Nordstrom Rack Junkie walks away from sale
Yes it is true. Yours truly, Katrina Brea Delarosa this 30th day of October walked away from the clearance
Kate Spade last season bags at Nordstrom Rack.
It could have seemed like a little piece of God's grace, considering last night I was reveling in the beauty that is everything Kate...but I couldn't go there.
I have found three count them THREE really cute inexpensive purses this week, and did not need another.
The fashionista repeats...I DID NOT NEED...
According to most definitions of a fashionista I may not be one anymore...a true fashionista never walks away from a designer sale.
But it wasn't that great of a sale...
Perhaps I am a fashionista with restraint?!?!?!?!?!?
Kind of an oxymoron...
It is 1:00 am on Saturday morning....
I could be doing something productive like studying, but instead I am looking online at
Prada,
Neiman Marcus, and Kate Spade. BTW...if you get a chance you must look at Kate Spade's fashion bag line this year it is amazing!
Kate Spade has been a designer that I have admired from afar for sometime now, but it is only recently that have begun to admire her work from an artistic POV.
Kate has always been known for her classic modernist Jackie O. styles, with a bit of urban funk tossed in the mix. The
Sam, Sydney, and Claire bags are a great example of classic simplicity, while her fashion line is marked with shiny bits of city glam, as modeled in the
Marina shoulder bag and Maddie satchel bag styles. This season's
Kaleidscope Maddie is exquisitely done. It is a bright, multicolored print on soft Italian velvet with a chocolate leather handle. The design shows the side of Spade I love to see, simple, functional, minimalist. The materials shows the decadent, adventurously safe side of Kate's work.
Earlier this year Spade introduced a
home deco line that can be found in select department stores(you can find it at Nordstrom and Saks in PDX). Upon entering the home deco area, I spotted it before I knew it was her. I saw the chocolate circle on the vanilla colored bedspread, and I knew it was my beloved Kate. Her home designs, like her early accessory work, are marked with the same unpretentious flair of a true urbanite.
In addition to her new line, she was a contributing editor for
Architectual Digest this year, which definitely means she has made her mark on the world outside of fashion.
Now that I have spend the last hour looking online at the
Marc Jacobs line...I should go to bed.
My friend the Luddite
I am posting this mainly so he will look at it and giggle.
I was leaving class this evening and received the best phone call in a long time. It was from my friend Curtis.
Curtis for those of you who don't know is one of the greatest people I know. He just recently moved to Wildhorse Canyon, the Young Life property in Antelope, OR. to do a year long internship there.
I had this dream about him a week or so ago, so it was nice to hear from him. Curtis is one of those friends that makes you feel like you are cuddled up by a fire, with a blanket, and a cup of cocoa in the middle of a blistering snow storm. He more often than not is the calm in the midst of a storm. Then again he can be the storm in the midst of the calm if he is being mischieveous.
Again being on the phone with him made me feel grounded again. When everything else is wrong, exhausting, or annoying he can always see the good in all of it.
No matter where I end up in this world, who I become, I know that I always have a place, in his friendship, to remind me who I am.
Below are the lyrics from a song that I love...I hope everybody has people in their lives like this.
Enjoy!
P.S. In case you didn't know a luddite is a person who resists technology.
If I live to be a hundred
And never see the seven wonders
That'll be alright
If I don't make it to the big leagues
If I never win a Grammy
I'm gonna be just fine
'Cause I know exactly who I am
I am Rosemary's granddaughter
The spitting image of my father
And when the day is done
My momma's still my biggest fan
Sometimes I'm clueless and I'm clumsy
But I've got friends who love me
And they know just where I stand
It's all a part of me
And that's who I am
So when I make big mistake
When I fall flat on my face
I know I'll be alright
Should my tender heart be broken
I will cry those teardrops knowin'
I will be just fine
'Cause nothin' changes who I am
I am Rosemary's granddaughter
The spitting image of my father
And when the day is done
My momma's still my biggest fan
Sometimes I'm clueless and I'm clumsy
But I've got friends who love me
And they know just where I stand
It's all a part of me
And that's who I am
I'm a saint and I'm a sinner
I'm a loser, I'm a winner
I'm am steady and unstable
I am young but I'm able
Tired...
I was supposed to spent the day studying...but I was tired. I went to church, had lunch with Trissa and her new boyfriend, Eric, and came home to study...I have been vegging out and sleeping all day. I think I maybe had too much sugar or something...I have been extremely exhausted this week.
I have nothing interesting to say. Although today in church we broke up into pairs and told each other our stories. I was with Eric. I talked most of the time...but I found him to be an intriguing, funny man with a lot of depth. He seemed really patient...definitely a good guy to put up with all of Trissa's crap.(yeah I know your reading this!)
I have a test this week and a paper due. I am exhausted.
The funny thing is I have been getting way more sleep this week because I have not been communiting. Perhaps I need to watch my sugar, carb intake. I have eaten alot of candy and bagels this week...not good.
Fashionista Seeks to be change in world
I had a somewhat comical thought today. I am not a sculptor, nor am I a poet, nor talented musician or thought-proking writer.
Today I decided I am an artist...of sorts.
I love fashion. I love reading fashion magazines, watching glamorous people, noting people's outfits. I spend hours putting outfits together, fixing my hair, and applying make-up. It is my creative outlet. When I am putting on different fun shades of purple eyeshadow, and coral lipstick to off-set the blue cardigan sweater, I feel alive. I sit thinking about how many different ways I can wear my hair(up or down), and how each sets a tone, I feel liberated. Finally when I am shopping and find the beautiful yet not practical orange wrap shirt with the satin waist belt, I ponder upon how trendy it will look with my jeanskirt, aqua 80's shirt, and some dramatic white and lilac eyeshadow. Some would say this is a waste of time, but I disagree.
Society says who we should be, who we should dress like, which style we should fit into. Fashion is the only place that I can dress however I want, when I want to.
Sometimes I want to be preppy, sophisticated girl with my pale pink off the shoulder sweater, my Nordy Rack faux pearls, and my khaki walking coat. Other days I want to be the somewhat cool urbanite with the red poncho, jeans, and the mismatched purse, or the black skirt, jean jacket with knee-length black boots. Still underneath all of the clothes I am still Kat. I like the fact that I can wear so many different clothes and express all of the different parts about...moi.
I sit in bed every morning and think/reflect/pray. This morning I realized that I have not thought about God very much this week. I have thought about politics, fashion, humanity, how to make the world a better place, but not about God. Yet I am convinced that any true lasting change comes from the maker of the heavens and the earth. I lay in my bed trying to muster up what mental energy I had to think upon God, and this is what I am pondering...
Our hearts and minds are created and sustained by God. We nourish our brains, but ultimately all sustainance comes from God. I lay in bed trying to think on God, but He is already in me. He is all around me. It seems silly to try and "think on" God, when He is. Maybe all of the things that I do, think, and hope for are on His mind too. I don't think Jesus is as passionate about who is wearing the fall Burberry line, or if he can get Prada for half price on smartbargain.com, but I do believe he is impassioned about His people being able to express themselves in whichever way that they can.
I think that like me, Jesus wants the world to be a better place, like me He wants to see mankind restored...oh wait..is me being like Him, or me like Him?
Just a girl, who loves an Irish Rock Star, wanting to change the world
You have to become the change you want in the world.
-Bono
Bono arrived late Wednesday evening to an almost sold-out event at Portland's Rose Garden Theatre of the Clouds. He approached the podium with the movements of a rocker, and the words of an passionate activist. This is a man of not only internationally acclaimed talent, but a man with compassionate tenacity, who seeks to rescue the depraved continent of Africa.
The audience was comprised of a diverse crowd, everything from Prada to PBR shirts, Birkenstocks to Dolce and Gabbana heels.(They might have been last season look-alikes from Nine West). I was thankful I decided to wear my poncho and chandelier earrings rather than the make-shift shrug and brooch. God bless the ever functional poncho that can be dressed up or down. Now that we have had our Fashionista Update let's move on to the more important topics...shall we?
Bono began the evening with a story about coming to PDX about 23 years ago. U2 played a show at the Foghorn, to a crowd of about 8. Later that evening his suitcase was stolen, which included the lyrics and music to what should have been the band's second album, October. Today, October 20, almost 23 years later he received the suitcase back with all of the original materials. He thanked the people, and was moved by the generous act of grace he viewed this to be.
Bono moved right into his speech with the comfortable ease of a black southern preacher ready to charge his flock. Bono, the preacher, talked about
DATA, the organization which he co-founded in 2000. DATA is an acronym for Debt,AIDS,Trade,Africa, which can also be synonamous with Democracy, Accountability, Transparency, Africa. He is more than a rock star with a cause, is a man on a mission. A mission to save this continient, which Bono referred to as "in flames". A man who is out to change his world, an ardent pursuer of faith, democracy, and dignity for the people of Africa.
Current statics show that 6,500 people die each day from AIDS,there are 11 million orphans and estimated to be 20 million by the end of the decade. 9,000 people catch HIV every day in Africa. Bono says this is not a cause, it is an emergency.
In 2004, the Bush Administration pledged $2 billion toward foreign assistance to the poorest countries, the largest increase in 40 years. This included a historic intiative to fights AIDS in Africa.
Many people would called the Irish rocker a hippie who is clouded with idealistic notions of a world which cannot be attained. He moved the audience to step away from all of the other ism's our country socializes us to follow such as materialism, consumerism, narcissism. He encouraged pragmatism. Let us be a people that thinks about what we do to make the world a better place. "America is not just a country, it starts as an idea. We have power in our world, and with power that brings great responsibility. Where you live should not determine, when you live."
I spend most of the evening silently wishing I would have sprung for the better seats. I had the most amazing time. I love being around other passionate people. I knew before going that I was going to be more jacked up about social issues, specifically about Africa.
Upon leaving the Rose Garden, I reflected upon my life long desires to make a difference in the world. Ever since middle school I have had a cause, everything from Animal Rights, Greenpeace, to Jesus. I know that it all ties together somehow I just haven't figured it out yet. There are so many passions and I feel so little time.
How does one girl make a difference in the world?
She is becoming one of "those" people....
I was on the phone with my sister yesterday and something I realized about myself a few weeks ago was validated today. I am becoming a free-thinking, bohemian, hippie without the tie-dye, reefer, or Birkenstocks. We were chatting about life, love, marriage, then the topic changed to politics. My sister is a die hard Republican...I have not chose a party. In fact I don't think I ever will again. I will say that my views generally sway toward the Demo-side.
We discussed the President elects, which was great. It is so great to get my sis all fired up and raising her voice. I love it.
I told her about Measure 36,
Click below for more info:
http://list.pacificgreens.org/pipermail/pgp-process/2004-August/000053.htmlthat is on the ballot for us Oregonians. In a very silly yet sarcastic voice replied," I know how your voting on that one."
I DON'T know how I am voting on this one.
We went into a HUGE discussion about pro-life, pro-choice. Yeah this was the kicker. My sister was so jacked up I could imagine her head spinning around. I told her my views on this and we argued for almost 20 minutes. She told me I was not taking a stand and being wishy-washy like Kerry. I told her I am taking a stand, it is just a different stand that she is taking. I know that everyone thinks if you are a Christian you should vote one way, think one way, act one way...
I am not that Christian anymore.
I talked about how we are going to see things differently. I then proceeded to relay to her a conversation I had with Kevin McVicker the other day about truth.
Truth, I said is relative. Truth is my truth to me, because it is what I believe, but it may not be true to other people.
After a LONG discussion, we came to the conclusion that I am not explaining myself correctly(after having him tell me I sounded like a relativist) We came out with this:
Truth is truth. It is true that God created, Jesus came, died, rose, yada, yada, yada. It is truth that he did this for everyone. It is absolute truth. The people that do not know this have not been enlightened to this truth. It does not mean that it is not truth, it just means that they don't believe it to be truth.
So I came out of the conversation a relativist with absolute truth...which is an oxymoron, but whatever. Or was I a partial relativist.
Anywhooo...my sister upon hearing this replied:
AUGHGHGH don't tell me you are becoming one of those people...they told us about you in bible college.
I love that I am becoming one of "those" people.
Future Momma Thought
Un, deux, trois, quatre, cinq, six, sept, huit, neuf, dix.
I am sitting here reading a children's my first french word book. I have been reciting the german, spanish, and english numbers to Jake for the last nine months. Now I am learning French.
Ever since I was in middle school I have always wanted to raise cultured children. I wanted my kids to know classical music pieces,languages, art, history, theatre. I want to produce well-rounded intelligent kids. Later when I became a christian I wanted my kids to love Jesus and love other people with all that is in them. I wanted to see them care for the poor, pray for sick people, and love the unlovely.
Being a nanny over the last 9 months has made me realize a few things about the reality of motherhood. You forget things. You try to stay on a schedule, it doesn't work. You set up a plan, and it falls apart when he sleeps longer than usual, or doesn't sleep at all. I am beginning to see if I am going to have children someday, it will need to be my full-time job and I will do nothing else.
My boss, Olivia, is having their second child this month. As the nanny, I have been a bit freaked out. Now I have taken care of more than one child before, but never this close in age. Jake is 16 1/2 months. Lily is coming soon. Olivia will be home for the first few months, but I am still a little scared. I actually have been scared through her entire pregnancy. It is a little weird to be around someone as they get bigger and know that there is a little girl in her tummy. It's weird. Kinda gross to.
As I learned some French, plan activities for Jake, I wonder what he will remember about me. Will he remember the silly nanny who tickled him obsessantly? Always making him lift his arms to check for those darn tickle bugs? Will he remember the language lessons, the special Starbucks treats, or the kisses on the back of his neck?
I wonder if by the time I have children I will throw the utopian dreams of cultured kids out the door and realize it doesn't matter. I may forget to sing the Itsy Bitsy Spider everyday, or recite the spanish colors, but I will not forget to love.
