Mix and match.

Can any of you tell me what's wrong with this picture?


a) Tyler is wearing a sweater in July.
b) He's got a little something on his upper lip.
c) There's a Nuby lid on a Gerber sippy cup.
d) All of the above, really, but especially the stupid sippy cup thing.

How hard is it to match up a sippy cup to its appropriate lid?

Nate says hard. Apparently, Tyler Florence agrees.

Normally, a milk ad would not be blogworthy. But I have been giving Nate the hardest time about matching up the sippy cups with their correct lid. Every time he gives Calvin a drink it's in a strange combination of cup/lid — between colors, sizes, and brands.

To me, which cup goes with which lid is a total no-brainer. Of course I do the sippy cup purchasing. But still - it's not difficult to match them up! In fact, the other day Nate gave his brother Mike a sippy cup/lid test (hoping to prove his point that sippy cups are really really hard) and he passed with flying colors. He even matched the colors correctly within the same brand.

But then there's this. An ad I ran across in Martha Stewart Living magazine featuring the exact two brands of sippy cup we have at home, mixed up.

I don't question Martha on anything, not even her editorial decisions regarding advertising, so I will trust that this — though inherently wrong — is the presentation I should be using when offering beverages to my child. Especially if I expect him to grow up to have exquisite taste and an appreciation for Good Things.

Sigh. Score one for Nate. He's such a visionary.

Catalog.

I laughed so hard at Catalog Living the other day that I had tears streaming down my face. So, so clever.

Now, I love Pottery Barn. LOVE it. I would be quite happy living in one of their stores. The beds look pretty fluffy, and it would be very easy to throw a dinner party. But once in a while their decorating suggestions really throw me for a loop.

Case in point: The June 25 Catalog Living post. Just last weekend I was commenting to Nate how I don't understand the whole nautical thing Pottery Barn has been pushing year after year. No, thank you, I do not want a huge piece of (fake) coral on my bookshelf. Or a giant lobster printed on my throw pillows. Or a massive pair of oars leaning up against my walls. (I'm thinking it would be all too easy to grab one of those during an argument and clobber someone. So that one's really more of a safety issue.)

I don't live in New England, or a retirement community in Florida. I live in Minnesota. Why would I need a set of heinous Coastal Curiosity salad plates? And how do you think the rest of the country would react if Pottery Barn took its cues from the northern states and started pushing everyone to mount walleye on their living room walls?

Hey, I didn't say Minnesota has good taste. I just said I live here.

But, enough about Pottery Barn and its misguided and overdone nautical product line. I have a busy day ahead of me and I simply must make time to restock my Q-Tip decanter.

What, you don't have one of those? How embarrassing for you.

Really?!?

That's what I said this morning as I opened my email and saw this:


















Although I said it more like Seth and Amy, as in: really, Gap?!? The last email I got from you was about holiday delivery. We have two feet of snow on the ground. I still have my Christmas tree up. And the first day of winter was nine days ago.

So, no, I do not think I will take a first look at spring as your email suggests.

I mean, REALLY.

Business in the front, McLaughlin in the back.

I have some serious concerns about my child's hair. He was born with straight hair, but now it's beginning to take on some frightening characteristics.

His hair is starting to look...nappy.

But only in the back. The front looks exactly like Nate's — soft, straight, a little poofy. He even has the Breyer hairline. But the back is super textured and kind of kinky.

What if that's what he ends up with? Stick straight Breyer poof in the front, nappy McLaughlin afro in the back?

Poor kid. I figured he'd get one or the other...but not both. Definitely not both. That's just cruel.

Though I'm sure it would make for an outstanding mullet someday, if he decides to go that route.

Crimes of fashion.

Five reasons I dislike high fashion, courtesy of Alexander McQueen via Jezebel:



















































































I'm sorry, WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?

Ew.

Getting Noticed: A primer.

According to the subject line of this email, this coat will get me noticed.

Let's go in for a closeup, shall we?



















Yes, well, I suppose someone would notice if I wearing this shiny, poofy, ugly-as-sin coat Nordstrom is hocking. They would notice me, and they would say to themselves, "Gee, I'm pretty sure I had that coat in 1989. Yes, in fact, I know I did. I wore it on the playground in sixth grade while playing tag with my best friend Tiffany. Over my NKOTB sweatshirt and leggings. Remember how cool my hair looked crimped?"

Just the type of reaction every girl hopes for when wearing something new.

Please spend your $149 elsewhere. Perhaps on one of these other truly attention-grabbing (in a good way) coats from Nordstrom. Coats Nordstrom should have highlighted in this email instead of that monstrously out-of-date-looking pufftastic piece of outerwear. Coats people may actually be inclined to purchase.

I don't blame the nice folks at Nordstrom for this error in judgment. I blame the coat's "Fine Shine." It's hard to be discerning with that much late 80s/early 90s glitz coming at you.