The other day I came across the perfect colored leather gloves online at Forzieri. I’ve never actually heard of this site before until now, but it sounds like the Italian version of Intermix. The gloves I’m in love with are from the in-house brand, Forzieri. The design is simple and classic, and most importantly, it comes in a rainbow of vibrant colors!

It isn’t lined with anything (that would be an extra $20-40 thank you), but they look quite well made (they are made in Italy after all). They’ll be fine for accessorizing when it is positive farenheit- anything below that, you should just put on ski gloves and limit exposure to the outdoors anyway. I still think they are a bit pricey at $87 , but I thought I’d throw it out there for anyone else dying for a pair of colored leather gloves. Personally I’m going to keep my eye out and hope that spring comes early this year (or maybe it’ll go on sale?).

Incidentally, for an investment, I am really considering the black gloves with pink edges (bottom right). They are leather and lined with cashmere i.e. decently warm. The design is simple and elegant. The color is classic and practical, while the pink outline gives it that little pop without coming in the way of your outfit choice. Not bad for $118.

Image Source: Forzieri

This weekend one of my girl friends will be turning 25 and we’re going to dress up and celebrate with a three course dessert and a night out. Since she is reaching the quarter of a century mark, I thought I’d get her something fun and special- like a pretty birthday tiara with a 25 sign on it! I’ve seen such age-specific hats many times and figured that I can easily find one in any party favors store online or off.

Since there are no party favor stores within a mile of me, I started googling it up and I couldn’t find any! They have little sections for 16, 30, 40, 50, 60 etc but no 25. You’d think that retailers would capitalize on any cause for celebration and produce some 25 specific merchandises (remember in October when they had the “Sweetest Day”? What IS that if not a commercial holiday?), but no, the quarter of a century mark is apparently not important enough to warrant age-specific party favors.

Turning 25 may not seem very significant to those who have already passed that age (I’m sure you have even more significant milestones to worry about) or those who are far from it (when I was in my teens, I thought the twenties 25 was a distant blur), but trust me, to those in who ARE turning 25 or are in their early 20’s, the quarter of a century mark is a big deal. It is kind of the turning point betweeen “still growing” and “aging”- especially for a girl! As my korean friend’s mom puts it, a girl is like a Christmas cake, once you hit 25 you start to expire. I thought it sounded a bit conventional and antiquated back then when I first heard it, but I’m beginning to think that there may be a grain of wisdom to it. Sunscreen will not be enough and it is probably a good time to start using anti-aging products. Yes, I know aging is a natural process and that we’re suppose to embrace what the future holds because it can only get richer and more beautiful with age and experience, but having been raised in an environment where youth is equivalent to beauty, it is a hard concept to grasp. Even though guys age better, this phenomena is not limited to females however. I talked to a guy friend who is turning 25 soon and it sounds like a big milestone to him too, because it signifies that you have just lived 1/3 of your life (assuming we all live till 75), and it is really a time to take stock of what we have achieved and where we are heading. The time when we can just take the risk, fall and quickly pick ourselves up again is fast running out!

I’m probably overdramatizing and freaking out when I’m not even turning 25 yet, but you get the picture- it’s a milestone! What does a girl have to do to find a pretty tiara with a 25 on it?

The thing about flowers is that they look so perfect in the picture online. They look so lively and fresh in the fridge at the flower shop. They look so warm and beautiful when you receive it. They look so pretty sitting in the vase in your apartment. But then the first bloom starts to droop and the edges of the petals start to curl up (from the dryness), and you are reminded of how transient they are. Once that happens, the utility you get from them starts diminishing at an astonishing rate. In fact, your utility curve starts entering negative territory and the dying flowers actually start making you feel sad. You are reminded of how short life is and what an inadequate caretaker you are that you can’t even keep a plant alive! You try to preserve it for as long as you can. You give it water and put it next to the window for some sunlight as they instructed you to do in biology 101 (the components of photosynthesis, no?). But ultimately, basic biology fails you and they die. You are left with the very painful task of throwing out $80+ that you’d only enjoyed for a few days.

You could try hanging it upside down and letting it dry. But I’ve tried that and it doesn’t end up looking very aesthetically pleasing. Looks very brittle and dried up i.e. dead. Maybe if I’d put the flower in a plastic bag and stuck it inside a really heavy book for a month instead, it would’ve turned out to be a better looking bookmark…..  Or you can hope that you recieve tulips. My friend recieved lovely purple tulips this weekend and she put them into a pot. Personally I’m not sure how good they look in a bouquet, but I heard they were very sturdy plants. Even though they only bloom for a few weeks a year, they will come back the next year (fingers crossed for her!). It makes me wonder if the initial rush of joy from flowers worth the painful aftermath.