for some reason patrick cox were the shoes to have where i come from. everyone had them. they were so coveted in the north, shaun ryder famously swore about them on tfi friday, so beginning the slow demise of that show (nice one shaun, it was getting a bit monotonous).

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anyway, precisely because everyone and his mam had patrick cox shoes, i ignored them. but something happened today – i fell in lust with several pairs of naughty heels. i simply have to have at least one pair but these are no wannabes, so which one? let the beauty pageant begin!

first up is laina, a saucy little sandal with the hollywood glamour of gold lizard skin and an ankle strap combined with rock chick chain detailing.

second we have tiziana, another luxury offering in gold lizard skin, which takes the standard stripper-shoe block sole and gives it a slight japanese-feel uplift at the front, giving it a perky insouciance.

and last but not least, the tantalizing tara, a bootie topped off with goat hair that should be funny but somehow just makes me purr for its funkiness. it makes me think about strutting to george clinton or betty davis.

what is going on? everything i want/need recently seems to come from finland. marimekko have always occupied a soft corner of my heart (sometimes i think i’m only moving house so i can buy their new fabrics) but now the finns are taking over.

first it was minna parikka’s shoes, all pony-girl fiestiness in shiny patent or vibrant suede colours. then it was IVANAhelsinki and their kinky, kooky clothing. the collection ‘loghouse lover’ has me pining for a winter of snowdrifts.

book me on a husky safari for christmas, santa’s only got one shopping destination in mind.

mmm etsy, won’t you marry me? you and your crafty ways have got me all a-fluster. oh how i love to amble through your various ways of searching for handmade things to buy. from decoupage furniture to knitted earrings you’re a feast of frippery and frolick.

i can vist the ‘geolocator’ to see who’s selling where, travel the ‘time machine’ to see what’s the latest-greatest-most up-to-datest. if i’m feeling blue i can ’shop by color’ (i forgive you your american english) or hold my breath before stepping into the ‘treasury’ for all things hand-picked by members. or i can while away time window shopping on a ‘favorite connections’ seeing who loves what and where it all leads.

repeat after me: etsy, etsy, etsy!

it’s not something i would have considered before but being pregnant makes most office furniture ridiculously uncomfortable to use. my once bouncy chair feels like a block of wood and my screen and keyboard have been pulled forward cm by cm over the past few weeks until i’ve had to admit that soon i’ll be facing a situation where my forearms have no desk left to support them.

a university in ever-practical canada has come up with the butterfly board to accommodate bumps:

not beautiful i’ll grant you but enormously desirable all the same.

cyclist, and quite possibly a crazy man to boot. on a trip to barcelona this year i brought back a small gift for him from one of my favourite shops, vinçon.

maybe i should have pointed him in the direction of their sales picture as he doesn’t seem to know what it’s for.

i was playing with the iphone all last week and i really rather liked it even though it’s not perfect. (word count: 20)

that’s all i really have to say about it. stephen fry has written 6,475 words.
if you have the time and share his level of intense geekdom for all things technical (and all things mac) you’ll probably get a lot more out of his blog entry on the matter.