Still sometimes missing this curmudgeon. She sure was a trial but she was our trial. And she kept me company through some very lonely times during my 20s. Love you, Ella!
Big Michigan
Category Archives: Stuff I Like
Little Edie T-Shirts On The Way
Some of you (five of you) may remember my design for a Little Edie Beale t-shirt. I’ve just ordered some! I’m only getting a small amount and right now I believe they will be for sale on etsy.com when they become available. They are white, crew neck shirts with the design on the front. About as simple a t-shirt as one can get and yet… so chic! Layer one over an oxford shirt or long-sleeved t-shirt for winter, add a cardigan or blazer and you’re good to go.
Confession: these are not American Apparel shirts. Horrors of horrors! I’m still really pissed about what they tried to do to Woody Allen, so I’m saying no to A.A. Actually, I just decided to go with a less expensive shirt that is still soft cotton but probably made by one-armed, 3-year-olds in a Romanian factory. Not that I’m trying to make light of that situation… sweat shops and all… OK, I’m a horrible person and you shouldn’t buy my shirt!! No, buy my shirt! It will be reasonably priced ($20 to $25), which is pretty good, right? I don’t know. I’ve seen $45 t-shirts on the Internet. I’ve seen $40 t-shirts at J. Crew. My sense of what’s reasonable for a t-shirt has been called into question.
T-shirts will be available at the end of December or early Jan. 2010. Very limited number so, if you want one, check this blog and RUSH to etsy the moment I post them. See what I’m doing? Creating a sense of scarcity. That’s called Marketing, people!
2009: The Year In Food
Like this little guy? He’s a cheese curd from the folks over at Eat Curds.com. Curds are just one thing I ate in 2009 that I liked. I like to eat and I like to make lists so here’s my look back on the year in food that was as I gear up for the Year That Will Be. I’ve compiled this list of amazing things consumed in the past year (uh, amazing to me. I’m not one of those Adventure Eaters scouring the globe for jam made from the thoraxes of sweet beetles), all of them worth the calories. While making this list I realized that I’m incredibly Minneapolis-centric when it comes to eating… unless I’m on vacation. Here’s to branching out to eat in other cities and suburbs in 2010. But first, here’s to some of the best things I ate in 2009.
How Working Women Can Cope: Make A Hot Dog Fondue
Somewhere along the line, I acquired a random copy of a Woman’s Day magazine from August 1977. Every so often I take it out and page through it. Although 1977 wasn’t THAT long ago, it’s like paging through a manual for another way of life. What I love most are the products, most of them long gone, the poor design and the absolute innocence of the copy. It was enough to say, “Emeraude. The liquid jewel no one can see, yet no one can ignore.” Would that work now? Probably not. Now we’d have something more along the lines of “Emeraude. The liquid that will get you laid.” Well, something like that.
So, here are some snapshots of Woman’s Day from 1977. Settle back with a cup of coffee or tea and enjoy… but wait… what’s this?
Continue reading How Working Women Can Cope: Make A Hot Dog Fondue
The Mighty Whitetail Deer Dress
Earlier in the summer, I used a coloring book from Fleet Farm to find an embroidery pattern of a whitetail buck. I eventually chose a buck’s head that I wanted to work with. I found a dress at Arc in Richfield that was cute and polka dotted but need some detailing. I embroidered my deer head onto it, took in the sides quite a bit and cut off about 4 inches from the bottom and hemmed it so that the overall effect was less frump, more fab. I found a purple belt to go with it but there is also a polka-dotted sash that came with the dress.
Here is the result of my handy work! The dress gets its official unveiling/first wearing on Monday.
Keep reading to see the photos…
The Way He Lived
“Failure, if you can get through it, is a great experience to have had.” – Dominick Dunne
Today I got the news that Dominick Dunne died at age 83. I had only recently, within the past year, discovered Dunne’s collected writing about high-society crime, although I’d read various pieces in Vanity Fair off and on for years. I became so intrigued by him that I bought his memoir The Way We Lived Then, which is narrative but also a collection of incredible photos from his years in Hollywood, when he was married to his wife, Lenny. He was a compulsive photo-taker and scrap-booker (not in the way people scrapbook now, with all the doodads and foo-foos and cut-outs), in addition to an avid party-giver, and the book is a moving document of a bygone era when life, for Dunne, was easy and he was living in Shangri-La.
Walking Freja Cartoon Style
This is a cartoon drawing by Keith of me & Freja; as usual, I’m waiting for her to do her business!
For the record, I would never wear short socks with shoes and a skirt. I’m a tights or bare legs gal. But otherwise, I love this!
Voltage: Fashion Amplified & Feet Tenderized
I suspected, going into Friday night’s Voltage: Fashion Amplified show at First Avenue, that I was wearing the wrong shoes. I’m the Mistress of Flats, not the Mistress of Peek-Toe Patent Leather Heels. But flats didn’t cut it with a short black skirt and a vintage wool tank top covered in beads and sequins. Besides, the heels elevated me above the crowd, allowing me to see the runway from the floor, not as easy thing to do when the place is packed.
My friend Ellen, always my Comrade in Arms when it comes to 1) shopping 2) fashion and 3) making fun of things, looked very pretty indeed in similarly high heels (not patent leather though) and a black, sleeveless dress. She also had on thigh-high nylons, which she announced she wasn’t pleased with as soon as she got in the car and proceeded to strip off.
Continue reading Voltage: Fashion Amplified & Feet Tenderized
The Perfect Date: Spargelfest & Taking The Air
Two friends of mine have commented, at different times and unbeknownst to each other, that I’m pretty much an old lady. Why? I guess because I prefer to stay home, pretty much, and I go to bed early. And I drink a lot of tea. And I use words like “unbeknownst” and say things to myself like, “I’m having a devil of a time threading this needle!”
But the Black Forest Inn in Minneapolis is having a celebration from May 22-31st that all dorky “old ladies” of German heritage like me (and I suppose people who refer to themselves as “foodies”), will coo over: Spargelfest! What is it? Why, it’s a celebration of that most old lady of vegetables, asparagus. One eats many asparagus-laden dishes and then perhaps “takes the air” on Nicollet Avenue. A promenade, if you will, down a street filled with “boom cars” that need to be tsk-tsk’d.
Continue reading The Perfect Date: Spargelfest & Taking The Air
Grey Gardens Odds-n-Ends
Check out this post on the blog Jezebel that shows all the fashion that’s going to be in the HBO Grey Gardens movie on Saturday, April 18th. Yes, the movie stars Drew Barrymore as my beloved Little Edie and I’m not really OK with that but the fashion in this movie is absolutely outstanding. They went to great lengths to find the best revolutionary costumes.