Confirmation that the Economy is Bad

Nick and I have been looking really hard at the homes on the market in the two towns we've decided to live in. We've seen in excess of 40 homes and are getting kinda of tired of our current housing and are already thinking about all the perks that come with a house (i.e., yard, garages, maybe a pool, basement, etc.) that we get a bit sad when we look around at our crammed and cramped apartment.

About a week ago we a saw a house in our favorite of the two towns in the exact section of town we want to live in. There are some issues with the house (not terrible issues) but ones that we have to consider seriously. We keep talking about this house so we're going to revisit it to see if it was as nice as we think it is and to remind ourselves of where and what everything is. We're also going to see other homes because there's been a surge of listings again and newly listed homes to see and perhaps consider.

I think we're getting close, really close (thank goodness) and of course because we are close, something has to happen. Our realtor quit on us! You read that right, we kinda have no realtor now. Our realtor, D, didn't quit because we were pains but rather due to market conditions and D's realtor dues needing to be paid - a decision had to be made. We aren't panicking more than we feel bad because we've dragged D around since last May when we started looking at homes. On top of that, D is actually a good friend of mine and my family (known D for 17 years!) and we went with him because we felt comfortable and could help a friend out with commission. Being the good friend that D is we are set up with someone he knows who is still in the business and hopefully someone we'll jive with and be able to continue the hunt with. So tomorrow, we see more homes and revisit a bid candidate and of course meet up with D and our potential new realtor.

Wish us luck!

J. Crew Loves the Obamas

On inauguration day I read all over the internet how the President's daughters were sporting J. Crew outfits and how fashionable they looked. I decided to head over to J. Crew's website to do some first family inspired browsing. To my delight J. Crew had a congratulatory message to the first family. When I proceeded to browse, the J. Crew site was down. Why? Because of the millions of people who actually like the new first family and the millions of J. Crew fans (like me) who were given one more reason to window shop - of course the site's gonna be broke.

Today, on a less presidential day I decide to browse J. Crew's site and what do I see...
... how J. Crew outfitted the Obama ladies and are going to include similar pieces in their collections! Michelle's items are going to sell out so fast, J. Crew will survive this economy!

If you haven't figured it out yet, I am a MASSIVE fan of J. Crew clothing. Thankfully my mom taught me to be a savvy shopper and I never pay full price for any piece of my wardrobe (okay maybe I have on a few rare - must have - moments). I find that their pieces are far superior to that of Banana Republic (although I do love BR's clothes) but also have a timeless style to them. I highly recommend checking out some of their drool-worthy jewelry. Just beautiful pieces that you just want to buy and admire up close.

They are having a final sale going on, totally worth checking out.

I Couldn't Resist

Cole Haan was having a lovely sale on their pumps with Nike technology. On top of the ridiculous sale price I was able to get another 30% off and free shipping! I indulged myself with these two pairs of gorgeous darlings with the excuse that they were an investment... in my work wardrobe. *wink*

Let me introduce you to the Cole Haan Fiona Mid Air Pump in Black Patent and the Cole Haan Penny Ot Air in Light Copper.

What a bargain they were and they feel so comfortable the few times I've test driven them at home. I wish I could test run them properly but the weather has been so snowy I've been wearing my Uggs for warmth or rainboots to keep out the wet snow. I'll just have to take them for a whirl within the confines of the offices and wait til the weather becomes more fancy shoe friendly.

I am officially putting myself on a bit of a shopping freeze. With all the holiday shopping and ridiculous post holiday sales I need to stop shopping or else I will become Rebecca Bloomwood of Confessions of a Shopaholic.

Confessions of a Shopaholic

The title of the upcoming movie sounds like a nightmare in which I have to itemize, to the hubby, all of my purchases for the past year... I don't think so! Actually it's a lovely book by Sophie Kinsella that is coming out in movie form next month!

The movie, stars Isla Fisher and according to IMDB's cast list, I think is quite appropriately cast. I just finished the book and loved it! It was so well written that I was quite annoyed by the main character's, Rebecca Bloomwood, disregard of her personal finances all the while being a writer for a financial publication!

I highly recommend the book. There are also quite a few sequels to the book (which I am getting ready to order):
Shopaholic Takes Manhattan
Shopaholic Ties the Knot
Shopaholic and Sister
Shopaholic and Baby

Jenny's Movie Reviews

Burn After Reading
Actors That Got the Big Bucks: Brad Pitt, Frances McDormand, George Clooney
My Take: Can I have the 96 minutes of my life back? The movie kinda didn't make any sense at all and was just plain dumb in the end.

Ghost Town
Actors That Got the Big Bucks: Ricky Gervais, Tia Leoni, Greg Kinnear
My Take: Laughed a lot. Ricky Gervais brings his Britsh accent and humor and really makes the movie.

Step Brothers
Actors That Got the Big Bucks: Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly
My Take: Stupidly funny. Quotable. Saw it twice and like it better the second time around.

House Bunny
Actors That Got the Big Bucks: Anna Faris, Colin Hanks (cameos by Hugh Hefner and the Girls Next Door)
My Take: Hilarious movie. Anna Faris is endearing. There were a couple stupid but necessary storyline events, but overall I really enjoyed it. Even watched it twice!

YUM! Asparagus Pesto with Pasta

I wanted Italian but was too lazy to go out to dinner on a cold ass Friday night. So I decided to make do with what we had. Loads of pasta (a staple in the Tocci house) and asparagus. So I put Google to work and it yielded the following recipe:

Asparagus Pesto with Pasta Recipe

It looked just as good as the picture and even got the thumbs up from the husband to include it as a regular recipe of ours!

2009 Isn't Looking So Promising

I was watching (along with the millions of other people) Dick Clark's Rockin' New Years '09 with Ryan Seacrest (yeah, that's the whole title) and after midnight the after party comes on. The after party started and one of the first (if not the first) performers was Solange Knowles (Beyonce's baby sister) performing, I Decided, from her latest album, Sol-Angel and The Hadley St. Dreams. The hubby and were rocking out to it and commenting how good the song was until it was Solange's time for a close up... SHE HAS A FREAKING STRIPE OF YELLOW ACROSS HER FACE!

I have NEVER seen anything like this without the accompanying war garb and weapons. She's wearing a perfectly appropriate New Year's outfit and someone decides she needs to kick it up a notch and draws a YELLOW stripe across her face! Did the makeup artist forget that eyeshadow belongs on the eyelids and not on the bridge of one's nose?

If this is a sign of things to come, please ask Mr. Dick Clark to rewind to 2008. It was one heck of year but I don't want yellow stripes across the face to be a new thing for 2009. If I was a betting (wo)man I'd put my money on it showing up on the runways and Rihanna probably rocking it if she hasn't already.

Happy New Year!