Happy Christmas

A little bit late but I hope everybody had a great day with friends and family. I was with my Mum, Dad, brother Giles and sister-in-law Carol (and their cat Mollie and dog Riley). It was all very lovely but I got a horrible cold, was running a fever and am now home contemplating a bath and some lemsip.

Home

It may be freezing (Heathrow is effectively closed), and I may be grading but there really is no place like home.

Off to the UK

As my silence has shown, the last few weeks have been brutal at work. At times fun, energizing, academically rigorous, challenging, emotionally and intellectually rewarding, but hard. I think I've put in at least 70 hours each week and while I didn't burn out (a testament to my students as well as my choice of career), I didn't do anything else but work and sleep. I bumped into one of my students today and we chatted about our lack of sleep and the things we had to let slide (I refuse to give up on showers, for example).

I'd say at least it's all over. But it isn't. I've graded the one grad paper that came in but the other 43 are going to hit me soon. Likewise, I'm halfway through Media and Fashion. Thankfully my students write well. I've also got three dissertations to read. I'd take them on the plane but I'm already overloaded with gifts despite buying a lot of people books from amazon.co.uk. I've packed very little Mayle (frigid temps at both ends make it unsuitable) along with sweaters, jeans, leggings and skirts--I've had to pull things out of my bag like Izolda that I would have worn but I still think I could end up having to check something despite my best intentions. The box of Graham Crackers I have for Jenny, Giley's Uglydoll and Sadie and Max's game and my Agnes bag have filled up my tote bag to the point that I don't think it will pass muster as my personal item...

So, I am off tomorrow morning leaving Evan to hold the fort and tend to the cats. Remy is still on medication (fourteen weeks and counting) and I hope he is able to wrangle her on his own. It's a brutal early morning tomorrow--my flight leaves at 8.35 am (all the better to prevent jet lag). I will likely blog in the interim, but until then, here's a picture of Peeps whom I will miss while I'm gone. She's currently wearing her chicken hat and drinking from my water glass. No cat loves water as much as her. And no little girl cat is as loved by her Mummy.

And not to leave them out, here's the fabulous, happy, elegant, confident and loving Blue and our little chubby, complicated, affectionate diva, Remy.

                                                              Blue

                        Remy, our green eyed girl, in her Elizabethan collar.

Yes, we do live in a cat house... Obviously I will miss Evan tons but at least we can talk on the phone. Maybe Peeps will talk to me but the other two are usually silent (except when growling at each other) so these photos will have to suffice in the interim.

Caroline's Mayle

Just a quick note as I am swamped beyond all measure writing grad school letters of recommendation, grading 40 papers and preparing lectures. Caroline's Reiko has sold--all other pieces (I believe) are still available. More Mayle for sale soon--and some other goodies too.

Mayle for Sale

As promised, here's the first installment of some Mayle that's for sale. Caroline (complicatedskirt[at]gmail[dot]com) is selling this re-edition Reiko from the Ten Little Indians collection.

It's a size 4, fits a 4-6 (if it was bigger, I'd buy it from her). She's asking a very reasonable $175.

For Sale

I'll be posting a few more pieces of Mayle soon, but in the interim, Caroline has a few pieces of Miu Miu, Prada and others that she's selling. If you are interested, email her at complicatedskirt[at]gmail[dot]com.

First up is this Prada skirt:

It's a size 40 so should fit a 6, even a small 8. It's a shorter skirt and Caroline's asking $75.

Miu Miu dress:

This dress is a size 40 but it runs super super small and tight. $100 or best offer.

She is also selling this Thakoon dress.

While it is a size 6, this dress fits more like a 4. Again $100 or best offer.

Burlesque

I hope everybody had a great Thanksgiving weekend. We headed up to Boston (to Evan's sister's house) on Thursday morning and caught the Friday evening train back to NYC so we could give Remy her antibiotics. Thankfully, my cold had practically gone so I could enjoy eating and visiting. We also visited the Natick mall to get Hanukah gift for the children--so I visited several tween stores, making it the full mall experience. I also discovered that the NYC branches of stores like Club Monaco and Madewell are relatively large, even if they don't seem that way. So no temptations for me but it was fun and we had some success in our gift buying. Actually, I did get some yoga pants and a tank from the Gap fit line--for a total of $38.

After much anticipation and excitement, Ben, Brynn and I went to a matinee screening of Burlesque. We're all fans of 1930s musicals and adore Showgirls, so hopes were high. In the spirit of high camp and excess--despite the cold winds--Ben and I both worse sequins to the screening--his Halloween top my silver J. Crew miniskirt. We also prefaced the screening with a visit to Billy's bakery and bought deserts into the theater (coconut cream pie for me, pumpkin whoopie pies for Ben and Brynn). Let me say, neither the film nor deserts disappointed--both were sweet and somewhat ironic creations. At times, the movie was so good/bad, I felt sequins exploding from my heart. I have a soft spot for Christina Aguilera (a girl with talent unlike so many teen starlets, even if she goes awry at times). She can actually act and the film was a perfect vehicle for her sensibilities--at their best when she is somewhat retro, as she was in Burlesque. Granted the film had nothing to do with real burlesque, had little plot and was pretty much tailor made for gay men and their female friends, but that's what made it such perfect escapist entertainment for a cold late November day.