Mary Jane Longing

On Monday, I saw a woman wearing the perfect shoes. If I wasn't doing a business-y thing, I would have tracked her down to ask her where she got them. They were that good. I have dreamed of these shoes. I WANT these shoes. So I asked my friend Google about them.


But I don't think I can have them. Behold the DKNY Mary Jane Peep Toe Espadrille Wedges. (not their real name) $180-$229. Sigh. They are perfect on so many levels. In fact, every level except one.

1. They are Mary Janes. 'Nuff said.
2. The strap is elastic! Very comfy.
3. They are peep toe. Love it.
4. They are espadrilles. Summery chic.
5. They are wedges. Comfy again.

But their failing point.
6. They cost a freakin' fortune!

My friend Google did tell me about some Tommy Hilfiger Mary Jane Espadrilles that look quite cute and adorable, and my friend Zappos says they have some in stock for me. In fact, Zappos, whose CEO I am following on Twitter, also has these DKNY shoes. (Hi Tony! How's the bald head?) I see that no one has reviewed the DKNY Harmony Peep-Toe Wedge. I would be happy to do that if Tony wants to send me some for review. Size 8.5, please. In Black. Thanks.

I miss Casual Corner

I really wish someone had bought the Casual Corner chain a couple of years ago when it was going out of business. Although I am still wearing some of the clothes I bought at a great discount when all the stores were closing a couple of years ago, I would gladly give them all back if the store were still here.

I admit, Casual Corner wasn't a vanguard in the style world. But you could count on them for professional looking clothes. I started shopping there in the late 1980's when I became an on-air reporter for first radio, and then television. They had a great layaway policy: if the clothes you were buying went on sale, you got them for the sale price as long as you kept up your payments and got your clothes out on time. I put whole wardrobes on layaway for the spring and fall seasons. I got to pick what I wanted, they had my size, it all coordinated -- how much easier could it get?

You could always count on Casual Corner for a professional suit or separates. I've always had a hard time buying suits since I am different sizes on the top and bottom -- like most of America. While some CC suits were sold as a set, almost everything came as separates but it all still looked like a suit.

If you had an important event coming up at work, like a visit from a corporate bigwig or were just tired of the shirt you had to go with your navy blazer, you could ALWAYS drop in to Casual Corner and find something.

The sales people at every store I shopped at whether in Wilmington, Greensboro, Winston-Salem or visiting a mall on vacation, were helpful and knowledgeable. When I was a news anchor in Wilmington, the Casual Corner store manager used to call me when she got in an outfit that looked like my style. My mother and husband could drop in and ask them what I would like for my birthday or Christmas -- and they always got it right. And I wasn't telling the sales associates to make me up a wish list. It was something they just noticed if I looked at something or if they had something they thought would look good on me or went with something I owned.

And generally at Casual Corner, if you were a size 8, all the size 8 stuff fit you. No surprises. No changing room trauma with you being a 10 in this, a 6 in that so that you had no concept of where you were on the body scale.

And their accessories! I still have all my Casual Corner pins and quite a few necklaces. I'm not wearing my pins much anymore since I don't always wear a blazer like I used to, but I just can't part with them.

Now when you need something special for work, it takes so much longer. Stein Mart is usually a good option, but not a surefire hit the way Casual Corner was. I know there's Ann Taylor and Ann Taylor Loft for some of my coworkers --- oh, and Banana Republic -- but their clothes seem to be cut on the skimpier side to me. And I am on the ampler side now, truth be told. Talbots is a good option, but holy cow, the prices! Even the sale stuff is expensive!

I want my Casual Corner back!!

Adventures in Atlanta

It looked like Death was waiting outside my hotel.

I had been sightseeing Sunday afternoon, taking the MARTA up to Lenox Square Mall. I was trying to get to Phipps but just ran out of time after my flight was slightly delayed. Walking along Andrew J. Young International Boulevard, I squinted up into the setting sun and saw it.

Death. The Grim Reaper. Arms outstretched to gather folks in.


Only, it wasn't.

It was a statue of Andrew Young, about to be unveiled. I didn't get to see the unveiling since I was in a PRSA seminar, but I'm sure it was a fabulous ceremony. And I was really relieved to learn Atlanta doesn't have a statue dedicated to Death.

Love Cherries, Love Chocolate ... but not always together, I'm finding

As a diet soda drinker, I enjoy branching out from my beloved Diet Coke to switch things up. I love Diet Coke with Lime, for example. The lemon ... too strong. Found Vanilla Diet Coke to be refreshing, but can't find it in stores now.

Diet Dr. Pepper is also on my playlist, with Cherry Vanilla Diet Doctor ranking high. So when I saw ads for Cherry Chocolate Diet Doctor Pepper, I gave it a try. Bleah.

Just my opinion of course, but it's gritty somehow. Maybe chocolate really needs a texture to be enjoyable, although hot chocolate is pretty smooth, and I've had a YooHoo once or twice in my youth. I bought a 2-liter bottle of it and I've had one glass. It's not for me.

Mary Janes

I have been needing a new pair of black heels. Nothing fancy, just something in the mid-range. I have highish peep-toe pumps, black leather/black patent: kind of wing-tippy if you must know. Have another pair, very similar in taupe with black crocodile trim, also two pairs of black boots and some black flats I wore when I was pregnant, which truth be told, and really too big for me now.

I keep finding brown shoes I love. I don't need brown shoes. In fact, a couple of years ago I made myself buy the brown pair of shoes when I found shoes I liked because all my shoes were black. Now the pendulum has swung the other way and it's brown, brown, brown on my closet floor and I have no black shoes!

I think I'm secretly looking for something reminiscent of a Mary Jane. I love Mary Jane shoes. Love the strap. I have several pairs of semi-sneakery Mary Janes, a pair of navy blue pumps with an asymmetrical MJ strap, a red pair with those squishy tall soles that have been out of style for at least 4 years now, but I can't throw them away because they came from Talbots and they were expensive and they still look brand new, darnit!

So imagine my delight when my little cutie one received these as a present when she was born. These little socks from Trumpette just made my day. Thanks again, cousin Janet! There was nothing cuter than my little baby in her teeny weeny newborn outfits with matching or complimentary Mary Jane socks on her feet. In fact, I loved them so much, I bought her Mary Jane tights at Christmas from The Children's Place. In black AND red. Sigh. Adorable. Her little feet have already grown so much that these socks don't fit her any more, but I love the way they look still and decided to save them for her with some of her baby outfits. She may end up putting them on her baby doll's feet some day, who knows. Let's see if she loves Mary Janes as much as I do!

Recipe Rut

I have about 5 cookbooks on my shelf. A Better Homes and Gardens red and white checked one, a Weight Watchers Simply the Best, a couple of Cooking Light cookbooks I found at a yard sale for almost nothing, one about food from Italy, one for cooking with kids ... you get the picture. So, there's probably at least 2 years worth of meals in there. (I have to assume there are fish recipes and I don't like fish. Plus I hate the way it smells up the house. Bleah.)

So why am I still making the same 5-6 meals all the time? It's spaghetti, meatloaf, homemade little pizzas, chili, chicken stir fry and cheese enchiladas with an occasional marinara sauce and augmented with Costco's amazing chicken pot pie.

Okay, now I have to digress a moment. Have you tried the chicken pot pie from Costco? I am not generally a chicken pot pie fan. My daughter tried some one day when we were picking up a big box of diapers for her sister and really liked it. Since she's not really a chicken fan, I bought one since she loved it so much. I thank her for that every time I cook one for dinner. This pot pie is huge -- about the size of a medium/large pizza and competely delish. We could eat it for days. In fact we do, because there's no way we can finish one at one sitting.

I have read these cookbooks many times. I have marked recipes, but just never seem to try a new one. Maybe it's because my time is so limited that I tend to cook stuff I can do almost on autopilot. If this were the kind of blog with lots of readers, I'd say hey everyone ... give me your recipe recommendations. So if anyone out there stumbles on this blog, send your recipes my way.

Just remember that while I follow directions exceptionally well, I'm not into cooking things that take all day or a tremendous (more than 30-40 minutes) amount of preparation. In fact, cooking that chicken pot pie stretches my attention span to the breaking point. I have to cook it for 90 minutes. That means planning way ahead for dinner in my book!