Pencil shmencil

After thinking about the perfect white shirt, I decided to switch it up a bit and begin my shopping for the perfect black pencil skirt online.  I wanted to know if it could be accomplished from the comfort of my own home, as “they” say. 

I first went to a major shopping site, thefind.com, which tells at what online store you may locate a particular item.  You can filter it down once you have your first category, which for me was black pencil skirt. 

Of course, I got several thousand results.  On first glance, it looked promising.  Of course I quickly realized that my definition of pencil skirt and some designer’s definition are worlds apart.  What is with going in at the knees? Does anyone really feel like that’s a good look? Okay, maybe the Kardashian sisters but seriously.  I saw right off the bat that about 50% of the skirts could easily be eliminated. 

On to the next criteria.  Price.  There is a filter for price and even though I did say I was not going to buy cheap, I was also probably NOT going to buy the $355 version of the black pencil skirt by Versace.  I entered the filter $9 to $99 and eliminated thousands of options. 

Even though my search was “black pencil skirt” I got hits of all sorts of black…black and white, black and multi, black dot, even grey.  I selected the filter “use color” and chose “black”.  This filter also removed many stores.   I still got some black and white patterns but the results were more what I was seeking, with some patterns thrown in.  I also got vinyl and latex.  Goodness. 

I changed my low number up to $29 as I was getting some super garbage stuff and things for juniors.   Finally, I sorted the list from high to low.  While I prefer looking more on the $29 end than the $99 end, I want to see some quality things as well.  Sometimes there are sales, shipping deals, coupons or online specials that make that $99 skirt more appealing. 

Now it starts getting tricky.  One site posts the same skirt over and over by size.  Another skirt appears on several sites.  But I have gone from 22 pages of results to 5. 

Not surprising the best options appeared at around $80 and at Nordstroms, Black House White Market, Banana Republic and a Calvin Klein skirt at Zappos.  The site that posted the skirt in every size, Bon Ton, has a Chaus skirt at $59 that looks good.  In a little lower end JC Penney popped up with a Worthington version and Kohl’s, a black pinstripe by Dana Buchman at just under $40.  Those are probably both great options if the material is good, the lining is right and the shape will hold.  I’m noticing a lot of “ponte” knit, and I’ll be honest, I have no idea what that is.  I’ll find out though.

I know enough to know that I will have to try on versions of the pencil skirt  to find one best suited for me.  I wish I could just order online and many of you can.  As I plan a big city trip soon, I’ll take these suggestions and brands to shop a bit.  I plan to look white shirt then as well.  Gee, two items.  Oh, I almost forgot,  I will be ordering a skirt from JC Penney that is more of an A-line than pencil.  They offer it in both black and grey.  We’ll see.

On other business, I got my “reconciliation tax bill” last week, as did many of you.  On my list today is to visit the courthouse, because, seriously, they must be joking.

Fall/Winter Shopping Challenge

So everything I read about what should be in your wardrobe includes a basic white shirt.  I have been on this search for about a year now.  I have seen shirts, many of them, but they are never quite right.  I have a short waist, I have a stumpy neck and the basic white shirt is not tailored for my particular build. 

The design is one drawback but there’s the material as well.  I have yet to find material that isn’t so stiff it’s like putting on cardboard or so soft it won’t hold its shape.   In my head, I see the very shirt I need but I have yet to see it for purchase.   That’s my big search this fall/winter…the basic white shirt. 

Another item that appears on the list regularly, no matter the author of the “expert’s advice” is a black pencil skirt.  Well, now, for many of the same reasons above, the black pencil skirt for this round and short body type is elusive.    I am not a pencil. 

I met a lady last week who was wearing a full, swingy, batik printed, silky skirt.  She was much taller than me, not thin and close to my age.  The skirt swished and swayed as she walked.  I commented on how nicely the skirt moved.  She replied that it was one of her favorite things and has had it for years and years.  I said “I understand, looking at your skirt, what they mean by the perfect length…that skirt is the perfect length for you.” She smiled and said “I had it hemmed”.  It hit her exactly at the knee.

I began to think about the skirts in my closet that I sometimes wear.  They are all..even a black skirt I wear often…too long.  Way too long.  I can think of three skirts right now I am going to have hemmed.  It will take inches and inches off the skirts so in some cases I think they actually have to be tailored from the waist in order to preserve the shape of the skirt.  It’s complicated.  But, I realized that items that made it into the donation box as “the wardrobe that didn’t work”  was not always based on color.   I also had lots of things of the wrong length.  It’s not even about shopping in the petite section by the way, in case my tall friends are wondering ~ totally different.

So I have started my list for the Fall Shopping Challenge ~ the soft but structured basic white shirt, the perfect black pencil skirt, which will take some alteration.   (I may have to just scrap the existing items and replace them with items that can be more easily altered, but I really like the material!) That’s already a big order and sounds like a long, long Saturday.

No printed sweatshirts, please.

Last year I posted that I was only going to buy clothes in specific color groups.  I can report that I have stuck very close to that plan.  Of course this was possible only because I bought virtually nothing in the last 12 months but still, I accomplished what I said I would. Go me!

When I say I have bought virtually nothing I guess I mean, nothing controversial.  Nothing too far off center.  Oh, I've been tempted but my answer to temptation in this arena is to just not go shopping. I am too pulled by the sale racks, the new arrivals and the picked overs.  The dregs.  This was my weakness when assembling the wardrobe that didn't work.  The wardrobe that was given over to charity. 

Since I was working from home, my wardrobe didn't matter a whole lot.  I got some great basics and did my work in comfy pants and loose shirts and sweaters.  This was dangerous, folks.  The pants got more comfy and the loose shirts more loosey.  We will not talk about "foundational pieces" as they were non-existent ~ gotta love the tank top.

I then started working at the art center and needed a quick and cheap update to my wardrobe.  Fortunately I did have a few things I hung on to from the donation box but, I was still lacking.  I bought jeans, and then I bought jeans again and again.  I bought a few sweaters; I started working right at season change ~ bonus.  I bought a practical pair of shoes.  I bought in my "palette" with little waivering. 

The problem now is that it has been a year.  I look in the closet and find only those things I have worn to death and not much else. To be honest, I bought things kinda cheap and well, those things don't look great after a year of washing and wearing. What we should all know about cheap material is, well, it looks cheap.  It pills, it shrinks and it wrinkles. Sometimes, though, that's all we can do. 

I am going to be replacing a few items this year with some better quality things.  New jeans, at least three pair, and maybe a pair of black dress pants. Maybe.  New shoes but still practical.  I have already started the quest for new "foundation garments" and will post about those experiences later.  All I can say now is, pack a lunch.

In case you don't know, my palette is grey, red, turquoise and off-white or ivory; I have a ton of black and that's okay.   I did pick up a top last year in rust, and also one in a bright royal blue, which I bought for a specific event.   I do have a brown skirt and some tan dressier pants that are my stand by when I can't find anything else to wear.  I know those pants are going to pull together nicely with a top or two because, well, they have sort of a turqouise pinstripe.   It is nice to be able to pull a couple things out of the mix and put them together which, I gotta say, is much easier if you have shopped from a palette and not a clearance rack!   

I like it!

Alright. You know I really love the Olympics, right? Summer and Winter.  I just really like them a lot.  I like watching a sport I know nothing about and rooting for the players. 

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the things I like that I have no explanation for ~ like the Olympics.  Like, Good n’ Plenty candy.  It’s not even that great but I really like it and I also REALLY like Snaps and,   lets face it, that seriously is not great stuff.

I also like cleaning at night.  Sometimes in my nightgown.  Now this is weird only because I really don’t like cleaning.  I like drinking out of glass, not plastic.  But, I will drink out of plastic if it’s the right kind, which I can’t even begin to describe. 

I use to really like reading but I am not that big of a fan anymore.  I don’t really know why and maybe someday I’ll get back to it.  We’ll see.  It seems to be one of the things that I simply have lost interest in, like cooking has been.  I’ve sort of reconciled with cooking, however, so there is hope for reading.

I’ve been known to say I don’t like cooking but I’ve recently realized I don’t like not knowing what to cook.  I don’t like deciding what to cook.  When I know, I actually do enjoy it somewhat and I’m pretty good as well.  Sometimes you may think you aren’t  any good at something but you get compliments and think “Oh, hm, maybe…” .  That’s how it is with me and cooking.  I should really just say “Why, thank you” and not “Oh, it could have been such and such” or “I should have done so and so”.   That, I acknowledge, is boring.  I don’t wish to be boring.      

Right now I am really into cooking multiple dishes out of one big ol’ portion of some meat or poultry.  I’m obsessed with it.  Buying a roast and thinking of the many dishes I could make out of the roast once it has been prepared for the first meal…the Sunday roast meal.  I have become the queen of the mid-week burrito ~ whether its beef, pork or chicken.  Even beans and rice! I am the queen.   

You may see me at the store  buying a huge pork or beef roast.  Oh my gosh, when that pork is on sale I could squeal. 

I’m lucky to be married to a guy that appreciates a good leftover and a budget. 

A week and a half

So, it’s been a week and a half.  I mean that literally and figuratively.  A bit over a week since hearing of a young woman’s life coming to a tragic end, three young girls injured in body and spirit. 

A week and a half since having a broken heart for a young man I have known since he was an infant.  Of sharing a mother’s heart, and a grandmother’s heart,  with women I adore.  A week and a half since I had an unquenchable thirst to hear my own children’s voices and those of my grandbabies. 

Many of you share this with me and understand.  Let us stay strong, let us stay true and let us stay in support as these amazing little girls show us the way.  Lead us little ladies. 

The T word

I promise I am going to throw out all my current plastic storage containers.  You know what I'm talking about...the T word.  I will, I swear, I will.  I have had a very well stocked cabinet of these containers for years.  You can't help but have them for years.  You get to a point where they start looking very sad.  I am to that point.

Hubs has always taken leftovers for lunch.  It's a great thing but the man does not know the meaning of dump it out on a paper plate to heat it up in the microwave, please, not in the plastic storage container.   He has also never fully grasped the concept of microwaves heat food from the inside out...so, heat it a LITTLE bit and then allow it to heat from the inside.  Stir, check it and maybe heat again.  No.  To him, microwave has always meant two minutes. Doesn't matter what or how much, its two minutes. 

You can imagine what my plastic storage containers look like.  I would like to get new plastic storage containers but I am not sure I can until he retires.   I am trying not to be angry over the condition of my prized plastic storage containers but quite frankly, I am sort of ticked off.  I would like to pull out a container and lid and not have that bubbled, crinkled ring of melted plastic around the inside. 

I have mostly matched lids and containers but every once in a while they get separated.   About a month ago, as I was putting away groceries,  I started to look for the lid for a small yellow pitcher. It's where I keep sunflower seeds for sprinkling onto salads.  I always have it.  ALWAYS.  I could not find it and where in the world could it be? It had sunflower seeds in it last week, in the fridge so why now is it not with the pitcher? I tore through the cabinet of lids and containers, I may have grumbled.  Dang it.  Who did something with my lid?  I asked around the house and my tone may have been slightly accusatory. 

Fine.  Just fine.  I will put the sunflower seeds in this OTHER small pitcher, which is totally wrong for sunflower seeds, but since someone has lost the lid to the yellow pitcher which should be right here, I'll use it.

Here's the problem.  I haven't seen that yellow pitcher with its lid in forever and a day.  The sunflower seeds really go in the smaller clear pitcher with a different yellow lid that is still in the fridge with just a few seeds in it.  They never were in the yellow pitcher...that's too big.    

Ooops. 

The year of the challenge.

Some time ago, I issued a challenge to myself. Decided that I wanted to keep things moving. You know, try new things, go to new places, see more, do more and not say no to so much. Life is for living.



For several years, hubs employer has held a family night at Coveleski Stadium in South Bend. It has been around the fourth of July every year so there are fireworks. Fireworks in South Bend, Indiana are pretty neat and I think back to a night of fireworks when I was in the back seat of my friend’s red Firebird convertible. Fireworks were overhead, it was a spectacularly clear and warm night. I can’t remember why we were in South Bend but I am sure glad I had that experience.


But, back to hubs employer’s family nights at the ball game. These family nights were not all that much fun to me. I know people put a lot of effort and work toward them but I was more than blasé about them. I was bored. Way bored. Somewhere in the last year or so I have recognized that my boring experiences are my fault. Say what? Yes, my fault. Time to get over myself and so the challenge was issued. Along with the do more, see more was the ENJOY more.


I had a great time at the ball game last Friday night. I have no idea who played. South Bend I suppose, but other than that I couldn’t tell you. I ran in to an acquaintance from MY work. She was as surprised to see me as I was her, and we had a fun few minutes of conversation as she went off to her husband’s company area and I went off to mine. Serendipitous.


I spoke at length to a woman I admire greatly for her tenacity and strength in battling, and successfully thus far, cancer. I also talked with her lovely daughter and friendly, smiling husband, discovered we also had some connections. I was entertained by their young child who had his grandparents in the palm of his hand. A feeling I understand all too well. Two years ago, I would not have approached their table. I would have either thought them too busy, too far removed in some way, to be approached. In their own clique. (Seriously, had a problem with it. Am I in middle school?) But, this year, the year of the challenge, I said “Screw it. I’m gonna go see how she’s doing!” That’s right. I said screw it. Spent way more time catching up with her than I would have guessed, enjoyed laughing and remembering some previous events we shared, including some tremendous travel opportunities, and left their sitting area with her saying to me “Thanks for coming over! It’s great seeing you!” I so enjoyed it. But, I have no idea who played or won the ballgame. Ooops.


The year of the challenge. It didn’t start at the first of the year, not at all a resolution,  but more towards my birthday, when, if you recall, I like to take stock. See where I’m at. I like where I’ve been but I really look forward to where I’m going! More to come, more to see, more to try and yes, much more to enjoy.