So Hurry Down the Chimney Tonight

Yay, new Gap Holiday ads! (And you can find them here on the Gap Image Library.)

Aw, man, as if I needed any more motivation to post more photos of John Krasinski on this blog. Doesn't he look ripe for snorgling right now?

And speaking of snorgling... When I saw this photo, the first thing that came to my mind was, "Why the heck is Amy Poehler snuggling up to Patrick Wilson?" And then that's when I realized that the hottie in question was actually Will Arnett, which only makes their pictures together so funny and sexy at the same time.



And now for an honest-to-goodness review of Gap's unisex Individuals fragrance line. I'm not much of a fragrance reviewer myself, to be quite honest (I don't like to spritz myself sometimes) but I really was bowled over by these fragrances. My favorite is The Lover (red), a rich oriental that reminds me of the Product RED candle, but if I were to smell The Original (black) or The Natural (green) on a guy I liked, I probably wouldn't stop sniffing them at all. The new Bath+Skin line is also pretty good, too (I love, love, love Island Hop) but I may have to give the new EDTs a second sniff, since I felt like they were way too girly for me compared to the richness of Individuals.

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

...No, I am still not feeling the Christmas spirit that everyone else is feeling - not when it's still November, even with the tradewinds coming in and the sweatshirts coming out of the closet. But how could I run a blog without mentioning the Fall sale that's going on at Payless this week? Especially not when the boots are going on sale - and Lord knows that I could really use more boots in my closet.

That said: I really shouldn't be talking about boots at all, and not because of the whole "living in a tropical climate" deal that I have going right now. Fact is, I usually can't fit into most boots because of my calves, which are really muscular up top; because they're pretty wide, I have problems zipping up most boots, especially since said chunky calves taper down to a considerably narrow-to-average ankle. What's even worse is that the boots that do fit me give me serious cankle action, and cankles only make me look more like a Yeti than I already do.

So imagine my shock when I tried on my first pair of cankle-proof boots at Payless this morning:

Don't let the "low boot" moniker fool you; on me, these came up to a few inches below my knee. And when I say "cankle-proof," I mean it; the pouffy, it-only-looks-like-a-drawstring pouch top does break at the exact point where my natural calves start to taper to my ankles. They're actually sexier in real life, but I did have a few problems with this boot - in particular the narrow pointy heel (which is as delicate and dangerous as it looks here) and the lack of a back zipper, which puts me at the risk of actually injuring myself if I take them off after a long day. Not to mention that, if I had worn these with the blue Old Navy dress I mentioned in my last entry, I'd feel like a gigantic parachute.

(And seriously? I was planning to wear that dress to Christmas with my parents, so pairing it with these boots would only give my Mom a conniption. Remember, this is the same mother who once warned me about going around town in tall pointy boots... without realizing that said boots belonged to my older sister. Make of that what you will.)

I put those seriously hot black suede boots back on the rack, although at the seriously low Payless price I knew I could still come back and snap them up if I wanted to. That's when the other pair caught my eye:

You'd think that the Airwalk Pine Boot would give me cankles just by looking at them, but I was surprised at how un-Yeti-like I look in them. Credit goes to the construction of this boot, which gives us the desired curvy seams and gathers where I (and most women) need it most around the ankles. They're flat, so I won't have problems walking around, but they're also 1) tall and 2) suede, which makes them fashionable enough to still make Mom wonder what has gotten into me if she sees me padding around them on Christmas morning. Heck, I might even end up ordering these online with the extended calf size so I won't have to worry about not giving my legs enough ventilation if I do end up wearing them on a non-winter day.

...Or I could just sit and wait, so I can spend the money on heels and save the boot aspirations for hiking. Which should really send my Mom into an absolute tailspin.

Domesticity for the Men: The Case for the Makeover

No, I'm not talking makeover as in "Ooooooo, you clean up sooooooo well." I'm talking about makeovers of a more subtler kind, where a simple change - like a buttoned shirt or a well-tailored pair of pants - can actually make a difference in changing one's image, even if it means going from "meh" to "kinda cute OH YES I SAID IT SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP."

Consider the following, for your examination; note that this only means that I find both men a little less annoying/ scary/ difficult to picture without their clothes after the makeover, and does not constitute automatic entry to my personal harem of celebrity boyfriends.

Exhibit A: Jermaine Clement

Before:


After:


*****

Exhibit B: Jonathan Papelbon

Before:


And still a before:


And now, the After:

Domesticity Retail Roundup: Clicky, Clicky

Before I begin: I just came back from the new Walgreens on Keeaumoku Street. I can't help but have mixed feelings about this place, actually, since 1) this stands on what used to be Tower Records and 2) I was expecting a more diverse line-up in terms of the makeup and bath lines. (Yeah, I know - I should've just waited for the Tarjay if I knew Wal-Mart was going to beat Walgreen's in that department.) But I don't think it's that much of a bust, if you ask me, because I have to admit that the bargains are crazy - really, how great is that "buy 1 get 1" deal on L'Oreal and L'Oreal HIP lip colors? - and I found a really nice coconut-lime body butter there that smells fabulous. And I have to admit that I love how the place smells as soon as I open the door: it's got that "new-store smell" that reminds me of the first time I came to the States - the best way to describe it is a light but un-obnoxious combination of candy and cheap perfume, a little floral but not too cheesy.

That said, I couldn't help but crack up when I saw the "holiday" shelves (hello, can we defrost the turkey first before we bust out the "Mele Kalikimaka"? Please?) and it was all filled with box upon box of celebrity-fragrance gift sets. Seriously, the box for the Antonio Banderas fragrance collection must be seen to be believed.

****

As somebody who does a lot of work at home on the computer, I know all too well about the pitfalls of Internet shopping. It's dangerous because unlike many of the online shoppers that I know (*ahem*mostly free-lance writers*ahem*) I don't have enough money - not even from my semi-decent campus bookstore job - to justify the time I spend browsing through the electronic stores.

So imagine the guilt when I realized that I had finished clicking through the Old Navy web site and ended up about $65 poorer. Yes, I could've bought a lot of groceries with that money, but I also knew that the refund policy wasn't going to cover me if I ended up not being happy with my purchases. What's a girl to do?

Luckily for me, the Famous $5 shipping didn't let me down, and when I saw the package waiting for me on the doorstep - a mere 4 days after that short, sweet moment of clicky-clicky - I was all too happy to rip it all up and try it on.

First up: the women's mid-rise, boot-cut dark rinse jeans, in the style known as "The Flirt."

I have to admit that I must've gotten spoiled from buying my jeans at The Gap - I was expecting these to come in a heavy, indestructible twill, but the first thing I noticed when I had them in person was that the fabric was a little too thin. I wouldn't necessarily call it a cheap move, since the construction is actually pretty decent - but considering that my last pair of jeans from Old Navy are still holding up after two years, I'm a little concerned about the durability. And also: SHORT jeans? Please. I'm definitely going to have this hemmed for 2 inches, at least.

Apart from that, though, I love how these jeans fit me. Since it's a mid-rise, the pants don't give me the same issues that I'd get from other pants: my stomach stays flat without the dreaded "muffin top" pouch on the waistband,and the front is roomy enough not to give me polterwang. Add the dark rinse to the mix and we've got jeans that can pass for men's-style work pants while still respecting the integrity of my round booty. Once I get these babies hemmed, I can break them in properly and go to town.

Speaking of going to town... how about a nice little wrap dress?

Oh, my, my. Where do I begin with this Women's Plus surplice wrap dress? I love that it's long enough not to make me look like I've been cut off at the knees. I love that I can wear this with heels or boots if I want to, and I can dress it up for dinner and tone it down for work. I love that it's wrapped and pleated in the front, and Empire-waisted, but not so much that I look pregnant. I love the "true blue" color - not quite navy, not quite cobalt. I love that it's made out of T-shirty material, so I can pack it for my upcoming Christmas trip and not worry about ironing. And I love the fact that I can avoid any potential bra-showing issues up front by wearing this with a long necklace - preferably one with a heavy pendant or chunky beads - to close up the mid-surplice gaps. In fact, this reminds me so much of that one Igigi dress that Plumcake raved about not too long ago - and the fact that the blueness goes great with my dark hair makes this dress even more so. Also, since I bought this from the women's plus section of Old Navy, I didn't have to worry about the fit, considering that their 1X in the plus section is closer to my actual proportions (18 top/16 bottom) than the XL size in the regular women's section.

What don't I love: the elastic on the wrists, which makes me look like I'm wearing a gigantic windbreaker. One more thing for the tailor to take care of, to be quite honest with you, but that can be dealt with after the Christmas trip.

Gimme Gimme Shoes

First Kristen posts the original video for "Shoes" on her blog, then Marge posts a link to the inevitable mashup... and now, strap on your Mary Janes, cuz I've managed to embed this.

Behold: Britney vs. Kelly, "Gimme More Shoes" - the video!