Having central air conditioning this summer has saved my sanity. No lie. When we started looking at houses a year and a half ago, we had a few requirements. Of the various features we liked, there were two that were deal-breakers: a 2 car garage and central air conditioning. If the most beautiful house you ever saw didn't have central air, forget it. We didn't even want to see it.

Right now, as the evening has cooled off to a balmy 85 degrees now that the sun is down, I am ::sniff:: so damn proud of us for sticking to our guns.

Thank you, younger self. Thank you.

This funkalicious purse. It is made by these people, from recycled billboards. LOVE it!

TLC's "What Not To Wear."

I've tried, I really have.
I cannot break my sick addiction to this show.

I'm weak, I'm worthless, and I am in dire need of fashion counseling.

I NEED STACEY & CLINTON!!!

Remember the movie, "Contact?"

Remember how Matthew McConnaughey plays an earnest young minister, his frat-boy buffness supposedly mitigated by his oddly feminine pashima scarf/shawl? And Jodie Foster is sooooooo youngish Kate Hepburn, with the shaky voice and the intense gaze and the searing intelligence and the strong fragility?

You know what I love about this movie?

I bet you're thinking, "Oooooooh, deep thoughts! Mankind, the universe, are we ALONE?!?!?"

Nope, I'm thinking outerwear.

Jodie's lush green winter coat, to be exact. The one with the barely there shawl collar and the barely there flare at the skirt? The one that almost (but doesnt' quite) alleviate the severity of that god-awful bun hairstyle she wears? The one that says, "I could be worn by a Jane Austen heroine OR Jodie Foster as an aerospace scientist?

Yeah, well. What? I LIKE it. Shut up. SHUT UP!

"Pop-Up Pirate" for kids. Fun for the whole family, really! So simple, yet it bought me enough time to regain my sanity today. Plus, there is just something adorable about listening to your 3 year old try to talk like a pirate.

When Filene's merged with Macy's, the Filene's at the local mall ended up on the chopping block. They sold everything including the fixtures, and in the last week they were open, I wandered in and managed to score some luxury bed linens at over 80% off. A 500 thread count fitted sheet for the bed, a duvet cover and a couple of billion thread count sateen pillow shams. None of them matched, but they all went together, and MAN do they feel nice.

My New Purple Sneakers

I'm not sure why, but every time I glance at the tag that says "5000m" I think it says "Zoooom!"