With a Twist

You could wear this $10 tee with jeans, or even under a jacket for work. Or with a welder's mask. Or with a pair of roller skates (the old fashioned ones with the toe stop, not the inline ones). Or with a top hat and cane. Or all of those, all at once. Did I ever mention I don't get enough sleep? And that diet coke, my constant source of energy and inspiration, has turned against me?

For once, I thought I'd mix it up and actually choose an item of color, but the gods were not smiling - the blue is available only in XL.

Twinkle Twinkle [VERY] Little Star

I've blogged before about my inability to wear big jewelry. I'm never sure if it looks good, and then I spend the day thinking everyone is looking at me funny. So I tend to run in the other direction (metaphorically -- I don't run) and find the smallest jewelry possible.

But lately I've been having trouble finding earrings that are small enough. So I've had to get creative and move away from the earring category entirely. Behold my new find: nose studs! Worn as earrings! They are so perfectly teeny. Just make sure you buy two of each, because they are sold separately, not in pairs -- at least on the site I went to. I had a hard time dealing with the pages and pages of strange body piercings, but I was able to get through it and I've gotten a bunch of pairs in different colors, plus these cute little stars.

The only drawback? My Gmail account now thinks I am a fan of body piercing, and regularly serves me up text ads for the strange and disturbing jewelry it is convinced that I want. Yuck.

Sleepalicious

I have been itching to add this cardigan to my blanket chest for a while. Firstly, it has this surprising ruched yoke on the back. Secondly, the copy describes it as "comfy enough to sleep in," which is really an attribute I would like to be true of pretty much every thing I own. Thirdly it goes with real clothes, or, should you be taking it up on its sleepability claim, it goes with Amanda's Gap-tastic finds (coinage by Maria). Fourthly, it's $15! Fifthly, I want to see if I can keep this listing gimmick up ad nauseam. Sixthly, this is hardly even a challenge; I mean, when do I ever stop talking, really? Seventhly, I think 'sixthly' and 'seventhly' are not even a real words, and spellcheck confirms my suspicion, so - challenge met!

Godspeed

My toes are tired of being hidden away inside my shoes. They are longing to break free, perhaps in these metallic peep-toe flats. I'm loving the ankle strap. They're $24, but if you're quick, you can use coupon code "645" (expires at midnight tonight) for an extra 25% off.

Pajama Jammy Jam*

I like to think of myself as something of an expert on pajamas. I try to wear them as much as I possibly can. The speed with which I change into pajamas upon returning home from work has led former roommates to question whether or not I wore the pajamas to the office. So when I tell you I have found the greatest pajamas ever, I can assure you that that statement is supported by countless hours of hands-on research.

The new Supersoft collection from the Gap is amazing. If anything, "supersoft" is an understatement. Is there a stronger word with which to modify soft than "super"? I guess "reallyreallyreallysupersoft" might be too much to fit on the label. But that's what it is. These pajamas are so freakin' comfy! And some of them are even on sale.

The capris are $24.99. The long-sleeved tee is $14.99. The cute little cami is $24.99. And if you're into that weird romper thing, it's just $16.99.

If you can wait until March 12 to try out the Supersoft collection for yourself, you can use this coupon http://www.gapgiveandget.com/np/lls.html to get 30% off (and support the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, a really great cause -- my awesome boyfriend raised over $5000 for them, the least you can do is buy some pajamas). But be warned -- it's in stores only. And do you really think you can wait that long?

So thank you, Gap, for your groundbreaking contribution to this important fashion category. As if it wasn't already hard enough to change out of my pajamas in the morning.

*The title of this post is a tribute to a social function my sorority had many years ago. However, it may be slightly misleading, as none of these pajamas are slutty enough to have been worn to that event.

Pump It Up

With my telekinetic campaign to bring on summer in full swing, it is surely only a matter of days before the temperature soars! And then, alas, my closet full of boots will be of no use. But these lovely ombre peep toes will make the seasonal shoe transition smoothly. They are what we in my family fondly call an "in-betveen," (eastern European accent, please). For me these qualify as multi-colored - black and lighter black.

Credit Where Credit Is Due

I am about to come into some Old Navy store credit. Though the actual amount remains unknown until the reading of the will (or until the cashier tells me if I will get the full value for these items returned without a receipt), I am nonetheless very excited for this imminent windfall and am spending some time thinking about how I will spend it. Knowing me, it will go to fill my closet with yet more summer dresses that I can only dream about wearing at the moment. Possibly one of these.

Loving the 80s-ness of this one. I think I had the same dress as a small child.

They say maxi dresses are going to be in this summer. So naturally, I need one in black (to complete my collection of black sleeveless dresses at every length).

This one's in Cyclamen -- my favorite birth control/color!

Of course, it will probably turn out that only have enough for these $3.50 flip-flops. But as far as inheritances go, it could be worse. At least I won't have to pay taxes.

Summer Dreams

In a complete about face, I am embracing the power of positive thinking (those of you that know me are now sniggering uncontrollably), and focusing all my energy on bringing on summer. If you buy for it, it will come. I am meditating on this awesome $20 blouse, perfect for work or play.

Give In, Get Warm

It's official. Spring is never coming. Never, not ever. And as I sit here shivering, about 18 months into this season, I am abandoning my ban on sweater purchases. That ban is based in part on sweaters' itch factor, but mostly on the fact that I literally just can't fit another bulky item into the blanket chest I supposedly share, if you believe in a broad definition of "sharing" in which I get to utilize every square inch of the blanket chest to store my stuff and must to cram your things into the bottom of your closet, and, even then, only until I colonize that territory in the name of the republic of Jayn, which, you may have already shrewdly deducted, is not a democracy. I need this $35 Lucky sweater to last me through this interminable season; cute with a long sleeve T and jeans, or even with a blouse and the teeny wide trousers below.

Opposites Attractive

Oxymoronic name aside, these 'teeny wide leg' wool blend pants are a steal at $24! They have these snazzy narrow leather belt loops and no waistband. And on the back, little wood heart buttons - but, alas, no words across the ass. So few trousers for work offer that feature.

The Yoke's On You (Or Me, Actually)

Naturally, I bought the orange and blue print Lucky tank top Jayn posted about this weekend -- with a 20% off coupon code, no less. So when I happened to be in a Lucky store yesterday (not my fault, my boyfriend needed jeans!), I just had to check out their sale section and see if there were any other wonderful deals to be found.

I must have been channeling Jayn, because I immediately gravitated toward this solid black, hippieish shirt. It's super-soft and very comfy. Lucky calls it the Trapunto Yoke Tunic, but I just call it awesome at $29. Sadly, it's not on their web site anymore, so you've got to go into the store (and can't use a coupon code). Tragic.

Luckier Intersection

Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later. This cami is where my love for the seventies and Amanda's love of color intersects - Venn diagram, anyone? $10!

(H. R.) Puffer Stuff

I waaaaant it. I know I have leather jackets, puffer jackets - but I don't have a leather puffer jacket. How sleek. How slim. How greatly reduced from $350 to $99, and how well worth it.

Cashmere Bist Du Shein

Quick, snap it up - a gray cashmere cardigan for $25! Don't make me sing the chorus to "Cashmere Bist Du Shein", like my husband (and my mother) does at every mention of the word cashmere. I'll never know what I have done to deserve this particular form of torture, I am warning you, make this sweater a part of your wardrobe, or I will inflict it upon you.

And how perfect would this look with Amanda's shoes?

Go to Waist

I just like this. I do. It's a nice suede belt with smart detailing around the buckle, only $20, and doesn't it do a lovely job of reminding us that there is a waist under that cozy, but bulkifying, vest? Of course, I would like to be reminded just a little less that there is a bosom under that cozy, but bulkifying, vest.

The choice is yours

There are two ways to get a good deal on these pretty ballet flats.

Option 1) Get a job in advertising, convince your client that you need to have a photo shoot to collect assets for their brand, coincidentally have the wardrobe department bring these shoes (in your size, of course) and have one of the actors at the shoot wear them, thus ensuring that they can't be returned and that you, as the account person managing the shoot and the only one with big enough feet to fit into them, get to keep them. This is the route I took.

Option 2) Go to Old Navy and buy them. They're only $19.50.

Native American Summer

Ever notice when you go to Florida in the winter, the Floridians (boy did my grandmother love that word) are dressed in cardigans and slacks (ditto), but we northerners are running around in halters tops and hot pants? (I guess it's inexplicably 1975.) There must be some quasi-scientific explanation for this phenomenon, referred to in the South as "those idiot northerners syndrome." Well, we have a warm front coming through tomorrow, making the mercury-free-and-therefore-safe-for-Broadway-performers thermometer shoot up from the single digits to the mid 50's, and I am thinking this silk top, at a mere $20, would be just perfect.

BFF Boots Redux

I am certain that my elementary school BFF's mother, the elegant Cynthia, wore these very same boots. They were no doubt paired with a smashing pair of culottes. Or were they gauchos? High water palazzo pants? Somebody stop me.

I was in the actual Wink store today and they offered me a glass of wine. You can't get that when you order online, but you can use a 30% coupon, and get these for $65, originally $186. And when I say you, I mean you, and not me. Pair 16 arrived today.

Smock It To Me

For your indie earrings, you'll need this $23 indie top. You can wear it when you write your soul-searching ballads, leaning over your guitar, with your long hair falling over your face and muting your strings. Or maybe I am the only one who gets their hair tangled in their strings; I am not known for my grace.

Distress Out

By the end of the day, I am just so tired. There's the job, of course. There's scheming how and where to get my hands on some cupcakes (that is not a joke; I wish it were). There is the million household duties that await me when I return from the job, often accompanied by more cupcake scheming, if the initial cupcake scheming wasn't successful, and sometimes even if it was. It tires even a luckier chick out.


With all that, sometimes I am too tired to distress my own shoes. So I appreciate it when the manufacturer does that work for me - like with these silver flats, that put me in the mood for spring. Plus, with pre-distressing, I don't have to expend any energy trying to take care of the shoes, because "it's the look."