My sartorial muse has a blog

This story in today's New York Times led me to discover Mrs.O, my new favorite blog. Finally, a place for me to obsess freely over Michelle Obama's wardrobe. I might be behind the curve on this one--apparently the blog has been around for a while. But who cares, I loves it!


AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo

In a Tracy Reese dress in Mexico. Note the red flats. Love.


AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta

Visiting the Pentagon recently. No idea of the designer on this dress but I WANT TO STEAL IT.


AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

In a L'Wren Scott dress. Holy geeze, I want to steal that one too.


MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images

Going more formal in a Peter Soronen dress. Gasp.

This is making me want to go shopping! I got a little bit of the urge out in Target the other day, but I only left with a couple of knit tops. Of note, I now own three Mossimo V-neck pocket tees. Lots of colors, good fit, and only 6 bucks--sign me up. These will be integral players in the summer 2010 wardrobe.

And one last thing. You still aren't watching Chuck? Dang people, why not? Us poor, desperate fans are now resorting to flash mob tactics.



How can you not love those two? No verdict about next year from NBC just yet, which is straight-up poop. That should have been a no-brainer. But NBC doesn't have a good track record with those.

I has a bank - noo they be stealin mah bank!

No bank. Not as of last night. Okay so no job (check), no bank (check). Looking sorta bleak these days. Oh wait! I just checked and my unemployment funds came through. YAY!! Okay, that provided happy feelings for about 30 seconds. Then I remembered these are unemployment funds. Sigh.

But cheer up bitties, because tomorrow is College Football Saturday! And you, sad little unemployed girl, have a ticket to a game at your alma mater on Saturday afternoon! Hooray! So tomorrow morning I hop in the car and drive east a little ways and then get to root, root, root for the home team. Until about halfway through when they start really bombing (they're not so great these days), at which point I will start craving a sports bar something fierce, so I can switch over to a game that's a little more exciting.

Kinda like I did last weekend. How 'bout that LSU-Auburn game?? I love when they come down to the wire like that. Sweet. Speaking of, did I really miss that Oregon State-USC game last night? WTF? How did I miss that game? Oh right, because I never would have thought to watch that. I mean, it's USC. They beat everyone. Man, do I love upsets. Wish I had watched that one. Well I guess maybe there's hope for my team after all, then, if the Beavers can take down the Trojans.

Okay enough football. Today's subject is now.. clothes! Wha?



For five years while I was in New York, I was always having to squeeze in visits to The Limited when I was out of town. I had shopped there since I was in high school and suddenly there were NO Limited stores nearby. So then I move back to Austin, and finally they open their online shop. Ta daa! Um, thanks.




There's not a ton in there, but they're adding more. As I type, it seems. And maybe it'll be like J. Crew where I can raid their sales online. Speaking of J. Crew, they have a chiffon trim cardi, much like J. Crew has right now, except at the bargain price of $27.65! Way to shop for a bargain, girls. The economy is not in a good place right now. Save your nickels.



Seriously, though, I've had some major brand loyalty to The Limited for easily 10 to 15 years now. They're very consistent. Back in high school I was all over the Limited and Express. Now, I can't even go into Express stores anymore cos the music is too loud (makes me sound like an old lady, but it's true). Plus all the pictures of the models look like they want to kill me.



Okay, much to do before I leave tomorrow for the game, then around town to visit friends in Houston before coming back on Monday night. Must pack. And cook those collard greens in the fridge so they don't go bad while I'm gone. That'll be my debate activity.

One last thing. There are these shorts that it seems like every girl on the UT campus is wearing these days. Seriously, you drive up Guadalupe, and every fourth girl has em on, in various colors. So I get on the interwebs. They're Nike Tempo track shorts. How did these become such a fad? Are they some sort of uniform?



Oh, I see. Jessica wore 'em. Now I get it. If you're in your late teens or early 20s and wear these shorts, please stop. Or buy another pair of track shorts. You look like a lemming.

When it rains, and so on

As if getting laid off wasn't enough of a gas, we got hit with some very bad news on the family front today. Geeze louise. Mourning, funeral, and spending time with family and such is just on the horizon now. But nobody wants to hear about that. Blogs are for fun, lighthearted things like materialism and decorating and such. And baking.



Don't these tarts look fine? I made them for me and mom. They were relatively simple to put together (that's just frozen puff pastry dough) and finger lickin' good. I don't even have to type up the recipe for you. Okay, even though this was in Everyday Food and they put all that stuff on the Martha website, this one isn't there. It was the April 2008 issue. Go figure.

I'd transcribe it for you here, but I don't want the Martha Mafia after me, so basically what you're doing is rolling out a sheet of puffed pastry, then cutting out four even squares. Score them one inch from the edges, then poke the middle with a fork. Bake. Saute several different types of mushrooms together, all sliced thin, and shred some pecorino romano. Put cheese on tarts, then mushrooms, then a little more cheese. Put back in oven to let the cheese get all melty. Ta da! If you want more deets that that, send me a note.

And now, from food to clothes. I don't usually blog about clothes. I go through cycles for one. I'm either wanting to spend all my money on home or on clothes. It's one or the other. And since I got back down to Austin, it's been home. On top of that, I got no place to wear nice clothes these days, so what's the point. And let's not forget, no money to spend. But I did want to show you this.



Um, cute, right? It's the new L.L. Bean catalog. I'm a J. Crew girl, like many I know. Not that I can afford it - but I do like to drool over their catalogs every season, and then I wait for the sales. I'm a Target girl too. But my family has been on the L.L. Bean mailing list since I was nearly an infant. When I was in high school, mom would show me stuff in it and I'd be like, "Yeah, that's nice." And then I'd go to Old Navy. L.L. Bean was notoriously the home of mom jeans (probably still are), and really good water repellent boots. But hello, what's this?



I know, tweed jackets/military cut has been out there for a while, but that's cute. There's even a little dog embroidered just on the inside, which is a fun surprise.



I want these - what are they, wellie warmers? - for my wellies. It says they're available on the website but I can't find them. But forget that - I think I have some legwarmers around here somewhere that I might start wearing in this fashion.

I just want to give their design dept some kudos for stepping it up, bit by bit, over the past few years. There was a shirt I saw in the spring catalog that I really liked and mentioned I might like to have it. It was never, ever in stock - always on backorder. Fall catalog comes out and now there are like 5 things I want in it. So they're either really focusing on getting their clothes more on-trend, or I'm turning into my mother. Let's not go there.

Also, I did dig out a photo of my dorm - my junior year dorm room to be exact (Haas 311, woot). And I do have a scanner. But I think I've done enough scanning for today. Maybe someday in the future, if you're good, I'd be willing to share it. It's pretty embarrassing. Something about a bedspread covered with sheep jumping over fences.. I can't recall. Yeah. E, I know you've seen it.