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We woke up to the wonderful sound of rain falling softly on the roof and down the gutters, the morning light grey and dim. It made us hit the snooze button three times, pretty sure it’s what caused us to eat dessert for breakfast, and why we decided to make a second batch of coffee around noon. It feels like Christmastime!

It’s not, of course, it’s Veteran’s Day and Remembrance Day and 11/11/11 and also the day which most closely resembles corduroy and probably I’ve left something out, but there you go.

I’m just hoping it eases up by tomorrow morning, because we’ve got a two-hour horseback ride situation in Half Moon Bay, M & I. We’re supposed to still show up if it’s just drizzling a little bit, and I’m kind of hoping it does because it sounds dreamy. M would wear her puffer vest and I’d wear one of my faux fur ones with my Ralph Lauren sweater and riding boots and…oh! I’m getting carried away.

A friend of mine noted that it was a perfect day for listening to The Cure’s Disintegration, so I did and it kicked off a little Cure-fest. It’s such a fantastic record, and after it ended I popped in my DVD of The Cure’s Greatest Hits videos. My favorites are Boys Don’t Cry, Lovecats and Cut Here. Some days nothing but The Cure will do!

I love this outfit, it’s all the dark browns and blues and different textures, I think. We’re still in that lovely phase of Fall where bare legs still work as long as one is reasonably bundled up elsewhere, tights optional. Also, this ponytail makes my hair look ridiculously long. It’s not that long, I just had it trimmed not long ago!

See my riding helmet? It’s too tight. I need another one for my big old noggin’, boo. The skirt is Ann Taylor and I adore it. It’s the perfect hue of navy and has a little sheen to the quilted texture, and it fits like a glove. The pussy bow blouse is vintage and a lovely dove grey, the same exact color of today’s sky! The wool blazer with elbow patches is from H&M L.O.G.G. and has the prettiest printed lining (pics below). It’s a colorful kind of paisley with birds situation, really cute.

Y’all know these shoes by now, my Linea Paolo mega-babes, and how serious is this darling little satchel from Asos?! I’m still in love with it. We mean business.

Smoky blue ring from Pretty Penny, rawr necklace from Mariele Ivy. My Remington and pretty Zoya nails in Lo, a warm medium pink with just a smidgen of coral. I hope y’all have super fun weekends planned, check back soon for a little loverbird action – we have matching Everlane tees to show off, whee!

I. I’m afraid I’m at a loss for words, so I’ll just post some old ones I’ve written and that’ll be that. This is early 2008, maybe?

We caught that fat, pretty moon on the way home to Oakland, just as dusk was putting on her coat to call it a night herself. The windows of all the buildings ahead were that inky twilight blue I love; the vague, last breaths of sunset still smarting off the bay to our right, and all that goddamn fog lurking like a herd of buffalo at the Golden Gate. I wanted to hug it. M wanted to eat it. The petite just looked and looked.

II. Some things M said to me five or six years ago, long before we were all married and whatnot:

• Why, Ms Jones, there isn’t anywhere on earth we could go to where you hair wouldn’t look absolutely perfect! Let’s find a globe, spin it really fast, and point somewhere! If it’s somewhere unfortunate, we’ll ignore it, do-over!
• Today, when I picked up the dry cleaning, it looked like your dress was dancing amidst my fancy pants. I can only imagine all of the dry cleaning is dirty again.
• I just wanna watch you dance, and maybe brush your hair!
• I remember the time we slept in a twin bed because your luggage and accessories took up the entire second bed. You had the nerve to steal all of the sheet, even in a twin bed! Then I remembered that you give excellent foam party lap dances, so I let you keep it. In the morning, you ‘sh sh sh-ed’ me when I asked what time it was, even though we had already missed two flights out of Spain! We miraculously made it on the flight, and even got bumped up to first class. We were going to pretend to be newlyweds to score free champagne, but we didn’t have to!
• You’re so feisty. Just for that, I’m going to trial and error all over your pretty shoes.
• You are owed a lifetime of wishes by the nights’ stars. I am here to deliver them.

It still makes my heart skip, tumbling over all her little words.

She is charming, no?

III. On combining our books:

M & I combined our books a long time ago. For any other bibliophiles out there, you realize this is no small act of love. It’s more of a colossal commitment; there’s an unprecedented intimacy to the merging of all those sheets, my spines leaning against her spines, the resulting language perfect – haunting, honest harmonies created from these small, significant representations of who we are and what we like and dream of and also who we hope, one day, to be.

Skirt, Ann Taylor
Turtleneck, Ralph Lauren
Shoes, Elie Tahari
Necklace, Banana Republic
Forest Friends Rings, H&M
Nail Polish, Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Haute Chocolate

Please to meet the wonderfully brilliant and gorgeous Kate. She came to stay with us for a few days and we had some excellent SF adventures together. The photos above are from a nice little walkabout we had through the Mission, in search of carnitas by the pound, chili/salt/lemon-drenched mango slices and Humphrey’s Secret Breakfast ice cream. It was overcast and cold, but we bundled up and dragged our hungover asses through the Mission and were met with much success (and an angry drunk, but that is neither here nor there). We stopped to take a few photos by some of the many, many amazing murals that can be found in our ‘hood.

Below, you’ll find Kate & I all sassed up and ready to go dancing. The tomboy snapped these before an epic night of Osha Thai (Kate ordered this massive fried rice dish served in half a pineapple! We all drank lychee cocktails!), a George Michael singalong at the Lexington and shaking what our mama gave us at Cockblock. It was all very wonderful and we had enough fun for the entire mafia. And then some.

Confession: I finally, finally, FINALLY took three bags of my closet’s ex-contents to Crossroads this afternoon, a buy-sell-trade with stores all over the country and several in the Bay Area. M was threatening to throw them out and she meant business, but so did I! In addition to walking out of there with a fistful of cash, I traded my castaways for these like-new Marc by Marc Jacobs flats, new dark blue denim shorts with white pinstripes, a cheery new yellow summer top, a new BCBG Max Azria wrap dress in a gorgeous blue print and a pair of very cheeky red canvas peep-toe heels – so Varga girl! I had forgotten all about the satisfying rush one gets when acquiring awesome new clothes “for free!” I still have some great stuff that they turned down (Uniqlo, a pristine Ann Taylor suit, misc. vintage) that I might put up on ebay or just donate. Do y’all ever do the buy-sell-trade, or is it too harrowing / inconvenient / obnoxious?

PS. You’re not nuts – I changed my shoes. The Charles David boots are what I’m kicking high in the B&W! I loved the neon yellow in the belt with the hot pink of the flats too much!

Scent: Christian Dior Diorling power walks out of the decant with a toss of big 80s hair, shoulder pads and a mad, red mouth. It smells like something from my childhood, and being a child of the 80s I suppose this makes sense. In a way it’s very much your staple “perfume” smell. A hint of floral over a stern chypre, just a tinge of something powdery. The leather is elusive at first, but starts to show itself in the dry down. In reality, Diorling was born in 1963, and I’m not 100% sure that this is the original, but I suspect it’s the watered down, pansy reissue. M was taken aback by the top notes, saying it reminded her of the smell of whatever it is that Pine Sol tries to cover up with the scent of pine – not the pine itself. I’m unimpressed, overall and looking forward to a write-up over the weekend of something divine!

Confession: DOUBLE WHAMMY! Because I’ve neglected y’all and I am terribly sorry. I’ve purchased a sewing machine, resumed my French lessons, started Bollywood dancing and helped a friend throw an amazing benefit for her AIDS Lifecycle 8 Ride over the weekend. Phew! I hope you enjoy the sassy new belt from modcloth.com and the exclusive softball game pics with a peek of the tomboy! I swear I swear I swear I’m not neglecting the sniffs section of the blog – I’ve got plenty, I’ve just been lazy in that dept. – and will try to post a few new ones this week. End. Weekend! Soon. Really. Have I told you lately that I love you? Well, I do. XO.

*Shades below by Spy Optics and vintage Wilson’s leather jacket.

GAH! I HAVEN’T POSTED IN DAYS AND DAYS! BAD FEMME! BAD! VERY BAD!

Here, I’ll make it up to you with no less than five sets of outfits all at once, from this week. SHAM-WOW that, kittens! I’m sorry to have kept you out in the cold while it’s been, well, so cold. Tomorrow, I promise to write another post with reviews of Burberry London for Men, Kenzo’s Flower and a few picks from the Victoria’s Secret Holiday Coffret collection.

What (for a cozy Italian dinner out with friends last night): Ralph Lauren black cords, Blanc Noir wool coat, black scarf, GB arm warmers, vintage red leather pumps.

What (same cozy Italian dinner, under the coat!): Same as above, sans coat, plus sheer blouse from modcloth.com and belt by Ralph Lauren.

What (for a Costco run on Wednesday – titillating, I know): James Jeans, Sylvie & Mado jersey cotton wrap, green sleeveless blouse by Libertine for Target. Belt by Elie Tahari and brown boots by Classified.

What (for a fancy SF job interview this morning): Blue Ann Taylor suit, ruffled plaid blouse from Gap, scarf by Gucci. Blue Mary Janes by Linea Paolo. Sexy glass by Valentino.

What (post-interview Friday errands outfit): James Jeans + Gap blouse + Blanc Noir coat + FCUK striped scarf. Same shoes as above.

So, it’s Friday the bloody 13th. Boo. I was always partial to Freddie, to be honest, if we’re talking terror. Faces of Death was always the ultimate, though, in terms of VHS-generated mid-90s teenage hysteria. The damage? I stumbled at a train crossing, spilled a full cocktail (wrongful) and dropped my laptop. Not bad!

Today’s outfit was a bizarre, virginal-cum-flight attendant take on the naughty secretary theme.

When: Fri., June 13th, 2008

What: White cotton eyelet dress by Ann Taylor, thrifted blue scarf and navy belt, round-toe spectator Mary Janes in blue leather and patent by Linea Paolo.

Confessions: Silver and pearl bracelet was gifted so long ago I can’t recall the giver! For shame. I suspect it was my mother. To retaliate for the fact that all my bosses were out today, leaving me alone on a gorgeous Friday, I took these in one of their offices on a break.

Tip: Love the dress? You can get still get it in a slightly different version in Navy on their website here. You’re welcome!