(no subject)

THIS WEATHER. I just cannot with this winter. But yesterday and today it's been much warmer--I've actually been able to ditch my down coat for my lighter L.L. Bean coat. With temperatures in the 40s (and I think tomorrow it will get up to the low 50s), the snow and ice is melting and the city is very drippy and wet. Starting to get hints of spring, yay!

And it's not even the oppressive cold that's been so bad. My apartment is quite cozy and comfortable, and my down coat really does keep out the cold. It's that it's so difficult to *exercise.* I can't run when it's in the teens out--my eyes start tearing up and I'm more likely to get hurt. I can run in the 20s, no problem, but no colder than that. Also we haven't been able to play soccer in a month because the fields are in such bad shape. NO SOCCER. FOR A MONTH. I am DYING here!

I spilled a drink on my MacBook Air laptop last September and decided I would not dip into my savings and buy a new one right away. I would do the responsible thing and save for it. So for the past few months I have really cut back as much as possible on all discretionary spending--and finally two weeks ago I bought my new laptop. *claps hands excitedly* And as another small reward to myself, I bought a new Coach purse--but this was not a huge expense. I'm a member of the Coach factory outlet site--you have to be invited to join and somehow I rated an invitation *smirk.* They must've known of my addiction! Anyway they only have sales a few times a year and they had one a week ago. So I bought this pretty little thing:



SO CUTE AND YELLOW I JUST CANNOT

Musings on J. Crew

I have a Coach gift certificate (I sent in a bag to them to be repaired and they deemed it unrepairable so they issued me a card for what they thought the bag was worth). As it turned out it was a little too cold to be browsing in the plaza, so I turned into J. Crew instead. Found a cute shirt:



The color is listed as "pack green" but it's almost a teal--which is a great color for me! As I tried it on I was remembering the old "Color Me Beautiful" paradigm. *grabbing cane* Back in the '80s a book came out called Color Me Beautiful that became a huge thing. The idea was that you sort yourself according to your coloring--hair and complexion--into a "season," and that indicates which colors flatter you best. For the longest time I thought I was a spring/summer and should wear pastels (light blue, light pink). But those colors look bland on me because *I* have light blue eyes, and pale pink skin! Jewel tones suit me much better. Besides, I enjoy the drama of jewel tones :) And I like to wear colors I should *never* be able to pull off, like yellow and orange and gold. As long as you accessorize and pair appropriately, in theory you can wear almost any color.

I also think that J. Crew is kind of overpriced. I love their stuff but it's not exactly fashion-forward--it's all preppy separates. (Similarly to Ralph Lauren which is WAY overpriced.) On the other hand it's a good value--relentlessly untrendy (er--classic, I mean ;) therefore you can wear the clothes forever! And maybe that's why they price it so high :) Anyway, I almost never buy J. Crew or Ralph Lauren unless it's on sale.