HELP ME. I BEG YOU.

Help me!  I’m trapped!  I see…circuits! And fans!  And a giant LCD!  AND I CAN’T GET OUUUUTTT!

…Wait.  That’s my plan for if I ever get trapped in the computer.

Now, however, I retire an entirely different form of help.

Last night, you see, Jeff and I went glasses shopping.  And I’ll be damned if I can’t make up my mind.  I have three contenders to choose from.  And I need your input.

Things to keep in mind:

• I never wear contacts, so these things will be on my face for 16 hours a day for the next five-ish years.
• I want some which are kinda funky, but not too funky.  Not too much one “look”, but versatile and good with all sorts of outfits and hairstyles &c.  Glasses which are really *me*, y’know?
• I have ridiculously close-set eyes (thanks Dad), so that makes it sort of hard to find glasses which fit my eyes (ie, so my eyes are in the center of the lens) *and* my face (ie, so that they don’t look like I crammed kids’ glasses on my face).

Contender #1: (hair down)

Contender #1: (hair up)

These frames are actually a burgundy-purple color.  I love the slight cats-eye shape, but I’m not wild about how they’re only half-rim or whatever – I think they make my face look too top-heavy.  I also think that if you look at them on my face straight-on, they’re kind of too small (they don’t go to the edges of my face, and the arms are a bit stretched outward.  Not much, but a bit.)

~~~

Contender #2: (hair down)

Contender #2: (hair up)

These are actually pretty neat – they’re not black; they’re three layers of plastic.  The outer layer is a transparent blue; the middle layer is a dark reddish brown; the inner layer is a blonde tortoise-shell.  So when they’re on, they mostly look dark brown.  But then there are flashes/hints of the blue, when that catches the light.  And the tortoiseshell gives them a super cool textured/mottled look.  However, I’m not sure if they may look a bit dated really quickly?  And I think they’re a bit big for my face.  But I like the height of the lenses, too.

~~~

Contender #3: (hair down)

(you can tell I was really sick of this game, by this point.  Slumped shoulders…tired smile…”just take the damn picture” expression…)

Contender #3: (hair up)

These are also dark brown – not black.  The only thing I really like about them is they make my face look nice and angular, and they’ve got the whole “sexy nerd” vibe.  But would that get annoying after a (very short) while? Or is it awesome?

~~~

Last night I just couldn’t make up my mind.  This morning, however, I’m tempted to scrap all three, and go look somewhere else.  So help me out, here.  Should I go with:

Pair #1

Pair #2

Pair #3

or Pair #go-look-somewhere-else;these-all-suck

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE HELP ME.  DON’T LET IT BE FREAKING *GLASSES* WHICH SEND ME TO THE MADHOUSE.

PS>Mom likes #2.  Jeff and a random stranger like #1.  The salesguy liked #3.

(cross-posted on Two Closets)

It had to happen sooner or later

Dear LLBean,

I just did something I’ve never done before.

I received an item from LLBean, and then sent it back.

I’m not exaggerating when I say that I don’t think that has *ever* happened before.  Every LLBean product I’ve ever owned has completely exceeded my expectations – from my favorite armchair, to my ten-year-old (and still going strong!) wool-lined slippers, to my camera/overnight bag, to my myriad skirts, jackets, sweaters and dresses.*

I guess the streak had to end sometime, huh?

This bag (photo taken right before I repackaged it for return) just wasn’t right for me.  Not the right color, not quite big enough, not quite stylish enough, not quite comfortable enough.  Just…not quite right.  (For me.  You may have a different experience.)

Wrote you a review.  It’s here.  And it’s long, and probably too detailed.  Clearly I’m quite passionate about…small canvas bagsw.

Well, be that as it may…

I still love you, LLBean.  Please forgive me, ok?

I’m wearing your rainjacket today if that makes things any better.

Hugs & Kisses,

Kate

PS>I’ll be OK, bag-wise.  I just ordered this from Zappos and it should arrive today and I think it’ll meet my needs a lot better.

PPS>I think it goes without saying that neither Zappos nor LLBean have any idea who I am, and would probably avoid me if we were at the same party.

~~~

*Shameless Two Closets link, there.

Frunday Favorites – 3/21/10

Frunday = “when you meant for it to be Friday but then next thing you know it’s Sunday.”

This is just a plain ol’ good post to have around.

So true.

I bet they’re incredibly soft.  But also maybe kinda stinky.

Good duvet cover tutorial, assuming I ever have a duvet worth covering.

Lost LOL.

Drop-dead-gorgeous artwork.

Just an excuse to share – I love Stardust!

This is my new most favorite photo ever.  EVER.

The difference will blow your mind.

On the menu for this week.

I think I’ve linked Waking Up in Bavaria before, but I can’t help giving ’em some more love – this home is so gorgeous and authentic and cozy.

Jeff and I have a new favorite, and this is it. (be sure to watch the whole thing!)

Gay and lesbian characters on kids TV.  Not sure I agree with all of it – esp. Mary Poppins (unless she and Bert had a Hepburn/Tracy thing going on?), but it’s still cool anyway :-).

❤.  Hard.

Super helpful tutorial for a novice spinner such as myself.

Another D*S item – these are achingly amazing.

In 0 words or less: how to tell that your fledgling styleblog’s Twitter account hasn’t exactly taken off yet

Bursting with Excitement

So d’you ever have something really exciting that you want to tell everyone, but you’ve gotta keep it a secret for X amount of time, and you try really hard and you mostly do good at that, and then you can finally tell everyone, and then you’re almost less excited than you would’ve been if you could’ve just told everyone a week and a half ago?

Well, no worries.  That’s not what happened to me – I’m STILL super excited to tell everyone…

Jen and I have started a daily style blog!  It has been pretty much the funnest thing EVER to work on, even though we’re both total newbies at the whole idea.  Heck, I didn’t even know how to buy a domain name until two weeks ago!  But we’ve got it now, and I’d like to cordially (umm…”cordially” means “with much squeeing and jumping and giggling”, right?) invite you to visit us at:

www.TwoClosets.com

(“A Tale of Two Closets:   Jen and Kate + Attire.”)

Yep, we went literary AND pop culture-ary, all in one go 🙂

Please go visit, comment, add us to your reader, print out every post and wallpaper your boudoir with them, whatever.  And as you admire the awesome layout and the presence of the in-blog Twitter feed and real gen-u-wine _____@twoclosets.com email addresses, take a moment and tell Jen how awesome she is for getting it all set up.

Me, I’m in charge of wringing my hands and whining and coming up with stupid ideas for Jen to politely shoot down and adding WAY too many blogs to our blogroll (but that last one is hardly my fault because OMG there are so many wonderful style blogs out there!  I’m like a kid in a candy store.)

PS> We’re also on Twitter, here.

PPS>Yes, I’m fully intending to let this go to my head.  Poor Jeff; I’ll be insufferable soon.  (As if I weren’t skirting dangerously close to the border already)

PPS>This also means that my occasional style/BOOTS/clothing related posts will mostly be over there now.  Which is good for my readers who have no interest in that stuff (umm…any of y’all a nudist?).

New feature: Friday Favorites, January 8 2010

Here’s a new feature I thought I’d try out – I’m calling it “Friday Favorites”, and every Friday (that’s the goal, at least) I’ll share links to blog posts and articles which I’ve particularly enjoyed in the past week.   The links will run the gamut from knitblogs to current events, big famous bloggers to little ones like myself.  I hope you enjoy!

Bright Side Dweller posted what may be the cutest outfit I’ve ever seen, and I absolutely fell in love with her shoes.  Naturalizer has a couple similar styles right now, and I think I’m headed to the mall tonight after work! 🙂

Design*Sponge shared a couple of amazing before and afters.  The bell jars are just brilliant – I can’t wait to thrift some old clocks and try it out for myself!  And that play kitchen is adorable – one to file away for a few years down the road 😉

I’ll be trying Smitten Kitchen’s caramel pudding recipe (with skim milk!) this weekend.  Wish me luck!

It’s Not All Mary Poppins wrote an amazing post on too much empathy in dealing with little ones’ minor owies.  I wish I’d read this when I was still teaching!  I’m afraid that I was definitely a coo-er.

LOVE this barn photo (and all the others posted, too!) discovered by TYWKIWDBI and originally posted on Der Spiegel.

Windows Assistant just flat-out made me LOL.

An amazing post by Historic Stitcher on the disposable nature of clothing in today’s society.

Vegetarian mushroom barley soup? Yes, please!  Thanks to Two Peas and Their Pod.

Here’s a drop-dead-beautiful outfit posted by The Hidden Seed.  I adore everything about it!

Matt Logelin shared photos from the North Shore of Lake Superior (and his adorable daughter Madeline).  Was my first time seeing it in the dead of winter, and WOW.  Still love that area.

Sal with Already Pretty shared her outfit list method of dressing and planning, and it’s going to change my life.

The Glamorous Grad Student posted an amazingly helpful tutorial on how to buy boots that won’t look dated after just one season.  I was glad to see that all of my pairs meet her criteria (or sidestep them entirely :-P)

Have a good weekend, everyone!  Anybody got any big plans?

(I’ll be getting a haircut, taking my black boots in to be re-heeled, and hitting up a few thrift stores.  Does the excitement never end? :-D)