When I win the lottery I’m bringing my sister to lunch at Les Crayeres.  I’ve been reading David Lebovitz’s food blog (ex-pat pastry chef living in Paris) for a few months and this last entry struck a chord. I think I whimpered as I read about his meal.

My sister gave me a kitchy journal for my 21st birthday and I turned it into my cookbook. Where it started with basic recipes for pancakes and ceasar dressing, it grew up into sauces, cooking methods, timing. Some recent efforts using only fresh ingredients, lovingly put together in my kitchen for Nate and I. He’s an excellent taster.

I’ve been anticipating the release of this album for months. Seeing them next month at Radio City Music Hall. Can’t remember the last time I was so excited about a new album. Check it out – High Violet by The National

If I had any doubt who reads the blog, I can say now: women (and folks from South Carolina and Trabzon, Turkey, nearly every day – hey ya’ll!). I received a lot of feedback about the ShoeFabulous post from the ladies who had heard of services like this that pick shoe styles for you once a month and offers them to you for purchase at $40/month. Living in New York, I anticipate this saving me money.

After a week of no response I was feeling uneasy about having shared my credit card information with this new company. I called their customer service department in L.A. and they apologized for not emailing me with my first ’boutique’ of shoes to choose from for May. I checked out the selections they had made for me and I was instructed to rate them on style, color and heel so their stylists could suggest shoes more to my liking going forward. The more you review, the better the recommendations are supposed to get. There is some strange feeling of satisfaction rating shoes that matter to no one but me.  So – it’s not a scam but I did pass on buying any of the recommended pairs for me for this month.

Signed up for ShoeFabulous that promised me:

• You get a celebrity stylist + personal shopper in one!
• Every month, you’ll be emailed 6 amazing pairs of shoes to choose from that were handpicked for you by our celebrity stylists and if none of those pairs are what you had in mind, we’ll email you 6 new selections based on what you’re looking for.
• You only buy what you want! Every month, you can pick just one or as many shoes as you please. Each ShoeFab pair is only $39.95, shipping is free and returns/exchanges are a cinch.
• We’ll never pressure you to purchase, simply choose the Skip This Month option between the 1st and 5th of the month and you will not be charged for a pair of shoes that month.

My welcome email said:

Our stylists will start reviewing your Shoe Personality quiz answers immediately and within 48 – 72 hours you’ll receive an email inviting you to visit your very own boutique filled with fabulous shoe selections that were handpicked to fit your incredible sense of style. Get ready to be fabulous!

Since then, nothing. Crickets. I knew $40 for new shoes once a month was too good to be true. Contacted my ‘stylist’ today to see what’s up.

Highlights of the past four months sans laptop of my own – with photos.

January

February

March

April

More to come – looking forward to an amazing first full Summer in New York.

For years I have struggled with a love/hate relationship with iTunes. Convenient, cool UI that helps me keep all of my media straight yet a DRM policy that has made me want to pull my hair out. I consume a lot of media, mostly music. I’ve lost count of how many computers I’ve used iTunes on in the past few years…iTunes, has not.

So this week, after getting an iPhone (a generous 3G hand me down) I was ready to go shop on iTunes for all sorts of goodies. After my first ring tone purchase I got the dreaded pop-up from iTunes stating I’d hit my limit and had shared media with 5 computers and I would not be sharing with anymore.  In my head I started to mentally track down the 5 computers that needed to be de-authorized. One that is damaged goods in my possession, one that is in Atlanta, one in New York that has software issues and cannot access the iTunes store anymore to allow me to de-authorize my account, my current work PC, and the 5th? I have no idea. I can’t remember that far back.  At a loss with what do I did the unthinkable…I asked iTunes for help.

My email to iTunes: Hi there, I’m a long time iTunes Store customer.
I recently purchased an iPhone. I love it. My life is now complete. Seriously. Problem is, I can’t add any media to the iPhone from my iTunes account.
I understand how the DRM works on purchased media through the iTunes Store. I get it but I hate it. Can you control deathorizations internally somehow?
Wipe the slate clean as it were?

Response from iTunes (4 hours later):  Dear Amber,
I understand you would like all of the computers associated with your account deauthorized. I can imagine you must be eager to get this taken care of. I’m more than happy to assist with this, Amber. I have deauthorized all computers associated with your iTunes Store account. You can now reauthorize the computers that you intend to use.
For specific instructions on how to authorize and deauthorize a computer to play your iTunes Store purchases, please read the following technical support article:
About iTunes Store authorization and deauthorization http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1420
If you repair or upgrade certain components on your computer, one computer may use up multiple authorizations. If possible be sure to deauthorize your computer before you repair or upgrade it to avoid this. To learn more, read this technical support article: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1206
In the future, if you find you have reached 5 authorizations due to system upgrades, you can reset your authorization count by clicking “Deauthorize All” on the Edit Account Information screen. Keep in mind that you can only use this feature once a year. The button will not appear if you have less than 5 authorized computers or if you have used this option within the last 12 months.
You are a valued member of the Apple family, Amber. Should you need to contact me back, please don’t hesitate to do so, replying to this email will bring your request right back to me. Your experience with the iTunes Store is of the utmost importance to us. Take care and have a pleasant day!
Sincerely,
Daniel
iTunes Store Customer Support
Please Note: I work 1:30PM-9:30PM Sun-Mon, 1:30PM-9:30PM Wed-Thurs, 8:00AM-4:00PM Fri

Well color me happy. Thanks for the help iTunes – I was pleasantly surprised.

Pecha Kucha – 20 images to be accompanied by storytelling lasting up to 20 seconds per image. It’s a presentation theory I learned about while living in Santa Barbara, saw for the first time in Atlanta and have been waiting to attend in New York. At last (and for a good reason), Pecha Kucha night is here in the lower East side this Saturday. With a $20 donation going straight to rebuilding in Haiti, it’s a good cause and surely a good evening.