odds and ends - as the snow melts, as the world turns

silk shirt

lined linen jacket

Well, first, the new title block (above) is a tribute to J.Peterman (translation: shamelessly copied from the JP site, where the merch continues to get more and more interesting.) While the catalog text remains improbable and just a touch overwritten, I'm finding myself wanting a shirt here, a long skirt there...

and moreover, there isn't even one snowflake in the sketch!

Next, today's expeditions: both of the wandering packages that I moaned about in my last post have arrived, but their wanderings aren't over yet, because both packages were returned today. The "healing stones" are, sadly, murky and threatening, and not comforting (Teacups, your "sight" is scary!).

The costly skirt from Anthropologie is lovely, beautifully made, and if I ever were to take up forecasting and fortune-telling, it would definitely guarantee me a superior class of clientele. Life being what it is, I have no foreseeable use for the skirt, and it must go back so someone else can pounce on it with cries of joy.

I do my returns in store when I can, because then I know I'll get the right amount credited and it will be credited to me.. The suspense of waiting for my bank to coordinate its cycle with that of some random merchant and its bank strains my delicate sensibilities.

And I no longer do any business with a certain store in Berkeley, because after waiting 4 ½ months for a return credit to show up on my card, getting one silly "explanation" after another, I called MasterCard and asked them to look into it. The MC detectives went to work and discovered that the return had in fact been received and "processed" within 2 weeks of mailing - but then credited to another account. The next day the credit appeared on my card, and I got an email from the store. I expected - an apology? a discount code? a gift card? Well, no, the owner of the store expressed her irritation with my impatience because they are a small store and can get very busy at times and how dare I call MasterCard on them!

How dare I indeed.

I'm bored with winter food, I made a few gallons of The Soup That Cures The Weary and The Woeful  a few months ago, I can't look at another oven stew, and I don't want to bother leafing through cookbooks for inspiration. I should probably cook up more soup, but I want to get on the road. Well, in another week or so I may be able to go without the air cast and among other things, that means I'll no longer be limited to one pair of shoes. Whee.

I've checked out the women's items from a company called The Field, and many seem to have possibilities, although all are very pricey. The look is - let's say, Madewell for grown-ups, done in truly fine fabrics (most of the time), and apparently with attention to detail and not in the sense of "where else can we trim costs". I haven't bought anything from this company yet, but I'm watching with interest and hoping that they'll have a terrific sale soon.  Meanwhile I'm looking forward to lunch. We have plans.

linen-cotton trench, black & white glen
plaid, real horn buttons

wool & cashmere sweater