Paul and I came late to alcohol, so we’re later than most people in acquiring wine glasses. Paul got a book about wine out of the library, and it suggests newbies look for two things in a starter wine glass (other than wine, ha ha more coffee QUICK):

1. a lip that curves in, as opposed to one that flares out, and
2. a stem, as opposed to stemless.

I love a quest.

It took about 5 minutes for me to realize that I dislike thin stems: they make me feel nervous, like the wine glass is fragile and unbalanced and will snap or tip in my hand. I like the kind of stem that flares out a little to support the liquid-holding part, like this:

Libbey Footed Goblet (photo from Amazon.com).
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I was considering this digital camera, and I was getting confused because of stuff like this:

and this:

Is the camera’s ability to fit into a small handbag really a…technical detail, to be at the TOP of a list that includes such things as static sensors and sonic speed? And why do they compare it to a fashion accessory?  Are either of these details meant for men? What are they trying to tell me?  Aw geez, is this a Young Female Celebrity camera, the kind I take out to snap cute pics of me and my friends drunk at clubs, thinking we’re SO CUTE and pretending to eat each other’s tiny expensive dogs like hors d’oeuvres?

Anyway.  The camera description annoyed me, but the idea of a “small handbag” captured my imagination.  This is MY purse:
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I usually try to write about shopping situations I’m actually dealing with at the actual time I write the actual post, but what I’m dealing with right now is the potential acquisition of a new digital camera, and I don’t know about YOU, but if I have to read even ONE MORE POST weighing the pros and cons of various digital cameras (or vacuum cleaners), I think my brain will shut down in protest.

So then I turned to my next category of ideas, which is Upcoming Seasonal Stuff. But what’s coming up next is Halloween, and I’m meh about Halloween. We let the kids trick-or-treat, but I don’t enjoy it (except the part where I eat their candy after they go to bed), and costumes are a matter of “Here, see what you like in this bin of costumes I bought at 75% off in previous years.”

Yom Kippur is on the 17th, but that’s not exactly a SHOPPING holiday.
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I bought myself some little daisy earrings on Etsy awhile back, to be SMALL with my new decorative glasses (big showy earrings plus decorative glasses = head accessory overkill). They were PERFECT. Sadly, some of the petals broke off a daisy, and it doesn’t look fixable to me: the little plastic daisies were glued to earring backings, but there isn’t enough earring platform for the broken-off petals to be glued back onto.

I’m in the market for replacements, and this time I’m looking for something more durable.  It doesn’t have to be a daisy, but it needs to be small.

Daisy earrings by Nest Pretty Things Kids on Etsy. They’re $13.50 including shipping, and the petals are better designed for non-snapping-off. But do they look a little tiny bit…eggy?

Little Gull Little Leaf earrings by Anna Ruby King on Etsy, $17.50 including shipping.
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I love when I’ve been fretting about whether or not to buy something online and then I do buy it and it’s GREAT. One of my best recent successes is this skirt, which I am wearing right this minute:

Old Navy Cut-Out Contrast Maxi Skirt in 1x-3x and in XS-XXL (photos from OldNavy.com). I was especially nervous because Old Navy plus sizes can ONLY be ordered online and also can ONLY be returned through the mail. That’s an expensive fitting-room session if the item isn’t right.

But it IS right! I love it. It’s comfortable and I wear it with a plain t-shirt and sandals, just like I’d wear basic capris. I’d never ordered an Old Navy skirt before, but the fit is just what I’d expect: I wear a 20W or 22W in jeans, and the 2X-plus skirt is neither loose nor snug. I preferred the brown but ordered the dark grey because it goes with more of the colors I tend to wear, and happily it’s a much better color than I’d been expecting: it appears in the photo as if the pink color shines through the fabric in a gothy way, but it only shows through where it’s supposed to show through, in the eyelets at the bottom. A number of the product reviews mention that on their skirt the colored underlayer is longer than it appears in the photo, but mine looks exactly like the photo. I think I might have to get the brown one, too. And if you’re XS-XXL, there are two other color choices and the skirt is on sale for $19. (Plus sizes are out of luck: not only can you only buy/return online, and not only are there only two colors instead of four, but also the skirts are still $34.50.)

ONE problem with the skirt: no POCKETS. If it had pockets I’d wear it whenever it wasn’t in the laundry basket.  It’s so comfy and breezy.
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Let’s see: 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th—FOUR days until Mother’s Day. Um, obviously I am totally on top of this for MY mom (hi, mom!), but just in case YOU need something quick for YOUR mom:

Restless, by William Boyd (photo from Amazon.com). My mom, my sister-in-law, and I all really liked this mother-daughter spy novel. Excitement! Suspense! Romance! And one sex-scene detail you will not want to imagine your mom reading, but my mom claims it didn’t shock her. She said she was glad it was just REGULAR sex, and I will leave you to decide for yourself whether that makes things better or worse. (And if she then gives multiple examples of scenes in other books she DID find shocking? And you’re in Wendy’s eating lunch at the time this conversation is taking place? How about THAT, better or worse?)
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Is there anyone more difficult to shop for than a girl in that 11-12-13-14 age group? I submit that there is not. She’s not a little girl anymore, but grown-up stuff is still inappropriate. My aunt was the QUEEN of shopping for that age: she gave me teenagery perfume (it was called Blue Jeans, if I remember correctly), a narrow gold bracelet, a small leather purse with flowers on it, a hot-turquoise collar-up shirt with a long string of pale-pink plastic pearls (shout-out to 1985!).

There is no way I could choose any of those things correctly. I’d end up accidentally choosing an old-ladyish perfume, a motherish purse, fashions from a decade ago. Instead I’d turn to earrings: I’d try to choose earrings I would wear myself, but ones that don’t seem too mature/sophisticated for a young girl. And if she doesn’t like them, well, maybe her mom will. Sigh.

Antiqued Brass Key Earrings from CuteAbility on Etsy (photo from CuteAbility). Keys are romantic but in an innocent way: they manage to evoke diaries, “key to my heart,” treasure and attics and innocent secrets, without evoking hotel rooms and locking people out.
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Gradually I have become aware that the only shoes I wear are mary janes. I buy lots of different styles of shoe, and then they sit brand-new and shiny in the shoe shelf as the mary janes get worn into dust and scrap. Case in point, my current mary janes:

Clearly it is time for some new shoes. It’s hard to be looking at fall shoes when we are heading into sandal season, but I’ll be glad of it later. I already ordered these:

Dr. Martens Melinda Mary Jane (photo from Amazon.com).
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Until recently we had only a few square feet of kitchen counter space, and by “a few square feet” I mean “I’m not good at estimates so I chose a number that sounded small.” My dad put in a large new piece of counter for us, and now we are happy and will never be sad again.

Paul mentioned a few weeks ago that this means we now have room for a utensil crock, which would be super-nice since our utensil drawer is crammed to the point of causing occasional adult temper tantrums.

I think this most recent little tantrum is Paul’s suggestion that we get moving on the acquisition.
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I have noticed that a little whimsy goes a long way to keep my mood good. In the kitchen I have a bird peeler and a porcupine scrub brush and a toucan can opener. In the bedroom I have a squirrel platter and a picture of owls cuddling. But on my desk I have…clutter and utility. Here are some of the things I’ve been looking at to increase the whimsy around here:

Woodpecker scissors (photo from Amazon.com).  I have a pair of these already, actually, but I’m considering a second pair because people are always stealing my scissors HELLO CHILDREN I AM TALKING TO YOU.  These cut really well (they glide through wrapping paper), but I also like that they have a lock (the tail flips up).  This lets me make the scissors safer, but also lets me, um, pose the bird.  Like, close its mouth.
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