Archive for the ‘Eat Drink Shop’ Category
So I’m going to a snazzy affair this weekend, and although I’m wearing a dress I have, carrying a purse I already own and didn’t get any new jewelry for the occasion, I thought I might get new shoes.
<>So for the first time ever, I went to Joseph’s, and saw, for the first time ever… Manolo Blahniks. You know, the shoes Carrie Bradshaw of “Sex and The City” favored. I held a shoe in my hand, and not so discretely flipped it over to see the price. Close to $400.
I could probably buy a pair of $400 shoes and still pay my mortgage and keep the all-important cable on… but there’s no way my Marshall’s-clearance-rack- searching, Macy’s-coupon-carrying, everything-eventually-goes-on-sale self could bring myself to do it.
<>So you Divas who actually own Manolos – did you cringe when you buy them? Did you have to work up to $400 kicks, starting with ones that were $200, then $300? What’s the most you’ve ever paid for shoes? (Me, it was $98.)
I’ve always wanted to take a two-week vacation. One week just doesn’t cut it. You arrive with all kinds of hopes and plans, and all of the sudden it’s Wednesday, and you’re staring at the end of the week and starting to think about packing up.
But this year, we did it. Two weeks at the beach. Two weeks of island living. No McDonald’s. No chain hotels. No traffic. No alarm clocks. Who needs a watch? Who needs a hair dryer? We slathered on 50 sunscreen and spent most of our time outside. Yes, it was hot on Dauphin Island, Ala., but not as hot as it was here. And if it’s going to be hot, I’d rather be at the beach.
Re-entry has been a little rough.
You probably have a pair, and I KNOW your kids do — super-comfy, actually frumpy, wear-’em-anyway Crocs are everywhere. Despite how fun and (admit it) cheap they are, my prediction is that soon they’ll be banned for kids to wear to school, and that that’s actually a pretty good idea.
I overheard some moms talking yesterday about a story, which actually broke last year, about a kid’s foot wearing Crocs getting stuck in the cracks of an escalator (sounds like she almost lost a toe), which has spawned some interesting writing about who’s actually responsible. (Yes, shoestrings and flip-flops and all kinds of stuff can also get caught in escalators, too. Still.)
Today, though, a good friend of mine was telling me about taking her pre-school age daughter to the pediatrician, not for the first time, about what she had been thinking was maybe a recurrent inner ear infection. Sweet Girl had fallen and put a big gash in her forehead; I was actually there when she fell and cut her chin a couple of months ago. My pal was wondering if she was having balance problems.
Uh, no, said her doc. She has a Croc problem.
The tax-free holiday starts Friday and goes through Sunday. Last year I decided not to battle the crowds, but I did go online and order some new uniforms for my kids, so I saved a little money.
Some people have said you get a better deal AFTER the tax holiday when items get discounted. Have you found that to be true?
Are you shopping tax-free this weekend?
I’m making my way through Barbara Kingsolver’s book “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle,” and though I was a little put off by the righteousness of their experiment — the gist is that Kingsolver and her family (those are her youngest daughter Lily’s hands holding Christmas beans in the cover photo) moved back to a family farm in southern Virginia, and vowed to live off their land for a year, eating only what was in season — I’m starting to come around.
Interspersed in the narrative are mini-essays by Kingsolver’s daughter and husband about genetically modified foods, why we eat the way we do, and other bits of information that are really opening my eyes. The more I think about how I could do this — eat closer to home, not live off my land for a year! — the more feasible it seems.
