Kill 'em with Kindness....

Last week I made a quick shopping trip to Trader Joe's in Wellesley. I don't usually go to this particular location, but I was in the area. I noticed a car just outside of the lot entrance pulled over not doing anything. I thought perhaps the woman in the car was just waiting for someone. Who knows.

Anyway, I drove past her and pulled into a spot. I checked out my rear-view mirror and noticed the same car zoom behind me and the driver raised her arm in this sort of "WTF-is-your-problem-ms-red-car-biotch" way (yes I have a little red car). I realized then that she was not really pulled over as I had previously thought; she was in fact waiting to turn right to park in the lot. So I had cut her off. Oops.

Alright, so I got out of my car, walked into the store, and saw her. Late 20's/early 30's, blonde, dressed like she has a "real" day job...you get the idea. And she gave me the dirtiest look ever. Think middle-school-maddogging. "Yowzah," I thought. "She be a pissed lady!"

Without even thinking too much, I walked up to her, put on my friendliest bright smile and said, "I am SO sorry, I totally cut you off back there! I thought you were just pulled over and I didn't realize until after you drove past me that you were waiting to go into the lot! I apologize..." Her expression softened, she gave me a little smile and said, "Thanks.... it's alright..."

Ha! She probably didn't expect that.

I almost felt like I was observing myself as a third person going through the actions of smiling and apologizing to a pretty livid stranger. Very odd yet kind of cool feeling. Try it some time. Next time someone flips you off on the road, blow them a kiss! (although that usually just pisses them off....but it is sort of fun...)

Etsy sales donated to Haiti -- deadline extended!

I have decided to extend my Etsy fundraiser until Sunday, Jan. 31st! It has been quite a success so far -- over $200 of critters have been sold and 100% of that will go directly to Partners in Health. A HUGE thank you to those who have already purchased a critter! This is very exciting.

Proceeds from Etsy sales donated to Haiti!

I have decided to donate 100% of purchases made this week (minus shipping charges) to Partners in Health, a really awesome organization that is providing some pretty substantial relief to Haiti. This will go on until next Saturday, Jan. 23.

Basically you get to take home a quirky critter who will remind you that YOU have helped the citizens of Haiti.

I made this announcement yesterday via Facebook and email, and so far I have raised over $150. This is pretty extremely awesome.

Funnest Footwear Ever.

Ok, so I'm usually not one to go blah-blah-blahing about stuff, but this is a certain "stuff" that I must yee-haw about.

I recently purchased a deeply discounted pair of Ariat Legend Cow(girl) Boots from RueLaLa.com. Now, I have never owned a pair of cowboy boots. I have always admired them from a distance on others, but I never got around to owning a pair. My man-friend, who is a Southerner, sports a rather fabulous pair that used to belong to his father, and I must admit that these old boots (and he) have inspired me.

So I was browsing RueLaLa... and usually nothing comes up that I'm interested in... and then they had this fancy "FINAL SALE BLOWOUT" thing going on. "Oh crap," I said to myself. "I have to look." I'm glad I did. It took a few shots to get them. That is, I originally put a brown-ish pair in my "cart" but they sold out before I was able to pay. So I tried a half-size up. I was ready to pay, and then they sold out too. It wasn't looking good. But these black ones seemed oh-so-purty... so I added them to my cart. Again, my size ran out. "Shit." So again I ordered a half-size up, paid right away, and BAM, they were mine.

They are so incredibly fun to walk in. Oh my god. They are a little bit too big, but I guess that gives me an opportunity to retrieve my barely-used thick socks (see previous entry) that I purchased a few years ago.

The boots arrived in the mail just a couple of days ago and I have had two full days of fun in these puppies. Unfortunately I can't wear them convincingly with my colorful yoga pants, but they do work with jeans and less-festive yoga pants (and skirts, of course, but I have yet to try this). This is all good.

So, it seems as though my feet think that it's Halloween. Every day. It's awesome.

Reflections on the cold weather coming from a native Angeleno...

...or is it "Angelina"? Whatever.

So, this is my fourth "real" winter. Before I moved to Boston, so many people said, "Oh, you're going to freeze your butt off!" or "You're going to miss LA so much once the winter hits!"... and many other life-will-suck sorts of comments and warnings.

But I must be honest, it's really not that bad.

In a given winter, there are probably three or four days where I say, "Ok, this isn't wonderful. In fact, it's quite awful." But seriously, the extreme cold (below 20s with windchill...you know, snot-freeze temp) does not last forever. Most buildings are heated (sometimes too much). When the weather is gross (snow with freezing rain and slushy stuff in the streets up to your knees), it comforts me to know that I'm not the only one dealing with it.

I believe I have the keeping-body-warm thing dialed. The key is layers. Ok, so here are my tips. I'm sure everyone knows all of this information, but it's nice to lay it out:

*A lightweight short-sleeve shirt, long sleeve shirt over that (or vice versa with the long sleeve under the short sleeve),
*Perhaps a sweater on top of that....
*A good coat.
*Tights under jeans is always a nice touch. I'm not sure how guys deal with this, although there's that lovely advertisement for women's pantyhose from Joe Namath.
*Leg warmers are awesome...
*Boots with fuzzy stuff on the inside (sorry, sleek and fashionable lady-boots don't really work. I've tried it). My first winter I didn't quite get the sock-thing down. I thought the thicker the socks, the better. Not true. Thick socks make tight boots make no oxygen make very cold feet. There must be air between the foot and boot to actually get warm.
*Arm warmers. These are a definite staple of the LadyRay uniform from October until April (sometimes May). That's why it's worth getting a few cute ones (check out Etsy!)...
*Those awesome 180 ear-muff things. I still can't believe how well those things work.
*A hat.
*Scarf. Maybe two (on the particularly bone-chilling days)...
*Gloves. I'm definitely a fan of the "convertible" gloves that are half glove-half mitten. That way you don't have to take them off all the time (like when paying for groceries or whatever).

Ok, so it's mid-January and we have about two or more months of the cold. At this point I'm definitely used to it. I am looking forward to that glorious spring day where 50 degrees feels more like 75 and everyone is shining...