Penguin Project a Smashing Success!

Wow, so much to catch up on after a week's vacation. I'll just go quickly, and a little bit randomly.

First off - the Penguin Project has worked out far better than I ever expected. When I returned home from vacation on Saturday night, I had two rather large packages waiting for me - a box of two smallish plastic penguins, and another with a 4-ft plastic reindeer inside. As I had some free time yesterday, I went to Michael's and picked up the special Krylon Fusion spray paint, made specially for plastic. I painted the penguins yesterday afternoon, and they turned out fantastically well! Not exactly like Cracking Art's "Red Penguin," mostly because they are much smaller, but a nice homage, if I do say so myself. Hopefully my landlord won't notice/mind the flecks of red spray paint left when I did a little touch up in my breezeway...I'll be painting my reindeer black this weekend.

Second - I finally caught up on the first two episodes of "Project Runway." I think it's true that this season will be better than ever. Spoiler alert - on the second episode, the challenge is to design an outfit for SJP's Bitten line, to be sold at Steve & Barry's. I've not yet gone to Steve & Barry's to see the winning design in person, but a trip is in order this weekend, I think.

Finally - I'm normally not the biggest fan of outlet malls, but I had some good success on vacation at Sawgrass, which is in Florida outside of Ft. Lauderdale. I picked up some cashmere sweaters at the J. Crew outlet for $65 each, which was my best find. If you're down there, it's worth a trip. I will say, however, that I was VERY disappointed in the restrooms there - there weren't enough of them, and they were filthy. Not at all what you'd expect from a mall with a St. John outlet, alongside Valentino, Barney's, Saks Off Fifth, a Neiman's Last Call...you get the pictures. Simon brothers, if you are listening/reading - an upgrade is sorely needed.