Since everyone seems to enjoy “Currently Obsessed” so much I thought I’d try out something called “What I Bought” which is like a Currently Obsessed except it’s Currently Purchased, which I don’t think is grammatically correct.

Anyway, I thought I’d switch this one up — instead of the normal copy-and-paste from various web-pages, I thought I’d draw my finds. Aren’t they pretty? Can we talk about how hard markers are to use? And how much they smudge? And how much I had forgotten anything about them? Alas.

I took a little old hike down to the East Village a few days ago because Tricia said I had to checkout UNIQLO. She was right. WALLS OF BRIGHT COLORS. Must do another post on that soon. Anyway, I walked from UNIQLO up to Penn Station and stopped in almost all of my favorite stores along the way, including but not limited to: H&M, Urban Outfitters, American Apparel, Barnes & Noble, The Strand, and Forever 21. I also managed to hit up a drugstore and a grocery store. Big work for one day.

Of course I had to behave myself (SO HARD). With my current budget most of the above purchases were considered splurges. Still, I feel I should be applauded for my restraint.

• I tried on sunglasses in Forever 21 for literally one half hour. I tried on those shown above (which I can’t seem to find on the web-page, but my drawing is accurate in that hot pink and checkers are involved) and these rose colored glasses (hahaha, I’m such a jokester, they have “floral printed frames”). All the glasses are under $6, so it’s hard to convince yourself that you only need one. I managed, though.
• Next in Forever 21: headbands. Rules: under $3. A piece of fabric should not cost more than $3 unless it has feathers coming out of it (and some do, and I wanted them). Anyway, my drawing really doesn’t do this highligher-green flowered-mesh-style headband justice, but the real thing does its job, which is to get my annoying non-bangs out of my face and not sticking randomly in the air.
• At UNIQLO, where I fell in love with and tried on several items, I only ended up with one purchase — and it was BLACK. Black tights! Of all the yellows, oranges, turquoises, greens, pinks, blues! Of all of the colors in that store! I got black! They were on sale for $2, and the other two pair of black tights I own have HOLES IN THEM. So, needed.
• I have had old tea bags sitting around my house (ie gross flavors I’ve had since college… oh! fail!), and I have been craving tea and avoiding the old tea bags, so I decided to get new ones. I love sampler packs especially when they are in fun flavors. I prefer Lipton over Celestial Seasons (though they do have delightful sampler packs themselves) because Lipton puts each tea bag in its own little sack which in my head means it is preserving freshness. Anyway, this Lipton: Collection of Flavored Black Tea (which apparently you can buy online) contains Blackberry, Orange & Spice, Honey & Lemon, Spiced Chai, Mint, and French Vanilla. (I sort of want to be cooler about my tea, and buy loose leaf and have one of those little metal tea balls with the holes in it, but I have to take my life one step at a time. This step doesn’t involve loose leaf tea.)
• When I went into Barnes & Noble to get a little work done, I wanted to sit in the cafe. To sit in the cafe you have to purchase something (edible). And, since I didn’t plan ahead and bring any food with me on my day-long journey into the bottom of Manhattan, I went for a double chocolate cupcake. It was good. I know, I was right there in Manhattan near all of the best cupcakes in the UNIVERSE and I went for a B&N cupcake. Don’t judge. I was really hungry.
• I have been using this free sample I got of brownish blush for about five months. Finally, I marched into the drugstore and picked me up some pink (“central park pink” blush to be exact). I chose the NYC (New York Color) brand because they are super inexpensive. (Alright, so maybe I’m not helping the economy THAT much.)
• And finally, the biggest purchase of the day: a light weight purple cardigan from Forever 21 for only $12! I love the color and I constantly wear cardigans because I prefer not to reveal my arms. Since it’s light weight, no one will look at me weird for using it in the summer.

As it turns out, Tricia & I know a boy who works at ModCloth, one of the most fabulous online clothing retailers in existence (TRUE). As far as I have been informed, Tricia & he served coffee and vegan brownies at the most delightful & artsy coffee shop on campus, while he & I shared stories in literary magazines and writing classes.

In conclusion, these anecdotes prove that Mod Cloth is a haven for we creative-types, thus, since we have spent this entire weekend turning all of the clocks in our entire house forward one hour (spring forward!), indicating the coming of spring, we three bloggers of S&D have chosen a total of 10 favorite spring items from Mod Cloth to get you ready for your sunny debut.

Maria’s Picks

1. Alright, so I’m an idiot and the Lo and Boho Pashmina in all of its turquoise glory and featured in my delightful collage above is SOLD OUT! But my reasoning behind its selection stays true for my second-favorite neck-thing (A Study in Scarlet Scarf, $27): They say March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb (for those of you not in the northeast, “lion” = “two feet of snow”). This will keep your neck warm during the spring in-between-season, but its bright colors (yay) still say SPRING pretty loud-and-clear.

2. The Classic Wayfarers ($10) Great for sliding across the floor in your socks and underwear (cough, cough, Tom Cruise). Or blocking the sun. Also, 90% cheaper than the Ray-Ban-originals.

3. Plaid Poise Dress ($65) Get ready to serve ice tea to your lawn-cutting husband, because you are now clothed in a dress cut for a prim-and-proper 50s housewife.

4. Rose Colored Tights ($30) I’m pretty sure these tights will inspire roses to grow. They are much better than the fruit ones I own (which are covered in grapes, oranges, bananas, etc without a single space for solid colors, so much so that three times while wearing them I’ve been asked a question about the “tattoos” on my legs leading me to believe that I should put them in Disney vault, so to speak — anyway, I don’t think these tights will recreate any Fruit Tattoo-esque Incidents).

Tricia’s Picks

5. Wuthering Heights Jacket ($48) This is perfect for spring-time ambulations in the park, and features the most glorious ribbon pin that I have ever seen.

6. Cycle Knee Socks ($12) Due to a decrease in sidewalk obstacles (good bye random ice chunks), spring is a good time to ride a bike!  One must only heed potholes!  (and sometimes small children…unless the children are ugly…then, i guess, concentrate on the potholes.)

7. Whistle Stop Boots ($170) These boots are good for the current transition period between winter and spring.  I really admire how the leather on these boots are cut to resemble a radiator grid!  Jeffrey Campbell always has interesting designs, and his shoes are extremely well-made and comfortable.

8. Nantucket Weekender Dress ($95) Ideal for adventures to Long Island’s North Shore, or in my case, to Lake Geneva.

Lorraine’s Picks


9. Everlasting Love Dress in Sky ($40) Just add fairy wings.

10. Ship Shape Tote (On Sale for $19) I’ve been eyeing this tote for a while now: wouldn’t it be great to take on a lazy day to the park? (Or a viking adventure?!)

1. 50s Silk Blue Swing Dress, indigolace on ebay
2. Adrienne Vittadini Silk Scarf, sarmar04 on ebay
3. Lacina Top, Anthropologie, $39.95
4. Sunglasses, Forever 21, $2.99
5. Chirp and Tweet Dessert Plate, Anthropologie, $14
6. Red Wool Princess Coat, shop blue bird on ebay
7. Cupcake Apron, Boojiboo on etsy, $28.75
8. Painted Rose Hairclips, Forever 21, $2.80

I have to dedicate this post to my co-worker, Patrick, who recently lent me season one of Pushing Daisies. The exchange went somewhat like this.

Patrick: Would you like to borrow my season one Pushing Daisies DVDs? [Read: I would like to have someone to discuss Pushing Daisies with on Thursday mornings. Please watch quickly, and get caught up.]
Tricia: Umm…okay.

He gave me the DVDs, and I watched. In one day, I watched six episodes. Consecutively. Yes, I understand that this fact is a little embarrassing. Which is why, after the sixth episode, I left the apartment to get a cupcake. Then I returned, and resumed watching.

Produced by ABC, Pushing Daisies is the most whimsical, wildly imaginative TV series that I have ever watched. Visually, Pushing Daisies resembles a love child between Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Tim Burton (Ignore the biological impossibility! Imagination!). Since Amelie is my favorite movie, by far, it makes sense that I am utterly smitten with Pushing Daisies. There are even a few parallels between Pushing Daisies and Amelie!: the Pie Hole (Montmartre café), Chuck (English-speaking Amelie!), costume design, and the first episode of Pushing Daisies even features a song from the Amelie soundtrack!

The plot revolves around Ned, a pie-maker with the ability to bring dead things back to life with the touch of his finger. After reawakening the dead, Ned has a minute to retouch the person. If he doesn’t, the dead thing stays alive and someone else dies in exchange. Finally, if he touches anything that he had once revived, the thing stays dead forever. Make sense? I hope so. Ned and Emerson, a Private Investigator, use Ned’s extraordinary gift to solve murder crimes (and cash in on the reward money). Originally, this plan worked well, until Ned had to reawaken his childhood sweetheart, Chuck (!@#!@$%!$!@#!$%!!!!)

Ned can’t bring himself to un-reviving Chuck from the dead. Which is great, because I ADORE CHUCK! She is brilliant! Witty! Quirky! Charming! Adventurous! Oh, Chuck! How I wish I could be you! Chuck is a hybrid of Zooey Deschanel, Rory Gilmore, and AMELIE. Some of my favorite fictional/real people! So many exclamation points! Furthermore, Chuck always wears the most sparkling clothes! She pairs wonderful dresses with perfect little cardigans! Chuck joins Ned and Emerson, and the show chronicles the team’s sleuthing adventures.

So after six straight episodes of Pushing Daisies, what do I think about? How can I be like Chuck?! I subsequently went to this Pushing Daisies fan site (where all the pictures in this post are from!) to oogle at the Pushing Daisies cast (mostly Chuck). Chuck wears a lot of 1950s swing dresses, and ebay is the perfect place to find them. The dress up, up above has a Chuckish silhouette, and is well-tailored too! On trips to the morgue, Chuck frequently wears bold-colored wool coats, sunglasses and scarves so Mr. Coroner doesn’t recognize her. (Her disguises are kind of fruitless, but I enjoy seeing her disguises nonetheless!) I wear nearly as many cardigans as Mr. Rogers, and Chuck seems to be the same way too! I’ve always fawned over Anthropologie’s dainty cardigans. They’re always so cozy and detailed! Chuck also enjoys lovely hair things: Audrey Hepburn-sized hats and flower hair clips! When she isn’t at the morgue, Chuck helps Ned bake pies (and even suggests that the Pie Hole should serve CUP PIES…CUPCAKE-SIZED PIES…panda-precious!), and wraps herself in cute aprons. Lastly, a perfect plate for the Pie Hole’s famous Three Plum pie. Yummy!