Stop! Hammer Time! Courtesy of BCBG

I came across this gem today while doing some indian summer cleaning. Apologies to the fashionista crowd for being a season behind. I'm an excellent procrastinator.
The BCBG Max Azaria outlet store in Carlsbad has recently made its way to the top of my heavy rotation shopping route, and when I got their summer / fall catalogue, I was excited to see what I would find on the racks there in a few months. Once they made clearance prices, of course.

And so I anxiously thumbed through the pages and saw...
Photo 1 - ooh, cute dress, very nice, have to try that on. would make the girls look good.
Photo 2 - not so me, but cute pieces. dig the bag.
Photo 3- stopped breathing. good lord. oops i crapped my pants pants! Are you serious BCBG? MC Hammer must be filing lawsuits like crazy because I think, if anyone, he's got the patent on these contraptions. although maybe not the cropped version. It also kind of looks like she might have put her shirt on her legs. Hmmm.

(Click photo to enlarge, then back on your browser)



I have a feeling I am going to see heaps of these in the outlet store come November. Let me know if you want me to pick you up a pair or three. They're available in a variety of practical colors. Only $158 / pair. But I can probably grab them for $19 at the outlets.

Oh Martha, what have you done? Presenting the Baby Lobster Costume

This little gem is my favorite email from the inbox this AM.
From the title, I thought there was some definite cute potential.
And then I looked at the photo.


Am I the only one who thinks there is something a bit wrong with this?



Scroll down






Ready?



Just in time for Your Labor Day Low Country Boil Party!








He's on a friggin platter!
With condiments and garnish.


I am really hoping that we don't see headlines in the next few months about some redneck that boils his baby in a lobster costume.

But good thing there's still plenty of time to get all that sewing done before Halloween. Looks like I'll finally be ready for those human sacrifices I think about making every autumn, but always seem to put off.

Courtesy of Martha Stewart Craft of the Day. Which I am not sure why I get, but may not be unsubscribing from in the near future if it continues to provide this much entertainment.

Lobster Costume How-To

What we learned at Disneyland

1) Unfortunately, the parking garage does not accept magic, love, and / or Disney spirit as payment.

2) There is no alcohol sold within the park. (*** exception below)
There *are* several eating / drinking establishments with deceptively misleading names like The Mint Julep Bar and Refreshment Corner. But don’t waste your time sprinting to them for an early happy hour. Unless you want some juice or a Coke.

3) Fat people carts, fka The Jazzy, are now being referred to as “Electronic Convenience Vehicles” (ECVs). For those of you with legitimate non weight-related medical issues, and the elderly, ride away. To the rest of you, please consider walking.

4) Johnny Depp is even stunningly hot as a mechanical fake pirate figure. I almost fell out of the Pirates of the Caribbean boat several times turning around to ogle him. (No photo available. I was so starstruck I forgot about my cameraphone)



5) It is a children’s park.
This means, among other things, that Uncle Walt and staff will not allow you to purchase a photo of you and your friends on a ride if someone is performing a “boob grab” (Official Disney Terminology. I kid you not). They will, however, send a nice patient manager out to give their inflexible inappropriate photo policy spiel, and you will be kindly escorted back to the ride (ironically, to the front of the line, with the fat people waiting on their ECVs,) to re-ride and attempt a more Disney friendly retake.
So for all you boob grabbers…take a photo of your photo when it appears up on the wall at the end of the ride. We are kicking ourselves for not doing this.

6) When riding the carousel, they *will* yell at you over the loudspeaker if you start whipping your "horsies" with the leather seat belt strap. And they do refer to them as “horsies.”

7) In other Uncle Walt Is Always Watching You infractions…they *can* see you, in the dark, even on the water rides, when you stick your hand into the magic Disney rivers and splash your friends. This will also result in a public loudspeaker chastising.

8) Happily, none of these playful violations results in expulsion from the park, a trip to the naughty chair, or a stay in Disney Jail.
(But how much fun would Disney Jail be?!... Maybe next time. A girl can only dream. )

9) The place is insanely clean. Sweepers with cool hot dog cart like vacuums appeared on Main Street 3 minutes after the end of day Celebration parade to suck up the rainbow colored Mickey confetti that littered the ground. They don’t sell gum. This also means that you don’t see gum on the streets anywhere. I think Disney & Singapore are on to something. Streets and sidewalks look magically new and clean without gum and cigarette butts.

10) It’s a Small World is just as soothing and magical as it was when I was ten.



11) The crowd is interesting and diverse. Princess costumes optional, and of course, sold on site. (The kids XL ones looked potentially wearable, and although tempted, I left empty-handed, unable to find a Tinkerbell one. ) Along with $18 balloons and every imaginable product in your household that they could figure out how to re-brand as Disney.

For those contemplating a visit….

***In 2009, you can get in free on the day of your birthday. You can also get an Express Pass to cut lines. Your friends, however, will all have to pay $72 and wait in lines. But it was definitely worth it. The first week of school seemed to be a good time to go. Lines were all under 30 minutes most of our day, but got a bit longer for everything by late afternoon. A good part of the waiting time turned out to be in the shade, and even in A/C. Go Disney line planning department!

*** Per the staff, it should be packed Labor Day, then die down until Thanksgiving. So those of you with Sept Oct and Nov birthdays, get yourself over to see Mickey and friends pronto. Not sure if they’ll have this birthday thing next year…

***Re: the alcohol thing - You can get your hand stamped and take a 3 minute walk out to Downtown Disney and enjoy a wine or beer with your meal. And the new California Adventure Park does allow adults to drink responsibly. * There is a private place, Club 33, in the New Orleans section of the park that does serve beer and wine, but apparently it has a long wait list (13 years)to become a member. Club 33 Wikipedia

***For the smokers – there are 3 very scenic relaxing clean smoking sections in the park. I had to used them just on principle. If I couldn't drink, I was at least going to smoke. Check your map…one is near Matterhorn, the other by Thunder Mtn Railroad. The other is a bit more hidden and close to the site of our boob-grab incident.

***You can bring water and plastic bottles into the park, but glass is a no-no.


-Princess Rita