Category Archives: Shopping

A robot’s tale

I met a robot in my neighborhood.

image He’s a nightlight for sale at my friend Stephanie’s shop, Stoopher & Boots.

Every time I have seen him, I couldn’t look away. (We don’t get a lot of his kind on the Upper West Side.)

Then I started hearing a sound when I was near him…a soft chant. “Milo. Milo.” (He’s a friend of mine — the baby boy variety – who has a particular interest in the ‘bots.)

He needed that robot nightlight.  So after a quick consultation with his parental units, it was soon on its way to Milo’s robot-themed bedroom in sunny Los Angeles.

image

Look at it — sitting in his room, like it was made for the place.

It’s almost an exact match to the robot in the print on the wall!

How a’bot that?

The gift

My good friend Caroline visited this past week, a gift from her husband for her birthday.

Nice one, Shaun.

During her four days in Manhattan, we saw two Broadway shows, a taping of Anderson, a movie on a rainy day, shopping, holiday lights, more shopping, and lots and lots of food, drink and wonderful conversation.

She was also able to reconnect with three other friends who call New York City home.

And while I know the chance to see Hugh Jackman perform live on stage was the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that spurred the last-minute trip, having so much time together to simply talk and catch up was an incredible luxury.

Would we have traded some of that time to meet Hugh in person?

Duh — of course.

We’re good friends.  We know what we really like!

Moon landing

I finished my Christmas shopping this morning.  Bought the final gift online, picked a shipping date and sent it on its merry way.

It’s a great feeling.

But wouldn’t you know it?  As soon as I crossed everyone’s name off my list, I discovered the perfect present for any hard-to-buy-for person.  It’s another exciting Google search find:

Lunar Land

That’s right.  You or someone you love can join the over 5,000,000 people from 176 countries who own personal property on Earth’s sexiest satellite.

According to the website, Lunar Embassy is the only company to possess the ‘legal basis and copyright’ for Lunar Land.  It is available in a variety of packages, all which include one lunar acre of land.  (The amount of documentation included drives the price.)

Our family draws names at Christmas, and as soon as the pairings are announced, the emails start flying, requesting gift ideas.

If only I had discovered Lunar Land even an hour sooner!

To the moon, Alice! — Ralph Kramden, The Honeymooners

Toys gone wild

I’ve heard of baby dolls that go potty…

…but dolls with potty mouths?

Some customers are demanding Toys R Us pull the “You & Me Interactive Play & Giggle Triplet Dolls” from their shelves because one of the dolls says “you crazy bitch.”

Triplet’s got ‘tude.

The dolls are sold exclusively at Toys R Us and are intended for children 2 years and up.  The store says the complaints have been scattered and they will stand behind the product.

Listen for yourself.

Personally?  I think the doll did it.  And I think parents are crazy not to want to keep it around.

Your kids start cursing?  You would never talk that way in front of them.  Must be that darn baby doll the children wanted so badly.

Not your fault.  Nope, you’re good parents.

Butt there’s more!

During the Christmas holidays last year, The Sticky Egg discovered The South Butt parody line of outerwear, the brainchild of Mizzou student Jimmy Winklemann.

I bought a hoodie with my Christmas cash, and two as birthday gifts for my sister and her husband in the spring.

The clothing was good quality.  Plus, it says ‘butt.’ (You gotta love that.)

Sadly The South Butt store is no more, but that doesn’t mean Winkelmann has quit. He’s just turned attention to other brands.

OLOP

Winklemann is once again dressing down a famous label, this one the preferred casual wear of preppies worldwide.  I don’t know if POLO has seen Jimmy’s reinterpretation of their logo or his online store, but there is nothing subtle about it.

As someone who attended college during the height of the preppy nightmare, I applaud POLO as Jimmy’s next target.  As an animal lover, I’m psyched for the pony — it’s about time he came out on top for a change.

And if you are sad that The South Butt apparel is no more, check out the OLOP Shop.  There’s a new iteration that the North Face can’t touch.

Keep on keeping on, Jimmy.

Chewed

When you look at these faces, what do you see?

Some might think trash ready for the garbage bin.

If you have a dog,  you see much loved friends.  Heck, you probably have some pretty similar toys lying around the house.  That one stuffed animal (that’s really not ‘stuffed’ anymore) that your dog prefers over all the new ones you buy.

For my dog Rory, it’s Bear.  I gave Bear to Rory on the day I brought him home almost 13 years ago.  (He was a panda bear with a face and ears back then.) I’ve bought countless new toys over the years, but Rory has always loved Bear more…wanted to play with Bear first.  I just kept stitching him up and shoving in more cotton.

Now he’s more ‘panda ball’ than panda bear.

Arne Svenson and Ron Warren have put together a collection about toys just like Bear — with far superior photography –  in their book ChewedSome great writers have contributed stories, too.

It lets folks with a puppy know what to expect, and gives a nod to the senior dog and his ‘best friend.’

Picture perfect.

Hats off

Ever feel like you’re wearing too many hats?  Perhaps it’s time to make yourself a new one.

And what better day than today — Annual Make a Hat Day!

Yep.  That’s an actual holiday, folks.  I read about it on the Intertubes, so you know it’s true.  It’s apparently very popular in pre-school, kindergarten and grade school classrooms.  Kiddies love making hats as crafts projects.

Why do they get to have all the fun?

I think we would all benefit from a little headpiece handiwork.  Whadda ya say?  Are you ready to hit the pause button on your usual 9-to-5 routine, strap on the hot glue gun and dream up a tempting ten gallon topper?

No????

Okay.  Meet me at Target.

Tee test

Everyone thinks they have a sense of humor.  But not everyone shares your sense of humor.  If only there was a quick test.

I found it…quite by accident.

It’s a t-shirt.  I bought it from TheOnion.com store.  If I’m wearing it and a person walks by and laughs or smiles, they share my sense of humor.  If they look confused, they don’t.

Simple, huh?

Here it is — my ‘Area Woman’ tee.

If you are already smiling, you a) get it and b) share my sense of humor.

If you are tilting your head wondering WTF, here’s the skinny.

‘Area Woman’ is a play off of ‘Area Man,’ a term used in a lot of police and news reports…as in “An area man was pulled from the river” or “The string of bank robberies has been linked to an area man.”

I think it’s funny.  So do a lot of other people who walk by me when I’m wearing it with Rory in Central Park.

But just as many stare at my shirt with wrinkled brow, then look at me oddly.

These are not my people.