Sunday, March 29, 2009

A Few Things and Rum

I ordered some Pina Colada thing the other day when we were out to eat, and it came with a "sidecar" of rum. Now, I am easily confused by things today. Yes, this makes me sound old. However, back when I regularly purchased alcohol, if you wanted a shot of something, you asked for a shot. It didn't come hanging on the side of a glass. It's sorta nice of them to hang that there, but I don't know if I'm supposed to down it like a shot, or if I'm supposed to add it to the drink and stir it in. You see my conundrum? If you wanted an "Upside down" drink, you had to lean backwards over the bar and the bartender poured the alcohol directly into your mouth, and you stood up quickly (with your lips firmly shut) and shook your head like a dog and then swallowed. Very sluttish, but I did indeed do that on more than one occasion. Big deal. Shut up. I had flaming shots, double shots, all sort of shot, but they never came hanging on the side of a drink.
So, I get this drink and my kids and husband all are staring at it, because these days if you drink ANY alcohol the "DARE" and "MacGruff the Crime Dog" saturated youth views you as a depraved pervert. Anyhow, they were staring at me with digust and disdain, and I didn't care. So, I pick up the "sidecar" and ask my husband..."what, do I do a shot? Or do I stir it into the drink?" and he had no clue, plus he probably couldn't hear me because he hadn't had his skull drilled out, yet. So, one of my kids, who I will deal with severely later, started chanting, "chug, chug", which was dumb since I wasn't drinking beer at a Frat house. More on that later.
So, I took a tentative sip of the liquor in the shot glass. Oh my Dear God. It was like nectar. It was some of that spiced rum. I could seriously drink that all day and night instead of water. It was DElicious! I got all excited and had my husband taste it, and he liked it, too. I didn't let my children taste it, although one of them, and yes it was the one chanting "chug" did ask to taste it and I quite strongly told him, 'NO! It's MINE!" and then I sipped the rest of the delicious rum. Try as I might, I cannot find a picture of this concoction. Google has failed me.
Never fear, though. I am going on a cruise in June, and I intend to drink many more of these lovely little bebidas. I will take a picture of one. Or more.

Next time: I think I'll tell you about the best hand cream in the entire world.

Monday, March 16, 2009

For the woman who has everything...

Go here:

http://www.bagsnob.com


I am not only a makeup freak, but I am a compulsive bag collector. Not purses from Walmart, mind you, but purses nobody else has(at least not where I live). I am drooling over an Hermes Birkin bag, but know that if I purchase one, my caveman husband will finally lose what's left of his mind and A. possibly kill me; B. actually pull the house down around our ears in rage; C. Burn all my bags and force me to carry plastic grocery bags instead.

See, he doesn't understand that I have bags and use bags I've had for well over 20 years. They look brand new to this day. You get what you pay for with bags, shoes, makeup, spas..and I'm sure I'll think of something else.

My first snobby bag purchase was a Gucci bag. It is small, and a triangular prism shape. I still love it, although it's more useful to me now as a wallet. When I held that bag in my hands, my fate was sealed. I very quickly found a way to purchase a Louis Vuitton bag. I must admit, my mother paid for most of it, but I paid for part of it. I still love the SMELL of that bag. After that, I was a poor college student, and I was unable to procure the bags to which I had become accustomed. Then, I was a poor newlywed, then a poor new mother. You get the idea. After several years, I was once again able to buy pretty much whatever I wanted, (if I was prepared to deal with George of the Jungle's wrath, that is.) In quick succession, I purchased Kate Spade; many Dooney & Bourke (easily purchased here...now I am not in love with them anymore..);Fendi; and then my Coach obsession began.

I truly love Coach products. One of my most prized finds is a pair of brown suede Coach boots with fringe down the sides. I got them at the outlet for $26.00. That's right, boots that were originally over $400.00 I got for less than $30.00. That's American Dollars, baby.

Then, I realized the Coach wristlets are PERFECT keychains! I quickly obtained many in different colors, textures, etc. I realized I was in desperate need of a Coach tote. I got a bright red tote with black handles and I used it a little bit. Now it's in it's dustbag. Then, I got a huge Coach black messenger bag. LOVE IT. LOVE IT. It's perfection. Still use it. LOVE IT. After that, I purchased a colorful spring striped bag that showed every speck of dirt in the world. It has not been used since that spring. I learned something: don't get pastel colored bags. They show dirt. Get leather. Get dark canvas. Don't get fun stripes. I then purchased a huge saddle leather colored Coach bag. Between that and my messenger bag, I almost needed no luggage to go to Paris.

I made my way with all due haste to Hermes' flagship store. Holy Mother of God. The smell of the leather in there was almost my undoing. There were saddles for sale in there. In the middle of Paris! Scarves as far as the eye could see...perfume nooks and crannies, tres chic salespeople who could tell I was ready and willing to spend those Euros. Oh, and purses! I purchased several perfumes, (I usually get migraines from any perfume and I've never had that happen with a Hermes scent..I'll do a whole blog on that later.), a couple of scarves and alas, Caveman was with me, so he was eyeballing everything I touched and quickly mentally converting the Euros to dollars in his head. He realized the purse I was fondling was over $1,000 US dollars. He actually told me to put it down. I was astonished at his bravery, and as a nod to his manhood, I put the purse down and contented myself with the perfumes and scarves and mere experience of being in Hermes. (Bastard always puts a damper on my party.)

I somehow acquired a very large pink canvas Dooney last year. I don't even remember how or why I purchased it. I like pink, maybe that's why. That bag looks like I drug it through a mud puddle. Repeatedly. It is now stuffed away in my closet on one of my purse shelves. It disgusts me. Someone told me to take it to the dry cleaners, and I might, but not yet. I need to keep it as a reminder to not buy that sort of bag.

There are bags that are considered "The Holy Grail" of bags that most people have never heard of, much less care about. I have heard of them. I Google them obsessively, and try to find ways to justify several thousand dollars spent on a purse. I will let you know when I can justify that damned Birkin bag to Caveman. I will fondle it and cuddle it and probably sleep with it right next to my head. I will give it a good and loving home. I will not put it anywhere near those horrid canvas stained bags.

Anyhow, check out the Bag Snob site. It's very informative and has great pictures of different bags.