Dusty sage

On the one hand, certain small but important accomplishments are occurring in my life, signifying responsibility. Most of my wanty-ness is directed towards the house (read: expensive!), so I am striving to eat in more, meaning I have to prepare food more often. Tonight's menu: "cream stew."

On the other hand, the old wanty in me still lives.

I saw a woman at the Fullerton train stop wearing a sparkling gold version of these. I initially wanted those until I came across them in "dusty sage" at J. Crew. What a name. This is a variation of the color I've been obsessed with for the past year, so they were a must. Thankfully, they don't make my legs look like daikon, like Keds did. Wow, that was horrific!

Happy Friday

Today I had one of my sections observed by faculty. Each semester, observation day causes me great anxiety despite the fact that things usually go fine, if not quite well. I was so happy when everything was over. My afternoon nap was very pleasant.

I picked up Mordecai after work and we went to the Grandstand. I wanted a Marlins hat, and since they have a wall of all sorts of hats, we thought there might be some selection, but I guess the one I want is only available on the New Era site. I noticed a nice seafoam green-ish White Sox hat that I'm eyeing now, too. Wanty, wanty.

The Grandstand is just west of U.S. Cellular Field on 35th Street.

Giant White Sox Lubie!

We were heading to Taqueria El Milagro in Pilsen but then we saw a bright green roof and red and yellow parasols. This could only mean: White Sox-approved Vienna beef hot dogs!

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Little League Lotto

For the first time in...ever? at Target, I grabbed Archer's Farm milk instead of Horizon, and Target-brand apricot scrub instead of St. Ives. Ordinarily, this would be a sign that you should keep a helmet nearby you at all times (is another Chicago earthquake on its way?), but there isn't much to fear. Not only do I still want things...I want expensive things! And so, I welcome a little bit of Illinois Lotto into my life.

Canon Rebel XSi

Givenchy platform clogs

Various haircare & makeup goods
Moroccan hair oil, Nars nailpolish in Orgasm, Givenchy Le Prisme eyeshadow in Modish Brown, Moroccan hydrating hair mask, Nars Orgasm Illuminator, Nars duo eyeshadow in Cordura (is it better to have two or four gradating eyeshadow shades?)

Economicus Stimulus Cipangu

I'm pretty much clueless when it comes to lotto, so I'm going to need some help from Joe. If I win, depending on the amount, I'll thank him for his help in the form of baseball card packs/boxes/cases. All I know is that there will be many more days of going to school with coffee instead of getting it at school. Even though he is unemployed, Conan O'Brien will be getting more action this semester in the form of my "Late Night with Conan" coffee container that I got from the NBC store in Manhattan when I first visited.

Sleeping Bag/Bodysuit

"Baby Penguin Sleeping bag/bodysuit


Black/White 100% Nylon outer shell, poly-fill quilted hooded sleeping bag/bodysuit for children with mini visor detail, front zippered belly closure, soft cotton multicolored inner lining and rear perforations for attaching to stroller safety harness. Measures approximately: 43"L x 38" at widest points."

I've never been so saddened to not be 43 inches long. Alternately, I suppose I could have something that is 43 inches in length to carry around in this awesome sleeping bag/bodysuit, like a child, but those things tend to grow. Emu might be a good size--his face certainly fits--but inserting the real Emu into a sleeping bag probably entails sustaining serious injuries, so I insert him via Photoshop, scratch-free.

Shoppings in New York

I have been looking forward to shopping in New York. First there was a trip to Roosevelt Field, a gigantic mall on Long Island in Nassau County. I'm a proud shopper of Woodfield Mall out in Schaumburg, so I was curious to compare and contrast the 8th and 9th largest U.S. malls, respectively.

Man scoping out the parking situation...he will later make a crazy turn out of his spot (Camry behind him) to get in that line on the left, causing the Audi in the back to get pissed off and not let him in, making us wait for four cars to pass by before we can continue on to get blocked by a parked taxi and then go around the lot to get in a different line to get out of the single exit for this parking structure.

For better or for worse, there is little documentation of this trip. It consisted mostly of navigating through densely populated crowds, since it was the day after Christmas. Roosevelt Field feels much more cramped than Woodfield, too, so that added to the chaotic atmosphere. Later, we spent an hour and a half in the parking lot waiting to get out. I have never seen such an inefficient parking exit in my life; I'm pretty sure that Woodfield can get bad, but I don't think it'd take over an hour to get back on the expressway. However, I got a sweater on sale at Club Monaco and a purple and gray striped shirt on sale at Zara (first success since 2005 in Paris!), so I can't camplain (sic).

Today, we went to Manhattan, mostly downtown. Who knew there was an Ippudo in New York?! This past summer, I was told that Ippudo was famous in Japan and was taken to one in the Queen's Tower of Yokohama. Reunited!

Corner of 4th Ave & 10th St--Ippudo is on the first floor of the building with the wood-y facade


Left: Shiromaru from Yokohama; Right: Shiromaru from NYC

Ippudo is known for their tonkotsu soup, which is a tasty pork-based broth. I was surprised to see that the NYC location was kind of posh, with dim lighting (hence the difference in color between the two photos?), fancy murals, mirrors, and couches. There were a number of Japanese customers, including families and at least one businessman with a suitcase next to him. I'm certain there were more Japanese people in Ippudo than there are in the entire Chicagoland area. Anyway, that's a good sign that the ramen is good, which it most certainly was.

We moved on to Uniqlo and Muji, where I got down to business. Inspired by Phoebe and Gwyneth Paltrow, I got a pencil skirt more or less on impulse, though I did try it on. I also got black skinny jeans and "Warm Up" herringbone-patterened tights. To my surprise, the skirt was $30 less than I expected. Score! At Muji, I got a planner, small-ish notebooks, a purple pen, and socks made of recycled plastic.

Ozawa Seiji!? Or just a cool Japanese man!?

I really like the boutique-y part of SoHo, along Prince and Spring streets between the subway station and Broadway. I've become familiar with the area over time more than other parts of Manhattan--we met with Jenni there last year, and in previous years we've scoped out the Bape store and bumbled about. This year, the most remarkable difference was that I heard a lot of French, German, and other European languages I was unable to identify. It seems like they were often confused about where they were, thus getting in my way, but nonetheless generally happy that the dollar is pathetic.

Before heading back to Long Island, we stopped at the JJ Hat Center, which Sean recommended, not too far from Penn Station. It looks like they only carry men's hats, but hats are hats and gender doesn't really matter. A nice, enthusiastic and hat-knowledgable man helped me out. I ended up with a beret, and am currently sitting on whether or not to get the Bowler/Derby hat. What kind of statement would one make by wearing such an ostentatious hat? There is one other hat store I'm eyeing, so we'll see about that on Monday.

Also, can I just say that 0% to 4.25% tax on clothes is insane? Why didn't I notice this before? It kind of doesn't make sense, but again--can't camplain (sic)!

To be continued.

Early

My second cousins from Yokohama, Mitsutaka and Mai, just left today after visiting us for a week. They were real troopers, coming to Chicago in mid-December after visiting San Fransisco for a few days. When they arrived at our apartment, they started unleashing the omiyage, or gifts, from the motherland. Christmas and Hanukkah came early!!!

Apparently their father gets a lot of cosmetic samples, so they generously shared some of their fortune. With the exception of the Chanel lip palette, the above are all sample products. Clockwise from the top left: facial moisturizing masks, hair treatment oil (that I saw and eyed at Mitsuwa, incidentally), heating packs, sun block base, more heating packs, flowery-scented lotion-soaked cotton wipes, strawberry-honey lip cream, buttery lip cream, sheer "sakura pink" lip cream, and a shimmery facial powder that supposedly makes one more photogenic.

The Chanel lip palette was from their mother--this set is apparently only available in Asia. I played around with it today and got overly excited and applied all four colors to my lips.

They had an early flight today, so when we got home I just fell asleep in the heated table. I couldn't even play Animal Crossing. After I woke up, the living room immediately started to fall into a most disorderly state. Naturally.

Comme des Garcons for H&M

Early this morning I went to H&M to check out the Comme des Garcons collection. Basically, it was madness! I don't know whether to be impressed by the experience or embarassed by passively participating.

I left with no clothes, a bad taste in my mouth, my dignity intact, and the delusional-but-sweet feeling that I was refunded $180. I should've done my homework--of course Chicago would be overstocked with the tops, which range from tiny to enormous, but with none of the items that were probably only made in small sizes. Apparently there were only 6 of those $349 dresses, 5 of which were at 5th Ave in NYC, and 1 in San Fransisco. There were also no tux jackets in Chicago, and there were a total of 5 skirts on the floor. I saw two of them, one on a mannequin and one hanging high above on a weird cage apparatus. I don't even know where the other three were originally placed on the floor. It would've helped to know where things were on the floor; otherwise you just wander in, disoriented by pure chaos.

Everything else was incredibly mediocre and uninspiring, so it was especially surreal to see all these people get bestial. Most people were pretty decent, but there were some remarkably offensive characters. Both men and women were going for the "drop crotch" pants, which I don't understand. The $199 trench coats were coming back from the fitting rooms, and I felt one--so thin! A lady who was behind me in line got a deconstructed jacket (I only saw two of those) and let me feel it--so thin! I tried on one of the simple blazers, thinking it might be a sufficient replacement for the tux jacket--so thin! So boring! I looked like I was getting dressed to go to the accounting job I've had for 30 years. Maybe it's better that I don't even see the tux blazer or feel the skirt, because it'd be so disappointing.

But it was an interesting social experience. I recognized the tiny 12 year old Tavi, whose blog I sometimes read (she ditched her morning classes but not the social studies test--hehe, remember "social studies"?), and there were other bloggers taking notes and pictures. I talked to "The Sassy Peach," who has an inadvertent picture of me and quotes me in her post about today. (She was in fact not sassy, but perfectly peachy.) A number of women had apparently done this before, and register totals for a bag full of items were non-issues. I felt like some of them could just get, or have, real Comme des Garcons items. I'm sure there were resellers in there too, but they're harder to pinpoint. I was essentially left wanting to revisit the Comme des Garcons store in Tokyo and disappointed that "democraticizing" high end fashion via H&M is not giving opportunities to the masses, but really just letting the mob take over. I am looking forward to Old Orchard this weekend for some normalcy, where I will go "thinking" I have an extra $180 to dispense. Surely Mordecai will bring me back to reality, for better or for worse.

H&M? CDG?

Who knew my tissue box holder would be a warm hat?
Or that one day I would get to wear the sunglasses my mother always wore when I was a child?

I am wondering if I should go to H&M tomorrow to check out their "Comme des Garcons for H&M" line. I don't really like my clothes to be "deconstructed" but the pleated skirt and the tuxedo jacket look like winners!

It's unclear to me how crazy these waiting lines get, and if it depends on which H&M you go to. Ours on Michigan Avenue is the only one not in New York or California where the clothes will be available. That sounds potentially scary. I don't have any commitments until 11AM tomorrow though, so maybe I'll just check the scene out even if I can't touch any of the clothes.

Most Recent Wanty Acquisition

Wanty Acquisitions

Some wanty items that were acquired not long after creating the original Wanty List include the black vesty thingie from Forever 21, a ridiculous American Apparel bodysuit, a Target school uniform skirt, and Jonathan Saunders for Target skirt.

I'm still not entirely sure how to wear this thing. It could probably pass as a dress, though precautionary measures would be taken. Anyway, I love it.

This is another strange purchase. American Apparel's oxford shirt did not meet Mordecai's increasingly high standards for shirts, so the in-store credit went to me, because really, what is Mordecai going to get at American Apparel? I was intrigued by the bodysuit and its exposed zipper, and figured I should go all out and get the pop colors instead of being modest and monochromatic. Obviously, this is layer-nation territory.

All I have to say is that this girls skirt 1) fit and 2) was $3.24. My birthday is March 24, so whenever I see 324 like that, I get pretty excited. I must figure out how to roll over the waistline like bad Japanese high school girls do, or look like a good Japanese high school girl and keep it knee-high.

I am a big fan of this whole gradation business. It might go by the name of "ombre," though I'm not sure if that was just a Target and Shopbop.com thing or if that's a more general descriptive name. Anyway, this is one of those quasi-famous designers designing weird things for Target. I never posted the Richard Chai for Target skirt I got in the summer, but I remember feeling compelled to buy it because it was one letter away from "Richard Choi for Target."

Wanty Exercise

On a related note, the Republican party spent a lot of money on Sarah Palin since being the VP pick. This doesn't sound like small-town spending, but that doesn't interest me so much as figuring out what I would do with $150K to spend unreasonably in one month (i.e. as Phoebe says, you can't save or buy property or do smart things with it). Wanty exercise of the week!

-Honda Civics are too reasonable, so I'd get a CR-V ($30,000)
-Chanel bag, prince increase and all ($3420--what's another $570?)
-PS3, Rock Band, Rock Band accessories ($1000)
-Various Apple products: Macbook Air, iPhone ($2000?)
-This hat, which Jade showed me just yesterday ($48)

The rest I'd spend on random trips to Japan. As Jermain Dupri once put it, "You know this man takes trips to Japan/Tell them I don't want the runway wet when I land" (on Mariah Carey's "Makin' It Last All Night"). It's sort of scary that if Japan enters the equation, even without all these other wanty items acquired, the money would disappear instantaneously.