cleverly disguised as a responsible adult

I currently have a bunch of tabs open on my browser. My morning mental breaks this morning were spent going through Denver Fabrics' website for knits with vertical strips or patterns. I'm wearing my Ina maxi skirt and I adore it. I want more in this style since it's (a) flattering and (b) comfortable. Also, it's easy to put together. And comfortable.

I also have some Oriental Trading Company tabs open. I'm thinking of getting some craft kits for Emi and her cousins to work on. Also, maybe some candy and little toys for putting in stockings and on presents. Just to be pretty and maybe make my friends and family smile.

I'm getting work done. I'm answering questions, pulling teeth to get answers, and calming down flustered nerves. I have some calls today, but most of my day seems to be free for me to actually get work done. Who would've thought?! And yet, I'm considering spending more money on things that I don't actually need, but would make me happy to have in the short term.

For a while in grad school when everything was at rock bottom, I'd go to eBay and find a small shiny thing to bid on and buy. Having something to look forward to - the auction ending, the package arriving - gave me a reason to keep going. After all, if I have a package arriving on Wednesday, I can't kill myself on Monday. That's just silly.

I'm not at rock bottom anymore, but I still have this bad habit. I need to have things to look forward to or else I just can't handle the day-to-day reality that is work, chores, kids, sleep, work, chores, kids, sleep.

I think I can resist buying fabric and toys today. I still want to get the toys because I want holiday gifts to be lovely and fun and silly. I kind of want to get the fabric, but I have my blue corduroy skirt ready to serge together and some other pretty knits waiting to be cut into skirts and dresses. I also have Hogswatch presents to finish sewing, so that's a thing that needs to take priority. And it's something to look forward to. It's both making something (yay!) and giving presents (yay!), so I can handle it.

Also, they have Guinness Beef Stew for lunch today. Or Smokey Shells and Cheese. Comfort food! Yay!

I bought fabric today. This really shouldn't be a surprise to anyone.

• From Denver Fabrics, I bought stretch lace for overlay panels and, inspired by Au's success with iced pink velvet, gold stretch velour for a trumpet skirt.
• From Girl Charlee Fabrics, I bought dark peacock knit for a Moneta dress, bright peacock knit for a Mabel skirt, black knit for a Mabel skirt, and a really bright feather pattern knit for an a-line skirt.

I'm wearing skirts or dresses almost every day now. It's easier to get them to fit and I don't have the same anxiety that jeans, slacks, or shorts give me. Making my own skirts and dresses is satisfying, I have several eShakti '50s shirtdresses that fit beautifully and other maxi skirts that I've collected over the last year, and I like skirts. Also, trying on pants in store dressing rooms makes me sad and very upset with myself.

Blah. It's okay to like dresses and feel pretty in them. Also, dresses take very little thought in the morning. No coordination necessary!

It's payday. Here's where my money's already gone and where I yet want it to go:

• Denver Fabrics - Chevron knits for Au, Emi, and me (at 30% off!). Ponte de Roma solids for me are on their way
• Collette Patterns - Both the Mabel pencil skirt and Moneta dress are now mine. I'll print them soon!
• Mantua-Maker - I want the Regency stay and chemise patterns. I like the longer line on the stays, since I have all my extra body weight on the front of my stomach. https://mantua-maker.com/Regency_Patterns.html
• Sense and Sensibility Patterns - I want the full Regency kit and caboodle. http://sensibility.com/blog/patterns/regency-pattern-collection-special/  I also want their crochet patterns http://sensibility.com/blog/category/patterns/regency-era/
• Espionage Cosmetics - They're having a sale on their makeup collections. I want their glitters to add to my henna glitter palette. This one http://espionagecosmetics.com/collections/the-comic-book-collection.html and this one http://espionagecosmetics.com/collections/curses-collection-2.html , to be specific.
• Amazon - I cleared out my shopping cart. I'd been slowly adding books to it through the month of April and can now get them. I'll probably be doing the same thing this month. I love books.

I can't say enough good things about the web vendor eShakti. They have really high quality clothes and for a trivial fee, they'll make the clothes to your exact measurements! I've bought a couple dresses from them and they all fit perfectly, flatter my body, and are made with really nice fabric. And pockets! And since they ask for your height, the "below knee" length is actually below my knees!

So, yes, today I look like a grownup in my pretty purple dress and gleaming mary janes. My hair is crazy and I ran out of energy to put on makeup, but I look like a grownup and I feel pretty.

Ox came out super early and snuggled with me. Emi also got up early and "helped" me get ready.

I have more meetings today than are healthy. I have a couple NYTimes crossword puzzles to get through.

I did some really lovely henna last night on some really lovely ladies. There are quite a few people on YouTube who should have thought about their costuming choices a bit more. I didn't get enough sleep, but that's usual for Monday nights.

I have two shamrocks in my purse. Each of my kids made me one yesterday. They're awesome kids and I'm going to proudly display these on my wall at work.

Coffee is fantastic. So is having a couple extra minutes to grab breakfast at work.

I can do this. Eye of the Tiger.

I'm really enjoying having pretty nails. Except for the part where I nearly ruined a purse with a bottle that fractured (the top section snapped off), I haven't had much problem with my new Terrible Phone Call coping strategy. If I'm occupied putting a nice clear coat or some spiffy sparkles, I'm not occupied with resisting the urge to strangle someone through the phone line. I can make my nice, customer service, agreeable sounds and not have my blood pressure skyrocket.

My headphones are AWOL. This is distressing, since I'm nearly at the point where Hiro goes to the Raft and I need my fix.

The Easter Lion came to Grandma's house. Emi and Ox got jelly beans, gummies, books, a stuffed animal, and a video. Next year, they'll probably just get candy  - neither one really cared about anything other than the candy. Ox really only cared about the plastic eggs, not even the candy. I like giving them books, though. It makes me really happy, especially when they come up to me with their favorites to read again and again and again.

I got to do some reading over the weekend. That was really nice. I'm totally over dystopian fiction for the time being. I just...can't. I'm so exhausted by daily life that I just want something fun without much brain.

My wrists are starting to act up again, so I can't crochet for very long at a time. I'm a little worried about how zils tonight are going to go; may have to stop if things keep hurting. It's also hard to cut out patterns or fabric...and I can't take my sewing stuff with me when we're traveling. I want to make things - I need to figure out what primer and paint to use on my custom MLPs. I have hair and beheaded horses ready for manipulation.

I went shopping for MYSELF last week. I bought new shirts in bright, fun colors. I've decided that it's time to move away from snarky T-shirts as my standard work apparel. I like wearing jewelry and looking nice. I might even start wearing makeup again. Most of what I bought was from the clearance rack (of course), but I found a couple of nifty things on sale. So now I shouldn't have to shop again for a year or two. I don't get many things for myself, so now I can go back to haunting the kid clearance to find things for Emi and Ox.

While we're on the subject, I'd like to take a moment to give mad props to Sock Dreams. I placed my birthday order with them Saturday morning and the package was on my doorstep Monday afternoon. Shipping is still free and the quality is still excellent. I wore my neon orange and green stripes to vote, blue and purple stripes in celebration yesterday, and have lovely dark purple socks for today.

It was finals week at Iowa State. Snow was falling and stress levels were rising as students across town studied and tried to take care of Christmas travel plans and preparations. I was memorizing biochem like mad and trying to finish all of the lab reports that were due in short order. Sometime in the middle of all this wintery mess, the zipper on my coat decided to give out.

It still mostly kept the weather off me, but it no longer kept me toasty warm. Over the break, therefore, my main goal was to find a replacement coat. It needed to be long enough to cover my ass even when I had on a full backpack, warm enough to hold up to an ice storm, and have a hood with actual insulation. It also needed to be somewhat affordable for a mostly broke college student. Adding to the difficulty check is that the only reasonable shopping area was the not-so-booming metropolis of Burlington, IA, and women's fashions in the fall of 2001 were cute, not functional.

While "cute" has its place in fashion, winter coats are not a good place for it. I couldn't find a single coat that looked like it would keep me warm in even a faint breeze. When I finally despaired of finding anything suitable, my boyfriend at the time suggested that I check the men's section.

And then the clouds parted, beams of light shone down, and choirs of angels came over the intercom in J.C.Penney's.

It fit my shoulders fairly well, my waist not so much, and my hips okay. It was microfiber, ridiculously warm, and had a hood lined with actual insulation! And it was on sale! I snatched it from under the reaching fingers of another shopper and scampered for the exit.

Not only did this coat hold up to the rest of my senior year at ISU, but it served me well through the next few years as a UW student. Always warm, always sturdy, and did I mention that the hood was actually useful?

Last winter, however, things began to go wrong with my beloved coat. The zipper started sticking, then started staying not zipped together. The snaps holding the hood to the coat started to pull through and disappear. By the time spring arrived, the zipper was more of a suggestion and I knew I needed to get myself a new coat.

Sometime in March or April, I switched back to my lighter coat and told Downwood that we should hit some end-of-winter sales and get a new coat for me.

And we both completely forgot about it.

I pulled my coat out this winter and remembered my frustration with it. I thought, "Maybe the zipper isn't so bad. See, it closes...sort of...um...maybe?" I was still muddling through with it, though much more on the lookout for some sort of outerwear sale.

Last week it got butt-biting cold for the first time this winter. I finally was forced to admit that my coat wasn't so much crippled as dead, Jim. This is not good when you have a greyhound who really wants to go on very long walks please oh please pleeeeezzeee.

When Downwood came to me and said that the zipper on his coat just frayed itself into oblivion, I decided that Something Must Be Done. On my next sanity break at work, I jumped to the Land's End site and amused myself with their 3D modeling "this is how this style will look on a body with your measurements" tool. I found coats for both Downwood and me that were rated very warm, in the price range I was expecting, and fairly cute.

As I was clicking through the shopping cart process, entering addresses and such, I was practically bouncing from the excitement of having a working coat. I made a mistake in my purchasing, though: I didn't look to see exactly how long their "standard" shipping option was.

Oops. And they didn't put the expecting shipping or arriving date on any of the receipts they sent me. Crap.

So I expect to get my new coat...eventually. I'm pretty sure it will get here before February. I really hope it's here before then.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with my old coat. I don't want to throw it out (I'm homozygous dominant for PackRat) but I know it's in no condition to go to any charity. My current theory is that I'll cut it into pieces to make a parka for the dog that will be better for the exceptionally cold days. I don't know. It sounds like a plan, but it may end up being more like a Pln than anything.

I received two links in my email this morning.  Both are designed to get me in trouble with the credit card that I just cleared.

Denver Fabrics is having swatches on sale for a penny.  Fabric so pretty...

Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab just opened up a new line.  It's based on Neil Gaiman's work and all the proceeds go to the CBLDF.



Doomed, I tell you.

So, being a not-very-bright Sabine this morning, I decided that, by Darwin, I was getting some new pretty clothes to wear on the cruise. I figures that I was due for my yearly Pair Of Jeans Without Holes and I should pick up my non-broken set of frames from the optometrist. As I was getting ready to head out the door, I forgot to take Black Friday crowds under consideration as I gathered the amount of patience I thought I would need.

Oh my holy Darwin, was that a bad idea.

I scored some very pretty clothing for less money than I'd been prepared to drop, but it SO wasn't worth it. I explored new places in my vocabulary that I'm sure would have made a lovely phone post had I not decided that I wouldn't be adding to the fuckwittery of the drivers in and around the Maul by being on my cell phone.

After successfully navigating my way out of that circle of Hell, I decided that I deserved a pedicure. I mean, I'm going to be on a cruise tomorrow night and my feet were looking pretty darn pathetic. Yes, I can rationalize unnecessary purchases just as well as my husband can. No, dear, a pedicure does not have the same fiscal impact as an extra box of Pirates boosters.

Borders was wonderful, giving me coffee, cookies, music, and books. I really shouldn't go in there as often as I do, but it's earned me one hell of a Holiday Savings Account there. I haven't decided if I'm just going to be bad and spend it on myself or be generous and buy gifts with it. Decisions, decisions. I'm also not allowed to go to Reaper's website any more. I have enough little pewter girlies to paint as it is: I do not need the temptation to get more, no matter how pretty they are.

A couple more loads of laundry, some tea, picking up a med refill, and throwing the last few things into the bag before the trip. Our flight leaves at 6:30 tomorrow morning and we'll be back to Mad-town next Thursday at 5:30 in the evening. I don't think we're taking a laptop with us, though the camera is definitely coming along for the ride. If something important occurs, drop me a note, otherwise I'm likely to not see it as I scroll back through several hundred flist posts next week.