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November 29, 2009, at 10:56 pm
Still a little too busy relaxing with the family to post…
(Not my boat, unfortunately.)
However, I will share this — I could not access the regular Amrita Singh site most of the week. To apologize to their customers, they added a 50% off everything offer with the code ‘black.’ Still, I couldn’t get on all weekend. They sent out a mass email saying that the site should work for everyone now, but I still couldn’t access it, so I wrote to them and they were very helpful and responsive. I was finally able to log onto an alternative site and do my holiday shopping. They’ve held over both the gift certificate offer (spend $250, get $100) and the Black Friday 50% off everything offer, so if you were thinking about buying, do it now!
November 26, 2009, at 8:00 pm
I am thankful that as of this year I have family in more places than ever:
 June in Tarkio, MT
 September in Albany, NY
Wherever you are, whomever you are, I hope you are surrounded by love and cheer this Thanksgiving.
November 24, 2009, at 11:06 pm
Armed with gift cards, I braved the shoe department at Macy’s looking for some very plain black patent, closed-toe heels. Nada. But what should greet me within two minutes of stepping into DSW:
(Note: My feet are large, don’t be fooled by the scale. These shoes are TALL.)
Jackpot! But trying to walk in them on the store’s smooth carpet made me feel like a fawn that has wandered out onto a frozen pond, so I knew I needed some grip pads for the bottoms. When I went looking for insole cushions, I found that DSW sells a set that does it all — heel, insole, and grip:
Worth a try for $15. Time will tell whether I end up taking them to a cobbler for something a little more substantial on the sole. If I do, I’ll definitely take them to Houston Shoe Hospital. I don’t think I’ve ever brought shoes to the one by my office, but twice they’ve done a great job repairing some stitching on leather handbags that I loved a little too hard.
Now I just need to dress up and go someplace fun so I can try them out in a real-world situation. It’s for science!
November 22, 2009, at 9:30 pm
Every Sunday afternoon, my view looks something like this:
Dam Good Breakfast and rosemary soda for me, Beaver-Rito and a greyhound for Mark
We started eating at Beaver’s a few months ago and haven’t missed a Sunday brunch since, with the exception of the few weekends that we’ve been out of town. We usually make it in once a week for dinner, as well. We were talking to the chef today and he described Beaver’s as a ‘gastro-icehouse.’ He’s a Gulf Coast native who puts together some really creative, upscale twists on traditional Southern fare, often with fresh Gulf seafood as the centerpiece.
But me, I always come back to the smoked pork. Texas loves its barbecue, but it seems to prefer beef. I much prefer Memphis- or Carolina-style pork barbecue, and Beaver’s has introduced me to the amazing combination of smoked pork and scrambled eggs. I’m a sugar fiend, but I crave this savory plate every week.
Of course, my sweet tooth gets indulged after the main meal. Beaver’s signature dessert is Beaver Balls, which consists of deep-fried brownie balls, a couple scoops of ice cream, crème anglaise (or something of the sort), and a generous sprinkling of powdered peanut butter.
Brunch and dessert — heaven. It’s a crime that this only happens once a week.
November 19, 2009, at 10:33 pm
Man, it’s been a busy week, but we’re almost to the weekend. I don’t know about you, but I could use a little tranquility to help get me there:
 Bass Harbor, Maine
What have you got planned? We have a few errands and I might start a little of my holiday shopping. Amrita Singh is having a special promotion: spend a cumulative $250 between now and Black Friday and you’ll receive a $100 Amrita Singh gift certificate on November 30th. That’s pretty tempting if you have a few stylish women on your list and maybe need a little extra bling to wear to all of those upcoming holiday parties.
Have a great weekend!
November 17, 2009, at 10:01 pm
It’s finally sweater season in Houston! But our threshold for sweaters is wimpier than in most of the country. So I can still wear these:
…albeit with tights and a sweater. That’s my fall obsession: tights. I love them! They’re comfortable and warm and durable, whereas conventional hosiery is pretty much single-use in my hands. Plus they come in a million fun colors and patterns and remind me a little of childhood (when I probably hated them; funny how that works).
My height and weight combination falls somewhere outside of most hosiery sizing charts, but We Love Colors carries tights in an astounding array of sizes. I have a couple pairs, couldn’t be happier with them, and am constantly looking for a reason I need more.
BTW, the dress on the left was a recent dirt-cheap acquisition from Limited’s end-of-season clearance. The one of the right is by Hale Bob (love their prints), and it was a Billion Dollar Babes score. The BDB price was substantially less than Hale-Bob’s own sale price! The colors were somewhat different than the pictures had led me to believe, which is always a risk when you’re ordering something you can’t return, but it worked out in my favor this time.
Bonus action shot (no tights, alas):
November 15, 2009, at 8:47 pm
I am fascinated by these shoes:
I had never heard of this brand until I stumbled across them on Whorange. This style comes in a few other colors, but I like the blue because they make me think of Alice in Wonderland. I’d wear the heck out of them this spring with a simple summer dress and a little cardigan.
November 12, 2009, at 9:16 pm
We were strolling through the Forum Shops at Caesars when we spied ahead of us, in the middle of a large crowd, two men in plastic bubbles, dancing to loud music:
After watching curiously from behind the crowd for a bit, I realized that it was a promotion for MAC’s Magic, Mirth, and Mischief! holiday collection. Slender blonde women in bouffants, pink space-couture dresses and impossibly high heels teetered around the fountain, blowing bubbles and offering ‘truth or dare’ cards to onlookers.
The whole specatcle was unexpected and surreal, but delightful all the same.
November 10, 2009, at 9:37 pm
I’m sure there’s something you can do in Las Vegas that’s free, but most activities seem to involve spending money. A lot of money.
 Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition, $30 per person at the Luxor
The shopping is world-class and Las Vegas probably has the highest number of Louis Vuitton storefronts per square mile of anyplace on Earth, but Houston has a megamall where I can find most of the same stores and pay ever-so-slightly less sales tax.
One store that we don’t have in Houston is a dedicated Vosges (we get our fix by mail or at Whole Foods), so we picked up a few of our favorite bars for our hotel room. We were so busy stuffing our faces the rest of the trip, though, that they all came back to Texas with us. We’re still working on them.
I did a little shopping, mostly just browsing, and decided that I would only use precious suitcase space on something that was either a great deal or completely irresistible. I didn’t expect to find anything that fit those criteria, but then I stumbled upon a 30% off rack at Calvin Klein.
Hey, a girl should have a new dress for her birthday dinner.
November 8, 2009, at 10:03 pm
We started the day with breakfast in our room:
And followed that with a couple’s massage at the beautiful Encore spa:
 (photo from visitwynn.com)
The massage was wonderful. Any treatment grants you admission to the rest of the spa, which is $25 otherwise. The only downside was that the facility is sex-segregated outside of the treatment rooms, so once our massage was over we had to go our separate ways to enjoy the rest of the spa. Between the dry sauna, the steam room, the whirlpools, the plunge pools, the waterfall showers, and the complimentary array of beverages, somehow we managed. I think I need some practice at this spa thing, though, because I found myself thinking I should have brought my crossword book.
We finished the day with an exceptional dinner in the hotel, at Botero. The concierge helped us book it and made a note that it was our anniversary, so during dessert we were presented with this:
That’s a frozen chocolate bar made with Godiva chocolate. It was delicious!
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