Happy Halloween

....from the All-American family: Uncle Sam, Babe-raham Lincoln, the Statue of Liberty, Betsy Ross and Capt. America.

Pimp Your Caffeine

I used to mock my husband over his caffeine addiction. "You're just weak," I told him while I skipped around with loads of energy.

Then we had kids.

Yeah, now guess who can't function without a constant caffeine drip. Honestly, if I don't have a shot of espresso first thing followed up by a good two-three glasses of green tea throughout the day, I'm quasi-comatose by 2 p.m. I want to curl up under my desk, George Costanza-style, and snooze. I'm addicted. Hopelessly, painfully addicted.

But, here's the thing: I can't stand the way coffee tastes. Love the smell — adore it. A whiff of coffee as it bubbles away in a maker takes me back to my childhood and my grandparents' Missouri farmhouse with its linoleum floors and vaguely hay-ish smell and chicks and ducks waiting to hatch in the incubator tucked in the family room. Good times.

Back to the coffee.

Unless it tastes like ice cream, I can't stomach it. Properly diluted with ice and milk, it is palatable. But now it's chilly in the mornings, so iced coffee doesn't cut it. Instead, I make hot chocolate — white hot chocolate is even better because of its ultra sweetness — and cut it with the bitter brew. Coffee that tastes good and, more importantly, gets me through the morning without thinking I ought to do shots of, um, something else, like Jack Daniels.

Layering 101

I think what Mother Nature wants — what she really, really wants* — is a McDLT.

Remember that McDonald's short-lived gem? It kept the hot side (burger) hot and the cold side (tomato, lettuce) cold?

Anyway, here in Tucson, it's hot, it's cold, it's hot, it's cold. Not necessarily in that order. ENOUGH already. Let's leave the weirdness to ill-conceived fast-food marketing.

In the mornings, it's chilly enough to warrant some sort of jacket-y thing. Yet by early afternoon, it's shorts and flip-flops time. I think this outfit works with the wacky weather: J Crew short-sleeved t-shirt dress layered with an H&M jacket from its awesome Garden Collection. The shoes are H&M leopard-print wedges. The Citrine by the Stones necklace was an eBay steal.

*And yes, Spice Girls song references mean it's been a long week and I'm wiped, wiped, really, really wiped.

Friday Fantasy Shoe Haiku — And A Deep Thought

Dainty ballet flat?
No, pricey temptress! Vixen!
Still, I *heart* you, Tod's.

Pictured:
Tod's Deg Ball Mulitmateriale, a whopping $395. But, free shipping! Ha. Just gave my husband a heart attack there. But, it's his own fault really. He brought me the Wall Street Journal's fashion mag, which not only had stories on investment bags (bonus factoid: Victoria Beckham has 100 Birkins!) but an interesting story on Italian-made Tod's. They're crafted by hand and amazing. I like them even though Gwyneth Paltrow once did its ad campaigns (she bugs so, so much).

So, as I was pondering these fabulous shoes and bags, I thought, Well, what if I didn't spend my money on cheap trendy things? What if, instead, I saved up for one or two amazingly timeless pieces that would be treasured until I farted dust?

Could I? Would I?

A friend admitted she's moving more toward that way, and it makes sense — especially when I see what I move in and out of my closet at our quarterly swap parties. But, I'm fickle. I like trends, and I like that I can buy into one for about $20 and then when I'm sick of it in a year, I'm not out of that much money.

I honestly don't think I could spend hundreds of dollars for a thing — that did not come with four wheels and guzzle gas.

What about you? Are you an investment shopper or do you throw down your wallet and snap up every good buy?

Maybelline Volum' Express "The Falsies" Mascara

So normally this would be the part where I offer some illumination into this product in the form of a review. Except one of my kids went all Jackson Pollock on the counter with the mascara wand. So, that was the end of that. Too bad too because this stuff seemed promising.

I only had one shot at the stuff before it was rendered utterly and completely contaminated. I liked how it stroked on and seemed to make my lashes - the righties still recovering from that unfortunate grilling incident over the summer - seem longer. Guess I'll have to pony up for another tube.

Coolest Dress Ever (If You Harbor a Thing for Sock Monkeys)

If monkey, er, money were no object, this dress would be mine.

All mine.

But since it is, I settled for this shirt instead. I wear it when I volunteer in my little boy's kindergarten classroom. It's a crowd-pleaser.

Go check out Hazel & Melvin's Room and look at all the clever sock monkey stuff. Too cute.

Possession Obsession

A coupla things I do not possess, yet I am obsessing over:
• This Nightcap vest is so rock n' roll. I love how it looks like a scarf in the front and has that ha-cha-cha back to it. I would not, however, wear it with a pseudo shirt and lace bell bottoms. Even on a dare.

• I'm now about a month into my cosmetics freak-out period.

I've made about five trips to Whole Foods and umpteen visits to assorted websites in search of beauty products that won't make me grow a third eye. I carry "No More Dirty Looks" by Siobhan O'Connor and Alexandra Spunt (Da Capo Lifelong Books, $14.95) in my purse like some sort of Jehovah's Beauty Witness. The authors gave props to a natural makeup line by W3ll People, which is out of Austin, Texas, so it has to be good (Austin is so very cool). The raved about W3ll People Nudist lipshine. Other online reviews back 'em up, and I was all set to bite until I saw that shipping was $12.95. I'm obsessive, but not crazy.