I got to hang with the cool kids

Yes, I am a week late in posting this. To recap: last Friday, after trekking around NYC for two days for work-related meetings/site visits (10 event sites in 2 days -– it can be done, if you have the right footwear, and plan a path that bypasses the NY Fashion Week venues), I met up with some fabulous bloggers:

(l. to r.) Naomi of Design Manifest; moi; Leigh of Marvelous Kiddo with cutie-pie W; get-together instigator Raina of If The Lampshade Fits; and Alicia of Alicia B. Designs. Also in our party but traveling incognito was Alexis of The Studioist. This photo and numerous others patiently taken by the dapper and gracious Nick of Cupboards).

Now I’m the last person who will intentionally meet up with complete strangers for the night, but herein lies the difference: I felt like I already knew these ladies. I’ve been reading Raina and Alicia’s blogs for 3 and 2 years, respectively, and when the meet-up lineup was announced, I happily perused the archives of the other blogs so I could get a sense of the assembled company.

It was a great meet-up! I asked my contact at the Hudson Hotel to assist with making us a reservation in their Library Bar and we enjoyed prime seating in front of the fireplace on a cushy leather sofa and less-cushy ghost chairs.The music was a little too loud but we all managed to chat for a few hours about blogging, design, crazy commenters, our respective hometowns, Alicia’s recent move and engagement, Naomi’s new apartment in Philly, what makes a good dinner party menu, etc. etc. like a bunch of old pals.

 
Raina and I at the end of the night – a little giddy, a little exhausted (according to my camera this was taken at 2:38 am!), and apparently both fans of large necklaces. Another photo by Nick.

I have on past occasions waxed poetic about the value of all you readers, lurkers, commenters, followers and the online community we have built for ourselves, but there is something satisfying about actually meeting people you’ve “known” online and having it really click. When I tried to explain the nature of this meet-up to some friends and co-workers, their non-bloggy brains could not process it. “Wait, you’re meeting people you haven’t met yet? But you know them? But you haven’t met them?” I finally had to describe it as akin to meeting a bunch of pen pals.

Thanks again ladies (and Nick) for a great night and I hope we can do it again!

Uggs 0, Michael Kors 1

So, the UGGs were a bust. They arrived yesterday and they were as un-UGGly as the photo but not very comfortable. I returned them to the store, where these Michael Kors babies called my name:

Much better fit, and more my style. The best part? Between the sale price and a coupon, I got them for one-third the price of the UGGs. Sometimes it pays to go to the store vs shopping online…

So my toes will be toasty and well-dressed while I trek around NYC tomorrow and Friday. Whoo hoo!

A not-ugly UGG

Generally, I am not a fan of UGGs (or the ubiquitous knockoffs, pseudos and wannabes). I think it is because I have big feet and the standard UGG silhouette makes all feet look bigger than they are, like you are wearing cast. Or a cement boot. Or a tree trunk. The winter version of a Croc. But the weather has been so atrocious, with more on the way, and my vanity is getting the better of me. I really, really, really want to wear some of my stylish leather boots, and Mother Nature is not cooperating. I am sick of wearing my LL Bean let’s-go-hike-the-tundra snow boots. I want to wear things like my high-heeled, cognac leather, un-insulated, you’ll-break-your-neck-on-the-ice boots. Function vs. Form. Sarah Palin vs. Sarah Jessica Parker.

I think I have found the answer in these:

 

Yes they are UGGs but they are not ugly. Note the slim vamp and wedge heel. Note how they look more like a boot and less like a Smurf’s foot. I think they may be the answer to my warmth-vs-fashion prayers, and none too soon, as I will be headed to NYC this week for biz, and there will be lots-o-snow there. Also there? A bloggy meet-up instigated by The Queen of Boho-Contempo Snarkaliciousness’ trip east for decor/fashion-related biz , as well as a few other fantabulous NYC-area design bloggers. I can’t wait to meet them IRL!

I want to go There

Somewhere tropical. Anywhere tropical. Note the lounge chairs in the infinity pool. This way Ewan McGregor the waiter can cool his feet while he delivers my frozen daiquiri.


It snowed again today. About an inch an hour, on top of the gazillion inches we already have from the nine storms (including one blizzard) we’ve had since Boxing Day. The snow banks are so high at the street corners that you have to eek out into the intersection and pray you are not hit by oncoming traffic. And tomorrow will be a mix of icy rain and snow, to put a nice crunchy coating on top of everything. The BF is a HS music teacher and hasn’t had a week without at least one snow day since December 13 (lucky stiff, I still have to trudge to work most “snow days”).

Despite my complaining I really do love the seasons, including winter. The black trees against the white snow. The woodsy aroma of fireplace smoke in the crisp cold. The prospects of sledding, ice skating, skiing (haven’t been in years), snowshoeing (never been, would like to try it). The smell of snow in the air is palatable when the forecast calls for only an inch or two. But the pristine whiteness immediately after it falls is too quickly marred by brown road salt and debris, chunks of dirty ice and a slushy gray haze like a muddy skirt hem. New snow is beautiful. Old snow is sad and depressing, and sticks around way too long. Longer if you have as much of it as we do…

Please little groundhog, please don't see your shadow tomorrow…