Shoe Dilemna

I work in a pretty fancy restaurant. Fancy in a relatively casual way. It is after all located on the lower east side of manhattan...

I am required to wear a uniform. It looks something like this:


It's basically a black wrap dress with 3/4 length sleeves. Depending on the size (I have xs, s, and m) the length varies between high mid thigh to knee. And the wrap varies between barely wrapping to super wrapping. I therefore wear my jeans (dark) underneath the dress most of the time because at any given moment I can be found in a not so girly position behind the bar...leaning, stretching, leaping, bending, etc. Sometimes I'll wear tights or leggings but I always feel kind of exposed due to the body moves required.

Up until last week I've been wearing my Ed Hardy sneakers. I was totally aware that I wasn't supposed to be wearing them. Black non sneakers shoes were the required uniform. I just hated wearing my boots or flats or whatever. They were uncomfortable. I don't sleep well and my shoes make a huge difference in how I sleep. So I took a chance.

Unfortunately, it came down the other day that I couldn't wear my sneaks anymore. Yesterday I went to one of those feet healthy shoe stores and bought a few hundred dollars worth of shoe options.

First, the obvious restaurant shoe. But in patent leather!


Wow! cute, huh? The only problem is that they are a size too small. I mean they fit but are snug. I'm going to wear them tonight and see how they work out. I mean, they are good for my feat, right? Ugly but healthy!

Second:



Ballet flats. Of course I've tried ballet flats before. I probably have 5 pairs of black ballet flats. They are a funny thing. They feel good up until you accidentally drip simple syrup on your bare feet and down into the shoe. Then they start sticking to your skin causing all kinds of discomfort! These are French Soles. They feel really great. Absolutely no support whatsoever. We'll see.

Third:


Some seriously ugly! Crocs! UGH. But hear me out. They are light. Sort of supportive. Probably good for the summer and I can just hose my feet off if that annoying simple syrup gets anywhere near them, right?

ok, finally #4:



Check these babies out! I'm thinking these will work ONLY when I work with another bartender. A time when I don't have to run around so much. I sort of stay at one end of the bar and do my work from there. Surprisingly, these are VERY comfortable. Plus I get a little height. Obviously the simple syrup issue remains. But I was feeling slightly nostalgic and bought them.

One of these options BETTER work. I'm really sad about the sneakers. They were PERFECT. But I'm willing to adhere to the rules and give all of these a try.

YES I'VE BEEN KNITTING!! no i can't show you.

Knit.1 Spring/Summer 2008

I finally saw the spring/summer 08 issue of Knit.1. I stopped by Soho Publishing the other day to pick up some yarn for a future! project. (2 actually!) And the always lovely Tanis gave me a copy. My pattern (s) look the same in print as on the preview so no need to show them here. But it's always nice to have the publication in my hands.

Have you seen the Vinterblomster mittens? I feel like maybe I'm the only person that hadn't seen them! They are super cute. I was thinking they might be really, really cute with a little bling. So while at Soho Pub. Tanis gave me a ball of New Smoking in colorway 8 - which is basically a super shiney pink. I think the little flowers would be so awesome sparkle-y. I might go stash diving to see if I have some brown fingering weight cashmere and maybe a pink/red ?? contrasting color and swatch a little. ??? !!! You know, I think I have some of the Jade Cashmere left over......

But for now, back to the cabled cardi.....

Happy Friday.

No Knitting but Other Useless Stuff!

I've been knitting steadily on the V.K. cabled pullover. I better not show any pics of it. I'll just say that so far it's looking nice. I'm using Classic Elite Yarns Wool Bam Boo. It's 50% Wool and 50% Bamboo...118 yds per ball and 5.5 sts on size 6's.

I was at Banana Republic yesterday and bought a knit dress!! How funny is that? I tried it on and I really liked it. I just tried to find a good photo but this is all I could find. It's wool and silk - 70/30. It's light. Very fine gauge. Nice. Nothing I would normally buy!




I also bought 2 skirts. I could only find photos of one...





and another view -



I know, pretty basic. But it was all on sale. I can always use a black cotton skirt, right? And a black wool/silk dress, yes?

I've been a little busy working the sample sales lately. Sometimes when I get home from work I'll do a little online shopping. Then I totally forget about it until ups comes knocking....

Yesterday brought my new Hayden-Harnett Havana Hobo in Goldrush. I LOVE my black Havana Hobo. And lately I love all things gold/silver so of course when I saw this bag on their online sample sale I HAD TO HAVE IT. Plus it was only 214.00 not the listed 428.00. How could I pass it up?


One more thing:

When I read through my NY Magazine yesterday I came across this article....
http://nymag.com/news/politics/45786/
It's hilarious. Check it out. It's written by one of the writer/producers of the West Wing. It's titled: Four Days In Denver and it's written in treatment form. Really funny!

My Aching Elbow!

I've been trying to rest my elbow. It's still KILLING me! It's the craziest thing. How can I be in this much pain from opening prosecco bottles? In an effort to rest it, I tried not knitting for a few days so I finished my book. It was pretty excellent.

I picked up the needles yesterday and started having the deepest aching in my arm. It really hurt! I'm a little nervous about knitting today but I'd like to get a move on the sweater for VK. I've finished about 3/4 of the back. It looks pretty good.

I'm spending my morning doing my taxes! yippee! I can't believe I've waited this long. Oh well, I'm actually finished. I keep it pretty organized throughout the year so I just have to add it all up and print out the spreadsheet. It looks pretty much the same as last year except for food/entertainment - it doubled. hmmmm? I'm not sure if that's a big deal or not. I guess the accountant will let me know.

I had some great interviews this week. 3 to be exact. I'm not sure if any of them will call me but the actual interview part went well. I feel like it's so subjective. I can't really get too attached to the outcome. I just take the action and let go of the results. Right? At least that's what I'm trying to do. I'll just keep looking until I get exactly what I want. Hopefully sooner than later. I think I'm doing the smartest thing! (patting myself on the back!) Spreading out my jobs so that in this economy I'm not too effected by the downturn. We'll see if it works out as I'm planning!

It's kind of a crappy overcast day outside but since I don't work tonight it's pretty sunny for me! Maybe I'll just go for a walk. I have to buy a new pair of shoes to work in. I got caught wearing my Ed Hardy sneakers (they are sooo cute)- a big no no! I'm supposed to be wearing all black! Can anyone really see my feet behind the bar? or rather...if a bartender wears colorful sneakers behind the bar but no one can see her feet, is she really wearing colorful sneakers? Whatever, I'll wear black. A nice reason to go shoe shopping.

Have a nice day.

I can take a hint!

I was talking to a friend the other day and she was raving about the book Eat Pray Love. Of course I've seen it and heard about it but have been busy knitting. And therefore couldn't read anything! I was telling her that I was searching high and low for an Italian teacher because I wanted to go to Italy and speak fluent Italian. She was like omg you HAVE to read this book. Yes it's on the lighter side. I tend to read super high brow literature. But she said I should get on the bandwagon and read it. I was out having drinks with 2 old friends and one of them was RAVING about a book Yup Eat Pray Love. OMG you have to read it!!

So I bought it. I'm into the second leg of it. They were right. I love it. I recommend it. It's fun, easy, thought provoking. Just what I needed!




Now I just need to get that Italian teacher.

Oh, guess what? George Clooney and Cindy Crawford came in for dinner last night. Cindy Crawford looked Ah-mazing! Gorgeous! G.C. - maybe he'd had a long day!

Quick update

This is something that I'm working on. I've knit a bit more than this but I don't have anything else to show today...




I've been seriously resting my elbow/arm and it's feeling much better. I've had to work left handed which is pretty strange. I mean opening wine bottles and pouring drinks left handed...odd. But it's working so for the next few nights I'll continue as a leftie.

I have a few interviews lined up for some supplemental bartending work. I met with someone last week that's opening a super groovy lounge in mid april in Nolita. That would be fun! I'm meeting with a 3-star restaurant today. They are looking for someone to work Saturday nights only. But I think they are relatively slow on Sats. due to their mid-town location. So they are probably a NO. Later in the week I have an interview at a hopping uber-hip hotel lounge/restaurant/bar. I'm not too sure about that one. They might want UBER model types. But they might also want someone like me. We'll see. That would be really awesome for the summer.

Anyway, I heard that the domestic diva might be shooting a segment at my current place of biz. How cool would that be? I LOVE her!! I heard that rumor on sunday night from her....oh, I better not say. I hope it's true!

Questions of the day: iphone or not to iphone? ipod touch or not to ipod touch? I can't decide. My phone service is with verizon. I don't want to change that so...I can unlock an iphone or I could just buy the ipod touch. My ipod was swiped and my phone (a treo that i hate) can be changed next month. So I could have a more traditional phone and use the email from the ipod touch. plus better internet, music, etc. what to do, what to do....