wiggle your big toe

This morning I was walking my dog, thinking about sneakers. I'm kind of in need of a new pair. Lately I've been wearing my vintage blue Nike's to DEATH, since I haven't another "dress" pair to speak of.

It seems like all sneakers that I come across in my day-to-day shopping life are hopelessly large and chunky, or neutral and blah, or decidedly fugly. I've been wanting a brightly colored pair with a slim profile, which seems to be a tall order for some reason. Then I thought, What about the Uma style from Kill Bill? I know it's cliche, but I still like them. And apparently the craze has not died down yet, because they were sold out in all shapes and sizes at the website I went to. Even the ones that sort of looked like these, but in a sand/grey colorway were sold out. This pair will be in my dreams for a while.

I don't know what it is with me and wrestling shoes/hightops. Maybe it's an eighties thing.

fitter, happier, more productive

I managed to overcome my inertia today and work on some projects I'd been meaning to finish. I haven't posted anything new in my shop in a while, so hopefully this latest batch of goods will be photographed and uploaded this week.

I also worked on a drawing for a coworker. I've pretty much decided that I don't want to do any drawings for anyone for a long time. I'm not very good at executing somebody else's vision, and I don't feel very rewarded by the struggle. Drawing from nothing has always been hard for me. I'm not bad at drawing, I just like to have a reference. And it was difficult enough coming up with my own art in school! I just have more ideas for sewing/craft.

Which brings me to the matter of my supply overload. I have so many supplies I need to work my way through. I have this fear that I will botch a project with some rare fabric or notion that I won't be able to find again. Obviously I need to get over that. There's always something better/newer/more exciting -- I shouldn't worry too much. Maybe we'll be seeing some experimental MischaLee items in the future? I sure hope so.

and ever

I'd seen this print a long while ago in one of my magazines, and thought it was perfectly awesome. I hadn't thought about it in a while, until the other day when I remembered how much I liked it. So I finally just broke down and bought it. Glee!

My method for shopping is mostly to wait it out when I see something I like. And if it's worth having, I will still be thinking about it at a much later date. It saves me a lot of money. I also look at a lot of things and think to myself, "I can make that." Even if I never do, at least I didn't spend!

Despite these handy money-saving tips, it seems I will still never be able to afford a house. I went to look at one with Cary today. It was really cute, but out of our range. I don't think that houses in our price range exist in Richmond. My dream is that one of our landlords will announce that they're tired of taking care of rental properties, and that the rent we have paid will be considered down payment on the apartment we're at. Do you think it'll happen folks??

freshly

I know that we are nearly months (plural) into 2008, but I've just now decided to start over my year, as I have always been a late bloomer anyway (if that's what you can call lack of initiative). So here is my official first blog.

I wanted to begin this almost as a reference for myself in a way, to remember what I've been doing or accomplished, and what inspiration I've run across that my poor short-term memory might cause me to miss out on later. And partly as a good old forum for my own thoughts, just as blogs tend to be.

The first order of business has to do with magazines. For the past few years I've been a connoisseur of periodicals. I like reading books, but I rarely get good recommendations, so most of my recent experiences with books have had to do with embarrassing desperation (i.e. reading James Patterson novels because they are there and I am bored).

So I've been pretty loyal to magazines. What's not to love? New issues are coming out all the time, and they're filled with bite-sized articles to feed my thirst for useless knowledge. And, of course, I like the visual stimulus too. So I've developed some favorites along the way. There are two that I've recently been turned onto though which are driving me crazy -- Lula and Preen.

I started collecting Lula three issues back, and I was trying earlier to get the first two issues. Preen I've only seen once at a Barnes & Noble in Anapolis, but it's kind of like a darker version of the same aesthetic to me. And yes, I used the word "collecting" earlier. I felt weird about doing that before, but the more I read Elle Decoration UK, the more I realize how many people collect magazines. My night stand is a stack of Luckys. It's a bit sick, but at least I'm not doing crack, right?

If anyone knows how to get back issues of Lula, let me know. Or if you have any good book recommendations, I'll take that too. The last good one I read was To Air is Human, ha.