When I am Old I will not Wear Purple...but I will Wear a Pink Pith Helmet

I really wish I'd been able to take a photo of that gal I saw this morning at the coffee shop down the street from work, because words really can't do justice to it.

Need I say more?

Tips I Pick up from Fellow Bus-riders

The conversations you overhear on a bus are pretty varied.  People tend to talk really loudly when they're riding Metro and so you can't help but listen in as they pass on the wisdom they've accumulated.  This could probably be an entire blog...Eavesdropping on the Bus...I may consider it.  The other day I was on the #5 travelling along Greenwood/Phinney and was sitting behind 3 riders who were all sitting in separate seats, and then were turned towards each other as they conversed (picture knees, legs, feet in the aisles).  The topic was where the best food banks were located, and what kinds of products they each offered.   My ears perked up, because this isn't something I would necessarily be looking for in one of my millions of Google searches.  And I think it's the kind of thing that you really need that 'word of mouth' reference to find out about.  I felt lucky; lucky that I don't have to use the services of a food bank, and also lucky that I had the opportunity to listen in on their advice, because you never know what the future will hold.  One of the gentlemen was already diving in to his supplies, eating Fage yogurt (one of my favorites, and expensive as hell) with his fingers (which was a little disturbing to watch).  The gal (who had a fabulous leather coat on, long duster-style with a patchwork/hobo design, definitely vintage, blue and red thread in the stitching, I almost complimented her on it but held back) was finishing up some doughnuts (which I was a little jealous of since I'm on a fairly strict no carb/no sugar eating plan right now).  OK, now back to my description of how they were seated...legs, knees, feet in the aisles.  If you ride the bus, you've probably encountered this, riders talking to each other across the aisles, so you have to kind of scooch your way around them.   Here's what I thought was interesting, though: one of the guys in front, as a rider was exiting and had to scooch around him, said out loud: "Can't you say 'excuse me'?"  Now, I would think that it's up to the folks who are spread out in the aisle to excuse themselves and get out of the way...but not, apparently from their perspective.
I still wish I'd commented on that woman's coat....

Again with the Slippers???

I can remember being mortified as a teenager when I would go to the grocery store with my Dad and notice once we were already there that he was wearing slippers.  "Dad, why didn't you change into shoes?  This is sooooo embarassing," I would wail.  He would just shrug his shoulders and respond with "What's the big deal, Jennifer?  At least these look like shoes....sort of...".  Looking back, he was right, his slippers did pretty much look like shoes, and they were hard-soled, so fairly appropriate for walking out of the house.  The slippers I see people walking around in now?  Not so much appropriate.  They are fuzzy, often-times in the shapes of animals, and definitely don't have hard soles (which just seems gross, especially in this town where it's so often damp).  Now this trend often goes hand in hand with the people who are also apparently just wearing their pajama bottoms out and about (see previous posts) but I've also witnessed this phenomena where people are wearing a fairly typical outfit and then have topped it off with slippers.  Don't get me wrong, I like to wear slippers, they're very comfy and snuggly...when you are at home!  Out in public?  That seems very strange to me, particularly when you think that most of them don't have soles so I would think they would become very uncomfortable after a fairly short amount of time.  Oh well, I'm sure there's more to come in the world of slipper-wear...perhaps stiletto slippers?  Or hiking boot slippers?
And Happy Father's Day, Dad...I miss you every day.

Springtime,and the Weather is not Fine

I think I have finally succumbed to the crappy weather blues.  As a native of Seattle, I thought I was immune, but I think it's taking hold.  I am tired of carrying an umbrella everyday, I am tired of seeing people in rubber boots (even though some of them are very stylish and I know I for one am getting new rain boots next year!).  I was hoping that that few days here and there that we have had of really nice weather would shake me out of it (and riding my bike to work does help, I feel like I'm really getting a chance to experience and enjoy the nice weather when I'm on my bike), but I just feel blah.  Someone on the bus this morning had moccasins on; I hope she isn't somehow, inadvertently, doing a rain-dance in them as she walks to the bus in the morning.  Is there a dance for good weather?  The Hustle?  The Samba?  The Twist?

Seattle Style Snark: When I am Old I will not Wear Purple

Seattle Style Snark: When I am Old I will not Wear Purple: "Or at least I don't plan to. After observing an older gal the other day in Costco who was attired head to toe in various shades of purple, ..."

When I am Old I will not Wear Purple

Or at least I don't plan to.  After observing an older gal the other day in Costco who was attired head to toe in various shades of purple, I think I will plan to leave this one at the door when I hit my Golden Girl stage. What first caught my eye was her purple purse...I had a similar one when I was eight.  I was actually very proud of that purse...purple leather and I think it was the first one that I ever bought for myself.  She had what I would refer to as lilac-colored pants and a darker purple top.  In addition to her top was a cardigan in yet another shade of purplish magenta.  And of course, not to be forgotten, was her hair: silver with just a tinge of lavender (almost like a purple halo around her head).  It was a bit much overall.  Now, I'll admit, that I love the color purple, particularly in nature: flowers, tropical fish and birds....there is something about purple that tends to make things seem more exotic.  And, purple has played a hefty role in history, being the color signifying royalty (think King Henry VIII draped in purple velvet, or George Costanza on Seinfeld when they dressed him up as Henry VIII).  I don't think, though, that it does anyone justice to be dressed completely in any one color, no matter how many different shades are combined....unless it's black....isn't gray a shade of black?

I Hope you Weren't in a Fight with a Tiger

Some of the most interesting fashion I see is when I'm waiting for my bus in downtown Seattle.  Lately I've been seeing a lot of ripped up stockings...and I don't just mean a runner in a pair of pantyhose but full-on shredded, torn, slashed stockings.  My first thought was that she'd been dragged behind a bus, but then I realized she wasn't nearly dirty enough to warrant that (she was dirty, but in a 'hey look at me I don't care if I'm kind of raunchy way').  Seriously though, if she had been bruised or bloodied, it would have been pretty easy to think that she had been mauled by a tiger or runaway wildebeest (wouldn't that be interesting to see tearing through the streets of downtown...).  Bottom line: fine, wear your ripped up tights, stockings, whatever, but can you wear a little sign that says "I'm OK, I wasn't beat up, taken away and held for ransom, I'm just being fashionable".
Bravo if you know what song part of that last sentence is from.