pointedly not reading the news

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Distraction by Shopping

Why yes, I am trying to still the anxious thoughts that are clamoring inside my brain with some good ol’ retail therapy. (I find searching for things I want and putting them into various online shopping carts to scratch my shopping itch nearly as well as shelling out money to buy them.) Join me, will you?

Skincare Storage Solution

For the last billion years, I have stored all my makeup in one of the free pouches my mother got with her Clinique purchases. I don’t wear a whole lot of makeup (mascara, eyebrow mascara, blush, maybe a cream eyeshadow), so it’s never a very crowded makeup bag. But over the past year I seem to have assembled QUITE the collection of what I refer to as my Old Lady Potions. It’s getting a little out of control. I keep some of them stacked together on the counter, and the others are crowded into several makeup bags which means I forget about them.

Currently at THREE makeup bags of assorted Old Lady Potions. Also, I have no idea where to keep My Precious which has kind of an intense cord situation happening.

Carla has been mildly interested in skincare since she started middle school, and her bathroom counter was a disaster, so I got her a little shelving unit for all her face washes and moisturizers and perfumes. (Note: I forgot to measure the available space on her counter, and the shelving unit turned out not to fit in the corner, so it’s sitting awkwardly in the middle. I HATE IT but Carla claims to love it, so I am trying really hard to just go with the flow instead of ordering a second skincare organizer to appease my sense of scale. 

What do YOU do about organizing/storing your makeup and skincare items? I, of course, am currently coveting Carla’s beauty organizer and now want one for myself.

Of course, The All-Knowing Amazon has sensed my desire for a skincare shelving unit of my own, and has served me up with a campaign for this cutie of a shelving unit. Hashtag Ad, I guess?? I am feeling extra averse to amazon these days, especially when the amazon product in question doesn’t seem to be supporting a recognizable small business. So I am wondering: where else do we go to find skincare organizers? 

West Elm has this option, although I think it would take up too much room on my counter. I like this one better, actually, although again it’s much too big for the available space; plus, it’s $140. Pottery Barn Teen has a smaller beauty storage option, but it’s not cute. And of course it’s $69 compared to amazon’s $36. But paying more is part of the sacrifice, right? Or, perhaps I should consider not engaging in overconsumption at all. Or – maybe I need to go in the complete opposite direction and buy myself a vanity table! There’s even a cute little tuck-away-able wall-mount beauty station! 

Cat Core Décor

The All-Knowing Amazon has also tuned into my current intense interest in cat products and has invited me to advertise “the purrfect scratching solution for your feline friend” – this cat scratch lounger. 

By the way, we do not have a cat at this time, and – even though I know (based on a little light Facebook stalking) that our local cattery’s latest batch of kittens has arrived in the world – have no timeframe for getting a cat, I have been doing a lot of cat research. My top concern at this moment is the inevitable destruction of our furniture. All the cat care books say that all you have to do to prevent scratching is spray a little Feliway on your furniture and set up a scratching post right next to your couch and voila! No scratching. (All the actual cat owners I’ve talked to say that the cats will scratch the furniture no matter what I do. Womp womp.) (Stephany? Jenny? Is your furniture ripped to shreds?)

This is going to sound so dumb but I am feeling a little reluctant to have a bunch of cat accoutrements strewn about my house. (Maybe I am not cut out for a cat?) (Maybe this is the equivalent of a pre-parent saying, “I will never let my house be overrun by toys” before they have an Actual ChildTM and understand that toys in all corners of every room are just a part of life?) Anyway, I have been googling things like “mid century modern cat towers” and “scratching posts that look like furniture.” AND I HAVE FOUND THINGS. It delights me that there is indeed a market for luxury pet products.

This three-panel scratching board slash art piece is kind of cool. Although my guess is that it would need to be mounted closer to the floor than an actual art installation. Also: pricey. I am kind of in love with this side tablethat doubles as a scratching post and triples as a cat hideout. But: very pricey. I am *head over heels* for this art piece slash cat perch. Of course: excessively pricey.

I’m a fan of these decorative cat shelves; they could possibly look like art. This wall-mounted cat scratching post isn’t too offensive to my anti-cat furniture sensibilities. I don’t mind this cat tower; it would coordinate with some of our existing furniture. This little cat nest is pretty cute. Oooh – I like this one even better. We just got a new bookshelf that has a lot in common, style wise, with this cat condo; maybe together they would look like Intentional Décor Choice instead of like We Cede Control to the Cat. Okay, okay, how can I resist a CAT ROCKING CHAIR? This cat tree has LEAVES. Here is a litter box station that looks like genuinely nice furniture! 

Please be advised that it is unlikely that I am going to buy any of these. For one thing: spendy. For another: the cat is going to ignore anything I buy for it, isn’t he. But they are fun to consider. I may persuade myself to get this little window perch, though.

This is my parents’ cat (RIP) and he had a litter box in the basement and NOTHING ELSE. Why yes, all their furniture was clawed to pieces why do you ask.

Jean Journey

I have finally crossed over from aggressively avoiding the latest denim trends to reluctantly jumping on the bandwagon. It took me forever to get on the skinny jean train, but I am tired of feeling totally out of style. Plus, baggy jeans are comfy! (Are you still doing skinny jeans? Do you hate the barrel leg jean style as much as I do?)

As with any type of jeans, it is next to impossible to find a pair that fit and feel good and look relatively okay. I should know; I have tried on a million options lately. A few worked: I got a pair of bootcut jeans from Loft that I like quite a bit. I bought a pair of straight leg jeans from Madewell; in fact, I went into an actual store that sells Madewell denim to try them on, and I’m glad I did. I originally thought I wanted wide-leg jeans, but they were MUCH too wide for my shape. These straight jeans are so soft and comfy. Maybe not the most flattering fit I’ve ever worn, but I like them. Oooh – I want to try the 90s fit jeans as well, and they are on a MAJOR sale right now! I also got a pair of these jeans from Stitch Fix (here’s my referral link if you want to get a $25 credit to try it out! I have been getting Fixes for more than a decade now and I still find it fun and I have gotten a ton of cute clothes this way.) and I’ve worn them several times and really like them.

In no universe do I need more jeans.

So I have a few pairs of “in style” jeans, but of course I want more. (See above RE: overconsumption omg.)

I’ve heard good things about Quince, though I’ve never purchased anything from them before. These relaxed straight jeans look very cute and the price is perfect. (Don’t fall for their $30 off sign-up bonus, though; it’s $30 off of $250 and you have to sign up for email AND text messages.)

I read an article in the NYT recently about the best women’s jeans, and these Levi’s jeans got top billing. The ribcage high waist is a little intimidating, though. I love a high waist but ribcage high might be going too far. 

My current body doesn’t mesh well with wide-leg denim, but I do like a bootcut pant. (Well. Only when paired with a heeled shoe. Otherwise I feel too stubby.) Maybe I need a pair of these Kut from the Kloth jeans? I am also intrigued by these very spendy ankle jeans. (FYI – according to this article about whether it’s worth the extra $$$ to buy pricey jeans, you really want to pay attention to the cotton content. My key takeaway is that more cotton equals better denim.)

If you have jeans recs, I am all ears. 

Okay. I suppose I better stop shopping and do something productive. But in case I decide against doing something productive, what are you shopping for these days?

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Avoidance and Diversions

It’s February, which means it’s practically March, which means SPRING is around the corner! I can just about taste it in the air. The sun is up when I take Carla to school, it’s still up when I bring her home. Birds are everywhere chattering about their spring plans. The snow is melting and I think we have a few upcoming days in the 40s. I still hope we get more snow because I love snow, but I do like this little sneak peek of things to come. 

Every time I open my news app, there’s something newly horrible and I just can’t tell anymore HOW horrible things are or are not, nor if there’s anything at all I can do about anything, so I have been doing a lot of Avoidance and Diversion. Is this healthy or helpful? No. But is it keeping my mental state fairly steady? I think so? For now? 

If you need some avoidance and/or diversion, welcome to my blog where I will only talk about the superficial and the trivial. In that vein, here are a few random bullets.

  • Summer Fret: Why, yes, I am already panicking about summer. In years past, I would have been panicking about summer camp (and probably would have already signed Carla up because summer camp is whack), but this year I am panicking about no summer camp. Carla just isn’t interested in camp this year, and that’s fine. I asked her what she wants to do and she said, Play with my friends, play with dogs, and swim. That does sound like an excellent summer. HOWEVER… I am not confident in my ability to execute such a relaxed summer without feeling like I am unable to get my own stuff done, or without devolving into excessive screen time. A schedule is my friend, I think, and I need to create said schedule WELL in advance, possibly with Carla’s input. Something like… one or two days a week where we volunteer at the local animal shelter. One Special Outing each week. One Friend Event each week. And then… fill in the rest of the days with a combo of Keeping Abreast of Our Studies (maybe I could ask her to devote an hour a day to math worksheets and another 30 minutes a day to reading?) (I originally had “an hour a day to reading” which seems reasonable and wonderful to me, but… I don’t know) and Pool/Outdoor Time? There might also be a couple of weeklong camps that she could attend for a few hours a day, but those don’t usually pop up until later in the year and I don’t know if I am chill enough to just slap them in at the last minute. We would also like to go visit my parents in their summer home. My dad is always asking us to come for a whole month – maybe this is the year to do it? Or at least two weeks? My husband won’t be able to join us so I think I/we would miss him too much if we were gone too long. Maybe I could try to make it a Screen Free Summer, except for like… a movie on Fridays or something scheduled. I would love that, and I know Carla would too even if she thinks she wouldn’t. What are you doing for summer? Or are we all just hoping to MAKE IT to summer, which seems like a valid consideration? 
  • CBBC: Have you joined Engie’s latest iteration of the Cool Bloggers Book Club? She’s leading a reading of Lucy Maud Montgomery’s The Blue Castle. I am having serious FOMO because I am not doing it this month. But I am planning on reading all the summaries and commentary. I confessed this to Nicole recently, but I don’t think I’ve ever read ANYTHING by Lucy Maud Montgomery. (Even though I own the entire Anne of Green Gables box set.) Am I fired??? No – that’s not the right perspective. Just think of all those wonderful books out there that I have yet to read. Yes. That makes me feel like less of a loser. 
  • Gift Fret: One of my dear friends is having a milestone birthday this year. (If you know me in The Offline World, this is your cue to STOP READING because I am going to discuss your gift in great detail.) (Although I suppose this could be your chance to object to said gift idea? And save us both the awkwardness of a gift that you might not appreciate? It’s up to you, boo.) Anyway, as per my usual mode, I have been thinking about and fretting about this gift for well over a year. WELL OVER A YEAR. One thing that is preventing me from finding The Perfect Gift is that this friend doesn’t particularly enjoy A Fuss being made over her birthday. She does, however, give gifts, so I feel like it’s one of her love languages. We have known each other for more than half a decade now, which boggles my mind, and I consider her one of my closest friends. Not sure if she feels the same, because she is more extroverted than I do, and I have found that extroverts tend to have way more friends than I do, and therefore (?) categorize them differently. But that’s a different matter. I just wanted to give you a little context. Also, my gift idea is something I would usually advise against – I want to get her a piece of art. In fact, I want to commission a piece of art: nothing crazy expensive (I hope; it seems like Etsy has some options in my price range, which I am thinking is roughly the $200-ish range), but something meaningful both to her and to our friendship. The art would be based on a photo, if that makes a difference. And I think I would see if I could get a smallish piece of art – like an 8 x 10 size – so she could put it on a dresser in the guest room if she doesn’t like it enough to hang it up. Why am I LIKE THIS, I overthink gifts so much and I am afraid I am going to overthink myself right into not doing anything at all and then feeling shitty for not commemorating a really special occasion for someone I care deeply for. I think this friend – even if she doesn’t like the artwork itself – will be very touched by the idea, and it feels very personal to her, and so I really, really think this is a good idea. It’s certainly my only idea. ANYWAY, I don’t know why I am telling you all this because I am sort of afraid you will discourage me from doing it and then I will cry because I have no alternatives. I guess I am wondering if you have ever had a piece of art commissioned and if so what that process was like/what the pricing was like, and maybe if you know anyone who does really nice but not horrifically expensive landscapes-based-on-photos. My VERY OWN MOTHER paints landscapes based on photos, so I kind of want to float this idea past her, but also that feels like a lot of pressure to put on one’s mother. GIFT GIVING IS TERRIFYING AND I HATE IT.
  • Valentine’s Shopping: I have been channeling my fretting about various things and my news-scrolling energy to shopping for things I do not need. Mainly these things are Valentine’s Day related. I made the delicious mistake of buying a bag of Sour Patch Kids hearts, which I now love with all my being. Carla probably needs a bag of her own for Valentine’s Day (I am not sharing). Maybe she would prefer Nerds Gummy Clusters. Or a bag of lip lollipops she can share with her friends. Carla has recently started reading The Black Stallion  (and in fact stayed up until 3:30 am on a school night reading it and was then miserable the next day; that is a lesson she has to learn for herself, alas), so I want to get her the next book (or two) in the series. Perhaps I will also get her A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, which, while not being The Book, is very hot right now among her friends. I am also wondering if she might like a book about being A Teen, since she insists on moving ever closer to being a teen herself. I like this one about general teenagery  and this one about etiquette. I am also saving all sorts of adorable heartearrings to my Etsy favorites list, although Carla does already have a couple of pairs.  I may get my husband the super romantic gift of O’Keefe’s Working Hands hand cream because he likes it better than the paste-style cream that comes in a tub. Oooh, do either of us (me or Carla, not me or my husband) need a sweater with hearts on it? I feel like a heart sweater could be appropriate on other non-Valentine’s-Day days, yes? What about some adorable heart pajamas? I don’t even really celebrate Valentine’s day, I don’t know why I am getting all in a froth about it this year. I don’t even think I have the energy to make Valentine’s cookies like I did last year. My husband and I don’t get gifts for one another, I don’t decorate. Maybe I get excited because Carla is excited, and each year she is excited in a new way. This year, she and all the girls in her class are doing a Valentine’s gift exchange and she and another friend are being one another’s Galentine’s, so they got each other a small gift of candy. I guess I like to lean into whatever Carla’s latest enthusiasm is, even if it does result in excess sugar in our house and some heart-infused junk we didn’t need. 
  • To Dos I Am Not Doing: My to-do list is once again out of control. It’s got the normal stuff – grocery shopping, laundry, home improvement projects that keep getting pushed, refilling prescriptions – but it’s also packed with scheduling things I don’t want to do, like medical appointments (my annual mammogram – don’t be like me! schedule yours now!) and car service appointments and meetings with our accountant. I also have yet to follow up on something I should have followed up on EONS ago and it feels kind of too late, but also I don’t want to let it go. Anyway. Maybe today’s the day I will cross something off that list. Do you have any onerous tasks that keep getting kicked down the road?

I intended to write more bullets than these, but these are QUITE long as they are, and I need to get to work. I hope you are hanging in there. 

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Seven on a Saturday

It’s been a snowy, cold, two-days-of-school week and I am ready for the weekend. I have also been allowing myself to scan the news once per day for ten minutes, in case you want to try that technique. It keeps me moderately informed but tempers the anxiety a bit. Let’s have a little randomosity instead of thinking about The News.

  • I Am Really Terrible at Giveaways! You may or may not recall that I planned a little baking giveawayback in, oh, 2024. As with gift giving, I have lots of enthusiasm for thinking about giving and then I run out of steam with the actual giving part. Anyway, the winner of the rolling pin is Michelle G. from MG Doodle Studio! Yay! Michelle, I hope the rolling pin helps inspire many fun and delicious baking projects.
  • Fleece Lined Leggings. Due to the cold this winter, I have discovered that my threshold for walking outside is 20F. I can do it at 18F, but it takes longer for me to feel warm and my face is always numb and immobile at the end. Is there such a thing as a hooded sweatshirt that has, like, a pull-up face warmer thing? If so I would like to own one. Anyway, my favorite leggings for walking in the cold are fleece-lined leggings from Athleta. (Are we saying “athLEEta,” like “athlete” or are we saying “athLEHta” like “sweat-ah”? I say the former and my daughter is constantly correcting me with a tone like I am the most embarrassing person in the world.) After an encounter with one of the neighborhood puppies, my leggings now have a hole in the thigh. This was enough of a slight for me to tell my husband I NEEDED new leggings, but the Athleta ones were out of stock, so I bought my first ever pair of Lululemon leggings, these fleece-lined running tights. The Lulu tights are everything Nicole has been saying and more – they are comfortable, they are warm, they are fitted rather than bootcut (hard no), they stay up, which has been a big problem for me with my beloved Athleta leggings (except for the fleece ones – those do not fold up beneath my jelly roll). But… they are not quite as warm as the Athleta fleece leggings. I can wear those for hours and stay warm. I can “play” in the snow with Carla in just my jacket (also from Athleta) and those leggings and be roasty toasty the whole time. Maybe I just bought the wrong pair of Lulu fleece leggings? They also have these thermal tights… not that I can tell at all how they differ from the running tights. Or these adaptive state fleece joggers (although I look terrible in joggers, so I am resistant to these). Maybe I need to expand my search criteria? These Title 9 fleece lined tights popped up in some articles about “the best fleece lined leggings,” they don’t get great reviews on amazon, but ooooh you can buy them straight from Title 9 and they DO get great reviews there. These Arc’teryx leggings also show up on searches for high quality fleece leggings, although they are just as pricy as the Lulu option. L.L. Bean has a version of fleece leggings at a more appealing (to me) price, but the pant is mid-rise, not high-rise and it looks like a lot of sizes are sold out. I suppose for now I will continue wearing my Athleta pants, complete with hole (yes, I realize I could sew it up or patch it but those things are beyond my capacity; I am barely making it out on a walk at all please don’t give me another assignment) and the Lulu pants on slightly warmer days. 
  • Height. I kind of go around assuming all my Internet friends (that’s you, dearie) are approximately the same age and height that I am. I don’t know why this is. But recently I saw a photo of someone I’ve never met in real life, and I was shocked because she looks at LEAST 5’10”.  I am somewhere in the 5’5” to 5’7” range, myself. (In fact, I refused to be weighed at the doctor the other day which meant I was also refusing to be heighted and the medical assistant asked, “Are you 5’7”?” and I said, “Something like that” which I am only just now realizing is not a helpful comment when someone is trying to record my actual physical statistics.) Anyway, what I want to know now is: How tall are you? The likelihood that I will promptly forget and go back to thinking you are in the 5’5” to 5’7” range is high, but I’m curious.
  • Smoothie Cupdate: One of my longings over the past couple of years has been for a travel cup for my daily smoothies. It would be so nice to drink them in the car! Or take them to meetings for the group I volunteer with in a vessel that does not imply I am guzzling alcohol at eight o’clock on a school day. (I may or may not have, in desperation, brought my smoothie in something similar to this to a recent meeting.) But I am very picky. I hate straws – HATE – so I don’t want anything with a straw. I cannot stand plastic cups. I cannot stand handwashing things. So my ideal smoothie cup would be dishwasher safe, non-plastic, straw-free. I got TWO smoothie cups for Christmas, which was such a delight! The first one is this Simple Modern affair, which comes with a straw but also comes with a “chug lid.” The second is exactly what I had in my mind’s eye when I pictured The Ideal Smoothie Cup, although it is plastic. I will have to see if it bothers me. The double-walled heavy-duty material feels less like plastic than any of the sporting-events plastic cups we have around the house, so it will probably be just fine. 
  • Speaking of Holiday Hits: A sleeper hit in our household was this last minute surprise my husband and I got Carla for Hanukkah. We were wasting time in Dick’s for a couple hours (yes) until picking up our kid from a sleepunder and he spotted a rack of sweatsuits and thought she might like one. Sure, I thought. Why not. We got her a pink Nike matching oversized sweatshirt and sweatpants. It turned out to be one of her favorite gifts of all. She’s worn it pretty much non-stop. I kind of want to get her another one. 
  • Milk Magic: I have long bemoaned Carla’s dislike of milk slash anything with protein or calcium. But I think I have finally tricked persuaded her to drink milk through the magic of Starbucks. Apparently, the sixth grade set is big on Starbucks, and some of them bring drinks to school with them. Which of course prompts my kid to want Starbucks of her own. Because I am a Mean Mom, I made a rule: you can only get Starbucks if you get a steamer. A steamer is PURE MILK. Well. Sometimes with a splash of sugary flavoring, but still: MILK. Calories and calcium and protein. So Carla complies with this rule. And, since I only allow her to get Starbucks once a month (again, Mean Mom), she has begun requesting steamers at home. My husband has a fancy Nespresso machine that makes steamers and he’ll make them for her on the weekend. On weekdays, I make her hot cocoa. The kid won’t drink chocolate milk, but warm the milk up and add cocoa powder and mini marshmallows and voila! She’s all over that. Thirteen grams of protein, thirty percent of her daily calcium, we’re completely ignoring the sugar. 
  • The Book: Sixth grade is not just about Starbucks. It is a strange new world, let me tell you. These kids are into ALL the grownup stuff. For instance, I feel like curse words have become very interesting to Carla’s friends. (I have no problem with curse words in the right context.) Another example is The Book. Carla expressed an interest in reading a few very specific books recently, so my husband and I took her to Barnes & Noble. I am never going to refuse a request to READ. (Also, The Book was not available at the library, we did look there first.) Carla made some comments that implied maybe her friends would be surprised that I would approve of this book. It had some trigger warnings for some Adult Topics, but I am wary of censoring books from my kid. (There are surely exceptions, I just haven’t come across them.) Carla read it in about a day and loved it and then she gave it to me so I could read it. Simultaneously, one of my mom friends mentioned The Book, and that kids were passing it around and reading it in the bathroom, which I find SO charming. Of all the things to sneak around doing, reading has to be the most wholesome. Anyway, I have finished The Book and it is… very adult. And I disagree with some of the messaging, for sure, but it’s rife with topics I now have an easy opening to discuss with Carla. But it made me wonder: did you have The Book when you were a tween/teen? I vaguely remember It being passed around my eighth grade classes because there was a sex scene in it. But since I was reading Scruples I wasn’t particularly fazed. 

Well, that’s it for me, Internet. I hope you are staying warm and dealing with All the News as well as can be expected.