Blue suede shoes

Don't want to go too far off track in my Friday fashion reportage. I spotted these at a deli the other day and couldn't resist. They're the kind of shoes I always wish I could wear ... but then, not really. I tried on a similar pair this morning at a thrift shop and could hardly walk in them, plus they were sort of pinchy around the ankles. I do love it when other people wear them, though.

I've kind of been getting into thrifting again lately. Since we no longer have anyplace in town to buy sewing supplies I mainly browse for fabrics, not necessarily clothing – it's amazing how much you can get out of a pretty flowered skirt or corduroy maxi dress, if you take it apart carefully. Today I found an enormous (size 3x) apple-green silk charmeuse dress shirt I'm going to cut up for lingerie. Yes, I'm teaching myself to make underwear. Silk is tricky to sew on because it's so lightweight and slippery, but I figure for a couple bucks per shirt I can afford to experiment.

(Speaking of fashion, here's a picture of my adorable niece A., who always makes me smile. Normally I would never post kid photos, especially since they're not my kids, but this one, I think, is anonymous enough to be okay. Isn't she a sweetie? She loves her sunglasses, and I thought they were great too – in fact, I have a green rhinestone pair almost exactly like them. A beautiful child after my own heart.)

In other news of my burgeoning creativity, I've been noodling around a bit on this beaut of a yard-sale uke a friend gave me after hearing me say I'd been wanting to get another one. Tonight I taught myself to play "My Blue Heaven" and "I'm a Believer" – two awesome songs! Gotta love those Monkees.

Astute observers may wonder why this instrument has only three of the usual four strings, and to them I will only say that it's not out of any lack of knowledge or effort on my part. A momentary lapse in attention, perhaps, though I did try; I went to the music store (we do still have a nice little music store) to pick up some strings and it was only after I got home that I noticed that the ones he'd given me were for the wrong tuning. Fortunately for me, as it turns out, it's even easier to play the ukulele on three strings than it is on four – and sure, the songs might sound vaguely not-quite-right, but they're still recognizable, and it's definitely easier on my tender, unpracticed fingertips.

And finally, here's a picture of three kinds of salt available at our Whole Foods – each lovely and fascinating in its own way. The white one is made of gorgeous, delicate, snowy-white flakes, the one in the middle is coarse-grained with some kind of minerals and herbs mixed in, and the black one didn't come out so well in this photo but in real life it's jet black and glittery, like a little bowl of black diamonds. The label says the ingredients are "sea salt and activated charcoal."

Does anyone know what one would do with a salt like that? I'd love to see some recipe ideas; we like weird salt at our house. Gray, red, green, black – we'll try anything. We've also been a little obsessed lately with those dark chocolate covered sea salt caramels – all the stores seem to be selling them around here. Is that happening where you are? Or is it a trend that's already passed? Actually it must be at least new-ish because just tonight I saw for the first time a new variety of Häagen-Dazs® built around these very same caramels. Generally I don't like chocolate pieces in ice cream (chocolate is best enjoyed at or slightly above room temperature, in my opinion), but I'm pretty sure we're going to have to give this one a try.