Famous among dozens
2010 Calendar Guide for Luddites
Look, maybe you want to store your calendar in the Cloud so you can
sync it with your phone. I want to hang my calendar on the wall so I
can gaze at the neat little boxes and do some plotting with a fresh
pen. We’re different that way.
You’re rich in company, but not so much otherwise. Our picks under $30 for the generous soul on a limited budget.
If you’re working on a Mighty Life List, please send it my way: maggie at mightygirl dot com. If you haven’t started your list yet, here’s another set to inspire you (more over here). Cribbing encouraged:
Melissa of Suburban Bliss is going to:
“Buy fresh flowers for the house once a week for a year.”
Bea of Bea is going to:
“Take singing lessons.”
Danielle of Knotty Yarn is going to:
“Restore contact with three people I’ve lost along the way.”
Eleanor Black of Pundit is going to:
“Hug an orangutan.”
Jackie of A Patchwork Life is going to:
“Take trapeze lessons.”
Raych of The Part of My Life that is Not on The Intrawebs is going to:
“Ring a church bell (the kind in a tower, with a rope).”
R. Glaves of Underoo is going to:
“Get rid of everything I own that won’t fit in a backpack.”
Jena and Jessi of Bouched is going to:
“Sneeze on a sneeze guard.”
The Littlest Bird is going to:
“Take the Hiram Bingham Train to Machu Picchu.”
take luck is going to:
“Restore an old movie theatre.”
La Florecita is going to:
“Own a saltwater tank.”
The Takemoto Family is going to:
“Learn to throw pottery.”
Ms. Quarter of A Quarter Century in the Cream City is going to:
“Cook gulyas over an open fire.”
McGriddle Pants of Serenity Now!! Insanity Later is going to:
“Become proficient in the use of a plane, motorcycle, tractor, surfboard, rifle, pistol, canoe, football, basketball, bow and arrow, a guitar, lariat and boomerang.”
Charmed of Ramblings of an Idle Mind is going to:
“Go spelunking.”
Alliecat In A Beautiful Pea Green Boat is going to:
“Take my children to experience snow. Preferably a White Christmas somewhere very, very north of here.”
J. Murray – Szarvas of Murray-Szarvas.com is going to:
“Travel across Canada on my motorcycle.”
Cahilla is going to:
“Ride the trains in Darjeeling.”
KT of Review Notes is going to:
“Spend a day at the Hermitage in St. Petersburg.”
Gail of Impolite Conversation is going to:
“Become involved with a gnostic community.”
Allison of Perknitious is going to:
“Wear red shoes in the summer.”
Pumpkin Soup is going to :
“Eat caviar.”
Dakotagrrl is going to:
Finish a New York Times crossword puzzle.”
Sandra Vahtel of The Sour and the Sweet is going to:
“Travel to over 50% of the globe.”
Stacy of Sassafras Mama is going to:
“Have a front porch so incredible it could be on the cover of Country Living magazine.”
These boots aren’t in my wardrobe budget, but I thought I’d collect them here so we can all admire their vitality. Your links to dreamy shoes are encouraged in the comments.
Sigerson Morrison 9550 Boots, $899 Betty Draper meets Deeta von Teese.
Pour La Victoire Kerry, $406 (On sale. Regularly $564) These make me want to dress like the Vogue version of a Grimm’s Fairy Tale heroine. Now all I need is a drindle made of crushed egg shells and hair that won’t fit through a standard doorway.
Kate Spade Sierra, $383 (On sale. Regularly $475.) Remember your first pair of patent leather Mary Janes? Like that, except you won’t have to sit through the sermon to take them out on the town.
Via Spiga Crispin, $425
Schoolmarm basics — they come packaged with a punitive yardstick.
Elizabeth and James Vegas Boots, $564 Your mom will hate these. Sometimes that’s still reason enough.
Hello. Would you like a free Xbox? Yes, I thought you might.
I’m partnering with Xbox to do a giveaway around the theme of “staycations.” The idea is that we should stop waiting for some distant day when we have the time and money to “get away,” and start having fun now, right where we are. By playing video games, for example. Up for grabs is two packages for two winners. It’s $500 worth of good stuff:
-An Xbox console
-Three Family Fun Games
-A Gold Subscription to Xbox for a year
For more about the rules, read the italicized bits at the bottom of this post, but the gist is this: Leave a comment about your plan for your perfect day at home, and you’ll be entered to win. Here’s mine:
The best days are days that don’t require pants. This is why I became a writer.
My perfect day at home is all about pajamas, movies, and snacks. As a woman, I prefer movies with women in them, and I particularly enjoy it when those women have speaking roles. (Hollywood, take note! Female audiences are fickle.) If you have a free day, allow me to lay out your gluttonous movie fest:
Breakfast with a plucky Reese Witherspoon. It’s hard to resist a smart movie about high school politics where Ferris Bueller plays the teacher. This movie pairs well with bite-sized waffles.
Bacon and He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not. It’s in French, so get to it early while your synapses are still firing. Amelie aside, this is my favorite Audrey Tatou movie. I would prefer you not know anything else about it before you watch it. Please obtain a copy. And some bacon.
Make some hot cocoa with tiny marshmallows and settle in for a play. I’ll watch anything with Julianne Moore; the woman has excellent taste in scripts. (We’re all just going to pretend Safe never happened.) The Vanya on 42nd St. plot synopsis explains it all: “New York actors rehearse Chekhov’s “Uncle Vanya” in a rundown theater.” It is arty.
Speaking of arty, have a little olive oil popcorn with your Parker Posey. I love House of Yes for its stilted, whip-smart dialogue. Plus, Tori Spelling in surprising turn as “not bad at playing that guy’s girlfriend.”
Olive oil popcorn and Maggie Gyllenhaal in heat. If you haven’t seen it, I don’t want to ruin it — though the movie poster pretty much says it all. Let’s just say Secretary is about power dynamics.
Sundae bar with fresh whipped cream, spicy hot caramel sauce, and slivered almonds, plus Kicking and Screaming. We’ve talked about this before. Noah Baumbach? Call me.
That’s my ultimate day at home. I’m beginning to wonder why I haven’t made this happen yet. Now your turn! Outline your day in comments, or tell me what would make your movie-day lineup if you were plotting a day like mine.
But wait! This is the contest fine print. Here’s how the giveaway works: You must be 18 or over to enter and live in the U.S. I’ll pick two commenters as potential winners (to be verified by ePrize). Please include your perfect day at home in your comment, and multiple entries will be disqualified. Comments will be open until tomorrow December 9, 2009 at 9 p.m. Eastern. Winners will be chosen randomly using Random.org, and announced on Friday, December 11. Good luck! Read the official rules here
This is making me happy.
Do you have a moment to go all slack-jawed with me over M.Drummergirl’s keen fashion sense? (To clarify: I did not take these photos, they’re from her Flickr stream. M.Drummergirl and I have never met.)
She is a layering ninja.
And would you look at these colors? This is a girl after my own matchy-matchy heart.
Go marvel at the rest of her wardrobe trickery, all the more genius because so much of it is thrifted. And excuse me while I go home and iron.
San Francisco is a scarf and gloves town year round, especially at night, but in December the wind off the water will make you whimper. Fortunately, it’s the kind of chill that can be cured with a cup of cocoa — as opposed to, say, Chicago chill which can only be cured with something much stronger, like emergency resuscitation.
If you’re planning a visit soon, these are some of my favorite ways to keep toasty while you’re sightseeing:
1. Sip a cup of soup from scratch at the Crissy Field Center Cafe.
This place offers the same affordable organic food as Alice Water’s Warming Hut up the way, but it’s half as busy — so take your pick of tables with showstopper views of the Golden Gate Bridge. Watching the steam rise from my soup while the fog burns off over the bay always makes me feel grateful to live here.
2. Take tea at the Samovar Tea Lounge.
Watch the leaves tumble in your glass pot and warm your nose over the steam. Samovar offers a restorative selection of beautiful leaves and herbs. There are three locations now, but I’m still partial to the original, which lives in the Castro.
3. Escape the rain in City Lights Bookstore.
If you’re the kind of person who learns to love a city through its bookstores, duck in to City Lights and leave your umbrella by the door. This San Francisco institution is the city in miniature — smart, charming, and eclectic.
4. Have an all-souffle dinner at Cafe Jaqueline.
All the portions are made to share at this tiny, all-souffle restaurant, which makes it one of my favorites for dates or celebrating with a close girlfriend. Call ahead to see if you can secure a spot at one of the five or six tables. The restrooms are through the kitchen, where you’ll find a bottomless bowl of eggs resting on the counter.
5. Settle in at Bluebottle Coffee.
Worst possible neighborhood, best possible coffee. Bluebottle roasters are obsessive, so enjoy a perfect cup in one of the cutest cafes in the city. You see the people working on their computers? Remember what I said about the neighborhood? Yeah. I wouldn’t do that.
6. Watch the steam curl over your noodles at Suzu.
This small noodle place in the Japantown mall isn’t much to look at, but the fresh noodles and broth have a dedicated following. There will be a line, so parties of two or singles have better luck.
7. Stir hot chocolate brandies at Tosca.
The bar at Tosca is lined with glasses and teaspoons in anticipation of the demand for this signature cocktail. It is small and deceptively potent. Rise from your barstool to stretch every so often to make sure your sense of balance is still in working order.
Cheers. Welcome to San Francisco.
Snuggle Holiday Pajamas for Little Kids
Technically, every one of these should be footie pajamas, but we know a certain toddler who refuses to sleep in them. Which is why we are a little bit melancholy this Christmas, and also in the market for new sleepwear.
I’m missing Leslie Harpold’s advent calendar today, so I started a littleTwitter Advent Calendar. You’ll find some cheer on my Twitter stream every day until Christmas. Leslie, we blow you a kiss.
Mighty Girl 