A Need for Comfort

Some days are for fussy dresses, high heels, and daring shades of lipstick. Other days are for comfort.

I've been having some back issues lately. That little lumbar C5 vertebrae of mine has me desperate to find a comfortable position. So far, sitting, standing, and laying down don't seem to be comfortable positions. I haven't tried hanging upside down yet, but I have a feeling that's out, too...

With that in mind, I've been SERIOUSLY into comfort. Tea. Oatmeal with raisins for breakfast. Work clothes that look professional but feel like pajamas. Since I skipped my Friday Favorites this week, I thought I'd do a Monday version today, focused exclusively on COMFORT items....

These super-cute pajamas would be comfy to wear as I sit propped up by half a dozen pillows watching Netflix.

Frasier is such a great show - major flashbacks to the 90's

Bubble bath that smells like Fudge Cake? I'm in....

Organic Ginger Pear Green Tea? Yes please....

This sweet crochet pattern is so sweet - so cozy for fall!

I'm open to suggestions, both for things that are comfortable, and remedies for back pain.....

Off My Game...

I am off my game this week. I've actually been off my game for two weeks. It turns out my back is on a  mission to make it impossible for me to get comfortable, whether I'm sitting, standing, laying down, or jumping on a trampoline. I'm exaggerating about it being uncomfortable to jump on a trampoline. I haven't actually tried that, but I feel like it's a safe assumption.

Apparently one of my vertebrae (which is a word I will never ever ever be able to spell properly) is narrowing or something. Whatever that means. Let's just say it's bad news. Impossible to get comfortable, except for at night when I get to take this interesting yellow pill that makes me sleep like a dead person and makes my muscles relax.

Wish me luck!

Real Life

I like to write on here about real life. I feel like a lot of blogs, and even posts here on Ruby Tuesday, tend to show the nice side of life, where everything looks good, the lighting is just right, and I've proofread everything before hitting 'publish'. But some days, real life just takes over, and sometimes I just need to LET IT take over. This happens a lot on Mondays. Mondays are just real. 


Sometimes you are a few feet from walking into the office, when you magically trip over your own sandal, and spill your delicious cappuccino down the front of your dress. That's real life. Frantically trying to rinse out the front of your dress in the office bathroom is also real life.

Sometimes you freak out for no reason, and feel dumb about it five minutes later. That's real life, too.

Sometimes you get up early on a Saturday morning and take the dog out wearing your husband's Harrison High School t-shirt and a pair over-sized American flag pajama pants with a pair of Birkenstocks, and tell yourself nobody will see you because it's early.

Sometimes you run out of the bathroom at work before getting a few steps and realizing that the back of your dress is stuck in the back of your underwear. In that moment, you're really glad nobody else is in the office.

Sometimes you stress out because you just realized that you've lived in Atlanta for almost 7 years, and you don't have as many friends as you thought you would by now. Then you read an article like this, and you don't feel so lame. Seriously. Real life.

What happened to you today that was a real life moment? We all have em' - might as well be in it together!

Dress to Impress for Less...

Okay, readers, who doesn't love opening your closet in the morning to get dressed, and having a lot of options to choose from? Everybody loves that! Duh! It's even MORE fun when you realized that you got a lot of your clothes for a real deal.

I have a ton of memories growing up of following my mom begrudgingly through department stores, where she'd dig through big piles and racks of clearance-priced clothes. I've seen her walk out of the house in the morning wearing super-cute outfits that cost her less than $10, and that includes the top, pants, and shoes. Crazy. I used to hate shopping like that, because it was SO time-consuming, and I would rather be at home reading a Nancy Drew book.

Lately, though, I've come to appreciate the shopping skills that I reluctantly picked up from her. I've tweaked her system a little, and thought I'd share some tips on how to get cute, trendy clothes, and pay WAY less!

Online shopping is your friend...
Some people aren't really big fans of online shopping, and until recently, I was one of them. "What if it doesn't fit?" "But it'll be a hassle to return if it's not right" "How will I know if it looks cute?".

Here's what I do:
- Head over to my favorite store (one of my favorites lately is Old Navy)
- Try on whatever strikes my fancy, taking note of fit, color, how it would go with other pieces in my wardrobe, etc.
- Pull up the store's website on my smartphone, and add items that I really like to my shopping cart (stores like Gap, Target, and Old Navy will actually save your shopping cart, even when you log out!)
- Now that I've saved a couple items in my online shopping cart, I can take a peek once a week or so, and check to see if any of my favorites are on sale, or even on clearance!

The benefit to this is that I actually try the clothes on, and see what works (and what doesn't!). A couple weeks ago I went into Old Navy and did this with some sweet retro-style capri pants. I wanted them in black and in bright pink, so I added them to my online shopping cart, and within a week and a half, they had gone from $30/pair down to $10/pair. Also, since I have shopped online before, I get emails with coupons. Suddenly I was also getting 20% off each pair, bringing my total to $16 for both pairs! How can you beat that!

Sign up for email newsletters...
Yes, these can be annoying, but they can also lead you to some really great sales! I recently walked out of a store with almost $160 worth in clothing, but I paid less than $40. This was as a result of an email I received about a sale, paired with an email coupon, paired with some great clearance sale shopping!

The clearance rack can be scary, just stay in the zone...
As I mentioned before, I used to hate the clearance rack. It's true, it can be really picked over sometimes, and there can be cute shirts with crazy makeup stains on them, but you can find some diamonds in there! A few months back I was eyeing an army-green silk skirt, but put it back when I realized it was $32. Fast forward a month, and that same skirt was on sale for $7! How can you beat that?

Pay attention to clearance priced items...
Clearance sections can be a mess! On a recent shopping trip, I found a super cute retro style Wonder Woman t-shirt in the clearance section. At $11, I wasn't dying to have it. Upon a little further digging in the HUGE pile of t-shirts in the section, I found the exact same shirt in a different size, but it was only $1.25! I brought both to the cashier, and he honored the lower price.

Do you have any great tips for getting a great deal while shopping? I'd love to hear about it!

Friday Favorites

Just a few things that I'm loving this week!

This article about why you should fear Canada. As a Canadian I find this hilarious and awesome.

These adorable capri pants from Old Navy - I already have them in the Burnt Ochre color, and ordered the black and raspberry ones this morning (when I realized they went on sale for $10 per pair, AND I had a 20% off coupon! Bargain!). More on this when I do a Bargain Shopping post this weekend!

This sweet shirt (can you tell I'm on an Old Navy kick?). I might have to wait for this one to be on clearance for a little longer, then I can pick it up for a song, and wear it on the cruise in November!

Breakfast Nachos? Yes please!

This makes me want to try Sweetbread REALLY badly.

These Sticky Balsamic Glazed Ribs look amazing. Nom dot com.

Confessions and Comfort

My morning is off to a rough start. I seriously messed up my back yesterday. How did I do it? I looked at a box and thought "that doesn't really look so heavy". I proceeded to pick up that box, and feel an incredibly uncomfortable twinge in my back. Not good.

So what am I going to do to give myself a little comfort as I go throughout my day?

- Wear a skirt to work that is essentially sweatpants in skirt form. It's black. You can't tell, I promise. Also, I got it for $7 at Old Navy. So comfortable!

- Sip a nice warm President's Choice cappuccino on my way into work.

- Advil. Lots of Advil.

- Use a huge overstuffed pillow to support my back in my desk chair.

- Treat myself to lunch with my sweet husband - tuna lettuce wrap at Jimmy John's!

- Wrap up the day by having some nice dinner with Kevin, laying down on the couch and watching 30 Rock while sipping a little bit of grapefruit G&T!


We all have days that are less than great, and the ones that start off rough are even worse. Sometimes you just need to do some little things for yourself that give you a little comfort throughout the day.  Bonus points if you find a couple minutes in the morning to make a list (like I did) so you have a little "being nice to myself" checklist!


Have a great day!

"It's My Favorite" Vol. 1

Hello lovely readers! Today marks the start of a very special new weekly feature here at Reading Ruby Tuesday, and I am SO excited about it! I am such a sentimental person, and I know first-hand how some of your favorite things can hold incredible stories, and give some sweet insight into peoples lives. Be sure to check back every Tuesday for a new story, and if you'd like to be featured, email me at dianakinnett@gmail.com! 


Our first interview comes from the lovely Kendal. It's hard to believe (*gulp*) that it's been about sixteen years since we became friends in Mrs. Lee's 5th grade class. After following Kendal's sweet blog, seeing her beautifully curated Danforth Village home, and enjoying her obvious soft spot for literature and all things vintage, I knew she'd have a great story for Volume 1! I hope you enjoy....

My name is Kendal Gerard and I blog about improvements to my tiny East End Toronto house at www.littlebungalow.net

1 - What is your favorite thing? 

It was really hard to choose one thing as my all-time "favourite" -- but I love the photograph that hangs in my foyer of Marks & Co. bookshop, which used to be located at 84 Charing Cross Road in London, England. This photograph is featured on the cover of a 2002 edition of my favourite book, 84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff, which was first published in the 1970s. The bookshop is no longer around (there's now a restaurant in that location), but lots of other dusty bookstores still line this street in London, which is a joy to explore with a coffee in hand.

2 - What makes it your favorite? 

I suppose the reasons are threefold: the photograph is a connection to my favourite book, it's a reminder of the wonderful months I spent in and around London, and it's hands down the most thoughtful gift I've ever been given!

3 - How did it become yours? 

When my husband and I first met in 2006, we read each other's favourite books in order to get to know each other better. I read The Perfect Mile and The Old Man and the Sea, and I forced 84 on him. So right from the beginning he knew this book was important to me -- so important I wouldn't even lend him one of my many copies (just in case we didn't work out and I never saw my book again!) One of the editions that I had in my library was a 2002 trade paperback edition that featured a photograph of the old bookshop taken by an Australian on the cover. For my 22nd birthday in 2007, my then-boyfriend took it upon himself to track down the owner of the original photograph and purchase the rights to reprint it. He even had it framed in museum glass so it would never fade in the sunlight. I was completely floored when I opened it!

4 - Is there any special story behind it? 

In 2005 I was lucky enough to complete a semester of my undergrad degree in a castle-cum-university just outside of London. I took an English Lit course called "Literature and Place," in which we read poems, short stories, and novels that all featured London in a big way -- Mrs. Dalloway, Oliver Twist, etc. Then, we'd take field trips to explore the streets (and alleys and fields and landmarks) described in the literature. We didn't read 84 Charing Cross Road in this class, but when I returned home to Kingston I was still so enamoured with my time in London that I sought out similar books. That's how I came across 84, which is a collection of the real letters mailed over a 20-year friendship between a bookseller in London and a writer in New York. I fell in love with the story and I started collecting different editions of the book as I came across them in flea markets and used bookstores. My husband took it one step further and, well...see Question 3. 

And the winner is.....

You might have been wondering why I didn't do the drawing for the purse giveaway on Friday. Why didn't I? Crazy busy week....but here goes!

The winner of the one-of-a-kind personally designed and stitched clutch purse is.....

CHRISTINA JANEK! 

Congrats, Christina! Just email me at dianakinnett@gmail.com with your address, and I'll put it in the mail for you!