A Surge of Splurge

When it comes to big-ticket purchases, handbags ever so rarely make the cut for me. I do own a Longchamp canvas tote that my husband (then boyfriend) got for me two years ago on our first official shopping trip...I say 'first' because at the time, we'd been together for four years and have never gone somewhere to "just shop" for items that do not necessarily fall under the "need" category.

Rebecca Minkoff M.A.B. Mini

This year, the closest I've come to actually forking over a decent amount of cash for a designer bag was when I had briefly considered a Rebecca Minkoff handbag, the Morning After Bag Mini in particular, a.k.a. the M.A.B. Mini back when I was still working at Avon. I first heard of the brand from one of the mark. interns who had actually met the New York-based designer. (Minkoff, by the way, also writes a cute blog, aptly named, Minkette: a streamlined space that also reminds me of Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop).

So, anyway, the special shopping session mentioned above is why my Longchamp tote is dear to me. But, Prada handbags, Marc Jacobs handbags...really, they don't mean much to me. And knockoffs are an obvious no-no. Maybe I would reconsider a Minkoff bag someday. (There's a cute yellow version over at Bluefly.com, and the classic black one at the designer's own shopping website.)


What I did spend money on today were prescription glasses by Vesterby Denmark. I just call them "Scandinavians" because that seemed to be the nickname du jour back at the optical shop. I had actually already stopped wearing my old glasses over the past year or so because last I had my eyes checked, they were fine. But over the last couple of days, I started getting headaches again. Hence, the random splurge.

I'm loving my new "Scandinavian" frames. And, they have a "Brooklyn" feel to them.

He got new frames too!

Circa 2004.

Hope

Earlier at mass, the priest talked about the emotion of hope—the kind that lets you and I say, "I hope I get that job," or "I hope I pass that class." That versus the virtue of hope, centered on the will; the kind that gets marathon runners to cross the finish line.

He told the story of the 350 people who heard mass three weeks ago on Halloween weekend, the Sunday of which was the feast of All Saints. What was striking, according to the priest, that this wasn't even an official holy day. Yet, these people heard mass in the only Catholic church... IN BAGHDAD.

Needless to say, armed men came in and killed more than 50 of them, including the three priests who celebrated the mass. More than 80 were wounded, and from Vatican came the Pope's plea to fly them via cargo plane to Rome to get these people proper medical care.

The following week, more than 600 people went back to hear mass.

Chidingly, the priest said (I paraphrase), "I don't know about you, but if I were in Baghdad, I wouldn't want to hear mass, or say mass. Clearly, the story above is a manifestation of the virtue hope."

It's this kind of hope that lets us live for something bigger than ourselves; that which gives us strength and perseverance to make it to our own finish lines.

More French Goodness

Over the summer I had picked up a copy of Women, Work & the Art of Savoir Faire by Mireille Guiliano, author of the best-selling French Women Don't Get Fat books (a cookbook version is now available).

Reading the first few chapters, I'd typed up some quotes on my desktop and I'd like to share them with you. I would also recommend getting the book since it packs in more notable insights from the author not included in this blog post. Cathie Black's Basic Black actually comes to mind, in terms of the kind of book one could go back to from time to time for sensible musings coming from experts and leading women in the field. Black is Hearst Magazine's former president and current chairman; and Guiliano is the former CEO of Cliquot Inc, under the prestigious LVMH umbrella. Guiliano has managed to make that mustard yellow champagne label so ubiquitous and the marker of fancy celebrations that it is now. And, in her business tome, Guiliano takes on a tongue-in-chic approach to women and the workplace, along with lifestyle advice you won't find in business books written by men. That,

p9 - 10
"So much for planning, in business or in life. Lesson learned. Things happen. Opportunities are often unpredictable."

p 23
"Yes, but with talent, hard work, and being in the right place you can help make your own luck. By my late twenties I had something of a vision of myself in some sort of management position that permitted me to eat at all the top restaurants on someone else's dollar."

p26
"Concluding such stages in life presents opportunities and invitations to relaunch or reinvigorate a career or professional life. They are also times when you can make your own luck or at least put yourself in a position to be receptive to "lucky breaks." So again, think opportunity. Whether these are sad or happy times emotionally, remember not to think failure. (Where does that get you, anyway?)"

p30
"...I believe that life is lived in episodes and stages, and it is clear that some passions can fade while new ones emerge over time. Indeed, our first loves and passions can be overrated and it would be unwise to pursue them. Others are pursued earnestly for a time, then discarded. C'est la vie."

p53
"Life's too short to worry about the past. And after a while, believe me, you can't even remember the details of the past that were once so consuming. Move on. We all have made mistakes or think we have; living is about the moment and the future. Look ahead."

Image courtesy of http://prettysavvy.ca.

Gadgeteering

My latest 'tech-quisitions.'

I am most inclined to leave the gadget-speak to former T3 Magazine EIC Vince Sales who now writes the blog, Third World Nerd. He also happens to be the husband of my very good friend Frances of Topaz Horizon and MORE (by that I mean author of two other popular blogs and EIC of entertainment mag, Ok!).

So, for you techies out there, the disclaimer for this post is simply, you won't find technical specifications here; Google and Amazon would be better for that.

Anyway, the two above are my latest 'tech-quisitions': a Nokia C5-00—a gift from my husband who knows me too well to not have gotten me a QWERTY phone, as I am old school that way—and a Western Digital My Passport Essential Ultra-portable Hard Drive, Robot Limited Edition (isn't it so cute?).

Two things:

1) If you regularly read this blog, you'd know that I'm not once to switch up or buy gadgets very frequently. But, since my Acer netbook has been with me for close to two years now (time flies!) I've started to get that nagging feeling to back up. Up until today, I've never owned an external hard drive, unless you'd count my old iPod, the one with the black-and-white screen. The Western Digital My Passport 'Robot' actually feels like a wider white iPod. Again, very cute. It's plug-and-play meaning I have to get used to not manually dragging and dropping files for back up.

2) I've had the same Nokia 6300 phone (photo here) since 2007—it still works great, is mega-sturdy, and reliable. Hence, it will be a little bit of a challenge to transition to the new C5-00, as I've come to rely on my 6300 for many things, which includes cooking and baking (for the countdown timer), notes (for blog ideas), calculating, etc. It will now house my Smart SIM card for roaming. That's all for now. I wanted to write about an aborted iPad purchase, but the details are kind of boring, so I'll save the iPad talk until I actually own one; which, by the looks of it, won't be until January.

Cute little things.

Oui, Wee!

In America, the articles I've read so far have all referenced 2009 as the year Phoenix became 'famous' in this part of the world. Yet, the French band from Marseilles has been churning out tunes waay before that, as early as 2000. I picked up my first Phoenix album It's Never Been Like That in 2006, when the single, "Long Distance Call," started playing in a radio station I'd listened to in Manila. Prior to that, their song "Too Young" was part of the Lost In Translation movie soundtrack in 2004, although I wasn't familiar with the band at the time. I eventually did find out that vocalist Thomas Mars was the boyfriend of director Sofia Coppola, whose movie mentioned above I particularly enjoyed (enough to have purchased the OST).

2009 was when the band's latest cd, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, came out, which contained the now popular "1901" (featured in a Cadillac commercial), along with plenty of upbeat, happy songs that have been featured in a slew of movies and TV shows. That's when the bigger part of the U.S. started seriously noticing the French foursome. The Saturday Night Live and late-night talk show circuit guestings may have also helped.

What a great show!

The setlist, minus the awesome encore.

So, on October 20, my husband and I finally got to see them live at the Madison Square Garden! It was awesome! Plus, a SURPRISE performance by the electronic duo, DAFT PUNK! You can read about it here and here.

I want to be them next Halloween.

Images courtesy of http://pitchfork.com (album cover and Daft Punk) and http://www.brooklynvegan.com (concert and setlist).