Discounted Kiehl's Monday, August 1st!

If you're a fan of Kiehl's, then you know that they do not offer discounts very often.  In my several years of being familiar with the company, I've gotten a discount exactly once.  That was last Christmas. 

Tomorrow (Monday, August 1st) you can visit a free-standing Kiehl's store to receive 15% off your purchase* in conjunction with their LifeRide for amfAR, the American Foundation for AIDS Research.  They are also donating $5 for every visitor to the store tomorrow--up to $100,00!.

If anyone wants anything, let me know.  For real.  I'm going to pop over after work and pick up a new face wash that I've been sampling.  It's great for summer, which seems to last from May to November here.  :)  I hope you're enjoying your weekend.

*excludes gift cards and limited-edition charity products

I Zigged.

I framed another little piece of somethin' somethin' recently.  This one came from Linda & Harriett's sale!  The frame came from Wal-Mart (for about $9-ish), and I scored this awesome piece of paper for about a buckaroo.  It's one-of-a-kind, aesthetically pleasing to me, and totally replaceable, in case it can't handle the steam.  (It's in the bathroom.)

Again, I apologize for the lack of great lighting.  I tried it with the flash, and things went from ehh to ugh.  And I had to do a wonky angle so you didn't just see a splotchy reflection of me on a Sunday afternoon.

Still Poppin!

My Poppin order came in yesterday!  Stoked is not even the word for it.  The box itself made my day.  You can click on the pictures for larger versions. 

I got the signature green ballpoint pens, black wood pencils, erasers, navy notebook, and silver clips.  What?!  I have so many pens now that I've already started sharing with co-workers because I just couldn't keep the goodness to myself.

Another thing I like about this site is that they offer many supplies in lots of different colors.  I think their main reason is so their business customers can cost-effectively develop a branding identity with a certain color of supplies--which is cool.  But how about the idea of a color-coded gift bag for a child's birthday party or showcasing multiple rulers or push pins in a single color in a glass jar?

Anchors A'cheap!

Whilst perusing my local Target over the weekend, I ended up in the kitchen/dining section, which is not at all unusual.  However, this time I stumbled upon this nice glass trifle bowl from Anchor Hocking.  Immediately I pictured it above my kitchen cabinets.  Or maybe on top of a bookcase.  Or filled with delicious figgy pudding.  Ok.  Not figgy.

Then I looked at the price tag.  $10.50.  What?!  I knew that I had seen similar pieces at Crate & Barrel for way more--and not nearly as nice of a shape. 

Exhibit A:

The Miranda.  It is a cool shape, but it is also three times the price of the Anchor Hocking piece.

Exhibit B:

The Charleston.  It's fifty dollars.  That is 5-0.  And it's glass--no platinum or rims or anything.

Granted, the one I bought is not pristine, in the sense that you can see a seam here and there, but turn the thing around!  Sheesh.  I think this would be a great way to display flowers, seashells, potpourri (if you're into that), Christmas ornaments, etc.  You can't beat the design or the price.  With this brand, you know it will last a long time.  Mine will probably just remain a stylish space-filler above mostly empty cabinets for now, but it has tons of potential.

My Desktop is Poppin'...My Desktop is Cool

Today I caught up on the blog Design Darling and was most pleased to be introduced to the office supply company called Poppin.  This site has just about everything--pens, clips, laptop bags, and notebooks.  And everything is reasonably priced!  There's an emphasis on color and wit, which are excellent talking points.

Most people at my job don't pay any attention to what's on my desk (except for the chocolate), but that's ok.  I feel that office supplies are things you should buy solely for yourself.  And when you can pick up a bundle of cool pens for less than $1 each?  Yes.

 It won't be long before I'm placing an order.  That is for sure. 

Blog Much?

A few semi-recent posts on blogs that I regularly read and admire have gotten me to thinking about blogging in general.

Why blog?  What's the point?  How do you classify blogs?

I have to say that Specs Appeal is, admittedly, somewhat random musings.  I started it back when I was still living at home, finishing up grad school.  Oddly enough, I had much more time then to blog and to read other blogs than I do now.  I had tried to post every day, or at least every other day.  Now it's more like once or twice a week.

I mostly blog when the inspiration strikes, and if you have been reading my posts for very long, you know that you're likely to see book reviews, things that I'm lusting over, or my latest trophy.  It started with this title of Specs Appeal because my friend Joe Y. said that phrase to me a long time ago, and it just cracked me up.  Now I sort of operate with the idea of what appeals to me through my own specs.

Blogging for me is fun, and I'm constantly looking for things to post, being careful not to copy/paste the same things that make the rounds everywhere else.  If I do post something, it's because I think it's either valuable or funny or informative or some combination of these things.

And my opinion of ads on blogs is not very positive.  That's why you probably won't see any here.  Well, that, and my blog is rather small.  Scratch that.  We'll say intimate.  Yes, intimate.  That is why I do appreciate every visitor, follower, and comment.  Thanks for your support.

Which blogs do you regularly visit?  What are your thoughts on blogs?  Life in general?  Puppies?

Await Your Reply

It seems that I've been on a roll with some fairly good books lately.  And this one is certainly no exception.

Await Your Reply by Dan Chaon is really hard to classify.  It's fiction, yes.  But it really seems like so much more.  And I realize how hokey that sounds.

This is a story of twin brothers (check!) and identity theft (un-check!), but it's engrossing from the very first page.  Each chapter focuses on different characters and the intrepid dynamics between them.  The story definitely has some twists and turns, and it made me think about things in this modern world that had not yet crossed my mind.  I pulled a few references from my banking days, and I made other connections just from being an American consumer. 

And this Dan Chaon knows how to turn a phrase, let me tell yaz.  Every page was rife with lush imagery and plain ol' addictive storytelling.  Example from page 65:

Nebraska was even worse than Ohio--if such a thing were possible.  There was a soundlessness about this place, she thought, though sometimes the wind made the glass in the windowpanes hum, the wind running in a long exhaled stream through the weeds and dust and dry bed of the lake, and sometimes unexpectedly there would be a very startling sonic boom over the house as a military plane broke the sound barrier, and there was the rattle of the grasshoppers leaping from one weed to the next--

But mostly it was silence, a kind of end-of-the-world hush, and you could feel the sky sealing over you like the glass around a snow globe.