Eeeewwww!!!!

Ummmm..... No!

That is all.

Robert Clegerie patent loafers... $685 at Neiman Marcus

Across A Crowded Room

I was randomly drawn to Target today. I know, it's evil. I should never step foot in there but, like any craving, it could not be denied!

I was browsing slowly through the racks of summer items that were crammed in next to the clearance racks filled with questionable winter pieces, when I saw this shiny sleeve peeking out from behind a over-filled display of dresses.

When I pulled it out, I found this - a glossy white hooded trench. Never even tried on!



There was only one there, and even though there wasn't a tag so I didn't know how much it was, I had to have it. It's hard to tell from the shots but this baby is so fun. With a dark navy lining, big front pockets, a collar made to be turned up mysteriously and lots of silver snaps.

Yeah, I'm kind of in love!

Even better, it was on sale - just $28!

And you can get one too, because I tracked it down. It's an online only piece so you'll have to go on and order your own.

I see all sorts of possibilities with this. Slick for spring, a great stand-out color in the fall and maybe fun for "playtime" too.

; )

Hey, Sparkler! What's So Great About You?

I'm so excited to feature a lovely lady for a new Sparkler!

This week's Sparkler is Miss Samantha Darko...

While I could go on and on about the fun we have chatting on Twitter, I'll let Miss Darko tell you about herself:

Here's Me:

* I love to play in the dirt.

* I love sci-fi tv shows from Dr. Who to ALL Star Trek to Farscape.

* I laugh riotously loud all the time and I even snort laugh.

* I embrace my terrible spelling and create "Sam-isms".

* I care for people and animals.

* I am still catching up on reading lists from high school.

* I am the proud to be the person all my friends come to for sex advice.

* I can build almost anything given the right tools.

* I think that people's flaws are more beautiful than their perfections.

* I am always finding things on the street and dragging them home to create things.

* I can sit and paint for 8 hours with out getting up to do anything else.

* I am a pack-rat who is an organizational freak.

* I love reference books.

* I will take you to the hospital, pick you up because you drank too much or bail you out of jail, no matter what time it is. No questions asked.

** Poochie is AMAZING!

~Samantha


Awww...Sam! I think you are amazing too!


Okay... who's next?!? Come on, Sparkler, Spill it!

Ensemble du Jour

Each day is a new change in the weather around here. I feel like my wardrobe is schizophrenic.

On Earth day, I wore a khaki pencil skirt with a white cami but then had to add a corduroy blazer over it.



4-22-09 by Princess Poochie on Polyvore.com

But, it's Spring darn it! I want to wear some sandals! These Nine West heels are a bit chunky and a bit safari-ish, so I felt they weren't too light an airy, so it was okay.



Are you having as much trouble as I am bridging this crazy weather transition. My heart says "Spring!" by the wind says, "Hey! It's still Winter!"

Eeeewwww!!!!

I don't think it's fair that I go on Net-a-Porter to look wistfully at lovely things and then get visually assaulted by hideousness (btw, I love that my spellchecker has that word in it).

If you like these, I'm sorry. I mean it. I'm really sorry for you. These are just ick. Or maybe I should be sorry for me because I am so mentally limited that I can't see how these are good. Either way.

I've seen these Sergio Rossi boots for a while now. They just will not get off the site. Okay, some of the sizes are sold out. And these things are $1500. I don't know, I'm not a fan.



I'm not a huge fan of cowboy boots of any kind and I really don't like these. Givenchy, who are you trying to appeal to with this mess?




Is is just me or does anyone else think Luke Skywalker? Anyone? Anyone? You have to look at the outfit image they paired these Brian Atwood boots with on N-a-P. Even with all the fabulous clothes they have these still look horrible. Total FAIL.



But hey! They come in blue too!

The good thing is that all of this is making me slightly queasy so I quickly fled the site and didn't want to buy anything.

Yeah, aversion therapy!

Cage Match

We all know I totally loved these...



But what do you think about these "Cage Boots" from Manolo Blahnik?

Do you think it is odd that they did there is now another "cage boot"?

Also, WTF is with there being Pre-Fall shoes already? I can't even wear shoes for Spring yet because it's too darn cold and rainy. I don't want to think about Fall yet! I swear to the lord, if they start combining Easter and Christmas I'm going to lose it! Quit pressuring me!

What's So Great About You?

Image via hel (taffie) via Flickr

In the wake of all of the negativity trolling around and the general feeling of meh-ness, I put on my headphones, grabbed my pup and be-bopped around the park down the street. I also watched the video of Susan Boyle on Britain's Got Talent and decided, you know what? People fricking rock! Okay, yeah, not everyon but generally, they do. Including me. Including most of the people I know and talk to, in person and online.

I want to feature everyone I know on here because I think you are cool. And yes, I mean you! If you don't tell me why, I'm going to write something about you myself. So either email your list and a picture to me to be featured or I'll come track you down!

Here's me:

* I'm willing to eat desset.

* I'll laugh unabashedly at silly things.

* I care about people, animals and volunteering.

* I embrace my crazy.

* I can laugh at myself and I'll let you tell that high-larious but embarassing story about me. Heck I may even tell it myself.

* I don't shy away from wearing bowling shoes.

* I'm willing to get dirty.

* I like my scars.

* I cry at sappy videos.

* I still read kids books.

* I can admit when other girls are hot.

* Bugs and spiders and snakes don't scare me.

* I think wit and smarts and talent are sexy.

* I like Star Trek: TNG and Star Wars.

* I can do stuff by myself.

* I like to treat.

* I'm a cynical boitch... But in a good way.

* I'll totally tell you where I got that cute skirt if you want to get one too.

* I'm a fantastic baker.

* I'll clean up the dog poop or cat barf.

* I'll share the armrest.

* I want to learn more about YOU!

Come on, Sparkler, Spill it!

In Disguise

For those of you who like the Manolo Blahnik camo Sedarabys (modeled here by yours truly)...

... they are gorgeous...

... there is a new style with the camo satin. These very elegant sandals. What a great sexy shape, right?



There is also a peep-toe "mary jane" version. But I don't like them.. the heel is too chunky and I don't like velcro shoes (velcro on $700+ shoes!). And there is a slingback but I think they are too conservative for the fabric, and a hideous heeled flip flop looking thing (WTF?) that I hate. Just my opinion of course!

I kind of want the sandals now. Would that be too greedy and wrong?

Learning

So I've created a Tumblr account for myself - http://princesspoochie.tumblr.com/

I'm not really sure how much I'll customize it but I guess I needed a home for stuff like this:

If you are a Tumblr Pro, please feel free to give me some tips and send me links to your pages. I need more ways to distract myself apparently.

Sycophant or Sympathy

Image via deerlover via Flickr

Nearly everyone that has a blog or other site receives their share of nasty comments or hurtful responses. No matter what you are writing about or how popular your site may be everyone once in a while a troll is going to pop up.

I'm not saying that everything has to be sunshine and lollipops all the time. Frankly that would be boring. And as someone who likes a healthy debate, I don't want that. Everyone has different influences and interests, which is why I come on online and read their sites. I don't always agree with what people are saying but I respect their right to do so.

What confuses me is that I don't think everyone agrees with that. That is the only way that I can understand some of the comments I've seen flying around on sites. Sure, a large part of the "you're so fat/old/stupid/vain" comments are due to jealously. Those aren't what I'm thinking about though. They're a dime a dozen.

What actually surprised me the other day were comments I saw on Mademoiselle Robot's site. She posted a pretty harmless write up of how she was wearing some new trousers. And she looked, of course, adorable. But suddenly a detractor made a point of calling her egomaniacle and over done, etc., etc. She also decided to call the whole site and, I'm assuming, her readers "superficial and sycophantic." I'm assuming this was because we were complimenting MR's style.

I didn't think this had any basis in fact at all. As on many sites, Laëtitia shares her adventures and her outfits. We like to read them because it is fun and we like her. Yes, we LIKE her. We don't worship her. We don't go out and buy everything she buys or dress just like her. We don't stalk her. We are, to a degree, friends.

I know it is hard to imagine being friends with someone you've never met in person. But I would say that many bloggers talk to their online friends everyday. I often talk to people I know from online more than I talk to some of my IRL friends. I've met some in person and some I haven't but that doesn't mean we like each other any less or that our friendships are less valid.

Any why is it "wrong" to compliment and admire another person's style and be happy for them? What does that say about the complainer? While I found the repeated returns to comment on the post a bit silly, I also found them a bit sad. I hope commenters like this have some great friends in real life. If they can afford to not have more, even if they are "just online", friends.

Personally, I can't and I like all these great writers, so I'll keep on with my "sucking up" comments!

Happy Spring

I've been away so long because I just had the most wonderful visit from one of my favorite people in the whole world... the darling girl below.



She's the only person I know who can make us all as happy as this!



We drove all over and had fun spending time together and even had time to make some Spring whoopie pies!



I hope everyone had a lovely weekend and holiday.

Luv
Poochie

Style in Shadow

I love my vintage shoes and really need to take some more pictures of them. Of course the style and quality are amazing usually, but I am just really drawn to the shape most of all. Especially the 60s heel like these black crepe pumps.



There isn't much that can compare to that shape. Even Mnsr. Louboutin looks back at this era for sexy inspiration.

These came from ebay and happen to be very comfortable (meaning, not amazingly narrow) and were pretty inexpensive.

Do you have a favorite era or heel shape?

Not taking NO for an answer

I love shoes with glitter, but amazingly, I don't own many glittery shoes! Ever since "The One That Got Away", I've been a bit traumatized, especially about red glitter heels.

But then I opened an email from Neiman Marcus and saw these:



Louboutin platform peep-toes in deep glittery red. Oh My!

They are truly delicious and I am a sucker for a red heel but then... then I saw this:

Deep marine blue glitter. More unusual than red and I've already proven that I adore blue heels. So this... this may be more irresistible than the red.

There was just one problem. While I got the email on Monday about these being a part of the Fall Pre-order (not shipping until at least July!) there were NO MORE blues in my size.

Now these are full priced Louboutins. They sold out on these in 12 hours?

Well, yes they did... because they ONLY ORDERED A SINGLE PAIR in that size! Yes, for the entire US website shoppers (maybe even anywhere NeimanMarcus.com ships, worldwide?) they only had a single pair in 35.5.

Are ya kidding me? Isn't that totally ridiculous?

At this point I was a little incensed so I decided I needed to speak to the buyers about this. After calling around the corporate office I got a hold of the online buyer and she confirmed that, yes, this is typical. No wonder my size sells out so fast! And worse, this shoe was only for online... would not be in stores... so I was probably totally out of luck.

GRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now I have to have these darn shoes. It's the principle of the thing, right?

Anyway, I have this buyer trying to order me a pair. If she does good I will let you know. If not, I will be very very cranky and I'm sure you'll hear all about it.

Neiman Marcus... will you come through??? And, P.S. start stocking more in the "fringe" sizes. I'm sure there is more than one of us out there!

An Interior Life

Table for One by Mr Pins via Flickr

Growing up I would have to say that I was considered to be a bit of an introvert. At least by my family. There was a major disconnect between how I was at home and how I was when I was with my friends. At home I tended to prefer staying in my room reading rather then being out with everyone else. It didn’t help that I always felt like I was somewhere in the middle, not really fitting in to any group. I was the oldest cousin by 5 years so I wasn’t really into hanging with “the kids” yet I wasn’t a part of the adult group either. I was just sort of in a familial limbo. It was even hard to punish me because no TV and sending me to my room were just fine with me. I always had my books to read. And read read read I did.

At school it was totally different… I was talkative and sarcastic and would get in trouble for chatting away too much. It helped that I went to a private parochial school and spent 9 years with the same people. Basically we grew up together. We knew each other pretty well and I had my comfort zone of friends around me.

But in my sophomore year I changed to an enormous public high school. Not only did I not know a single soul but I didn’t know the politics, how to deal with so many different cliques, how to navigate this maze of rooms or even find my locker. In situations like this the introverted side of my nature came out and created a pattern than exists to this day. I read. A lot.

So now, when coming into a new “group”, be it a job or a conference or whatever, I tend to sit back and observe. I’m not shy, I can and will talk to pretty much everyone, but like to first see what everyone says and does. I prefer to keep my comments to myself and don’t just put out what I am thinking or feeling. This can go on for ages. One of my biggest issues is that I worry that I’m going to bore people, so I keep my trap shut. I think this comes off as either bitchy or aloof.

Sadly for me this is really not who I am… at least I don’t think so.

Safe to say I’ve spent a fair amount of time alone, either by choice or by necessity. I used to travel a lot by myself for work in my younger days and lived alone too. It’s actually very comfortable for me. On the negative side it tends to reinforce this kind of bad habit I have of acting introverted. On the positive side I don’t mind and can easily do stuff by myself.

I go shopping alone. I’ve gone to movies many times alone. I’ve taken solo trips and sometimes just head out for the day to do errands alone just for some “down-time.” It actually surprises and amazes me that there are people out there who have never done any of these things or even eaten in a restaurant by themselves.

Where the hell am I going with this?

Oh, yeah. Needing armor.

There are so many things we have nowadays to protect us from feeling alone, even when we are alone. In my purse I have: an iPod so I could watch a show or movie or listen to music, a Kindle to read books, magazines or newspapers, an iPhone to call someone, Twitter, text, email or play a game, a journal to write down any emo-ish angst or make lists, my blackberry to answer work emails and even a real paper book too.

We use these things to distract and entertain us but from what? From the world around us? From feeling vulnerable? Do we use them validate ourselves, to prove that we are sitting there alone for a reason. That we are intentionally alone and that we have a purpose. Why do we feel we have to prove anything and to who do we feel the need to prove it? To the waiter? To the people walking by us?

It’s pretty easy to lose the armor in a public yet blissfully anonymous situation. It’s easy to be a little more open with someone who isn’t going to judge you and that you are unlikely to see again. I’ve actually found my best meals and best service came when I didn’t have the distraction open or plugged in. I smiled with my server. I shared a glance with the neighboring table. I’d got complimentary glass of wine and a great dessert recommendation.

For me it’s harder to be open in the group situations. It’s something I struggle with and continue to struggle with. It takes a while for me to get comfortable saying my thoughts. And then I have set-backs where I don’t think I should have opened up at all.

Part of that is self-consciousness and self-doubt, yes, and I’m sure part of it is my own personality… by which I mean I know can be a pain in the ass. I have a tendency to say things for, ideally, humorous exaggeration or effect. Sometimes the effect is not what I intended. I’m not comfortably a “joiner.” I can be kind of snarky and sarcastic (I sound like a real joy, right???). And that pattern can be a form of armor too.

In the past I’ve pushed myself to move outside of my comfort zone and beyond my ingrained patterns. Great and magical things have happened and I’ve seen new directions come to my life. But right now I feel like crap emotionally and as if I’m at a cross-road yet again. They say we are alive to learn and overcome our fears. If that is true, I’m still very much a work in progress. A big part of me just wants to sit in the corner and read a book. It’s certainly safer. But I don’t think I can allow that. I shouldn’t, right? I’m not trying to change myself but maybe I need a revise? Add a few chinks in the armor? I’m working on it.

What challenges do you face and how have you worked through them? I’d love to hear about your journeys too.

Getting in on the Latest Gossip

This is the second time I've been enticed into buying a pair of shoes that were worn on Gossip Girl. For someone who has never watched the show, I still get exposed to the fashion. Either I really really need to watch it because of the style or it would be much smarter for me to stay away because I could be lured into buying oh so much more.

I saw these cute Pour La Victoire Ophelie mary janes on Who What Wear and kind of had to have them!





There are a few color options but being a fan of grey sueded, I knew I had to stick with the ones worn on the show.



It's a slightly softer combo than the traditional black and white, which is why I liked it for a more summery look still in the running for NYC.

Cute detailing, huh?

It looks like kind of a brownish grey which I really like.

My second favorite color combo was the cherry & plum which was also really tempting. But I'm trying to resist!

This is a new brand for me. I'll have to see how comfy they are too and let you know. Anyone ever bought this brand before?

Eeeewwww!!!!

I didn't like the moldy wedge look the first time around, even when it was done my YSL.



I certainly don't like it any better done in cheaper materials by BCBG.



But, oddly, I do kind of like the look of black on the toe cap over the cork. Is it because the shoe is a more elegant shape? Not sure.




Not that I'm getting any of them....Blah!