Target Always Cheers Me Up

Yesterday I spent the entire work day editing and formatting a large amount of content for a publication. At 4:30, I found out that a.) a co-worker had made changes to the content after I exported it and b.) Excel could have done in about five minutes what I'd spent much of the day doing manually. So: a completely wasted day. I was so upset and frustrated--this is an extremely busy time for me at work, and I can't afford a wasted day. I desperately needed cheering up, and I knew just the thing: a trip to Target.

They have sandals! Pretty sandals! Wedge-heel sandals, sandals in pretty greens and corals, sexy strappy sandals. It made me long for Spring, but I couldn't bring myself to buy any when my toes are very happy being wrapped in thick socks and heavy, clunky shoes to guard against the snow and ice. This was my compromise: cute, pleated black pumps (all man-made materials, of course). I also got this bag. I carry a lot of stuff to work every day, and my bag gets heavy. This large tote is very sturdy, and I love the wine color.I don't think their spring line of clothes was out yet--nothing caught my eye--but with my new shoes and bag, I left feeling like the day wasn't a waste, after all.

Wish-I-Had Office Accessories

If I could buy everything I like, I'd add these to my office.

1. Hydrangea Wall Sticker, $96 from 2modern.com. Because I can't paint my office an interesting color or add wallpaper, I love the idea of giant stickers to decorate plain, neutral walls. 2modern.com has a lot of great ones, but I love the simplicity of these hydrangeas.

2. Standing Magnifying Glass, $68-$128 from anthropologie.com. OK, I'd never actually use one of these, but they're so cool! 3. Owl, $84 from jonathanadler.com. I love everything in Jonathan Adler's Menagerie collection, but this owl statue could be the coolest owl I've ever seen.

4. Sunny Woods Rug, $248 from anthropologie.com. This rug makes me happy.

5. Fritillaria Chair in Belgian Linen, $2,400 from johnderian.com. I love the quietly classic shape of this chair, which would fit perfectly in the corner beside my desk.

Must-Have Office Accessories

I'm on a mission to make my office stylish, cozy, and filled with things I love. Upholstering my tackboard was a start, but I need these:

1. Spike wastecan, $24.95 from cb2.com. Standard-issue plastic cans are so ugly and get dirty so easily. This gives even trash style. 2. Orange stapler, $21.95 from cb2.com. If it sits out on my desk, it should look good.

3. Acrylic pencil cup and memo holder, $7.95 and $19.95 from cb2.com. I love acrylic furniture and accessories. They're sleek but subtle, setting a modern tone but not overpowering other designs.

4. File folder holder, $16.95 from crateandbarrel.com. This magazine rack will make a far more interesting file folder holder than the standard black metal ones everyone has. Comes in green, white, or red.

5. Bird of Paradise Wood Print, $34.99 from modcloth.com. I love all the colors in this funky design printed on sustainabily harvested cherry wood.

So Much More Than Olive Oil

After years of driving past the DeLallo store on Route 30 near Jeanette, we finally stopped in this weekend. Wow! I can't believe I never went there before!

It's a large specialty grocery store with creaking old wood floors and the hustle and bustle that you usually only find in the Strip. The olive and antipasto bar takes up the center of the store, where there were long lines of people waiting to buy olives of every type imaginable. To the right was an entire gift room, filled with gift baskets and a fantastic selection of cooking tools and some servingware, dinnerware, and barware. The rest of the store looked like a regular grocery, but its shelves were a delight just to browse with pickled hot cauliflower, imported Italian pasta sauces, freshly made pasta, artichoke bruschetta, ciliegine (freshly made mozzarella) with cherry tomatoes, and a mind-dazzling display of more types of olive oil than I knew existed.

The best part? The prices. The cheeses were priced better than I've seen either at the regular grocery store or in the Strip. A big hunk of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, which would cost between $10 and $15 at Giant Eagle or the Strip, cost just $7. I also picked up a gift set containing a large bottle of olive oil, eight ceramic dipping bowls, and four dipping spices to mix with the oil for under $12.

The section of homemade bread and all the snacks (five-pound bags of Swedish fish and giant Clark bars in addition to Italian crackers and cookies) rounded out the selection.

A trip to this store would be worth it any time, but especially to stock up for a party. Mangia!

Designer I Love: Xenia Taler

I stumbled onto Xenia Taler's tile designs just a few days ago. The designs combine sweet and retro and most are nature themed. How excited was I to see the designs on stationery at Barnes and Noble over the weekend! I bought this notebook and some notecards and may have to go back to get some more!

Fun with Ice

Yesterday we went to the Ligonier Ice Fest, where dozens of guys carved ice sculptures using mini chainsaws and electric knives. They started by ironing a pattern to a block of ice then used the chainsaw to carve the general outline and then the smaller knives for detail work. They finished by going over it with a blowtorch to make it glassy and polished.

10 Years with Dave

Ten years ago today I met Dave on a blind date at Marios in the South Side.

At the time, I was very happily living by myself in the cutest little apartment without a TV (by choice) in a big old house on Morewood Avenue and was not at all interested in dating. Darcey, my BFF from high school, tried to set me up with numerous guys, but I always said no.

But I had just fallen in love with Howard Roark from The Fountainhead and had told Darcey I wanted to meet an architect. She met Dave through her co-worker and Dave's childhood friend Melanie. When she found out he was an architect, she set up a date for us to meet.

She had told Dave that I was really smart and had just written a book, so he was nervous (and was sweating like a bitch.) She told me that he was "OK looking" because she knew I don't like traditionally cute guys and would likely have turned her down if she said he was cute (even though she thought so), so I wasn't expecting much.

Obviously, we hit it off. It was really warm out, and I loved that Dave suggested we buy 40s and drink on the corner. But his cool black shoes (which I thought only gay guys wore but have since found out that all architects wear) and the fact that he drove a stick shift (so sexy) were big selling points.

We were living together by July.

Since then, Dave has learned I can be really stupid, and I still think he's cute.

Photo: Us in Redwoods National Forest in a West Coast trip in 2000--we have no digital pictures from 1999!