Super Cute

A complete stranger stopped me in a Starbucks the other day to tell me that she thought I was "Super Cute".  Since things like this don't happen to me often or ever, I decided that this gave me the right to have a fat head for the rest of the day.  Then it happened again.  I have discovered this nifty tool called Polyvore, which is sort of an online closet.  You sign yourself up for an account and then add virtual clothes to "your items" and then you can put together outfits on pages.  Most people use this to dream up great outfits that they could never afford, but I have been using it load up actual things that I own as a place to keep track of what's in my closet.  Somehow my clothes look so much better on paper than they do when I'm trying to get dressed in the morning.  At any rate, I have started pinning my "outfits" on a page on Pinterest (because I pin everything these days) and it makes it so much easier to find.  I have actually whipped open my laptop before getting dressed and said to myself, "Yeah, that one looks good" and then go source the items in the closet.  Here are two outfits that I have pinned:

Immediately after pinning up the bottom photo with the adorable pink plaid Sperrys, someone repinned it declaring it to be "Super Cute".  Huh.  I then found out that there is nothing in the world more depressing than looking someone up on Pinterest who thinks your outfit is "Super Cute" and finding out that they are in the 8th grade.  I have no idea what to do with this information.  Anyway, with regard to the outfit up top, I own most pieces with exception to the shirt.  I have one very similar, but it does not have the cute gingham on the cuffs and collar.  Since it made me sad that I don't own it and it is perfectly yummy, I decided to sketch it instead and play some more with my watercolor pencils.  I do own the Jack Rogers, which my husband keeps telling me look like something made in Summer camp.  He is a diehard preppie too, so he seriously needs to get over that idea.  I am also finding that I am a true believer in Moleskine sketchbooks, particularly the watercolor ones.  Nothing runs, nothing bleeds through and the paper isn't even very wrinkly once the water dries.  I could use both sides of the paper, but so far I can't bring myself to do that; in case I want to use one of the sketches for something, I really don't want another sketch on the other side.

I needed a hug

Today was one of those days that wasn't bad, per-se, but not great either.  A co-worker has been out of the office for some time which has increased everyone's stress level, a family member who I did not want to see dropped by the office and I just felt cranky and sad for no particular reason.  Then I left for the day and went and got into my little roadster and put the top down.  I let the sun warm me up for a minute while I plugged in my ipod and my misery began to thaw.  As I drove home in thick traffic, I thought about how this makes just about everything better on a bright sunshiny day like today.  Then traffic got worse.  So bad in fact, that I turned off the highway onto a road that happened to take me past the mall.  Figuring it was fate (I could either stop and shop or sit in traffic for another hour and waste gas), I pulled into the parking lot.  I don't usually go for retail therapy as a rule, but sometimes it does hit the spot to just wander around with your own thoughts.

With no particular goal in mind, I noticed how nice it is to shop during this time of day.  There are no crowds and the stores have not been busy all day so things are fully stocked and clean and neat.  I popped into Sephora and started testing perfumes.  My husband does not like perfume so much, so it's something that I rarely buy, but when I came across "Daisy" by Marc Jacobs, I had to have it.  Forgetting the fact that daisies are one of my favorite things on earth, the package was lovely and it smells like summertime.  They had a tiny bottle so I went for it.

Another fairly random find is the sparkly knotted silk bracelet from J Crew.  I had been trolling around looking for something just like it and finding lots of nice things, but mostly at ludicrous prices.  There are a few cool ones on Etsy, but for some reason, every time I find something really unique, it's from some far off country where the shipping will take forever and I'm not entirely convinced that it's actually hand made and not pumped out of some factory in China.  The $18.50 price tag on this one made it a win-win and I had to hold myself back from buying one in every color.  I think the pink is just right.

Oooh Minty

Since I have started playing with my new waterbrush and watercolor pencils, it has occurred to me that my pens, pencils, brushes, erasers, etc do not a have a proper home for life on the go.  Normally, I would keep these items in a pencil cup on my desk in my studio or in a drawer, but this does not work when I want to take them with me, so today I began the search for a pencil case.  Something I haven't owned since the first grade.  The first place I looked has become my favorite go-to website for all things pen and pencil: Jet Pens.  If you are looking for Japanese pens, pencils, erasers, funky office supplies, notebooks and cases of all sorts this is the place to look.  They have a wide variety of cases, but these gorgeous leather offerings seriously made me swoon.  The color makes me think of summertime and clear ocean water and fabulous destinations to sketch and the leather looks incredible.  I cannot wait for them to arrive.