Legally Speaking

My distaste for impostors is no secret. And while I have no specific affinity for British jewelery duo Tatty Devine (I'm not much for ironic accessories and prefer a statement enamel bauble), I can sympathize (and scour along with them) over low market, mass mall producers of plastic paraphernalia, Claire's.

The Telegraph reports on the double take recently discovered on the shelves of the fashion fraud. What do you think, imitation or inspiration?

photo credit Telegraph.co.uk

Over Eating

When I go out to dinner and my husband suggests sharing an appetizer, I always scoff at him and insist that we each order our own. The same thing happens when the dessert menu arrives. Inevitably, we return from dinner, and I sit on the couch, miserable, complaining, and wishing never to see food again (until of course the next morning arrives and all memories of the distended midsection vanish). This is very much the scenario I find myself in this season when it comes to shopping.

I love my cobalt blue pants from December. But recently, you can't turn a corner without seeing similar fitted pants in all colors of the rainbow, or an Easter egg hunt. After the blue pair in December, I was infatuated. I then went on to buy a pair in red. And lavender. And then why not yellow for spring? And grass green. I was putting away laundry the other night after 12 hours of work when I saw all the colorful pants folded neatly in their section of the closet. It looked more like a stack of candy than office-appropriate attire, and I realized I had gone too far. I looked for receipts, but of course in perpetual my eagerness to clean up they had all been throw away. So I am saddled with 6 pairs of pants that go with very little, and can only be worn once a month without looking ridiculous in a conservative environment. Unless I get a new job working at Dylan's Candy Bar I am out of luck.

Duty Calls

All cliches exist for a reason, they are born from fact and then live on in daily instances of their conception. This week, after a particularly brutal succession of events at work, I found myself wearing an apron, beating eggs, and crying over the bowl of botched brownie mix when a white got mixed into the yolks. Quite the picture of a successful working mother.

But after a 13 hour work day (the extra 4 due to a volunteer position coaching mock trial I assumed from some sort of masochism complex no doubt), learning that I had been assigned brownies for the bake sale at daycare (I thought these events began in preschool?), was told I'm responsible for getting 1200 (instead of the usual 450) formal invitations in the mail for an upcoming work event, and then saw the stain of egg yolk on my DVF skirt I had failed to cover completely with said apron, I had reached my limit. The pink laundry resulting from my failure to separate my new red J Brand pants was icing on the proverbial cake. So out came the tears, down ran the Clinique black honey eyeliner, and into the sink fell the fumbled batter. Instead, I went out and spent $20 on store-bought cookies for Tucker's bake sale, as I couldn't face showing up empty handed on top of all my other motherhood failures in a 24 hour period. I would love to be an effortless homemaker, who works, cleans, bakes, and comes home from work cheery and ready to chase the crawling baby from coffee table to china cabinet. Maybe next year!

Dress Code

A new job means more than a new commute in the morning and the necessity of learning how to bill hours for the first time (as the DA's office is not in it for the dollars after all). It opens a new closet door, and the daunting task of getting dressed for the first day of work! This is my hubby, and not myself, who finds himself in the above situation. But the excitement of going from a rather formal environment, to one where a suit only hangs on the back of the office door for client meetings is still exciting.

This weekend, before a celebratory dinner at Bryant and Copper (another artifact of living in the suburbs, as before, such occasions were fancied with meals at Smith and Wollensky across the street from my first apartment), we hit the stores. New dark jeans (only to be worn on Fridays, regardless of how more frequently the partners chose to do so), Brooks Brothers sweaters an an outrageous 60% off, Ralph Lauren polos similarly reduced, and of course a few new spring tops for baby and mom. (The most expense part of the evening was the nanny, another one of those pesky adulthood triats).

I envy the hubby's new found ability to wear denim to work (this is still the only job I haven't been able to don denim at, and everyday it gets in my way. What looks better than a navy blazer, silk J.Crew top, midnight rinse Sevens and brown Stuart Weitzman boots? Nothing.)

Link Fest

It seems February has taken winter and hid it someplace under the damp mud and temperate air, where it can't be found. The retailers have hopped on the bandwagon for the missing season and announced some sales to help shake any lingering winter blues.

Enjoy 50% off many new, brightly colored spring things at Loft today (like this navy and white dress I couldn't resist), an extra 40% off sale at Ann (I got this citrus sweater for under $20!), 20% off everything at Macys with code 'RED' (can you say 3 pairs of shoes for $200, including these flats to lighten up a pair of black pants?), some new additions to the already exciting J.Crew sale, and much more I have yet to scope out.

A little pre-weekend shopping always boosts the spirits (especially after a week where 1. my favorite black shoes broke as soon as I stepped into the office, 2. baby started antibiotics, 3. reply-all email mishap claims another victim, and 4. much anticipated trip to AC for friends birthday must be cancelled due to inability to find appropriate person to watch aforementioned baby).