I heart you

Yup, that's exactly what you think it is. Happy Valentines Day.

By the talented Thomas Cheng

New bird on the block No. 25

Two of my favorite things: birds and purses! Swoony swoon swoon. This would look great with the new LBD I bought for Meg & Mo's wedding. Or gray wool pants and a black sweater. Or a tan linen dress in summer. Or jeans. Etc., etc. Swoony.

Love Bird Clutch by Noah, available here.

Alas poor Martha, we thought we knew ye

Sequined purple satin shoes sound like something that our current First Lady Mrs. O would wear, but apparently these beauties (which once also had gold buckles) adorned the feet of none other than the first First Lady, Martha Washington, on her wedding day to George.

The dumpy, frumpy image we have of her is based on a few portraits painted after her death. Through the magic of computerized age-regression -- and a better look at the life of a woman whose story was overshadowed by the legacy of her famous husband -- it turns out she was a head-turner, a smart business woman, a reader of gothic romances and a stylish dresser. Read more in this great article from the Washington Post.

Now I ain't sayin' she a gold digger

Research firm Prince & Associates Inc. carried out a survey of 191 men and women with a net worth of at least $20 million. More than 80 percent of the men said they planned to give lower “allowances” to their mistresses, and almost as many would offer fewer gifts.

In tough economic times, the incentive to become a kept lover may increase. After all, other ways of making easy money are looking less certain by the day.

“I foresee a growing desire on the part of many people -- male and female -- to be kept,” Prince said in an e-mailed response to questions (by Bloomberg.com, not by me). “A bad economy like the one we’re experiencing will only make the good life ever more attractive.”

More ridiculousness here.

Bath & Body Works has it in for me

Every time I find a scent I love at Bath & Body Works, they go and discontinue it. Every time. First it was Honey Almond - wonderful, not too food-y smelling. Then it was Fresh Ginger Lime, which was really refreshing in summer. Then it was Rice Flower & Shea, which was light and smelled great layered with almost any perfume, and now it's Brown Sugar & Fig.

I asked two different sales associates why they discontinued certain flavors and not others and got two different answers: 1) "They didn't sell well enough" (understandable. Hard to believe because they are delicious scents, but whatever) and 2) "We discontinue some to encourage you to buy others".

Huh?

You are discontinuing (yet again) a product that made me like you in the first place so you can force me to try something you think I should like better? I trudge all the way to the mall specifically to buy this specific product (okay, and maybe some shoes, and Sephora is just across the way, but I digress) and you think taking it away is going to make me more loyal? The basic principle of the law of supply and demand is that there is some supply to begin with.

Thank goodness for the "fond farewell" section of the BBW website, even if you have to dig on their site to get to it.