Since hopita mentioned these great monkey portraits recently, I've become obssessed.



I want a monkey portrait of my family.

The question is, should I wait until the boys are a little older?

Or would it be really, really adorable to have wee little monkeys in our monkey portrait?

Poll #1182997 Monkeys: Little or bigger?
Open to: All, results viewable to: All

Should I get a monkey portrait now, or later?

Sleepy, so sleepy, but trying to stay awake for seventeen minutes to snipe on eBay.

Because I need more shoes.

So I am shopping online.

For little boy clothes on sale (though with alarming shipping costs, WTF?) and for work clothes for me (from the 50% off everything sale at Coldwater Creek), most of which I'll end up returning since their clothing is always slightly off somehow - if I'm lucky, I'll end up with a sweater and a pair of trousers.

MBA-wise, I'm feeling behind the 8 ball in econ (or just behind?), but I'm enjoying the other course, Leadership and Professional Development. Just wrote a post about South Pacific (we're discussing bias, including racism, this week).

And now I've got those glorious melodies in my head. Not a bad way to fall asleep. If I can manage that. If I don't get sleepy soon, I'll go clean the closet. The mere idea of that should bring on the Zs.

Anyone with a little girl who wears size 2, 4, 6, or 8 needs to have this dress, on sale from $90 to $25.

Everyone on my FL with a little daughter?

Needs to have one of these.

I've been very frugal lately. But Solutions has awesome underwire camisoles on sale, in sizes up to 42DD. I bought one years ago, and wore it into the ground. I can't recommend them highly enough.

The original model is a bit low cut, and creates a lovely decolletage. They are great under jackets or shirts, or even completely covered a la foundation garments.

This link should get you free shipping on orders of $65 or more. They sell other great stuff besides the best camis in the world.

After lunch, went to Daffy's. Found a great bra.

Le Mystere!

For $13!

In a size that shouldn't have fit me, but did. Would it kill them to be truly standard about sizing?

I also bought two cute pairs of socks.

And a pitcher for Pop Phooey's beloved iced tea.

My hair is still parted on the right. I'm trying to be all Veronica Lake about it.

I was leaving Trader Joe's this evening (where I correctly answered the trivia question they asked over the loudspeaker, and won a box of Joe Joes) and saw a man walking a tiny dog of some kind.

Except that, really, the tiny dog was walking the man.

At least, the dog was straining at his leash, as if he could compel the man to go where he wanted by sheer force of will.

It amused me.

Today felt unproductive, though we did get #1 a new pair of shoes, since he'd outgrown his last pair and hasn't quite grown into the bargain Melanias we found at Daffy's.



He rejected two pairs of Merrells before trying these Tsukihoshis on, and pronounced them "perfect!" They are superlight, and can go right in the washer! I may see if I can find a good price on a second pair, in brown. Or just call Flocco's and see if they can order them for me, because I paid far less there than I'm seeing these for online, even eBay.

I need to crank out a draft of my (short opinion) paper for one class, so I feel like I'm keeping pace. Even though it's not due til Tuesday. Because I'm just a little neurotic that way. I've already reviewed the material we'll be covering this coming week in the other class, but I'd like to feel as though the paper's a) done and b) good. And then I have two chapters to read about business, government and society. Tra la.

Of course what I really want to do is make monkey bread and watch Torchwood. We've got a dozen eps clogging up the TiVo.

There aren't enough hours in the day, I tell you. Especially if this evening brings a return of last night's Cramps from Hell. Ow.

Oh, I got a promotion and a raise. Except that they won't take effect til the next fiscal year begins this summer. Which sort of takes the fun out of it.

I did buy myself a wee giftie the other day at the AIA Bookstore moving sale: an umbrella.

This umbrella.

So pretty.

I was tired of the cheapo ones we'd been using. Ones that broke, or blew inside out, or dripped rain on me.

This one opens with a satisfying sound and feel.

Too bad I left it on my desk last night.

I'm sure I'll have the chance to use it soon.

The AIA Bookstore is closing their longtime branch at 17th and Sansom.

Happily, this is only because they are relocating to a bigger and better space at 12th and Arch, near the soon-to-be-expanded Convention Center.

Extra happily, they are selling all their inventory at 50% off (or more, in the case of the holiday stuff, currently at 75% off).

It was like a swarm of insects in there yesterday when I stopped in on my way back from the eye doc.

Since I have two small children, and they sell cool toys, I braved the crowd, and came away with some good bargains for #2's upcoming birthday, as well as two sets of Strawz.

I only realized after I got home last night that I'd missed a great opportunity to buy the other three sets, which would have made terrific birthday gifts for #2's little friends.

And of course when I called today, they were all gone.

Ah, well.

I think I'll tuck them away for a rainy day. A rainy day when BOTH boys are old enough to use them.

I really love the idea of Jellybath.

Especially the Calming Milk scent.

But at $24 per bath?

Hell to the no.

herself_nyc recently posted about her stunning new eyeglasses.

Poking around the designer's website, I found the perfect pair for me:



I wear glasses so infrequently that I don't really need new frames. But oh, the pretty.

It's probably wrong to want this, right?

It's electric!

When I am wealthy, and no longer sleep with children or cats, I want bed linens like these.

Cute tall suede boots.

On sale for $34.

With an additional 30% off.

Blue might be fun...

There are so many reasons why I should not drink caffeinated beverages.

These include, but are not limited to:

• Headache


• Sleeplessness


• Online shopping

But I needed a proper coat. This one will work for all but the coldest days, in which case I'll be bundled up like a yeti, anyway.

And it was $50 off, plus I found a coupon code that knocked another 20% off.

And it's washable suede! I need to figure out how they do that.

I wanted to buy a similar version last year, but tried to wait til the price was even lower. Oops. Missed it.

Let's hope it fits, and looks good.

Expectant parents are often the dumbest consumers ever. They think they need all kinds of accoutrements in order to properly raise a child. mockduck recently posted a particularly glaring example), but there are so many. Diaper disposal system! Changing table! When all you need is recycled supermarket bags (and not til they start on solid food), any reasonable surface (bed, sofa, floor), and some common sense. Which, oh yeah, is all too rare.

Having now had two of the little critters, I have two recommendations for products that are actually useful.

Born Free Training Cups

Even if you're breastfeeding, there are likely to be times when a bottle is a useful thing. Maybe your partner wants to get in some feeding time, maybe you pump while you're at work, maybe you use formula. Born Free makes baby bottles, but they aren't cheap, and you don't actually use a tiny 5 oz. bottle for very long. Also, they only come in one (boring) color. The solution? Buy training cups, instead. For a wee baby, you can swap in traditional nipples. However, the training cup comes with a soft spout that most babies are happy with (ours has been doing fine with them since four or five months). They are easy to clean (can't say that for some others), leak less than any bottle we've tried, and are available in four colors (blue, green, orange, and yellow). No Bisphenol-A. The handles are removable (our older son never needed them, anyway), and you can also swap in hard spouts to make a proper sippy cup later on, if you like.

The Black & Decker Ergo Chopper

While baby food in jars has a certain convenience factor, it also has some drawbacks. It's not cheap, especially the nice organic kinds. And with all the unfortunate recalls and contamination issues lately, can you really trust packaged food? Much better to buy locally-grown organic stuff and make your own! So handy to just feed the baby a pureed version of whatever the rest of the family is eating - no fussing around with special meals.

You do not need a giant food processor in order to make your own babyfood. (You don't really need a giant food processor for 99% of all basic kitchen tasks, but that's another post entirely). Black & Decker's Ergo was top-ranked by Consumer Reports and handles both pureeing and chopping well. It's easy to clean, and its three-cup capacity means you can make enough baby food for later (freeze it in ice cube trays and store the cubes inthe freezer til you need it), a batch of hummus, or fresh pesto for a pasta dinner. Yum!

• Happy birthday to dr_memory! 35 looks good on you, and your purple hair, too.


• Happy belated birthday to Surfal333, whose birthday on Friday I forgot because how on earth can you be one already? Stop that right now!


• mockduck! Do I have your mailing address? I have a present for Item.


• Shopping on one's lunch hour? Dangerous.


• Fruit for lunch afterward? Virtuous.


• Citizens of Philadelphia, take heed: it's sidewalk, not sidestand. Let this be a lesson to you! Or I will mow your cheesesteak-eating asses down.

ETA: Got it, mockduck! Package enroute.

Because I keep finding shops like Sashimi Baby.

And then I want to buy things.

I don't need any more THINGS.

But these things? Are mighty cute.

The boots? On sale for $75, from the original $180.