Tuesday, September 28, 2021

Squash Mishmosh Nosh: Hold the Bacon

Shoes: Shoe Carnival

Bag: SHEIN

Dress: Macy's

September Sunset Necklace

Skirt: Tinseltown, Macy's

Bag: Olivia Miller TJ Maxx

Scarf: Zulily

Bangles and ring: Mixit, JCPenney

Sweater: Wild Fable, Target

Shoes: Chaps, Kohl's

Bag: Elly & Ella, Amazon

Shoes: First Love by Penny Loves Kenny, JCPenney

Top: Self Esteem, Macy's

Normally, when I see green, orange, and yellow, I think citrus.  And then, of course, summer.  To be sure, there's an orange (both the color and the fruit) bag and barrette in this ensemble sampling.  But there's an orange sweater too, which shouts pumpkin (it looks red, but it's more of a Crayola red-orange), even if it is cropped and paired with a mini and sandals.  So, it's a real cornucopia of produce-based colors.  

What's a carnivore to do?

Make like Sheryl Crow and soak up the sun, I guess.

And then hightail it to Red Robin.

Friday, September 24, 2021

Wardrobe Woes and Close Call Clothes: Yarns That Pull at the Heartstrings

We all know that clothes tell a story.  And that there are pieces we always hold on to.  So I was intrigued when I found Emily Spivack's Worn Stories during a routine Zulily browse.  From the very first page, I knew that it was no rose-colored, mall-montage reminiscence.  Although, I should have figured that out from its dark pun title and hole-scarred sweater cover.  The garments of the real-life people in Spivack's anthology tell tales of hard-won survival.  There's the man who kept the blood-stained shirt he was wearing when he got shot, the woman who survived the Holocaust and then had a suit made from the last bolt of tweed from her parents' shop, and the woman who couldn't part with the Harvard Medical sweatshirt that an otherwise terse doc gave her to keep warm when her mother was dying.  

These clothes aren't cute or glamorous; some of them are downright ugly.  But I get what's going on here, and it makes me think of the way I still have my brown corduroy coat and how, subconsciously or otherwise, I brought it with me when I got my first COVID shot.  It also makes me think about (albeit more attractive) clothes that marked other challenging times.  Like the polka dot Express skirt I wore on my first day of college when I fainted while reading The Bell Jar.  A female janitor rushed over (I was having breakfast in the student center) to see if I was okay.  I said that I was fine, that sometimes I passed out when I read about blood.  I don't have that skirt anymore, though.  It didn't seem like something I should hold on to.  

Writing is so weird.  When I sat down to blog about this book, I had no idea that that would come out.  But it makes sense.  Because however unpleasant it is to read others' "worn stories," I can't deny that they help me process my own.  

That said, this book also has a sprinkling of lighthearted anecdotes.  Like this one about a guy scoring a pink squirrel sweater:

"When I found this sweater at a junk shop in England, I was drawn to it, not just because I was an outcast kid growing up in Colorado who had squirrels as friends but, more importantly, because the brand was Avocado.  See, in my youth I was a peddler of avocados.  My grandfather was in the produce business in downtown Los Angeles, and in the summers of my younger teenage years, I'd work for him." 89

This storyteller (yeller?) is Dustin Yellin, a "Brooklyn-based artist and the founder of Pioneer Works, Center for Art and Innovation."  Not that I've heard of him, but he sounds cool and, anyway, maybe you have.

That said, may all of your ragged old tees and jeans empower and/or comfort you as much as this motley mix of apparel has empowered and/or comforted the souls in Worn Stories.  Which is to say, when you catch a stranger staring at the Florida-shaped stain on your poncho, laugh and go full Forrest Gump-slash-American Pie and say, "This one time when I was in Tampa . . ."

They'll either listen or they won't.  But either way you'll have a new story.  

And maybe a new stain on your poncho.

Tuesday, September 21, 2021

Crazy Daisies and Sunflower Showers: Summer isn't Getting Any (More) Younger

Hat: Candie's, Kohl's


Top: Rebellious One, Macy's

Shoes: Katy Perry Collection

Shorts: So, Kohl's

Charm bracelet and scrunchie: Zulily; Sunglasses: Party City; Rose bracelet: Francesca's; Mixed bead bracelet: A.C. Moore 

Shoes: Impo, DSW

Bag: XOXO, ROSS

Dress: So, Kohl's

Shoes: Penny Loves Kenny, DSW

Top: Kohl's

Bangle: Boscov's; Charm bracelet, choker, ring, and black bangle: Mixit, JCPenney; Bag: Mix No. 6, Kohl's; Sunglasses: So, Kohl's  

Skirt: LC Lauren Conrad, Kohl's 

Skirt: Marshalls

Bangles: Mixit, JCPenney; Charm bracelet and necklace: Betsey Johnson, Macy's; Bag: Nine West, Marshalls; Sunglasses: Michaels

Top: Marshalls

Daisies and sunflowers are a sweet way of saying that summer's on its way out.  Kind of like a grave blanket made of balloons.  Or TV Land's Younger. 

For seven seasons, Darren Star's comedy about a forty-year-old woman passing for twenty-six to break back into publishing made fighting the beast that is ageism fun.  Yet this summer, editor extraordinaire Liza Miller (Sutton Foster) finally gets her own happy ending.  With all the stress (and sadly, sick twentysomething style) of her ruse behind her, Liza takes on New York with nothing to hide.  If you're a fan (or a super fan who subscribed to the new Paramount streaming service to watch early, unlike yours truly), then you already know if she rode off into the sunset on a motorcycle with hot young tattoo artist Josh (Nico Tortorella) or in a Town Car with suave peer and Empirical Publishing CEO Charles (Peter Hermann). 

Yet it's not Liza's beau, but her boundless optimism, love for books, and light-hearted humor that make her so charming -- and once upon a time, the most likable liar in Gotham.  (As in all good love stories, it's the guy who gets this that gets her.)  Bolstered by lifetime bestie Maggie (Debi Mazar) and coworker Kelsey (Hilary Duff), Liza has always made hustling look easy.  Even back when she was dealing with her prickly, ginormous-necklace-wearing boss Diana (Miriam Shor), high-maintenance authors, and her lack of social media savvy.  Because underneath all the glitz and glam, Younger is about a pioneer bucking the system.  

So here's to staying young and in an eternal summer state of mind.  Not to be confused with an Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.   

That's a story with far different feels.

Sunday, September 19, 2021

Little Boy Blue and a Grown Man Too: Empathy Never Gets Old

Thirty-six-year-old Will.  Twelve-year-old Marcus.  They seem to have nothing in common and meet only because Will joins SPAT (Single Parents Alone Together) to pick up chicks.  But a traumatic event in Marcus's life bonds and changes them forever.  Can a twelve-year-old outcast with a weird mother and an absentee father ever find peace?  And can a grown man who's never had a job or a real relationship find something to fill his life other than cool clothes, music, and TV?  Nick Hornby's About a Boy intends to find out.  Now, I know what you may be thinking.  Tote Trove Lady, didn't you already blog about this when you reviewed Hornby's High Fidelity and Juliet, Naked and also the non-Hornby but hauntingly similar The Wishbones by Tom Perrotta?  Well, yeah.  But the whole arrested development theme is one that's near and dear to my heart.  Furthermore, this book's about more than a manchild; it's also about a boy.  It says so in the title.

When we meet Will, he's disgusted by parenthood.  He hates the way colorful toys litter the once-hip home of his best mate and the way a squalling infant can turn otherwise intelligent people into idiots.  And perhaps, most importantly, he hates the way children chip away at one's individuality and freedom, usurping every ounce of time and energy until even listening to a favorite record becomes an act of sedition.  And so, at thirty-six, he's contentedly childless and single, living off the royalties from his father's smash hit "Santa's Super Sleigh."  Unlike everyone else he knows, he has no complications and feels like he's got the secret to life figured out.  If you're having trouble picturing such a man, then I invite you to envision Hugh Grant, who played Will in the 2002 movie.  You know, charming and hangdog and harmless.  Unlike the real Hugh Grant, i.e., the horndog who got caught with that prostitute. 

That said, here are some of my favorite parts:      

This is a Will thought that's funny and (although I have a job) relatable:

". . . he had reached a stage where he wondered how his friends could juggle life and a job.  Life took up so much time, so how could one work and, say, take a bath on the same day?  He suspected that one or two people he knew were making some pretty unsavory shortcuts." (81)

Then again, Will also thinks this:

"That was the point of fashion, as far as Will was concerned; it meant that you were with the cool and the powerful, and against the alienated and the weak, just where Will wanted to be, and he'd successfully avoided being bullied by bullying furiously and enthusiastically." (141)  

It seems that Will isn't so harmless after all.  As an ex-bully and emotional drifter, not to mention a clotheshorse for all the wrong reasons, he's unequivocally part of the problem.  That's why he needs to learn from Marcus, a boy bullied so mercilessly that he gets a crush on his older protector, Ellie.  It's Ellie who introduces Marcus to Nirvana; she wears a Kurt Cobain sweatshirt every day.  (Did I mention that this book takes place in 1993 and 1994?).  At first, Will finds any correlation between Cobain and Marcus odd (he too is a Nirvana fan) but later realizes that it makes a strange sort of sense.  When Cobain's suicide spurs Ellie and Marcus on an ill-advised adventure, Will makes this observation:

"It was hard to imagine two less kindred spirits than Marcus and Kurt Cobain, and yet they had both managed to pull off the same trick: Marcus forced unlikely connections in cars and police stations and Kurt Cobain did the same thing on international television." (287)

Marcus and Cobain make people feel, even people who don't know them -- or themselves.  And that's just what Will needs in his life.  Just as Marcus needs Will's confidence, however misguided. 

So, what happens to Will at the end of this heart-warming if offbeat and sometimes sad story?  For once I'm not going to tell you.  I'll just say that About a Boy isn't about having a kid or being a kid or even growing up, but learning to look at things differently.

While still making time for clothes and TV and, of course, communing with Kurt.

Friday, September 17, 2021

Blossoms and Berries: Me In-side

Bag: Mix No. 6, DSW

Headband: Candie's, Kohl's; Ring: Mixit, JCPenney; Sunglasses: Wild Fable, Target

Dress: Lily Rose, Kohl's

Shoes: Chase & Chloe, Zulily; Socks: Zulily

Ornate Ovals Necklace

Shoes: Betsey Johnson, DSW

Barrettes: SHEIN, Sunglasses: Amazon, Ring: Making Waves, Ocean City; Bangles top to bottom: XOXO, ROSS; Target; B Fabulous; Amrita Singh, Zulily

Crop and skirt set: Almost Famous, Kohl's


Bag: Old Navy

Sundress: Xhilaration, Target

For months, I saw SHEIN listings pop up in my Pinterest feed without knowing what SHEIN even was.  Then Samantha over at The Big Hair Diaries posted some super cute clothes she got from the site, and I was like, okay, I'm listening.  By the time my sister ordered a bunch of costume jewelry from the very same and was singing its praises, I knew I couldn't wait any longer.  I had to check it out.  

So onto the Internet I went, and there. was. so. much. stuff!  The sheer volume of barrettes, bags, bangles, etc. (because, yes, as always, accessories were my prime destination) was nearly sensory overload.  But I gritted my teeth and dug my heels in and told myself, you will persevere.  And I did and scored this stuff:


Everything was incredibly affordable; the whole haul totaled just over fifty dollars, which was enough to qualify for free shipping.  Plus, Rakuten gave me five percent cashback, which, as always, was an excellent bonus.  I'm so happy with everything, especially the cherry and strawberry heart barrettes I'm wearing with the second outfit.  SHEIN is such a fun place to shop!  It reminds me of a store on the boardwalk, or a flea market stall with the kinds of funky finds that I always imagined but never found.  I'll definitely be back.  Thanks for the tip, Samantha!    

And now, on to the handmade portion of our program.  I really surprised myself with this Red Confection Affection Necklace:


I've had these puffy fabric "hard" candies for ages; I used to use them to make barrettes.  But then the other night, I thought, what if I used one in a necklace?!  I wasn't sure if the jump rings would support it on the chain, but lo and behold, it worked!  I'm so psyched about how this necklace turned out that I may make some others.

And then buy more barrettes to match. :)

Tuesday, September 14, 2021

Performance Art Heart: Diffi-Cult Following


If it's weird for me to blog about a show that satirizes crafting on my blog that's mostly about crafting, then if nothing else, at least I'm consistent.  Over the years, I've posted about the Portlandia Etsy spoof, the Whitney Cummings Etsy dig, and my own unwitting star spot on handmade goods roast site Regretsy.  Which is my way of saying that I like laughing at myself and at people who laugh at themselves (and, okay, other people) too.

Enter Difficult People.  This Amy Poehler-produced Hulu original comedy (2015-2017) follows best friend comedians Billy Epstein (Billy Eichner) and Julie Kessler (Julie Klausner) as they snarkily stumble through their mid-thirties and auditions in New York City.  Both are Jewish; only Billy is gay.  It's like a mashup of Seinfeld, Will and Grace, and Curb Your Enthusiasm -- only meaner.  Indeed, in one episode, Billy and Julie describe themselves as a "homelier Will and Grace."  They're the kind of comedians who sacrifice everything (Billy's apartment is a shoebox that he Airbnbs to make extra cash) to claw their way into casting calls even though they -- and we -- know they'll never make it.  Not that that really matters, their dreams -- and the show -- being about the journey.       


Billy's day job is waiting tables at a quirky café; Julie's is writing reality show episode recaps.  During court-appointed community service for stealing flowers from an Alice in Wonderland memorial, Julie teaches recap writing to inmates and imparts this pearl: "Show recaps aren't about the show.  They're about you."  I like this, probably because it so closely parallels one of my favorite personal aphorisms: TV is always there for you, but you don't have to be there for (the people inside the) TV.  Romance-wise, Billy is always looking for love -- or at least his next hookup -- and Julie has a live-in boyfriend, the servile and long-suffering Arthur (James Urbaniak), who wears a bowtie and works for PBS.  Impervious to Julie's ingratitude (Where's dinner?!), affable Artie's only crime isn't even his but Urbaniak's, as he played the foot fetish shoe salesman who gave Charlotte a free pair of designer sandals on Sex and the City.  But then again, it's hard to blame Julie for haranguing Artie too much considering her monster mother, Marilyn (Andrea Martin).  Despite being a psychologist, this pint-sized narcissist manipulates Julie into doing her bidding, all while criticizing her appearance, boyfriend, and aspirations.  Of course, Marilyn also gives Julie money.  Because PBS and Real Housewives rants don't pay the bills.  

One of the things that bonds Julie and Billy -- other than their hard-bitten humor and hatred of all and sundry -- is their constant need for attention.  In one episode, Billy is all set to send former Monkee Micky Dolenz packing when the allegedly ailing entertainer begs him to produce his one-man show.  But then Dolenz goes on about how much he admires Billy, and Billy caves: "I have no problem walking away from a dying man, but not a dying fan."  Because that's the thing about this duo (Billy and Julie, not Billy and Micky).  Despite their prickly, don't-mess-with-me personas, their eager-to-please, theater kid self absorption makes them easy prey for any con man with a kind word.


Nevertheless, at one point, Julie becomes so discouraged by the comedy rat race that she chucks it all to open a shop on Etsy.  Even though she refers to Etsy as a cult. (Yes, finally, the promised crafting connection!)  Her craft?  Wish bags for Midwesterners.  Don't ask me what a wish bag is, because I don't know, and neither does Julie.  But they sell like hotcakes, and Julie discovers that she prefers spending her days surrounded by things instead of people.

Same, Julie, same.

Still, I don't think I need to tell you that this life hack turns out to be as ironclad as those wish bags.  Bitter or not, Julie's got to get back up on that stage.  Because only trouble is interesting, and the show -- or in this case, showbiz -- must go on.

With witty one-liners, a galaxy of guest stars (Tina Fey!  John Mulaney!  Amy Sedaris!), and the kind of misanthropic humor that can thrive only on a sitcom full of eccentric, dysfunctional, and codependent heart, Difficult People is easy to love.