“The History of the Cheap Dress”, on Etsy
A fascinating and brief history of the rise of cheap clothes. Focused on women, but men can learn much from it, too. Two of the key results of this trend are a glut of clothes on the second-hand market and too many people impulse buying cheap clothes they don’t need.
(via putthison)
Oy. I think I bought 12 new pieces of clothing in the past week! Feeling even more guilty now. But you should see my cool new tops! :-/ (via mrenzulli)
(via mrenzulli)
We had a rare sunny day in CLE, one where the light was beautiful and golden, so I took some pics in my western-exposure bedroom. I wondered if you’d like a peek?
My bed is actually made! I’ve got pink and green sheets going right now- the color of the heart chakra. (Yes I get kinda new-agey sometimes.)
My dresser has a lot going on right now, I know. My favorite is that globe- it’s a light! It has a really warm glow at night.
It’s starting to look like I have a lot of medications! That’s the price of getting old, folks ;)
The Christmas Cactus is blooming for the second time this year! It’s probably confused with the CLE weather like the rest of us O_O.
Hmm, my bedroom. I think I’ll head up there now!
PS- what did you think of the tour?
So last Friday, “Good Friday”, I took my own advice and took a mental health day. I checked my vacation balance before I left work on Thursday- I have twenty-four days left to use by the end of the year- that will average out to taking three per month. (Yet I still feel guilty taking them.)
Fridays are my favorite day of the week to take off. But this one disappointed with the weather- I think this photo is brighter than I remember the day. It was grey, about forty-two degrees, and light misting to pouring rain ALL DAY! Aargh.
I did some of the usual household chores; dog-walking (pictured above), a load of laundry, dishes. Some reorganizing here and there. Thought I’d try out some new wax I got on super-clearance and it was AWESOME. A creme wax with tea-tree or eucalyptus but anyway it was this gorgeous shade of blue!
So I waxed the lower part of my legs. (too much information?!)
I told people on twitter http://twitter.com/#!/AHGinCLE that I was going to roll westside and did anyone want to hang out…? It was a pleasant surprise that many answered the call! In fact more than I did end up seeing. Stopped to get some La Bella Cupcakes http://www.labellacupcakes.com/ then messaged @LennieBK http://twitter.com/#!/LennieBK to see about meeting two-month old Simon. We had a great visit and before I knew it 6pm had rolled around. I took the looonnngggg way home by driving surface roads; had dinner with hub and then announced I was going to take a nap. It was eight PM. I didn’t get up again until the next day!
To conclude- Fridays *are* good; take a day off; see friends when you can, and take the long way home.
Cleveland from a distance…
barleywhine asked: Hey Alicia! Dave and Steve Faulstich here. Great Tumblr site! Love the post on Real Simple. We just started a little beer review site on Tumblr as well: barleywhine.tumblr.com. Would love it if you checked it out and gave us your thoughts. We also tweet beer thoughts @thebarleywhine.com. We all need to get together soon to drink some exotic brews!
cool guys! good to hear from you!
I would like to think of this as a photo of me with my office mates.
Some events at work lately have reminded me about how much I’ve learned in the workplace that I didn’t know when I started. And oh, let me tell you, I am a person who thought they knew it *all* at age 12. Frankly, I still had that attitude when I got hired. The thing is, you may get hired in my field if you know “facts”, but you won’t survive if you don’t know people. It’s the people part I’ve learned since I’ve started- and I’ve still got lots to learn.
Play Nice
You may think that person X is a dummy and needs to get out of your way. You may be ambitious and think person Y is all that stands between you and success. But the other people around will take note if you start conflict, are a drama queen, or just generally don’t place nice; and when it’s your turn to move up, they may hold that against you. Practice empathy- seeing things from the other person’s perspective. That’s a skill that will serve you well in life in general.
Share Your Toys
At work lately it seems like the interns are the toys (!!) that people want to share. If the boss comes around and wants your intern to scan slides for them, you’d better not object. Frankly, your “toys” could just be your talents. Be a team player and help people out when there is a big project.
Temper Tantrums
It took me a while to get used to the fact that at work there are some *extremely* smart people who will occasionally act like children, and have pouted, whined, and thrown temper tantrums. In the past this behavior was tolerated, but now we have a new man at the top who I doubt would tolerate that if he heard about it. Again, it doesn’t matter how smart you are, if you act like a baby at work, no one’s going to like you. If you are reading this, you must be friends with me, and I doubt that you pull that sh!t.
Take a Time Out
I put in my self-evaluation last year that I “strive for a good work/ life balance, and like to take time off as the year goes on, rather than hurriedly at the end of the year before it expires.” (This is what the majority does, and work is a ghost town the last two weeks of the year because of it.) I don’t know about you, but I mostly can’t afford to take a “real” vacation. Besides, what a hassle to spend an entire day answering the bajillion emails that pile up while you’re gone. So, I take mental health days. There are even days that I’m “just not feeling it” and I call off. (My husband can’t do that, so if you can’t, I empathize.) The point being- I never want to be at work in a totally foul mood. Everyone can sense it when you are, and one of those whiny smart people might accidentally set me off.
If I had been paying more attention in kindergarten, I wouldn’t have needed to relearn this stuff in my 20s and 30s. ;)
music to get dark to
This photo was attached to an email with the headline- “Simplicity is the essence of modern living”
I guess marketers know what they are doing. The pitch- “simplicity is the essence of modern living.” The hook- your modern life is anything BUT simple. But if you buy our product, your living/dining/bedroom will look as clean and streamlined as you see this room right here.
I have found myself staring at photos of dimly lit church interiors lately, trying to mentally place myself someplace like here
The truth is modern life is anything BUT simple. We thought we would make things easier by adding more technology but all it does is make us more harried.
The funny thing is the Romans painted idyllic landscapes on the walls of their country villas and made shepherds and milkmaids the subject of poetry two thousand years ago, idealizing the simpler way of life. Apparently “modern life” was stressful then, too.
The human dream for a simpler life may always be out of reach.
Facsimile page with Hildegard’s Vision (Liber Scrivias), c 1150-1200 AD; (original lost during WW II)
So I was preparing a powerpoint, matching up slides with images in Stokstad, and learned the caption for this image originally read-
In the year 1141 of the incarnation of Jesus Christ the Son of God, when I was forty-two years and seven months of age, a fiery light, flashing intensely, came from the open vault of heaven and poured through my whole brain…And suddenly, I could understand what such books as the psalter, the gospel and the other catholic volumes of the Old and New Testament actually set forth.
—I am forty-two years and seven months of age right this minute!
