Making something usable again

After my divorce, I put my wedding ring in my jewelry box and left it there. Every once in awhile, I'd run across it when looking for a pair of earrings or something to accessorize my outfit, but for the most part I forgot about it. After L. and I got engaged, I thought about my old wedding ring and thought of what a shame it was to just have it sitting in that box with absolutely no current purpose. I knew that the stones were very good quality, because C.'s uncle was a jeweler and had saved them for something special, which happened to be C.'s and my engagement. Even though I didn't clean the ring as often as I should have, the stones were always very sparkly and I always got compliments on the ring. It was perfect for me in that relationship, in that time, and in that place. But after the divorce, that was no longer true.

So, I decided to have the stones reset in another piece of jewelry. I commissioned our friend, A., to make a pendant with the stones, and he just finished it and dropped it off a little bit ago. I'm absolutely stunned. The piece is beautiful, and it is now something that I will wear and love again. In the end, C. may have been a big knucklehead, but at least he knew enough to put good stones in that ring. It's weird how some things that had a certain meaning a few years ago no longer mean the same thing, but it's good that I was able to do something with that gift and make it something that is applicable to my life now. I remarked that the pendant is too beautiful and nice to wear on a daily basis, but A. quickly disagreed and said that I should wear it often. Why keep it hidden away for only special occasions? And in a way, he's right. I mean, I'll still wear my regular ol' fun necklaces and such from time to time, but I can throw this new one into the mix.

And, I have to say that A.'s work is amazing. I've known him for years since he became friends with my cousin in college. He worked with L. to design my engagement ring, and I couldn't be happier with that either. I now have a real go-to person for my jewelry needs and wishes. There is something really neat about having a piece designed just for you. The elements of the design are found in other pieces, of course, but I was able to take ideas from different things and pull them together in one thing that I really wanted. That is very cool.

My favorite stores

Because of the holidays, I've been doing a lot of online shopping. I've also gotten a few things for myself along the way, both for practical items and some splurges. So far, I absolutely love, love, love the following stores. They have the best selection, prices, and great customer service.

Zappos.com
If you want shoes, Zappos is your store. They have incredible selection and prices. Even with regular shipping, I always receive my shoes within a few days and sometimes they even up the shipping to overnight (for free) so that I receive them the next day. They also have free returns. One time, the price of a pair of shoes kept changing when I added it to my shopping basket, so I called their customer service line (about 1:00 AM). It was answered by an actual person, and they honored the sale price, even though it turned out that their web site was wrong. They also overnighted the shoes that time so that they came right away. I can't say enough good things about Zappos.

SkinStore.com
I have very finicky skin, so I'm always looking for good products to help soothe my face and get rid of breakouts. Skin Store has a comprehensive selection, great prices, and their site is great at helping you find things targeted to your needs. I always receive things quickly from them, too, and they always send good samples. I just ordered a new line called Atopalm and so far I'm really happy with the results.

Sephora.com
I love the online store, and the physical stores. They carry so many brands and some really great exclusive items. I love that you get free samples with every order. I've actually gotten samples of a few things that I went back and ordered at a later time. Sephora is definitely a one-stop beauty shop.

Amazon.com
I have always loved Amazon for books, music, and movies. Their prices are always amazing, and they have just about everything and anything I've ever searched for.

Overstock.com
I love this site because it has so many things in one place. Again, the selection is great, the prices are unbeatable, and the shipping is cheap, cheap, cheap.

Tiffany & Co

I was at lunch with a friend the other day, and I was admiring her wedding ring. She has a beautiful ring from Tiffany's Legacy Collection. It's so pretty, and has a lot of sparkle. I love princess and cushion cut diamonds, because they seem more antique and traditional than a lot of settings that I see popular today. So, yesterday this friend brought in an advertisement from her Vogue magazine with a new style from Tiffany - the Tiffany Novo.

Originally, I was quite intrigued. It looks quite lovely in the ad, and it's sort of a cross between a brilliant cut and a cushion cut. I was looking for it on Tiffany's Web site, but they don't have it on the English version of the site for some reason. So I ended up finding it on the Japanese version of their site. After looking at the different angles, I have to say that I'm not that impressed. The center diamond and the surrounding diamonds on the band are lovely, but the prongs and ring itself seem much heavier than the other rings they carry. It doesn't really lend itself to the fluid design of some of their other rings, such as the totally simple but fabulous Lucida (a square cut) or even the more common, but pretty, round cut brilliant with bead-set diamond band. Of course, unless you try one on, it's really hard to tell whether you'll like the ring. It all depends on your hand size, finger size, etc. I've tried on some really dainty rings and they look horrible b/c I have big hands and long fingers. And there are some cuts that are just awful. Like, I hate baguettes, marquise, heart, and pear-shaped diamonds. Shudder.

I tell ya. My absolute dream ring is their round cut brilliant with a melee diamond border. I about died when I saw the price though. Starts at $16,600. Somehow, it seems very wrong for a piece of jewelry, albeit one of the most important pieces of jewelry you'll ever own, to cost as much as a car. Even the Legacy one I pointed to is pretty pricey for the engagement ring alone - starting at about $4000. I mean, at least the Lucida and round cut ones I pointed to are between $1900-2500 for the engagement ring. And then you get the wedding band, and that's probably around $1500-2000. That's still a lot of money, but then again you do wear it for the rest of your life and it is an important symbol.

I dunno. I love Tiffany, but it's hard sometimes when you can find something beautiful in another store for a lot less. I guess the thing that I keep coming back to is that Tiffany is a company that has been around a long time and I think is pretty ethical. Originally, I started thinking about all of this after seeing the movie Blood Diamond (with Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Connelly). A lot of these issues never even occurred to me before watching that movie, so after some research on jewelry companies and the diamond industry in general, I found that Tiffany is a very responsible and respectable company. I really respect their goals to be socially and environmentally responsible, such as by being a member of the World Diamond Council to stop importing conflict diamonds to focusing on the detriments of mining for precious metals in environmentally delicate areas. So, there is a lot to say for supporting companies that do the right thing. Although, according to my cousin (who is currently studying to get her gemology certification), most all companies are good about tracking conflict diamonds now. So, that's not as much of a concern these days.

All of this makes me think about my wedding ring. Since the divorce, it sits in my jewelry box, looking up and me and wondering what I'm going to do with it. I've thought a lot about having it remade into something else, since the diamonds in it are very beautiful and good quality. And honestly, I'd never get a good return on it in the marketplace if I were to try and sell it. Plus, I'll never actually know if it was a conflict diamond or not, so it's not like you can turn back the hands of time. It's a shame, and I really should do something with it. But for right now, I'll just continue wearing the sterling silver Tiffany 1837 ring that I bought myself after the divorce.

Shoe woes

As many a friend has pointed out, I have a wonderful collection of shoes. Tonight, L. and I went through every pair and I got rid of a few that I just never wear or that have inflicted their last blister on my poor feet. (And yes, I have a fabulous boyfriend to sit with me while I go through my shoe collection, no matter how boring it is to him - God bless that man!). However, there are a few pairs that I continue to keep and even wear, despite the fact that they end up killing my feet by the end of the day. Dumb, I know, but there is just something about heels that can make one's attitude quite spicy.

In any case, I always wondered how stars, such as Sarah Jessica Parker, could constantly wear such strappy heels and not want to cut their feet off at the end of the day. I was happy to see the comment in this picture gallery that even she admits that the Manolo Blahnik and Jimmy Choo shoes have wreaked havok on her feet. So, it's not just me! Thank God.

I can say that I've been a big fan of the recent trend in flat shoes, even though I still go gaga over the heels in the shoe store. But, now that I intersperse flats and heels, things seem to be getting a little bit better. I just hope that designers continue to make cute flats for those of us who have done such damage to our feet by wearing adorable heels.

Dear Coach,

Why must you tempt me so, with your adorable new offerings for spring?

http://www.coach.com/aspx/content/product.aspx?product_no=1448&category_id=73
http://www.coach.com/aspx/content/product.aspx?product_no=8063&category_id=68
http://www.coach.com/aspx/content/product.aspx?product_no=1004&category_id=68

New Victoria's Secret catalog

I got the Victoria's Secret "Lookbook" in the mail today. That, of itself, is not weird b/c I order enough stuff from there that they think I need several catalogs a week, despite the fact that most of the time there isn't a whole lot of new merchandise to push. I suppose lingere design is a lot like most fashion design - rotating ideas around to make them look new.

Anyway, I'm quite used to the regular models that they use in their catalogs, so imagine my surprise when the entire first 3/4 of the catalog was completely unfamiliar faces. I have no idea who these new girls are or where they came from. And to be honest, they really don't stand up to the regular girls in the least. For a minute, I thought I was looking at a catalog from another company or something until I got to the last several pages and saw the familiar faces from their other catalogs.

While I realize that my body looks absolutely nothing like Gisele or Adriana in anything I order from VS, there is a part of me that likes to at least look the part of what they are modeling - that's the whole fun thing about lingere. So, I have to say that the new models are sure not doing their job when it comes to me - nothing remotely interested me about what they were advertising. I'm not sure if other women feel the same way, but I'd be willing to guess that I wasn't the only person who was somewhat surprised by the latest offerings...

Furniture update

I think I must have really pissed of fthe furniture gods or I'm the subject of some kind of cosmic joke. I was supposed to have my custom chair delivered this morning between 8-10 AM. I get a call about 9:00 AM from the delivery guy telling me that the warehouse changed the locks and he doesn't have a key to get in and get my chair. He'd been calling the warehouse for a couple of hours trying to rescue my poor chair (among other people's furniture), but to no avail. So, it seems that he will try to deliver it on Thursday afternoon when my other furniture is scheduled for delivery. I should be receiving my bar stools, TV stand, media cabinets, and bookcases from the other place on that day as well. I'm not holding my breath about the bookcases. After seeing the impossibility of getting the custom couch in the other day, I'm thinking that it will take no less than a miracle to get the bookcases in because they are huge. But, I suppose stranger things have happened - Britney Spears having procreated or president shrub being elected, for example.

I found another couch last weekend, and ordered it. According to the store, it should arrive in 2-3 weeks. Based on my experience so far, I'm going to wager that it will be more like 4-8 weeks, but as long as I can get my chair on Thursday, I don't really care. It would just be nice to have some piece of furniture that I can curl up in when I get home from work every day...

No couch

Didn't fit up the last flight of stairs due to a railing issue. Plan B: look for a new couch that is smaller than 38"Hx90"Wx39"D.

Furniture woes

As I wrote about in an earlier post, I ordered a bunch of furniture for my condo. I spent roughly around $8500 on everything, which is pretty good for an entirely new set of bedroom, living room, and den furniture (side note: I just have to remind myself of this each month as I'm paying it off over the next 1/2 year).

Anyhow...the custom furniture that I ordered has yet to arrive, even though all of the places that I ordered from had dates that would have had me believe that I would be furnished before Christmas. That is obviously not the case as we're nearing mid January.

About a week ago, I called the place where I ordered my couch. They saw that the couch was completed and was being shipped to them, where they would then ship it to me. I scheduled the delivery for 1/13 and the lady said that they would call on 1/12 to confirm. Do you think I got a phone call today? If you guessed no, you're completely correct. So, I called when I got home and the lady said in a very matter-of-fact voice, "well, you still owe 1/3 of a balance on the couch." So, I responded, "yep, and when I paid the first 2/3, the gal said that the last 1/3 would be charged automatically when the delivery was scheduled." I got a "hmmm" in response to that. So, I ask if that will affect the delivery from happening on 1/13 and she says that she hopes not, but she's not sure. She can't give me any better answer than that. You can be sure that when my couch arrives and I get the little how-did-we-do card, I'll share my opinion about their poor communication skills. First, I paid enough at this place to get a couple of phone calls when the damn couch was ready, and when they figured out that they still had 1/3 of a bill to be paid if it's not just some automatic process that happens at the same time delivery is scheduled. Second, their original estimate of 4-6 weeks was completely incorrect, and really annoying at this point.

After that conversation, I called one of the other places that I ordered the bookcases, media cabinets, chairs, and TV stand from. Everything is still being finished, so it will be delivered to their warehouse on 1/24. I ordered this furniture on Halloween, and was told 7-9 weeks.

Tomorrow, I'm going to call the last place and probably find that a team of highly skilled monks is individually creating and blessing each thread that goes into the chair I ordered, so the original 6-8 week estimate will extend to 68 weeks. That could be a bit of an exaggeration, but who knows at this point?

Can ya tell I'm pissed about the whole situation? Yeah, me neither... ;)

Shopping from a cell phone

I read this article in the New York Times this morning: Those Born to Shop Can Now Use Cellphones. I think you have to login, so if you don't have a NYT account, the basic idea of the article is that more people are getting cell phones that can better render Web sites, allowing people to shop from their cell phones.

If you have the option of shopping online with your computer or your phone, which are you going to pick? I mean, I love my cell phone (the Motorola Razr), but I detest having to do anything Internet-based on it. No cell phone has a large enough screen or good enough touchpad to make me want to use it for shopping online. Half the time, I can hardly make out what the pattern on a Victoria's Secret chemise looks like from my computer monitor, let alone the minuscule screen on my cell phone.

But, I realize that this is new frontier. I went to a presentation awhile back about user interface (UI) design for different-sized UIs. For example, you display menus and information to people on a computer monitor in a completely different way than you do on a cell phone or PDA. It was really interesting to see how you can best use the real estate that you're given. And I admit that it is handy to have the option to go online to do things from a phone, because sometimes that's all you've got and you need to find a person or a movie time. But, I still don't see myself shopping from my phone; maybe I just lack vision...

Custom furniture

Over the last week, I ordered or acquired the following pieces of furniture for my new place:

• Custom bookcases for one wall of my den in distressed black
• Two media cabinets in distressed black
• Three stools with backs in distressed black for my breakfast bar
• A TV stand in distressed black
• A white corner desk hutch
• A white corner cabinet
• A white coffee table with glass top and drawer to display things
• A deep red colored sleeper sofa
• A mossy/sagey green colored cuddle chaise

The white pieces of furniture were from IKEA and were in stock, so Kati and I put them together last week and this weekend. They turned out really nicely and will kind of brighten things up a bit since I'm going with distressed black in the other pieces and with so much color in other areas. The whole look is very Restoration Hardware/Pottery Barn. I'm quite pleased with my color choices. Unfortunately, the distressed black furniture, the sofa, and the chaise are all special orders, so I won't receive those pieces for a month to two months.

I was looking at my bedroom furniture this weekend, and it's just so beautiful. It's a nice set in mohogany and includes a lovely sleigh bed. I dressed the bed up with some fabulous aubergine and dusty rose bedding, and it looks very rich. Then I thought about it, and figured out that I spent a LOT of money on that bed, even considering I got the bed and matress at cost from my step dad. All things considered, the bed and bedding alone probably hit the $2500 range. So, I shall sleep like a princess in my beautiful new home.

I suppose that it's fairly obscene the amount of money that I've spent on furniture over the last two months, but I figure that this is my home and it's mine alone. So, I'm going to make it exactly what I want :)

Dress shopping

Kati and I went shopping today, and I did quite some damage to my bank account. I did, however, find some fabulous things to add to my wardrobe, makeup collection, jewelry box, and so on. I find it quite a blast to shop with such abandon AND be able to afford it all. Gawd, I love my job and my life. It is so great to be young and make enough money to actually have fun. I felt like Julia Roberts in "Pretty Woman", walking around with bags from fabulous stores.

I was desperate to find an adorable dress for the Cirque du Soleil show, "O", for when we go to Vegas in December. Unfortunately, the last few times we went shopping, I didn't find exactly what I was looking for. I found something that would work as a good backup dress last weekend, but it wasn't perfect. Today, I found not one, but three dresses:

• First, I found an adorable little black dress with a V-neck in both back and front, with a nice mesh/lace overlay. It's quite stunning and will be perfect for things where a little black dress is perfect, which is for most things. That's why the little black dress is the standby of every woman's wardrobe.
• Second, I found a beautiful turquoise colored dress, with a halter neck and hankerchief hem. It's quite stunning and it is the dress that I will wear to "O". I even found some lovely peacock feather earrings to go with it. Very Vegas!
• Third, I found what I refer to as my Sarah Jessica Parker/Sex and the City dress. It's a lovely cream color, sleeveless, with a flowy skirt and beautiful sash. White House Black Market refers to it as the Swan Princess Dress (http://www.whiteandblack.com/store/productchoose.asp?PID=300102892). I'm not entirely sure what I will wear this dress for, but I just loved it so much that I even bought a nice set of freshwater pearls to go with it. I imagine that I'll have a Christmas party or wedding to go to at some point where this particular dress will be perfect.

In addition, I got a bunch of fun stuff for Vegas, like a cute corset top and shrug, as well as a ton of other stuff. I just love shopping. I can wait to get into my new condo so that I can go through my wardrobe and throw out some of my older stuff and make room for the new stuff.

Shopping therapy

Kati and I spent the day doing some much-needed shopping therapy. We started at the Bellevue mall, where I finally got the Tiffany's 1837 sterling silver T & Co. ring that I've wanted for a bazillion years but could never bring myself to buy. Of course, there are a bazillion other things at Tiffany's that I would also love, but the ring is something that I can actually afford and considering the amount of times I've visited it, I decided to make it part of my collection. I needed a little bling for my left hand now that my beautiful wedding ring is gone (thanks to my soon-to-be ex husband), and I knew that this ring would be a quite lovely gift to myself.

We then headed up to the new Seattle Premium Outlet mall by Tulalip, and proceded to do some wonderful damage there. I got a few nice new outfits for fall at GAP and Banana Republic. Kati spied a beautiful pair of cream and aubergine tweed pants at Banana Republic for me, and I do believe that they are one of the coolest pieces of clothing that I've ever owned. I'm so excited to wear them and feel fabulous in them :) I got a couple pairs of shoes at the Naturalizer store, so they are both comfortable and stylish, which is always a plus when it comes to fashion.

And, last but not least, I bought 2 fabulous purses at the Coach outlet store. Now, normally I wouldn't spend anywhere near what I spent on those two purses. But one is an oversize black leather bag that is perfect for carrying files, books, etc. for work and something that I will probably use for the rest of my life. That makes it a very nice investment piece, and so I think it justifies the cost. Plus, it was from an outlet store, so I didn't spend as much as I could have spent if I had bought it when it was first for sale. The second purse is a good size lavender suede bag with aubergine accents. Based on my wardrobe, this particular purse will be a staple for years to come.

I know that I shouldn't take so much pleasure in material things, but today was so FUN. There is something really great about having the ability to buy some really great pieces that make you feel like the fabulous person that you are. And, since I'm getting my bonus from work in a couple of weeks, I decided that I should spend a bit of that on some nice treats for myself, since the rest will surely go toward earnest money on a condo or townhome in the near future. And, perhaps the best part was coming home after a day of shopping and not having to justify any of my purchases to anyone. I am a self-made, successful woman and I can afford to do something like this every once in awhile to remind myself that I work hard for a living and I deserve to enjoy myself because I only have this one life to live.

Little black dress

I have two late fall/early winter weddings to go to this year. It's a bit odd, since I think I've only been to two weddings at this time of year in my entire life, and suddenly I have two in the same year. Go figure.

Anyway, the problem that I have is that my lovely summer dress that I wore to numerous occasions (including a wedding and a 25th wedding anniversary party) won't really cut it for this time of year. If I wore it, I'd be likely to freeze my buns off.

I've looked online at all of the wonderful dresses out there, and of course the ones that I like are all several hundred dollars. I happen to be a big fan of Laundry by Shelli Segal dresses, but I really can't afford one right now.

Aside from the cost, I really need to just go to the mall and try some dresses on. I've found that some dresses that look lovely in theory are actually terrible when I put them on. It all has to do with body shape and finding the right style for you - not the stick thin models they use to show off the dresses.

It's times like these when I think men have it easier. Mind you, I love being a woman and being able to dress up all girly, but men have a pretty straight forward choice for weddings, no matter what time of year. Usually, the standard choice is a nice suit or pair of slacks and a nice button up shirt. And you can usually figure out which one of the two to go with depending on the time of day that the wedding is going to be held.

But with dresses, there are so many more to chose from, so many different colors, lengths, fabrics, etc.; and not all of them are suitable for various times of the day. Ugh. My head is spinning, how about yours? Well, it looks like I'm going to need to look for a new little black dress. I had one awhile back, but lost a lot of weight and now need to get something that fits properly. But certainly, the little black dress is the answer to my problem this time around.