All the Good Blog Names are Taken

So Julia Child was a spy! Can you believe it?!?

I guess things aren’t always as they seem. One of our vendor partners at work was telling me last week about a hire they recently made. His VP of Ops interviewed her, said that she presented herself very well, and asked permission to make an on-the-spot offer. He granted it, but they still ran a background check afterwards. Lo and behold, she did have a criminal record — prostitution. My vendor partner asked for the date of the charge — perhaps it was ten years ago, and she’d had a life change since then? Charge was in April. He asked his VP of Ops, “Well, how does she look?” and he responded, “Between $75 and $100.” Nice!

Anyway, on to the more important things in life: to the right is a family portrait of my Botkier bags. I’m thinking about putting it in a frame for my desk at work — you’re supposed to do that with loved ones, right? (From top left: Botkier Stirrup Hobo, Botkier Bianca Small in Metallic Silver, Botkier Bianca Medium in Nude Python; Second row: Botkier Sophie in Honey Tan, Botkier Sophie in Raisin, Botkier Bianca Medium in Cherry.)

A couple of weeks ago, I got this email from my friend Nina, who had just purchased her first Botkier:

She wasn’t kidding about being addicted. Over the next couple of weeks there was an eBay emergency (I got texts while I was at work), another Botkier purchase, the spread of the Botkier addiction to an unnamed local news anchor, the neglect of children in the incessant and desperate online search for out-of-production Botkier styles. I am familiar with all these symptoms. (Nina, by the way, also recently sent me a family portrait of her Botkiers.)

If you’re not willing yet to shell out about $700 for a new Botkier (or $300-400 on eBay), check out the Botkier collection at Target. In particular, from the research I’ve done, the Satchel in Gray Python seems to be the best in the collection, both from a design and quality perspective (comments indicate that some of the other PVC bags look and feel cheap). In fact, I pondered ordering one of these just because it’s only $49.99, but my fellow Botkier lovers talked me down so I resisted. I guess for me (a real Botkier addict) it would be like having fake boobs — there’s nothing really wrong with it, but even if the fake python looked real, I would know, and other Botkier addicts would know (in the words of my friend Alice, “Don’t forget — these say Botkier for Target — true Botkier lovers will notice right away!”). And for me, part of the joy is the quality of the leather — and the smell of the leather. I remember the first Coach bag I bought for myself in the ’90s. I think I went around smelling it more than I carried it. I’m currently stalking a Botkier Stevie Hobo in Persimmon — lovely!

I feel like I need to say something about the Olympics too, which I’m watching in the background. Synchro diving: who made that up?!? It’s so amazing to watch, but isn’t it nearly imposible to do? Wow.