Cool for kids

I just saw this cute shirt.  It has the alphabet printed up-side-down at the hem so that kids can learn the alphabet while wearing their shirt.  How neat is that?!

I had a Flare up

I had my cry yesterday, but today I've got stuff to do. Just to prove that I'm okee-dokee, here's a completely frivolous post.

I discovered Fred Flare when I was looking for the Twilight jacket several months ago. Yes, you can wear the exact same jacket that Bella wore. (I also know where you can buy her bag, but you'll have to ask nicely. ;)

ANYway...they have such C-U-T-E stuff that I had to share. You may have already known about this website, and if so...Why didn't you tell ME?!

Stuff I Want....

Camera ring, Holly Golightly sleep mask, Hello Kitty nerd wallet, Pac-Man bandages

Stuff for Roy....

Edgar Allan Poe action figure, Pocket Guitar Hero, Jaws shower curtain, #1 Dad trophy

Stuff for Techies....

Mini boombox iPod speaker pouch, USB webcam, Mix tape USB flash drive, Earbuds

Pleated Petal Tank ANTHROPOLIFICATION GIVEAWAY!!!!

Pleated Petal Tank ANTHROPOLIFICATION GIVEAWAY!!!!

I totally want this!!

Woot Woot!

It is midnight twenty here in the CTZ. Why am I up at midnight? Why, to order the new Woot Shirt, of course!

Actually, Roy is working tonight and I like to sit next to him while guys on the speakerphone talk in funny accents in silly languages (and sometimes they even cuss!) "I'm still doing the TO crosspack from the blah, blah, blah....The BCUs are still doing a local download...MO38 is going through a reboot..." Uh, huh. I think it is actually a very elaborate ruse and they are speaking in code so that their wives don't know they are sitting around at 1 am playing Age of Empires online.

Anytime Roy is up at midnight, he checks the Woot Shirt because that's when the new daily shirt gets published. He's a Woot Shirt VIP. Seriously, he owes like 50 of them. They only make 3,000 a day, so you have to order fast. If he wasn't up late, he'll pick up his phone before he even gets out of bed and check the shirt. Sometimes, it is sold out before 6 am. I laughed the first twenty or so times he did that. Now, I know it is part of his daily routine, like his 5:30 pm meeting.

A lot of times, the designs are really clever plays on words, but they don't have captions, so you really have to be sharp to understand them. I'm not so sharp, so I require the funny little explanations that they write up. Roy will look at a picture of a nun playing hockey with a platypus and immediately start rolling on the floor laughing because he knows that it is actually a metaphor for the fact that "Communism is a dying animal." And I'm like, "What?" And he's like, "Really? You don't get it?" And he'll stare at me, thinking to himself, "How did I marry this uneducated, dumb brute of a woman?" And then he'll think, "Oh, yeah, because she doesn't make me pick up my socks and lets me buy all the car models our office can't hold."

He considers these shirts a litmus test for one's intelligence. If he wears a shirt out and someone asks him what it means, that person is written off as an ignorant fooly foolerson. If someone laughs, they clearly don't get it. I thought he was crazy until I wore one out to the grocery store one day. This particular one is of a cute little kitten looking at a cute little puppy. There is a heart above the puppy's head and he has a fish in his mouth. I thought it was adorable and went without explanation. The girl who checked me out said, "Cute shirt." To which I smiled and said, "Thank you!" She then said, "Is there something on the back or what?" I looked at her disbelieving and tried to explain. "No, see the puppy loves the kitten and he brought her a fish." Blank stare from checkout girl.

All that Roy needs to get his attention is a bomb or an animal doing something naughty. I'm a little more discerning. I only own four of these shirts. One of which matches his. Shut up--it's totally cute for a husband and wife to go out in matching shirts. Anyway, I was glad to see today's in a sunny yellow. I'm always joking about the sock trolls that come and steal socks from the dryer, leaving me with a drawer full of mismatched socks. You know what I'm talking about. Well, thanks to Woot, I have been enlightened. Apparently, it wasn't trolls after all. The socks are walking off of their own accord and going to a happier place. We should all be so lucky.

Spend Green to Be Green

The April issue of InStyle has some fashionable ways to stay green....

Products featured: Elezar clutch, Banana Republic Heritage denim, Further soap, Tarte bamboo set, TOMS canvas flats, Yellingbo olive oil, Ferragamo leather hobo, Eco-ganik blouse

5 Ways to live green:

1. Green Depot

2. Seventh Generation

3. Ecco Hollywood

4. Rubie Green

5. Element hotels

Earth Day 2009

Earth Day is April 22 so I thought I'd put together a "little" mention about that. (It seems impossible for me to write a short anything.) I remember talking about Earth Day in elementary school and getting excited about participating in something that people all over the world were involved with at the same time. It somehow made me feel globally connected. (I didn't travel far outside my hometown of 400 and these were the days before the internet.) I remember that we had a little parade up to Main Street and I "reported" on it for our short-lived faux news channel. In a class of 17 children, we didn't have the resources that kids in the metro area have now. (And we had to walk to school uphill in 2 feet of snow, barefoot.)

Back in 1988-ish, Earth Day was a nice thing to talk about, but it didn't have the urgency that it does today. I remember our main concerns being oil spills and cleaning up litter around waterways. Boy, if those were the only things we had to worry about today. Now, every day during the summer, I have to check the Air Quality Index to see if my child will be allowed to go outside at recess. Oh, and by the way, the arctic ice that helps cool the Earth is melting faster than expected and a new study shows that it could be completely gone in 30 years, so get ready for a heat wave! Ugh.

Last year, we bought her this book, It's Earth Day! by Mercer Mayer at Wal-Mart. We've always loved that author and this seemed like a good way to introduce environmental responsibility. In the book, Little Critter finds out that the polar ice is melting, so he embarks on a mission to help save the polar bears by recycling, etc. We decided that this was an easy, albeit not entirely accurate, way to engage a then two-year-old in discussions about conserving energy. So, whenever she runs the water too long, stands with the fridge open for several minutes, or forgets to turn a light off, we chime, "Anna, we need to save the polar bears!" This is a cause she can get behind. Who doesn't love polar bears?! I saw this link this morning that the Arctic nations are taking steps to help save the polar bears. The KC Zoo is supposed to be getting a polar bear exhibit in the next couple of years, so that is exciting!

We observed Earth Hour on March 28 and it was surprisingly fun, as we played some board games by the fire with champagne (for me), while I Twittered on my new iPhone. We had explained to Anna that this was another way to help the polar bears and she even insisted on going to the bathroom in the dark. She actually got upset when we used electricity instead of flashlights the next morning. My heart swelled with pride last night as she picked up one of Roy's empty pop cans (that he leaves all over the downstairs) and brought it upstairs to put in the recycle bin.

Last year, we bought adorable organic cotton t-shirts from Wal-Mart and they have new designs this year for the whole family, including a maternity version. These range in price from $4 to $6. We had to get ours fairly early last year because they were selling out, so get there soon. This year's designs were all "inspired by" celebrities, including Keith Urban, Jewel, Demi Lavato, Beyonce and Gavin Rossdale.

Wal-Mart has a whole section of their website devoted to Earth Month. Here are a few other products that caught my eye. Sesame Street video, Ziploc Evolve bags, shelving and Planet Earth DVDs (which we have, but haven't watched yet).

Some other ideas I use: recyclable toothbrush, canvas shopping bags for $1 and recycling other plastic bags at grocery stores, Starbucks cup that gets you 10 cents off every time you use it, save leftover fast food napkins to use at home, take old catalogs to Anna's school to use for art projects, Ideal Bite, "An Inconvenient Truth", "The 11th Hour".

There is the related issue of THE HORRIBLE THINGS WE ARE DOING TO OUR OCEANS, but I could write a whole other post on that and this one is getting too long!

I'd love to hear ideas that you use to help save the polar bears!

Life in plastic is fantastic

The web is abuzz with this photo of the Chanel Perspex Briefcase that Karl Lagerfeld designed for the recent Paris showing of the brand's Fall Ready-To-Wear collection. Chanel's website states that it is made of "thermoformed packaging with pockets for an Ipod, No.5 perfume, and sunglasses."

*Thermoformed packaging (also known as a blister pack) is the annoying plastic that many items are now packaged in. The only purpose it serves is to annoy. Seriously, you shouldn't need a chainsaw to open a package of AA batteries.

There is no confirmation yet on whether this will be a bag that you can actually purchase or whether it was merely a prop for the show.

Personally, I love the pink version. (I have the pink quilted tote from a few years ago that I adore.) This briefcase is the pinnacle of organization and minimization (yes, that is a word). No more rummaging around in a bottomless pit looking for your phone. Wait! There isn't a place for your phone. Oh, well. We all have to make sacrifices in the name of fashion. I only hope that I get a job soon so that I can carry this superstar to the office.

What could you expect to pay for this baby if it does get released to the public? That depends. A quilted jersey flap bag similar to the one inside the briefcase shown retails for $3,800. Yes, I said jersey. Will the bag shown be included in the briefcase? Probably not. I doubt the other items in the briefcase are included either. 1 oz. of No.5 perfume is $260. (The 1.7 oz. spray bottle is only $80 and mine lasted two years, so I'd go that route.) The Ipod was probably around $150 and sunglasses $200, lipstick $30, powder $44, assuming they are all Chanel, of course, and you really can't run around with a clear Chanel briefcase containing Cover Girl makeup. Blasphemy!

Accessories alone would be about $4,500. And, while the accessories won't be included, I'm guessing you'll still pay for them as if they were. Tack on another $15 for the manufacturing cost of the plastic itself. Well, it is imprinted with the Chanel logo, so make that $100 for the plastic. Add another $50 for the straps....I'm guessing the final price tag will be around $5,000. (Designers round up to the nearest $1,000). Roy will be able to find it on Ebay next year for $150, so get your name on our wait list.

In all seriousness, I do LOVE the set they designed for the show. White walls that divided spaces in contrast to a black lacquered floor. The models walked through a series of doorways on all sides. Definitely a departure from the traditional catwalk and the minimalist approach is very different from last year's lavish set.

Hmmm. I wonder if I could get a job tagging along after Karl Lagerfeld. Maybe he needs someone to make him grilled cheese sandwiches on the weekend.