to continuing to live a fruitless dull safe rule-based life form, I just leave you with this: There is no "too old." You are who you are, and this is what it is. Embrace it, or remain invisible. The joke is on those spending their whole lives taking every precaution to blend in.
What rules have you abandoned? Any other rules we should throw gasoline and a match on in order to cease living rule-based lives?
Sorry, this post will be devoid of witty commentary, serving only as eye candy.
We all have images our eyes are drawn to, and my eyes are always in love with photographs of mod sixties fashion, especially winter fashion.
I have a "60s Inspiration" board on Pinterest (I rarely go to Pinterest any more...time suck that I had to withdraw from...I thought it was going to involve medication, but I got through it), and I took a look at it today, but I also found some great images elsewhere around the internets, and yeah, I've added them here (so you don't have to go to Pinterest if you are in recovery):
I love, love navy blue, and the white fur is A-OK! Can I get an amen on the hair styles?
Source: 60smodfox.com
Coats in winter white take my breath away when worn by a svelte 60s gal. I love the stockings! I'm actually wearing some very similar, right.now. I just took a picture of them and added them below this photo. I apologize, in advance, for the hideous carpet in my office.
Source: theswingingsixties.com
My stockings (similar to the stockings in the above picture), oh, and my cute grey suede wedges.
Source: My iPhone : )
Sixties fashion cannot be discussed without Twiggy. 60s white jacket with over-sized buttons = perfection.
Source: londonse1.com
I'm not sure if this photo is actually new or taken in the 60s, but I'm going with new. I wish I had been born a bit earlier. This would have been me (not as pretty). This photo screams sixties love.
Source: refinery20.com
Fur again! I love 60s coats with fur and this deep burgandy is beautiful for winter. If I didn't already have 3 vintage coats in my closet, I would go on wild hunt for this one. Apparently this is from the Australian Wool Corporation fashion campaign during the late 60s/early 70s
Source: smh.com.au
Brigitte Bardot. Enough said. Sixties style gal forever...and she had the best hair
Vanity plates perplex me. I find them irritating and curious at the same time, and in May, I wrote about some of the more memorable tags I'd had the pleasure of getting stuck behind. I typically don't jot these down right away, meaning, if they are truly memorable, I will, well, remember them. Like these:
This will probably go down as one of my all-time favorite personalized license plates: MANISH. Now, I didn't see this plate until the car had passed, so I don't know if the driver was a man or a woman. Either way, it doesn't matter. Either way, it doesn't flatter. I truly did not intend to make that rhyme, but it worked out that way.
PIXL8ED - I hate to admit that It took me a few minutes to get this, but when I did, the geek in me smiled.
10SNEONE - This driver wants everyone to know he is available for a tennis game with, "tennis anyone" but after figuring this one out, I suddently remembered a line from Rosemary's Baby where Mia Farrow was swinging the chain on the amulet, the amulet that the crazy satanic neighbors gave her, filled with tanas weed (tanas turned out to be an anagram for satan), and she jokingly said, "Tanas, anyone?" I don't know why I remember such triviality, but there you go.
This plate puzzled me -- BGOMER -- until I looked at it through the lens of logic and just decided it is probably just the driver's name, B. Gomer, but when I first read the tag, I thought it might be, "be Gomer" as in the driver wanted to be Gomer Pyle. Maybe he does. Nothing wrong with Gomer.
BADKNEES -- My eyes are still rolling over this tag I saw during my morning commute today, but it did trigger some great ideas for my own personalized license plate. Here is what I have so far: NEWROTIC (with a 'w' instead of a 'u' just to be clever), ILUVRTHRITS (probably too many letters), DPRESSD, ACNEROOLS, _ITIS (this will let the driver behind me decide what my ailment is), and NACOMA.
Am I the only one fascinated by vanity plates? I would like to think I'm not uniquely dull as dishwater.
As a kid, I was in love with my bike. Feeling that it might be possible to achieve flight if I pedaled fast enough, was a true addiction. I gladly endured scrapes and bruises, and a very memorable, painful sprained wrist (I think my wrist was actually broken, but my parents didn't take me to the doctor so I wrapped it in an ACE bandage for a couple of weeks, thinking I would die from the pain anyway, but obviously didn't, and my wrist is only slightly out of place). I once got my shoe laces caught in my bike chain, resulting in a crying fit and my father having to cut the laces from my bike in order to 'detach' me from the bike. I also ran into a large boulder once. I'm still picturing me flying over the handlebars like I'd been shot from a cannon. Luckily, I sustained only mild injuries: Scrapes and a bruised ego. Those were some great times. A girl and her bike!
In my teenage years, I biked less and less, and by the time I reached 18, I didn't bike at all. I believe my parents sold the rusty bones of our bicycles in a yard sale...cheap.
At the age of 25, I bought a new bike. Even though 5+ years had passed since my last ride, I went to a bike shop and purchased a brand spanking new bike. This act of foolishness was me trying to keep my then boyfriend from breaking up with me. He biked and I didn't, and he wanted to break up because we didn't have much in common. I thought he might not break up with me if I biked with him. Fortunately, for me, the bike did not save that doomed relationship (how stupid we are in our 20s), and a year or so later, as I was preparing to move to Philadelphia for a new job, I sold the new-barely-used bike to my brother...cheap.
Two years ago, at the age of 41, I bought a new bike so that Poseidon and I could start riding together (haha, I'm not repeating a foolish mistake again, don't worry). For many reasons (insert excuses here: weather, doing some home remodeling projects, putting our house on the market, etc.), we were unable to ride much last year, but this year, we've found our groove, and I am once again an addict. It took an outing or two, but the feeling I got as a child, flying through space on my bike, is back!
I ride like an adult now, with my helmet and bike gloves, my new awesome bike bell, and a cell phone in case Poseidon and I accidentally pedal into the lake, but the giddiness is still there. Injury-free so far (knocking on my faux wood desk), though I was nearly mowed down by a cycling dude yesterday. Note to male cyclers out there: Gold bike shorts are not a good choice if you are going to be sweating--OK, they aren't a good choice, period.
Because we rode yesterday, and because of my experience with trying new sports in my 40s, I know that at this time tomorrow, my legs are going to lead a most impressive mutinous revolution against the rest of my body, but I won't mind. I'm just a girl with her bike again, and as the saying goes, "Good health is the slowest way to die."
Me - adjusting my bike helmet - I look mean in this picture : )
