Winter Jones

Maybe it's because I spent the first 27 years of my life in the cradle of the rust belt, maybe it's the fact that the holiday season is fast approaching...or maybe it was just the arrival of the November edition of the Anthropologie catalog in my inbox a couple weeks ago...but I have got the the worst jones for winter going on right now. Living in Texas with its 70+ degree temps that carry over well into December doesn't help, although there is that part of me that thinks I should enjoy this last so-called "winter season" down south, since come January I'll be fighting the arctic chill of Brooklyn. I suppose in the meantime to get my fix, I can put together my wishlist from the Anthro catalog and enjoy these pretty winter-centric pics:

Anthropologie Catalog November 2009

Bjork

tawniwold - Etsy.com

Anthropologie Catalog November 2009

Anthropologie Catalog November 2009
These boots are an early xmas present to myself. I was a good girl this year.

Anthropologie Catalog November 2009
And these shoes may be next on my wish list. I was really good.

Central Park in winter. I'll be there next year!

And if you want a real glimpse into what I'm looking forward to come January, check out this video that D made last year of the first snow day in Brooklyn. It always makes me tear up a bit, but that's probably cuz I miss him.

Random Thoughts on the "What If's?"

Stumbled across this blog the other day and fell in love. Missed Connections is a collection of random entries from various "missed connections" websites, curated by the talented artist Sophie Blackall. Her focus is primarily on chance encounters that take place in the NY metropolitan area, and she accompanies each selected entry with one of her own drawings that perfectly captures the longing, hope and humor that go hand in hand with these serendipitous situations - and I know I'm romanticizing the crap out of this, as I'm sure there are plenty of creepy connections out there...but reading Sophie's blog lets me bask in the fantasy of chance encounters with fairy tale endings.

So of course this gets me thinking about all the potential missed connections that could've happened in my life. Nearly 3 years ago D and I met in the last place I'd ever expect to meet the love of my life - a crowded, smokey bar that neither one of us really belonged in - and I like to think for that very reason we locked eyes across a crowded room and eventually (after 30 minutes of I look at you, you look away - and viceversa) made it over to each other to start talking...and haven't stopped since. What would've happened if one of us had lost the nerve and walked away, or figured it was a long shot to meet someone worthwhile in a cheesy bar, or decided to head out to a different bar where people wouldn't be dancing to "Sexy Back" ....these kinds of "what if" thoughts are precisely why I read about other's missed connections and hope like crazy that it's just meant to be.

Love Means Never Having to Say You're Sorry

But neglecting your blog for over a week? Yeah, that's a different story. And I feel pretty guilty about it (a by-product of years spent in Catholic school) but, as usual I have a legit excuse. You see, over the past few weeks I've suddenly morphed into having three full-time gigs: the anonymous "day job" as a marketing account manager, my beloved bag biz, and now...the New York job search (made all the more cumbersome by the fact that I won't actually be living out there until January). Mush all of this together and you can imagine I am one gigantic ball of stress. So please bear with me...and if you know of anyone in the NY metropolitan area hiring an entrepreneurial-minded fashion-centric quirky self-starter with a solid background in marketing account management...give me first dibs.

Everyday is Halloween

Not just a great song by Ministry, but a philosophy to live by. Now, it must be stated up front: I am not one of those live-and-breathe-for-Halloween types; most Halloweens I've spent chilling at home without the least awareness of this alleged holiday (with the exception of this unfortunate Tinkerbell-from-Middle-Earth episode several years ago). That being said...I am amused by the display of complete ingenuity, creativity and (at times) downright tacky inappropriateness of this occasion, at least from a sideline observer standpoint. And so, in homage to the fabulous, wildly original and decidedly distasteful costume depictions that can only be considered acceptable this time of year, I give you a smattering of the best (to me) Halloween costumes seen thus far from an inspired little website called WTF Costumes. And come the night of All Hallows Eve, while most gals are either trick-or-treating with their kids or using this as an opportunity to showcase their inner sexy school girl/kitten/nurse/French maid/nun/sanitation worker/fill-in-the-blank, I'll likely be donning my decidedly less sexy seamstress costume while inhaling copious amounts of Jelly Bellys. My perfect Halloween...and pretty much my perfect everyday.

Everyone's favorite meal on the cheap in college.
Image via WTF Costumes

Oh look...it's another video of a drunk guy on YouTube.
Image via WTF Costumes

Looks like a tense moment during the Showcase Showdown.
Image via WTF Costumes

Just make sure no one tries to shake you or tip you over.
Image via WTF Costumes

Blonde Ambition

How fitting that I came across this posting yesterday, considering that later in the day I would be sitting in my hair stylist's chair and giving my 1+ inches of dark roots a platinum royal treatment that was shamefully months overdue. Although I neglected to take "before" pics, take a look at a previous "after" pic to reference the magic created by hair stylist extraoridnaire Dee. As grungy as dark-roots-gone-wild can sometimes be, there is about a 2 week period between when those pesky dark strands start sprouting up and when you've gone full-fledged Courtney Love - and that 2 week grace period results in the perfect balance of edgy-chic-yet-still-classy-platinum blond loveliness. Which is why, on the spectrum of blondness that is the subject of this post from Refinery 29, I feel I fall somewhere in between the Avant-Blondes and the Guitar Smashers.

If you're a blonde babe - natural or (ahem) not quite - check out the Blonde-O-Sphere and see where you fall. Heck, even if you are non-blonde check it out...chances are there is a little Courtney Love in each of us, be you a blondie, brunie, jet black or bald.

My Latest "Aha!" Moment

While doing my Saturday morning blogroll reading catch-up, I came across this posting on the Style Defined blog about Katie Gallagher's collection from NY fashion week (and yes, I am more than a little behind on my blog reading). If her name sounds not yet familiar to you, just know that she is considered amongst the fashion intelligentsia as one of the young "up and comers." Refinery 29 recently included her in their post "The Six New Designers to Watch Now." As for me, I love not only her collection but also her personal style, and of course that means I have another crush. Especially when she sums up her design philosophy in a way that makes me wish I'd though to say it first because it so strongly resonates with what I'm trying to do as I evolve this thing I refer to as my "designer identity":

"I don’t believe that fashion is the end goal; stories, personalities, moods, ideals, and attitudes are. Fashion, when executed successfully, communicates these attributes quickly and eloquently."

I love this kind of conviction because it just fits with me. Everything I've tried to do in the year and a half that I've been at this has always been guided by intuition. And I feel that if it's coming from a place deep within you that is so authentically you, so much so that you have no doubt or question (or choice) about doing it any other way - then it results in exactly what Katie so perfectly sums up in the quote above. An "aha!" moment indeed.

A Hypocrite Indeed

My favorite types of blogs to follow are those that offer a bit of quirky insight into the people writing them, which is why my objective with this blog is to give my readers a peek into who I am beyond just being a handbag designer. And this is specifically why I avoid using said blog as yet another means to (yawn) plug my business. People know about this "thing" that I do, and if they don't or want more info about it, there are plenty of links on this page to lead them to where they can get more info. I'd rather use this as a place to express my love of figs, to share the work of artists that inspire me, to go on and on about Brooklyn and, of course, to pay homage to my Vogs.

But...I am sometimes a hypocrite, however only in ways that would never harm anyone else and only once in a blue moon. Like right now. And so I need to post one shameful plug about my business, but only because I have been waiting (no lie) 8 months to be featured as Handbag Designer 101's "Designer of the Day." And as we speak, I'm sitting in a stark grey cubicle at my (yawn) day job right now, and I can't woop and holler like I really want to, so the next best thing is subjecting my (very understanding) readers to this bit of hypocracy. Please forgive. And click here.