Tephie's Personal Bombshelter MarkII

My favorite skirt from back in my grad school days fits¹ again! I love this skirt to pieces, it's black with a vaguely Victorian rose pattern. The fabric is sheer and crinkly and it's put together in tiers with the last tier being short enough to be judged a ruffle. Even though it's tiered it hangs very straight and even though it's sheer it is lined to mid calf (with an nearly as sheer fabric, but it is enough). But the things that make it awesome are that it is long, the ruffle rests on the tops of my feet, and it has movement. Walking in this skirt is amazing because it swirls around like liquid without getting tangled up around my legs.

If you listen carefully you can probably hear my *squee!* of joy at being able to wear this skirt again. Walking out to the mailbox was fun even if it is spitting snow right now. :D

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1. For a value of "fit" where I put it on over my head and squish the boobs through before snugging it down to my waist. It won't go over my hips. This is exactly how it fit when I bought it.

I went to the expensive place for my haircut and I should just suck it up and go there all the time because the extra $4 means I get a freaking awesome haircut. Thank you very much, Dixie!

The good mood today is probably the result of the awesomeness of the hair cut and the fact that I am wearing jeans I have not been able to wear since I left Tucson, size 28 and not stretch denim. :D

Stopped at the Dollar Tree and Walmart for a few travel items. Walmart Optical says my glasses should be ready tomorrow, I really hope that's true because the old pair is on the rapid decline to unwearable unless I figure out a way to fix the ear piece on the right bow.

And I have to wonder about the sizing system used by White Stag (one of the brands that Walmart carries much of). I tried on a 4X shirt and pants, which are labeled as 26/28W... *mimes lifting her arms and looking at extra fabric around her bust* the hell? I didn't bother to try the 3X stuff today but if my glasses really are ready tomorrow I think I will.

I just tried on the trouser socks I bought at Dollar Tree, figuring for a buck I could wear them in my granny boots or something where they could slouch around my ankles after failing to reach my knees. The no name queen sized ones get as far as mid calf, which means they will be slouching about my ankles as expected.

The George ones, for shoe sizes 8-12 and not plus sized at all, actually go to my knee. OMGWTF?! I am SO getting more of these for a buck a pair. I can't remember the last time I got knee high any sort of sock that actually stretched over my calves and made it to my knee. And bonus points for being brown on brown zebra stripes. :D

Or I missed them finding it.

A dragon made of CAKE!

And he's (she's?) a gamer, or snacks on them, there's a d20 there under that foreclaw. :D

Set to Tool's Lateralus, loaded with series spoilers for Fullmetal Alchemist.

Thanks to this post by CraftyHippie on Craftster I now have a source for $5 casual summer shoes.

Most people have no occasion to be aware that those cheap White Stag shoes at WalMart often run up to size 12. I generally just check the bins of the Keds knock offs (with little luck) but the ones with the elastic gores frequently have at least a few pairs of 12s. Until I read the above linked post I never paid much attention to that since the elastic gore made them impossible to wear with my very high instep.

She's right, the gore comes right out clean with just a seam ripper.

Pity they never seem to have 12W shoes in those bins, but so far these seem comfortable enough with thin socks. :) And if they only last a summer, well they were only $5.

*contemplates the things she can do with a supply of cheap black, white, and sometimes navy, kakhi, or red, canvas shoes*

But I ordered myself a birthday gift with birthday cash. Namely Knitting Patterns Book 250. Yes, it is Japanese.

Now I just need to find a good source for cheap, yet nice, summer minded yarn so I can make myself some lace tees.