Contrary to popular opinion, I am not such the “girly-girl” that my prior posts have painted me as. Yes, I love shopping and shoes. It’s true, my inner 1950’s housewife has dreams of greeting my future Mr. Right with a perfectly prepared dinner, all while dressed in (just!) heels and an apron…

But despite my love for kitchen tools, kitten heels, and shiny things, I also have a history with wrenches, hammers, and hacksaws. I make no claims to be Rose the Riveter, but I am certainly not clueless as to how to proceed when reading my Ikea furniture directions. Being an Independent Single Gal of the modern world, I have found it helpful to have basic knowledge of “How to fix stuff when it breaks.” It may be fun to play Damsel in Distress from time to time- but when it comes down to real life situations I find that it is rarely a White Knight in Shining Armor who comes to help, but rather his creepy older uncle the plumber. I shudder at the thought.

Having moved not long ago, I am still in the furnishing/installing process. As I have now lived 5 long months without window-dressing, I decided to use my day off to install curtain rods. Quickly discovering that I am not well-versed in wall anchors, I called placed a quick call to Mr. Fix-It himself (Daddy).  In our brief conversation, I came to realize that I somehow have managed to live the past 3 years dependent on Roommate tools, and have acquired only one of my own. A hacksaw, if you must know. Don’t ask. So I inform my father that I will head to the hardware store to purchase a power drill. I also inform him that I plan to buy one that is pink, or floral if possible. Here is the point in the conversation that, with the anticipated mocking groan and muttering about “..women,” he handed the phone over to Mom.

So now I search the internet. Can I indeed find my coveted pink paisley power drill?  Still searching, but I did find the promising site Tomboy Tools.

Nothing says “Girl Power” quite like a pink power drill! For only $89  you could make me be the proud owner of this empowering tool. Drill bits and tips sold separately (in cute pink boxes). Did I mention they have a great mission to empower women, and have in the past have partnered up with Susan G. Komen to fight breast cancer?  Pink tools for a Cause – does it get any better?!

Well, yes it could.  If only I could find a purple skill saw..

So after a recent positive life change (aka- promotion!) I FINALLY have a good reason to do a little shopping. I mean, I’ll have (slightly) more income and this is a reason to celebrate and reward myself and…  I know, I know, it SOUNDS like a justification, but this time it is completely different! I Swear! Really! Believe me!

Ok. So I didn’t buy that either. But reality is, I’m going to celebrate a new position with a new pair of shoes. I’ve been contemplating a pair of coral heels for probably the past 2 years, but have just never had a good enough justification for them. Until now.

Look at these!

Christian Louboutin Lady Sling. Coral. Peep-toe. Patent. Perfect. And if you look carefully, you can spot that red-hot sole that would certainly spice up my wardrobe!  Bluefly has the shoe listed for a cool $596 (retail $745). They even have it in  my size (9- in case anyone is in a charitable mood!). Sadly, though, I will have to keep searching. Promotion in my line of work means I’ll have to wait a few years on these heels, and maybe just get a pair of coral flip-flops this time.  Still, a girl can dream…

As I was saying.

As a child, I always hated those assignments where I was supposed to write out my goals for the year or a 5 year plan. Where will I be in 10 years? What will I hope to accomplish?? What will I have done??? I have no clue. But this is not for lack of having goals or hopes or dreams, I have just always hated putting these on paper. because on paper they become real. Like a contract. Then if I find the list at 30 and it is all wrong –  well I’d just hate that. No offence to those who make life lists – they are just not for me.

So here I am, needing to make some big decisions. And these are all decisions where it would help if I knew where I wanted to be in the next 5-10 years. Oops. As I sit and contemplate which applications to complete, which important forms to sign, and which direction I want to be heading well it’s just all a bit overwhelming. So I fall back on two of my lesser vices- shopping and tea. I wandered onto Tea Forte and there the trouble began…

(pictured: Café Cup, $20)

I have always seen these tea bags and never been able to justify buying them. Apparently they are amazing, but also a bit pricey. THEN I wandered onto the part of the site which suggested that I use their product in my wedding planning, as favors for the shower or reception. Amazing idea! I plan to have tea-related gifts at my wedding or reception. Look at me! All grown up and making plans and goals for the future aren’t you so proud??!

That’s enough planning for this month… I’ll leave plans to make the money and find the man some other day. Until then, cozy up with a cup of hot (or iced!) tea, and leave your unnecessary planning for tomorrow. I’ll be browsing the Tea Forte site and making plans for how to use my next paycheck!

I’ll spare you all the “TMI” details, but I will say that I’ve been trying to identify what in life makes me happy and unhappy. You know… spend more time being happy. After some serious soul-searching, I found that (among other things) I LOVE to cook. I know, you probably already figured that out, but I’ve always been a week late and, like, $49.95 short on these things.

Now that I’m busy cooking up a storm, how much fun would THIS be?

Kuhn Rikon Herb Chopper. All new from Williams-Sonoma. Only $19.95! This would definitely help me to find better use of my Thyme…

The stocking was hung by the chimney with care; and sleeping nearby was little Zola Bear.

When suddenly, through the door, came a man with a tree –It was green and smelled pine-y, and filled us with glee!

They focused and straightened, wrapped it with ribbon and light- While I sat and watched, and photographed the night.

It was snowing outside, for the first time this year. And New York was dusted in car-exhaust and cheer.

And then, we were finished! I glowed all white and pink. “Hurray” She shouted, “Now we need a drink!”

So we filled up our cups with rum-spiked cocoa. But without any whipped cream, which is big a Christmas No-No.

So I ran to the store, and whipped some up fast! Happy Christmas to all- Wish yours is a blast!

Oh, yeah. I SO need this for next year!!

 Stainless Steel Cream Whipper. From Williams-Sonoma. $100.

I still remember back to school shopping (from the kid perspective). But for me, it was usually school clothing/birthday present. My most distinct memory was fifth grade (ok maybe fourth-I don’t know.  It’s been a while). I remember it like yesterday. I went to Caldor (remember them?) with my mother. I convinced her that I REALLY wanted that plaid skirt and matching top with the scottie-dog on it. I SWORE I would wear the knee socks and those shoes. SO WHAT if I had not worn anything but stretch pants and over-sized t-shirts with dirty blue canvas shoes over ankle socks for the past two years. I was SO gonna wear those, I insisted, as I blew the hair that eternally hid my left eye briefly from my face – just to make my point. Right. That skirt was COOL (rad? awesome? what did we say in the late 80′s?). As I’m sure you may have guessed, this outfit probably never faded from too many washes. And I was NOT too cool for school.

Thankfully, those days have started to fade from my memory. And as I’m not yet school shopping for my own children, this season and it’s sales are a bit lost on me. But the good news is that since I’m not shopping for #2 pencils and 2″ three ring binders, I get to shop for much more interesting things! Like the grown-up version of the backpack. And as it turns out, I’m currently in the market for a new bag. My old “work” bag has had a few too many lunches spilled into it, and is about to graduate (or perhaps, retire). I’m looking for one that holds a legal pad, and all those other items that I drag to work with me every day. Ohhhh – look at this one! Handmade Jaquard Bag from Ten Thousand Villages – $48. Pretty! 

Maybe with this one,  I’ll get to sit with the cool kids at lunchtime!

I think it’s the perfect bag to carry to a Saturday morning/afternoon brunch in the summer. I bought one in brown/green, but this one is pretty too! I tried 9unsuccessfully) to find a screen shot of the green one. Too bad, since then the little play on words would have made more sense…

The bag is made by a little company called Engage Green. I found them at a street fair in my neighborhood, and the woman who sells (and designs!) them was super nice. My love for this company is threefold: 1) they are locally based, 2) their products are made from woven recycled paper, plastic, cork, cotton, and hemp, and 3) they are pretty colors!

Moral of the story: when green meets green, I am more than willing to shell out a bit of green.

So after almost two straight weeks of rain, I needed a little pick me up. So of course, I did a little “windows shopping.”  Are you Mac users jealous you can’t use that pun? …No? Well I thought it was funny…

Anyways. I found these!

Laidback Elegance Filagree Tumbler set. Available for $40  for thes set on UncommonGoods. Made from recycled glass. And so very pretty!

If I had these, all I’d need is a pitcher of something cold and delicious and three good friends. Oh yes – and a little sunshine!

Well, that too.

Today was the first day where I felt like it was really spring. I even went out without a coat! For the first time since moving to Manhattan I felt like I was finally able to enjoy walking down the street, instead of speed walking home so that my nose doesn’t freeze and fall off. What made today even better was the street fair I stopped at on my way home. Sun + street food + shopping = an amazing Sunday afternoon! And you thought I was bad at math.

My favorite vendor of the afternoon: avalove. She is a poet who prints lithographs on clothing. You can purchase her amazing wearable art on etsy. Her work is unique, and each print is made in limited quantities.

It was love at first sight! I didn’t want to spend the money to buy one, but I just couldn’t help it. I was twitterpated!