Hillarious Ending to the Apprentice

Loved the ending of the apprentice. Nice shout out to the ending of the sopranos.

and I don't care who makes fun of me for it: I LOVE that Journey song.

Another Cool Paint Job

Another room we painted that I like. This effect is all done with paint. No wallpaper. This is the dining room - the photo is getting cut off, but clicking on it shows the full size image.

Love this Room

I love these two colors together and I thought my bf and I did a great job painting his extra bedroom. The stupid fan screws up the picture.

We painted these rooms about 2 years ago, but I was just looking at the photos tonight.

The Boot

Oh man I feel so bad for people when I am driving down the street in Somerville and I see the dreaded boot on their car. I don't know how many tickets you have to get - to get the boot, but it's got to be a lot.

And walking out and seeing the boot on your car has to suck big time.

I mean on the one hand - one should try to avoid tickets, and if they are unfortunate enough to get one - just pay it and be done with it. But on the other - knowing they blew off paying their ticket doesn't stop me from feeling a little bad about the boot.

What if you don't have the money right then and there? Now you have no cash, and no way to get around to get some!

Today I saw 2 different cars with the boot.

Stupid Progresso Soup!

So during the summer it's easier to be healthy. I love riding my bike on the path and go for 20 or so mile bike rides several times a week.

Then the colder weather came and I don't like riding in the freezing cold. So I have to go to the gym, problem is I'm a little lazy - and I hate when it gets dark so early. It makes me want to just go home and get into my pjs. So once the cold weather arrived I was only going to the gym like once every 3 weeks. Not very good.

I always want to lose weight - what chick doesn't really? Anyway I hover around the same weight - give or take a few lbs each week. I would like to weigh about 10 lbs less, maybe 15.

So a few weeks ago I decided if I was really going to lose 10-15 lbs I needed to get my ass to the gym. I started going 2-3 times a week, working out for at least 45 minutes of cardio and some yoga/stretching. I will introduce weights again in a week or two. So great I've been kicking ass at the gym - I feel pretty good. I want to work out more, but it's cold and dark - which saps my desire to do anything. I contemplate hypnosis or something to make me just do it.

Now for the annoying progresso soup thing. I eat fairly well. I'm not perfect by any means. But I love fruits and veggies and most days I do pretty good about getting some in. But I love sweets, so I have to watch out about those...

A normal day I have:
Breakfast: a stonyfield farms organic yogurt smoothie and a larabar (dried fruit and nuts).
Mid Morning: Green Tea, Water
Lunch: Salad or Sandwich, diet coke, more water
snack: handful of dry roasted unsalted almonds
dinner: varies - usually fish or chicken and some kind of veggie, and some chocolate or low fat ice cream
by the end of the day I drink about 64 oz. of water too.

Not so bad right? Well I decided to cut out the sweets while I was on this workout health kick and substitute my normal lunch with a 100 calorie progresso soup instead. Thinking it would really lower my calorie intake and be healthy.

Instead I gained 8 lbs! 8! WTF are you kidding me? So then finally I looked at the sodium in the soups and it's almost 900 MG! I don't put salt on much (if at all). So now I have cut the soup out again (because I am convinced that the sodium is making me retain water) and went back to my normal meals, but limiting sugar and I hope these 8 lbs go away QUICK. I'm pissed I work out and eat well and gain weight!????? It's just not fair!

Spam Text Messages

So my mom has a cell phone that she can kind of use. She make calls and answers them. that's about it. Forget checking text messages, or voicemail.

Now me, I only have a cell phone - no lan line at all. My cell phone is on 24/7/365. I never have it off. My mom on the other hand *only* turns it on when she wants to call someone and she's not home. Which really defeats the purpose of the cell phone - because we can never get in touch with her - since the phone is off all the time. What is the point? I think she feels like she is saving the battery, but just charge the damn thing and be done with it.

Anyway, that's not really the point... last night she shows me her phone saying I am getting text messages from people I don't know. How can I stop it, and am I getting charged for it? I said no you can't 'block' numbers and yes you get charged. So I checked and sure enough besides one text message from me she had about 10 spam messages! How does this happen? I have never once gotten a spam text message. Plenty of spam email, but not texts.

I suggested she put herself on the do not call list. She said she is. So I am stumped - how do people get her cell number to spam her?

how to make your product unusable

Arrange action icons by color coordination, rather than the action they perform. Ya good move. That's usable. Because color coordination should always trump usability. Because the sign out icon should appear before the search. I mean search isn't important right? YEAAAHHHH

Come up with a design that is so confusing - you can't even explain it to the people you are trying to get to approve the design. Ask the people you are explaining it to, what you meant. Cuz we know somehow.

Sweet New UI

So I was looking at some of the new web based products from Demo '08, and there is some cool new stuff out there in beta.

The product I liked the best (and I haven't even gotten to use it yet) is blist. I may change my mind once I use it, but right now I love it. They are in beta right now and I signed up to be part of their beta, why haven't they let me in yet?? Hurry up! LOL

I like it for a few reasons:

First, the product looks so much like a design I did for another web based product I designed the UI for. They (other product) utimately used the overall design of my ui, but changed from a black color scheme to gray. But I love the edginess of the black, and I'm so glad to see a product out there that isn't afraid to use it! WTG! And since it looks so similar to something I designed of course I'm partial to it.

Second, as a user interface designer we need to figure out how to make using things fun, easy, intuitive, and also look nice. But if it only looks nice and isn't easy or fun - well who wants to use it? And really who wants to use something ugly either? Sometimes it takes several interations to get it right, but I like to see web apps pushing the limits. And blist is a web database application (snooze right?), but wait there's more: it's so cool looking I actually want to use it. It appears (from the screenshot) that it makes using databases easy. DBs are difficult to use, and if these guys have figured out how to make it easy (and fun?!) - well then kudos to them.

Oh and love the logo - it's really cute and friendly. It makes databases seem less scary as well. So hurry up blist - send me an invite to beta!

Best Albums of 2007

#1 of the year:
The New Pornographers – Challengers

Other Awesome Albums IMHO:
Spoon – Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
Sara Bareillis – Little Voice
Rogue Wave – Asleep at Heaven’s Gate
The Weakerthans – Reunion Tour
Modest Mouse – we were dead before the ship even sank
Bright Eyes – Cassadaga
Bloc Party – A Weekend in the City
Amy Winehouse – Back to Black (technically 2006)
Kanye West – Graduation
Alicia Keys – As I Am
Joss Stone – Introducing Joss Stone
Arcade Fire – Neon Bible
Band of Horses – Cease to Begin
Earlimart – Mentor Tormentor
Feist – The Reminder
Ingrid Michaelson – Boys and Girls
John Vanderslice – Emerald City
Ryan Adams – Easy Tiger
Shins – Wincing the Night Away
Shiny Toy Guns – We are Pilots (technically 2006)
Wilco – Sky Blue Sky
Rilo Kiley – Under the Blacklight
Juno soundtrack
Ben Lee – Ripe
Ryan Montbleau – Patience on Friday
Kate Nash - Made of Bricks
Lilly Allen - alright, still
Radiohead - In Rainbows
Bruce Springsteen - Magic
I know lots of people don’t like them, but I do:
Dashboard Confessional – Shade of Poison Trees

Great Singles:
Jenny Owens Young – ‘F*** was I ?’
Metro Station - Shake It
Rogue Wave - Sightlines (off of Spiderman 3 Soundtrack)
Ingrid Michaelson - Keep Breathing (off of Grey's Anatomy 3 Soundtrack)

Other Albums I liked, but I'm not sure I would put them in the 'best' category:
Buffalo Tom - Three Easy Pieces
Maroon 5 - It Won't Be Soon Before Long
Interpol - Our Love to Admire
Kelly Clarkson - My December (good, but not as great as her last album)
Iron and Wine - the Shephard's Dog
Smashing Pumpkins - Zeitgeist
The Killers - Sawdust
Josh Rouse - Country Mouse, City House

Hello Politicians

I think politicians should apply to try to get my vote.

I am going to put out what I want in a candidate and you can just let me know if you can meet my criteria. Wouldn't it be so much easier that way? It could be like lending tree - instead of banks competing for my business - it's politians competing for my vote.

so let's see:
1: I don't have kids right now, but I hope to some day so I want to make sure our public schools are preparing kids to be competitive in the real world. I want to make sure we aren't skimping on education (which includes art, music and gym class- without them who will get the chance be the next Rothko? Springsteen? Jordan?) and while I'm at it public school teachers work hard - let's pay them fairly. I'm ok using my tax dollars for that.

2: I don't make a lot of money, but apprently according to the federal gov. I make too much and I'm single, and I don't have kids - therefore I get screwed and about 50% of my salary goes to taxes. Taxes should not only take into account how much you make, but where you live. Sure my salary is probably great for someone living in Nebraska, but for someone living in Boston it's not enough to buy my own condo. I still rent. Perhaps my shoe 'issue' is part of the problem, but it's also the cost of living here. Cut me a break. Help out the single gal living in the city trying to make a living.

3: while I am paying all this money on taxes I expect my tax dollars to go to things like filling in the potholes and paving the roads - so I don't have to worry about getting a flat trying to navigate the streets of boston. Shit, while we're at it, maybe Boston could throw up a few street signs to let people know where they are? or maybe not...

4: Hatred and discrimination shouldn't be written into the constitution. Families that love each other should be allowed to be a family. I can understand perhaps a religious organization doesn't want to allow it, but the government shouldn't ban that? Who are we to decide what is right for people? There is no reason to treat people badly or not acknowledge families because they are different. I don't think that is what is screwing up America - there are much bigger and more important issues to worry about. (because the one I just mentioned shouldn't BE an 'issue') Like just one example: Shouldn't America be worried that we have the biggest obesity epidemic in world history? that 50% of American's born after a certain year will be diabetic due to obesity? Shouldn't we be concerned about the crap being put into our foods? Hydrogenated oils, high fructose corn syrup, ingredients we can't pronounce. I'm much more concerned about my health and the health of other americans than who is married to who. making health care affordable, and getting people healthier so they aren't draining the system with obesity related problems.

I have more, but it's late, and I'm tired. I will have to add more criteria later.

Handicap Spaces

Nothing makes me more angry than when able bodied people park in handicap spots.

There are the people that just blatently park in these spots without any kind of placard / plate - and risk getting a ticket or towed. And apparently they don't seem to care if that happens to them.

Then there are the people that have a placard because they have to drive another person that is handicap, but they abuse that placard and use it even when they aren't driving the person that is handicap.

People that are truly disabled - fight to maintain their independence. My aunt has disibilities, yet she fights really hard to maintain her independence. And then I see able people that want to throw away this freedom, or simply don't care they they abuse the system and it just pisses me off.

You are not disabled! And really how much further are the regular spots from the handicap one? like 2 spaces closer to the door?

Knowing how others struggle just to be able to walk and seeing a person daily who walks just fine park in a handicap spot makes me just furious!!! I don't care that your bag is heavy - or that you think you are disabled for some reason - you aren't disabled, so park 2 more spots away from the door and walk like you are lucky you are able to do. Don't abuse it!

Foodler Rocks!

I love Foodler! And it seems like they have even more places delivering to my neighborhood recently. I think I order from them once a week. And it's so great all my stuff is saved so I can either view all the restaurants delivering to my area, order from one of my favorites, or just reorder something I already ordered again!

I didn't get home from work today until after 8pm and just didn't feel like cooking so onto foodler I went and ordered something to eat. About 40 minutes later maybe even less - we had some piping hot quesadillas from Qdoba. yum!

Two new artists I like

well I don't know how new they are, but I've just discovered them recently:

Kate Nash - love the song foundations. she sounds a lot like Lilly Allen and I like Kate's British accent in the song.

and Ryan Montbleau Band - love the song 75 and Sunny - WERS has a live recording of this song that is awesome. Now I need to find a way to get that song on my ipod.

Ewwwwwwwwwwwwww

Now this is just nasty.

"Fly naked on nudist holiday flight"

German nudists will be able to start their holidays early by stripping off on the plane if they take up a new offer from an eastern German travel firm.

UM so what if you were flying after that person? It's not like they are washing the seat - so unknowing passengers on other flights are just sitting in seats where a bunch of naked people sat? Seems pretty nasty to me, not to mention unsanitary.

Maybe I'm just a rigid puritan New Englander... who knows...

Juno

What a great movie. Wers 88.9 has been playing some of the songs off the soundtrack and I like them - at first that Moldy Peaches song annoyed me - now the damn thing is stuck in my head and I can't stop humming it.

Friends had been telling me it was a great movie. So since it was cold and snowy we figured it was a good day to check out a movie at the Somerville theater.

Michael Cera is so geeky and lovable - I really like that kid, and Ellen Page is great as Juno. Even though I was never in that kind of a situation I felt like I could relate to her. She looks so much like a friend of mine's college roommate. The rest of the cast is great too - I love Jason Bateman - he always has the most random roles. I really liked it - it's a great story - and cried at the end - I don't know what is with me and crying at movies, but I always do.

Grand in Union Square Somerville

So after the hype on boston.com and the positive reviews on yelp (People who had never been there were rating it a 5 because they were friends with the owners! Not sure how you can rate a place you haven't been to?) I went to check out Grand. I had blogged about it earlier in the week as well.

As a supporter of local businesses I was hoping I would love it. The person working was friendly and greeted us when we walked in - which I liked.

The overall design of the place is nice, but it's really sparse inside - it seems a little empty. There is definitely stuff in the store, and I don't like over packed stores, but this seemed a little bare.

They had funky pillows, plastic plates, dog food, t-shirts, sweatshirts, and sneakers (organic I think). And they had some organic soaps / body wash that looked nice. Most of the items seemed kind of collegiate though, besides the pillows and bath products the other things didn't interest me. I'm happy to see stores moving into Union though, so I will have to check out Grand again in a few months.

Highland Kitchen in Somerville

I have been wanting to check this place out. We had been to the restaurant that was at this location previously and it had been horrible. So we figured this place had to be an improvement.

We decided to go out for an early dinner at 6:30 - much to our surprise the place was packed! There was already a 25 minute wait, so we sat at the bar to wait. The bartender was great. He made fantastic drinks (pretty inventive ones too) and was really nice. Some kind of lime blackberry drink - made with fresh muddled fruit made at the bar. I got a hot buttered rum - never had one before so I figured I would check it out - very tasty - wished I had gotten it for dessert instead though - because it was a perfect end to a meal, but since it was so cold out it was really warming.

After 35 minutes or so we decided to see what the holdup was about our seats. Turns out the hostess screwed up and sat other people or something. First she says to me: "oh I think I sat someone else instead of you guys, it will just be another 20 minutes"... um if you screwed up - say sorry and seat us right away - don't make us wait another 20 minutes!! So my bf was not happy with the answer I returned with - and he went up to her and she said "I thought you guys left so I sat other people". Um no we sat right at the bar in front of her - and she never called our name, and what's up with the totally different story!!?? So bf says we never left, we sat right here in front of you, you've seated people that came in after us, and you never called out name I've been listening. She is like fine after this party I will seat you - so she sat another party of 2, then sat us. Not sure what went wrong there, but they found us a seat fairly quickly after that, but WTF the hostess should have just said sorry and sat us next in the first place. We almost left and didn't get to enjoy the food.

Our waitress was very nice and the food was solid. The beef short ribs and mashed potatoes were tasty. The cheeseburger was also good and the fries were super tasty. As we ate there the place only got busier. I would definitely eat here again - I just hope we don't have to wait so long for a seat next time. HUGE HUGE improvement over the previous restaurant at this location. Great local place.

New Fancy Restaurant in Burlington?

The guys that own Arrows in Maine (voted one of the top 50 restaurants in the US) opened a new place in the Burlington Marriott: Summer Winter.

In the Burlington Marriott? Who knew? Guess I will have to check it out. They will also be added to Open Table soon for reservations.

Boston.com says "With an emphasis on seasonal and local fare (some produce is grown in the on-site greenhouse), this is exactly the kind of elevated comfort food - roasted chicken with lemon and garlic; grilled tuna with pink-peppercorn butter; devil's-food cake - that diners dream of, especially those far from home."

Their first wine dinner is scheduled for Tuesday February. 5, 2008

Feeling Nostalgic Today...

Not sure how it all happened, but it's the 25th Anniversary of Thriller and I guess it got me thinking.

I can't believe Thriller is 25 years old! I remember rolling skating (yes with real roller skates with the brake in front) to this album (yes really the album - I still have it too) in my parent's basement. What a dork! and I loved it! Who didn't have this album in 1983? It was so huge - I felt like it changed music as we knew it. Has it really been that long? Am I really that old? The 1980s don't seem that far away to me, but then I realized kids born in 1990 will turn 18 this year. WHAT!?

Next thing I know I'm watching One Crazy Summer (John Cusak was so damn cute - and still is!) and listening to crappy 80s rock and I love it. Well it's not really crappy, but in today's standards it is. Who wants to listen to Chicago and the Go-Gos now besides me? Shit I've been listening to my Barry Manilow albums too - don't judge!

I remember listening to Manilow in my friend's basement when we were kids - on a reel to reel player! Like huge movie theater reel looking thingy her dad had in his "high tech" basement - ha! You had to thread one reel onto the other to get it started. And we thought it was the coolest thing ever.

Why?

These men's spring collection Gucci's are just plain ugly. And seriously what guy would wear these shoes at all? I don't know any guy that would wear them. And who wants to pay $600 for basically leather chucks?

Cute New Gucci Shoes

Gucci has some cute bootie shoes this season at Saks.

I got my mail today

And got an unexpected surprise...

Apparently I spent $2,325.68 at Nordstrom last year. Oh yea and the store didn't open in my area until September. oh my. ooooops. Maybe it was all those Christmas presents? Oh who am I kidding - it was shoes and handbags. shit. Luckily, I have paid the bill and I owe them nothing right now, so it wasn't quite so scary to see how much I spent - yey!

But since I spent so much I am now a Level 2 card holder and I get a bunch of extra benefits - YEY!! I love extra benefits! One of the benefits free shipping from their website all the time - now that is sweet!

Grand in Somerville

There is a new store in Union Square - which really seems to be up and coming lately. Now all they need is a T station to REALLY go in there and it will really be a cool place.

Anyway, I guess they had their grand opening - which I missed. Why didn't anyone invite me WTF!?

From the photos I saw on their site and boston.com looks like a pretty funky store. I guess it's apparel and home decor.

I am definitely going to check this place out. Anyone been yet?

The Sad Bag

I was discussing the sad bag today and a friend of mine wasn't familiar with it. So I need to post a photo of them because I really, really hate them. The sad bags are also known as Vera Bradleys, but I prefer the term sad bag, because that's what they are.

I'm sorry if you like them.

Bags that look like my grandmother should be holding them, or that they were made from a quilt should be banned. Illegal. Yet there are entire STORES dedicated to the sad bag.

Bags sold at Hallmark stores should not be bought!! Hallmark is for CARDS, not handbags! The Natick Collection has a whole sad bag store - that has everything in sad bag patterns including couches!!! Why would the Collection do this to me?

I was once at a baby shower and someone got one of these as a gift and everyone was like ohhh I LOVE IT. except me. yuck. What's with these bags and baby showers? WHY WHY WHY?

When I see women with the sad bag they usually look sad, depressed - maybe it's because they have an ugly handbag that looks like my grandmother's quilts, jeans that went out of style in the late 80s, and crocs on? I don't know, but I'm just saying....



and a close up of the quilting:


Perhaps you like the Pink Elephant quilting? OMG


for the love of god why?


That is just a small sampling of hundreds of these horrible bags.

I think quilts should be on a bed, or hanging on a wall - not on a handbag. I don't even really like the Chanel quilted bags. I do like the Burberry quilted jackets though - that is my only exception to the no quilting rule.

Are you Kidding Me?

Are people actually able to walk in these? Oh and while I'm at it... I'm all set with the color too.



Style.com has them in their "LookBook" with no designer information or where to buy. Not that I would buy these, but shouldn't they give that kind of info? It's someone's Spring 2008 Ready to Wear Collection, I just don't know whose.

The Gladiator Sandal Trend Needs to Go Away

It's too much.

First: there are just too many laces - I like laces, but these are extreme. It looks like too much work to put on my shoes - and really I will suffer for my shoes. I've seen some pairs that don't have quite so many and I like those.

Second: all the pairs I've seen so far are flats. I don't like flats - I am far too short - I need the lift.

If designers are going to force me into a sandal - at least give me a heel to work with.

So here is a pair by Michael Kors - and they just don't do it for me. They are too flat, and seriously they look so blah. Did they dig them up? Perhaps Jesus lent them his? These may be one of the ugliest pairs of shoes I've ever seen.



Cleopatra and Caesar together again?? What are these Ferragamo's? I suppose they aren't really gladiator with the ruffle thing going on, but it reminds me of them... Strange shoe.



here's a super ugly pair for you:



and a similar pair in the flesh on Mary-Kate Olsen.

Holy Crap!

I was driving home today and right near my house there were at least 6 police cars all around the bank on the corner. I thought oh no this bank must have gotten robbed again - they were robbed back in May.

Last time they were robbed someone showed up at closing time on a Friday - tied up the person that worked there in the basement and the poor person wasn't found until Saturday morning! I *think* the robber may have stolen the person's car too, but I'm not sure.

I get in my house tonight and start searching the web to find out the news. It wasn't on the news on tv (but the local new shows were just ending), or on Boston.com. I heard helicopters above my house, so I figured it had been robbed and they were looking for the person.

I just checked boston.com and wicked local again and sure enough the bank was robbed. One guy with a gun tied up 4 workers, locked them in the basement, and got away with an undetermined amount of money.

The suspect also took one of the employee's cars, a gray, 2007 Infiniti G35 coupe, with the license plate number 21MC99. Police are asking for help from anyone that saw anything. Seems like I just missed all the action.

This is the *same* thing that happened 7 months ago! Why does this bank keep getting robbed? And why haven't they beefed up their security? and the poor workers! Scary!! I hope they catch this guy.

New York's Fashion Week is Coming Up!

NYC Fashion Week is February 1-8. How does one actually get a ticket to these events? It's not open to the public - I guess it's only for famous rich people. I'm neither - bummer.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute has an exhibit sponsored by Manolo Blahnik called: blog.mode: addressing fashion, for the rest of us to not feel so left out.

Marimekko inspired Manolos

Manolo Blahnik's Spring/Summer 2008 Collection has some cute Mary Jane Slingbacks. Blahnik has used Marimekko’s patterns Bonbon and Mini-Unikko (which is the pattern shown) in his forthcoming collection.



I'm a little surprised the description of the shoes on Neiman's site doesn't mention that they are a Merimekko pattern?

Late last year Dolce and Gabbane produced a dress (and shoes) that looks almost exactly like this Marimekko pattern, but gave them no credit. Pretty strange. I don't know if anything happened about it - I haven't seen any updates on the web.

Metallics are still in for Spring

I've been looking at the new spring preview handbags and metallics are still hot, so is patent leather.

A cute Jimmy Choo:



Or a Michael Kors - wow is this expensive $3900 - I don't think can afford it any time soon, but it sure is cute:

AFC Champs!!!

WOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AFC Champs! Superbowl here we come!!!!!!!!!!!



Boston Globe pics.

Nice game Maroney!

This game is crazy

Brady has thrown 3 interceptions.

Finally Welker scored thank god. But what is going on now? Brady sacked for the 2nd time I think in this game.

Ok Faulk has the first - that was HUGE. Here's our chance to rip this game wide open. They have to score here. We need at least another TD. Make it happen boys! We are 5 minutes give or take away from the superbowl. We MUST make it.

come on Brady!

This offense needs to get it together and score some points!

Two turnovers. this is just not good. And this is not the Brady we've seen all year. We need some passes to Moss.

The defense has done an amazing job though, now we just need the offense to match that.

Shit 3 turnovers. WTF!!!!!

And now for the most important post of the day....

WOO HOOOO let's go Pats!!!!!

I am already sick to my stomach I am so nervous about the game!

Chargers say that everyone is in: Gates, LT, and Rivers. I hope they are not up to their top performance. I don't want them screwing up my 17-0 Pats! Brady, Welker and Moss need to come up big this week. And I expect some big plays from the defense: Harrison, Vrabel, or Samuel.

All this week this drama with Randy Moss. It seems to have died down a bit. I don't know what happened, and no one will until it all washes out in the end, but I swear it seems like there is ALWAYS some drama that errupts about the Pats before all of their big games. Plus haven't these people learned that most of the time - creating controversy about the Pats brings them closer together?

I am looking for a great game! Don't let me down!

Take that Navy Dress off hold...

Here are the shoes for it! :) New Michael Kors Darling Chain Sandal at Neiman's.

I don't have a coffee maker...

Or I should say: I didn't have a coffee maker until last night. I've never had one, and I don't know how to make coffee. I don't know what the proper water/coffee ratio is, and I'm not sure I want to.

I like cappucinos from Diesel in Davis Sq. or caramel machiatos from Starbucks. Or just some plain tea that I brew myself - green tea, pureh, or oolong.

But last night my boyfriend, apparently fed up with my Starbucks habit, decided enough was enough. :( He drove over to the Bed Bath and Beyond and bought me a coffee maker with a brita water filter in it. It's the first time he's gone to a BBAB willingly, I was a bit shocked. And he went to the star market and said pick out some cream you want in your coffee. I knew this was serious.

So this morning he set up the maker and brewed some coffee. I had half a cup. It was ok, certainly not bad, but I like my steamed milk and caramel.

New Spring Shoe from Prada

One of the new shoes from Prada's spring collection at Saks. It's so retro - I love it. It's available for pre-order now - it won't even be out until March.



Perfect for Spring and Summer with a casual dress. I think it will even look nice on the beach, probably wouldn't be conducive to walking in the sand, but who cares about that ;)

What’s wrong with America’s Youth?

Yea so this is probably going to be one of those “when I was your age I walked to school 5 miles in the snow, uphill, both ways.”

This is seriously the kinds of stories I got from my grandparents and I used to think it is just not possible to walk uphill both ways. Yet, just this Christmas my boyfriend’s grandmother told us a similar story. What is it with grandparents and telling us this kind of story? It’s like they want us to know how they suffered in life (and I'm sure they had their share of suffering). I’ve suffered too, but not from walking to school in the snow, which I did, but it wasn’t uphill *both* ways. And I can think of far worse things that happened to me, walking in snow wasn't one of them.

But anyway, when I was in school we had to work hard and do well to get good grades. At least for me (and plenty of my friends) there were repercussions if I didn’t do well, so there was incentive to do well in school. Teachers did feel bad for us and give us an A when we deserved a D, and our parents didn’t call the teachers and bitch at them until they did things like that. If I got a D my parents knew that is what I earned and deserved – it wasn’t because the teacher was out to get me. Or if they really didn't like us maybe we were graded slightly harsher, but not by 5 grades!

Sure there were plenty of times I felt a little screwed on a grade – like the time I had earned an A (the teachers would give out the grade to us after the final exam before the report cards were issued) in every class in college to have the perfect 4.0 semester, but when I got the report card one teacher had made a mistake and listed it as an A-! I tried to find the teacher to find out what had happened and get it corrected, but she had left the school. My perfect 4.0 ruined, but I got over it. Kind of.

I felt that my teachers made me work hard – or at least tried to, I remember them getting annoyed with me for not trying harder because they knew I could. Yea probably, but I was a little lazy. But not so lazy I felt that I could just show up and not do anything and hope my parents yelled at the teacher to pass me! I wanted to learn. I wanted to be successful in life.

A friend of mine is a high school teacher and I am often shocked at the stories she tells me. I had dinner with her the other night which is where this whole rant comes from. Kids don’t want to work (I’m sure there are plenty that do but I’m generalizing). Then when they get the grades they definitely deserved their parents call and complain the teacher is being too hard on them. That these kinds of things shouldn’t be expected of high school students - like reading books and writing papers… the horror! Sure it’s probably tough and challenging, but it SHOULD be! They are trying to prepare these students for college. And the way it’s going with kids getting babied – like there are no winners or losers in games, or even if you really deserved a D we’re giving you a B because your parents yelled at me. How will these kids be prepared for the real world?? They don’t even understand that life isn’t fair, because they live in a little protective bubble. What will they do when they are at college and their professor assigns 250 pages of reading for homework, and another teachers assigns 50 pages, and yet another has a test – and they are all tomorrow. Will their parents call the universities to say they are being too hard on poor little Johnny – how can he be expected to do so much? Boo Hoo suck it up. We all did and made it through. Plus in the real world – do you think my bosses actually say things like well I don’t want to challenge you, or make this too hard for you? No! Plus I don’t want that – I LIKE a challenge.

And my other issue is what is with this attitude of today’s youth that the world owes them something. Owe them what? A kick in the ass is about all I think it owes them. What is this sense of entitlement that kids have?

When I was in my senior year of college they prepared us to interview and write our resumes – which were graded and had to be in decent shape to graduate. That really prepared me for the real world. They taught us what to expect in our first jobs: low pay, doing grunt work to prove ourselves and move up. They taught us to be grateful someone actually hired us and that we had better work hard and do a good job to move up. I had to do some crappy grunt work and it sucked, but I did a good job and got promoted and worked my way up. I was afraid no one would hire me when I graduated, after all, who was I? What did the world owe me? But I got a job and they really liked me. I felt grateful. But now kids graduate and they have no clue – they expect $75,000 salaries and no grunt work and then are angry that this isn’t what happens for them. Why? Didn’t their colleges prepare them for what came next? Don’t they realize they have to start at the bottom to work to the top? I mean maybe you start at a salary like that and get to do better than grunt work if you go to MIT or Harvard, but if you are like the rest of us, you start at the bottom and work your way up.

A friend of mine has a cousin that was so angry her boss was “being unfair” and made her do “grunt work” she actually had her DAD call this boss to bitch her out!!!! Who does this? Shame on the father, and shame on the daughter – she was 23 years old at the time. Cut the cord already! She should be able to work this out on her own. AND she should realize everyone has to start somewhere.

I certainly don’t know everything and I’m sure 20 years from now I will be much wiser than I am now, but I know so much more than I did in my 20s. I don’t ever recall thinking I had all the answers in my 20s. I learned a lot from the people that were older and wiser than me. I took advantage of that to learn everything I could from them, and sure they probably learned a little from me.

My teacher friend showed her students an article how Americans were losing their edge in the world, how more was getting outsourced - trying to motivate them to work harder. They instead said things like I won't worry about that - in 5 years someone will make a law to prohibit that. Um I'm pretty sure they won't, after all if someone is more qualified and cheaper to pay why wouldn't companies go with them?

With so much getting outsourced, and American kids getting lazier and lazier, and their parents and them making excuses for why – how can our country remain competitive in the world? How can we keep up? Other nations have kids that are hungrier than ours, and hey good for them – they want to work hard and earn it – great! But where will our country be in 20-30 years when we have a nation of people that make excuses for their laziness and shortcomings and blame everyone else, rather than look at themselves? We will no longer be the country of innovation. It’s sad really. How bitter these kids will be when they don’t have any knowledge because they blew off their education and don’t have a job because really the world *didn’t* owe them anything.

Are these really Stuart Weitzman??

Holy Shit!



So Stuart Weitzman makes some great shoes, that are reasonably priced compared with most designer shoes. But many of the styles are conservative (certainly not all - love the leopard print heels). From the collection I already have black gore tex plain winter boots (stirfried), black high heel ankle boots (hipgal), the spectator high heel black shoe(signore), 2 different black sandal wedges (spando and flex), and a black with white trim heel (zowiepipe). and brown micro stretch shoes (walker). So clearly I'm a fan, but most of these except for the signore and zowiepipe are fairly plain and I wear them to work. I consider them good work shoes. The other two I still wear to work, but they are more of a fun shoe.

Then yesterday I saw the ones in the photo above. The picture doesn't do them justice! They have this great charcoal gunmetal shine to them and they look fabulous! And believe it or not, I also looked at a similar pair from Manolo Blahnik and the Weitzman's had a nicer look in terms of color!!! I couldn't believe it. I asked the guy if he was sure these were Stuart Weitzman's? Naturally I had to have them, but now when to wear them?? With all that crappy snow and ice on the ground I definitely don't want to wear them now and ruin them. Bummer!

Wow totally wrong

Eli managed to pull off the win... how did that happen? Every play he looks confused with his mouth open - maybe that is to throw off the defense LOL

What were they the 5th seed and they knocked of the #1 Cowboys? Interesting. I can't imagine they can pull off the win @ Green Bay. We'll see... could be the Pats and Packers in the superbowl like 96, but this time we win :)

Go Chargers?

Ok so there is only 4:45 left in the game and the Chargers are up by 4, but I think it's easier for us to play/beat the Chargers than Indy. I thought this would be an easy win for Indy, but so far it hasn't been like that.

Come on Chargers only a few more minutes to hold them off!!

What a stupid penalty - why would you grab a facemask like that? Chargers practically gave Indy the game with that penalty.

Oh and LT was out most of the game with a bruised knee, and Rivers went out in the 4th after landing on his bad right leg... so this could be good for the Pats if both are them are out, or not totally healthy next week.

My Superbowl picks: Patriots / Cowboys.

YEY!!!!!!!

There were a few scary moments, but we pulled it off 31-20 YEY!!!!!!

My bet is Manning and the Colts beat the Chargers tomorrow. So I think the AFC Championship will be a repeat of last years game. We already beat them once this year, let's do it again!

Brett Favre

Holy Shit I can't believe the Packers won 42-20 - what a crazy game that was. I'm glad they won - I'm not a fan of Seattle. I remember when Brett and the boys beat the shit out of us in 1996. I hope that if *fingers crossed* we make it to the superbowl it's not against the Packers. I think I would rather play against the Cowboys.

I don't think the Giants can beat the Cowboys. Romo is an all around better QB than Manning. Which would mean the Packers would have to play @ the Cowboys and so far they have never won there. So I wonder if they can pull off the win...

oh and fucking sweet.. Vrabel recovered the ball when Garrard dropped it!

But I wouldn't want to match up Brady and Favre - I mean who doesn't love Favre? But I would totally want the Pats, I just want them to play against a team I don't really like.

I don't know if I can watch this game...

It's what 5 minutes into the game and Jacksonville has already scored a TD and Brady got sacked? OMG I don't know if I can watch this. I'm already having a heart attack.

Thank God. Brady to Watson TD.

Nice Use of Design

So I am a storage junkie. I can admit it. I save everything.

I have 2 external 500 GB drives (plus a 200 GB internal disk), but they are now filled with mp3s and various work stuff. I needed something more, something bigger. I haven't even ripped all of my 5,000 cds yet!!!

Then I came across the Western Digital My Book Premium II - 2TB drive! And it has Raid 1 capability so I can set aside half of it to be used as a mirror. Cool. I did a quick price comparison and Newegg had it for about $50 less than everyone - even better!

So I bought it. It came yesterday - it's big, not crazy big, but bigger than I expected, but it looks pretty cool so I'm ok with it. I ran the setup disc, then plugged it in and set up the Raid 1. It was so easy I'm still convinced something went wrong. There is software with it for the raid management, and it says I am using Raid 1, but it only shows me 1 drive - is that right? Shouldn't I see 2 and one is read only from the other drive? I'm a UI chick I don't know anything about hardware! I've been harrasing every technical friend I know trying to find out if I should see 1 or 2 drives. I've gotten mixed answers. Not helpful. It makes me nervous.

With UI you can't win... make it too hard people complain and can't use it; make it too easy people freak out and are afaid they've done it wrong.

But now to the point of this whole post. The design of the case is very cool. It looks sleek, but very heavy duty at the same time. Power button is a funky blue glowing button. But I think the coolest design feature is the vent holes: which are actually Morse code!!! The code spells out personal, reliable, innovative, design, and simple, repeating over and over again. LOVE IT! You have to have vent holes, why not make them kind of cool?

Slap Sole Shoes Making a Comeback?

Interesting. I suppose it's not exactly a slap sole - since it's all one piece, but similar.



I just saw a pair that had a similar sold from the 1600s at the MFA this past weekend.

Saks Denim Sale

Who doesn't love jeans? I like them even more when they are on sale! YEY!

These Joe's Jeans are really cute, and marked down from $173.00 to $68.90 - that's a pretty good price! But what's up with the 90 cents? They couldn't just round that off?



But I don't like these Rich and Skinny jeans at all. Maybe because I'm neither rich, nor all that skinny. This color just doesn't flatter.



Anyway, there are lots of cute jeans, in plenty of styles on sale - worth checking out!

Jimmy Choo Spring Resort Collection

I thought I blogged about these shoes two weeks ago, but apparently I am loosing my mind.

The new Jimmy Choo Spring Resort Collection has so really cute shoes. I already posted pics of two other cute pairs, but I forgot this pair.

Anyway, I love them - hot pink patent leather!

While I'm on Guilty Pleasures

I might as well add PopSugar and The Superficial. Hillarious.

My New Guilty Pleasure: Viceland

I love this site Viceland.



Fantastic.

Just keep clicking next and enjoy the fun ha ha ha.

19th Century Hooker... or Britney Spears?

WOW.

Why did the hospital let her check herself out? Get this girl some help.

What a year for the Redskins...

First their teammate gets shot and killed - which is just awful.

They lose an embarrassing loss to the Patriots.

Then they blow a playoff game they actually had a shot at winning for part of the 4th quarter.

And now Gibbs resigns, leaving his contract a year early. He will officially announce this at 3pm today. WOW. What else could go wrong for this team?

I hope they have a better season next year - as long as they don't beat the Patriots.

Hugo Boss

Hugo Boss is coming soon to the Natick Collection. I would have hoped they opened by now, but it appears they haven't - as the Hugo Boss website has no location there. They do have a store in Copley Plaza though.

Anyway, they make great men's clothes - and guys you don't have to spend a fortune to look nice.... Really!

Take this great looking Boss Orange Half-Zip Jersey Pullover:



It looks nice and comfortable, but not frumpy, and the price won't break the bank. If you are against orange it also comes in Black and Navy.

I know men hate shopping, but I don't understand it at all. How can one hate shopping? I think men hate the crowds in the malls - it's not that I like them, I just ignore them to get what I need to get done! But lucky for you this great shirt is available at Saks online.

Is there anything worse than pink taffeta?

I am trying to figure out who this dress is actually flattering on?

Pink Silk Taffeta? Really? I like silk, and some pink colors are ok. But bubblegum pink belongs... well in bubblegum.



Or pehaps you want this lovely turquoise sequin number:


wow.

Nanette Lepore Spring Trunk Show

Nanette Lepore has some cute outfits in their 2008 Spring Collection. Lots of black and white with hot pinks and bright yellows mixed in.

A perfect little black dress:



There's a cute shiny black rain coat too. It looks like patent leather in the photos, but it's polyurethane.

Right now Neiman's is giving a free umbrella with any $200 purchase. Which if you were already going to buy something, is pretty cool. AND they are giving away a $3500 Nanette Lepore Shopping Spree! Now that is very cool - I better win!

Hello my Friend Mary Jane...

I thought I had blogged about these Patent Leather Mary Jane Manolo Blahniks earlier, but apparently it was a few different pairs of Manolos I talked about.

I've wanted these for a while, but never got around to buying them.

I loved the red patent, but I felt I would get more wear out of the black patent leather pump. Barney's only had one size left, so I had to get them at Neiman's. Sorry Barneys!





The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston has an exhibit going on right now called Walk This Way - it's literally an exhibit of shoes, but they all over over the museum.

Shoes are placed in various rooms through out the first and second floors, and you have to go on a bit of a scavenger hunt to find them. That part was sort of cool, but kind of annoying. I realize they would often show shoes with the art that inspired them or whatever, but I would have enjoyed seeing them all in one location.

Some are modern shoes, like the pair of Manolos I just got, and a funky pair of Vivienne Westwood's - other shoes date back hundreds of years. They also have a pair of sandals worn by Marilyn Monroe, and sneakers worn by Run DMC.

I don't understand how the people in Italy wore these 22" platforms! How could they walk? Now I love heels and platforms as much as the next girl, but damn, those were REALLY high. I said to bf "see women have been wearing uncomfortable footwear they can't walk in since the beginning of time!"

The MFA is always worth checking out, and you can see some cool shoes as you wander through the museum.

UPDATE: The shoes are so comfortable on, Really! Blahniks are some comfy shoes to wear all day for heels. LOVE THEM!

Tom Brady named MVP by the AP

YEY!! Go Brady!

He picked up 49 of a possible 50 votes. Who was the 1 jerk that voted for someone else? But they voted for Favre, that's pretty cool, I like Favre. So I forgive them for not voting for Brady.

Brady is the first Patriots player to be named MVP.

50 TDs in one season, plus numerous other records - oh yea like 16-0! Seems like people finally caught on and stopped singing Manning's praises and started recognizing Brady. Not that all of Manning's praise is undeserved, but being a Pats fan always annoyed me that he seemed to get so much more than Tom. People always said he was so much better than Brady - even though Tom won 3 Superbowls before Manning even won one!

Now we just need to kick ass in the playoffs... GO PATS!

Bad Product Design

So being a UI Designer I am always trying to make things easier to use. I need to make sure that the product meets the mental model of the user. Well and I am passionate about what I do.

So I am always analyzing other products for good and bad. Like the iPhone - it's a great design, although the scroll initially annoyed me because you have to move your hand in the opposite direction than I had expected, but I quickly learned the behavior, and have no more issue with it.

Donald Norman's Design of Everyday Things is a great book about this whole subject. He's also written Emotional Design: Why We Love (or Hate) Everyday Things - which I haven't read yet - it's on my list of things to do. And he just published a new book: The Design of Future Things that is getting mixed reviews. But I will have to check it out for myself to decide.

Now onto the bad design that has been making me nuts. I bought a plug in air freshener from Bath and Body Works. You take this oil thing and screw it into the thing that plugs into the wall. It smells really nice - I'm enjoying that at least.

However, to screw in the scent thingy - you have to screw it in counter clockwise! To screw it out - you screw it out clockwise!! WTF??? Who does this? For years maybe hundreds of them, people have screwed things in clockwise and unscrewed them counter clockwise. It's a UNIVERSALLY accepted way to do things!!!!!! All items I have ever encountered before that had to be screwed into something worked with this model. So because I already have a mental model of how this works.. righty tighty, lefty loosy - I assumed this would follow the universally accepted model..... but nooooooooo why should millions of products built to a certain standard make them think it's a good idea to follow that?

On one hand I've only had to change out the oil thing 3 times, but on the other each time it makes me angry that it's backwards!

The Wedge is Back

And I love it!

These Jimmy Choos are a bit bright for me, but I really like them. Super cute for summer. ahhh summer... it's only January, but I'm over winter.



oh but wait... there's more! It's available in black!!

Simple and Cute

Right now in Boston it's 10 degrees out and dropping. There's a negative windchill. It's crazy. Why can't we always stay above 45 degrees here? But whatever...

I'm dreaming of warmer weather and checking out all the new shoe collections available for pre-order. I really like these simple and cute Jimmy Choos at Saks. I think they are perfect for work and play.

Available for Pre-Order....

Ohhh these look pretty cute... not totally sure what I would wear with them.. but who cares?

Saks has these Christian Louboutin's available for pre-order.

Gene Simmons Rules

First - I've always loved KISS I've seen them in concert twice.

Second - bf finally switched to Celebrity Apprentice and Gene Simmons is an amazing business man - no wonder he built an empire. He Rules!

Their challenge was to sell hot dogs. The women run by that bitch Omarosa raised like 17k, but the men raised 52k!! All because Gene, being the smart business man that he is, called up friends the day before asking them to donate to charity and buy hot dogs for 5k a piece! Smart! Omarosa said to downplay their celebrity... stupid! Plus she is just pure evil. There is just no reason to be that cruel to people.

I hate election years

It's just too much. My bf has been watching CNN, MSNBC, Meet the Press, etc etc etc for hours.... days... weeks.... months... I can't take it! I will be happy when bozo is no longer in the white house of course, but I get so sick of listening to a bunch of bloviators argue about the same 3 issues.

Then when whoever it is that gets elected, gets in office, nothing really changes. Or in Bush's case, the changes that started to happen were really, really scary. Making me question if I did still live in the Free World. My taxes are still really high for a middle class single chick, schools don't seem to be getting so much better, my roads are still a mess filled with potholes, the world is angry with us, the war, etc etc etc......... I'm not rich enough or poor enough to actually benefit from anything.

Maybe I should just put out there what I want for me and my country and let politicians bid to get my vote.. HA!

Thank god I got control of the clicker and now we're watching Project Runway ;)

and now I've lost again :(

Dolce & Gabbana Knocks Off Marimekko Design?

A friend sent me a link to this blog The Glam Guide today.. pretty disturbing. Sure there are worse things in the world, but seems pretty shitty to steal another designer's work. Especially when Dolce & Gabbana knows what it's like to have their designs knocked off, why would they do this to someone else?

Annoying Commercials

What is with the RCN commercials? They are absolutely horrible! They seem so lo-fi - they show video footage that looks like it's 80 years old and have old fashioned music. I work in engineering and even I can tell the marketing is terrible! Especially if you compare them with the comcastic commercials.. at least the comcast ones are kind of entertaining.