Strawberries Don't Like Cold Weather, Either.

So, everyone who knows me knows that I'm not the biggest whiz in the kitchen. I can scramble an egg, but I'm not really known for my gourmet meals or desserts.

When a friend asked me to come over for dinner this evening, I tried to come up with an idea that was both inexpensive and yummy. I know! I thought to myself. I have some strawberries in the fridge! I'll cut them up and bring them over for a nice dessert. 


I got home from my afternoon at the beach, went straight to the kitchen and checked out my strawberries. Bad news--they did not seem right. I had anticipated lush, red berries, ready to be diced up and served. But these strawberries seemed hard.

I texted my friend and sorrowfully admitted that the strawberries I wanted to bring to dinner had gone bad.

"They're hard," I wrote. "Do strawberries do that?"

But the more closely I examined the berries, I started thinking..maybe they were just...cold.

"Are they just frozen?" my friend wrote. "Maybe your refrigerator is just cold."

Feeling like an idiot, I wrote back that she was right, and that the berries would be fine. At this very moment, they've been rinsed off and they're thawing on the counter while I write this blog.

So, yeah. Our fridge is pretty darn cold.

Scratch 'n Sniff.

I've become a handbag sniffer.

Don't laugh--it's the fastest way for me to check if the bag is leather or not. See, I'm a handbag fanatic; it's my definite weakness. The past few weeks I've been trying to find a new summer bag, preferably a roomy one for carrying on the plane to Nola. No luck yet.

One problem I've encountered on this search is that my taste is too expensive, even in places like TJ Maxx. It's inevitable that I'm somehow going to find the one $200 Italian leather bag and want it, eschewing the dorky canvas totes in my $25 range. Ulgh.

And lately, another problem I've run into is that, somehow, pleather bags have become chic. How, you ask? Simple--the sales associate declares that the bag is "vegan leather."

Today, for instance, at an unnamed shop in downtown Charleston, a handbag caught my eye. It was a gorgeous shade of chocolatey brown, so I picked it up and--you guessed it--sniffed it.

No cow. More like chemical factory. Yikes.

via slate.com

A waif-ish sales associate came over to me, seeing me assault the bag, I imagine, and asked if I had any questions. "This isn't leather, but I like the color," I told her. (Surely she didn't think I was dumb enough to plunk down that price for a plastic bag?)

She nodded. "Yes. It's vegan leather, and it's very stylish," she declared.

Okay. I understand that vegans don't like leather bags. But does that make it right to pass off a bag made of PLEATHER as something sophisticated enough for that price tag? I just don't get it.

I'm not sure if the "vegan leather not pleather" craze is going to last, but my sniffing habit just might. It's faster than hunting through all that stuffing for a materials tag, after all.

What do you think about this topic, lady readers?

Friend Me.

"People are always asking me, 'How do you have all these great friends?' And I'm like, 'Dude, how do you NOT?'" 

--Alice E. Anthony

I haven't updated in a while, but I'm back. The topic I feel like musing on today is friendship. It seems simple enough, but since I've become an adult (of marrying and/or baby-making age) friendship seems...like more work than it used to be, or it should be. Let me elaborate.

I've always had an abundance of beloved pals. Both male and female friends--constantly someone to drink with, go to shows with, shoot the breeze with. Or, on a more serious note, someone to commiserate with, laugh with, and vent with. Even now, in a relationship with Stefan, I still make time for my people--and I expect them to do the same. Sadly, I feel like a lot of folks, once they settle into family life, don't make the effort as much as I wish they would. I recognize that a lot of us think that, once you have a family, the "party days" of going out with the gang are over. But I would argue that friends have more value than just partying.

Fortunately, I'm blessed to continue to have a few friends who DO value friendship the way that I do. To these friends I plan to hang tight, and as for the ones who fade into the distance with time...well, I guess I can't do much about that, since relationships are a two-way street. But I'll always be there for my people, even if we don't talk from day to day. I won't forget y'all.