Musings on panties as a feminist statement, pricey denim, and shoes as an expression of self….

Why yes, I have been shopping. Why do you ask?

A few weeks ago, Mani and I took off for that indoor mecca that is Scottsdale Fashion Square - where hoity toity Neiman’s exists just a short walk down the fall from the trendy young’uns at Wet Seal and where BCBG and Betsey Johnson don’t seem to mind being neighbours with Build-A-Bear. A little bizarre yes, but whatever.

Part One: The Zone
Subtitle: This is where it all gets a little foggy

Our mission, I thought, was to find clothes for Mani like I did last year (Oh, how I love getting in touch with my inner Stacy and Clinton. I totally missed my calling as a personal shopper). Somehow though, we hadn’t been in Anthropologie (sigh. my heart is always happy there) for more than five seconds before I was in the zone.

You know the zone, right? (The one brought on my lovely clothing combined with red clearance signs and a credit card just waiting to be used. A powerful combo, to be sure)

By the time we made it to the fitting room I think the sales associates had unburdened our arms at least three times. Although neither one of us ended up buying anything, we were on fire (and I discovered that I look dang cute - in a sexy librarian-ish sorta way - in reading glasses something like these. Who knew?). Trying on this one made me realize that I will not be complete if I don’t find a fabulous red dress somewhere. [How is it that I don’t own a fabulous red dress already? Why, it just doesn’t seem right, does it?] And then, I think I want this, and this, and this. I also reluctantly left behind this dress, even though it made me look skinnier than I’ve looked since 1999, because I was determined not to spend any money.

Uh huh. Right.

To be continued…

Thank you Leigh!

Leigh did a little live blogging thing the other day, and one of the slides showed her checking her blogs through iGoogle.com. I was intrigued so I went and checked it out, signed up for Google Reader and never looked back.

Seriously, don’t laugh. This has revolutionized my blog reading experience. Would you believe that up till now I’ve been doing this the old fashioned way, just clicking on individual links in my own blog side bar. In some cases (insert incredulous gasp) even painstakingly typing in the entire URL on my own. Am I lame or what?

I tried Bloglines before, but the flow and layout of it never really worked for me. This Google Reader thing just makes it all so easy. I just added my subscriptions, and now when I log in all the updated blogs are just sitting there and waiting for me, all orderly and well-behaved-like. When I read one it, quite properly, removes itself to the back of the line until it’s got something new to show me. No more obsessive checking and re-checking for updates, no more stalking my favorites waiting for new posts. I just sit back and let them all come to me baby.

I’ve already subscribed to 77 blogs (combo of mommy blogs, photoblogs and birth blogs - summing up my life and interests quite nicely) and now I can keep up with all of them on a daily basis.

I’m in blog bliss right now, I tell you.

PS: It’s almost 1030, and Bella is still awake. You know what is keeping her up tonight? One lone-f’ing-phantom-bastard-buzzing mosquito. Apparently, the goal of its short, pathetic life is to single handedly drive me insane. The damn thing has been surviving my increasingly desperate attempts to squash it into oblivion, and the freaking incessant buzzing has Bella so paranoid that she is lying in bed with her eyes wide open, spasmodically jerking this way and that whenever she hears the thing. I’m beginning to feel a little irrational about the thing myself. Wish me luck.