Wishful Wednesday: Merona Sweater

I was shopping at my favorite store, Target, the other day when I discovered this sweater. At first, I didn't know if I really liked it. Maybe you can or can't tell on your browser, but this sucker is ORANGE. However, the clean white embellishments (they aren't really beads) drew me in and I tried it on.

Despite having ample room to move around in, the embellishments seemed to pull the whole thing down while my bust pulled it sideways...ah, well. It's not as though I don't already have 10 cardigans. So for this Wishful Wednesday, I not only want this sweater, but in a version that doesn't pull.

Wishful Wednesday: Poppy Chair

While helping my mom search for a new couch, we stumbled across this oh-so-cute chair at Macy's. The pattern is so bright and cheerful and I love the dark pink-reddish color of the flowers. It's much comfier than it looks and looking at it even now gives me the urge to grab a book and curl up for the afternoon. Alas, it costs as much as the couch my mom would like to purchase.

Where Have All the Good Clothes Gone?

Last year, I had to exercise serious control not to rack up my credit card bill. And now, I can't even find a pair of socks I like!

What's up, designers?

The skirts are too short (even if my butt weren't it's current size). I'm expected to pay $12-$15 dollars for screen tees and barely decorated tank tops.

Yeah, I'll pass.

The shoes are uninspiring and most are similar to what I saw last year. I'm bummed, and I'm ready for next year!

Let me in on the secret if there's some secret fashion stash out there...

Playing Hostess in B'ham Part I

Julie came to visit me yesterday -- hooray! She's the first friend that's been able to visit me since I moved here, so I was not only excited to see her, but also to play hostess.

It rained a lot on Monday, and it was supposed to rain again Tuesday, but God smiled upon Birmingham and it was a nice overcast day.

We had lunch at Bottletree Cafe, and it was pretty good. I had the Thunderbird sandwich with turkey, a red pepper mayo, Havarti cheese, tomato and lettuce on sourdough. This is probably my own doing, since they are known for their vegetarian items. But it sounded good! I chose the sweet potato fries as my side, and they could have been crispier. Julie had the veggie and rice burrito, and she really like it.

We headed over to What's on 2nd? which is a junk store downtown. And I don't mean junk as in trashy; it's an eclectic, overwhelming treasure store of all the things that people collect. They have an impressive collection of old postcards. I think every state in the U.S. was accounted for, and there were dozens for each one. They would be great to use for collages and decorating containers, table tops, etc.

The other items that caught my attention were the personal photos. There are several boxes of them all over the store. I found photos recording weddings, vacations, parties and just days of hanging out. It struck me as very odd that there were so many, illustrating so many intimate details of people's lives. How did those photos get into a junk shop? Did someone not want them? Wasn't there some family member who could keep them?

Afterward, I drove around and showed Julie around my neighborhood, and we spent part of the evening at the Summit. We spent some time in Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie, and I of course I wanted to buy most of each store. And then it struck me how many items I could recreate myself, or find elsewhere. Oh, brand brainwashing, you are so devious!

We had dinner at FLIP -- yum -- and went to Yogurt Mountain for dessert -- another yum. They sell frozen yogurt and your choice of toppings for 45 cents an ounce! Believe me, you get a lot, even for $3. There are 16 rotating flavors of yogurt according to the website, and a couple dozen toppings from cereal to candy to fruit.

I had a really good time Tuesday, and it was a little -- okay, very -- hard to go back to work. Taking the day off make me think it was Friday/the weekend. So, thanks Julie, for giving me a Tues-weekend-day!

I love Hump Day

First, because, really, someone came up with that awesome name! Second, I only have one more day of work this week. And last, it's my free day.

I sent off my (re)application packet for the Southern Progress fellowship today. I'm pretty nervous about reapplying so soon, since I haven't had the chance to write any more clips or do any more tangible work. Yeah, I fact check for Atlanta but it's not the same as a final product.

I found out that Amy, one of the other Atlanta interns is also applying to SP. I thought, man, maybe I could have snuck by, but nope. Pretty sure even more people will apply now than did this past spring. In any case, wish me luck, and God willing+my great resume, etc. = an interview!

Also, my uncle put me in touch with a really nice guy who works for a publishing company. The company is H&A Media Group and they do a lot of things that I would love to get experience in. Kudos to my uncle Lynn for going out of his way to get in touch with said media guy!

I'm in the midst of reading a new book, Ghosts in the Snow by Tamara Siler Jones. It's like a medieval murder mystery with a taste of the supernatural. It's set in an original world where a older gentleman, Dubric, can see the ghosts of the murdered. Not coincidentally, he's in charge of security for his castle and someone is murdering young women. And his motivation, other than morals? Their gory ghosts haunt him, and they won't move on until he's solved their murder.

I really like it but gosh darn if Jones isn't leading me on a goose chase! My only complaint is that the world's history and the social network of the castle comes out in bits and pieces in conversation, so it can be hard to catalog past events and characters. Another update coming as soon as I finish!

Oh, yeah, I almost forgot! I went over to Bath & Body Works today. They're having their fall scents sale. Room sprays are $3 instead of $5 and I got Leaves (my favorite!), Autumn Apple, Spiced Cider and Fresh Balsam. Leaves is spicy, musky and really reminds me of the holidays. AApple is very much a crisp, clean apple scent; I'm not sold yet on Spiced Cider but I liked it better than some of their other scents. Fresh Balsam is, in my opinion, better that last year's Tree (also by Slatkin). It's less harsh that Tree, and more complex. I think the card in the store said it had pine, musk, apple and cedar scents blended in.

Their big candles are also on sale (2 for $20) and I got my mom the Vanilla Caramel (rich and sweet) and Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin. I like this one better than their Pumpkin Patch, which I really have no words to describe. I just think it's kind of bland and not pumpkiny or spicy at all. The other stand outs were the Ginger Vanilla and Harvest Berry. They're something unique, yet appropriate for the holidays, than the classic pumpkin, vanilla and spice based scents.