All I Want for Christmas

Budget limits and practical reasoning aside (at least for certain items), here's what's on my holiday wishlist:

1) An ergonomic chair
For my back. For my writing. Enough said. I did finally manage to buy a desk from Ikea. I went to the store twice: the first day, to get the legs; the second day, to buy the tabletop. Up until then I didn't realize how easy it was to commute to the store in Red Hook, Brooklyn.

The new Canon PowerShot S95.

2) A new camera
I'm not too thrilled to say that my new Nokia phone seems to take better photos than my six-year-old Sony Cybershot, at least for certain shots in low light. And, since blogging is part of my livelihood, it's probably about time to do an upgrade.

3) A TV
I do not own a television set. I can go for months without seeing live broadcast. In fact, the first thing I did when I moved to the Bronx was remove the TV and cable box in my new room. The Food Network is the only channel that I've consistently watched whenever I've had television access. And, I catch up on favorite shows like 30 Rock, White Collar, and Burn Notice via Hulu.com, the NBC and USA Network websites, and others.

Yet, if I want to eventually work in TV, I need to watch TV and have daily access to it.

4) A citrine ring
Just because. Well, ever since I'd dropped my faux citrine cocktail ring two years ago, I've been on the lookout for a replacement. I saw a real, precious one while walking home from the library, and simply got reminded of this bejeweled craving.

Bialetti 3-Cup Moka Express

5) A Bialetti Moka Express...
...That I finally got to buy on Amazon! I initially lusted after a Nespresso machine or any of those pod-ready coffee contraptions, however, upon giving it some thought, I realized I preferred the Moka pot's natural approach to good espresso. Hence, I gifted myself with the shiny silver brewer (it's much, much more affordable, too, than the former!).

6) A manual pasta machine
There is an attachment for the Kitchenaid mixer but I would actually prefer a good ol' pasta maker.

7) A new daytime, full-time job.
For me to actually afford all of the above (not counting the Moka pot).

A new daytime job, where I could work for at least a year. While working as a consultant and freelancer has been FUN—and my writing plate has never ever been empty despite the lack of an office cubicle/corner office—I now desire something more long-term. It reminds me of dating—that stage when both parties decide to commit and go for the long haul.

Born Champagne Metallic flats.

Hence, it's all (cyber) window shopping and wishlists for now.

(Speaking of online shopping, check out Zappos.com for cute Born flats, clogs, and women's Oxfords.)

Images courtesy of Friedchillies.com, Canon.com.au, and Zappos.com.

Sweet Silver Bells

10 months later and I'm still talking about the wedding. I can't help it: I never thought I would be married. I was never one of those who grew up planning their wedding day. In my own family, weddings have been few and far between, and in the last 20+ years, I have only gone to three weddings of relatives. That's a very conservative number considering my grandmother has eight living children and more than a dozen grandchildren. Most members of my family have chosen to elope or get wed without the whole shebang of a ceremony and guest list, and a handful of them are on their second or third marriages/life-partnerships.

My own parents got married when I was eight, they were too busy making a living to actually put together a party. So if I'm not mistaken, their "wedding" came in the form of Mama handing Papa the court papers in the bedroom for Papa to sign, and then Papa adopting me so I could take on his last name. They separated after about 20 years together and they're both happily partnered off to their respective new better halves. Again, no bells, no hooplah, and the two of them are still friends.

So how did I end up having this lavish(?) out-of-town shenanigan complete with gowns, bridesmaids, catering, and everything? It just happened. And, the nice thing about not having expectations is the chance to be radically surprised.

All My Sugar

Mini lemon pies from Go For A Bite.

Have you been to AllMySugar.com lately? Check out Go For A Bite—it's about this quaint little shop in Greenwich Village that sells delicious cream puffs (that are indeed, creamy AND airy!), and Orange Chocolate, my latest sweet indulgence from Target.

I haven't forgotten about this blog though. I've just been...busy, for lack of a better word. Over Thanksgiving break, I went home to Denver for a little R&R...where I actually got to make cream puffs from a recent issue of Martha Stewart Everyday Food. More on that in another post.

On the work and writing front, my plate is quite full these days, even if you exclude the mounting blog backlog (sometimes I wish I had one of those tiny, tiny Sony Vaio netbooks, so I can blog whenever, wherever. I do have an Acer that's pretty much portable so I essentially have no excuse). As for the search for a new writing day job, I've been applying here and there so for sure I will keep you all posted when I have exciting news to share.

Lanvin for H&M

The big shopping bag is by far my favorite part of the collection. It's cute enough to cut out, frame, and hang on the wall.

Alber Elbaz's new limited collection for H&M  hit stores today amidst wild anticipation from fierce fashionistas all over the metro, and dare I say, the world. The curious thing about this is that I don't consider myself an avid follower of fashion, as I tend to be "French" in my choices—as in keeping key pieces in heavy rotation and purchasing trendy pick-uppers and wardrobe boosters every season or so—and, I'm not exactly a fan of either brand. Lanvin, for obvious practical reasons; H&M, because of how items in the store seem to have dwindled in quality and overall Wow! that was so ubiquitous and unique of the brand back in 2006. [Afterthought: Well, Lanvin is French after all. So maybe eventually, when I can afford couture et. al., I'd have a better appreciation for the brand.]

Promising. (And yes, you do get a hanger when you buy a piece from the limited edition line.)

At a brand identity seminar I'd attended at my old job, words that came up to describe the store were "low quality," "cheap," with the speaker brazenly declaring that if it weren't for China, H&M wouldn't even be possible. In recent years, the store has cultivated such a bad reputation as witnessed by run-of-the-mill frocks so close to being actual designer knockoffs...or at least that's what people in New York have been saying, more or less. I for one, used to really like the store, up until maybe 2007, when I noticed that the items were, indeed, not so great anymore, and had a "cheap" and "plastic" feel to them, especially with the accessories. Gone was that whole Swedish-Euro vibe that first drew me in when I initially got to know the store on my first trip to London and a succeeding trip to Milan (I still have and wear H&M accessories purchased from back then).

You also get a cute canvas garment bag with your purchase of a dress, or in my case, a t-shirt.
(Or, you can politely ask the cashier for one, which I did.)

By the looks of it, Elbaz's new line promises to bring back that sense of quality and quirky-but-accessible fashion it seems to have lost amidst the mass production and plasticky neon accessories. But then, by all means do not take my word for it; I am no official authority in fashhh...ion. Plus, walking to where the Lanvin pieces were, I caught a glimpse of the regular accessories section and things seem to be looking up. I may just go back for that ballet-slipper pink floral statement necklace.

All that said, I hadn't seriously planned on being at the store to witness the hooplah surrounding the Lanvin for H&M collection. Yet, I do have "fierce fashionista" friends—former/current fashion editors, fashion students, etc.—who keep track of these things, and as if by osmosis, I am easily and automatically updated because if it were entirely up to me, I would only concern myself with food and home-related accoutrements, such as Giada de Laurentiis's collection for Target, you know...those kinds of things.

The smaller paperbag for the smaller pieces in the collection.

So, this morning, I discovered how the folks at H&M figured out a way to manage excited crowds by issuing color-coded wristbands that corresponded to specific timeslots. You had to be there early to get a wristband, along with some freebies. Well, I wasn't there that early; my friend/cousin-in-law, Happy David, gave me an extra wristband, and I had about 10 minutes to look at everything by the time it was my turn. I'm not kidding, I'd barely browsed the merchandise—which by noon had dwindled to a skeletal few—when someone announced, "four minutes." I got a cute embellished t-shirt and that was it. I'd originally wanted the yellow dress my other friend Kat Dy blogged about here but upon closer inspection, it didn't feel worth the splurge (plus, I'm still technically jobhunting, so $199 for a dress is a major no-no at this point). The shirt was a reasonable $39.95, considering the whole Lanvin thing, the embellishments, and the handmade feel to it.

I didn't have time to admire this embellished tee at the store, but when I tried it on at home, I found it to be quite fab. It can be dressed up or down; worn both in cold and warm weather. Now, how to wash it...

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.