Winter coat

This might be the first winter in a long time that I'm actually warm.

Yippee!!!


J.Crew Hooded Coat with thinsulate

What's wrong?

I get a frenetic feeling when I shop these days. I don't know what's wrong. I don't know what I want from acquiring these things. I find something new and pretty, and after a few weeks or months, I'm completely tired of it. It's a cycle, and it keeps replicating itself.

Dissatisfaction

There's got to be something better than this. Beauty found somewhere besides these places. Is that what I'm searching for?

Books as backdrop

I was paging through an Anthropologie catalog today. Looking at all the vaguely exotic clothes, reinterpreted for a non-hippy, kinda dreamy American audience. I noticed that in one of the spreads for bed linens, they had set up the bed in what looked to be a library--the bedpost smashed up against the shelves of books so that anyone looking for a copy of Pride and Prejudice would have to climb atop the bed to reach it.

At the shopbop.com Web site (home of my ill-fated Marc Jacobs run), there is a picture of someone's pert tush in some True Religion jeans as they stand defiantly among rows of books. Which makes me wonder when books became an object of style, like a pair of designer shoes or the latest handbag? When did it become some aspect of your identity that you could just assume, without any real knowledge or history of it?

Products

I've gone Sephora-crazy. I can't pass one up without going in there, smoothing on some lotions, smelling perfumes, trying on lipsticks and blushes. I like reading what the products claim to do, imagining a newer, brighter, more exfoliated me.

AND, did you know, you can ask for free samples. The salesgirl (who stalks you mercilessly as you try on products) slid open a drawer and handed me a fistful.

Today, I walked out only with Terax hair treatment, the big tub, with its accompanying pump.

"Christmas sweater"

The Urban Outfitters stuff arrived. Everything goes back but the Nordic-print thermal that I'd been eyeing for weeks. It's as cute as I thought. But why is everything sized so small these days? I went up a size to the small, and it fits perfectly.

The boy calls it a Christmas sweater, though. I tell him that it's a Nordic print, and he tells me that there's some Norwegian somewhere snickering in glee that he was able to pawn off last year's Christmas sweater. Hmmph.

Friday writer's meeting

The writer's group. Missing a member today, but I think she may have permanently dropped out.

last night's white button down, now all wrinkled
jeans, droopy...didn't add the belt because the boy said the flash of skin was nice...
south sea pearl necklace

&
winter gear!
Kangol cap
long polka-dotted scarf
shrunken peacoat

...
I envy everyone I see in knee-length coats. It's raining hard today. Folks dashing across the street from under eaves and awnings. Nice to be home now, changed into dry clothes.

Armor

Today is dirty work. The tenor of the group will likely change. After they get my criticisms, the group is then likely to go on the attack, finding weaknesses where it might benefit them.

Hence, the need to wear armor. Metaphorical armor. The clothes of the ruling class, as my psychiatrist ex once said. The expensive pants, the neatly pressed white shirt, the silver-linked watch, hair pulled back and black-frame glasses worn.

Rugby stripes

I like the rugby stripes on my shirt. Although it isn't a rugby shirt, but rather a top with a little bow on it. But I feel British and collegiate in it.

I feel sad, though. For no particular reason, so it's really more like a melancholy. The purchases of late have come out of that depression, as I like to buy things when I feel down. It gives me momentary pleasure.

But it doesn't work for long.

Rain beads on wool

Another wet, cold day. The rain falls steadily down, not in torrents that expends itself, nor in drizzly dots that sometimes disperse. But steadily, incessantly, from impenetrables clouds of grey. The grey is thick here.

I ventured out to pick up lunch--tempura dinner from Yummy Teriyaki. It was cold, cold, cold. I felt the wind penetrate my jeans. I kept my head lowered, so that the brim of my newsboy cap could protect me from the wet. The rain beaded on top of my cap and kept me a semblance of dry.

L'Occitane Daily Face Cream SPF 15

Currently trying this moisturizer, courtesy of Sephora samples. It's thick and takes a little work to spread, but a little bit goes a long way. The cream is a little bit yellowish-green, and sits in a pool of oil. It's derived from olive oil. It seems counterintuitive to put oil on your face (especially when it's acne-prone and combination skin like mine), but good moisturizers actually are supposed to help balance your skin's natural oil production. The boy enjoys the smell, which is light and fresh.


So far, it's been working fine. Too soon to tell if it will replace my Oil of Olay. I have two more samples to test out before I'll be satisfied with a new winter replacement. Dr. Hauschka Toning Day Cream and Weleda Skin Food.

When you have to deliver bad news

It's a good idea to dress professionally.

Online order

Early mornings, my mind is fuzzy with sleep. My guard is down. I am susceptible to the little voice reminding me of something I saw, somewhere, that would be so nice to have.

This weekend

* grey peacoat (Banana Republic)
* l/s scoopneck grey ribbed tee
* 3/4 sleeve layering tee
* red and black striped tee with bow (all Forever 21)
* birthday card for my neice
* Thank You cards for the wedding
* Christmas countdown chocolate calendar