It’s thirty-six degrees here and I am looking out my office windows at something dreadful called “wintery mix.” In Seussian fashion I don’t want to go out and I don’t want to stay in, have loads to do but don’t care to begin.  I keep jumping from one thing to the next, though nothing engages me.  The only solace is, as I walk back and forth to the kitchen (I convince myself that the twenty-five steps there and back negate the small square of dark chocolate with orange that I am going to fetch) is the new screens flanking the sofa.  I may need to take just one more pass.

My plate was full-to-overflowing last week, though with all good things.  Even so, I had a horrible case of monkey mind which led to a very tight spine during the day and nearly no sleep at night.  I was working on an event held last Saturday and, a few weeks ago, in the midst of planning and picking up, I decided I needed new bracelets.  I had dodged the bullet of buying a dress and with this financial windfall (that was how I saw it at least) I thought I would treat myself to a pair of the Kenneth Jay Lane cuffs that I’d coveted for so long.  A pair.  Yes.  Two. More is more.

A quick internet search yielded, remarkably, a site with a pair in-stock with free two-day shipping.  Click, click, click.  Distracted, I realized Tuesday that they had not arrived.  Emails and increasingly frantic messages provided no satisfaction, though threats of internet retaliation finally did.  The seller did not, in fact, have the bracelets, nor did he know if he could get them. He was sorry.  It could take a while. Curious.

Curious and maddening, actually.  And, in a moment of brief outfit despair, I almost gave up, resigned myself to some other not yet found something that would “do.”  Almost.  Instead, I navigated ebay on my phone (a less user-friendly site cannot be found) and located two sellers who graciously accommodated my a) obsession and b) time frame.

The first arrived on Friday and I told myself all day that if the other did not make it one would be enough.  I was lying, of course.  One would not be enough.  The second appeared on my doorstep the next morning just as I was heading out to set up.

So, I wore them Saturday night and I’ve yet to put them away.  If someone tells you that she saw some crazy woman at the coffee shop wearing jeans and a t-shirt and two enameled and jeweled cuffs, I’m sure you’ll understand.

All this in an effort to thank the sellers, hotfindsnyc and msharley.  So grateful for your great service.

The rattan valise or Chinese lunchbox or clearly most charming thing ever arrived last week.  It was the only item that I purchased on our vacation other than food and newspapers.  From a high shelf in one of my favorite shops, she winked at me and I did think we had a lot in common.  Bill and the boys agreed, “You have to get it,” they cheered.  So I did.

She arrived by post and the newly-teenaged middle boy had to wait while I rescued her from the box.

     “This is so silly.  I have no idea what I’m going to do with it,” I confessed as I pulled it from the popcorn.

     “Do you love it?” he asked.

     “I do,” I admitted, sliding the pin from the latch and opening it to peek inside.

     “Are you going to Instagram it?” he teased.  “Hash tag ‘swag,’ hash tag ‘YOLO’?”

     I looked up, “YOLO?”

     “Mom,” he rolled his eyes letting me know how truly hopeless I am, “You only live once.”

Indeed.