Saturday, August 04, 2007

Things are gonna change; I can FEEL it

I would like to send a great big thank you out to Nancypearlwannabe, who not only got me hooked on the divinely tasty (and potent... oh my, too potent) Caipirinhas that I am enjoying all by myself this evening, but who also recommended that I look at Old Navy one more time for the jean jacket I've been whining about needing for several weeks now. After a lovely lunch with some out-of-town friends today, I decided to swing by Old Navy (which, incidentally, is one of the very few places that is actually easier to get to with that stretch of 35W now gone, in that the entrance to the strip mall where it's located isn't the source of an influx of freeway traffic anymore). I already looked at Old Navy a few weeks ago and had no luck in the jean jacket search. Even today, I searched the whole damn store, and actually found myself muttering audibly under my breath, "Not a god-damned jean jacket in the place. Why the fuck is there not a god-damned jean jacket here at all?? Why would NPW lead me astray??" I was just about to give in to the long journey to the Albertville Outlet Mall when I spied a peg in that strange center-aisle section of the store bearing a row of denim jackets. And low and behold... success!! It's fitted; it's a reasonably acceptable shade of blue; and best of all... it was only $29.95 and on sale for five dollars off that price. It may have been assembled by child laborers in a Chinese sweatshop, but by damn, with the $25 gift card my mom gave me last Christmas, it was entirely FREE to me. Whoo!


(Note: Good LORD, I really ought to dust that bathroom mirror!)

I was so excited by my finally good fortune that I picked up a cute pair of ballet flats as well. My friend Carrie and I have a sort of love/hate relationship going with sneaker-ballet flats. They are great in theory (cute and reasonably comfortable and all that), but three wears in and you suddenly need to toss them in the freezer to avoid the offensive stench. Does anyone out there not have this problem? Please, tell me it's not just us. Anyway, at $16, I decided to risk that problem and take these home anyway. I was on sort of a shopping high, you see.



You'd think all of my consumer demands would now be met, but alas, I am still without a tie-on kitchen towel to replace the one that bit the dust recently. I finally gave up that search (for now, anyway), and found the solution to that dilemma in the form of a stainless steel over-the-drawer hook at Linens & Things.



It's not ideal (as it wobbles around quite a bit), but it suits the purpose well enough, I guess. Before buying it, though, I asked a sales clerk, "Don't they make kitchen towels with ties for drawer pulls anymore?" The woman looked at me like I'd just stepped out of a time machine and had asked for a sanitary napkin belt. I ask you, aside from the frayed and worn edges, is this towel (which I was using until a few short weeks ago) really so out of date??



I still don't know what the rest of you use to dry your hands in the kitchen, if the tie-on towel is so very passé, but I guess I should let it go already.

All right then. I was going to tell you all about the wacky dream I had last night (which involved John Krasinski flirting with me in my college dorm hall, Robin Williams dancing in a plaid, pleated Catholic school girl's skirt atop a car, and The Magical Boy waiting in my doorway with two sons he does not actually have), but the video and DVD I checked out from the library today are waiting for me, so I'd best retire to my living room for that. Apparently "staying in is the new going out" applies not just to Fridays, but to Saturdays as well. Fine with me, I say.

14 comments:

Poppy said...

Stef, I LOVE the jean jacket and the sneaker-ballet flats!!!

Anonymous said...

Horrifying, being still-young and anachronistic all at the same time! At 27, I've developed a sprinkling of white hairs, and have become distinctly annoyed at the habit teenagers have of wearing their gym clothes to restaurants.... Ha.

As for hand-drying, I screwed a decorative cup hook into the side of the cabinet above and beside my sink, where I hang a towel. When it's good and wet, I hang it over the oven door handle to dry.

Jean jacket looks fab on you. May have to brave ON soon?!

--Shana in Missouri

Whiskeymarie said...

I just loop a regular towel through my oven door handle.
And, I want that jacket. Mine has 3/4 sleeves, and I'd like one with long sleeves. I may copy you. I'm like that.
Cute shoes too.

Stefanie said...

Thanks, Poppy. :-)

Shana--I haven't really noticed the gym clothes thing, but I am annoyed by the trend of girls wearing their pajama pants to school, to restaurants, or to the mall, and I cannot see a guy with his pants hanging around his butt without saying, "Pull your pants up, you idiot." I can't believe that ridiculous look is still here.

WM--I tried that, but my oven door handle is attached too close to the door itself. That or my kitchen towels are too thick. It's like threading a needle getting it through there. And feel free to go get that same jacket. If you can't find it at Old Navy, be sure to check that center aisle section! (The shoes were on the side wall.)

Anonymous said...

Phew! I'm so glad you found one and that I did not, in fact, lead you astray. I would've felt terrible! But hey, it looks great on you, and also: I TOTALLY BOUGHT THE SAME SNEAKERS!

Great minds think alike and all that. :)

I'm going to go make myself a caipirinha to celebrate.

metalia said...

Was that a little Beck I saw there in the post title? :)

Your jacket, by the way, is super cute.

P.S. My word verification code is "zapbag"; I feel like I'm in an old Batman cartoon.

Noelle said...

My dish towels have little loops on them, and I hang them from a hook on the side of my pantry. I've only recently learned about how wonderful the tie-on dis towels were because another friend of mine had the same lament.

I totally want to go shopping now.

L Sass said...

Very cute jacket (and not too boxy) and shoes. I haven't had smelly troubles with my sneaker-flats, but... I haven't really checked either. I probably should! Now I'm self-conscious.

lizgwiz said...

Very cute jacket! Good sleuthing work. I personally can't imagine WEARING a jacket any time soon, since it has suddenly become August with a vengeance here. Gah.

I'm going to start keeping an eye out for a tie-on dish towel. They must still exist somewhere!

Anonymous said...

Cute jacket! Cute shoes!

You make me want to go shopping right this minute.

Stefanie said...

NPW--I didn't really think you would have led me astray. What I was really muttering was why YOUR Old Navy had the jackets and mine didn't. And that's awesome that you bought the same shoes! :-) Yours weren't on sale for half off, were they? (If so, then I will be upset. Nearly every other style hanging on that wall was marked half off, but for some reason, those were not.)

Metalia--It was, indeed, a Beck reference. Also, POW! Zowee!! (Heh.) :-)

Noelle--I'm glad I'm not the only one who didn't realize the tie-on towel was no longer the norm. Seriously, people, I bought that one no more than five years ago; it is not THAT ancient an idea!

L Sass--Yes, I was pleased to find a non-boxy jacket (and one with pockets, too... of the very, VERY few I saw at the mall, they were all either boxy, or were more like blazers than jackets, and/or had no pockets). Also, if you haven't noticed the smell when you take your sneaker-flats off, then you probably don't have the same problem. Clearly my feet are stinkier than yours. :-(

Liz--Yeah, it's been crazy hot here, too, but in the evening it still gets a bit chilly some nights.

Nabbalicious--I hate to be an enabler, but... get thee to an Old Navy. :-)

Paisley said...

If I looked that cute in a jean jacket I would wear it EVERY SINGLE DAY.

:)

Me and Old Navy? Not friends.

The only thing I found there that looked cute was this chocolate courdoroy jacket that beeps every time I go into Target. WTF?

Stefanie said...

Paisley--I had a pair of pants (oddly, also brown corduroy) from the Gap that beeped every time I went into Target! Eventually I realized that there was a theft protection tag still stuck inside the leg. Is it possible those things get re-activated in the wash?? I have no idea, but when I cut it off, the beeping stopped. Maybe examine your jacket again? :-)

Lizzie said...

Oooh, only $16 for those shoes? I bought a pair of similar Keds that, while verrrry cute, were almost twice that price. Boo. I'll have to get myself to Old Navy when it's time for a replacement. (Yes, mine stink.)