Thursday, October 16, 2008

Shoes Part II: In which we all get to cast our vote. Hurry!!

Alright readers, it truly is decision time.

Some of you might have noticed my Facebook update about the perfect shoes that were too small. These would be that pair. Heel just the right height, patent which is apparently 'on trend' this fall, and best of all, Sergio Rossis ON SALE.

So, here is my short list of the next-best things (sorry guys, but Zappos won't let me post their photos! In fact, I should say I can't figure out how to get them to let me just post photos...)

FRONT RUNNER: Peep Toe Slingback by Kate Spade

V. LOVELY, BUT WORRIED ABOUT WEIRD FIT: Peeptoe, lower heel by Sigerson Morrison

THIS ONE SEEMS LIKE A NICE HIGH-QUALITY BASIC. PERHAPS TOO MUMSY?: Peeptoe, black patent by Delman

EVEN TORBJORN THINKS THIS IS BORING. I LIKE IT: Higher heel, closed toe by Delman

Now, here's the rules of the voting. The shoe has to be on Zappos because I have a gift card for them. I am more than open to suggestions, but again, please remember that I plan to walk in these, I have to be able to stand still up front in church, and I'd like them to last more than 6 months. Vote away, my friends! But do it quick: I have to order tonight to get em in time to wear on Sunday! (Annika's baptism...)

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Here comes the sun - for a few more weeks

"Autumn arrives in early morning, but spring at the close of a winter day."
Elizabeth Bowen

Does anyone else notice the light changing? I was looking back through some summer photos and observed the 100-watt-bulb quality of the afternoon sun: strong shadows, a yellow-white light that makes you want your sunglasses, even looking at photos late at night.

Early in the morning (I am so well acquainted with the early-morning sun right now!), before my eyes have fully opened I am aware of the golden quality of the sunlight. Its liquid gold pours through my east-facing windows, glowing in my terra-cotta laundry room like treasure in a red velvet bag. The summer light was more like a hyper-shiny platinum, urging you out into the day, spurring you on to activity and accomplishment. The autumn sunrise is less... activity oriented. It invites you to take time with your coffee, to savor the warmth of the day, to enjoy wearing a sweater with your shorts that day.

This fall light is gentler, cozier. 'Mellow' is the word the poets keep tossing around. To me it feels more....nostalgic. The afternoon sun has a regretful quality to it, as if it were urging us to get outside while we can. The light seems to apologize for its nearing departure, and as it prepares to go it remains in the rosy skin of apples, in the golden sheen on the pumpkins - I swear you can even taste it in the cider from our local farm.

"Youth is like spring, an over praised season more remarkable for biting winds than genial breezes. Autumn is the mellower season, and what we lose in flowers we more than gain in fruits."
Samuel Butler
The Way of All Flesh

Fall isn't the hyper young spring, gamboling on the lawn, it isn't the glamorous and impossibly gorgeous summer wearing nothing but a bikini. It is the slightly older Autumn who has seen enough to know she doesn't know it all, who is more forgiving for that knowledge, who has the wisdom to treasure the fading light. This makes her gentle, and ineffably, more beautiful.

It's Thursday, my readers: a gorgeous fall day in which we may all gain in fruits. Enjoy.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

I bring you - the T25

I invested $50 in the stock market today, and in so doing I created what I affectionately refer to as the T25 - my own little index of shares.

It is made up of stocks available on American stock exchanges, and they are connected to me in one way or another: Norwegian, Baltimorean, products I own / consume, places I have worked, or I just have a liking for...

How would your index be made up?

After day one I am down about a percent, or $.50 (the smarter ones amongst you might have suggested I kept shush and "started" this tomorrow), but you know... the Dow was down 2%, the S&P500 down 1.13% and the Nasdaq down 0.83% today so, I suppose I did just fine (Mr Buffet lost almost 5% today, I could only afford 0.000016 of a share in Berkshire Hathaway, but at this rate I will catch up with the Sage, eventually)

So, let me introduce you to: The T25
Company Buying price Holding
Last trade $ Change Value Change
AGILENT TECH INC $25.11 0.0079649
$24.98 -$0.13 $1.99 -0.52%
BERKSHIRE HATH $124,000.00 0.000016
$118,000.00 -$6,000.00 $1.89 -4.84%
CONSTELLATION ENGY $26.00 0.076923
$25.49 -$0.51 $1.96 -1.96%
COSTCO WHOLESALE C $57.80 0.034602
$57.06 -$0.74 $1.97 -1.28%
ETRIALS WORLDWIDE $1.05 1.9048
$1.17 $0.12 $2.23 11.64%
HONDA MOTOR CO $24.11 0.082953
$23.00 -$1.11 $1.91 -4.60%
HEWLETT PACKARD CO $39.68 0.050403
$40.00 $0.32 $2.02 0.81%
KRAFT FOODS INC $30.74 0.065061
$29.97 -$0.77 $1.95 -2.50%
LEGG MASON INC $29.01 0.068941
$25.25 -$3.76 $1.74 -12.96%
LOCKHEED MARTIN CP $99.00 0.020202
$98.00 -$1.00 $1.98 -1.01%
AB SVENSK SP ARNS $7.26 0.275482
$7.32 $0.06 $2.02 0.83%
MCCORMICK & CO $37.00 0.054054
$36.53 -$0.47 $1.97 -1.27%
NORTHROP GRUM $54.22 0.036886
$52.06 -$2.16 $1.92 -3.98%
ORACLE CORP $16.78 0.119189
$16.88 $0.10 $2.01 0.60%
PFIZER INC $17.65 0.113314
$17.13 -$0.52 $1.94 -2.95%
ROYAL CARIBBEAN CR $15.61 0.128122
$15.29 -$0.32 $1.96 -2.05%
RESEARCH IN MOTION $55.05 0.03633
$57.60 $2.55 $2.09 4.63%
SANDY SPRING BNCP $18.68 0.107066
$19.12 $0.44 $2.05 2.36%
SONY CP ADR $25.30 0.079051
$23.90 -$1.40 $1.89 -5.53%
STATOILHYDRO ASA $18.70 0.106951
$19.42 $0.72 $2.08 3.85%
MOLSON COORS CO $43.63 0.04584
$42.77 -$0.86 $1.96 -1.97%
TARGET CP $39.86 0.050176
$41.30 $1.44 $2.07 3.61%
T ROWE PRICE GRO $46.98 0.042571
$46.05 -$0.93 $1.96 -1.98%
VERIZON COMMUN $28.89 0.069228
$27.73 -$0.70 $1.92 -2.46%
EXXON MOBIL CP $76.07 0.026291
$77.00 $0.93 $2.02 1.22%
TOTAL





$49.50 -0.96%

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Entertaining Simply (what a novel idea)

Lest my readership think that I indulge in Harvest Festivals and Trash Bashes on a regular basis, to be perfectly honest generally what passes for 'entertaining' at my house involves beer, guacamole, and takeout pizza. (This is known as Friday Happy Hour, Catonsville Style. Anyone passing through Catonsville between 4 and 8 on a Friday evening is welcome! If you can't find me here I'm up at Betsy's house...)

But I like to imagine that someday I'll return to the epic Thanksgiving Feasts of yore. The pursuit of the perfect chrysanthemum for a centerpiece. The butcher paper artfully tossed down the center of the table as a runner.... aah. Right after I land my dream job as editor in chief of Not Martha Magazine.

Anyhoo. In pursuit of these pipe dreams, I came across a great giveaway. A fave blog of mine, Restyled Home, has turned me on to Matthew Mead and his fab ideas. He has just published this book:
Don't the cover photos just make you want to invite people over for a 'simple' dinner party? A girl can dream, right? The author seems like a sympathetic guy, no?

And lest these 2 photos have not convinced you, let me just post some final, random photos that I love. I'm sure Annika would take 4 hr nap so that I could put this together for her baptism party, right? Do you see yourselves laughing and noshing in my living room, just like this??

You can buy this gorgeous tome at bookstores in the US and Canada, and on Matthew Mead's website: http://www.entertainingsimple.com/index.php?option=com_flippingbook&book_id=2&Itemid=1

And just because you all were patient enough to read through my most recent daydreaming, I've gotten myself entered into a contest to win this book! Hurray for internet giveaways. And for blogging the night away....

Friday, October 3, 2008

Emergency Question for People With Style

It seems Facebook no longer has that handy little function whereby you could address a question to all of your FB friends. And people, I GOT A QUESTION!

Actually, it is more a cry for help.

I have a shoe phobia. I HATE HATE HATE to shop for shoes. It always feels to me that the Exact Right pair of shoes is just around the corner, that if I only keep looking I will find the pair that answers all points: narrow enough, comfortable enough, black enough (of course, ONLY black!), classic enough (but with the right amount of au courant about them), durable enough to last the hours on the job, affordable enough. And of course the Holy Grail of Shoes would be those that make my feet look like a cute Size 7, instead of Size Gigantor.

The Payless solution (many shoes, all under $20) is not one that works for me. My large, skinny feet just do not work in a cheap shoe! There is perhaps the TJMaxx solution, whereby you troll the stores looking for Ultimate Shoes on clearance. But folks, I do NOT have the time to be shopping for 'perhaps' - besides, the savings on the shoes would go directly back to the babysitter who's watching the kids whilst I troll.

Some of you may have heard my apocryphal story about finding a STORE filled with Ultimate Shoes in Rome. Never before or since have I had a retail experience like it. Every pair I tried on was perfect! Every pair I tried on was comfortable! Every pair I tried on was gorgeous! I tried to convince Torbjorn I needed the boots AND the shoes - we settled on a fabulous pair of slingbacks. The prices were in lire: who is to know what 90 jillion lire adds up to in British pounds? I sailed out of the store holding the gorgeous shopping bag proudly. And then the AmEx bill showed up: $450 dollars (225 GBP). [c'mon, GASP with me here.] WHAT?!?!?

I had never heard of Sergio Rossi before that day, but my world view changed that fateful September afternoon in 2001. I now know there IS a place in the world that sells the Ultimate Shoes, all day every day. I would just need to re-mortgage my home and sell one of my children to afford them. But I'll tell you something, dear readers: I have worn and worn and worn those shoes. Re-soled them countless times. Worn them to interviews, church, restaurants, baptisms, clubs, you name it. For SEVEN YEARS. That is quite something for a mere slip of a slingback, with a whisper of leather round the back and a narrow point of calfskin around the front.

But the time has come [cue sad sad violin music] to retire the Sergio Rossis. They have served their mistress well, and Kirsten is FORCED, forced I tell you, to find the next go-to pair of dress shoes. And here is my question for the people out there who know about these things [Eileen, I'm thinking about you here]:

WHAT AM I GONNA GET? Where do I go? What do I look for? What is the absolute best shoe to get right now? Can't be too vertiginous (center of gravity shot after 3 pregnancies & a summer of flip flops). Can't be too trendy (looking to spend money I don't have, its gotta be worth it). Need to be sharp - nothing too mumsy. Must go with trousers as well as skirts, ideally even a nice pair of jeans, not that I own any.

HELP ME FRIENDS! I am this close to What Not To Wear, and the right shoe choice may keep me away from the edge.

I wait in breathless anticipation for your suggestions.
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