The Look for Less: Grey Suede Wedges

I've been admiring J.Crew's Martina Suede Wedges (and pretty much everything else on the J.Crew website) since they were shown in the catalog earlier this fall. They have a nice, classic shape, and the 3" heel height isn't too tall for comfort if you need to walk in them all day long. Although it would be nice to have a pair of J.Crew's wedges in the slate color, I really can't afford to drop $228.00 on a single pair of shoes right now.

But last night at Target, as I was passing through the shoe section on my way to the greeting cards, I saw these Merona Milena Suede Wedges:



Almost exactly the same shoe, and the Target version only costs $29.99! Granted, the quality is nowhere near what you would find at J.Crew, but the upper is genuine suede and, for $30, it's no big deal if your shoes start looking a little bit shabby after a season of regular wear. The heel is 2.25" and the shade of grey is slightly darker than the Martinas but, all-in-all, I'm very pleased with them and so happy to have gotten such a great deal!

The perils of stimulants.

The picture above pretty much sums up my morning at work so far. Will switch to PG Tips for the afternoon and pretend that my boss is the Dalai Llama.

Women to Love: Dylan Lauren

Rich, famous (she's the daughter of Ralph and Ricky Lauren), and dazzlingly beautiful, Dylan Lauren could have decided to spend her life partying on a permanent vacation around the world. Instead, she opted to use her considerable connections and savvy marketing abilities to open her own fabulous business, Dylan's Candy Bar!



Her love of candy was inspired by a showing of "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" during one of her childhood birthday parties, and she cultivated the ideas for the bright, modern design of Dylan's Candy Bar by collecting candy wrappers from sweet shops throughout Europe.

Wouldn't this be a ridiculously amazing job!!! I'm dying to visit the flagship store in NYC on my next visit. I also love her style - classic American with a fun, sexy twist. I would imagine that cultivating this sort of style was a piece of cake with THESE TWO as your parents:





Images from NY Post and Dylan's Candy Bar Website

What would Regina George say?

So apparently we can rule out "going to the dentist" as one of the things that Lindsey Lohan was doing instead of completing her court-ordered community service.

Pic courtesy of RadarOnline.com.

In Praise of Toast

Now before you say, "Pssh - toast is boring", just hear me out.

This morning, surrounded by the icy leftovers of an early March snowstorm, I came to work and slipped off to the break room to get some hot water for my tea. As soon as I pushed the door open, I was enveloped in warm sunlight pouring through the windows and the scent of toasted bread - somehow unmistakeable for a bagel or an English muffin - and suddenly I'm friggin' Proust musing over his Madelines.

I have a long history with toast, mainly the Wonderbread kind, due mostly to the fact that it was the only thing I could eat - besides Ginger Ale and Saltines - when I was sick in bed as a child. You would think that this would cause toast to inspire negative thoughts (of nausea) in my mind, but instead it has achieved "comfort food" status. I am also not a big breakfast eater due to a weak stomach before noon, so tea and toast is what I usually turn to if I want something more substantial than yogurt.

In general, toast is best when served hot directly from the toaster or oven, golden brown and crunchy on the outside, hot and still slightly soft on the inside. This, to me, is the best way to ensure that the butter will melt evenly across the surface and the bread will sop up all of the jam or marmalade that you might want to pile on top (really, how delicious is butter + jam? and does anything act as a better foil to butter + jam than toast???). However, the best toast that I have ever eaten was served at the hotel where I was staying in Edinburgh, Scotland, on a weekend getaway during my semester Study Abroad. It was a heavy wheat bread, at least an inch thick, cold but perfectly toasted. They included with it a heavy little ceramic crock of pale, creamy butter that would make any stick of Land o' Lakes green with envy and, oh boy, was that the perfect breakfast to go with my fragrant cup of Earl Grey.

So you still think that toast is boring? Fine, maybe it is, but I'll take wholesome simplicity any day over sugary cereal or a giant, greasy plate of IHOP fare that will sit in your stomach like an anvil all day long.

...unless I'm hungover. Then I want McDonalds.

Behold! I am a candy maker.

Willy Wonka should give me that Golden Ticket and a job (and let me run around in the huge room with the candy teacups and the chocolate river because SERIOUSLY).

So it all began this evening as I was standing in front of the pantry eating chocolate chips out of the bag and I thought, "This is just sad", so I went about trying to find a more dignified way to get my chocolate fix. After I did some investigating into the pantry and discovered pretzels and pecans, I had a moment of divine inspiration - a.k.a What Would Ina Garten Do? - and I decided to combine the three ingredients to create a salty-sweet snack. Here is the recipe:

*Besides pretzels, chocolate chips, and pecans, you will need two glass bowls, a knife, a spatula, a cookie sheet, and some waxed paper. And a microwave and a refrigerator.

-Chop the pecans and put them in one bowl (you might have to repeat this step a few times).

-Dump half the bag of chocolate chips in one of the bowls and microwave at 15 second intervals, stirring between each nuking period, until chocolate is totally melted. This is Ina's easy way to temper chocolate :)

-Dip half of each pretzel in the chocolate, then dip it again into the chopped pecans.

-Lay the candy (woo hoo!) on the waxed paper on the baking sheet, and refrigerate until solid.

So you're probably like, "Whatever, my grandma could do that with her eyes closed", but I am proud that I came up with this recipe all by myself. Now I am off to spoil my dinner.

Whitesnake=Still Awesome

Aren't they pretty?

While I have yet to decide whether the invention of the Internet is ultimately good or bad for insomnia, it does at the very least give you something to do besides toss and turn for hours. When insomnia strikes for me, I often mosey over to YouTube to watch music videos (since MTV doesn't seem to be into them anymore). Early 90's R&B and 80's Hair Band videos are usually my favorites to watch because they remind me of a simpler time when the biggest things I had to worry about were homework and boys...although none of them resembled the hotties from Whitesnake. Easy to make fun of them now, but go and watch the "Is This Love?" video and see if it doesn't make you wish that you had a sweet pair of giant white pumps and Tawny Kitaen's hair.