Sunday, February 8, 2009

What Hazel Is Into This Weekend, With Apologies

I'm into bargain hunting, organizing, internet idea mining, re-connecting, and ruminating this weekend. And blogging.

Bargain Hunting:

I don't know if it's because I am more focused on getting a deal since we're in a recession, or if prices have actually fallen, but it seems like there are a lot of really cheap clothes out there right now. I don't mean cheap like "oh joy, these boots normally cost $300 and I got them for $85" cheap. I mean "excuse me, is this a typo, or is this leather jacket really 3 dollars?" cheap. I've been wishing I had some new clothes as I recently purged my closet of everything I haven't worn in a while, which helped me see just how few things I wear. So that means I get to shop, and you get to hear me go on about it. I can't help it, I gotta tell ya!*

I've been doing some in-store shopping and some online. Both have their pros and cons. Shipping costs are possibly the biggest con for online shopping, but if the prices are low enough, the shipping begins not to matter to me. I feel funny sharing the following details with you because I know it's materialistic and crude, but here I go anyway. Yay for blogging! I am really excited because on Friday I spent $65.00, including shipping, at newport-news.com and got 8 items. And I don't mean 8 tanktops. I got 2 skirts appropriate for church, a sweater coat, a long denim coat, a peasant top, a pair of jeans, a long-sleeve tee, and some type of garment that I am not sure what it is but apparently it is whatever you want it to be. I got it almost purely out of curiosity, but also because it was only $7, and seemed like something I might wear. Maybe a picture would help.



If you want the full effect you need to look at another picture of it here and I'm pretty sure this is the same thing but in a different color. It's Norma Kamali which I only say because it might be important for legal or practical reasons. I really couldn't care less who made it, but I'm sure she's a nice lady. According to the description, one can/shall/will "wear it as a long-sleeve top or turn it into a skirt, a halter top or a tube top". Four uses for $7.00!! We'll see what happens. If I only like it as a shirt, it's still a good deal. Not sure if I like the look of the tube-top dress with random sleeves tied around the waste; my wardrobe choices don't normally veer into the Escher-esque, but maybe the arrival of this miracle clothing is when everything will change.

Organizing:

I'm a closet closet organizer and this weekend I figuratively (but not literally) came out of the closet. I won't go on forever about this but I moved the crystal wine glasses from the bar to the hutch and put a bunch of every-day glasses in the bar for guests to use at parties (and broke one in the process). On special occasions like holidays or when we're having people over for dinner and using the good china and silver, we'll get out the crystal. I also organized the office closet, linen closet, and the clothes closet in the dressing room, and took some things out of the coat closet that don't get used, and put them upstairs in my bedroom closet, which is practically empty since we don't use those closets for clothes. I am trying to come up with some way to use those bedroom closets. They are kind of small. What would you do with a closet that you didn't need to use for storage? A hamster colony? I've often seen closets turned into workstations, but I don't want/need a workstation in the bedroom. I'm wondering if it would make sense to make it into a reading nook by putting a large cushioned bench in it with lots of pillows and a lamp, and some interesting wallpaper. I don't know if I would use that, though.

Internet Idea Mining:

I want to sew well enough to do this. I have a lot of boxy tee shirts that I treasure but that I only wear to Texans games or as pajamas. This would solve my problem. I may practice on a non-treasure shirt first. I'm going thrift-store shopping this Saturday and it will be fun finding a tee-shirt that I can re-do.

Re-Connecting:

I finally wrote to Aunt Edna today. By coincidence, and to my dismay (and pleasure), I actually got a letter from her yesterday. When I saw it I let out a yell, the source of which was a mixture of guilt, frustration, and surprise. But I do like her letters.

Ruminating:

There is a viral message going around Facebook that asks you to write "25 random things" about yourself and post it for your FB friends to read. Salon.com had a moderately enjoyable article about it. I wrote up a list (not random; who are we kidding) but I don't plan to post it on Facebook. There is no list of 25 things that is both interesting enough to post yet bland enough not to offend the sensibilities of my most conservative friends/family. But you, dear readers, are a safe crowd, even if you are a new reader who happened upon this page randomly while doing a blog search for "hamster colony", and a blog is designed for just this type of list. So here are 25 not-so-random things about me.

1. I’m left-handed.
2. My ears aren’t pierced.
3. I can think of a lot of inappropriate things to write on this list and they make me laugh so I wish I could share them but it’s a public forum, and forum rhymes with decorum.
4. I have a Ph.D.
5. I dislike jalapenos, sea urchin, orangina, and popcorn, and whole wheat gives me problems.
6. I dislike live music.
7. I have issues.
8. Merging onto freeways frightens me and I go out of my way to avoid it, and to a lesser extent, water, and to a minor degree, fire.
9. I am married and he cooks and drives.
10. I like painting, drawing and crafting. I want to make more time for them.
11. When I see a yard sale, I pressure the driver to slow down so I can scan.
12. I like Eminem, who may have a new album coming out this Spring called Relapse.
13. Anything having to do with interior design fills me with joy.
14. I adopted my cats 8 years ago and wish I hadn’t, but I would never give them up now. And they are pretty great cats.
15. I have never worn green on St. Patrick’s Day, which has mainly been an attempt to get attention. It hasn’t worked very well.
16. There is a lot of peace in my soul these days.
17. I voted for Ross Perot because I was young and naïve and all the cool kids were doing it.
18. I have healthy fingernails.
19. I am grateful to my friends and family for helping me become who I am. This is not a veiled criticism. I’m being positive. I like you guys.
20. I was raised on fresh goats milk.
21. As long as I can remember, I have had recurring dreams about being in a badly malfunctioning elevator in an extremely tall building.
22. Walking into an empty bar or restaurant makes me feel like the world is my oyster.
23. My favorite thing about the beach is the horizon.
24. Celebrity-bashing makes me angry.
25. For the first time in my life, I can honestly say I have a favorite color, but I am not sure what to call it, probably due to the fact that I like several shades of it, and each shade has a different name, and the names can sometimes refer to the wrong color. Please see random fact #7.

*Katz's never closes!

1 comment:

MJB said...

I know what you mean about the Facebook thing. When we saw one our friends announce she was a virgin until marriage, I hit the "too much information" button (even though I already knew that).

I could write one of those lists, but you are right again, its so non-random. But I like your list, so I'll just comment on a few of yours instead.

-I didn't know you were left handed.
-I might have known you didn't have your ears pierced, but I was probably drunk at the time, so I forgot.
-naiveness aside (yes, naiveness is a word), I kinda wish Ross Perot would have won. We need a real 3rd party very badly. (no, I don't know if badly is a word).
-goat's milk, huh?
-As long as I can remember, I have had recurring dreams about running from (or to, perhaps) something in truly vivid, excruciating slow motion.
-there is just something about that empty bar feeling!
-is your favorite color burmet? you should find out how to just name it that, because you're right, its not turquoise.

---

also, since you're an expert bargain hunter, do you know where to find out about garage/yard sales?